Atlanta Gazette Nov. 12, 1978 vol. 5 # 11, pg. 8
excerpt from The Catacombs is Reborn!
…A major factor in the beginning of the end [of The Catacombs] was the arrest of Mother David. According to many, he was framed for allegedly selling drugs to a minor, getting him a five-year sentence in prison. Many people maintain that he was not locked up because of drug dealings, but because he was about to expose new Information on the assassination of John F Kennedy.
According to legend. Mother David came into possession of documents supporting Dallas District Attorney Jim Garrison’s prosecution of Clay Shaw on conspiracy charges in connection with the Kennedy shooting. Mother David supposedly got the papers from someone who picked up a briefcase belonging to a federal agent who was shot in the Catacombs parking lot one night. Mother David bought a Harris- Seybold-Potter Co, offset printer to reproduce the documents. Coincidently—or purposely according to legend—Mother David was arrested and jailed on the drug charge before he was able to raise the money to convert the World War II surplus map-making machine into a press.
The club was then taken over by a man who ran the club at a gross of what he claimed to be $100.000 on coffee, cokes and cheese plates. Much of the money was used to get people out of jail and help reestablish others.
In late ’68 the Catacombs property. owned by Howard Massell. was purchased by Selig Realtors. Selig decided the club was not befitting of their image, claimed the basement lease between Massell and the leasee invalid, and closed a chapter in Atlanta history.
Now. a decade later. Mother David, after a brief visit to Atlanta following his release from prison, has completely vanished. ..
Jim Garrison was the D.A. in New Orleans, not Dallas. Clay Shaw’s trial was the only one to take place, concerning the assassination of President Kennedy.
David moved to Alaska. We stayed with him in Anchorage.
My dad was Doug Merrell. Any info with Catacombs ?
Melody, I’m working on a book and am writing a chapter about playing at the Catacombs. I liked your dad and was saddened to find that he had passed. I’d like to contact you with some questions if you’re up for it please email me back with contact info.
Thanks,
Darryl Rhoades
Atlanta, Ga.