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She Was Once Called ‘the Most Powerful Female Voice in America’ — But Was She Murdered?

Dec 5, 2016  •  Post A Comment

The shocking death of a woman who was once a familiar face on television is revisited in a new book that suggests journalist and TV game show panelist Dorothy Kilgallen was murdered.

The book, “The Reporter Who Knew Too Much,” by Mark Shaw, comes out Tuesday.

The book’s cover proclaims that Kilgallen, best known for her regular role as a panelist on the TV game show “What’s My Line,” was once called “the most powerful female voice in America.” At the time of her death, she was reportedly working on an investigation into the JFK assassination.

Kilgallen, 52, was found dead on Nov. 8, 1965, in her Manhattan townhouse, the morning after a “What’s My Line?” appearance, The New York Post reports.

“Her body was found sitting up in a bed, naked under a blue bathrobe, with the makeup, false eyelashes and a floral hair accessory she had worn on TV still on,” The Post reports. “After an autopsy, the city’s chief medical examiner, James Luke, put on Kilgallen’s death certificate: ‘Acute Ethanol and Barbiturate Intoxication, Circumstances Undetermined.’ Luke ruled her death accidental, caused by a combination of sleeping pills and booze.”

Shaw’s research suggests that the truth is something more ominous, The Post reports.

“Shaw makes a compelling argument that Kilgallen was the victim of foul play, likely orchestrated by New Orleans Mafia don Carlos Marcello, who feared the results of her 18-month investigation for a tell-all book that would accuse Marcello of masterminding the JFK and Lee Harvey Oswald assassinations,” the story reports.

The Post adds: “The possibility that Marcello was responsible for JFK’s death came up in the 1991 Oliver Stone movie ‘JFK,’ but New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, who launched a probe, dismissed the idea. ‘He missed it,’ Shaw says. ‘He didn’t have access to Kilgallen’s research.’”

After Kilgallen’s death, her JFK book was never published.

We encourage readers to click on the link above to The New York Post to read the full report.

dk-on-whats-my-lineDorothy Kilgallen on her last appearance on “What’s My Line” (from a video on YouTube)

One Comment

  1. “What’s My Line” was a cool show, and Dorothy Kilgallen was good on it. I didn’t know she was looking into the JFK assassination. Poor thing!

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