The Reporter Who Knew Too Much: The Mysterious Death of What's My Line TV Star and Media Icon Dorothy Kilgallen

It is readily apparent that the author of this book, Mark Shaw, has the mindset of a defense attorney, not an investigative reporter. He is Dorothy Kilgallen’s champion. That being said, after reading the book, I think he makes a compelling argument that Dorothy Kilgallen’s death in 1965 was not accidental or suicide. He presents surprising evidence through interviews with those close to Kilgallen, examination of autopsy findings, and analysis of the known facts. All he’s missing is a smoking gun. Who would want to murder Kilgallen? Apparently, a lot of people. As a prominent journalist, she made enemies left and right. She had questioned publicly in her newspaper column J. Edgar Hoover’s conclusion that there was a single shooter, Oswald, in JFK’s death. She had information about the president’s assassination before the Warren Report was released. She stonewalled the FBI about her sources. She was investigating the Jack Ruby (Oswald’s killer) connection to underworld crime bosses. She went after popular celebrities such as Frank Sinatra. Most revealing was that she had let people close to her know that she was about to uncover a conspiracy in the JFK assassination. On the actual day of her death, her hairdresser was scheduled to make an early morning visit to her townhome to help her get ready for a trip. He found her body in a bed off the dressing area (not in her regular bedroom.) She had the covers up to her chin, her hairpiece was in place, full makeup and false eyelashes on, and in pajamas she never wore. Two glasses were on her bedside table. Toxicology reports showed Seconal, Tuinal, and Nembutal (all barbiturates) in her bloodstream. (Although she regularly took a couple of Seconal to help her sleep, she had no prescriptions for the Tuinal and Nembutal. She had consumed alcohol. A book was found upside down next to her, not in a natural position for her to have been reading it before drifting off to sleep. Although it is clear she died much earlier, the autopsy findings listed noon as the time of death. She was on the verge of interviewing someone who would help her solidify important evidence. And the biggest giveaway that her death wasn’t of natural causes? Her file, the one she had amassed with information about all her interviews, dates, and facts about the Kennedy assassination, was missing, never to be seen again. Shaw has done a remarkable job in carefully detailing Kilgallen’s movements close to her death, as much as could be known. He presents a glowing image of a talented journalist at the height of her career who had little reason to commit suicide. The questions he raises shouldn’t be discounted. He carefully outlines who he thinks was involved in her death and why. I highly recommend this book to all true crime fans, history buffs, and mystery readers. You won’t be disappointed.

As a kid, I loved to watch the glamorous women and dashing men of the popular game show, "What's My Line?" Regular panelists included Dorothy Kilgallen, Arlene Francis, and Bennett Cerf. The moderator was John Charles Daly. They were joined each week by a fourth celebrity panelist. The object of the show was for the panel to guess the occupation of the contestants by asking a series of questions that could be answered by either yes or no. Each show featured three contestants, one of which would be a celebrity (for whom the panel wore masks and the famous person disguised his/her voice). What the preteen me knew of Dorothy Kilgallen was that she was beautiful, wore luxurious clothes, asked very smart questions, and she was a TV star. I never knew she was a weekly newspaper columnist (even though they introduced her as such; it never sunk into my young brain) or especially that she was a top-notch investigative reporter. At the height of her fame, she was covering infamous trials such as the case of Dr. Sam Sheppard, who was convicted of murdering his wife. Ms. Kilgallen wrote an article saying the guilty verdict was a miscarriage of justice. Years later, she played a role in Dr. Sheppard's exoneration. I recall having heard as a teenager that Ms. Kilgallen had died at the age of 59. The media attributed her passing to a fatal combination of alcohol and drugs, much like the sad death of Marilyn Monroe. I was despondent that Ms. Kilgallen had died and was disappointed that I would not see the clever woman on the game show again. Since I did not know she was an investigative reporter, I didn't realize until I read this book, "The Reporter Who Knew Too Much," by Mark Shaw, that Dorothy Kilgallen was investigating the assassination of President Kennedy and the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. Kilgallen rejected the Warren Commission's and J. Edgar Hoover's theory that Oswald acted alone. She particularly didn't buy the story that Jack Ruby could single-handedly manage to get himself into position to shoot one of the most heavily-guarded prisoners of the 20th Century. She had information indicating Ruby knew Oswald and that Ruby had contacted a mob-friendly lawyer for representation BEFORE JFK was shot. Kilgallen had revealed to confidantes that she was close to breaking the story that the assassination and murder were mob hits. Mark Shaw builds a convincing case that Kilgallen herself was murdered in a mob hit by someone she trusted who had access to her. The death scene made no sense, the autopsy was sloppily conducted, her time of death was misreported, her toxicology report did not tell a complete story, and there was mob influence at the medical examiner's office. This book enthralled me because it told me so much I never knew about (and some I wish I didn't) Ms. Kilgallen, but also, because even as a kid, I didn't believe that Jack Ruby wasn't being paid to silence Oswald so he couldn't reveal any potential co-conspirators. Shaw links RFK, Marilyn Monroe, JFK, Oswald, Ruby, and Kilgallen in a fascinating read you won't want to miss.

If you are a fan (through either YouTube or the game Show Network) of the original series of "What's My Line", then you will know who Dorothy Kilgallen is. But for probably most of us alive now, we don't know her real story. She wasn't in Hollywood, but she may have been the biggest star of her time, and most important. This book gives you her life story. But it's main purpose is to discuss the end of her life. How did she die? All I can tell you is it involves the assignation of President John F. Kennedy, as well as his "accused" killer Lee Harvey Oswald. Understand, beside being a television personality, Dorothy was also the best investigative reporter we've probably ever had. She was a courtroom reporter in some of the biggest cases in America, with her reporting often getting convicted killers cases overturned. She was important. But she also had a suspicion that the assassinations of BOTH Kennedy and Oswalt were not what we had been told. She was about to reveal the truth behind those killings...and then she died. No one will tell us why or really how. Everything was covered, possible by the same people she was about to name is her reporting. It's just a fascinating read, even if you don't know of her name. You will come away with a great respect for this woman. And you too will question who was behind her mysterious death, just hours after one of her "What's My Line' live TV shows.

It's a book, I read it!

Really good book. I had never heard of Dorothy Kilgallen, another victim of the kennedy assassination but she led an extraordinary life. And she was getting oh so close to the truth...well written, would recommend this to anyone interested in JFK and the corruption of the American government and Secret Service (CIA).

100 %Great

The Reporter Who Knew Too Much by Mark Shaw chronicles the life and times of Dorothy Kilgallen, TV personality, gossip columnist and fearless investigative reporter who shattered numerous glass ceilings during her 30-year career. Once nominated for a Pulitzer-Prize, Kilgallen was described by Ernest Hemingway as "the greatest female writer in the world." Her newspaper column was syndicated to 200 papers across the US and she had covered such high-profile trials as Dr. Sam Sheppard ("The Fugitive"), the Lindberg baby and, just before her death, the trial of Jack Ruby (she became the only reporter to whom he granted an interview). Kilgallen mysteriously died on Nov. 8, 1965 on the verge of completing an expose on the assassination of John F. Kennedy for Random House. Shaw’s exhaustively researched book suggests she was likely murdered to silence her. She had been quoted to the effect that she was “going to blow the lid off the Kennedy assassination” – a risky stance to take at the time as numerous other key witnesses discovered. Contributing to the suspicious circumstances of her death, she had told friends that she was in fear for her life and her JFK assassination investigation file, which she always carried with her, conveniently disappeared the day she died preventing publication of her Kennedy book. The columns and articles Kilgallen wrote about the assassination, including "Oswald File Must Not Close," and "DA to Link Ruby and Oswald," died with her, and are only now resurfacing thanks to Shaw’s book. A quote from her Oswald file column of Nov. 29, 1963 reveals her suspicions: "The case is closed, is it? Well, I'd like to know how, in a big, smart town like Dallas, a man like Jack Ruby — owner of a strip tease honky tonk — can stroll in and out of police headquarters as if it was at a health club at a time when a small army of law enforcers is keeping a "tight security guard" on Oswald. Justice is a big rug. When you pull it out from under one man, a lot of others fall, too." Kilgallen’s death was officially described as “an overdose of barbiturates, combined with alcohol.” Perhaps an early example of Fake News. Despite the suspicious circumstances - including an apparently staged death scene - no investigation of Kilgallen’s death was ever carried out. Unfortunately, Kilgallen’s life was snuffed out before she could go public with her theory on the assassination and, with her investigative files lost to history, we can only suspect, what she had uncovered. Barry Francis

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