Gerald Hill and the murder of Officer Tippit - Part 1

I have previously discussed the issue of whether or not Oswald actually had a revolver when he entered the Texas Theatre, as he was “escaping” after allegedly murdering President Kennedy and DPD Officer J.D Tippit. I will now discuss the likelihood that DPD Sgt Gerald Hill was attempting to plant the gun on Oswald inside the Theatre. By no means am I the first researcher to make the case against Gerald Hill. Researchers such as Duke Lane, and Lee Farley, have also discussed Hill’s complicity in framing Oswald. Although I don’t pretend to have proven Hill’s guilt, I nevertheless believe there is strong circumstantial evidence for his complicity.

According to the Official version of Oswald’s arrest at the Theatre, DPD detective Bob Carroll allegedly grabbed the revolver when he observed it pointing toward him during Officer Nick McDonald’s scuffle with Oswald, after Oswald struck him with his fist. However, like every other aspect of Oswald’s arrest, this story is also riddled with contradictions. The following is the excerpt from McDonald’s testimony regarding Bob Carroll and the revolver.

Mr. Ball 

What happened when you jerked the pistol free?

Mr. McDonald 

When I jerked it free, I was down in the seats with him, with my head, some reason or other, I don't know why, and when I brought the pistol out, it grazed me across the cheek here, and I put it all the way out to the aisle, holding it by the butt. I gave the pistol to Detective Bob Carroll at that point.

Note that McDonald claimed that he had given the revolver to Bob Carroll after he allegedly jerked it free from Oswald’s hand. Carroll, on the other hand, couldn’t tell who had the revolver when he grabbed it. The following is from Carroll’s testimony.

Mr. Ball

I mean, were Oswald and McDonald struggling together?

Mr. Carroll

Yes, sir; and then when I got up close enough, I saw a pistol pointing at me so I reached and grabbed the pistol and jerked the pistol away and stuck it in my belt, and then I grabbed Oswald.

Mr. Ball

Who had hold of that pistol at that time?

Mr. Carroll

I don't know, sir. I just saw the pistol pointing at me and I grabbed it and jerked it away from whoever had it and that's all, and by that time then the handcuffs were put on Oswald.

As we can see, Carroll couldn’t tell from whom he had taken the revolver. This could have been due to the lack of visibility inside the Theatre. Bear in mind that DPD Officer Thomas Hutson made the claim during his Warren Commission testimony that he couldn’t tell with which fist Oswald had struck McDonald, due to poor visibility inside the Theatre at the time.

From Hutson’s Warren Commission testimony:

Mr. Belin

Did you see who hit whom first?

Mr. Hutson

No.

Mr. Belin

You are shaking your head, no.

Mr. Hutson

No, I didn't.

Mr. Belin

Okay.

Mr. Hutson

The lights were down. The lights were on in the theatre, but it was dark.

Mr. Belin

All right.

Mr. Hutson

Visibility was poor.

Now If Hutson’s claim is accurate, then this would certainly explain why Bob Carroll was unable to tell who had the revolver when he allegedly grabbed it. This doesn’t necessarily mean McDonald was lying when he said he had given the revolver to Carroll. However, his lack of credibility (which I discussed in my prior posts) is certainly important to keep in mind.

It should also be noted that DPD Captain W.R Westbrook stated in his arrest report that Bob Carroll claimed that he had possession of the revolver (although he didn’t repeat this claim during his testimony). Several of the arresting Officers mentioned in their reports and testimonies that they heard someone shout out words to the effect “I have the gun” However, none of them were able to recognise it as Bob Carroll’s voice. What’s important to note, is that Bob Carroll made absolutely no mention of shouting out that he had the gun in his arrest report, or during his Warren Commission testimony!

So here we have the Officer who allegedly grabbed the revolver, and according to his fellow Officers, shouted out that he had it - but made no mention in his report and testimony of having shouted out that he had the gun. Unbelievable! Now although DPD Officers Nick McDonald, Bob Carroll, Gerald Hill, and W.R Westbrook agreed that Carroll had the revolver, Officer Ray Hawkins (who handcuffed Oswald) claimed in his arrest report and during his Warren commission testimony, that it was actually Gerald Hill who had the revolver!

From Hawkins’ report on Oswald’s arrest:

“Officer Hutson had entered the row behind the suspect, and grabbed him around the neck and held him up. Sergeant G.L Hill then took the gun.”

From Hawkins’ Warren Commission testimony:

Mr. Ball

What was Officer McDonald doing at that time?

Mr. Hawkins

I remember seeing him standing beside Oswald, and when I arrived where they were, both of them were down in the seat--Oswald and McDonald had both fallen down into the seat, and very shortly after I got there, a gun was pulled, came out of Oswald's belt and was pulled across to their right, or toward the south aisle of the theatre. Officer McDonald grabbed the pistol, and the best I can remember, Sergeant Hill, who had gotten there, said, "I've got the gun," and he took the gun and we handcuffed Oswald.

Further on during his testimony:

Mr. Ball

Did you see anybody strike Oswald with his fist?

Mr. Hawkins

No, sir; I didn't see anyone strike him. They had, as I said, they had gotten back into the seat and Officer Hutson had grabbed Oswald from behind and Officer Walker had him by the left arm and the gun went across and McDonald had grabbed him 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.

Further on during his testimony:

Mr. Ball

And who was on the right?

Mr. Hawkins

McDonald.

Mr. Ball

And what about Bob Carroll, did he come in there too?

Mr. Hawkins

Well, I'm sure Bob was in there. I couldn't say where he was exactly or--I do remember Sergeant Hill being there, and I believe he said, "I've got the gun." I think I read an account of where Bob Carroll may have had the gun, but I was under the impression it was Sergeant Hill. I'm sure Bob was there, but I don't know exactly--it was all happening pretty fast.

As we can see, Hawkins was fairly adamant that it was Hill who grabbed the gun, and said “I’ve got the gun”. The sinister implication of Hawkins’ recollection is that Hill was in the process of planting the gun on Oswald. As you will see further on in this article, Hill’s actions following President Kennedy’s assassination are highly suspicious. It is also interesting to note that as Hawkins was handcuffing Oswald, one of the arresting Officers accidentally grabbed the arm one of a fellow Officer, and almost handcuffed that Officer’s arm. This incident was reported to the Warren Commission by Captain W.R Westbrook, during his Warren Commission testimony.

Mr. Ball

Were the handcuffs on him at the time you arrived?

Mr. Westbrook

They were putting the handcuffs on him--they had one handcuff on one hand and they were trying to find the other one, and they were having difficulty in locating it because there were so many hands there.

Mr. Ball

How many officers were there?

Mr. Westbrook

In fact--that was one of the only humorous things about whole thing--somebody did get ahold of the wrong arm and they were twisting it behind Oswald's back and somebody yelled--I remember that, "My God, you got mine." I think it was just an am that come up out of the crowd that somebody grabbed.

Researcher Duke Lane pointed out in this thread on John Simkin’s Spartacus education forum, that the Officer whose arm was accidentally grabbed was Gerald Hill. Lane also raised the issue of why out of all the DPD Officers who were trying to subdue Oswald, Hill’s arm was the one that was grabbed. Lane believes it was because Hill had the revolver in his hand! It makes perfect sense. If Hill did indeed have the revolver, then Ray Hawkins (or any other Officer for that matter) would instinctively grab that arm believing it belonged to Oswald.

According to the official version of Oswald’s arrest, Bob Carroll turned the revolver over to Hill inside the Police car in which they had placed Oswald into, following his arrest inside the Theatre. However, based on the contradictions between Carroll’s and Hill’s statements concerning the revolver, there is good reason to believe that Carroll never gave Hill Oswald’s so-called revolver. The following is Bob Carroll’s account of giving the revolver to Hill.

Mr. Ball

After you took the pistol, what did you do with it?

Mr. Carroll

The pistol?

Mr. Ball

Yes.

Mr. Carroll

After I took the pistol, I stuck it in my belt immediately. Then, after we got into the car and pulled out from the theater over there, I gave it to Jerry Hill, Sgt. Jerry Hill.

Carroll claimed he turned the revolver over to Hill inside the car - after they had pulled out from the Theatre. Carroll also mentioned in his arrest report that he gave the revolver to Hill whilst en route to city hall (see here and here). The problem is, this not what Hill claimed. According to Hill’s testimony, Carroll allegedly handed the revolver to him just as soon as he entered the car. Hill also made the same claim in his individual arrest report (see here).

Mr. Hill

As he [Carroll] started to get in the car, he handed me a pistol, which he identified as the one that had been taken from the suspect in the theatre.

Mr. Belin

When did he identify this to you?

Mr. Hill

I asked him was this his. He said, "No, it is the suspect's."

Mr. Belin

When did he do that?

Mr. Hill

As soon as he handed it to me.

Mr. Belin

When was that?

Mr. Hill

Right as I sat down in the car, he apparently had it in his belt, and as he started to sit down, he handed it to me. I was already in the car and seated.

As we can see, both Carroll and Hill were consistent in their recollections of when the revolver exchanged hands. However, they are not consistent with the recollections of each other! Apparently, the Warren Commission were also aware of this discrepancy between their statements. When Carroll was called before the Warren Commission six days following his April 3^rd testimony to identify the Ce143 revolver as the one he handled, Carroll was again asked when he had handed the revolver to Hill. He confirmed his previous claim of handing the revolver to Hill after they pulled away from the Theatre. See below.

(Please note: During Gerald Hill’s CBS interview with Eddie Barker, he claimed that Carroll handed him the revolver inside the Theatre! Hill not only contradicted Carroll during his CBS interview, but also contradicted his claim in his arrest report and during his Warren Commission testimony. Whilst lone gunman zealots will argue that Hill simply misremembered, it’s hard to imagine how an Officer who was under the age of 40 at the time, could have been mistaken about when he received this important piece of evidence relating to the murder of one of his fellow Officers ).

Mr. Carroll

After leaving the theatre and getting into the car, I released the pistol to Sgt. Jerry Hill.

Mr. Belin

Sgt. G. L. Hill?

Mr. Carroll

Yes, sir.

Mr. Belin

Who drove the car down to the station?

Mr. Carroll

I drove the car.

Mr. Belin

Did you give it to him before you started up the car, or after you started up the car, if you remember?

Mr. Carroll

After.

Mr. Belin

How far had you driven when you gave it to him?

Mr. Carroll

I don't recall exactly how far I had driven.

Another discrepancy between Hill’s and Carroll’s statements concerning the revolver is when Hill opened the revolver to inspect the inside of it. Carroll claimed during his testimony that Hill opened the revolver inside the car and removed the bullets inside the cylinder – although he wasn’t certain if Hill had actually removed the bullets. Hill on the other hand, claimed he removed the bullets at City Hall. See below.

Mr. Hill

This is one of the shells which is a .38 special-shell that was removed from the suspect's weapon, removed from the weapon that was taken from the suspect at the time of his arrest.

Mr. Belin

When was it removed?

Mr. Hill

They were not taken out of the gun, as I recall, sir, until we arrived at the station.

Based on the above information, Hill not only contradicted Carroll concerning when Carroll had given him the revolver, but also when he removed the bullets from the cylinder to examine them. Now obviously, both of their recollections cannot be correct. In my opinion, the most logical reason for the contradictions is that the entire story of Carroll handing Hill the revolver is bogus. Lone gunman zealots, such as Dale Myers, tell us that Bob Carroll was photographed outside of the Texas Theatre holding “Oswald’s” revolver. Carroll was indeed photographed outside the Theatre holding a gun. However, his testimony suggests that the gun he was holding was not the one allegedly removed from Oswald. See below.

Mr. Ball

I mean, were Oswald and McDonald struggling together?

Mr. Carroll

Yes, sir; and then when I got up close enough, I saw a pistol pointing at me so I reached and grabbed the pistol and jerked the pistol away and stuck it in my belt, and then I grabbed Oswald

Carroll claimed he “stuck” the gun into his belt, and made no mention of removing it from his belt as he was outside the Theatre. Gerald Hill also indicated during his testimony that the gun was inside Carroll’s belt as Carroll allegedly handed it to him inside the car. In any event, why would Carroll remove the revolver from his belt prior to handing it to Hill? (I return to this issue in part 2 of this article). Below is the famous Stuart Reed photograph of Oswald being dragged out of the Texas Theatre, with Bob Carroll (circled in red) holding a gun in his right hand.

To be continued in part 2



 

Oswald and the revolver

In this post, I briefly discussed the issue of Oswald’s ownership of the revolver he was allegedly carrying when arrested. In this post, I discuss the inconsistencies with the statements by the arresting Officers, and other witnesses to Oswald’s arrest who claimed Oswald had possession of the revolver. I will hopefully convince you that this was yet another bunch of lies fabricated by the DPD to incriminate Oswald. In the following post, I discuss the complicity of DPD Sgt Gerald Hill, in framing Oswald for the murder of Officer JD Tippit!

The scuffle with Oswald

According to the official story, as DPD Patrolman M. Nick McDonald approached Oswald, he ordered Oswald to stand up. Oswald allegedly yelled out “Well, it’s all over now”, then hit McDonald’s nose with his fist (I discussed this issue in this post). Oswald then allegedly pulled the revolver from his belt and tried to shoot McDonald. However, the gun didn’t fire because McDonald allegedly prevented it from firing by jamming his hand between the gun and the hammer.

After ceasing the gun from Oswald’s hand, McDonald then allegedly gave the gun to detective Bob Carroll, who was standing in the aisle of the Theatre. After Oswald was handcuffed and removed from the Theatre, Carroll allegedly handed the revolver to Sgt Gerald Hill. Lone gunman zealots have naturally accepted this story as being the truth. However, there are inconsistencies and contradictions with the official version of events.

Let’s begin with whether or not McDonald’s claim of preventing the gun from firing has any merit. During a “reconstruction” of Oswald’s arrest on CBS -TV, McDonald demonstrated that as Oswald allegedly tried to allegedly shoot him, he had wedged his hand between the firing pin and hammer. However, this is not what he claimed during his interview with WFAA -TV the day following the assassination. During this interview, McDonald explained that:

 “As it [the revolver] was coming out, he [Oswald] snapped the trigger on the pistol, and it misfired luckily”.

McDonald claimed that the gun had misfired - and made no mention of preventing the gun from firing. He repeated this claim in his report concerning Oswald’s arrest – and once again failed to mention that he had prevented the gun from firing. Therefore, McDonald’s latter claim that he had prevented the gun from firing was a lie. In fact, DPD detective Paul Bentley made the following claim during his interview with reporters:

“Officer McDonald had a hold of his, of the gun, I had a hold of his right arm, we got a thumb or something in between the hammer and the firing pin so that it mashed the firing, it just snapped slightly and kept it from going off.”

As we can see, Bentley took part of the credit for preventing the gun from firing. However, when one reads through the arrest reports and Warren Commission testimonies of Officers Charles Walker, Thomas Hutson, Ray Hawkins, and even McDonald’s, it’s quite obvious that Walker, Hutson, and Hawkins had reached Oswald prior to Bentley - and none of them corroborated Bentley's claim. Therefore Bentley was certainly lying when he took credit for preventing the gun from firing. I also discussed McDonald’s and Bentley’s credibility problems in previous posts.

However, should one need further reason to believe McDonald was a lair, just consider the fact that he took credit for sorting out the situation at the Jefferson branch Library. The DPD had converged on the Library (located on Marsalis and Jefferson streets) when Charles Walker broadcast on the police radio that he had seen a man run into the Library. This turned out to be a false alarm. Despite McDonald’s claim that he was responsible for sorting out the situation – not one of his fellow Officers confirmed that this was the case!

Furthermore, McDonald claimed that his left cheek was scratched by “Oswald’s” revolver during the scuffle. Although there certainly was a scratch on his cheek, there is simply no reason to believe that it was caused by the revolver as McDonald asserted. The scratch could have been caused by the ring which Oswald was wearing on his right hand. Or perhaps it was created sometime prior to Oswald’s arrest – with McDonald then placing the blame for the scratch on the revolver. However, there’s no way to be certain.

The more important issue concerning Oswald’s alleged possession of the revolver inside the Theatre is whether he had actually pulled it out of his belt as he was being arrested. This is one aspect of Oswald’s arrest which is riddled with inconsistencies and contradictions. For example, Johnny Brewer (who allegedly saw Oswald enter the Theatre looking scared) claimed in his Warren commission testimony that Oswald had the gun up in the air. Yet, Brewer’s account is contradicted by the DPD Officers near Oswald, and by Theatre Patrons John Gibson and George Applin, who witnessed Oswald’s arrest.

Mr. Belin 

Who hit who first?

Mr. Brewer 

Oswald hit McDonald first, and he knocked him to the seat.

Mr. Belin 

Who knocked who?

Mr. Brewer 

He knocked McDonald down. McDonald fell against one of the seats. And then real quick he was back up.

Mr. Belin 

When you say he was----

Mr. Brewer  

McDonald was back up. He just knocked him down for a second and he was back up. And I jumped off the stage and was walking toward that, and I saw this gun come up and----in Oswald's hand, a gun up in the air.

Mr. Belin  

Did you see from where the gun came?

Mr. Brewer 

No.

Mr. Belin 

You saw the gun up in the air?

Mr. Brewer 

And somebody hollered "He's got a gun." And there were a couple of officers fighting him and taking the gun away from him, and they took the gun from him, and he was fighting, still fighting, and I heard some of the police holier, I don't know who it was, "Kill the President, will you." And I saw fists flying and they were hitting him.

Brewer’s testimony concerning the revolver is interesting for three reasons. Firstly, Brewer claimed Oswald held the gun up in the air. Secondly, when Joseph Ball asked Brewer if he knew where the gun came from, he answered with a no (yet the arresting Officers assured us that Oswald pulled it out of his belt). Third, Brewer claimed that the arresting Officers were hitting Oswald – whereas the official story is that only Officer McDonald hit Oswald. If Brewer was being truthful, then obviously the arresting Officers were lying when they claimed they didn’t hit Oswald! Otherwise, it was Brewer who was lying.

The following is the Warren Commission testimony of Theatre patron, John Gibson.

Mr. Ball

What did you see happen?

Mr. Gibson

Well, I was standing there watching all this going on and then the policeman started down the aisle--I would say there was another--I don't know, maybe six or eight--started down the aisles.

Mr. Ball

When you say "down the aisles," you mean all of the aisles?

Mr. Gibson

Toward the screen--I don't know if they were going down all of them or not. I don't believe there was any--there was one policeman standing, it seems to me like, right on the other side of me, in the far aisle just behind me--I don't think there was anybody going down the far aisle next to the wall on my side.

Mr. Ball

What aisles did you see policemen going down?

Mr. Gibson

I saw them going down what I would call the two big centre aisles, and then the next thing was--Oswald was standing in the aisle with a gun in his hand.

Mr. Ball

That's the next thing you saw?

Mr. Gibson

Yes, sir.

Mr. Ball

Was there anybody with him--near him?

Mr. Gibson

I couldn't swear to that--I don't know--you mean other policemen?

Mr. Ball

That's what I mean--was he in the aisles?

Mr. Gibson

Well, he was in the aisle when I saw him.

Mr. Ball

What was he doing?

Mr. Gibson

Well, he had this pistol in his hand.

Gibson claimed during his testimony that Oswald was standing in the aisle with the revolver in his hand. However, no witness corroborated Gibson’s account of Oswald standing in the aisle with the revolver. Also, despite the fact that Officers Walker, Hutson, and Hawkins all testified that they were struggling with Oswald when he allegedly pulled it out of his belt; Gibson claimed he couldn’t tell whether Oswald was scuffling with the Officers when he had the revolver in his hand!   

The following is the Warren Commission testimony of Theatre Patron, George Applin:

Mr. Ball 

What did the officer do?

Mr. Applin 

The officer grabbed him then.

Mr. Ball 

Had you seen the pistol up to that time?

Mr. Applin 

No, sir; there was not one in view then.

Mr. Ball 

How soon after that did you see the pistol?

Mr. Applin 

I guess it was about--I guess it was about 2 or 3 seconds.

Mr. Ball 

Who pulled the pistol?

Mr. Applin 

I guess it was Oswald, because--for one reason, that he had on a short sleeve shirt, and I seen a man's arm that was connected to the gun.

As we can see, Applin indicated in his testimony that he wasn’t sure if Oswald had the gun (despite allegedly claiming in his affidavit to the Dallas Sheriff’s Office that Oswald did in fact have the gun). Applin also indicated that Oswald was wearing a short sleeve shirt. However, as most researchers are aware, Oswald was wearing a long sleeve dark brown shirt.

So far we’ve looked at the statements by the three non DPD witnesses to Oswald’s arrest, and not only are their statements not consistent with each other’s, but also contradict the statements by the DPD Officers! Let’s bear in mind that none of the arresting Officers claimed Oswald had held the gun up in the air as Johnny Brewer declared. In addition, the arresting Officers claimed that Oswald was still near his seat when scuffling – and not in the aisle as per John Gibson’s assertion.

The following are excerpts from the Warren Commission testimonies of the arresting Officers, beginning with Nick McDonald.

Mr. Ball  

What happened then?

Mr. McDonald 

Well, whenever I hit him, we both fell into the seats. While we were struggling around there, with this hand on the gun—

Mr. Ball  

Your left hand?

Mr. McDonald  

Yes, sir. Somehow I managed to get this hand in the action also.

Mr. Ball 

Your right hand?

Mr. McDonald  

Yes, sir. Now, as we fell into the seats, I called out, "I have got him," and Officer T. A. Hutson, he came to the row behind us and grabbed Oswald around the neck. And then Officer C. T. Walker came into the row that we were in and grabbed his left arm. And Officer Ray Hawkins came to the row in front of us and grabbed him from the front. By the time all three of these officers had got there, I had gotten my right hand on the butt of the pistol and jerked it free.

From the testimony of Ray Hawkins:

Mr. Ball

What was Officer McDonald doing at that time?

Mr. Hawkins

I remember seeing him standing beside Oswald, and when I arrived where they were, both of them were down in the seat--Oswald and McDonald had both fallen down into the seat, and very shortly after I got there, a gun was pulled, came out of Oswald's belt and was pulled across to their right, or toward the south aisle of the theatre. Officer McDonald grabbed the pistol, and the best I can remember, Sergeant Hill, who had gotten there, said, "I've got the gun," and he took the gun and we handcuffed Oswald.

From the testimony of Charles Walker:

Mr. Belin

When you saw Oswald's hand by his belt, which hand did you see then?

Mr. Walker

He had ahold of the handle of it.

Mr. Belin

Handle of what?

Mr. Walker

The revolver.

Mr. Belin

Was there a revolver there?

Mr. Walker

Yes; there was.

Mr. Belin

All right.

Mr. Walker

And it stayed there for a second or two. He didn't get it out. McDonald had come forward and was holding his hand. Ray Hawkins was behind me to my left at that time, and whether or not he came at the same time we did or not, but he was there, and there was a detective. Oswald had ahold of my shirt and he practically pulled off my nameplate by ripping it with his hand. and I was bent over, and I was in an awkward position, and I could see several hands on the gun. The gun finally got out of his belt, and it was about waist high and pointed out at about a 45 degree angle. I turned around and I was holding Oswald trying to get his arm up behind him in a hammerlock, and I heard it click. I turned around and the gun was still pointing at approximately a 45 angle. Be pointed slightly toward the screen, what I call. Now Hawkins was in the general direction of the gun.

From the testimony of Thomas Hutson:

Mr. Belin

Then what did you see happen?

Mr. Hutson

I Saw McDonald down in the he seat beside this person, and this person was in a half standing crouching position pushing down on the left side of McDonald's face, and McDonald was trying to push him off.

Mr. Belin

This person was right-handed? You have used a motion here that he was pushing on the left side of McDonald's face?

Mr. Hutson

Right.

Mr. Belin

All right.

Mr. Hutson

And McDonald was trying to hold him off with his hand.

Mr. Belin

All right.

Mr. Hutson

I reached over from the back of the seat with my right arm and put it around this person's throat.

Mr. Belin

All right.

Mr. Hutson

And pulled him back up on the back of the seat that he was originally sitting in. At this time Officer C. T. Walker came up in the same row of seats that the struggle was taking place in and grabbed this person's left hand and held it.

Mr. Belin

Okay.

Mr. Hutson

McDonald was at this time simultaneously trying to hold this person's right hand. Somehow this person moved his right hand to his waist, and I saw a revolver come out, and McDonald was holding on to it with his right hand, and this gun was waving up toward the back of the seat like this.

As we can see, there is no corroboration for the allegations of Johnny Brewer and John Gibson. In fact, McDonald, Hawkins, and Hutson all claimed that Oswald and McDonald were down in the seats when scuffling. Walker claimed that there were several hands on the gun as Oswald was allegedly trying to pull it out. However, McDonald and Hutson indicated that only McDonald and Oswald had their hands on the gun. Now if Walker’s claim that several hands were on the revolver simultaneously, then how the heck did Oswald manage to pull the revolver out of his belt? It makes no sense whatsoever.

Furthermore, Walker claimed that Oswald held the gun at only waist height (and not “up in the air” as Brewer claimed). It should also be noted that in his arrest report, detective Paul Bentley claimed that he had seen Oswald pull a gun from his shirt. He also claimed that he grabbed Oswald by the neck. However, according to the arrest reports and testimonies of Hutson, McDonald, Walker, and Hawkins, it was Hutson who had grabbed Oswald around his neck – and there is absolutely no corroboration that Bentley had grabbed Oswald by the neck. Bentley was therefore lying.

Now, if you want further evidence that the statements by the arresting Officers should not be considered reliable, then just consider that Hutson claimed in his testimony that he was responsible for handcuffing Oswald along with Hawkins. Yet Hill claimed in his testimony that it was actually Hawkins and himself who had handcuffed Oswald. Although it’s only a minor detail, it is nevertheless another example of the unreliability of the claims by the arresting Officers.

Further evidence of the unreliability of the statements concerning Oswald’s arrest, is the lack of consistency of the accounts of how Oswald struck Officer McDonald. For example, McDonald and Captain W.R Westbrook claimed Oswald hit McDonald with his left fist. Ray Hawkins and George Applin claimed Oswald hit McDonald with his right fist. Walker claimed Oswald hit him with his left fist first, and then with his right fist! Hutson on the other hand claimed visibility in the Theatre was too poor to be able to tell which fist Oswald had struck McDonald with! Brewer, Gibson, and the remainder of the arresting Officers, made no statements concerning how Oswald struck McDonald. It should also be noted that Brewer claimed Oswald knocked McDonald down when he first struck him with his fist! However, neither McDonald nor any other witness corroborated Brewer’s assertion.

Based on the inconsistencies and contradictions outlined above, there is good reason to disbelieve the entire scenario regarding Oswald’s arrest and his alleged attempt at trying to shoot Officer McDonald (not that diehard lone gunman zealots would ever admit it, mind you). Now, although I do believe Oswald punched McDonald, based on the lack of credibility of the witnesses to Oswald’s arrest, I don’t believe he ever tried to shoot McDonald. Based on the evidence, I believe it was yet another lie invented by the DPD to incriminate Oswald. But if the above is not enough to convince you that the DPD were lying, then what follows hopefully will.

The “misfiring” of the revolver

Several witnesses to Oswald’s arrest claimed they heard what sounded like the hammer of the revolver snap against the firing pin – with the revolver misfiring. DPD Officer Nick McDonald claimed in his arrest report, and during his interview on WFAA -TV, that he heard the hammer snap. Charles Walker also made this claim in both his arrest report and during his Warren Commission testimony. Thomas Hutson made this claim during his Warren Commission testimony – but didn’t mention it in his arrest report. Paul Bentley also made this claim during his interview on KRLD -TV – but like Hutson, failed to mention it in his arrest report. In addition, Theatre Patrons John Gibson and George Applin also claimed they heard what they thought to be the hammer of the revolver snap.

The obvious implication of the above is that Oswald tried to shoot Officer McDonald. When the DPD examined the cartridges inside the revolver, they “discovered” an indentation/nick on one of them – which they claimed had been caused by the firing pin of the revolver. However, when Courtland Cunningham (one of the FBI’s firearm experts) examined the cartridge with the so-called indentation, he claimed it had not been caused by the firing pin of the revolver. Below is Cunningham’s testimony before the Warren Commission.

Mr. Eisenberg

Mr. Cunningham, returning to Exhibit 145, do either of the two cartridges in Exhibit 145 bear any signs of having suffered an impact from the firing pin in the revolver, Exhibit 143?

Mr. Cunningham

An examination of these two cartridges, the primers of these two cartridges, reveals no marks that could be associated with the firing pin in Commission Exhibit 143, or any other weapon.

Mr. Eisenberg

Are there any nicks on either of those cartridges?

Mr. Cunningham

Yes. There is a small nick, an indentation, up near the edge of the primer in the Remington-Peters .38 Special cartridge.

Mr. Eisenberg

Could this nick have been caused by the firing pin?

Mr. Cunningham

There was no indication, from an examination, that that nick had been so caused by a firing pin. First of all, it is in the wrong position, it is not in the centre of the primer. And, also, a microscopic examination of that nick gave no indication that it was made by a firing pin.

So despite the DPD’s assertion that the hammer of “Oswald’s” revolver had struck the firing pin and misfired, Cunningham could find no evidence that this was the cause of the nick on the cartridge in question. So if the firing pin didn’t cause the nick, then what did? In my opinion, the DPD deliberately added the nick to the cartridge, to make it look as if Oswald had tried to shoot McDonald. Unless of course, we are to believe it was just a coincidence that the aforementioned witnesses heard what they believed to be the snap of the hammer, and there also just happened to be a nick in one of the cartridges. If you ask me, I think that notion is completely absurd. 

The Warren commission ultimately agreed with the FBI that the revolver did not misfire. So if the snapping sound wasn’t the hammer striking the firing pin, then the question is what was it? Officer Ray Hawkins believed the sound may have been come from the seats in the Theatre. From Hawkins’ testimony:

Mr. Ball

Did you hear any snap of the hammer?

Mr. Hawkins

I heard something that I thought was a snap. I didn't know whether it was a snap of a pistol--I later learned that they were sure it was. I didn't know whether it was a snap of the gun or whether it was in the seats someone making the noise.

Mr. Ball

There was some noise you heard?

Mr. Hawkins

Yes, sir; there was.

Mr. Ball

You couldn't identify it?

Mr. Hawkins

No, sir; I don't think so---I don't think I could say for sure.

In my opinion, the snapping sound was actually the sound of one of the seats breaking during the scuffle with Oswald. Think about it, with Oswald fighting with several DPD Officers between the seats as they were trying to arrest him, it is quite likely that part of one of the seats had snapped. This would certainly account for the sound heard by the witnesses mentioned above. In my opinion, the DPD then used the statements of the witnesses who heard this sound, to add the nick to one of the cartridges - in order to further incriminate Oswald. Besides, what other logical explanation is there?
 

After reading through the above information, I hope you have come to realize that the entire scenario of Oswald pulling a revolver from his belt and trying to shoot Officer Nick McDonald was a crock! Now this doesn’t mean the DPD were part of the conspiracy to murder President Kennedy, or to murder one of their fellow Police Officers. But let’s get real, after Oswald was apprehended as a suspect, and charged for both murders, they had to ensure Oswald would be convicted. Otherwise, the DPD would have to search in vain for other suspects (please see here for further discussion of this issue).

Also, let’s bear in mind that the first individual reports by the Officers involved in Oswald’s arrest were submitted on the 2^nd of December (10 days following the assassination). Still, with all of the above inconsistencies and contradictions outlined above, lone gunman kooks tell us that Oswald actually did pull a gun from his belt, and tried to shoot Officer McDonald. The fact that they don’t acknowledge the significance of the inconsistencies and contradictions amongst the eye witness accounts is yet another testament to their lack of honesty and credibility.
 

The one final point I would like to make, is that I do believe Oswald struck McDonald with his fist as claimed. However, I believe he did this only because he became agitated as McDonald placed his hands near his waist whilst searching him. I will elaborate on this issue in my upcoming post.