He built a mansion in Houston during the Depression and justified it as a civil enterprise, bringing jobs to hundreds of . behind the assassination of JFK was exposed. As the Saltaire pulled slowly away, the president maneuvered in on its stern and followed several miles to the San Jose dock. ''I was here as a guest once,'' she said wistfully. Johnson hatched the assassination plot. Jane Wolfe is the author of The Murchisons: The Rise and Fall of a Texas Dynasty. rolling oil tycoons, judges and then FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Garrett insisted the auction be held on the Murchison estate. Sid explained to the president that he was going to roll him down, recalled fishing guide Barney Farley, who was there with the president. Murchison Jr. was brought up to experience the finer things in life, and this would align with how he spent his fortune. Still, she made a last-ditch effort to do something to help the museum. finally agreed that Lyndon Once Hall had his arms around the collection, the first wave of buyers came through. It is important to note that before her death Brown carried no hostility towards Vital Records & More. But along with the commissions he would be paid, the job came with an irresistible perk. "And he said 'well they just shot that S.O.B'". Richardson would bring in 80 wells in the field, leading Murchison to pay him the ultimate geological compliment: Sids really got the rocks.. Allred with a tall, scarecrow-thin Lyndon Johnson. Bronzed from the Texas sun, he reached to give Richardson a firm handshake. Source - 21stcenturywire.com - The meeting in Dallas the night before the assassination included: H.L. Of Texas five major barrier islands, San Jose and Matagorda are the last true islands. But the names of the men getting rich from it would remain virtually unknown to most Americans for many years. Today, under the eaves of the main house, white paint stubbornly clings in the shadows. Dallas, Texas 75201. Further investigation proved to Perry that Murchison had moved from his Dallas home four years earlier after a stroke and declining health. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Brown said that in the immediate aftermath of the convention Hunt and Johnson And when Lupe died in July 2001, at age 75, everything stood ready for the auction block. The dramatic stone-and-glass house was the perfect backdrop for selling the art, and it made sense for someone to live there while both the house and the art were on the market. and I looked up.he had this motorcade route.it Let them come and buy the works. After all, the proceeds would go to Lupes favorite charities. or found dead having allegedly shot themselves five times in the head. In the tradition of the Florentine arts patrons of the Renaissance, Lupe and John used to sponsor young artists from around the country, paying their rent and buying their works when they were getting started. In October, he invited his friends to pay a $10 cover charge for the opportunity to bid on his prized possessions. But the Cowboys owner you rarely heard from was the original owner, Clint. (Port Aransas Preservation and Historical Association). Those obscure artists whose work they bought in the 50s and 60s turned into superstars. . With the support of Texas oilmen Clint Murchison and Sid Richardson, Young gains control of the big New York Central Railroad. media mogul. It is not the first time Murchison has auctioned his worldly goods to pay debts estimated at $400 million. The only way to get President Roosevelt out of the boat and into his wheelchair on San Jose Island was to bring the boat alongside a chute used to load and unload livestock. Some 100 works remain, worth perhaps $800,000. of the assassination, telling her the Irish mafia (meaning the Kennedy family) 1. (Courtesy Murchison Collection) In the early. If that name sounds familiar, it may be. Tommy the Cork, and told Johnson that if he needed something in Washington, he should call Tommy. blessed event that was to happen the next day and to create an, day on the stump for the sole purpose of attending this party so. Brown. of the assassination, telling her the Irish mafia (meaning the Kennedy family) As the waves broke to the right, Roosevelts procession rolled for miles along the isolated beach. chose different people to do certain things for him and I'm sure it went on To the south is Port Aransas, a postcard beach town where fishing yachts and sailboats mingle in the harbor. and I looked up.he had this motorcade route.it A three-story mansion in San Antonio's Monte Vista Historic District once owned by powerful oilman Clint Murchison has hit the market for $1.5 million. then the day of the assassination he said 'well, we won the war'," said They started the Dallas Cowboys football franchise and built Cowboys' Stadium. before the assassination. to perhaps the biggest smoking gun proving that the assassination of JFK was Presidents and senators explored the beaches and basked in the enormous fortunes of their hosts Clint Murchison Sr. of Dallas and his lifetime best friend, Sid Richardson of Fort Worth. The multimillion-dollar collection of 450 works, including pieces by Roy Lichtenstein, Henry Moore, and Morris Louis, had been amassed during more than half a century by Lucille and John Murchison. came back to Dallas I was walking.with him.and he Brown said that the plan to kill JFK had its origins in the 1960 Democratic ''It`s too sad,'' she said. But Sothebys, which routinely handles large estates, found the job overwhelming and overlooked some 150 works in its appraisal. chose different people to do certain things for him and I'm sure it went on the world's media watching over 40 years ago - what would stop the same lineage safer out in the light and decided to let the world hear her story. Journalists defined the two men by their fortunes, but their unshakeable loyalty to each other was forged by their misfortunes. President Roosevelt (left) shakes hands with newly elected congressman Lyndon B. Johnson (right) as Gov. 's will never embarrass Go to Original Article >>>. shocked to witness the arrival of Lyndon Johnson who had traveled from Houston. He forfeited the college education planned for him by his parents and worked in his father's bank, where he acquired financial expertise. A String of Murders Dating Back to 1951. But on the louvered hurricane shutters, the relentless salt air has scratched out a gray patina. Eileen Ray and Clemence Rawley were among the first of 700 who ponied up $8 for a catalog of the 1,500 items to be auctioned on successive weekends and for the voyeuristic thrill of poking around the sprawling home. This love-hate conflict with the Kennedy administration was especially felt by one wealthy, big-oil man named Clint Murchison. All rights reserved. "When they met in California Joe Kennedy, John Kennedy's father, and H.L. Murchison died at 10:40 p.m. Monday at Gaston Episcopal Hospital after developing pneumonia, which complicated a crippling nerve disease similar to Lou Gehrig's disease. If they wanted any of it, they would have to buy it from her estate. Start your own chapter in the former home of the Dallas Polo Club. Suite 2100 For passing fishermen, the only clue to a deeper story comes when an occasional private jet descends over the bay and touches down on San Jose. The Murchison/Wynne home on Matagorda Island is now part of a wildlife refuge. You'll find that neither Clint Murchison Senior nor Clint Murchison Junior lived in Dallas in 1963. by Barr McClellan, father of White House press secretary Scott McClellan. 23 Ash Bluff Ln, Dallas, TX 75248 is currently not for sale. If Lupe had chosen Hall herself, she could not have found anyone more to her liking. Johnson was still irate when he called Madeleine Brown the morning The group included Jack Ruby, the Dallas nightclub owner who would later shoot would never embarrass him again. Untitled Document on issues which can't definitively be proven either way (or at least can be business tycoon with close links to the Genovese mafia, on November. In 1985, Murchison designed, constructed and financed a 30-acre campus-style headquarters for the Dallas Cowboys called Valley Ranch located in Irving, Texas. Murchison and his wife, Anne, have moved to more modest quarters where he has around-the-clock nursing care. The Newman Family. His own vice president, Texan John Nance Garner, thought the court-packing plan was a rancid proposal. During the mid-1950s, shortly before Vail was started, John Murchison built two of the . Hunt) and H.L. 1930s residence designed by local architect Anton Korn. SOB's" would never embarrass him again. Dallas, Texas 75201. Lupes son, John Jr., did not go to the house to take a look, but his wife Lisa did, as did Lupes daughters, Mary Noel Lamont and Barbara Jeanne Coffman. 0. straight from the horse's mouth. In any kind of sea, the presidential yacht was likely to turn turtle., The term yacht was a slight misnomer. 4-door Convertible with Jump Seats Limousine Bubble Top. A son of Clint Murchison, Sr. who made his first fortune in oil exploration and became notorious for exploiting the sale of "hot oil" (see Hot Oil case for explanation of this term), Junior and his . would never embarrass him again. Edward Clark introduced Mac Wallace to Lyndon B. Johnson in October, 1950, and he then began working with the United States Department of Agriculture in Texas. Suite 2100 The well-established Karen Mitchell Frank Gallery closed in April. I guess we`re going to be selling a little romance this weekend.''. he said 'you know what this is?' And in 1933, the quiet, 5-foot-6 Murchison began a series of purchases to secure 9 miles of Matagorda, where he built a ranch and a sprawling home to host his friends. Though Brown first went public on her 21-year relationship with Johnson in Alan Peppard of The Dallas Morning News reviewed Bryan Burrough's best-selling book in the March 1 issue of The News. Murchison was an ardent believer in states' rights and constitutional rights. Her second book, published in 1994, is "BLOOD RICH: When Oil Billions, High Fashion, and Royal Intimacies Are Not Enough." Shafts of light penetrate the rotted ceiling where Billy Graham slept. 9/11 Commission Report. Clint Jr. and John's father were the sons of the legendary Clint Murchison Sr., who built one of the largest financial empires in the nation through his oil holdings. ''I`ve been in my house 18 years, and I`ve replaced the carpet three times.''. spinned and whitewashed). Clint . Though still sturdy at its core, the house is an imposing study in decomposition a poignant reminder that sic transit gloria mundi: Thus passes the glory of the world. John Murchison's wife Lupe did not want the house because it was designed in the very gawdy style of the Texas oil baron, ie in poor taste. Clinton Williams "Clint" Murchison Sr. (April 11, 1895 - June 20, 1969) [1] was a noted Texas -based oil magnate and political operative. Murchison was probably in the top five. On deck, two stout sailors made a bosuns chair with their arms. New Orleans, Louisiana. the early 80's, to this day her shocking revelations about how he had told her Though silent when Roosevelt sprang it on the Cabinet, Cactus Jack was seen later in the Senate lobby pinching his nose with his thumb and forefinger. To the north is the nearly empty barrier island of San Jose, which rolls out for more than 20 miles to a brackish bayou. Selling millions in art during a down market would not be easy. (G.J. the Kennedy's "would never embarrass me again" the night before the Johnson as his running mate, where H.L. Corrals were built for the Hereford cattle that Murchison introduced. Limousine Complete Stop Limousine Windshield . It takes an extraordinary person to completely squander a fortune that they did not create, but that's exactly what Clint Murchison, Jr. managed to do. they met. Brown. Before the jets, there were yachts. Then read the Friday morning Houston newspapers for, answer is "no". A groundbreaking interview with Madeleine Duncan Brown, now deceased, the mistress of LBJ for many years, conducted by Gaylon Ross. But beyond that, Clint Murchison Sr. was not even living in that house those days, but in his . Richardsons first meeting with the president was brief and pleasant. Clint W. Jr. & John D Murchison Credit: The Denver Post Dallas Women Visit National Jewish Mrs. Ben K. Miller, left, president of the Denver Women's Committee of National Jewish Hospital, welcomes Mrs.. In the video Brown describes the make-up and activities of the "8F group" After lunch at the Murchison house, Roosevelt returned the hospitality with a dinner in the salon of the Potomac for Richardson, Murchison and Wynne. (G.J. Among his companies was the Southern Union Company. It has four refrigerator-freezers, three sinks and two dishwashers. happened to John Kennedy - he and Lyndon Johnson," said Brown. But Hall is in no hurry to finish his work and move out. Clint Murchison Sr.'s Big House . stung me that he would be this involved in knowing where the President of the The highest vantage point on San Jose is still the rooftop sundeck over Richardsons bedroom. With the help of Potomac sailors, the president made his unceremonious landfall and took his place in the front passenger seat of an open car. And Sid Richardson, the Big Four's fun-loving bachelor, was a friend of several presidents, including, most . 1898, d. 1926). much in the meeting and when he came out.he grabbed me by the arm and he In 1893, he tapped architect, A midcentury Alamo Heights home recently listed for $2.1 million was once home to one of San Antonio's most-distinguished military leaders, according, An 8,800-square-food Terrell Hills mansion built for now-retired AT&T Senior Executive Vice President Richard G. Lindner and his wife has hit the, Members of San Antonio's Ukrainian community gathered with elected officials and others Thursday in front of City Hall for a candlelight vigil, What good is it to live in Mad Men-style home without a chance to engage in some serious leisure? It's a jaw-dropping deposition Leaving the dock, Richardson led the small presidential motorcade of vehicles down the dusty center road of San Jose while turkeys, jackrabbits and cattle scattered. Clint Murchison Jr. was born on September 12, 1923 and would have been only 8 years old when Taft died. stands next to him. The party began to wind down at around 11 o' clock when the attendees were behind the assassination of JFK was exposed. Hall has now taken hundreds of buyers through the two houses and sold 80 percent of the value of the collection. Lupe wanted her friends to be next in line to buy the art. And he has done well by her. View more property details, sales history, and Zestimate data on Zillow. received little media attention. It's a story that simply hasn't got enough attention, besides a 2003 book written hitmen after the assassination, and upon hearing of the strange deaths of many When they got to a fence, theyd go right through it and keep grazing.. Then he jumped to his death. Clyde Tolson, John J. McCloy, Jack Ruby, George Brown (of Brown and Root), numerous "It was a total political crime and H.L. According to Brown's story she was invited to a social party at the mansion of Clint Murchison, the Texas oil tycoon. A town house project in Washington flopped, as did condominiums in Richmond and Palm. ''The nicest thing I can say for this whole house,'' Rawley concluded, ''is it has swell closet space. An air base was built and the island was used as a bombing range. mafia kingpins, several newspaper and TV reporters, and Richard Nixon. Richardson, who would never marry, had lost several small fortunes trying to drill his way to a large one. It changed the trajectories of Lyndon Johnson and Dwight Eisenhower and put them on the road to the White House, and it cast Murchison and Richardson as the first oilman kingmakers. He has sold several. this article and the video clip contained therein will help to bring more attention Hunt, John Curington, George Brown of Brown + Root, former Texas Republican Congressman Bruce Alger, and John J. McCloy. Then the DMA asked Hall to give them the Rivers. Johnson hatched the assassination plot. Ancient dunes are unmarred by condos, and spring break is a distant thunder. When he. Clint Murchison entertained British royalty on his Mexican hacienda and bet on racehorsesand conducted dirty dealswith J. Edgar Hoover. Manchester's book. tycoon with close links to the Genovese mafia, on November 21st 1963, the night He was also the father of Dallas Cowboys owner Clint Murchison Jr.. [2] Contents 1 Personal 2 Family 3 Death 4 JFK conspiracy allegations 5 References Personal In the 1920s, they teamed up as lease hounds in the oil fields. Convention, at which John F. Kennedy was elected as presidential candidate with Two other famous Texas multimillionaires--T. Cullen Davis and Clint Murchison Jr.--found themselves in bankruptcy court this week. Murchison's [read more] instinctive mastery of banking and lending practices translated easily into an understanding of the new business of oil and gas exploration. Four miles later, they turned onto his ranch road. had this deep voice and he said, 'after tomorrow those S.O.B. much in the meeting and when he came out.he grabbed me by the arm and he On Monday, he arrived in Galveston. On the dock stood Gov. ''. They spent their lives as bachelors, living together, sharing a bedroom in their 54-room mansion. Brings new meaning to the phrase Sunday Funday. She was flatly rejected. of the United States on Air Force One while the grief-stricken Jackie Kennedy Although too polite to say so publicly, she had long thought the DMAs collection second-rate and its public relations worse. hitmen after the assassination, and upon hearing of the strange deaths of many . By John Werner Tribune-Herald staff writer. Just before John F. Kennedy was assassinated he upset people like Clint Murchison and Haroldson L. Hunt when he talked about plans to submit to Congress a tax reform plan designed to produce about $185,000,000 in additional revenues by changes in the favourable tax treatment until then accorded the gas-oil industry. Clint W. Murchison, Sr. was born April 11, 1895, in Tyler to John W. and Clara (Williams) Murchison. Clint Murchison was the top business leader and behind the scenes political leader in Dallas in the 1963 era. theories - an astounding deposition of a deliberately planned criminal conspiracy Email: editor@lookingglassnews.org. Do pictures prove LBJ was NOT at Murchison Ranch Nov. 21, 1063? Murchison was the wealthy son of a successful Texas oilman, graduating from Duke and earning a master's degree from MIT. Howard Nemerov. The reason I mention this is to show that those who would claim Clint Jr. hosted the party, such as Barr McClellan, are wrong, since Murchison Clinton Williams Murchison, Sr., oil and gas developer and financier, son of John Weldon and Clara (Williams) Murchison, was born in Tyler on April 11, 1895. She lives in the neighborhood. Clinton Williams Murchison, Sr. (April 11, 1895 - 20 June 1969), was a noted Texas-based oil magnate and political operative. They lived big before living big was the thing, Hall says. Ross had the opportunity to conduct an 80 minute sit-down interview with Madeleine In the early 1930s, Murchison was a grieving father of three young boys. Hunt) and H.L. For more than two decades, since Johns death in 1979, Lucilleor Lupe, as she was knownhad been the matriarch of the legendary family whose oil fortune was made by her father-in-law, Clint Murchison Sr., and multiplied by his two sons, John and Clint Jr. Just as Clint Jr. became famous as owner of the Dallas Cowboys, so the art collection gave John and Lupe enormous cachet among the international rich, setting them apart from the rough-and-tumble Texas oil crowd of their day, most of whom did not collect art of any kind. Ad Choices, A historic Southern estate showcases dramatic details and welcoming spaces ideal for entertaining, 7 Tricks on How to Decorate Your Living Room in an Instant, Interior architect Darren Jett reimagines a handful of bare-bones spaces with sharp design tips, Monty Pythons Eric Idle Lists Dreamy Pink Spanish-Style Home for $6.5 Million, The Hollywood Hills pad has arched doorways, vintage tiles, and enviable gardens, Britney Spears Sells Neoclassical-Style Calabasas Mansion for $10.1 Million, The Gimme More singer and her husband owned the home for all of eight months, This Interior Designer Didnt Like a Single House in AtlantaUntil She Found a 1980s Abode With Mediterranean Flare. Hunt, an American oil tycoon, and Lyndon By contrast, the president took to Richardson immediately. Lupe had told her three grown, very rich children that, at her death, her art would be sold and the proceeds would go to charity. A gallery-like veranda ran along the perimeter. by Barr McClellan, father of White House press secretary Scott McClellan. The first of its kind in the NFL, it was originally intended to be part of a 160-acre mixed use development. The group met for a party in Dallas hosted by Clint Murchison, another business Jane Wolfe is the author of two previous biographies and one that will be published in September, 2022. other people connected to the events in Dealy Plaza, Brown felt that she was Upon entering a hair salon she saw the news that Kennedy Before her death on June 22 2002, prolific author and lecturer Robert Gaylon He was intensely interested in the details of your campaign. a masked gunman invaded Cullen Davis' hilltop mansion . Clint Murchison in 1933 began a series of purchases of the lower nine miles of Matagorda Island, where he built a ranch and a sprawling home. She became his patron. The group included Jack Ruby, the Dallas nightclub owner who would later shoot And he would be working for a family with more money and more internecine battles than the Sopranos. motion-picture projector and its automatically descending screen to the color that would illuminate the tree trunks out front (white or red). Inside, rattlesnakes and barn owls inhabit the 13,000-square-foot mansion where Roosevelt sipped mint juleps. "And he said 'well they just shot that S.O.B'" Having had her own (and LBJ's illegitimate) son and nanny disappeared by Johnson's hitmen after the assassination, and upon hearing of the strange deaths of many other people connected to the events in Dealy Plaza, Brown felt that she was safer out in the light and decided to let the world hear her story. Latest Headlines Odd News . The Potomac was, in fact, a Coast Guard patrol boat, the former Electra, which had been refitted at no great expense for Fathers use, Elliott recalled. the conference to tell his mistress Madeleine Duncan Brown that "those "They had this lodge.outside of Dallas and they would meet there.he Corcoran had been busy strategizing on the presidents Supreme Court reform bill. The projection room has no projector and the movie screen dangles limply from the rafters. Two days later, he was back to escort the presidential party, first to his island, San Jose, and then to Matagorda for lunch. "We were playing poker at the Carousel Club and Jack Ruby came over and The bedrooms, done in excellent simplicity, were deluxe, noted Roosevelts aide, Gen. Edwin Pa Watson, offering every comfort.. With his steel leg braces under his suit, Roosevelt used his faux walk to swing down the gangplank. Murchisons houseman Jewel Phifer noted that Richardson talked a lot and he would say anything to anybody. Kennedy was particularly upset that Hunt, who had . Only one firsthand account of the lunch survives. Murchison, 63, no longer lives here. But another son, John Murchison, had kept the family business alive and kicking. Clint Murchison immediately called a meeting. other people connected to the events in Dealy Plaza, Brown felt that she was At the start of his second term, Roosevelt infused the two islands with the lifeblood of Washington, D.C. clout. (Port Aransas Preservation and Historical Association). Corcoran believed that businessmen rarely contributed enough money to political campaigns to have any true influence. The swimming pool that Time magazine said could float the Titanic. The 29-karat diamond ring, designed for Lupe by surrealist Salvador Dali, which she wore the night the Pointer Sisters rocked the Murchison estate at a black-tie party for 400 guests. shocked to witness the arrival of Lyndon Johnson who had traveled from Houston. Murchisons company American Liberty Oil owned the Matagorda Island ranch. straight from the horse's mouth. to perhaps the biggest smoking gun proving that the assassination of JFK was Though Brown first went public on her 21-year relationship with Johnson in Outside the debate of magic bullets, multiple shooters and grassy knoll They called me and said, We dont know what to do with all this stuff. The estate managers had first offered the job to Sothebys auction house in New York. stung me that he would be this involved in knowing where the President of the Inside the house, Jewel Phifer, who had come from Dallas to serve the president, waited with a tray of mint juleps on the veranda. Architectural Digest may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. His private office was. Personal. Brown said that in the immediate aftermath of the convention Hunt and Johnson In twenty years, Clint had gone through $1.25 billion to $550 in debt. In the official log of the trip, Pa Watson wrote simply, The party had a grand time at table lots of fun., From left: An unidentified man, President Roosevelts son Elliott, President Roosevelt, Dudley Golding and Sid Richardson preparing to leave Richardsons dock for a tour of San Jose Island. It was my job as a fiduciary to get as much money as I could for the works, he explains. He brought the government to an indignant standstill with a bill to appoint up to six additional justices to the Supreme Court to revive New Deal legislation that had been ruled unconstitutional. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. It was a warm South Texas day and most members of the party kept wide-brimmed hats on their heads. The mansion on St. Johns was purchased by Aikman for a confirmed $4.3 million. He made a fortune disobeying the rules., If I had been guilty of all the things they say I have done, Murchison said years later, Id be under the jail, not in it., Several months before FDRs Texas trip, a Murchison subsidiary company had been criminally charged for running hot oil. As the 25 wooded acres surrounding his Dallas mansion were about to be auctioned off, Murchison-owned Klimanorm Corp., owner of the land, filed in bankruptcy court Monday for protection from creditors. If they had the gall to blow the President's head off in broad daylight with Adjusted for inflation, this is the equivalent of $1 . Once the residence of Dallas oilman Clint Murchison and Toddie Lee Wynne, the abandoned 13,000-foot-square mansion on Matagorda Island is now home to rattlesnakes and barn owls. Richardson and his friend Clint Murchison Sr. played hosts to President Franklin Roosevelt in 1937. Clint Murchison Sr. erupted from East Texas during the rough-and-tumble years of oil drilling in the 1930s, and spent his life "doing deals." Wolfe gives a colorful description of a quiet, unpretentious man whose financial acumen and brilliant use of leverage helped him build a multimillion-dollar conglomerate. about two years prior to the assassination of John Kennedy." Roosevelt, who had been stricken with polio 15 years earlier, feared a fire at sea. The benediction continued when the president invited LBJ to ride with him in his private railcar to College Station. There, the challenge of bringing a paralyzed man to a largely undeveloped island became immediately apparent. He was 63. There is a claim that there was a party at the home of Dallas Oil Man Clint Murchison on the night of November 21, 1963. Former General Manager Tex Schramm held off the firing, citing he didn't have a successor in place at that time. Land owned by Roosevelts luncheon host and all of Richardsons San Jose Island went untouched. mapped out a strategy to kill Kennedy. Everyone in Dallas wants to see this house.''. Wearing a dark, short-sleeved shirt, Roosevelt reached around their shoulders. In 1941, with World War II on the horizon, the federal government used its power of eminent domain to buy the northern two-thirds of Matagorda Island from a group of reluctant landowners. It took four years, but he carved a private retreat out of the unforgiving terrain. On Wednesday, May 5, a wind blew out of the southeast and pushed up a swell that rolled under the Potomac as it sat anchored in the shallow bay water near the Aransas Pass lighthouse. The Texas tycoon had planned to work out a debt repayment plan without taking refuge in bankruptcy court, said head Murchison attorney Philip I . proceedings, related to illegal kickbacks Johnson was receiving from agriculture