Charles Douglas Givens vs. Lee Harvey Oswald

A favourite “witness” amongst lone gunman zealots in the case against Oswald is Charles Douglas Givens. At the time of the assassination, Givens was working at the TSBD as an order filler. Givens testified to the Warren Commission that he had seen Oswald on the 6^th floor of the TSBD at approximately 11:55 pm. However, in his affidavit to the DPD (here) on the day of the assassination, and during his interview with the FBI on the following day, Givens made absolutely no mention of seeing Oswald on the 6^th floor, as he claimed to the Warren Commission.

According to page 143 of the Warren report, Givens was the last person to see Oswald prior to the assassination at 12:30 pm. However, this was an outright lie! Eddie Piper, the Janitor of the TSBD, testified before the Warren Commission that he observed Oswald on the first floor at 12:00 pm. Carolyn Arnold, the secretary to the Vice President of the TSBD, informed the FBI that she caught a glimpse of a man whom she believed was Oswald on the first floor just prior to the assassination (See here for a good discussion on Arnold’s observations).

It is not my intention to discuss the lies told by Givens, as his lies have been covered in great detail by countless researchers. However, suffice it to say that only the most delusional of Warren Commission defenders would consider Givens reliable – and without hesitation, they do. My intention in this article is to discuss how Givens was likely suborned to lie about Oswald’s presence on the 6^th floor prior to the assassination.

First of all, consider that Givens was reported as missing from the TSBD following the assassination. At 1:46 pm, an All-Points Bulletin (APB) was broadcast on channel 1 of the DPD radio by DPD inspector Herbert Sawyer, concerning Charles Givens. Oddly, there was no APB broadcast on Oswald – even though Roy Truly (the superintendent of the TSBD) had reported to DPD Captain Will Fritz that Oswald was missing. The following was the APB broadcast concerning Givens.

“We have a man we would like to have you pass this up on to the CID to see if we can pick this man up. Charles Douglas Givens, G-I-V-E-N-S. He's a colored male, thirty-seven, six foot three, a hundred sixty-five pounds. He has an ID number in the Sheriff's Department, 37954. He's a porter that worked on this floor up here. He has a police record and he left.”

Secondly, as stated in the APB, Givens had a criminal record. Givens had apparently been arrested for possession of narcotics. Obviously, the fact that Givens and had a prior Police record, made him suspicious enough to inspector Sawyer to broadcast an APB on the DPD radio, that he was missing from the TSBD following the assassination. 

Finally, let’s take into account the observation of former Dallas deputy Sheriff, Roger Craig. As I explained here, Roger Craig claimed he saw Oswald enter a Nash rambler station wagon driving west along Elm Street. Craig also claimed the man driving the station wagon was a “Dark complected white male”.

During an interview with reporters on the day following the assassination (here), DPD chief Jesse Curry was asked how Oswald had travelled “to the other side of town”. Curry responded by explaining “We have heard that he was picked-up by a Negroe in a car”. The source for this information was undoubtedly Roger Craig. Now, although Craig claimed the driver of the station wagon was a “Dark complected white male”, Curry could easily have misinterpreted this to mean a Negroe.

Now think about it. Givens had a criminal record. He was reported as missing from the TSBD following the assassination. Roger Craig believed he saw a “Dark complected white male” driving the station wagon, which Curry interpreted as a Negroe. Charles Givens, of course, was a Negroe. In my opinion, the DPD and/or the FBI had threatened to charge Givens as Oswald’s Co-conspirator who drove Oswald away from Dealey Plaza - unless he co-operated with them to implicate Oswald as President Kennedy’s assassin! I believe this is why Givens later claimed that he had seen Oswald on the 6^th floor at about 11:55 pm.

It should be noted that Givens’s excuse for going to the 6^th floor was to retrieve a packet of Cigarettes from his jacket which he had allegedly left there. I highly recommend you read through Pat Speer’s discussion on Givens here, and also be sure to check out Gil Jesus’s discussion on Givens here.

Although lone gunman zealots naturally scoff at the idea that Givens was suborned by the DPD and/or the FBI to implicate Oswald, there is good reason to believe that they would. First of all, consider that with the President of the United States murdered, someone had to quickly be held accountable. Oswald had left the TSBD shortly following the assassination. He had punched DPD Officer Nick McDonald inside the Texas Theatre after allegedly shouting “This is it” or “Well, it’s all over now” (See here), and then allegedly tried to shoot him with a revolver.

Furthermore, Oswald’s finger/palm prints were found on two of the boxes in the so-called sniper’s nest, and the so-called backyard photographs of Oswald holding the rifle were discovered on the day following the assassination. With a viable suspect such as Oswald already in custody, does anyone honestly believe the DPD and the FBI would claim the assassin(s) of the President were at large? In my honest opinion, there’s no chance in hell they would!

For a discussion of the evidence against Oswald, please refer to my two part article here. Better yet, check out Pat Speer’s excellent discussion of the evidence on his website, and also check out Gil Jesus’s discussion of the evidence on his website. Let me also state for the record that the DPD and Henry Wade (the Dallas District attorney at the time of the assassination) were notorious for convicting innocent people. An excellent discussion of this issue can be found here on the CTKA.net website.

There are some researchers who will argue that Givens’s wasn’t suborned to implicate Oswald, since he made no mention of seeing Oswald with a rifle on the 6^th floor. However, Givens could not be suborned to state that he saw Oswald with a rifle, because if he truly had, there would be no way in which he could rationally explain to the Warren Commission why he didn’t inform the DPD the FBI and the Secret Service, that he had seen Oswald with a rifle on the 6^th floor. I hope that makes sense.

On a final note, some conspiracy advocates have argued that Givens was in fact the “Dark complected White male” who was driving the Nash rambler station wagon along Elm Street. Although I think this is an intriguing possibility, there is absolutely no firm evidence which proves this claim.

The filthy lies of Nick McDonald

In this article, I discuss the various demonstrable lies told by DPD Officer Nick McDonald. As most researchers are aware, McDonald was the first DPD Officer to approach Oswald inside the Texas Theatre. McDonald had ordered Oswald to stand-up, after which Oswald allegedly yelled out “Well, it’s all over now” and then punched McDonald in the nose. After punching McDonald, Oswald allegedly reached for a revolver inside his belt and then tried to shoot McDonald (for a discussion of this issue, please refer to this article).

In this article, I explained that during an interview with WFAA-TV on the day following the assassination, McDonald claimed that just prior to being punched in the nose by Oswald, Oswald had allegedly shouted out “This is it”. However, in his arrest report to DPD chief Jesse Curry, McDonald now claimed that Oswald had shouted out “Well, it’s all over now” – and not “This is it”! During his Warren Commission testimony, and during subsequent interviews, McDonald maintained that Oswald had shouted out “Well, it’s all over now”.

As I have explained previously, no other DPD Officer or witness to Oswald’s arrest claimed they heard Oswald shout out the words “This is it”, or “Well, it’s all over now”. However, I had neglected to mention that DPD Officer Ray Hawkins claimed during his Warren Commission testimony that he heard McDonald shout out “This is it” – and not Oswald! The following is from Hawkins’s testimony.

Mr. Ball

He was--he [McDonald] walked over to the right aisle, did he?

Mr. Hawkins

He walked from the right aisle and came in from the person's right. I was about three rows from--still in the same aisle, on the left aisle and about three rows from McDonald and Oswald when I heard him say, "I've got him," or "This is it," or some words to that effect.

Mr. Ball

Did you hear Oswald say anything?

Mr. Hawkins

Not at that time; no, sir; I did not

As we can see, Hawkins’s claimed that he believed it was McDonald who shouted out “This is it”. Researchers such as Greg Parker have argued that McDonald was involved in the conspiracy to assassinate the President – and was attempting to plant the revolver on Oswald inside the Theatre. However, as I explained here, by all likelihood it was DPD Sgt Gerald Hill who was attempting to plant the revolver on Oswald!

In any event, if McDonald shouted out “This is it” as Officer Hawkins’s claimed, then he may have inadvertently said it to Oswald because he had known in advance that Oswald would be arrested! Perhaps McDonald’s role in the conspiracy was to provoke Oswald into a scuffle – during which Gerald Hill would shout out that he had “Oswald’s” gun as part of the frame-up. I certainly believe this is quite likely.

Given the fact that no other DPD Officer or witness to Oswald’s arrest recalled hearing him  shout out what McDonald claimed, and given the fact that McDonald initially claimed Oswald shouted out “This is it” and then claimed Oswald shouted out “Well, it’s all over now”, common sense tells us that beyond a shadow of a doubt McDonald was lying. However, do dishonest lone gunman kooks mention any of this? Absolutely not.

(Please note: During an interview with researcher Ian Griggs in 1996, Johnny Brewer, who allegedly spotted Oswald outside his shoe store looking “funny/scared” claimed he heard Oswald say words to the effect “It’s over now”. However, he made no mention of this during his affidavit to the DPD in December 1963 (here), or in his interview with the FBI in March 1964 (here, page 14) or during his Warren Commission testimony.

As mentioned previously, none of the other arresting Officers ever claimed to have heard Oswald say anything prior to punching McDonald. Therefore, Brewer’s claim to Ian Griggs was a lie.)

Let’s also keep in mind that McDonald claimed during his Warren Commission testimony that he was responsible for resolving the false alarm at the Jefferson Branch Library - following the broadcast by Officer Charles Walker on the DPD radio that he had seen the Tippit murderer run into the Library. The man Walker observed turned out to be Adrian Hamby, who worked at the Library as a Page.

The following is from McDonald’s testimony.

Mr. Ball

And did you get a call over your radio to go to a certain place?

Mr. McDonald 

Well, there was a report from the dispatcher that a suspect was seen running into the public library at Marsalis and Jefferson.

Mr. Ball

You went down there?

Mr. McDonald 

Yes, sir. I went directly to Denver Street, which is an alley at that point. It is still designated as Denver Street. I parked the squad car, took my shotgun, and went to the west basement entrance to the public library, and ordered the people in the basement, in the library outside. They came out with their hands up. The boy immediately said that he had just run into the library to tell the people that the President had been shot. He was a much younger person than what was broadcast on description on the radio.

Unfortunately for McDonald’s claim, there is no support from any of McDonald’s fellow DPD Officers in their reports or in their Warren Commission testimonies, that McDonald was responsible for resolving the situation. In fact, the following is from Charles Walker’s Warren Commission testimony concerning the Library incident.

Mr. Belin

Then what did you do? Did you go into the library?

Mr. Walker

As soon as the squads got there, I walked around with the other squads to the west entrance of the building, and we ordered everyone out of the building. They all came out with their hands up.

Mr. Belin

Was this the upstairs?

Mr. Walker

No; it is the downstairs. You had to go downstairs to get to it.

Mr. Belin

Something like a basement?

Mr. Walker

Yes. It is a semi basement, I would call it. And everyone came out, and I saw the person that had run in there, and he said that he had ran there to tell the other people about the shooting. And let's see, that he worked there, he told me he worked there and everything. I soon determined he wasn't the one

As we can see, not only did Walker fail to give McDonald sole credit for resolving the situation, but also stated that there was a squad of Officers who had ordered the occupants to exit the Library. However, the possibility exists that McDonald had simply neglected to mention that his fellow Officers were also involved in resolving the situation, and was not lying.

The obvious question is why McDonald would want to take sole credit for resolving the false alarm at the Library. In my opinion, it was because McDonald was quite cocky, and wanted to portray himself as a hero/top cop. As a matter of fact, this is demonstrated by the lies he told during his interview on the Top Cops show (see here).

During the interview, McDonald took credit for handcuffing Oswald inside the Texas Theatre. However, this was an outright lie! It was Officer Ray Hawkins who had actually handcuffed Oswald. Hawkins made this claim in his report concerning Oswald’s arrest (here), and during his Warren Commission testimony. Hawkins’s claim was corroborated by Officers Charles Walker, Thomas Hutson, and Gerald Hill during their Warren Commission testimonies.

From Hawkins’s testimony:

“……McDonald had grabbed him [Oswald] by the right hand and Sergeant Hill grabbed the gun and at this time I handcuffed his left hand. There were several officers shortly after that arrived at the scene.”

From Walker’s testimony:

“Ray Hawkins was on my left. He said, "Bring his arm around." and said, "I have the handcuffs." He said, "Bring his arm around so I can get the cuffs on him." I finally got his left arm around and I snapped the cuffs on it, and Hawkins went over the seat there and picked up, someone pulled his right arm around there, and Hawkins snapped the handcuffs on him……..”

From Hutson’s testimony:

……They were all in on the struggle, and Officer Hawkins, in other words, he simultaneously, we decided to handcuff him. We had restrained him after the pistol was taken, but he was still resisting arrest, and we stood him up and I let go of his neck at this time and took hold of his right arm and attempted to bring it back behind him, and Officer Hawkins and Walker and myself attempted to handcuff him. At this time Sgt. Jerry Hill came up and assisted as we were handcuffing…..

From Hill’s testimony:

…..I said, "Let's handcuff him." And being that I was working in plainclothes and working in personnel didn't have a pair of handcuffs, and I asked Hawkins if he had. And he said, "Yes." And I said, "Let's get them." And Hawkins and I handcuffed him while the others held him.

As we can see, there is absolutely no corroboration for McDonald’s claim that he had handcuffed Oswald. In fact, McDonald himself claimed during his testimony that “….the officers that had come to my aid started handcuffing him and taking him out of the theatre”! Therefore, it is beyond any shadow of a doubt that McDonald lied during his interview on the Top Cops show.

McDonald also claimed in the show that he had informed DPD Captain Will Fritz that Oswald was in custody. However, this was another outright lie. It was actually Officer Gerald Hill who had informed Fritz that Oswald was in custody. Furthermore, McDonald made no mention of informing Fritz that Oswald was in custody during his testimony. The following is from Hill’s testimony.

“….He [Captain Fritz] walked up to Rose and Stovall and made the statement to them, "Go get a search warrant and go out to some address on Fifth Street," and I don't recall the actual street number, in Irving, and "pick up a man named Lee Oswald." And I asked the captain why he wanted him, and he said, "Well, he was employed down at the Book Depository and he had not been present for a roll call of the employees." And we said, "Captain, we will save you a trip," or words to that effect, "Because there he sits." And with that, we relinquished our prisoner to the homicide and robbery bureau, to Captain Fritz….”.

By “And we said”, Hill is almost certainly referring to Officers Paul Bentley, Charles Walker, Bob Carroll, and K.E Lyons – the four other Officers who escorted Oswald to City Hall with Hill following his arrest. It should also be noted that during his testimony, McDonald claimed that he didn’t go to City Hall with the aforementioned Officers. See below.

Mr. Ball  

Now, did you go with them outside?

Mr. McDonald 

No, sir.

Mr. Ball  

What did you do?

Mr. McDonald  

I was looking for my hat and flashlight.

Mr. Ball

Did you go downtown with them?

Mr. McDonald  

No, sir.

As I hope you have come to realise, Nick McDonald was a filthy liar. Yet lone gunman zealots uphold him as being an honest Police Officer, while simultaneously calling former Dallas deputy Sheriff Roger Craig a liar for various reasons (for information on Roger Craig, please refer to this post).

To be perfectly frank, I find it absolutely sickening that lone gunman zealots continue to defend McDonald, and other demonstrable liars in the DPD, as being honest and honourable men. For more information on the various lies by the DPD, I encourage you to read through my previous articles on this blog. In particular, please read through my two part article on Gerald Hill (here) – where I demonstrate that Hill was very likely involved in the conspiracy to assassinate the President!

Approaching the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination

Over on John Simkin’s Spartacus education forum, there is currently a debate amongst JFK assassination researchers on who should represent the critics of the Warren Commission on the 50^th anniversary of President Kennedy’s unfortunate and tragic death. If you were to ask me, I would pick Jim Douglass and Jim DiEugenio as first choices.

As many of you are undoubtedly aware, Douglass authored the seminal book on John F. Kennedy’s Presidency and his assassination entitled JFK and the unspeakable, why he died and why it matters. This is an absolutely essential book for any fan of President Kennedy, and anyone dedicated to seeking the truth behind his assassination.

As many of you are also aware, Jim DiEugenio recently released the second edition of his book, Destiny betrayed. Like Jim Douglass’s book, this book is a must read for any fan of President Kennedy, and anyone dedicated to seeking the truth behind his assassination. There are very few people across the world who know and care more about John F. Kennedy and his assassination, than Jim DiEugenio. Therefore, he is naturally a first choice of mine to represent the critics of the Warren Commission on the 50^th anniversary of the assassination.

As second choices, I would pick Larry Hancock and Pat Speer. As most of you are aware, Hancock is the author of the book, Someone would have talked. I consider Hancock to be a very intelligent and dedicated researcher – whose book provides a great quantity of information concerning former CIA Officers, anti- Castro Cuban exiles, Jack Ruby (Oswald’s murderer) etc. As with the aforementioned books, Hancock’s book is a must read for all serious assassination researchers.

As I’ve stated previously on my blog, Pat Speer is one of the most underrated JFK assassination researchers. Speer’s website on the assassination contains the most thorough and comprehensive analysis on the ear/eye witnesses to the assassination, and also on the medical evidence. There is also much information on Speer’s website concerning the paper gun sack which Oswald allegedly used to smuggle the rifle into the TSBD etc.

There are also many other highly competent researchers on the assassination such as William Kelly, Lee Farley, Greg Parker, and Bill Simpich - all of whom I would highly recommend to represent the critics. However, there are also many critics whom I would strongly recommend against. Two of them are David Lifton and Jim Fetzer.

Without a doubt, Lifton and Fetzer are two of the most arrogant, narcissistic, and paranoid JFK assassination researchers ever. Lifton and Fetzer are well known for insulting fellow assassination researchers - who disagree with their views on the assassination. Lifton and Fetzer are also well known for their utterly absurd theories, such as body alteration. Honest to God, if either one of them is chosen to represent the critical community; we are all in deep shit!

Let me conclude by stating that it was truly heartening to see Robert Kennedy Jr. (President Kennedy’s nephew) publically declaring that he doesn’t believe in the lone gunman myth. However, it was quite disappointing to read that he embraced the belief that the mafia were behind the assassination – when all the circumstantial evidence indicates that it was rogue CIA Officers, such as David Phillips, and anti - Castro Cuban exiles who were actually responsible! Nevertheless, it was quite pleasing to see that there are members of President Kennedy’s family who do not embrace the Warren Commission’s utter bullshit concerning the assassination.

Roy Truly: A truly interesting character

In this article, I discuss the likelihood that Roy Sansom Truly, the superintendent of the TSBD at the time of President Kennedy’s assassination, was involved in the conspiracy to frame Oswald for the assassination. Although there are many researchers who will scoff at the idea that Truly was involved, there are many reasons to believe that he was.

First, let’s keep one important point in mind. The assassination of the democratically elected President was carried out in the most heinously arrogant manner. The conspirators decided to assassinate the President in full public view and in broad daylight. Furthermore, the sniper in the 6^th floor window of the TSBD had stuck the barrel of the rifle out of the window and did not use a silencer/suppressor to mask the sound of the shots.

Now, the sound of the shots would have undoubtedly drawn the attention of many Police Officers and witnesses in Dealey Plaza towards the TSBD – which, of course, it did. The conspirators would surely have realised that many Police Officers could have almost immediately stormed into the TSBD and apprehended the assassin(s) on the 6^th floor.

Therefore, the conspirators would have by all likelihood used someone as a diversion to identify the assassin(s) as employees should the Police accost any of them. Now, although the conspirators could simply have identified themselves to the Police as Secret Service agents, the fact that no genuine Secret Service agents were present in Dealey Plaza during the assassination could have lead the Police to realise the assassin(s) were not genuine Secret Service agents.

However, using someone such as Roy Truly (the building superintendent) to identify the assassins as employees of the TSBD, would have been much less risky to the conspirators. We know that immediately following the shots, DPD Officer Marrion Baker ran to the entrance of the TSBD where he was confronted by Roy Truly, who identified himself to Baker as the building manager.

As stated in my previous article, Baker and Truly confronted a man on the 3^rd/4^th floor walking away from the stairway. As I also stated, the description of the man provided by Baker in his affidavit to the DPD was similar to the description of the killer provided by assassination witness, Howard Brennan, in his affidavit to the DPD. If this man was a sniper (as he quite possibly was), then by implication, Roy Truly was involved in the conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy.

Let’s also take into account the fact that upon reaching the 5^th floor of the TSBD on their way up from the 1^st floor, Truly told Baker to take the elevator to the 7^th floor, where they could reach the roof via the stairs (Truly admitted to telling Baker to take the stairs during his Warren Commission testimony). Quite curiously, the floor which they avoided was the 6^th floor – the same floor from which shots were fired at the President.

Bear in mind that Lillian Mooneyham, a deputy district Court clerk viewing the motorcade from the Courthouse building on Houston Street, informed the FBI that approximately 4 to 5 minutes following the assassination, she observed the figure of a man standing behind boxes on the 6^th floor of the TSBD (see here). Realising that one of the assassins was still possibly on the 6^th floor of the TSBD, Truly would have deliberately told Baker to take the elevator from the 5^th floor to the 7^th floor, to prevent Baker from accosting the assassin(s) on the 6^th floor.

It has always seemed incredibly odd that Truly and Baker would take an elevator two floors up after already having travelled five flights of stairs. No explanation was ever provided by Truly or Baker for why they had taken an elevator to travel up only two floors. Let me note that according to both Baker and Truly, Truly yelled up the elevator shaft from the first floor for someone to send an elevator down.

TSBD employee, Jack Dougherty, was standing near the elevators on the 5^th floor, but claimed during his Warren Commission testimony that he didn’t hear anyone yell through the elevator shaft. Many researchers have argued that Dougherty was also involved in the assassination. I think it is quite possible that he was. Let me also note that the janitor of the TSBD, Eddie Piper, claimed during his Warren Commission testimony that he also heard Truly yell for an elevator. However, consider that if both Truly and Dougherty were involved in the assassination, then Truly would surely have known that Dougherty would not have sent an elevator down.

According to both Truly and Baker, Baker was checking the building for suspects on their descent from the 7^th floor to ground level. Although it can be argued that Baker could have spotted the assassin(s) as they went down the TSBD, the fact that Truly and Baker skipped the 6^th floor as they went up the TSBD, would have provided the assassin(s) remaining on the 6^th floor sufficient time to escape.

Now, although Truly and Baker did skip the 6^th floor, it doesn’t necessarily mean Truly was involved in the assassination. However, consider the fact that it was Truly who reported to DPD Captain Will Fritz that Oswald was missing following the assassination. The following is from Truly’s testimony, concerning how he allegedly realised that Oswald was missing from the TSBD.

Mr. Ball

Did you make a check of your employees afterwards?

Mr. Truly

No, no; not complete. No, I just saw the group of the employees over there on the floor and I noticed this boy wasn't with them. With no thought in my mind except that I had seen him a short time before in the building, I noticed he wasn't there.

Mr. Ball

What do you mean "a short time before"?

Mr. Truly

I would say 10 or 12 minutes.

Mr. Ball

You mean that's when you saw him in the lunchroom?

Mr. Truly

In the lunchroom.

Mr. Ball

And you noticed he wasn't over there?

Mr. Truly

Well, I asked Bill Shelley if he had seen him around and he said "No."

As we can see, truly claimed that he had realised Oswald was missing after he failed to see him again following the alleged encounter in the lunchroom on the 2^nd floor. Truly also claimed during his testimony and in his affidavit to the DPD that he had asked William Shelley (Oswald’s immediate supervisor in the TSBD) if he had seen him, to which Shelley responded that he didn’t. However, Shelley claimed in his affidavit to the DPD (here) that he had actually asked Truly if he saw Oswald following the assassination. Therefore, it seems that Truly was lying.

One of the most bizarre aspects of Truly’s testimony, was his response to the following question by Warren Commission member Gerald Ford.

Representative Ford

When you noticed the police assembling the employees after the assassination, what prompted you to think that Oswald was not among them?

Mr. Truly

I have asked myself that many times. I cannot give an answer. Unless it was the fact that I knew he was on the second floor, I had seen him 10 or 15 minutes, or whatever it was, before that. That might have brought that boy's name to my mind--because I was looking over there and he was the only one I missed at that time that I could think of. Subconsciously it might have been because I saw him on the second floor and I knew he was in the building.

It is perfectly clear that Truly couldn’t provide a proper answer as to how he came to realise Oswald was missing from the building. In my opinion, Truly deliberately told Captain Fritz that Oswald was missing in order to incriminate him for the assassination. However, it’s quite bizarre that there was no APB (All points bulletin) put out on Oswald by the DPD Over the radio - despite the fact that there was one put out on Charles Douglas Givens, Oswald’s co-worker.

Finally, let’s keep in mind that it was Truly who had hired Oswald to work for the TSBD. As Occhus Campbell (the vice President of the TSBD) informed the FBI, Roy Truly was given the responsibility for hiring new workers (see here). Truly allegedly hired Oswald after he had received a phone call from Ruth Paine, where she supposedly asked if a position was available for Oswald at the TSDB. The following explanation was provided by Truly during his testimony, as to how he allegedly learned that Oswald wanted to work at the TSBD.

Mr. Belin

And from whom did you hear the name [Oswald]? Could you just relate to the Commission the circumstances, if you would, please?

Mr. Truly

I received a phone call from a lady in Irving who said her name was Mrs. Paine.

Mr. Belin

All right. What did Mrs. Paine say, and what did you say?

Mr. Truly

She said, "Mr. Truly,"---words to this effect---you understand---" Mr. Truly, you don't know who I am but I have a neighbour whose brother works for you. I don't know what his name is. But he tells his sister that you are very busy. And I am just wondering if you can use another man," or words to that effect. And I told Mrs.---she said, "I have a fine young man living here with his wife and baby, and his wife is expecting a baby--another baby, in a few days, and he needs work desperately." Now, this is not absolutely--this is as near as I can remember the conversation over the telephone. And I told Mrs. Paine that--to send him down, and I would talk to him--that I didn't have anything in mind for him of a permanent nature, but if he was suited, we could possibly use him for a brief time.

Now, the fact that Truly hired Oswald doesn’t necessarily mean he was involved in the assassination. However, consider that the conspirators would want to be certain that their designated patsy was present inside the building as the President is being shot at from the 6^th floor. In fact, the last thing the conspirators would want is for Oswald to be absent from the TSBD during the assassination!

It is also important to note that researcher Jim DiEugenio eloquently explains in his updated book Destiny Betrayed, that Ruth Paine was involved in framing Oswald for the President’s assassination. Bear in mind that it was in Ruth Paine’s garage where Oswald allegedly stored his rifle in a blanket. It was also Ruth Paine who “discovered” evidence against Oswald, such as the phoney backyard photographs of Oswald holding the rifle, and the so - called walker note which Oswald allegedly wrote for his wife.

For more information on why Ruth Paine should be considered a conspirator, I strongly advise all serious assassination researchers to purchase a copy of Destiny betrayed (the second edition). In my opinion, the Ruth Paine call to Roy Truly enquiring about a job for Oswald at the TSBD, was a charade orchestrated by the conspirators. Of course, in order to frame Oswald for the assassination, the conspirators had to of known by at least October 15^th (the day Ruth Paine had allegedly called the TSBD to enquire about a job for Oswald) that the President’s motorcade would travel past the TSBD.

Let me also note that former TSBD employee, Edward Shields, informed HSCA investigators that 8 black employees had been laid off from working at the TSBD – just one day prior to Oswald being hired to work there! It is therefore incredibly odd that Truly should hire Oswald after having just laid off 8 employees, presumably due to redundancies. The transcript of shields interview with the HSCA investigators can be read here (page 16) on researcher Greg Parker’s excellent website.

In summary, Roy Truly had identified a man to Officer Baker who fit the description of the man Howard Brennan observed shooting from the 6^th floor of the TSBD, as an employee of the TSBD. He was overheard by Dallas morning news reporter Kent Biffle informing Captain Will Fritz that Oswald was on the first floor when he and Baker first spotted him – but then in his affidavit on the following day, claimed that Baker had spotted Oswald in the 2^nd floor lunchroom.

He told Baker to take an elevator from the 5^th floor to the 7^th floor of the TSBD as they went up the building – avoiding the same floor from which shots were fired at the President. He had informed Captain Fritz that Oswald was missing from the building, and provided a bizarre explanation during his Warren Commission testimony as to why he believed Oswald was missing. He had also hired Oswald in spite of the fact that 8 employees had been laid off from work - just one day after the 8 employees had been laid off.

Although there are many researchers who will reject the notion that Truly was involved in the conspiracy, in light of the above information, I believe that Truly had to have been involved! Otherwise, I very much doubt that the assassination of President Kennedy could have proceeded as it did. One obvious question is what was Truly’s motive for being involved in the assassination. As many researchers have noted, Truly was an anti-Kennedy racist who had opposed Kennedy’s policies on racial equality for African Americans etc.

Some researchers will argue that Truly wasn’t involved, since he claimed that he thought the shots were fired from the direction of the Triple underpass – and not from the TSBD. However, this is precisely what Truly would claim in order to divert suspicion away from himself (keep in mind that many of the TSBD workers standing in front of the building also claimed the shots were fired from the area of the triple underpass/grassy knoll).

Others will argue that Truly wasn’t involved, since he claimed during his testimony that Oswald was “quiet and well mannered” and made no derogatory comments against Oswald. Again, this is precisely the sort of claim Truly would make in order to divert suspicion away from himself (and would also make no derogatory remarks against Oswald).

However, it seems incredibly bizarre that Truly would tell Fritz that Oswald was on the first floor when he and Baker had run into the building following the assassination. Perhaps Truly thought that since Baker had spotted Oswald on the first floor, it would be best that he tell Fritz the truth – only to later help Fritz and the DPD change the location of the encounter to the 2^nd floor lunchroom. I for one believe this was precisely what Truly was thinking at the time.

There is also no explanation for when and how Truly was recruited to participate in the assassination. However, the lack of explanation for when and how Truly was recruited does not in any shape or form exclude him as a suspect in the assassination. Let me conclude by stating that despite what involvement (if any) one might think Truly had in the President’s assassination, there is little doubt that Roy Truly is (with no pun intended) a truly interesting character.

The lunchroom encounter that never was

In the tangled web that is the JFK assassination, there are very few things which defenders of the Warren Commission and its critics agree on. However, one thing which most critics agree with Warren Commission defenders on, is that the so-called encounter in the second floor lunchroom of the TSBD occurred. I am referring of course, to the allegation that DPD Officer, Marrion Baker, and TSBD superintendent Roy Truly, encountered Oswald standing in the second floor lunchroom within 1 ½ minutes of the President’s assassination.

On the day of the assassination, Baker was riding as one of the motorcycle Officer’s in the President’s motorcade. Upon hearing the shots, Baker raced his motorcycle towards the entrance of the TSBD. After parking his motorcycle, Baker then ran to the entrance of the TSBD where he encountered Roy Truly, who identified himself to Baker as the building manager. Baker can be seen running towards the TSBD entrance after parking his motorcycle, in the famous video footage by WFAA-TV cameraman, Malcolm Couch. See here.

The official story is that upon reaching the second floor, Baker spotted Oswald through the window of the vestibule door leading into the lunchroom. Baker allegedly approached Oswald, pointing his revolver at him, and asked Truly if Oswald worked in the building, to which Truly responded that he did.

Although many Warren Commission critics have taken for granted that the encounter did occur, there is very good reason to believe that it actually didn’t occur. For example, let’s consider that on the day of the assassination, Baker wrote an affidavit (here) in which he described encountering a man walking away from the stairwell on the 3^rd/4^th floor of the TSBD. There was absolutely no mention by Baker of encountering a man in the 2^nd floor lunchroom! In fact, apart from the height, the description of the man Baker encountered did not match Oswald’s appearance.

However, on the following day, Roy Truly provided an affidavit (here) in which he explained that Baker had “stuck his head into the lunchroom area where there are coke and candy machines” and saw Oswald. Despite Truly’s claim in his affidavit, he was overhead by Dallas Morning news reporter, Kent Biffle, informing Fritz that he had seen Oswald near the storage room on the first floor.

Furthermore, Occhus Campbell, the Vice President of the TSBD, was quoted by the New York Herald Tribune on 23/11/63 as stating: "Shortly after the shooting we raced back into the building. We saw Oswald in a small storage room on the ground [first] floor." Partial corroboration for both Truly’s and Campbell’s claims was ironically provided by DPD Captain Will Fritz. In his report of Oswald’s interrogation, Fritz wrote that Oswald told him that he was in the second floor lunchroom when he was confronted by Baker (see here).

However, in the same report, Fritz wrote the following:

“Mr Truly had told me that one of the Police Officers had stopped this man [Oswald] immediately after the shooting somewhere near the back stairway.”

The significance of Fritz’s above statement is that the storage room on the first floor of the TSBD was located near the back stairway. However, it should be noted that the second floor lunchroom was also located near the back stairway. Please refer to both Ce1061 and Ce1118 (here and here) for diagrams of the first and second floors of the TSBD.

On a further note, Oswald placed himself on the first floor during the assassination, according to Fritz’s interrogation report, and also according to the joint interrogation report by FBI agents James Hosty and James Bookhout on 23/11/63. In the solo report by James Bookhout on 24/11/63, it is claimed that Oswald admitted during his interrogation that he was in the lunchroom when Baker allegedly confronted him. However, this was not stated in the joint report by Bookhout and Hosty (See here).

Now which of the two reports are we to believe is more reliable? The initial report, or the latter report – after Oswald was shot and killed by Jack ruby and unable to speak on his own behalf? Common sense tells us it is the former.

To summarise, Officer Baker made no mention in his 22/11/63 affidavit of encountering a man in the 2^nd floor lunchroom, as he made his way up the stairs inside the TSBD. Roy Truly was overheard by Kent Biffle informing Fritz on the day of the assassination that he had seen Oswald near the storage room on the first floor, as he went inside with Baker. Finally, Occhus Campbell informed the NY Herald Tribune on 23/11/63 that shortly following the assassination, Oswald was seen on the ground (first) floor near the storage room.

Yet despite this, many researchers insist the lunchroom encounter did occur. There are some researchers who believe Baker’s encounter with Oswald in the lunchroom occurred after Baker and Truly had returned to the second floor, following their descent from the roof of the TSBD. This is indeed a possibility, and if this was the case, it would explain why Baker didn’t think it was important to report this encounter in his affidavit on the day of the assassination.

There are also some researchers who believe that Baker had simply confused the 3^rd/4^th floor with the 2^nd floor. However, in order to believe this, we must also believe that Baker had confused the stairway for the lunchroom. Furthermore, consider that during his Warren Commission testimony, Baker confirmed that his encounter with the man was on the 3^rd/4^th floor (the floor on which Baker and Truly had boarded the elevator to the 7^th floor was the 5^th floor).

Mr. Belin 

All right. After going up the stairways, do you know what numbered floor it was---I will ask you this, did you take the stairway all the way to the top?

Mr. Baker

No, sir; we caught that elevator, it seemed like we went up either one or two floors, and Mr. Truly said "Let's take the elevator, here it is."

Now if the lunchroom encounter didn’t occur - as the best evidence suggests, the obvious question is: Why was it invented? In my opinion, it was to place Oswald one floor above from where he was, which put him closer to the 6^th floor. This would have given the impression that Oswald could’ve descended from the 6^th floor to 2^nd floor, with sufficient time to be “spotted” by Baker and Truly.

Keep in mind that Mrs Robert Reid, who worked as a clerical supervisor for the TSBD, claimed in her affidavit to the DPD that she observed Oswald enter her Office following the assassination with a bottle of coke in his hand (see here). Since the coke machines were located in the 2^nd floor lunchroom, this provided an excuse for the DPD to place the Baker and Truly encounter with “Oswald” in the lunchroom.

Let me also note that apparently Roy Truly had informed reporters and the FBI on the night of 22/11/63, that he and Baker had encountered Oswald in the second floor lunchroom. Yet as mentioned above, he was overheard by Dallas Morning news reporter, Kent Biffle, informing Captain Will Fritz that he and Baker encountered Oswald on the first floor!

Bear in mind that the description of the man Baker claimed he encountered walking away from the stairway on the 3^rd/4^th floor, is similar to the description of the killer provided by Howard Brennan in his affidavit to the DPD (see here). In fact, many researchers (including myself) believe this man was quite possibly the 6^th floor shooter. According to Baker’s affidavit, Roy Truly told him the man they encountered worked in the TSBD. Now if this man was the 6^th floor sniper, then this means Roy Truly himself was involved in the conspiracy to assassinate the President! (In an upcoming post, I will be discussing the likelihood of Truly’s involvement in the assassination).

Suffice it to say, the best evidence indicates the so-called lunchroom encounter never happened as the Warren Commission told us it did. Although I had for a long time believed the encounter did occur, I was always puzzled by how Baker had managed to catch a glimpse of Oswald through the window of the vestibule door leading to the lunchroom.

On a final note, my appreciation goes to researchers such as Greg Parker and Sean Murphy for their research concerning this issue. I only hope that many more researchers come to realise that the lunchroom encounter was simply another fabrication by the DPD.

Roger Craig vs. Lone gunman zealots

There is perhaps no other witness to the assassination of President Kennedy more vilified by defenders of the Warren Commission than former Dallas Deputy Sheriff, Roger Dean Craig.

As most students of the assassination are aware, Roger Craig claimed to see a man who resembled Oswald, enter a Nash Rambler station wagon driven by a man described by Craig as being “a dark complected white male” – which then drove off towards the Oak Cliff section of Dallas (see here). 

Roger Craig’s account of seeing the man enter the Nash rambler station wagon was corroborated by four other witnesses. These witnesses were Helen Forrest, Marvin Robinson, Roy Cooper, and James Pennington.

Craig claimed that following the assassination, he had informed DPD Captain Will Fritz that he saw a man enter the Rambler. Craig identified Oswald to Fritz as the man he saw enter the station wagon. Lone gunman zealots from John McAdams to David Von Pein and Vincent Bugliosi have referred to Craig as a liar, with many of them boldly asserting that Craig never informed Fritz that he had seen Oswald enter the station wagon.

However, what the dishonest lone gunman zealots don’t explain is that on the day following the assassination, DPD chief Jesse Curry had informed reporters that they had information Oswald was “picked-up by a Negroe in a car”. This was in response to a question by one of the reporters on how Oswald travelled to “the other side of town” from Dealey Plaza following the President’s assassination (the film footage in which Curry makes this claim can be seen here. Go to the 5.40 minute mark).  

Now, if this information was not provided by Roger Craig, then who did provide it? Bear in mind that there were no statements or interviews provided by any of the four witnesses mentioned above on the day of the assassination. Therefore, this documented video evidence not only proves that Roger Craig did in fact inform Fritz about what he saw – but makes a liar out of Fritz and the lone gunman zealots who have accused Craig of lying.

Although Curry informed reporters that the man was a Negroe, Curry’s mistake is understandable since Craig referred to the man as “dark complected” – which Curry could have easily misinterpreted for a Negroe. Nevertheless, Curry’s comment to reporters on the day of the assassination is absolute proof that Craig was being truthful!

Now, undoubtedly, Craig did make a number of unsupportable and contradictory comments from the day of the assassination, until his death on May 15, 1975. However, taking into account the amount of depression Craig experienced after the DPD, the FBI, and Warren Commission refused to believe his story, his seemingly bizarre claims are understandable.

In 1967, after refusing to keep silent about what he had seen, Craig was fired from the Dallas Sheriff’s department by Sheriff, Bill Decker. From that point on, Craig’s life took a downwards dive. Much has been discussed concerning the circumstances surrounding Craig’s death. Many assassination researchers (including myself) believe that Craig was possibly murdered. The official version of Craig’s death is that he had shot himself with a rifle – one which he apparently didn’t own!

Craig also made claims that he had been targeted for murder. For example, Craig claimed that a few months after his testimony at the trial of Clay Shaw in New Orleans, he was shot at. In 1973, a car had allegedly forced Craig’s car off a mountain road. Furthermore, a bomb was apparently planted in Craig’s car, which had failed to explode properly when Craig tried to start the engine.

Despite what one might believe about Craig’s claims, there can be absolutely no doubt that he had informed Fritz about seeing Oswald leave Dealey Plaza in the Nash rambler station wagon. Furthermore, Roger Craig deserves to be treated with a greater amount of respect than dishonest lone gunman kooks afford to him.

On a final note, in 1960, Craig was named the Dallas Sheriff’s department “Officer of the year” by the Dallas traffic commission. For more on Roger Craig, please refer to this article.