Pseudonym: Crafard, Curtis
FBI 44-24016 Ruby HQ File, Section 3
Carnival worker. Known as Curtis La Verne Craford aka Larry Curtis La Verne Craford. Birthdate 3/10/41. Received general discharge from US Army in 1959. Met Ruby at a state fair in October 1963. Hired as a handyman and bartender at the Carousel Club. Given room at the club and compensation was room, board, and spending money. Answered phone and kept lists of names of people who called. Would see Ruby each day during early afternoon and at closing time. "Claimed Ruby's closest acquaintances were Andy Armstrong, who handled club affairs, Billie Willis, drummer in band and a bartender. Mickey Ryan who works at a gun club...(after describing Ruby's movements on 11/22-23) at 12 noon (Craford) packed his bag and started hitchhiking north. Craford could give no reason for hasty departure..."
8/21/64 FBI memo: "(Crafard recalls that he was in the presence of Ruby at the time the news came over the air concerning the assassination of President Kennedy and the death of Officer Tippit, and at that time Crafard recalls Ruby referring to Tippit by name in a manner indicating to Crafard that Ruby knew Tippit..."
"Having now identified Crafard as an Oswald imposter, we should examine Crafard's background and what he was doing during the month of October 1963. Curtis LeVerne (Larry) Crafard was 22 years old at the time of the assassination. For the imposture to work, Crafard had to know who Kittrell was and what information Oswald had given her. Where could he have gotten this information? There were several eyewitnesses who made statements that Oswald was at the Carousel Club during the month of November when Crafard was also there. One of these witnesses was William Crowe, who had the stage name of Bill DeMar..."
Penn Jones, Forgive My Grief, Volume IV, p. 63
"It is the opinion of this editor Larry Crafard was one of the two gunmen who shot Officer J. D. Tippit. Crafard fitted the description given by most of the wit- nesses. only two witnesses claimed the Tippit killer was Oswald. Crafard was missing for several hours that day. He was living at the Carousel Club, and left Dallas two days later, about the time Ruby was killing Oswald."