Friday 5 October 2012

Oswald's "escape" from the TSBD


One of the biggest mysteries surrounding the aftermath of President Kennedy’s assassination, are the whereabouts of Lee Harvey Oswald from the time he “escaped” the TSBD, to the time he was arrested at the Texas Theatre.
According to the official story, Oswald leaves the TSBD at 12:33 pm, where upon he walks several blocks, and allegedly boards bus No. 1213 driven by Cecil McWatters (at approximately 12:40 pm), at the corner of Elm and Murphy streets. After the bus (which was heading towards Dealey Plaza) becomes stuck in traffic, Oswald allegedly departs the bus and walks over to the Greyhound bus station at the corner of Jackson and Lamar streets, where he boards cab No. 36, driven by William Whaley. The time is now allegedly 12:48 pm.
We are told that Whaley drives Oswald towards his rooming house located at 1026 North Beckley, but drops him off several blocks south from the rooming house, where upon Oswald walks the rest of the way. At approximately 1:00pm, Oswald is seen by his house keeper, Earlene Roberts, entering the rooming house. According to Roberts, Oswald spends about three minutes in his room, and then decides to leave - allegedly carrying a revolver with him.
As Oswald leaves, Roberts watches him from a window, and sees him standing at a bus stop on the corner of Zang and Beckley streets. We are told that for some mysterious reason, Oswald decides instead to walk south, where he encounters DPD officer, J.D Tippit, at the corner of 10th and Patton streets. Oswald allegedly shoots him to avoid being arrested, and then proceeds to the Texas Theatre on Jefferson blvd., where he is seen by Johnny Brewer, the manager of Hardy’s shoe store. According to Brewer, he sees Oswald duck into the Texas theatre, with a “scared” look on his face.
Brewer and the Theatre cashier, Julia Postal, then call the police and alert them to Oswald’s presence, where upon Oswald is arrested and dragged out of the theatre (allegedly carrying a revolver). The official time of the arrest was 1:50 pm. Now, to say that the official story is flawed, is a monumental understatement! I don’t wish to go into all the problems with great detail. However, I will explain what I believe actually happened.

The imaginary bus ride

The problems with both the bus and taxi stories have been discussed in great depth by many researchers - most notably by Sylvia Meagher, in her sterling book, Accessories after the fact. In order to place Oswald on the bus, the Warren commission relied on the bus transfer, which the DPD “discovered” in Oswald’s shirt pocket, and on the testimony of Mary Bledsoe (who was allegedly Oswald’s former landlady).
According to the DPD, the bus transfer was discovered approximately two hours after Oswald was arrested. The problem is: There was no mention of it on the first day of the investigation! In fact, when Dallas police chief, Jesse Curry, was asked by a reporter as to how Oswald got from the TSBD to the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, he responded with: “We have heard that he was picked up by a Negro in a car This was based on Dallas deputy Sheriff, Roger Craig - who saw a man he identified as Oswald enter a Nash Rambler station wagon driving along Elm street, towards the Oak Cliff area of Dallas.
Although Craig’s credibility has been vigorously attacked by lone gunman zealots, his observation was directly corroborated by Helen Forrest and James Pennington, and indirectly by Roy Cooper, and Marvin Robinson. Hence, there were five witnesses who saw a man resembling Oswald get into the station wagon. As for the bus transfer, researchers such as Lee Farley, have explained the transfer was completely useless. So why would Oswald be carrying it in his shirt pocket when he was arrested? It simply makes no sense.
Also, consider this. When Oswald was arrested at the Texas Theatre, he had wrestled with at least half a dozen officers. Outside the Texas theatre, Jim McCammon photographed Oswald as he was dragged out of the theatre by his shirt. Photographs and film footage of Oswald later on in the day reveal the buttons of his shirt were torn off during the struggle. However, despite this we are supposed to believe that the transfer (official “discovered” in Oswald’s shirt pocket), remained in pristine condition. Completely absurd!
Below is a photograph of the transfer:



As the photograph clearly shows, the transfer doesn’t have a single tear, let alone a single crease! Yet this is the sort of garbage lone gunman kooks uphold as genuine evidence against Oswald. Based on the impossible pristine condition of the transfer, combined with the fact that it was not mentioned until day two of the investigation, and that it was totally useless, the only logical conclusion is that it is not a genuine piece of evidence (just like the so-called Palm print and shirt fibres “discovered” by the DPD on the rifle).
Now as far as the credibility of Mary Bledsoe is concerned, her testimony is by far one of the very worst amongst the 26 volumes of Warren commission testimony. For example, Bledsoe claimed that Oswald had a maniacal look on his face when he boarded the bus – a look which no other witness who observed Oswald immediately following the assassination could recall. She also claimed that all of the buttons from Oswald’s shirt were torn off, and that Oswald had a hole in the elbow area of his left sleeve. Yet, the damage to the shirt was almost certainly done during his struggle with the Dallas police at the Texas theatre, as no other witness could recall seeing this damage immediately following the assassination.
However, let’s also take into account that neither the bus driver, Cecil McWatters, nor a passenger named Roy Milton Jones - who was also interviewed, could identify Oswald as being on the bus! What’s worse, however, is that neither McWatters nor Jones could remember Mary Bledsoe being on the bus! There is also no record of any other passenger being interviewed to substantiate Bledsoe’s claim of seeing Oswald on the bus.
So all we have is Bledsoe’s word that Oswald boarded the bus - with a maniacal look on his face, and with all the buttons torn off of his shirt. But if her credibility isn’t bad enough, then consider the fact that she had suffered a stroke! She was also reading off notes during her Warren commission testimony - prepared by secret service agent, Forrest Sorrels. When Warren commission counsel, Joseph Ball, asked her why she had notes, she responded: “Well, because I forgot what I had to say”.
What a bloody witness! Not only did she recently suffer a stroke (rendering her testimony unreliable), she has no corroboration by any other witness for her ridiculous claims, she is not remembered by McWatters and Jones as being on the bus, she is reading off notes prepared in advance by a secret service agent, but she also had an attorney present during her testimony!
Yet this is the witness Warren commission zealots use to place their “lone deranged assassin” on the bus. It is yet another perfect example of their intellectual dishonesty. Oh, and let me also point out that Bledsoe never identified Oswald at a line-up, but rather from one of the so-called backyard photographs!
Now given the circumstances surrounding the bus transfer, combined with Mary Bledsoe’s utterly preposterous testimony, there is absolutely no reason to believe Oswald was ever on Cecil McWatter’s bus. If you want to be convinced beyond any doubt that Oswald wasn’t on the bus, then I highly recommend you read through this thought provoking thread on the Spartacus education forum, by researcher, Lee Farley.

The imaginary cab ride

If Oswald was never on McWatters' bus, it doesn’t necessarily mean he never caught a cab to go to his rooming home. In fact, there are many conspiracy theorists who, despite believing the bus story to be bogus, believe Oswald was nevertheless on board William Whaley’s cab. However, the cab story is itself riddled with many problems.
Let’s begin with this. Although the official story is that Oswald boarded Whaley’s cab at 12:48 pm, Whaley logs the time he allegedly picks up Oswald on his timesheet as 12:30 pm. However, this is impossible as Oswald was still inside the TSBD, and according to the Warren commission, murdering the President at this exact time! The warren commission tried to explain this discrepancy by claiming that Whaley logged his pick-up times at 15 minute intervals. This however was a lie, as Whaley’s timesheet shows time entries of 6:20, 7:50, 8:10, 8:20, 9:40, 10:50, and 3:10. Besides, if the Warren commission’s excuse were correct, then why wouldn’t Whaley log the time as 12:45pm? There’s simply no legitimate excuse for this discrepancy.
Furthermore, Whaley claimed that as Oswald boarded the cab, he very generously offered to give it up to an old lady who was also waiting to catch a cab. The problem with this story is that no old lady ever came forward to corroborate Whaley’s account. So just like Mary Bledsoe with the bus charade, we only have Whaley’s word that Oswald boarded his cab, and then generously offered to give it up – even though he was escaping after allegedly murdering the President! The story makes no sense whatsoever.
Whaley’s credibility as a witness to Oswald riding in his cab only gets worse. This is how Whaley described his passenger:
"He was dressed in just ordinary work clothes. It wasn't khaki pants but they were khaki material, blue faded blue colour, like a blue uniform made in khaki. Then he had on a brown shirt with a little silver like stripe on it and he had on some kind of jacket, I didn't notice very close but I think it was a work jacket that almost matched the pants.”
Now if we are to believe the passenger he was describing was Oswald, then there are some major problems. In the first place, Oswald supposedly left the jacket he wore to work on the day of the assassination, on the first floor of the TSBD. It was discovered by TSBD employee, Frank Kaiser, one week following the assassination. In fact, Whaley made the utterly absurd claim that Oswald was wearing TWO jackets at the same time! Excerpt from Whaley’s Warren commission testimony:

Mr. Ball.
Here is Commission No. 162 which is a gray jacket with zipper.

Mr. Whaley.
I think that is the jacket he had on when he rode with me in the cab.

Mr. Ball.
Look something like it? And here is Commission Exhibit No. 163, does this look like anything he had on?

Mr. Whaley.
He had this one on or the other one.

Mr. Ball.
That is right.

Mr. Whaley.
That is what I told you I noticed. I told you about the shirt being open, he had on the two jackets with the open shirt.

As for Whaley’s initial claim that the pants were a “blue faded blue colour”, he then decided Oswald was instead wearing light grey pants. So not only did Whaley claim that Oswald wearing TWO jackets simultaneously (when he had in fact discarded his jacket at the TSBD), he was also inconsistent with his description of Oswald’s pants – first claiming it was a faded blue colour, then claiming it was a light grey colour!
Now, Whaley did identify Oswald’s dark brown shirt as the shirt his passenger was wearing. However, once again his identification has problems. During his testimony, he described the shirt as having a “light coloured stripe” on it. Oswald’s shirt didn’t have a stripe on it. What’s worse is that in his affidavit to the DPD, Whaley described the shirt as a "dark shirt with white spots of something on it". However, examination of photographs of the shirt reveals there are no white spots on it!
Below is a coloured photo of the shirt (designated Ce150), clearly showing that there is no stripe or white spots as Whaley claimed.




As we can see, Whaley’s identification of Oswald as his passenger was a complete disaster. His identification of Oswald from a line-up was equally bad. Whaley attended the line-up on the day following the assassination with fellow cab driver, William Scoggins. When Oswald was brought in for the line-up, he was designated No.3. In his affidavit to the DPD, Whaley claimed that he identified the No.3 man (Oswald) as his passenger. However, during his Warren commission testimony Whaley claimed the man he had actually identified was No.2! Excerpt from Whaley’s testimony:

Mr. Belin.
Now when you saw a line-up down at the police station----

Mr. Whaley.
He didn't have on the same clothes. He had on a white T-shirt and black pants, and that is all he had on.

Mr. Belin.
Do you remember now whether the man that you saw there was the No. 2 or the No. 3 man?

Mr. Whaley.
I will admit he was No. 2.

Mr. Belin.
No. 2 from your left, or from your right?

Mr. Whaley.
He was the third man out in the line of four as they walked out in a line. They put the first man out on the right, and the last one on my left, and as near as I can remember, he was No. 2, but it was the man I hauled.

Mr. Belin.
It says here the No. 3.

Mr. Whaley.
Well, I am not trying to mix nobody up. I'm giving it to you to the best of my ability.

Mr. Belin.
Your memory right now is that it was the No. 2 man?

Mr. Whaley.
That is the way it is right now. I don't think it will change again. But on that afternoon, all I saw was the man that I hauled up there, and they asked me which number he was, and I said No. 2. I am almost sure I did, but I couldn't get up to swear to it that I did, sir.

Mr. Belin.
Just one more minute, if you would, please? Mr. Whaley, earlier in your testimony here you said that Lee Harvey Oswald was No. 3. Do you remember saying that?

Mr. Whaley.
Yes, sir; but I meant that he was the third one out when they walked out with him. I said from my right.

Mr. Belin.
From your right he was No. 3?

Mr. Whaley.
Yes, sir.

Mr. Belin.
What number was over his head?

Mr. Whaley.
Well, they--when they walked over the line and they stopped him, No. 2 was over his head, but he was pulling on both of the other men on each side and arguing with this detective, so he didn't stay under any certain number.

This is yet another disaster for lone gunman zealots. Whaley was adamant during his testimony that the man he identified as his passenger, was the person with the No.2 over his head. This was not Oswald - but rather a teenager named David Edmund Knapp! See here. Whaley also explained that although he claimed in his affidavit the man he identified as his passenger had the No.3 over his head, he meant the person was the third man out. Since the line-up participants walked out with No.4 first and No.1 last, the man Whaley chose was No. 2.

In fact, as Whaley explained to the Warren commission, he signed his affidavit before he actually viewed the line-up! Also, as researcher Gil Jesus has noted, Whaley claimed in his affidavit that after he dropped off his passenger, he saw the man walking away from the cab in a southerly direction along Beckley Street. Whereas Oswald’s rooming house was North of where Whaley dropped off his passenger.
One of the worst aspects of the Warren commission’s “investigation” into Oswald’s alleged cab ride, was there influencing of William Whaley to change the alleged location of the drop off point. In his March testimony, Whaley claimed he dropped Oswald off at the 500 block of Beckley at approximately 12:56 pm. This was confirmed by Whaley in his affidavit. The journey from the greyhound bus station was undertaken by the Whaley with the FBI. It was determined It took 9 minutes to travel from the station to the 500 block of Beckley.
However, during his April testimony, Whaley now changed his story and claimed he dropped off his passenger at the 700 block of Beckley! A timing of the new journey (this time with a secret service man driving the cab) determined it took 5 minutes to travel from the station to the revised drop off location. What a bloody crock! Since when was Whaley allowed to change the alleged drop off point? If this doesn’t convince anybody how much of a crock the Warren commission “investigation” was, then frankly, I don’t know what will.
To summarise, what we have with William Whaley as a witness, is a man who claimed he picked up his passenger at 12:30 pm – the very moment Oswald was allegedly shooting the President. A man who claimed Oswald generously offered to give his cab up to an old lady, only no old lady was ever identified to corroborate Whaley’s account. A man who’s identification of Oswald from his clothing was a complete disaster. A man who told the Warren commission that the person he identified from the line-up as his passenger, was not Oswald. A man who claimed he saw his passenger walk in the opposite direction from Oswald’s rooming house, after he dropped him off. Finally, a man who changed the location of the drop off point for his passenger - which now had Oswald closer to his rooming house, to get there by 1:00 pm.
Based on the above information, I submit the entire cab ride story was a gigantic fabrication! Its whole purpose was to have Oswald leaving on his own following the assassination, and to ensure Oswald could get to his rooming house and to the Tippit murder scene, after Cecil McWatter’s bus became stuck in traffic. Despite his credibility problems, Whaley made the following honest admission to the Warren commission:
“I don't want to get you mixed up and get your whole investigation mixed up through my ignorance, but a good defense attorney could take me apart. I get confused.

I don’t think I could have said any better myself. If you want absolute confirmation that the cab ride was a fabrication, then check out this thread on the Spartacus education forum. As researcher Lee Farley explains: DPD Captain, Will Fritz, knew about Oswald’s so-called Cab ride 2 hours before they were allegedly informed by Whaley’s supervisor at the cab station, that Whaley had recognised Oswald as his passenger.

It simply amazes me how lone gunman zealots accept the statements/testimonies of Mary Bledsoe and William Whaley as being reliable. They are amongst worst witnesses for the lone gunman theory. Now if Oswald didn’t catch the cab to his rooming house, the question is how did he get there? In all likelihood, Oswald was the man Roger Craig, Helen Forrest, James Pennington, Roy Cooper, and Marvin Robinson observed getting into the Rambler station wagon. I believe Oswald was driven to his rooming house inside the Rambler, and given instructions to proceed to the corner of Zang and Beckley streets, where he was then picked up and driven to the Texas Theatre to be arrested by the Dallas police. I discuss this further below.
Now remember, Roger Craig was adamant the man he saw getting into the rambler station wagon was Oswald. Unfortunately, his description of the man he saw is not entirely consistent with Oswald’s appearance. Below is Craig’s description of the man he saw, from his Warren commission testimony.

Oh, he was a white male in his twenties, five nine, five eight, something like that; about 140 to 150; had kind of medium brown sandy hair--you know, it was like it'd been blown--you know, he'd been in the wind or something--it was all wild-looking; had on--uh--blue trousers—“


Craig’s description of the man’s age, height, weight, and hair colour are consistent with Oswald’s. However, his description of the man’s clothing is not consistent with any of the clothing Oswald had amongst his possessions. Could Craig have simply been confused about the colour of the man’s clothing? Well, possibly. But there’s also this to consider. When the DPD compiled a list of the TSBD employees following the President’s assassination, he had Oswald’s name at the top of the list. However, the name was given as Harvey Lee Oswald, and not Lee Harvey Oswald. Next to Oswald’s name, was the address 605 Elsbeth Street. This was a variation of Oswald’s old address, 602 Elsbeth Street. The important thing to note is that the TSBD had his address as 2515 W. 5th St. in Irving (the residence of Ruth Paine).
Researchers, such as Greg Parker, have looked into this oddity, and concluded the only way in which the DPD could have obtained this address, was by Oswald himself. This is significant because it means Oswald didn’t leave the TSBD at 12:33, but rather later on, which gives much credence to Roger Craig’s account of Oswald entering the Rambler station wagon. Baer in mind the Rambler station wagon was observed between 10 to 15 minutes following the assassination.
Whilst lone gunman zealots (including many conspiracy theorists) have challenged whether or not Oswald was actually was responsible for giving the fake address to the DPD, we should bear in mind that the story was corroborated by Dallas postal inspector, Harry Holmes – who was inside the interrogation room with Oswald, as Oswald made this claim to the DPD. According to Greg Parker, the story was mentioned in the Sydney Morning Herald, and was also confirmed by TSBD employee, James Earl Jarman, during his HSCA deposition.
My personal belief is that Oswald was the man seen entering the Rambler station Wagon. Although, it could have been the actual TSBD 6th floor assassin. If it wasn’t Oswald, then by all likelihood he was driven to his rooming house by an unknown Vehicle. However, if there is one thing I am 100% certain of, it is that Oswald was driven to his rooming house, and subsequently to the Texas Theatre by the conspirators. Think about it. With Oswald as the designated patsy, would the conspirators take the enormous risk of allowing Oswald to realise he has been framed for the assassination – and then escape before being arrested and charged? No chance in hell if you ask me!
Still, there are those who will scoff at the idea that the conspirators would risk being seen with Oswald. This is based on the belief that Oswald was framed as a lone nut assassin with communist sympathies. I actually don’t believe this to be the case. Like many others, I think the plan was to implicate the Soviet Union and pro-Castro Cubans as part of a conspiracy. Hence, it was no big deal for Oswald to be seen getting into a vehicle with another person, in my opinion.


From the rooming house to the Texas theatre

As I have previously stated, I am 100% convinced that Oswald was driven to his rooming house, and then subsequently to the Texas Theatre to be arrested as the assassin. As I also previously stated, Oswald’s official arrival time at his rooming house was 1:00 pm. This was based on the claim by his house keeper, Earlene Roberts.
According to Warren commission Zealots, Oswald enters his room to retrieve his revolver, after which he leaves his rooming house, and shoots Officer JD Tippit whilst “escaping”. However there is no solid proof that Oswald ever owned a revolver, or the ammunition. All we have is the word of the notoriously corrupt Dallas police force, which I briefly discussed in this post.
The revolver (designated Ce143) which Oswald allegedly owned was a 0.38 snub nose, Smith and Wesson special. According to the Warren commission, Oswald ordered it from Seaport Traders, and was shipped to his PO Box in Dallas via the REA (Railway express agency). Below is a photograph of the revolver.
 


Oswald allegedly ordered the revolver under the fictitious name, Alek James Hidell. As is the case with the rifle order, there are many problems with the revolver order. As researcher John Armstrong has demonstrated in his book, Harvey and Lee, there is no documentation the REA office in Dallas was notified of the gun’s arrival. There was no signed receipt for the revolver, no receipt for the COD charges, and there was also no documentation that the balance due for the revolver was ever received by REA. There’s also the fact that      Oswald allegedly ordered the $29.95 model, but was mysteriously given the $39.95 0.38 special instead.
Let’s also bear in mind that Oswald’s housekeeper, Earlene Roberts, never saw a revolver amongst Oswald’s belongings. The following are excerpts from her testimony before the Warren commission.

Mr. Ball.
Then, when you saw him, did you see any part of his belt?

Mrs. Roberts.
No.

Mr. Ball.
There is some suspicion that when he left there he might have had a pistol or a revolver in his belt; did you see anything like that?

Mrs. Roberts.
No; I sure didn't.

Further on during her testimony:

Mr. Ball.
Did you ever know he had a gun in his room?

Mrs. Roberts.
No; I sure did not.

Further on, in response to questions regarding her television interview:
Mr. Ball.
Did they ever ask you if you knew whether Oswald had a gun in his room or not?

Mrs. Roberts.
Yes; they asked me and I told them "No"--for I didn't.

Mr. Ball.
You didn't know whether he had a gun in there or not?

Mrs. Roberts.
No--I didn't.

Mr. Ball.
You never saw one?

Mrs. Roberts.
No, sir.

Mr. Ball.
Did you tell them that?

Mrs. Roberts.
I sure did---I didn't know he had a gun.

As we can see, Mrs Roberts was certain she never saw a gun in Oswald’s room. Now, she did testify that there were certain drawers she never looked into – and that Oswald could have kept his gun in one of those drawers. However, the point remains that she never ever saw a gun in his room. It’s really quite pathetic how Joseph Ball constantly kept asking her to state whether or not she recalled seeing a gun. It reminds me about his questioning of TSBD employee, Jack Dougherty.
As far as the ammunition for the revolver is concerned, let’s keep in mind that no bullets were ever discovered in either his rooming house or the Paine’s residence. There were no witnesses who ever came forward claiming to have sold Oswald the ammunition. Finally, there were no receipts for any ammo purchase ever discovered. Remember that Tippit was shot with two brands of bullets (Remington Peters, and Winchester Westerns).
With all the above problems regarding the revolver and bullets, there are three alternatives as to how the Revolver and the bullets ended up in Oswald’s possession, in my opinion.
1.      Oswald stole both the revolver and bullets.

2.      Oswald was given the revolver with the two different brands of bullets by the conspirators as he was driven to the Texas theatre from his rooming house.

3.      A member(s) of the DPD (who were part of the conspiracy) planted the revolver and bullets on Oswald at the Texas theatre.

As far as option one is concerned, there is no evidence to support it. As for option two, it’s certainly less risky for the conspirators to simply give the revolver to Oswald, than it is for a complicit police officer(s) to plant the weapon on him - with witnesses around him/them. The excuse the conspirators could have used for giving Oswald the revolver was for his own protection. However, Oswald could easily have become suspicious that he was being set-up. Of course, this would be the last thing the conspirators would want. John Armstrong has been arguing that Jack Ruby (the very same Jack Ruby who later shot and killed Oswald) was responsible for giving the gun and bullets to Oswald, outside of the TSBD. In my honest opinion, this scenario sounds incredibly risky to me.
Many conspiracy advocates are of the belief that both the gun and ammo were planted on Oswald by a complicit DPD officer(s). Researcher, Greg Parker, believes that officer was Nick McDonald- the first officer to approach Oswald inside the theatre. Others have made a case against Sgt Gerald Hill – a man whose activities following the assassination are highly suspect. Be sure to browse through the many thought provoking discussions of this issue on the Spartacus education forum.

(Please note: Theatre Patron, John Gibson, testified before the Warren commission that he observed Oswald standing in the aisle holding the revolver. On the other hand, another Patron named George Jefferson Applin, testified that he wasn’t sure whether or not It was Oswald with the revolver in his hand).
What lends credence to option three is that the five Winchester western bullets, “found” in Oswald’s pants pocket, were somehow overlooked during the fast frisk by the Dallas police at the Theatre when Oswald was arrested. However, the official story is that the bullets were “discovered” a couple of hours later, at the police station when Oswald was searched. So how the heck could the police have missed the bullets when they Searched Oswald at the Theatre? It simply defies belief. But not according to lone gunman zealots.
Let’s also not forget about the “indent” which was left on one of the shells, when the gun allegedly misfired inside the theatre. When the FBI’s ballistic examiner, Courtland Cunningham, examined the bullets inside the revolver, he claimed the indent was not caused by the firing pin of the revolver. So how did it get there? Many researchers believe it was added to the shell to make it look like Oswald had tried to fire the revolver inside the theatre, and I agree with them.
Researcher Gil Jesus has also demonstrated that the five Winchester western shells “found” on Oswald had most likely been inside a leather gun belt or bullet slide. Oswald of course didn’t own a gun belt or bullet slide! He has also demonstrated, that the chain of custody of the five shells was not properly established. See here.
As I mentioned previously, I believe Oswald was driven to the Theatre by the conspirators. It makes no sense (in my opinion) that the Conspirators would not ensure Oswald was at the theatre. One of the most despicable aspects of the Warren commission’s enquiry into Oswald’s movements following President Kennedy's assassination is the fact that no one inside the theatre was asked what time they observed Oswald enter the Theatre!  Gee, I think that’s important isn’t it? Not that lone gunman zealots are interested, as long as to them Oswald is guilty.


Remaining questions and possible answers

The following is a list of questions concerning certain aspects of Oswald’s “escape” from the TSBD, which I believe are still to be answered. I have provided what I believe to be plausible answers to these questions.

1.      How was Oswald given the signal to proceed to the corner of Zang and Beckley streets?

In my opinion, it was the police car which honked its horn twice outside of Oswald’s room, as he was inside. This was based on the observation by Earlene Roberts. Roberts testified before the Warren commission that a police car honked its horn twice, at the same time Oswald was inside his room.

2.      If Johnny Brewer’s story is false, then how was the police alerted to Oswald’s presence inside the Theatre?

This is a very important question. I believe it was Brewer’s “IBM friends” who informed Brewer that they had seen a man looking “scared” enter the Texas Theatre, as the police cars were speeding along Jefferson Blvd. The first time Brewer mentioned these “IBM friends” was during his interview with former British detective, Ian Griggs. The fact that nothing is known about these men – and that these men just happened to be inside Brewer’s shoe store on the day of the assassination (and at the same time as Oswald was to enter the theatre), is one hell of a coincidence if you ask me.

3.      What time did Oswald enter the theatre?

If Johnny Brewer’s testimony is to be believed, Oswald entered the theatre at approximately 1:30 pm. However, as I discussed above, I don’t believe Brewer actually saw Oswald. The main reason I don’t believe Brewer (and Julia Postal for that matter) is the fact that it took the DPD until the 6th of December to obtain an affidavit from him!
Lone gunman zealots have tried to explain this away by claiming, get this, the DPD were too busy. Well busy with what for god’s sake? Oswald was the man they not only charged for killing one of their fellow officers, but they charged him for murdering the President. The only logical explanation, in my opinion, is that the DPD needed time to set Brewer’s and Postal’s stories straight.
Jim Douglass, author of the seminal book, JFK and the unspeakable, tracked down Warren “Butch” Burroughs – who was working behind the concession stand on inside the Theatre, on the day of the assassination. According to Douglass, Burroughs claimed he saw Oswald enter the theatre between 1:00 pm and 1:07 pm. He also claimed he sold Oswald pop-corn at 1:15 pm – the “official” time of Officer Tippit’s murder!
Given the interview took place decades following the assassination, I honestly wouldn’t give it a substantial amount of weight. It’s also important to note that Theatre Patron, Jack Davis, observed Oswald enter the theatre prior to 1:20 pm. Not surprisingly, Davis was not called to testify before the Warren commission.

4.      What was the conspirators excuse to Oswald as to why he was to go to the Theatre?

In my opinion, Oswald was tricked into believing he was to make contact with someone inside the Theatre. The evidence for this is the fact that patrons, such as Jack Davis, saw Oswald change seats and sit next to a number of different people. This makes sense if Oswald was searching for a contact.
 

 






9 comments:

  1. please note:

    When I say Oswald was driven to the Texas Theatre, I don't actually mean he was dropped off directly in front of it.

    I believe he was dropped off about a block away, and walked the rest of the way.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Please note:

    After reading through this post, I realised that I neglected to mention that a holster for a gun was allegedly discovered at Oswald's rooming house.

    However, like the ammunition for "Oswald's" revolver, there is no proof that Oswald ever purchased a holster.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Late on the afternoon of the assassination, all DPD knew in regard to how Oswald reached 1026 North Beckley was that he allegedly insisted that he took a bus. At 5.18 pm, Roger Craig said that he identified Oswald as the man escaping in the station wagon on Elm Street at 12.40.

    However, Craig’s sighting implied a conspiracy and I believe that this early in the investigation DPD and the FBI simply didn’t want to know. There may also have been pressure from the highest authority.

    Cecil McWatters’ bus was stopped as it passed through central Dallas just after 6 pm and he was kept in the City Hall for several hours. It strikes me that the supposed bus trip had become something of a necessity.

    Nonetheless, it will have been realised that the traffic delays caused by the assassination would have prevented the McWatters bus taking Oswald to his rooming house by 1 pm. The next day it seems that attention focused on a taxi trip. Bill Whaley turned up on the Saturday afternoon and his affidavit represents a positive identification of Oswald – in particular, he mentions the brown ‘arrest shirt’ and the bracelet. There were clearly problems, though, in the timing and where he dropped Oswald off. The 500 block is too far from Oswald’s rooming house to accept that this was the passenger’s destination. There is also no mention of Oswald’s ‘two jackets’.

    I have a nagging suspicion that in order to nail their man, certain DPD and FBI officers made sure that Whaley and Bledsoe identified the ‘arrest shirt’. It had been taken off Oswald by the Saturday.

    If Oswald had been wearing the ‘arrest shirt’, it is reasonable to argue that the bus transfer was found in its pocket. On the other hand, it bears no relation to the clothing worn by the 6th floor sniper as described by several witnesses. Linnie Mae Randle thought the shirt Oswald wore was a ‘solid colour’, Marrion Baker prevaricated but seemed to suggest a ‘light brown jacket’ and Marina said that Oswald wore the arrest shirt to work that day.

    My view is that Oswald made his getaway in the station wagon. Incidentally, should it have travelled along either the R L Thornton freeway-Colorado or Commerce-Beckley routes he could have arrived home by at least 12.50 pm. Alternatively, there was time for some brief meeting.

    I am convinced that elements within DPD knew all about Oswald. Not only do we have car #207 outside 1026 at 1 pm, but both Earlene Roberts and Gladys Johnson said police searched the property long before they officially knew – and possibly before Oswald was arrested!

    The mode of transport Oswald took from the TSBD to 1026 North Beckley has a huge bearing on whether there was a conspiracy. I cannot envisage conspirators taking a chance on Oswald being left unobserved. For this reason, I rule out the possibility that Oswald was heading towards Ruby’s house when Tippit was shot.

    The DPD radio log has not received as much attention as it should by researchers. It is evident that not only is the explanation for Tippit’s presence in Oak Cliff highly suspicious, but so too are the actions of several other police officers in the vicinity.

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  4. Hi, thanks for your detailed response. I only wish I had more people post responses such as your own. Regarding the so called bus ride, if the DPD knew Oswald had taken the bus, then why in God's name didn't Curry mention it to reporters when asked about how Oswald "got to the other side of town", claiming instead that "we have heard that he [Oswald] was picked up by a Negroe, in a car". Plus, Mary Bledsoe didn't provide her affidavit until the day following the assassination.


    Regarding DPD patrol car 207, I don't know if you are aware, but that car was assigned to Officer Jim Valentine, and took DPD Sgt Gerald Hill to Dealey Plaza. As I explained in my article on Hill, he lied about how he got to Oak Cliff following Tippit's murder. I don't believe for even a nano second that it was just a coincidence that Hill lied, and that the car Earlene Roberts identified was the one which took him (by his own admission) to Dealey Plaza. If you read through my article on Hill, I think you'll be convinced that he framed Oswald for Tippit's murder!


    When you said "I cannot envisage conspirators taking a chance on Oswald being left unobserved", I think you hit the nail on the head. I don't believe the conspirators would take the chance of having their designated Patsy realise that he had been set up, and decide to flee before he got to the Theatre to be arrested (and framed by Hill).


    Btw, if you haven't already, please check out my posts on Tippit and the Hidell ID. I think you'll be convinced that Tippit was lured to 10th and Patton, with the wallet being left their to incriminate Oswald. Please feel free to post more comments on any of my articles.

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    1. I strongly believe that Tippit was a player in the conspiracy. He may have been lured to East Tenth Street but his presence in north-east Oak Cliff was no accident. The key may lie in who resided at number 410.

      The actions of several officers are worthy of deeper scrutiny.

      W D Mentzel (91) took a lunch-break two minutes or so after the assassination. He called in during the ‘stuck mic’ phase but his voice is barely discernible. There was no acknowledgement. He claimed during the HSCA investigation that he was in a restaurant on West Jefferson two blocks from the Texas Theater. The reason J D Tippit was ostensibly sent to Oak Cliff (although I believe he was there already) was because the area was being stripped of resources! The only officer on a lunch-break during the entirety of this frenetic period, Mentzel came back into service at 1.07.

      Mentzel missed a radio call immediately after Tippit was killed. Missed radio calls were a black mark against officers and Tippit had missed calls on average only once every 12 or 18 months. However, within ten minutes of (supposedly) arriving in Oak Cliff he missed another.

      Thirty seconds or so before the famous radio message from Murray Jackson telling Tippit (78) and R C Nelson (87) to move into ‘the central Oak Cliff area’, W D Parker (56) had stated his position was ‘East Jefferson’. At this point Parker had requested a break for 5 minutes – a few minutes previously he too had failed to answer a call from the dispatcher. Parker was 10 miles away from his patrol district in Garland. Incidentally, Nelson ignored the order – this leads some to believe it was added artificially after the event to cover for Tippit.

      Other patrolmen closer to Oak Cliff than Tippit at the time, included CT Walker (223) (who was at the fire station on East Jefferson), J M Lewis (35) at 105 Corinth (several miles from his assigned district of Farmers Branch), and Unit 101 (probably B L Bass) which was on the south side of the Houston Street Viaduct (this is where Tippit was seen waiting by 5 witnesses at 12.45). To confuse matters further, at approximately 1.06 Unit 221 (H W Summers) signalled he was at or travelling to 600 West Jefferson. North-east Oak Cliff could hardly be said to have been stripped of resources.

      And there has been no mention as yet of Unit 104 – the vehicle with #207 on its side. This was seen outside the TSBD at 12.55. It looks likely that two officers took this car directly to Oak Cliff immediately after it parked. Who they were is unknown, although Earlene Roberts said they were in uniform.

      It seems very suspicious that this was the vehicle Hill took to the TSBD.

      Kenneth Croy was the first policeman (albeit an off-duty reserve) to attend the Tippit shooting. Reading his Warren testimony I get exactly the same impression as when examining Harry Olsen’s. I don’t believe they were telling the truth.

      My view is that elements within DPD were involved in at least two the three murders that weekend.

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    2. Thanks for yet another informative comment.

      You said that car 207 was seen outside the TSBD at 12:55 pm. What footage/photograph are you referring to? The only one I'm aware of can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODw2QMFkf_0. At the 14:55 mark, there's a DPD Officer who I am certain was Gerald Hill exiting car 207. Behind him, we can see who I think is Jim Ewell, the news reporter who went with Hill to the TSBD, exiting the car.

      There is no doubt in my mind that Hill lied about how he got to Oak Cliff, and the fact Roberts said she saw car 207 outside Oswald's rooming house is no coincidence. She might only have assumed they were uniformed Officers, since she saw a patrol car, and most people would assume the cops inside the car have uniforms. Jim Valentine was never called to testify before the Warren Commission; even though he should have been!

      I'll bet Hill ordered Valentine to turn the keys over to him, and that this was covered up because the FBI and DPD knew that it was Hill and another cop outside Oswald's rooming house! I'd bet it was Harry Olsen, who's story about guarding the "estate" stinks of bullshit.

      Hill was the only DPD cop who was on the 6th floor of the TSBD, at Oak Cliff, at the Texas Theatre, inside the car when Oswald was being brought to Police headquarters, AND had possession of "Oswald's" gun.

      He also reported at 1:26 pm on Channel 1 that he has a man who can identify the suspect if anyone gets him. Some things to keep in mind about this incident 1). Hill made no mention of having a witness with him during his testimony 2). The alleged witness, Harold Russell, said he was put into a cop car during his interview with the FBI in February; but made no mention of this during his January interview. Like Harold Norman, Linnie Mae Randle, Charles Givens etc his memory had miraculously improved! 3). I don't think Hill took the car to just honk the horn outside Oswald's rooming house, then lie about it under oath.

      No, I think Hill picked up Tippit's murderer (probably from the alley leading to Beckley Street), and took the gun from him to frame Oswald inside the Theatre.

      Btw, that's some very good info on the DPD you've posted. I recall reading something very similar by Duke Lane, on John Simkin's education forum. There was definately DPD complicity in the assassination and framing Oswald. As far as Oswald's death is concerned, I think Patrick Dean was the one who let Ruby into the basement.

      As for Tippit, I think he only thought he had some big role in the conspiracy. I think once he got to 10th and Patton, he was told something to the effect "There's been a change in plans, step out of the car so we can talk" then he was shot with the wallet bearing ID for Oswald and Hidell left there to incriminate Oswald.

      I discussed the alleged Tippit order in my "The Tippit murder: Unresolved issues - part 1" post. I don't think he was ever ordered to central Oak Cliff. William Scoggins, Aquilla Clemmons, Jimmy Burt, and Virginia Davis gave statements suggesting Tippit was at 10th and Patton frequently. It was the ideal spot to lure Tippit and kill him.

      Please keep those comments coming! We might disagree on some issues, but I hope that you continue to post more comments like the above.

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    3. I’m uncertain about Hill’s presence in the TSBD. On the one hand, if it was a lie it was surely a very high-risk strategy. Why not just say that ‘I looked in the railroad yard/the rear of the TSBD’? He might easily have been called to account at some stage.

      Against this, Luke Mooney says nothing about Hill in his testimony. If a relatively senior DPD officer was present immediately after the shells were found and was shouting out the window (as Mooney claims he did), it would surely have been mentioned.

      My reading of the testimony from Westbrook, Olsen and Croy is that they are not telling the truth. They are evasive, defensive and ambiguous. Hill goes to the opposite extreme – he is highly confident and gives the impression of being super-efficient. But perhaps people simply react differently when put in a similar position.

      Should car #207 have travelled to Oak Cliff in time to arrive at 1026 North Beckley at or just after 1 pm it must have left the TSBD immediately. I don’t see it as necessary for Hill to be in this vehicle for him to have been part of the plot. Then again, there appears to be no corroboration of his trip to Oak Cliff.

      The order to Tippit and Nelson at 12.45 to move into central Oak Cliff was followed at approx. 12.48 by Unit 101 saying ’87, I’m on south end of Houston Street Viaduct’. Unit 87 was Nelson’s car – in response to Murray Jackson’s instruction, he said he was ‘going north on Marsalis at R L Thornton.’ The distance and route involved suggest that Nelson may have passed Unit 101 at 12.48. What makes this particularly interesting is that Tippit was observed at the Gloco station on the south end of the Viaduct at exactly this time. Also, Unit 101 had already been instructed to head for ‘Elm and Houston’ – what was it doing at 12.48?

      Should the instruction at 12.45 have been dubbed on later, then the original order may have been that Nelson and Tippit should head to Dealey Plaza. Nonetheless, Murray Jackson’s interest in Tippit’s position – he requested this at 12.54 and 1.03 – has always seemed excessive to me. It suggests he knew what Tippit was involved in.

      In Calvin Owen’s testimony taken on April 9th there is much prevarication over what Tippit was actually doing. He claims that Tippit may have been travelling to Dealey Plaza via Oak Cliff - but he may also have been ‘filling in’ for others. This isn’t plausible. It seems that the ‘official line’ had yet to be established at this stage.

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    4. There are definately many reasons to be suspicious about the DPD. I think you have done a great deal of work on that issue. You're suspicions about Murray Jackson are also very interesting. He was apparently a close family friend of Tippit's, but who knows.

      As per Hill and car 207, at 12:47 pm he reported that he and Valentine were en route to the Elm street, code 3. Jim Ewell, who rode with them, told Larry Sneed that "we were at the TSBD probably in less than two minutes".

      Let's remember that Earlene Roberts never said that it was 1:00 pm when Oswald arrived - she only assumed that it was.

      Mr. BALL. Can you tell me what time it was approximately that Oswald came in?

      Mrs. ROBERTS. Now, it must have been around 1 o'clock, or maybe a little after, because it was after President Kennedy had been shot-what time I wouldn't want to say because

      Let's say it was actually 1:05 pm that Oswald arrived at his rooming house. If the footage of car 207 was taken at 12:55 pm, Hill may have left the 6th floor shortly after, jumped into the car, and sped off towards Oak Cliff. However, I remain open to possibility that it wasn't Hill inside the car. But I think it was.

      Also, if you read my post on the timing of the Tippit murder, I think you'll be convinced that Tippit was shot at 1:06 pm.

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  5. On that dark shirt which someone had seen "white spots", what do you think those two bright white buttons look like? SPOTS!

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