JUDITH CAMPBELL EXNER JFK's reputed mistress

"I think that any woman that finds herself in a position of falling in love with a man that's married goes through tremendous pain."

Judith Campbell Exner, who claimed she was once a mistress of John F. Kennedy and that she carried messages between the president and Mafia boss Sam Giancana, died of breast cancer September 24 in Duarte, California. She was 65 and had suffered from the illness since 1978.

Exner made waves in 1977 with her autobiography, "My Story," that included a description of her alleged affair with Kennedy.

In a 1996 issue of Vanity Fair, Exner said she ended a two-year affair because she hated being "the other woman." She also claimed she aborted Kennedy's child 10 months before he was assassinated.

She also claimed that during Kennedy's presidency she was Giancana's lover and carried messages between the president and the Chicago mob boss, including details of a plot to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

In a 1975 appearance before the U.S. Senate intelligence committee, Exner said she had an 18-month affair with Kennedy before and after he entered the White House, and that she later had an affair with Giancana.

But she said she knew of no ties between the two.