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Deep Politics Timeline - Tracy Riddle - 27-04-2014
Nov 22 (Friday) - times are Central Standard Time unless indicated
"In l963, the Secret Service had identified six categories of persons who posed a threat to the President: right-wing extremists, left-wing extremists, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Black militants, and a miscellaneous category that included mental patients. It identified two cities as particularly threatening--Miami and Chicago." (HSCA Report)"The Secret Service generally regarded Dallas as a tough town …" William Manchester, The Death of a President, p. 39 "The committee found that if the threats that the PRS was aware of had been communicated to agents responsible for the Dallas trip, additional precautions might have been taken. The Secret Service generally regarded Dallas as a tough town …" House Select Committee on Assassinations Report, p. 234 The third known check of PRS was done on the morning of November 22, 1963 by Agent Rufus Youngblood through yet another unnamed agentagain, nothing was found. (Manchester, pp. 1089; Bishop, p. 46; see also RIF#1801009310320: May 31, 1977 Memorandum from HSCA's Belford Lawson to fellow HSCA members Gary Cornwell & Ken Klein (revised August 15, 1977).
The day Kennedy was assassinated, Paramount Pictures, the distributor of the film Seven Days in May, planned to run an ad for the film, using a quote from one of its fictional military conspirators: "Impeach him, hell. There are better ways of getting rid of him." The studio quickly yanked the ad at the last minute, fearing it was too provocative, "narrowly avoiding an embarrasing coincidence on the very day the president was shot," Variety reported 12/4/1963.
JFK was to deliver a speech at the Dallas Trade Mart after the motorcade, and then go to Austin for a Democratic fundraising dinner, and finally to Lyndon Johnson's Texas ranch. The Trade Mart speech read, "Our assistance to these nations can be painful, risky and costly, as is true in Southeast Asia today. But we dare not weary of the task...We have increased our special counterinsurgency forces which are now engaged in South Vietnam by 600%...We in this country are - by destiny rather than choice - the watchmen on the walls of world freedom."
In Madrid, Spain today - the CIA reports hearing from a Cuban journalist who claims to have received a letter stating that GPIDEAL [CIA's official code name for President Kennedy] will be killed today. On December 3, 1963, the CIA reported that on November 27, 1963, the CIA Station, Madrid, received the following information from Source Two: On the morning of November 22, 1963, Amparo Godinez, the owner of the Marquesa De Cuba bar located in Madrid, overheard former Cuban journalist Baston Baquero tell Rosendo Canto Hernandez, editor of Accion Cubana, that he had received a letter stating Kennedy would be killed that day.
On this date, Aristotle Onassis is in Germany for the christening of his newest ship "The Olympic Chivalry."
On this date, Clay Shaw is in San Francisco. It is now known that Clay Shaw, eventually charged by New Orleans D.A. Jim Garrison in the JFK murder, has a relationship with the CIA. Besides being a contact of the CIA's Domestic Contact Division, a 1967 memo released in 1992 notes that Shaw has been granted a covert security approval in December 1962 for "Project QKENCHANT." Another person approved for this same project is E. Howard Hunt, of Watergate fame.
Gerry Patrick Hemming is reportedly in Miami.
E. Howard Hunt is believed by some to be in Dallas. Hunt gave conflicting accounts of his exact whereabouts at the time of the shooting. In his 1985 libel trial in Miami, Florida, the jury's forewoman concluded Hunt was not being truthful about his whereabouts on the day of the assassination. Hunt's various accounts of where he was and what he was doing on the day of the shooting were markedly contradictory.
Jack Ruby meets Richard Meyers, of Brooklyn, NY for five minutes at the Cabana Motel in Dallas. H&L
Life magazine of this date features a story titled "The Bobby Baker Case: Scandal Grows and Grows in Washington." Clint Murchison's lawyers, Bedford Wynne and Thomas Webb, are named as members of the "Bobby Baker Set." Wynne is under federal investigation regarding government funds he is receiving through a Murchison family corporation, some of which have ended up as payoffs (via Thomas Webb) to the law firm of Bobby Baker. [Baker is LBJ's right hand man. Murchison's empire overlaps with that of Mafia financial expert Meyer Lansky and Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa.]
This morning, Wilbur Mills and Henry Hall Wilson reached an agreement on a formula to finance Medicare that was acceptable to both Mills and JFK. (No Final Victories p145)
The headlines of today's Dallas Morning News read: "Storm of Political Controversy Swirls Around Kennedy Visit," and "Split State Party Continues Feuds."
In the 1960 election the Kennedy-Johnson ticket lost in Dallas while managing to carry Texas only by a disturbingly small margin. The "Kennedy camp" clearly realizes that LBJ may very well be a liability on the 64 Democratic ticket - particularly in light of the scandals now swirling around him. (LBJ must also be equally aware of this political reality.) In fact, though few realize it on this date, Dallas is already well on its way towards evolving into a seat of extreme conservative philosophy and burgeoning Republican politics. Besides LBJ, it is historically significant that Texas will also eventually send two more presidents to the White House - both from the same family: Bush - and both will be inextricably connected to oil interests as well as the Republican party. Both men - father and son - will also take the United States to war in the Middle East. While many influential Texans are today extremely apprehensive about the ramifications of a possible "Kennedy legacy" [Jack, Bobby, Ted], it is the "Bush dynasty" that will eventually emerge to take control.
Nixon was quoted in the Dallas Morning News as predicting that Kennedy would dump Johnson from the ticket in 1964 because LBJ had become a "political liability."
"The entire front page of the morning paper [DMN] of the day of the assassination was devoted to the President's visit and to the political situation in which it was being made. Buried in the body of one of these stories was some text the Report could and did use to connote something sinister on Oswald's part: "On the morning of the President's arrival, the Morning News noted the motorcade would travel through downtown Dallas onto the Stemmons Freeway, and reported 'the motorcade will travel slowly so that crowds "can get a good view" of the President and his wife.' "This planted the idea that Oswald knew all about the slow pace and found assurance of a better target because of it. Of course, the Report in this quotation does not find it necessary to use the exact language, "Main and Stemmons Freeway," as the route to the place of the luncheon meeting, with no mention of Elm Street. And what the Report totally suppresses is the major reference to the route on the front page of that issue of that paper. Headed "Presidential Motorcade Route," there is a map showing the entire route, beginning at the airport. This map shows the motorcade would not leave Main Street from the time it got on it until it reached the Triple Underpass. It showed the motorcade was not going to turn off into Elm Street, as it did. And it further showed that the planned route included an illegal turn into the Stemmons Freeway, the turn the Report infers could not be made because it was against regulations. And as though to answer the as yet unasked question, as though it knew the future significance of its front-page map, the paper marked the point of the only turn from Main Street with an arrow labeled "Triple Underpass."" (Weisberg, Whitewash)
The WC published a cropped photocopy of the front page of the Dallas Morning News of 11/22/1963 (CE 1365); the blanked-out section was of a map showing the motorcade route as heading straight down Main St, without turning onto Elm. Officer J.M. Smith later testified that he knew of nothing that would have prevented the motorcade from going straight down Main and then onto Stemmons Freeway. (H 7 538-539) Most of the Depository employees who were questioned on this matter say that they didn't learn of the exact motorcade route until Friday morning. (H 3 178,209)
From The Dallas Morning News - Friday, November 22, 1963 - Section 1-19 Dallas After Dark by Tony Zoppi "Robert Clary, the French musical comedy star made his Dallas supper club debut at Statler Hilton Friday night and committed the most common error in show business. He failed to get off while he was ahead. While Clary has made his mark onstage and in films, he simply isn't strong enough vocally to sustain at length in clubs. His manner is friendly and his songs are backed by tasty arraignments, but vocally he is far short of such Empire Room greats as Tony Bennett, Mel Torme and Frankie Laine. Perhaps an opening act would have solved the problem. It would have allowed Clary to condense his turn to a solid 28 minutes of such tunes instead of 45 minutes of this and that. Former Vice-President Richard Nixon and film star Joan Crawford graced the ringside and drew tremendous ovations when introduced. The Statler announced the signing of Jose Greco & Co. as its Cotton Bowl Week attraction. Greco once held the box office record at the hotel." [Zoppi's deadline was 11:00 PM and he waited until the last minute to leave to provide his review of Clary's show. Both Richard Nixon and Joan Crawford were there when he left.]
From The Dallas Times Herald - Friday, November 22, 1963 - Page A25 Show Biz by Don Safran
"SPEAKING OF the president and vice president visiting Dallas today, they might get a kick out of an item from a press biography of folksingers Peter, Paul and Mary, who'll be appearing here Saturday at the SMU Coliseum. The item, which we imagine was a typographical error, or at least we hope it is, read: ". . . they performed at the home of Vice President and Mrs. Johnson, Carnegie Hall, N.Y." Could be lonely around the fireplace after shows . . . Dick Harp snared winsome jazz singer Melba Moore for this weekend at the 90th Floor . . . Dallas oil-man Buddy Fogelson, co-producing Broadway's "The Golden Age" threw the towel in after eight performances. Show closes Saturday despite winning over every critic but Walter Kerr.
Reviewing Stand (Statler's Clary) . . .
THERE'S NO escaping politics this Nov. 22. Note the above and then note that the elfin French boulevardier Robert Clary opened a three-week engagement at the Empire Room of the Statler Hilton last night with Richard Nixon ringsiding. He was with a group from Pepsi Cola that also included the chic and glamorous as ever Joan Crawford, but more about that later. If you remember M. Clary from "New Faces of 1952," you know the bombast and ruffled elegance of this totally captivating performer.
Robert has that marvelous character face and moves like a marionette on ice skates. He is the complete performer in that when he sings, there is more than a song; when he moves, it's the right eccentric steps. He sings his "New Faces" medley, a poignant "When the World Was Young," a staggering "West Side Story's" "Officer Krupke" and one of the most joyful and inventive "76 Trombones" ever put to stage. With it all, the Don Ragon Orchestra easily cuts through one of its toughest shows. The Empire Room has had phenomenal luck its last three bookings, and with Robert it has one of those rare striking talents that give supper clubs a reason for being.
The Night Line . . .
BACK TO THE politicos again - when Richard Nixon walked into the Empire Room last night the Don Ragon Band was playing "April in Portugal." Mrs. Nixon's favorite song, said the former vice president . . . Nixon was introduced by Clary as, "either you like him or you don't." which broke up Nixon . . .
The former VP got a big chuckle out of Clary's line "I sent Lady Bird to Greece to bring back a few dance steps for me." . . .
And speaking of dancing. La Crawford, looking every inch the movie star with a white fur hat, was first on the dance floor and requested twists all evening . . ."
The Dallas Police Dept had cancelled all leaves for the President's arrival, and "all personnel except a handful of squad cars and some detectives were working the Kennedy assignment. The dispatcher had been told to keep Channel One open for superior officers with the President and to use police Channel Two for all other business." (The Day Kennedy was Shot 10-11)
This morning's broadcast of Hunt's Life Line radio program predicted that if present trends continued, the American people would no longer be permitted by the government to buy firearms. (Texas Rich)
Nov 22 early morning to 6am
12:00 AM: Nine Secret Service agents drinking at Pat Kirkwood's bar the "Cellar Door" in Fort Worth, Texas. Several of the women serving liquor to the agents are also strippers from Jack Ruby's Carousel Club in Dallas. (Pat Kirkwood is a licensed pilot and owns a twin-engine plane. He will fly to Mexico hours after JFK's assassination.) Bob Schieffer, night police reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram remembers "... the waitresses wore underwear. That was their business attire, as it were, and people sat around on cushions on the floor.""For the Secret Service escort who dedicate themselves to the safety of the President, this day began with nine of them engaged in a post-midnight diversion, including moderate drinking, in clear violation of regulations. Although discipline was mandatory under the regulations, the Secret Service decided punishment would stigmatize these men for life. The men went unpunished, a decision with which the Commission found no fault (R450-1)." (Weisberg, Whitewash)
12:50 AM JFK arrives at the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth.
2:00 AM Seven Secret Service agents are still drinking at "The Cellar."
2:15 AM Mary Lawrence, head waitress at the Lucas B&B Restaurant - two doors down from the Vegas Club, says she is positive that LHO enters the restaurant and tells her and the night cashier that he is waiting for Jack Ruby. When Ruby enters the restaurant, the two men sit together and talk for over a half an hour and then leave. A week and a half after the assassination, Mary will receive a phone call from an unknown man who says, "If you don't want to die, you better get out of town." She has known Jack Ruby for the past eight years. She and the night cashier see Jack Ruby and a person identical to Lee Harvey Oswald in the restaurant shortly after midnight. She reports this to the Dallas Police and receives a phone call on December 3 from an unknown male who states "If you don't want to die, you better get out of town." When questioned by the Dallas Police, Mary Lawrence states that the man with Ruby was "positively Lee Harvey Oswald." Neither Mary Lawrence nor her friend were interviewed by the WC.
3:30 AM The Secret Service men at "The Cellar" are joking about how several firemen are the only ones left guarding the President at the Hotel Texas, in Fort Worth.
5:00 AM One Secret Service agent is still drinking at "The Cellar." ALL AGENTS HAVE TO REPORT FOR DUTY AT 8:00 AM ON THE MORNING OF THE 22ND -- three hours from now. Bob Schieffer remembers: "While there, we were joined by some Secret Service agents from Kennedy's detail. They were off-duty, but they wanted to go. They weren't drinking. But we managed to see the dawn come up and see the sun rise in Fort Worth before we left the place."
Nov 22 6am
6:15 AM Mrs. Marie Tippit has made breakfast for her husband, Dallas Police officer JD Tippit, who routinely leaves the house no later than 6:15 a.m. each day. She, too, has a hectic schedule. To make extra money, she is baby-sitting a boy during the day and other children during the evening. The Tippits have three children of their own: Charles Allan, born in 1950; Brenda, born in 1953; and Curtis, born in 1958. Officer Tippit is no stranger to tough situations while on duty. Once, a suspect's gun failed to fire. He has also been stabbed in the knee with a knife.An ad for Ruby's Carousel Club appeared in the Dallas Times Herald today. Ruby cancelled the show in the wake of the President's death.
6:30 AM Oswald dresses, talks to Marina. (Manchester, Death of a President)
6:40 AM Marina Oswald awakens to feed her baby, Rachel, and checks on her other child, June. (Bishop, The Day Kennedy Was Shot)
Nov 22 7am
7:00 AM In Dallas, seventeen men line up before Deputy Chief W. W. Stevenson. The patrolmen are told that their function will be to "seal" the Trade Mart in preparation for JFK's visit. Two thousand, five hundred people are expected to attend this event which is scheduled for 12:30 PM. (Bishop)Dallas Morning News this AM runs a full-page anti-Kennedy ad.
In the G. B. Dealey days of the Dallas Morning News, until his death in 1946, the Editorial policies of the paper might be considered conservative', but on occasion they would lean to the more Liberal side. A Professor Paul F. Boller, Jr. did a study on the Morning News editorial position in the mid 1940's, which concluded that the Morning News since the 1930's was a mildly New Deal, pro-Russian newspaper that favored U. S. recognition of the Russian government. During G. B. Dealey's stewardship in the late 1930's, the News had defended freedom of the press for the Daily Worker, criticized the Hearst Press' drive against academic freedoms, called Mayor Frank Hague un-American' and Hitleristic' for suppressing left-wing speakers in Jersey City, and dismissed an inquiry by the Texas legislature into alleged Communism at the University of Texas as a needless investigation. It criticized "Red Hunters" in 1936, and labeled the various "Red Scares", created by patriotic organizations, a racket to boost donations from thousands of "frightened suckers". In fact, G. B. Dealey's support of many Liberal' and Social' causes was often frowned upon by the Dallas Citizens' Council. This all changed under Edward Musgrove "Ted" Dealey. The conservative nature of the Dallas Morning News started taking the tone of the radical right. By the 1960's, the editorial page was not just dissenting, but downright insulting. Every President since FDR had been subject to its wrath, including the "much too liberal" Eisenhower (who was considered conservative by most standards). Lyndon Johnson was also a target for the paper, which had supported opponent Coke Stevenson, when Johnson was elected for the US Senate. When Johnson won by only 87 votes, the News immediately screamed "Fraud!" They then began a very personal campaign against Johnson that made Johnson look more like a common thief. In the fall of 1961, Ted Dealey attended a special lunch for newspaper publishers at Kennedy's White House. During the event, Dealey strongly angered the President by calling him soft on Communism, and produced and read a savage indictment of his host. He told the President, "You and your Administration are weak sisters". "What was needed was a man on horseback to lead this nation, and many people in Texas and the Southwest think that you are riding Caroline's tricycle." Bringing the 3-year old Caroline into the discussion was, of course, a bad breach of taste and infuriated the President, but it did accurately reflect the average Dallas citizen's distrust of the United Nations and the President. It was also Ted Dealey who later approved the infamous "Black Border" ad that ran in the Dallas Morning News the morning of November 22, 1963, much to the horror of his son, and Morning News President, Joe Dealey, Sr. Ted Dealey explained to his son that many of the points in the "Black Border" ad reflected what the paper had been saying in its editorials (which Ted Dealey was in charge of, by the way) over the previous months. In the 2 months prior to Kennedy's visit, the Morning News ran an entire tirade of Editorials criticizing the President for his "Communistic tendencies". The people of Dallas tended to agree with these views, and they probably influenced even the less outspoken, non-agreeing readers of these views.
J.D. Tippit's shift on November 22, 1963 was 7:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. Tippit worked out of the Dallas Police Department Southwest Substation (Batchelor Exhibit No. 5002, page 9 and CE 2645, Volume 25, page 910.). This substation was in the 4200 block of West Illinois, Oak Cliff, Dallas. Tippit would have to drive his squad car approximately 5.7 miles to get to his patrol district #78. If Tippit had taken the most direct route and drove east on West Illinois to get to his district that means that he would pass Austin's Barbecue on his way. Ken M. Holmes Jr. was able to locate two eyewitnesses that saw Tippit at Austin's that morning, exact time unrecalled. Ken did much of the investigative work for the late Larry Ray Harris whom some had considered the world's leading authority on the Tippit murder. For some reason Ken has never gotten the credit due him for all of the important work that he has done. I know that I am very thankful for all the information and time that he has shared with me. Ken is responsible for many pieces of information that we have about Tippit today. As we can see the possibility of Tippit stopping of at Austin's certainly exists. (According to one source, Tippit's wife - Marie - visits a neighbor later this morning in tears because "on that morning Officer Tippit has told her he wanted a divorce to marry someone else.") Some researchers have pointed out the fact that J. D. Tippit closely resembles JFK - so much so that some members of the Dallas Police force often jokingly call Tippit "Jack" and "JFK." This similarity has led some researchers to advance the theory that it is Tippit's body in the autopsy photographs purporting to show the body of JFK. Additionally, Tippit's head wounds and JFK's head wounds are in almost identical locations - again leading some researchers to advance the theory that X-rays of Tippit's skull were later substituted for JFK's. It will also be noted that Tippit's body is taken from the murder scene before the arrival of police and is subsequently taken to two hospitals.
Two Secret Service agents are at Fort Worth Police Headquarters examining two limousines which have been rented for the Kennedys and the Secret Service to use during the four-mile drive from the Hotel Texas to Carswell Air Force Base. (Bishop)
JFK's valet, George Thomas, awakens the President - who is asleep in Suite 850 of the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth. (Bishop) As JFK dresses this morning in Fort Worth, Texas, he dons his underwear and a surgical corset. He laces it tightly, then pulls a long elastic bandage over his feet and twists it so that it forms a figure eight. He then slips it up over both legs. Finally, it is adjusted over his hips where it supports the bottom of his torso, while the back brace holds the lower spine rigid. The Warren Commission notes that JFK's back brace is six inches wide and only waist high, no higher than the navel.
7:08 AM Police Chief Jesse Curry appears on local television and announces that the President will be in Dallas today and that Dallas wants no incidents. Curry concludes by asking all good citizens to please report to the Dallas Police Department anyone who has voiced violent opinions against the President or who has boasted, publicly or privately, of plans to demonstrate today. (Bishop, The Day Kennedy Was Shot p11)
A retired Dallas police captain told Ovid Demaris and Ed Reid that the DPD "was rotten from top to bottom. Oh, there were some good cops. But, man, it was a dangerous place to work in. You never knew which side your boss or partner was on. There was plenty of money floating around. All you had to do was raise your hand." (Ruby Cover-Up p31)
7:10 AM Marina said that Oswald overslept the morning of 11/22 and got up at 7:10; he left and arrived at Frazier's home at 7:20 (H 18 638-639, H 24 408). "In the morning," she continued, "I did not usually get up to make breakfast for Lee -- he always did that for himself. (This of the man the Commission elsewhere said never ate breakfast, quoting Marina as its authority!) At 7:00 a.m. the alarm rang, but Lee did not get up. After 10 minutes I woke him up and began to feed Rachel. He said I should not get up, got dressed, said goodbye and went out . . ." When he left home that morning, Marina was still in bed; he told her to buy shoes for her and June. He put on a tan-gray work shirt, gray pants and a zipper jacket, left behind his wedding ring and wallet, (keeping $13.87 for himself) and said, "Maybe someday June will remember me." (Bishop p12)
"He went out into the garage...opened a rolled blanket on the floor, slipped a rifle out without disturbing the convolutions of the blanket, and closed the flap. He took some wrapping paper, placed the rifle in it, and wrapped it in such a way that one end appeared to be thick, the other thin. He went back into the kitchen, forgetting to turn the light off." (Bishop 16)
"Despite the emotional account attributed to his wife that she had denied her company and even her conversation to her husband the night before the assassination, in the narrative she wrote when first put under protective custody she indicated (18H638) that he knew nothing about the events of the next day: "Only when I told him Kennedy was coming the next day to Dallas and asked how I could see him -- on television, of course -- he answered that he did not know."" (Weisberg, Whitewash)
7:15 AM Oswald leaves the Paine house to walk to Wesley Frazier's sister's house. "...Oswald left while his wife was still in bed feeding the baby. She did not see him leave the house, nor did Ruth Paine. On the dresser in their room he left his wedding ring which he had never done before. His wallet containing $170 was left intact in a dresser-drawer." (Warren Report p15) Marina says that when he left, he came to the bedroom door: "He told me to take as much money as I needed and to buy everything, and said goodbye, and that is all." (H 1 72) Posner writes, "He walked out the door without kissing her, something he always did before leaving." (Case Closed 223) Posner: "Failed in his attempts to find happiness in Russia or the US, rejected by the Cubans, barely able to make a living in America, frustrated in his marriage, and hounded, in his view, by the FBI, he was desperate to break out of his downward spiral...Lee Oswald always thought he was smarter and better than other people...Now, by chance, he had an opportunity that he knew would only happen once in his lifetime."
Apparently no one asked Oswald during his police interrogation why he returned to Irving Thursday night. The story about Oswald visiting the garage at around 8 or 9pm is based on Ruth Paine's testimony that she found the light left on at 9pm. Neither Ruth or Marina actually saw Oswald in the garage. (H 3 67; H 1 66-67)
He does leave home wearing his U. S. Marine Corps signet ring and an identification bracelet with the name "Lee" inscribed on it. He will be wearing both of these items at the time of his arrest. Dallas Police detectives who will later search Ruth Paine's home do not list a wedding ring or any kind of ring on their inventory sheets. A wedding ring was not photographed with other items of evidence on the floor of the Dallas Police station, nor was it listed on the joint Dallas Police/FBI inventory of Nov. 26, 1963. LHO walks one block east from the Paine house and pokes his head into the back door of Linnie Mae Randle's home, looking for her brother Buell Frazier for a ride to work.
Both Randle and Frazier will later agree that they observed LHO place a package in the backseat. Both are adamant that the package is too small to be even a broken-down Mannlicher Carcano rifle. Mrs. Essie Mae Williams, Linnie Mae Randle's mother, will tell the FBI that she caught a glimpse of LHO from the kitchen and didn't see whether he was carrying anything or not.
7:20 AM Oswald had to hurry. He was due half a block away, dressed and with his "large and bulky package" 10 minutes from the time Marina awakened him. His "ride," Buell Wesley Frazier, testified the normal departure time was 7:20 (2H210ff.; 7H531ff.). In 10 minutes he had to dress (Marina was disturbed because he had not eaten) and get to Frazier's home, meanwhile either picking up the package the Report says he carried or, so far as we know, even having to make the package. On this the Report says nothing except in conclusion. It merely places his departure from the Paine home at about 7:15 a.m. (R131). (Weisberg, Whitewash)
7:23 AM Oswald is driven to work by Buell Wesley Frazier. They don't talk very much during the trip. When asked what the package in the backseat is, Frazier testifies that LHO answers: "Curtain rods." This is the package in which LHO supposedly carries the "broken down" assassination rifle. This bag is carried between his armpit and cupped hand into the TSBD. No one sees it come into the building. The rifle, broken down, can not fit under LHO's armpit and cupped hand -- as Frazier testifies he carries it. The "Bag" is homemade -- out of brown wrapping paper supposedly taken from the TSBD. The Warren Commission does not indicate its reasoning as to when and where Oswald fashioned the paper bag from materials taken from the TSBD. Presumably he did so only after the motorcade route become known on Tuesday, November 19, 1963, and before departing for Irving after work on Thursday. According to the Commission's findings, Oswald must have carried the paper bag concealed on his person when he accompanied Frazier to Irving on Thursday. Frazier saw no paper bag or any sign that Oswald had concealed on his person the six-foot length of wrapping paper necessary to construct a bag consisting of two sheets, each about three feet long, sealed at the edges. LHO's fingerprints will not be found on the brown paper bag. Researchers have posed the question that, if LHO did indeed carry curtain rods into the TSBD this morning -- what happened to them? Wouldn't they have been left in the building following LHO's exit immediately after the assassination? DPD will eventually possess photographs of curtain rods that were dusted for fingerprints, but there is no information on the photos identifying where they were found. Following the assassination, Counsel Jenner and Secret Service Agent Joe Howlett accompany Mrs. Ruth Paine to her garage and find two curtain rods on a shelf. The rods are measured and found to be 27 1/2 inches long. Mrs. Paine maintained that only those two curtain rods had been stored in the garage and that consequently Oswald did not take curtain rods from the premises on the fatal morning. Her husband, however, is not certain of the number of curtain rods which had been stored in the garage, before or after the assassination. (Meagher)
The Warren Commission will conclude the following: "During the morning of November 21, Oswald asked Frazier whether he could ride home with him that afternoon. Frazier, surprised, asked him why he was going to Irving on Thursday night rather than Friday. Oswald replied, "I'm going home to get some curtain rods…[to] put in an apartment." The two men left work at 4: 40 p.m. and drove to Irving. There was little conversation between them on the way home. Mrs. Linnie Mac Randle, Frazier's sister, commented to her brother about Oswald's unusual midweek return to Irving. Frazier told her that Oswald had come home to get curtain rods, It would appear, however, that obtaining curtain rods was not the purpose of Oswald's trip to Irving on November 21. Mrs. A. C. Johnson, his landlady, testified that Oswald's room at 1026 North Beckley Avenue had curtains and curtain rods, and that Oswald had never discussed the subject with her. In the Paines' garage, along with many other objects of a household character, there were two flat lightweight curtain rods belonging to Ruth Paine but they were still there on Friday afternoon after Oswald's arrest. Oswald never asked Mrs. Paine about the use of curtain rods, and Marina Oswald testified that Oswald did not say anything about curtain rods on the day before the assassination. No curtain rods were known to have been discovered in the Depository Building after the assassination." Mrs. Linnie Mae Randle (2H245ff.) noticing Oswald approaching with a "heavy brown bag," in the Commission's words rather than Mrs. Randle's. "He gripped the bag in his right hand, near the top. 'It tapered like this as he hugged it in his hand. It was . . . more bulky toward the bottom than toward the top.' Frazier recalls that LHO is wearing a "gray, more or less flannel, wool-looking type of jacket." Linnie Mae Randle says "to the best of her recollection Oswald was wearing a tan shirt and gray jacket."
7:30 AM FBI Agent James Hosty visited the local SS office and was amazed at how relaxed everyone seemed, even though Kennedy would be arriving in a few hours. Agent Mike Howard wasn't interested in any information Hosty might have on right-wing groups. This morning, Hosty also received a case-transfer order, officially sending the Oswald case file back to him from New Orleans. (Assignment Oswald p7)
7:30 AM J. W. "Dub" Stark, owner of the Top Ten Record Shop at 338 W. Jefferson Blvd. in Oak Cliff (about a block and a half west of the Texas Theater) says that LHO is waiting at his store when Stark arrives at about this time. Stark says that LHO buys a ticket to the Dick Clark Show and leaves by bus. Stark says that Officer J.D. Tippit is not in the store at this time. [J.D. Tippit will reportedly be seen in this same store at 1:11 PM. He will reportedly make a phone call and then leave hurriedly.] WM Dub Stark says that LHO returns a short time later and buys another ticket to the Dick Clark Show. This time, Officer J.D. Tippit is in the store, but does not speak with LHO. (Armstrong)
7:45 AM
Mr. BELIN. All right, do you remember what time you got to work that day?
Mr. CHARLES DOUGLAS GIVENS. Yes; I got to work around about a quarter to eight.
Mr. BELIN. Where did you go when you got to work?
Mr. GIVENS. I went in a little lunchroom that we have downstairs.
Mr. BELIN. Is that what you call the domino room?
Mr. GIVENS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. You carry your lunch with you?
Mr. GIVENS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. You put your lunch there?
Mr. GIVENS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Did you wear a jacket to work that day?
Mr. GIVENS. I wore a raincoat, I believe. It was misting that morning.
Mr. BELIN. Did you hang up your coat in that room, too?
Mr. GIVENS. Yes, sir.
7:55 AM. Oswald and Wesley Frazier arrive at the parking lot next to the TSBD. It is raining. LHO leaves the car and walks ahead of Frazier into the building. LHO is out of Frazier's sight for a few moments before he enters the building.
Mr. BALL - He was alone?
Mr. JACK DOUGHERTY - Yes; he was alone.
Mr. BALL - Do you recall him having anything in his hand?
Mr. DOUGHERTY - Well, I didn't see anything, if he did.
Mr. BALL - Did you pay enough attention to him, you think, that you would remember whether he did or didn't?
Mr. DOUGHERTY - Well, I believe I can---yes, sir---I'll put it this way; I didn't see anything in his hands at the time.
Mr. BALL - In other words, your memory is definite on that is it?
Mr. DOUGHERTY - Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL - In other words, you would say positively he had nothing in his hands?
Mr. DOUGHERTY - I would say that---yes, sir.
Mr. BALL - Or, are you guessing?
Mr. DOUGHERTY - I don't think so.
Mr. BALL. What time did you get to work on the morning of November the 22d?
Mr. HAROLD NORMAN. I got there I would say about 5 minutes of 8 o'clock, 5 minutes until 8 in the morning.
Mr. BALL. You weren't late?
Mr. NORMAN. No; I wasn't.
Mr. BALL. Did you see Lee Oswald when you got to work?
Mr. NORMAN. No; I don't recall seeing him when I got to work.
There are 13 employees working on the 6th floor of the TSBD building today, laying a tile floor. The floor crew starts work in the west end of the large room which constitutes the 6th floor -- working eastward. Little by little, the cardboard boxes of school books are being inched toward the front windows of the building. LHO begins filling orders involving books published by Scott Foresman & Company. Two employees working on this floor have facial resemblances -- Billy Nolan Lovelady and Lee Harvey Oswald.
Nov 22 8am
8:00 AM Abraham Zapruder arrives at his office. (Trask)8:01 AM Dallas policeman J.D. Tippit, in police car #10, leaves the police station for patrol.
8:05 AM James Jarman Jr. arrives at work.
Mr. BALL - Now on November 22, what time did you get to work?
Mr. JARMAN - About 5 minutes after 8.
Mr. BALL - Was Oswald there when you got there?
Mr. JARMAN - Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL - Where did you see him the first time?
Mr. JARMAN - Well, he was on the first floor filling orders.
Mr. BALL - Did you talk to Oswald that morning?
Mr. JARMAN - I did.
Mr. BALL - When?
Mr. JARMAN - I had him to correct an order. I don't know exactly what time it was.
Mr. BALL - Oh, approximately. Nine, ten?
Mr. JARMAN - It was around, it was between eight and nine, I would say.
Mr. BALL - Between 8 and 9?
Mr. JARMAN - Between 5 minutes after 8 and 9.
"The testimony of all the witnesses who were employed at the Depository Building revealed a lack of excitement over the President's trip. Some did not even plan to view the motorcade and watched it only as an afterthought. Others became interested when they learned by the gathering of spectators that it would come nearby." (Weisberg, Whitewash)
8:15 AM JFK calls James Chambers Jr., president of the Dallas Times Herald and asks "Can you get me some Macanudo cigars? They don't have any over here in Fort Worth." Chambers says "Sure." JFK then says "Well, get me about a half a dozen." Chambers never gets to give the cigars to JFK.
Jack Ruby is reportedly seen by DPO Hansen on the Harwood sidewalk by City Hall where Dallas police officers assemble to get their assignments for JFK's visit.
8:30 AM SS agent Sorrels meets Agent Kinney and Agent George W. Hickey, Jr. outside hotel in Dallas. They then drive out to Love Field.
Representative FORD - When did you first learn of the President's motorcade route?
Mr. JARMAN - That morning.
Representative FORD - Friday morning, November 22d?
Mr. JARMAN - Yes, sir.
Representative FORD - How did you find out about it?
Mr. JARMAN - The foreman of the employees on the first floor.
Representative FORD - What is his name?
Mr. JARMAN - William Shelley was standing up talking to Mrs. Lee.
Representative FORD - To Mrs. Lee?
Mr. JARMAN - Miss Lee, or Mrs. Lee, I think, and he was discussing to her about the President coming, asked her was she going to stand out there and see him pass.
Representative FORD - About what time Friday morning was this?
Mr. JARMAN - I imagine it would be about--I think it was between 8:30 and 9:00. I am not sure.
Mr. BONNIE RAY WILLIAMS. The morning of November 22d Oswald was on the floor. The only time I saw him that morning was a little after eight, after I had started working. As usual, he was walking around with a clipboard in his hands, I believe he was.
Mr. BALL. That is on the first floor?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes. He had a clipboard in his hand…That morning I worked on the sixth floor. I think we went directly up to the sixth floor and I got there.
Mr. BALL. And how many were working on the sixth floor with you?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I believe there were five.
Mr. BALL. What are their names?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Well, Bill Shelley, Charles Givens, and there was a fellow by the name of Danny Arce.
Mr. BALL. He is a Mexican boy?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes. And a fellow by the name of Billy Lovelady, and myself. And there was a fellow that came up--his name was Harold Norman. He really wasn't working at the time, but there wasn't anything to do, he would come around to help a little bit, and then back down.
Mr. BALL. Did you see Oswald on the sixth floor that morning?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I am not sure. I think I saw him once messing around with some cartons or something, back over the east side of the building. But he wasn't in the window that they said he shot the President from. He was more on the east side of the elevator, I think, messing around with cartons, because he always just messed around, kicking cartons around.
Mr. BALL. What was his job?
Mr. WILLIAMS. His job was an order filler.
Mr. BALL. What do you mean by that?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I mean by that an order filler--when orders come in for the State schools mostly, from Austin, he would take the orders and fill the orders. If the orders called for a certain amount of books, he would fill that order, and turn it in to be checked, to be shipped out.
Mr. BELIN. Where did you see him [Oswald] first?
Mr. CHARLES DOUGLAS GIVENS. Well, I first saw him on the first floor.
Mr. BELIN. About what time was that?
Mr. GIVENS. Well, about 8:30.
Mr. BELIN. What did you do between a quarter of 8 and 8:30? Where were
Mr. GIVENS. Well, I went upstairs. We went to work at 8 o'clock.
Mr. BELIN. Did you see him come into the domino room at all?
Mr. GIVENS. Not that morning, no, sir; I didn't.
Mr. BELIN. When did you leave the domino room to go up to the sixth floor?
Mr. GIVENS. 8 o'clock.
Mr. BELIN.. At 8 o'clock?
Mr. GIVENS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. So you don't feel he came in the domino room before 8 o'clock?
Mr. GIVENS. No, sir; not that morning he didn't.
Mr. BELIN. How did you get up to the sixth floor?
Mr. GIVENS. On the elevator.
Mr. BELIN. The east or the west one? The west one is the one that would be nearest the railroad tracks, and the east one would be nearer the Houston Street.
Mr. GIVENS. We went up on the east one.
Mr. BELIN. Any particular reason why you took the east one rather than the west one?
Mr. GIVENS. Well, I don't know whether you call it a particular reason, but on the west, you have double gates on that.
Mr. BELIN. Was the west elevator on the first floor when you took the east elevator up?
Mr. GIVENS. It was that morning, yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. It was that morning around 8 o'clock?
Mr. GIVENS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Now, where did you see him at 8:30 o'clock first?
Mr. GIVENS. I came back down to use the rest room.
Mr. BELIN. Where was he?
Mr. GIVENS. He was over there in the bin filling orders.
Mr. BELIN. Do you remember what he was wearing?
Mr. GIVENS. Well, I believe it was kind of a greenish looking shirt and pants was about the same color as his shirt, practically the same thing he wore all the time he worked there. He never changed clothes the whole time he worked there, and he would wear a grey looking jacket.
LHO reportedly enters a Jiffy store located at 310 S. Industrial (less than a mile SW of Dealey Plaza). Fred Moore, the store clerk says "identification of this individual arose when he asked him for identification as to proof of age for purchase of two bottles of beer. Moore said he figured the man was over 21 but the store frequently requires proof by reason of past difficulties with local authorities for serving beer to minors. This customer said, sure I got ID and pulled a Texas drivers license from his billfold. Moore said that he noted the name appeared as Lee Oswald or possibly as H. Lee Oswald. As Moore recalled, the birth date on the license was 1939 and he thought it to have been the 10th month." (Interview of Fred Moore by SA David Barry 12/2/63)
While showering this morning, JFK takes off his Saint Jude and Saint Christopher Medals and leaves them hanging on the shower head. When later "sweeping" the room, Secret Service agent Ron Pontius finds the medals and puts them in his pocket, with intentions of returning them to JFK after the Dallas motorcade. Pontius eventually gives the medals to Marty Underwood who, at last report, still retains them.
8:45 AM A light rain is falling. JFK emerges from his hotel in Fort Worth and strides across the street to greet a crowd waiting for him in a parking lot. Going downstairs, JFK sees his driver, Muggsy O'Leary and tells him: "Mary Gallagher wasn't here last night to help Jackie. Mary hasn't any business in motorcades. She's supposed to reach hotels before we do, and so far she's batting zero. Get her on the ball." At 8:45 a.m., President Kennedy, Congressman Wright at his side, strode out of the hotel, neither of them wearing raincoats. Flanking them were Vice President Johnson and Senator Yarborough, with Governor Connally a few steps behind, all three wearing raincoats against the drizzle. Mrs. Kennedy had remained behind in the Kennedys' suite. "There are no faint hearts in Fort Worth," President Kennedy began when he mounted the platform, "and I appreciate your being here this morning. Mrs. Kennedy is organizing herself. It takes longer, but, of course, she looks better than we do when she does it. . . . We appreciate your welcome." He went on to speak about the country's defense and the part that Fort Worth, home of such major defense contractors as General Dynamics and Bell Helicopter, played in protecting national security. He touched on the nation's space effort. The President's delivery was warm and direct. Americans, he said, must be willing to bear the burdens of world leadership. "I know one place where they are," he told his wet audience. "Here in this rain, in Fort Worth, in the United States. We are going forward." There was prolonged applause from the eight thousand or so people in the parking lot.
Desmond FitzGerald, a senior CIA officer, meets today with (AM/LASH) Rolando Cubela in Paris, France. FitzGerald delivers assurance of full support of the U.S. government in the overthrow of the Castro regime, which includes the murder of the highest officials. FitzGerald presents Cubela with a deadly pen which, when filled with poison, can be used to murder Castro. The pen is a hypodermic needle so thin that the victim will not feel its insertion. (By March 1964, FitzGerald will have been promoted to chief of the CIA's Western Hemisphere Division.) Upon conclusion of the meeting they learn of the President's assassination. (Book V Final Report of the [Senate] Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with respect to Intelligence Activities, 4/23/76) John McCone's executive assistant Walt Elder sees Desmond Fitzgerald during the weekend, and FitzGerald tells Elder he has met with Rolando Cubela. He does not tell him that he gave him a poison pen to be used against Castro, nor that he pretended to be an emissary of Bobby Kennedy's (Richard Helms had told him not to worry, that he would approve that lie). No mention of assassination was made. But Elder gets the distinct impression that FitzGerald is particularly upset this weekend. Evan Thomas, in his book The Very Best Men, paints the following scene: Elder was struck by FitzGerald's clear discomfort. "Des was normally imperturbable, but he was very disturbed about his involvement." The normally smooth operator was "shaking his head and wringing his hands. It was very uncharacteristic. That's why I remember it so clearly," Elder said in 1993. He thought FitzGerald was "distraught and overreacting."
Nov 22 9am
9:00 AM (New Orleans) -- The last day of Carlos Marcello's deportation trial begins in a packed courtroom.9:00 AM SS agents Sorrels, Kinney and Hickey arrive at Love Field airport just outside of Dallas. They go directly to the garage and relieve the police of the security of the cars to be used in the motorcade. Both cars are washed, cleaned and checked outside, inside and underneath for security violations.
9:00 AM LHO reportedly returns to the Jiffy Store. Oswald returns to buy two pieces of Peco Brittle at five cents each which he consumes on the premises. Moore remarks to him (Oswald) in the form of a question, Candy and beer? as he considers this to be an odd combination. The man seems to be nervous while in the store pacing the aisles as he eats the candy. (Interview of Fred Moore by SA David Barry 12/2/63)
9:00 AM JFK enters the Grand Ballroom of the hotel in Fort Worth by going through the kitchen. He is to address the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and special, invited guests. He asks Agent Duncan where Mrs. Kennedy is. "Call Clint Hill," he says. "I want her to come down to breakfast."
9:02 AM JFK confers with Gov. John Connally about Senator Yarborough's refusal to ride with LBJ yesterday. (Manchester) (It is Governor Connally who has postponed JFK's visit to Texas several times; it is Connally who feels that a Kennedy-Johnson ticket might be defeated in Texas in 1964, and there is considerable political risk in being seen with JFK.)
9:05 AM Nixon left Dallas by plane, arriving at Idlewild airport at 1pm, according to Ted White (The Making of the President 1964). He left on AA Flight 82 according to William Manchester. Later that day Nixon met with Stephen Hess, with whom he was going to work on a book about the 1964 presidential campaign; he heard about the assassination on his way to meet Hess. "He was very shaken," said Hess. (US News and World Report 5/2/1994) Nixon is legal counsel for PepsiCo and has been in Dallas to attend a bottling convention. (CIA agent Russell Bintliff will tell the Washington Star in 1976 that Pepsico had set up a bottling plant in Laos in the early 1960s that did not make Pepsi, but rather converted opium into heroin. One of the immediate consequences of the JFK assassination will be the escalation of American involvement in Vietnam, in theory providing the alleged Pepsico plant with a great deal more business.)
While waiting for the arrival of the President, a TV news reporter talks about the assassination of McKinley by a disturbed anarchist. (Evidence of Revision)
9:05 AM JFK breakfast, sponsored by Ft Worth Chamber of Commerce. (Manchester)
9:15 AM Ruth Paine says this is the time she takes her daughter, Lynn, to the dentist and then runs errands. She has left the television set on for Marina Oswald - who says she watches it all morning without getting dressed.
9:22 AM Agent Clint Hill advises Mrs. Kennedy that JFK expects her downstairs in the Ballroom.
9:25 AM Jackie Kennedy appears at the breakfast wearing a pink suit and pill box hat. She is warmly received. (Manchester)
9:30 AM Kennedy speech to Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. Johnson wrote in The Vantage Point' that the morning of the assassination, Kennedy's last words to him were: "We're going to carry two states next year if we don't carry any others: Massachusetts and Texas." He told Walter Cronkite the same thing 5/2/1970. Johnson felt Kennedy's statement meant that he would not be dumped from the ticket. (Lone Star p273)
9:30 AM Jack Ruby is awake by this time and heads downtown.
Mr. JARMAN - Yes, sir. I talked to him [Oswald] again later on that morning.
Mr. BALL - About what time?
Mr. JARMAN - It was between 9:30 and 10 o'clock, I believe.
Mr. BALL - Where were you when you talked to him?
Mr. JARMAN - In between two rows of bins.
Mr. BALL - On what floor?
Mr. JARMAN - On the first floor.
Mr. BALL - And what was said by him and by you?
Mr. JARMAN - Well, he was standing up in the window and I went to the window also, and he asked me what were the people gathering around on the corner for, and I told him that the President was supposed to pass that morning, and he asked me did I know which way he was coming, and I told him, yes; he probably come down Main and turn on Houston and then back again on Elm. Then he said, "Oh, I see," and that was all.
Between 9:30 and 10am Julius Hardie later tells the Dallas Morning News that he saw three men with either rifles or shotguns standing atop the triple underpass. Whether these men are police officers or not will never be determined. Hardie claims he reported the incident to the FBI but no report about the incident has yet surfaced.
9:55 AM At the Texas Hotel in Fort Worth, JFK and Jackie have returned to Suite 850. JFK informs Kenny O'Donnell that the Presidential party will leave at 10:40. Jackie asks: "We have a whole hour?" JFK asks her if she is enjoying the trip. "Oh, Jack," she replies "campaigning is so easy when you're President."
Nov 22 10am
10:00 AM The parking area behind the Grassy Knoll fence was sealed off by police, according to Lee Bowers: "because of the fact that the area had been covered by police for some 2 hours. Since approximately 10 o'clock in the morning traffic had been cut off into the area so that anyone moving around could actually be observed. Since I had worked there for a number of years I was familiar with most of the people who came in and out of the area."10:00 AM Marilyn Sitzman and Rogers persuade Zapruder to go home for his camera. (Wrone, 9; Trask, 29-30) Or 9am according to Manchester.
10-12 Between this time and noon today, Michel Roux attends classes with Leon Gachman's son, Arnold, amid a multitude of witnesses in Ft. Worth, Texas.
10:00 AM At approximately ten o'clock this morning, Harold Norman (a worker in the Texas School Book Depository) will later explain: "Junior Jarman and myself were on the first floor looking out towards Elm Street. Oswald walked up and asked us, What is everybody looking for? What is everybody waiting on?' So we told him we were waiting on the President to come boy. He put his hand in his pocket and laughed and walked away. I thought maybe he's just been happy that morning or something."
Mr. BALL. Did you remember seeing him at any time that morning?
Mr. NORMAN. Yes; around about 10 or 10:15, somewhere in the neighborhood of that.
Mr. BALL. Where did you see him?
Mr. NORMAN. Over in the bins by the windows, I mean looking out, you know, at Elm Street, towards Elm Street.
Mr. BALL. On what floor?
Mr. NORMAN. The first.
Mr. BALL. Looking out on Elm through windows, is that right?
Mr. NORMAN. Yes, sir. I was looking out the window. He happened to come by to fill orders.
Mr. BALL. Did he say anything to you?
Mr. NORMAN. No; he didn't.
Mr. BALL. Did you say anything to him?
Mr. NORMAN. No.
William Drenas: "I have not been able to locate any radio transcripts of the Dallas Police Department activities before 10:00 A.M. on this day. There are several different versions of the Channel 1 Dallas Police Department Radio Transcripts. Most transcripts have been edited to contain mostly the calls that were pertinent to the President's motorcade. There are not many calls about routine police business, such as squads going out of service for lunch, or coffee breaks. The only exception to this is in "The Kennedy Assassination Tapes" a rebuttal to the Acoustical Evidence Theory by James C. Bowles. This document is available from the National Archives and also appears in the appendix of "First Day Evidence" by Gary Savage. Dallas Police Radio Officer Bowles transcribed a very detailed and accurate log of channel 1 transmissions from 11:42 A.M. to 12:37 P.M. for 11/22/63. The Dallas Police Department audio tape that has been widely distributed in the Assassination Community begins at 12:15 P.M… In the original "Car 10 Where Are You" I theorized that Tippit was at the Dobbs House Restaurant that morning because of statements made by employees there. We now know by the mark out records that Tippit was not at the Dobbs House at 10:00 A.M., but was on a call in his district at 2800 East Illinois Ave. Not much is known about this call except that Tippit was ordered there at 9:56 A.M. on a signal 4 which means "out on investigation" (Warren Commission Exhibit #705 page 4) and that he cleared from that location at 10:17 A.M.. 2800 East Illinois was the location of Aluminum Screen Manufacturing Company in 1963 and that is about all that is known about this call.
The Warren Commission will determine that LHO does not bring his lunch to work with him today, even though he allegedly told police that he did. If LHO did not bring his lunch to work, this is the time he might have purchased a sandwich from a caterer who stops by the TSBD about this same time every morning. (Meagher)
Two Secret Service men leave the hotel in Fort Worth to drive to Dallas (36 miles) in order to set up the presidential seal, flags, and JFK's prosthetic chair at The Trade Mart.
Three radio operators report for duty at Dallas Police Headquarters. Two of them man Channel One of KKB 364, and one mans Channel Two.
The White House switchboard has been set up in Dallas at the Sheraton Hotel - near the Southland Life Building in the downtown district.
George Herbert Walker Bush, now president of Zapata Offshore and chairman of the Harris County Republican Organization, which supports Barry Goldwater, calls the FBI to report a threat on JFK's life. He said that he had heard in recent weeks that a member of the Young Republicans named James Parrott had been talking about killing Kennedy when he arrived in Houston. The FBI characterized Parrot as rightwing, a quasi-Birchite, a student at University of Houston, and active in politics in the area. Further, that a check of Secret Service indices revealed that they had a report that Parrott had threatened to kill Kennedy in 1961. The FBI interviewed Parrott's mother and then Parrott himself. They found out that Parrott had been discharged from the Air Force for mental reasons in 1959. Parrott said that he had been in the company of another Republican activist at the time of the shootings. Bush at first denied making the call, and then he said he did not recall making it. (Tarpley, Chapter 8b.) At the time of the assassination, Bush was in Tyler, Texas. As Kitty Kelley established, the vice-president of the Kiwanis Club-a man named Aubrey Irby-was with Bush at the time of Kennedy's murder. Along with about a hundred other people. For Bush was about to give a luncheon speech at the Blackstone Hotel. He had just started when Irby told him what had happened. Bush called off the speech.
10:03 CST 11:03 AM (EST) Six members of the President's cabinet leave Honolulu for Japan by plane. Copies of their speeches have already been sent ahead. Some of these speeches will be printed in newspapers following the assassination as though nothing had occurred. It is highly unusual, if not unheard of, for so many members of the Presidential cabinet to be away from the nation's capitol at a given time.
10:10 AM JFK and Jacqueline return to their suite. (Manchester)
10:14 AM JFK phones former vice president John Nance Garner. (Manchester)
10:30 AM FBI informant, William Augustus Somersett receives a call in Miami from Joseph Milteer in Dallas stating that JFK will be there later that day and will not be visiting Miami again. Milteer then hangs up the phone and reportedly joins the crowd gathering near the corner of Elm Street in Dealey Plaza.
10:30 AM This morning, Kennedy was in his hotel room with his wife and aides. He was irritated by the headlines of Texas newspapers: "President's Visit Seen Widening State Democratic Split," "Yarborough Snubs LBJ," "Storm of Political Controversy Swirls Around Kennedy on Visit." When he saw a full-page anti-JFK ad, he remarked, "How can people write such things? We're really in nut country now." He spoke with contempt to his aides about oil barons and reactionaries. He did not see a column in the Dallas Morning News reading, "If the speech...is about Cuber, civil rights, taxes or Viet Nam, there will sure as shootin' be some who heave to and let go with a broadside of grapeshot in the presidential rigging." (The Day Kennedy Was Shot 24-25) When President Kennedy woke up that morning in Fort Worth, Texas the Dallas Morning News was delivered with his coffee. His face turned grim and he shook his head, commenting that it was unimaginable that a paper could do such a thing. He handed it to Jackie saying, "We're heading into nut country today." (Death of a President)
10:30 AM JFK muses about how easy it would be for someone to shoot a president. He remarked "Last night would have been a hell of a night to assassinate a president...anyone perched above the crowd with a rifle could do it." Another version of the story has him saying, "There was the rain, the dark, and we were all getting jostled. Suppose a man had a pistol in a briefcase...Then he could have dropped the gun into the case, dropped the case, and melted into the crowd." (Death of a President) Kennedy apparently told variations of these stories a few times to different people during the trip. (Lone Star p265, p271; No Final Victories 158)
The 112th Military Intelligence Group at 4th Army Headquarters at Fort Sam Houston is told to "stand down" rather than report for duty in Dallas, over the protests of the unit commander, Col. Maximillian Reich. (source: Prouty?) Nevertheless, Lt. Colonel George Whitmeyer, the commander of the local Army intelligence reserve, will be in the police pilot car which will precede the motorcade in Dallas, and an Army Intelligence officer is with FBI agent James Hosty 45 minutes before the parade, on Main Street.
It will be later revealed that the 112th MI Group, which maintains an office in Dallas, had possessed a file on a man named "Harvey Lee Oswald," identifying him as a pro-communist who had been in Russia and had been involved in pro-Castro activities in New Orleans. This military file erroneously gives Oswald's address as 605 Elsbeth, the same mistake found on Jack Revill's list. Apparently military intelligence is swift in providing Dallas police with information on Oswald, the man who will come to be labeled as the lone assassin of Kennedy. It is a fact that several Dallas police officers also serve in various military reserve units and are therefore in close contact with military intelligence. Information on Oswald apparently comes from the 112th MIG's operations officer, Lt. Col. Robert E. Jones, who is stationed at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. Testifying to the House Select Committee on Assassinations, Jones will say that on the afternoon of the assassination he receives a call from his agents in Dallas advising that a man named A.J. Hidell has been arrested. (This is most interesting because, while Oswald did carry some cards identifying him as Hidell, no mention is made of this in the media today indicating a close relationship between the M.I. agents and Dallas Police.) Jones will testify that he begins a search of his intelligence indexes and locates a file on A.J. Hidell which cross-references into one for Lee Harvey Oswald. He says he then contacts the FBI in both San Antonio and Dallas with his information. The files on Hidell and Oswald give detailed information about his trip to Russia as well as pro-Castro activities in New Orleans. Jones says he had become aware of Oswald in the summer of 1963 when information had been passed along by the New Orleans Police Department regarding his arrest there. He says the 112th MIG took an interest in Oswald as a possible counterintelligence threat. The House committee, remarking on how quickly the military found files on Oswald, will state: "This information suggested the existence of a military intelligence file on Oswald and raised the possibility that he had intelligence associations of some kind." The Warren Commission will specifically ask to see any military files regarding Oswald but will never be shown the files mentioned by Jones or any others. In 1978, when the House Select Committee on Assassinations learns of these files and requests them from the
Deep Politics Timeline - Tracy Riddle - 27-04-2014
The Motorcade 11:50 AM 12:30 PM
11:50-55 AM
JFK's motorcade leaves Love Field for the trip through downtown Dallas to the Trade Mart. Kennedy rode in a 1961 Lincoln Continental, custom-built and designed to hold seven passengers. A lever could make the back seat raise 10.5 inches. There were handgrips and stirrups on the back of the car for Secret Service agents to hold on to.Marty Underwood says: "They had a hell of a fight there for about five minutes that day, before they started the motorcade. I don't mean a fight, but ... . ." (Concerning the bubble top for the Presidential limo) " ... Jackie wanted it up and Kenny O'Donnell wanted it up, and Connally wanted it up. He (JFK) wanted people to see Jackie ..." "We were getting ready to start the motorcade and Connally, Kenny O'Donnell, and Dave Powers and everybody talked to Kennedy and said, look, let's put the bubble top up. And he said, No this is Jackie's first trip and the people love her, and I'm going to keep it down.' It was his idea all the way."
Agent Sam Kinney, however, admits to Vince Palamara that it was his sole responsibility for the removal of the bubbletop -- a decision he has lived with, with some regret for over thirty years now. Richard Greer, son of the late Bill Greer, told me of his father's guilt over this decision of the Secret Service. Three agents -- Sam Kinney, Bob Lilly and Thomas Kelley -- stated that the bubbletop, although not bulletproof, may have at least deflected a bullet or, at the very least, somewhat hampered a gunman's view via the sun's glare off its surface.
As the motorcade begins, film footage from ABC television's Dallas/ Fort Worth affiliate WFAA shows a SS agent being recalled by shift leader (and commander of the follow-up car detail) Emory P. Roberts. (According to Vince Palamara, it has recently been determined that this is Donald Lawton, not Henry Rybka). As the limo begins leaving the area, the agent's confusion is made clear as he throws his arms up several times before, during, and after the follow-up car passes him by, despite agent Paul E. Landis making room for him on the running board of the car. SS agents Warner, Donald Lawton and Henry Rybka remained at the airport. As the ARRB's Doug Horne wrote in a memo dated April 16, 1996, based on viewing the aforementioned video shown during Palamara's presentation at a 1995 research conference (later to be shown during the author's appearance on the History Channel in 2003): "The bafflement of the agent who is twice waved off of the limousine is clearly evident. This unambiguous and clearly observed behavior would seem to be corroboration that the change in security procedure which was passed to SA Clint Hill earlier in the week by ASAIC Floyd Boring of the Secret Service White House Detail was very recent, ran contrary to standing procedure, and that not everyone on the White House Detail involved in Presidential protection had been informed of this change." Vince Palamara: "All of this begs the question: Were Rybka and Lawton the two agents who were supposed to have rode on the rear of the limousine in Dallas?"
In 1991, Democratic party advance man Marty Underwood gives an interview to researcher Vincent Palamara in which he says that the CIA, the FBI, and the mafia "knew (JFK) was going to be hit" on 11/22/63 - this information came from his direct contacts with CIA officer Win Scott, the Mexico City Station Chief during Oswald's visit to that region. Additionally, Underwood stated that, eighteen hours before Kennedy's murder, "we were getting all sorts of rumors that the President was going to be assassinated in Dallas; there were no if's, and's, or but's about it." When Underwood told JFK about these disturbing reports, the President merely said, "Marty, you worry about me too much."
The motorcade is spread over a half mile:
ADVANCE CAR (hardtop - 1/2 mile in front of motorcade)
Dallas Police Capt. Perdure W. Lawrence (DPD Call #125)
PILOT CAR (white Ford sedan)
DPD Dep. Chief George L. Lumpkin (driver - also Army Intelligence reserve) * *DPD Det. Faye M. (F.M.) Turner
DPD Det. William "Billy" L. Senkle * * Lt. Col. George L. Whitmeyer (US Army Reserve, East Texas Section Commander) * Jacob "Jack" L. Puterbaugh (Democratic party advance man)
ADVANCE MOTORCYCLES (Harley-Davidson)
DPD Sgt. S.Q. Bellah (call #190), DPD Glen C. McBride (call #133), DPD J.B. Garrick (call #132)
LEAD MOTORCYCLES
1. DPD Leon E. (L.E.) Grey
(DPD Call #156)
2. DPD E.D."Buddy" Brewer
(DPD Call #137)
3. DPD Harold R. (H.R.) Freeman
(DPD Call #135)
4. DPD W.G. Lumpkin
(DPD Call #152)
5. DPD Sgt. Stavis Ellis
(DPD Call #150)
LEAD CAR, ENCLOSED SEDAN (unmarked white Ford Mercury)
Jesse Curry (Dallas police chief - driver) * * Winston Lawson (SS agent)
Bill Decker (Dallas Sheriff) * * Forrest Sorrels (SS agent)
PRESIDENTIAL LIMOUSINE (1961 Lincoln Continental code named SS-100-X)
William R. Greer (SS agent) * * Roy H. Kellerman (SS agent)
Nellie B. Connally * * John B. Connally
Jacqueline B. Kennedy * * John F. Kennedy
MOTORCYCLES
Billy Joe Martin (call #131) * Bobby W. Hargis (call #136)* * James M. Chaney (call #151) * Douglas L. Jackson (call #138)
SECRET SERVICE FOLLOW-UP CAR a convertible 1956 black Cadillac code named "Halfback"
Samuel A. Kinney (SS agent driver) * * Emory P. Roberts (SS agent)
Clinton J. Hill (SS agent left front running board) * * John D. Ready (SS agent right front running board)
William T. McIntyre (SS agent left rear running board) * * Paul E. Landis (SS agent right rear running board)
Kenneth P. O'Donnell (JFK aide) * * David F. Powers (JFK aide)
George W. Hickey Jr. (SS agent) * * Glen A. Bennett (SS agent)
VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CAR (convertible grey 1964 Lincoln)
Hurchel Jacks (Texas Highway Patrol - driver) * * Rufus Youngblood (SS agent)
Sen. Ralph Yarborough * Lady Bird Johnson * * Lyndon B. Johnson
VICE PRESIDENTIAL SECRET SERVICE CAR (a hardtop yellow 1964 Ford Mercury code named "Varsity")
Joe Henry Rich (Texas state patrol - driver) * Clifton Carter (LBJ aide) * *Jerry Kivett (SS agent)
Warren Woody Taylor (SS agent) * *Lem Johns (SS agent)
DIGNITARY CAR (white 1964 Ford Mercury Comet Caliente, 2 door convertible)
Milton Wright (Texas Highway Patrolman) * * Mayor Earle Cabell
Mrs Dearie Cabell * * Congressman Ray Roberts
PRESS POOL CAR (grey or blue 1960 Chevrolet Bel Air 2-door sedan)
Driver (telephone company employee) * Merriman Smith (UPI) * * Malcolm Kilduff (JFK press sec.)
Jack Bell (AP)* Robert Baskin * (Dallas Morning News) * Robert Clark (ABC)
CAMERA CAR 1 (1964 Chevy Impala yellow 2-door convertible) (none of the people in this car were questioned by the WC)
Driver * John Hoefen (NBC) * * David Wiegman, Jr. (NBC)
Thomas J. Craven Jr. (CBS) * * Cleve Ryan (lighting technician) * Thomas Atkins (US Navy)
CAMERA CAR 2 (1964 Chevy Impala silver 2-door convertible) (none of the people in this car were questioned by the WC)
Driver * * Donald Clint Grant (Dallas Morning News) *Frank Cancellare (UPI)
Cecil Stoughton (White House photographer) * * Arthur Rickerby (LIFE) * Henry D. Burroughs (AP)
CAMERA CAR 3 (1964 Chevy Impala gray 2-door convertible) (all but the driver and Darnell were questioned by the WC)
Driver * *James Underwood (KRLD) * Thomas Dillard (Dallas Morning News)
Jimmy Darnell (WBAP) * * Malcolm Couch (WFAA-TV) * Robert Jackson (Dallas Times Herald)
MOTORCYCLES
Hollis McLain (call #155) * * Marrion Baker
DIGNITARY CAR (white 1964 Ford Mercury Comet Caliente)
Driver * *Rep. George Mahon
Rep. Walter Rogers, Rep. Homer Thornberry, Larry O'Brien
DIGNITARY CAR (2-door convertible, white Ford Mercury Comet Caliente)
1. Driver
2. Congressman Albert Thomas (Houston, TX)
3. Congressman Jack Brooks (Beaumont, TX)
4. Congressman Lindey Beckworth (Gladewater, TX)
5. Congressman Olin E. "Tiger" Teague (College Station, TX)
6. Congressman James C. Wright, Jr. (Ft. Worth, TX)
DIGNITARY CAR (grey 1964 Lincoln sedan)
1. Driver
2. Congressman John Young (Corpus Christi, TX)
3. Congressman Henry B. Gonzalez (San Antonio, TX)
4. State Senator William Patman
5. Congressman Graham Purcell
VIP CAR (1964 Ford Mercury Colony Park Station Wagon)
1. Major General Chester V."Ted" Clifton, US Army Military Presidential Aid (senior ranking)
(SS WHCA code-Watchman)
2. Major General Godfrey "God" McHugh, US Air Force Air Force Presidential Aid
(SS WHCA code-Wing)
3. Julian Reed Gov.-Connally's Press Secretary (NPOA)
MOTORCYCLES
1. DPD J.W. Courson (DPD Call #153)
2. DPD Clyde A. Haygood (DPD Call #142)
WHITE HOUSE PRESS BUS (Continental Trailways Bus)
1. Driver
2. Harry Cabluck*-FWST B&W still
3. Richard Beebe Dudman-St. Louis Post Dispatch
4. Douglas Kiker-NY Herald Tribune
5. Robert MacNeil-NBC Bureau Chief
6. Robert Manning-WH Staff
7. Robert Charles Pierpoint-CBS TV WH Corr
8. Charles "Chuck" Roberts-Newsweek
9. Hugh Sidey-Time Magazine Washington Bureau Chief
LOCAL PRESS CAR (Chevrolet 4-door hardtop)
1. Lewis Harris-DMN Editor
2. Mike Quinn-DMN
3. Kent Biffle-DMN
4. Larry Grove-DMN
WHITE HOUSE PRESS BUS 2 (Continental Trailways Bus)
1. Driver
2. Sidney Davis-Westinghouse Broadcasting
3. Robert John Donovan-LA Times Washington Corr
4. Seth Kantor-Scripps-Howard
5. Robert Young-Chicago Tribune
MOTORCYCLES
1. DPD Sgt. R. Smart (DPD Call #170)
2. DPD Robert Joseph (Bobby Joe) Dale (DPD Call #161)
EXTRA CAR (grey or blue Chevy hardtop)
1. Driver
WESTERN UNION CAR (1957 black Ford hardtop)
1. R.C. Johnson - Sales Manager, The Western Union Telegraph Co.
2. S.R. Yates - Sales Manager, The Western Union Telegraph Co.
SIGNAL CORPS CAR (white 1964 Chevy Impala hardtop)
1. Chief Warrant Officer Arthur W. Bales, Jr. US Army, US Signal Corps (SS WHCA code-Sturdy)
2. Ira Gearhart-US Army (SS WHCA code- The Bagman/Shadow/Satchel)
EXTRA CAR
1. Driver
CONTINENTAL TRAILWAYS STAFF AND OFFICIAL PARTY BUS
1. Driver
2. White House Staff Members
3. Presidential Staff Members
4. Vice Presidential Staff Members
5. Governor's Staff Members
6. Airport Reception Committee
7. H. Barefoot Sanders Jr.-US Attorney
8. Jack Joseph Valenti-Aide to Vice President
9. Marie Felmer-Secretary to Vice President
10. Evelyn Maurine Lincoln-Personal Secretary
to President (SS WHCA code-Willow)
11. Rear Admiral George G. Burkley, MD, US Navy,
Presidential Physician (SS WHCA code-Market)
12. Mrs. Elizabeth "Liz" Carpenter-Executive
Assistant to Vice President
13. Pamela Tunure, Personal Secretary to
Mrs. Kennedy
14. Sgt. Paul Glynn, US Air Force-Personal Aid to
Vice President
15. Mary Gallagher
REAR POLICE CAR (DPD Car #260)
1. DPD J.M. Philips (DPD Call #158)
2. DPD L.S. Davenport (?)
REAR POLICE MOTORCYCLE (3-wheel)
1. DPD (unknown)
The Secret Service had tagged the vehicles indicating their position in the parade; the president's car was supposed to be number 7, with the photographer's car directly in front (number 6), as usual, but last minute changes caused JFK's car to be moved to the number 2 position, and the photographer/press vehicles were moved farther back in the motorcade. Dallas Morning News photographer Thomas Dillard: "We lost our position out at the airport. I understood we were supposed to have been quite a bit closer [to the President]. We were assigned as the prime photographic car which, as you probably know, normally a truck precedes the President on these things and certain representatives of the photographic press ride with the truck. In this case, as you know, we didn't have any and this car that I was in was to take any photographs which was of spot-news nature...and the whole parade, the whole trip to town, I could only distinguish the President's car on very few occasions in high rises in the ground, when we got on hills. It was difficult because the people in the cars ahead of me were sitting on the backs of cars which pretty well covered the President's car for me. We had a very, very poor view of the President's car at any time from the time the parade started." Dillard told Richard Trask: "The sad thing news-wise was the custom always was that a selected group of press people - photographers - were to ride a flat-bed truck in front of the President. That was standard procedure in all presidential parades. I was one of the selected photographers. I was the head man at my paper and a pretty good photographer...It was understood the flatbed was going to be there. But at the last moment it was canceled. We bounced around and ended up on one of those Chevrolet convertibles." Hugh Sidney, White House correspondent for Time remembers: "I was [in one of the press buses] behind the driver, and to be honest I was bored. It was just another motorcade."
Henry Burroughs 10/14/98 letter to Vince Palamara---"I was a member of the White House pool aboard Air Force One when we arrived with JFK in Dallas on that fateful day. We, the pool, were dismayed to find our pool car shoved back to about #11 position in the motorcade. We protested, but it was too late."
Capt. Fritz's WC testimony: "Well, we had taken some precautions but those were changed. We were told in the beginning that we would be in the parade directly behind it, I don't know whether it was the second or third car, but the Vice President's car, that we would be directly behind that, and we did make preparation for that. But at 10 o'clock the night before the parade, Chief Stevenson called me at home and told me that had been changed, and I was assigned with two of my officers to the speakers' stand at the Trade Mart."
On the 40th anniversary of the assassination Winston Lawson gave an interview to Michael Granberry of the Dallas Morning News: "I must have thought a million times, what could I have done to prevent it?... From Love Field to Dealey Plaza, there were 20,000 windows. How could we possibly check them all?" Granberry's article goes on to say: "When the president's day began at the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth, a persistent drizzle had forced the Secret Service to consider covering the motorcade's cars in Dallas with protective bubbletops. (Hours later, Dallas would end up sunny.) Though the bubbletops were not bulletproof, the metal and the contour of the covering, says Lawson, would have made it difficult for a bullet to do much damage, and might have kept a gunman from even firing in the first place. So he's asked himself a million times: Why couldn't it keep raining?"
LBJ's Secret Service bodyguard, Rufus Youngblood, testifies: "The Vice President was asking me if we were running on time, and so forth. And so he asked me how much further, and I would call back to our followup car and ask them how many more miles and so forth."
Local television coverage does not include the major portion of the motorcade. The sound portion describes the welcome to the President, but the camera remains in the interior of the Dallas Trade Mart.
Additionally, it is standard practice that someone occupy the front seat of JFK's limousine during motorcades. Major General Ted Clifton is one such person. Another person is Presidential aide General Godfrey McHugh. Both of these persons are now in Dallas. On this date, Godfrey McHugh is placed in the back of the motorcade. He will later acknowledge that this is unusual. This is the first time he is advised not to ride in the car, "so that attention would be focused on the President." All overpasses have been cleared of spectators except in Dealey Plaza.
Jesse Curry will later testify: "In the planning of this motorcade, we had more motorcycles lined up to be with the President's car, but the Secret Service didn't want that many."
Question: Did they tell you why?"
Curry: "We actually had two on each side but we wanted four on each side and they asked us to drop out some of them and back down the motorcade, along the motorcade, which we did."
John Connally will recall: "Dallas did have one sign, there was a fellow up on an old house, like a turn of the century house, badly needing paint, I recall very well, he had a sign up on this balcony that said, "Kennedy, go home." But, it was on the left side of the car as we were traveling in the motorcade and the President was on the right side in the back seat, and I hoped he didn't see it, but he finally turned to Nelly and me and said, "Did you all see that sign? I said, "Yes, Mr. President, but we were hoping you didn't." He said, "Well, I saw it. Don't you imagine he's a nice fellow?" And, I said, "Yes, I imagine he's a nice fellow." But that was about the only thing we saw, and frankly, there was less of that than I thought."
11:50 AM Charles Givens observes LHO reading a newspaper in the domino room where the employees eat lunch. (CD 5)
"On the morning of November 22, 1963, [Charles] Givens observed Lee reading a newspaper in the domino room where the employees eat lunch about 11:50am." (Interviewed by Agents Odum and Griffen 11/22/1963).
He denied to the WC having ever said that he saw Oswald in the domino room. 6/3/1964 he told the FBI that he returned to the sixth floor at 11:45, not 11:55. (CD 1245 p182). An FBI document found at the National Archives quoted Dallas policeman Jack Revill as saying 2/13/1964 that Givens "would probably change his testimony for money." (CD 735 p296). Revill and Inspector Sawyer said that Givens was taken to city hall after the shooting to make a statement about seeing Oswald on the sixth floor. (H 5 35-36; H 6 321-322).
This room is on the first floor of the Book Depository Building. (He will later deny testifying to this fact.) But during his WC testimony, Givens changed his story:
Mr. BELIN. Did you see Lee Oswald anywhere else in the building between 11:55 and the time you left the building?
Mr. GIVENS. No, sir.
Mr. BELIN. On November 22d?
Mr. GIVENS. No, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Did you see him in the domino room at all around anywhere between 11:30 and 12 or 12:30?
Mr. GIVENS. No, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Did you see him reading the newspaper?
Mr. GIVENS. No; not that day. .... I didn't see him in the domino room that morning.
11:50 AM Tippit radios the Police Dispatcher twice at 11:50 A.M. reporting that he was "clear" and the dispatcher responds "78 clear 11:51"(Bowles Transcript). Tippit returns to duty after having lunch at home with his wife, Marie. Tippit radios he is back in service from lunch, and starts driving back toward his Patrol District.
We have the following timetable:
11:30-11:45 A.M. coffee at Austin's Barbecue
11:45-12:00 Noon travel time from Austin's to Tippit's home, 238 Glencairn
?????? Lunch
11:50 A.M. Tippit reports he is "clear" (most likely after lunch)
The problem with this timetable is that he didn't have time for lunch, and we know by the interview of his widow that he definitely ate lunch at home on November 22, 1963. Using this information it doesn't make sense that he drove 6 miles out of his way to go home only to immediately turn around and make a seven-mile trip back to the location where he calls the dispatcher from in his patrol district without eating lunch. Also he was "clear" to go back into service before he got home for lunch? This just does not make sense.
After much thought about this the only feasible conclusion that can be drawn is that Bill Anglin was mistaken about what time they had coffee. The event happened in 1963 and Sgt. Anglin was interviewed about this in 1977. After 14 years the events of that day could be confused.
If they had coffee between 10:45 and 11:00 A.M. at Austin's then the timetable works out much better.
10:45 -11:00 A.M. Coffee at Austin's Barbecue
11:00 -11:15 A.M. travel time from Austin's to Tippit's home, 238 Glencairn
11:15 - approx. 11:50 A.M. lunch at Tippit's home
11:50 A.M. Tippit radios he is back in service from lunch, and starts driving back toward his Patrol District.
11:50A.M.-12:17 P.M. travel time from 238 Glencairn back to Tippit's patrol district.
Testimony by William Shelley, Oswald's boss.
Mr. BALL. On November 22, 1963, the day the President was shot, when is the last time you saw Oswald?
Mr. SHELLEY. It was 10 or 15 minutes before 12.
Mr. BALL. Where?
Mr. SHELLEY. On the first floor over near the telephone.
Mr. BALL - Did you see him from time to time during that day?
Mr. WILLIAM SHELLEY - I am sure I did. I do remember seeing him when I came down to eat lunch about 10 to 12.
Mr. BALL - Where had you been working?
Mr. SHELLEY - I had been on the sixth floor with the boys laying that floor that morning.
Mr. BALL - What time did you go down and eat lunch?
Mr. SHELLEY - It was around 10 'til.
Mr. BALL. What time did you knock off work for the lunch hour?
Mr. BONNIE RAY WILLIAMS. Well, approximately--between 11:30 to 12, around in there. I wouldn't say the exact time, because I don't remember the exact time… I believe this day we quit about maybe 5 or 10 minutes, because all of us were so anxious to see the President--we quit a little ahead of time, so that we could wash up and we wanted to be sure we would not miss anything…We took two elevators down. I mean, speaking as a group, we took two down.
Mr. BALL. Was there some reason you took two down?
Mr. WILLIAMS. We always had a little kids game we played racing down with the elevators. And I think one fellow, Charles Givens, had the east elevator, and me, and I think two or three more fellows had the west elevator. And we was racing down.
Mr. BALL. Who was driving the west side elevator?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I don't remember exactly who was.
Mr. BALL. You were not?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I don't think I was. I don't remember.
Mr. BALL. Who was driving the east side elevator?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I think that was Charles Givens.
Mr. BALL. Now, did something happen on the way down--did somebody yell out?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes; on the way down I heard Oswald--and I am not sure whether he was on the fifth or the sixth floor. But on the way down Oswald hollered "Guys, how about an elevator?" I don't know whether those are his exact words. But he said something about the elevator. And Charles said, "Come on, boy," just like that. And he said, "Close the gate on the elevator and send the elevator back up." I don't know what happened after that.
Representative FORD. Had the elevator gone down below the floor from which he yelled?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes; I believe it was. I assume it was the fifth or the sixth. The reason I could not tell whether it was the sixth or the fifth is because I was on the opposite elevator, and if you are not thinking about it it is kind of hard to judge which floor, if you started moving.
Representative FORD. The elevator did not go back up to the floor from which he yelled?
Mr. WILLIAMS. No, sir.
Mr. DULLES. Did he ask the gate be closed on the elevator?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I think he asked Charles Givens--I think he said, "Close the gate on the elevator, or send one of the elevators back up." I think that is what he said.
Mr. McCLOY. That is in order that he would have an elevator to come down when he wanted to come down?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. On the 23d of November 1963, you talked to two FBI agents according to the record I have here, Bardwell Odum and Will Griffin, and they reported that you said that as they were going down, that you saw Lee on the fifth floor.
Mr. WILLIAMS. I told him the fifth or the sixth. I told him I wasn't sure about it.
The motorcade left Love Field, turned left (northeast) at Mockingbird Lane.
11:55 AM
Mr. BALL - What time did you quit for lunch?Mr. JARMAN - It was right about 5 minutes to 12.
Mr. BALL - What did you do when you quit for lunch?
Mr. JARMAN - Went in the rest room and washed up.
Mr. BALL. Then what did you
Mr. JARMAN - Went and got my sandwich and went up in the lounge and got me a soda pop.
Mr. BALL - Where is the lounge?
Mr. JARMAN - On the second floor.
Mr. BALL - On the second floor?
Mr. JARMAN - Yes.
Mr. BALL. Then where did you go after you got your soda pop?
Mr. JARMAN - Came back and went down to the window.
Mr. BALL - What window?
Mr. JARMAN - Where Oswald and I was talking.
Mr. BALL - Where?
Mr. JARMAN - Between those two rows of bins.
Mr. BALL - Where Oswald and you had been talking?
Mr. BALL - What did you do there?
Mr. JARMAN - I was eating part of my sandwich there, and then I came back out and as I was walking across the floor I ate the rest of it going toward the domino room.
Mr. BILL. You say you ate the rest of it when?
Mr. JARMAN - Walking around on the first floor there.
Mr. BALL - Did you sit down at the window when you ate part of. your sandwich?
Mr. JARMAN - No; I was standing.
Mr. BALL - And did you have the pop in your hand, too?
Mr. JARMAN - Yes; I had a sandwich in one hand and pep in the other.
Mr. BALL - You say you wandered around, you mean on the first floor?
Mr. JARMAN - On the first floor.
Mr. BALL - Were you with anybody when you were at the window? Did you talk to anybody?
Mr. JARMAN - No; I did not.
Mr. BALL - Were you with anybody when you were walking around finishing your sandwich?
Mr. JARMAN - No; I wasn't, I was trying to get through so I could get out on the street.
Mr. BALL - Did you see Lee Oswald?
Mr. JARMAN - No; I didn't.
Mr. BALL - After his arrest, he stated to a police officer that he had had lunch with you. Did you have lunch with him?
Mr. JARMAN - No, sir; I didn't.
Mr. BALL - When you finished your sandwich and your bottle of pop, what did you do?
Mr. JARMAN - I throwed the paper that I had the sandwich in in the box over close to the telephone and I took the pop bottle and put it in the case over by the Dr. Pepper machine.
Mr. GIVENS. Well, I would say it was about 5 minutes to 12, then because it was---
Mr. BELIN. Now what did you do when you got down there on the first floor?
Mr. GIVENS. When I got down to the first floor Harold Norman, James Jarman and myself, we stood over by the window, and then we said we was going outside and watch the parade, so we walked out and we stood there a while, and then I said, "I believe I will walk up to the parking lot." I had a friend that worked on the parking lot, right on Elm and Record.
Mr. BELIN. Elm and Record Streets?
Mr. GIVENS. Elm and Record Streets; yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. That would be one block to the east of the corner of Elm and Houston ?
Mr. GIVENS. That's right.
Mr. BELIN. All right, then, what did you do?
Mr. GIVENS. I stood around over there and went up on the corner.
Mr. BELIN. What corner?
Mr. GIVENS. Up on Main and Record. That is where I watched the President pass right there.
12:00 pm
12:00 PM Bonnie Ray Williams returns to the sixth floor to eat his lunch. He has brought fried chicken sandwich in a paper bag and a bottle of Dr Pepper. He does not see LHO or Givens on the sixth floor.Mr. BALL. You say you went back upstairs. Where did you go?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I went back up to the sixth floor.
Mr. BALL. Why did you go to the sixth floor?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Well, at the time everybody was talking like they was going to watch from the sixth floor. I think Billy Lovelady said he wanted to watch from up there. And also my friend; this Spanish boy, by the name of Danny Arce, we had agreed at first to come back up to the sixth floor. So I thought everybody was going to be on the sixth floor.
Mr. BALL. Did anybody go back?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Nobody came back up. So I just left.
Mr. BALL. Where did you eat your lunch?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I ate my lunch--I am not sure about this, but the third or the fourth set of windows, I believe.
Mr. BALL. Facing on what street?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Facing Elm Street.
Mr. McCLOY. What floor?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Sixth floor.
Mr. BALL. Did you see anyone else up there that day?
Mr. WILLIAMS. No, I did not.
Mr. BALL. How long did you stay there?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I was there from--5, 10, maybe 12 minutes.
Mr. BALL. Finish your lunch?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes, sir. No longer than it took me to finish the chicken sandwich.
Mr. BALL. Did you eat the chicken?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes, I did.
Mr. BALL. Where did you put the bones?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I don't remember exactly, but I think I put some of them back in the sack. Just as I was ready to go I threw the sack down.
Mr. BALL. What did you do with the sack?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I think I just dropped it there.
Mr. BALL. Now, I want to call your attention to another report I have here. On the 23d of November 1963, the report of Mr. Odum and Mr. Griffin, FBI agents, is that you told them that you went from the sixth floor to the fifth floor using the stairs at the west end of the building. Did you tell them that?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I didn't tell them I was using the stairs. I came back down to the fifth floor in the same elevator I came up to the sixth floor on.
Mr. BALL. When you got to the fifth floor and left the elevator, at that time were both elevators on the fifth floor?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Both west and east?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes, sir, as I remember.
Eddie Piper, an employee at The Texas Book Depository, sees Oswald on the first floor of the building. "Yesterday at about 12:00 Noon, this fello Lee says to me, "I'm going up to eat" and I went on to my lunch. I went to the front window on the first floor and ate my lunch and waited to see the President's parade go by." (Nov 23 Sheriff's Dept affidavit)
Mr. BALL. Was that the last time you saw him?
Mr. PIPER. Just at 12 o'clock.
Mr. BALL. Where were you at 12 o'clock?
Mr. PIPER. Down on the first floor.
Mr. BALL. What was he doing?
Mr. PIPER. Well, I said to him---"It's about lunch time. I believe I'll go have lunch." So, he says, "Yeah"---he mumbled something---I don't know whether he said he was going up or going out, so I got my sandwich off of the radiator and went on back to the first window of the first floor.
Mr. BALL. The first window on the first floor?
Mr. PIPER. No, not the first window---but on the first floor about the second window on the first floor. I was intending to sit there so I could see the parade because the street was so crowded with people---I didn't see anything.
Mr. BALL. Did you go to the sheriff's department?
Mr. PIPER. I went to the county---yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. And did you tell them at any time that you saw Lee about 12 o'clock?
Mr. PIPER. Yes.
Mr. BALL. And that Lee said, "I'm going up to eat?"
Mr. PIPER. He said either "up" or "out"---that's the way I reported it.
Mr. BALL. That's what you told them?
Mr. PIPER. Yes, sir.
Richard Carr, a steelworker, notices a man in a window on the seventh floor of the Book Depository Building. The man is wearing a brown suit coat.
12:05 PM
London-12:05 pm. At 6:05 Greenwich Time, approximately 25 minutes prior to the assassination, a newspaper reporter in Cambridge, England, received an anonymous telephone call. The male caller told the reporter to contact the American Embassy in London as they would have some big news to give the reporter. (FBI Airtel from LEGAT London to FBI Director, 11125/63.)12:10 PM
Motorcade on Lemmon Avenue. "To O'Donnell and O'Brien the spectators outside the low, flat automated factories Haggar Slacks, IBM looked like curious but indifferent white-collar workers. Nevertheless there were many blank stretches. Mrs Kennedy found herself waving at billboards advertising Stemmons Freeway, Market Place of the Southwest,' Real Sippin' Whisky,' Home of the Big Boy Hamburger,' and a raffish sign inviting her to twist in The Music Box." The hot sun made Jackie wilt, and she put on her dark glasses. JFK told her to take her sunglasses off because everyone had come to see her and they blocked her face. (Manchester)Kennedy stops to greet youngsters at Lemmon Avenue and Lomo Alto Drive. They had a sign asking him to please stop and shake their hands. Kellerman and other agents finally had to break up the demonstration of children and get the motorcade moving again.
12:10 PM (approx)
Lee Bowers in the railroad tower overlooking the parking lot behind the stockade fence sees a 1959 Oldsmobile, blue and white station wagon with out-of-state license plates pull into the parkling lot behind the picket fence, circle around and leave. "The car proceeded in front of the School Depository down across 2 or 3 tracks and circled the area in front of the tower, and to the west of the tower, and, as if he was searching for a way out, or was checking the area, and then proceeded back through the only way he could, the same outlet he came into…Had a bumper sticker, one of which was a Goldwater sticker, and the other of which was of some scenic location, I think." (WC testimony)
According to Wikipedia: "The motorcade was scheduled to enter Dealey Plaza at 12:10 p.m., followed by a 12:15 p.m. arrival at the Dallas Business and Trade Mart so President Kennedy could deliver a speech and share in a steak luncheon with Dallas government, business, religious, and civic leaders and their spouses. Invitations that were sent out specify a 12pm start time to the luncheon while SS agent Lawson told Chief Curry that after arriving at Love Field and leaving at 11:30 the 38-45 minute trip would get them to the Trade Mart on time. Air Force One touched down at 11:39 and did not leave Love Field until 11:55. " The motorcade was running 10 to 15 minutes late, and Oswald, having no way of knowing that, would have to be up in the sniper's nest by this point. William Manchester indicates that the motorcade was running 5 minutes late. Other sources range from 15 minutes to half an hour late. It appears that Kennedy was expected to arrive at the Trade Mart at 12:30. Printed invitations to the Trade Mart show that the luncheon was to begin at "twelve noon." According to some, the original schedule was to arrive at Love Field 11:30, arrival at Trade Mart 12:15. Lawson told Curry the motorcade would start around 11:30. Roy Kellerman's testimony: "You set up the time schedule--flight time--because the people on the other end want you there at 11:30 in the morning, you have to work back a flight time from Washington, or the helicopter time from the White House. All this is incorporated. Weatherwise--you will use an automobile. Allow a little more time."
12:10 PM "Fifteen minutes before Mr. Kennedy was shot, an Oxnard [10:10am PST] telephone supervisor overheard a woman caller whisper to someone: 'The President is going to be killed.' The call was intercepted by supervisors of the General Telephone Co. in Oxnard at 10:10am, Pacific Standard Time...Telephone executives said it is impossible to trace the call but said it originated in the Oxnard-Camarillo area. Ray Sheehan, general manager of the telephone company there, said: 'One of our supervisors picked up the call. The caller kept dialing, although her call was connected. Then she started whispering. Another supervisor listened in and was able to hear the woman saying, 'The President is going to be killed.' Sheehan said the mysterious call was reported to the FBI - after the President had been shot." (Los Angeles Times 11/23)
During the 1968 primary campaign, RFK disappeared for several hours in Oxnard to check privately on this report. (The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy p27) Sheehan, manager of the Oxnard division of General Telephone Co., says the caller "stumbled into our operator's circuits," perhaps by misdialing. Sheehan says the woman "seemed to be a little bit disturbed." Besides predicting the President's death, he says, she "mumbled several incoherent things." Sheehan says the call was reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Los Angeles, but not until after the President had been shot. Until then, he says, it appeared to have been just another crank call Sheehan says there was no way to trace the call. All he could say was that it originated in the Oxnard-Camarillo area, some 50 miles north of Los Angeles. (The FBI in Los Angeles decline to comment.) Sheehan says one telephone supervisor called another onto her line to verify what she was hearing. He said both supervisors heard the woman say the President would be killed. Sheehan says the call was received at 10:10 a.m. Pacific time. The President was shot in Dallas shortly after 10:30 a.m. Pacific time. Sheehan says he doesn't think the caller was ever connected with another party. He says she may not have known she had the supervisors on the line and may have been just talking to no one in particular.
12-12:25 The Depository had two employee lunchrooms, the "domino room" on the first floor, and the main lunch room on the second. Captain Fritz thought Oswald "said he ate lunch with some colored boys who worked with him. One of them was called 'Junior' and the other was a little short man whose name he didn't know." (WR 605) FBI agent James Bookhout wrote "Oswald had eaten lunch in the lunchroom...alone, but recalled possibly two Negro employees walking through the room during this period. He stated possibly one of these employees was called 'Junior' and the other was a short individual whose name he could not recall but whom he would be able to recognize." (WR 622) Inspector Thomas Kelly recalled that Oswald "Said he ate lunch with the colored boys who worked with him. He described one of them as 'Junior,' a colored boy, and the other was a little short Negro boy." (WR 626) The important point is that Oswald described seeing Jarman and a short black man (probably Harold Norman) on the first floor together; he couldn't have known this unless he was there (between either 12:00 and 12:15 or 12:20 and 12:25. Posner: "Danny Arce, Jack Dougherty, and Charles Givens also ate in the first-floor room up to 12:15 and said there was no sign of him. [H 6 352,365,378]. Joe Molina and Mrs Robert Reid both ate in the second-floor lunch room and were there at 12:15, when Carolyn Arnold claimed Oswald was there, but neither saw him. [H 6 372, H 3 271] Billy Lovelady went to both lunch rooms after 12:00 and did not see him either. [H 6 338]" (Case Closed 24-25) The floor-laying crew took the elevators down from the sixth floor shortly before noon and passed Oswald on the fifth floor; he shouted for an elevator to descend. (H 6 349; H 3 168; H 6 337)
Mr. BALL. Where did you stand?
Mr. HAROLD NORMAN. We stood on the Elm Street sidewalk.
Mr. BALL. On the sidewalk?
Mr. NORMAN. Yes. We didn't go any further than that point.
Mr. BALL. What time was it that you went out there?
Mr. NORMAN. Oh, I would say, I don't know exactly, around 12 or 12:10, something like that.
Mr. BALL. Who was standing with you when you were standing on the sidewalk, on the Elm Street sidewalk?
Mr. NORMAN. I remember it was Danny Arce.
Mr. BALL. And who else?
Mr. NORMAN. I remember seeing Mr. Truly and Mr. Campbell. They were standing somewhere behind us, not exactly behind us but they were back of us.
Mr. BALL. Anybody else?
Mr. NORMAN. Well, I believe Billy Lovelady, I think. He was sitting on the steps there…Well, we stayed there I believe until we got the news that the motorcade was coming down, let's see, is that Commerce, no Main, because Commerce- we went back in the building, James Jarman and I.
Mr. BALL. Where did you go when you went in the building?
Mr. NORMAN. We got the east elevator. No; the west.
Mr. BALL. The west elevator?
Mr. NORMAN. The west elevator. And went to the fifth floor.
Mr. BALL. And you went up to the fifth floor?
Mr. NORMAN. Fifth floor.
Mr. BALL. Why did you go to the fifth floor?
Mr. NORMAN. Usually, one reason was you usually fill orders, I fill quite a few orders from the fifth floor and I figured I could get, you know, a better view of the parade or motorcade or whatever it is from the fifth floor because I was more familiar with that floor.
Mr. BALL. And what did you and Junior do after you got off the elevator?
Mr. NORMAN. We walked around to the windows facing Elm Street and I can't recall if any were open or not but I remember we opened some, two or three windows ourselves.
Mr. BALL. Did somebody join you there?
Mr. NORMAN. Bonnie Ray, I can't remember if he was there when we got there or he came later. I know he was with us a period of time later.
Of the sixty-nine people who work in the TSBD, only thirty-three are employees of the company who owns the building. Prior to this past summer, the building has been occupied by a wholesale grocery company engaged in supplying restaurants and institutions. Since the year it was built in 1903, this building located at 411 Elm Street has primarily functioned as a warehouse. In order to make it more suitable as an office building, extensive and very costly modifications are now underway inside. Though the building is seven stories tall, the inside passenger elevator, recently installed, only goes as high as the fourth floor. The machinery for lifting it is on the fifth floor. When the passenger elevator became operational, the stairway in the northwest corner was closed off in lieu of "repairs." No one is allowed to use it. The nature of the repairs on the stairway remains unknown, although they are not the kind that will prevent heavy use of the stairs later this day. The installation of an elevator which only goes up to the fourth floor, followed by the closure of the northwest stairway, creates a situation which makes the upper floors effectively off-limits to everyone except those who are assigned warehouse duties. Several witnesses will see a gunman on the fifth floor of this building; also on the fifth floor at the time of the shooting are four warehouse men. Six warehouse workers have spent the entire morning on the sixth floor covering the old floor with new sheets of plywood. Unlike the office workers of the Book Depository, these warehouse men do not receive standard payroll checks; instead they are paid in cash. There will also be eventual evidence that three employee time charts for this day, later printed in the Warren Commission Exhibits, show signs of fraudulent fabrication. Because of the construction of new flooring on this date, the sixth floor has the most employees assigned to it of any of the upper three floors.
Kennedy stopped the car a second time to meet with some nuns. "In the Vice Presidential car Lyndon Johnson abruptly leaned forward. Turn the radio on,' he ordered…Hurchel Jacks did, and a local station blared strongly, broadcasting an account of their progress." (Manchester)
At Reagan St, shortly before Turtle Creek, Father Oscar Huber was standing with some young men from his parish to view the motorcade. Ted Dealey is watching TV in his apartment building at 3525 Turtle Creek. He was boycotting the Trade Mart luncheon, letting his son represent the News. He looked down and saw the motorcade passing through Oak Lawn Park. In the motorcade, Forrest Sorrels is anxious about all the open windows along the route. (Manchester)
12:14 PM
Police Ban (Channel 2) Curry reports that motorcade is just turning onto Turtle Creek. The speed of the motorcade is 12 MPH. Officers check in on radio, reporting that crowds are good and everything is in good shape along the way.Michel Roux and Arnold Gachman are having lunch at this time in a Ft. Worth cafe, surrounded by witnesses. It is in this cafe that Roux and Gachman will hear about the assassination.
In Washington, Edwin Guthman, former Pulitzer Prize-winning Seattle Times reporter and close Kennedy friend, is having lunch with a congressman from Seattle on Capitol Hill. Brothers
12:15 PM
Arnold Rowland claimed he saw a rifleman in the southwest corner window of the sixth floor at about this time. He was gone by about 12:22. Rowland asks his wife if she would like to see a Secret Service agent. He points to a window on the sixth floor where he has noticed "a man back from the window -- he was standing and holding a rifle ... we thought momentarily that maybe we should tell someone, but then the thought came to us that it is a security agent." The man Rowland sees is NOT stationed in the now famous sixth floor window, but in the far left-hand window. Rowland also spots a second figure at the famous right-hand window. This second man is dark complexioned, and Rowland thinks he is a Negro.Further evidence that Oswald was not on the sixth floor between 12 and 12:15 comes from Bonnie Ray Williams:
Mr. DULLES. .....When you were on the sixth floor eating your lunch, did you hear anything that made you feel that there was anybody else on the sixth floor with you?
Mr. WILLIAMS. No, sir; I didn't hear anything.
Mr. DULLES. You did not see anything?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I did not see anything.
Mr. DULLES. You were all alone as far as you knew at that time on the sixth floor?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes, sir.
Mr. DULLES. During that period of from 12 o'clock about to--10 or 15 minutes after?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes, sir. I felt like I was all alone. That is one of the reasons I left--because it was so quiet.
Windows along the motorcade are not systematically being watched by law enforcement personnel since no order has been given (as eventually confirmed by Dallas policeman Perdue Lawrence), although it was agent Lawson's "usual instructions" to do so. The Dealey Plaza triple underpass will not be cleared of spectators (as Lawson himself later testifies that he was trying to wave them off shortly before the shooting begins). In addition, ambulances (such as the one on standby for JFK that was called to Dealey Plaza five minutes before Kennedy arrived to pick up an alleged "epileptic seizure" victim) have been called to this same area on false alarms in the days and weeks before November 22, as ambulance driver Aubrey Rike will eventually testify.
Two young men are standing on the street holding a large Goldwater sign. (Manchester)
ASSEMBLY OF THE RIFLE: The FBI will later report that it takes six minutes to assemble a Mannlicher-Carcano, using a dime (since no tools will be found). This leaves 4 to 9 minutes for LHO alone to have moved all of the 50-pound boxes into position to form "the sniper's nest."
Mrs. R. E. (Carolyn) Arnold, secretary to the vice-president of the Book Depository, goes into the lunchroom on the second floor and sees Oswald sitting in one of the booth seats on the right hand side of the room. He is alone and appears to be having lunch.
She told Anthony Summers (in Conspiracy) that at 12:15 she entered the second-floor lunchroom and saw Oswald sitting in one of the booths having lunch; Gerald Posner says this was the first time she ever publicly told this story. Posner says she gave two different statements after the assassination: in one, she said she "could not be sure" but she might have caught a fleeting glimpse of him in the first-floor hallway; in the second statement she said that she did not see him at all. (CE 1381; FBI statement, 11/26/1963, File # DL-80-43) She told Summers that the FBI misquoted her, though she signed her FBI affidavit as correct. Posner writes, "Four other women worked with Arnold and watched the motorcade with her that day. They support her original statements and not the story she told fifteen years later. Virgie Rachley and Betty Dragoo accompanied her when she left the second floor at 12:15. They did not see Oswald in the lunch room. [CE 1381]" (POSNER 227)
She says she actually told the FBI: "About a quarter of an hour before the assassination, I went into the lunchroom on the second floor for a moment...Oswald was sitting in one of the booth seats on the right-hand side of the room as you go in. He was alone as usual and appeared to be having lunch. I did not speak to him but I recognized him clearly." She was pregnant at the time and went into the lunchroom for a glass of water. It was "about 12:15. It may have been slightly later." (Summers interview 11/1978; Earl Golz interview, Dallas Morning News, 11/26/1978) She said she did not see the FBI report on her until years later. Harold Weisberg says that she saw him on the first floor around 12:25. She talked to the FBI 11/26/1963; its report said that she stated the time as "a few minutes before 12:15pm." 3/18/1964 the FBI talked to her again and was asked if she saw Oswald at the time of the shooting and she said, "I did not..." In her written statement that day she said "I left the Texas School Book Depository at about 12:25pm." The FBI agent writing down the statement wrote "12:25 AM", but she corrected it herself before putting her signature on it.
John Powell, one of many inmates housed on the sixth floor of the Dallas County Jail, watches two men with a gun in the sixth floor window of the Book Depository Building. He claims he can see them so clearly that he even recalls them "fooling with the scope" on the gun. Powell says, "Quite a few of us saw em. Everybody was trying to watch the parade and all that. We were looking across the street because it was directly straight across. The first thing I thought is, it was security guards ... I remember the guys."
Mrs. Carolyn Walther notices two men with a gun in an open window at the extreme right-hand end of the Depository on the fifth floor. One of the men is wearing a brown suit coat. "It startled me, then I thought, Well, they probably have guards, possibly in all the buildings,' so I didn't say anything."
Ruby Henderson sees two men standing back from a window on one of the upper floors of the Book Depository. She particularly notices that one of the men "had dark hair ... a darker complexion than the other."
Tom Dillard, the chief news photographer of the Dallas Morning News, sees two men in the arched windows (which are on the 6th floor) of the TSBD as the car he is riding in turns the corner from Main onto Houston.
Seven eyewitnesses report seeing a man wearing a white or light-colored shirt. Six witnesses (and perhaps as many as 40 inmates) see TWO men on the 6th floor of the TSBD. Four witnesses say the second man is wearing dark clothing or a brown coat. Most of the witnesses say the man wearing the white shirt looks like LHO. When LHO is confronted by Marion Baker in the 2nd floor lunchroom of the TSBD - moments after the shooting - LHO will be wearing a long-sleeved brown shirt. H&L
Roy Truly prepares to leave the TSBD for lunch in the company of Orchus Virgil Campbell. The two men decide to delay their departure, however, in order to see the motorcade pass the building.
Deputy Sheriff Roger Craig is standing [as ordered by Sheriff Decker at 10:30 this morning] with other officers in front of the court house at 505 Main Street. Decker has ordered his men to observe but to take no part in the motorcade. Observing the motorcade route, Craig remembers thinking to himself: "There were no officers guarding the intersections or controlling the crowd. My mind flashed back to the meeting in Decker's office that morning, then back to the lack of security in this area." Referring to the expected arrival of the Presidential motorcade, Deputy Sheriff Jim Ramsey, standing near Craig, remarks: "Maybe somebody will shoot the son of a bitch."
12:15 PM At approximately this time, Jerry Belknap had a seizure outside the TSBD. A young man described as wearing green Army fatigues suddenly collapses at 100 N. Houston, near the front door of the Texas School Book Depository. He apparently is suffering some sort of seizure. An ambulance is called at 12:19 P.M. to take him to Parkland Hospital. Parkland never records a patient registering at this time. This "emergency" results in the opening of a route directly and exactly to Parkland Hospital ("cut all traffic for the ambulance going to Parkland") -- not for the President, who will be shot only midway through this "emergency", but for the man with the "epileptic seizure." "Patient" is later identified as Jerry B. Belknap. He dies in 1986. Photographer James W. Altgens sees a man having an epileptic fit and watches as an ambulance arrives to pick the man up. Altgens also notices about a dozen people on top of the railroad bridge. He thinks to himself, "What the heck are all those people doing up there," at the spot where he was not allowed to stay and take his pictures. "And just as the ambulance was clearing the triple underpass, you could see the red lights as the motorcade cut onto Main Street."
12:17 PM
Murray Jackson told Dale Myers that Tippit would often stop at the Lone Star Drive-In at 4100 Bonnie View in south Oak Cliff to make phone calls. Jackson said that Tippit made such a call from the drive-in that afternoon at 12:17, an unexplained call to the police station after he reported his address and said, "Be out of the car a minute."Tippit radios the dispatcher and says "be out of the car for a minute, 4100 block of Bonnie View." This information comes from the Bowles Channel 1 transcript. Close examination of this document shows that the Police Dispatcher did not transmit an order for Tippit to go to this location on Bonnie View. Perhaps as Tippit was patrolling his district after lunch, he noticed something suspicious or was stopped by a citizen and asked to investigate whatever was going on at the 4100 block of Bonnie View Rd. 4100 Bonnie View is 7.5 miles from Tippit's home with a normal travel time of 24 minutes, Tippit Travel Time could have been 18-20 minutes this would have given Tippit plenty of time from 11:50A.M. when he cleared from lunch to travel to the location in his patrol district where he got out of the car at 12:17P.M. In Judy Bonner's book "Investigation of a Homicide" on page 71 she states "The Bonnie View call turned out to be a dry run, an elderly woman who had thought she had seen a man trying to burglarize a house next door. Tippit politely took down her story, made a fruitless search of the neighborhood, returned to his car to write out a report, then radioed in for another assignment." I do not know how Judy Bonner obtained this information? Tippit was killed one hour later and a search for the report mentioned has proved unsuccessful. Whatever happened at 4100 Bonnie View did not last long since Tippit called back the Dispatcher 3 minutes later at 12:20P.M. and reported "78 clear."
Even though Tippit was not ordered to the 4100 block of Bonnie View RD. by the Police Dispatcher, there is no hard evidence to disprove that this event was genuine. There is also no hard evidence to prove this event was staged in any way, since the location he stopped at was known to the dispatcher and potential witnesses could have been located if the situation called for it. The best information available places Tippit at the 4100 block of Bonnie View Rd. between 12:17 and 12:20P.M. on 11/22/63. Shortly after publishing this article Irish researcher Chris Scally sent me a letter he received from the late Larry Harris in 1984 that contained information about the 4100 Bonnie View call. Larry wrote "In 1978 I interviewed the manager of a grocery market at 4121 Bonnie View; He told me that during the noon hour on 11/22/63, he caught a woman shoplifter and phoned the police; it was Tippit who responded. The store manager knew Tippit because it was almost invariably Tippit who responded to calls for shoplifters. The manager told me that Tippit placed the woman in the squad car and left. So indeed Tippit was on an investigation at 12:17 P.M. nevertheless, it is disturbing and perhaps significant that this incident is not reflected more substantially in the tapes or transcripts…if Tippit, as some have speculated was involved in the assassination as either a shooter or a conspirator it is now 12:20 P.M. and he is approximately 7.5 miles from Dealey Plaza, the site of the Kennedy Assassination."
THE MOTORCADE IS NOW PASSING CEDAR SPRINGS ROAD
In the motorcade, SS agent Clint Hill moves four times from the forward position of the left running board of the follow-up car to the rear step of the Presidential automobile and back again - due to crowd surges along the route.
Gov. and Mrs. Connally will later recall:
Mr. CONNALLY: Mrs. Kennedy appeared to be much more relaxed, much more in the spirit of things. She was smiling more, obviously more at ease, but one little thing, the Sun was bright. It had come out bright and beautiful. The sky was beautiful, the clouds had dispersed and she put on her dark glasses. What did he say?
Mrs. CONNALLY: He said, "Take your glasses off, Jackie."
Mr. CONNALLY. "Take your glasses off, Jackie." She kept them off for awhile and she just unconsciously put them back on.
Mrs. CONNALLY: You could hear him again saying, "Take your glasses off, Jackie."
Mr. CONNALLY: This happened a third time. Then, I think she finally left them off.
Bobby Hargis, riding a motorcycle in the motorcade remembers that, on Cedar Springs, the president startles everyone by leaping out of the car to shake hands with some of the hundreds who are pushing forward for a closer look. "The Secret Service liked to had a conniption fit when he did that," says Mr. Hargis. At that moment, he felt an eerie sense of dread wash over him. "They was hoppin' around like cats on a hot roof. It freaked em out big time. You could tell how nervous they were."
12:18 PM
Howard Brennan is sitting on the concrete wall across from the TSBD. (Manchester)12:19 PM
Police radio call - "code 3" (haste) - for an ambulance in Dealey Plaza. (CE 1974)12:19 motorcade on Harwood, at Live Oak St. two blocks north of Main, 14 blocks from Dealey Plaza. The crowds are getting much larger now. Greer slows the car down from 20 miles an hour to 15, then to 10, then to seven. The overflow crowd forced Bobby Hargis to drop back. Clint Hill rushed up to protect Jackie. (Manchester)
12:20 PM
Lee Bowers in the railroad tower overlooking the parking lot behind the stockade fence, sees a second car - a 1957 black Ford, "with one male in it that seemed to have a mike or telephone or something that gave the appearance of that at least" drive into the parking lot behind the picket fence. It had a Texas license, and soon left the lot. (WC testimony)12:20 PM Bonnie Ray Williams testifies that, at this time, the sixth floor of the Book Depository Building is apparently vacant as he leaves it to go downstairs. Williams has gone to the sixth floor to eat his lunch. (The Warren Commission will later say that Oswald is on the sixth floor from 11:55 AM until 12:30 P.M.)
If the Warren Commission is correct, LHO must now arrange a "sniper's nest" consisting of some 24 cartons, each of which weigh about 50 pounds, most of which will have to be lifted physically and placed atop one, two, or three other cartons. In order to enter and leave this "nest," he will have to squeeze his body through a narrow opening between several stacks of cartons. He will then assemble his rifle [which the FBI says takes six minutes using a dime - since no tools are later found], and arrange a gun-rest. He will leave only one palmprint on the carton on which he will sit. He will accomplish all of this in the 10 or 15 minutes remaining after Bonnie Ray Williams leaves the sixth floor and before the motorcade appears.
Mr. BALL. And you saw your two friends, Norman and Jarman?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes.
Mr. BALL. You had known them before?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes sir.
Mr. BALL. Now, do you know what time that was?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I do not know the exact time.
Mr. BALL. It was--
Mr. WILLIAMS. It was after I had left the sixth floor, after I had eaten the chicken sandwich. I finished the chicken sandwich maybe 10 or 15 minutes after 12. I could say approximately what time it was.
Mr. BALL. Approximately what time was it?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Approximately 12:20, maybe.
Mr. BALL. Well, now, when you talked to the FBI on the 23d day of November, you said that you went up to the sixth floor about 12 noon with your lunch, and you stayed only about 3 minutes, and seeing no one you came down to the fifth floor, using the stairs at the west end of the building. Now, do you think you stayed longer than 3 minutes up there?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I am sure I stayed longer than 3 minutes.
Mr. BALL. Do you remember telling the FBI you only stayed 3 minutes up there?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I do not remember telling them I only stayed 3 minutes.
Mrs. Robert E. (Pauline) Sanders is in the 2nd floor lunchroom of the TSBD until this time and does not remember seeing LHO. Carolyn Arnold will see LHO in the lunchroom five minutes later. H&L
Mr. JARMAN - Then I went out in front of the building.
Mr. BALL - With who?
Mr. JARMAN - Harold Norman, Bonnie Ray, and Danny Arce and myself.
Mr. BALL - You say Bonnie Ray Williams?
Mr. JARMAN - Bonnie Ray Williams.
Mr. BALL - Do you remember him going with you?
Mr. JARMAN - No; I am sorry. Excuse me, but it was Harold Norman and myself and Daniel Arce.
Mr. BALL - What about Billy Lovelady?
Mr. JARMAN - I didn't go out with them. They came out later.
Mr. BALL - Did you see Billy Lovelady out there?
Mr. JARMAN - Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL - Where was he?
Mr. JARMAN - Standing on the stairway as you go out the front door.
Mr. BALL - Where did you stand?
Mr. JARMAN - I was standing over to the right in front of the building going toward the west.
Mr. BALL - Were you on the sidewalk or curb?
Mr. JARMAN - On the sidewalk.
Mr. BALL - The sidewalk in front of the Texas School Book Depository Building?
Mr. JARMAN - Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL - How long did you stand there?
Mr. JARMAN - Well, until about 12:20, between 12:20 and 12:25.
Mr. BALL - Who do you remember was standing near you that worked with you in the Book Depository?
Mr. JARMAN - Harold Norman and Charles Givens and Daniel Arce.
Mr. BALL - What about Mr. Truly?
Mr. JARMAN - He wasn't standing close to me.
Mr. BALL - Did you see him?
Mr. JARMAN - Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL - Who was he with?
Mr. JARMAN. He was with the Vice President of the company.
Mr. BALL - What is his name?
Mr. JARMAN - O. V. Campbell.
Mr. BALL - Where were they standing?
Mr. JARMAN - They were standing at the corner of the building in front of the mail boxes.
Mr. BALL - You left there, didn't you, and went some place?
Mr. JARMAN - Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL - With whom?
Mr. JARMAN - Harold Norman and myself.
Mr. BALL - Where did you go?
Mr. JARMAN - We went around to the back of the building up to the fifth floor.
Mr. BALL - You say you went around. You mean you went around the building?
Mr. JARMAN - Right.
Mr. BALL - You didn't go through and cross the first floor?
Mr. JARMAN - No, sir; there was too many people standing on the stairway so we decided to go around.
Mr. BALL - You went in the back door?
Mr. JARMAN - Right.
Mr. JARMAN - We took the elevator.
Mr. BALL - Which elevator?
Mr. JARMAN - The west side elevator.
About this time, Danny Arce, an employee from the TSBD, is standing outside, in front of the building. An older man approaches him and asks to be directed to a restroom inside the building. Arce says: "he said he had kidney trouble, could I direct him to the men's room and I said I would and I helped him up the steps and walked him into the restroom and I opened the door for him and that's when I went inside to eat my lunch and then I seen him walk out." Arce remembers the man getting in a black automobile and driving away. WC
Police Ban (Channel 2): Reports crowd along motorcade spilling into street from Harwood to Ross
12-12:25: Ruby is talking with Don Campbell at the Morning News during this time period. Don Campbell, an advertising employee with the Dallas Morning News, says this is the last time he sees Jack Ruby sitting in one of the newspaper's offices. The next time Campbell sees Ruby, it will be 12:45 PM. This leaves a 25-minute gap of Ruby's time unaccounted for, precisely when witnesses place him in Dealey Plaza.
12:21 PM
J. D. Tippit clears back in service.12:21 motorcade turns west from Harwood onto Main St. -- 12 blocks from Dealey Plaza.
Dave Powers shot some footage with a 16mm silent film camera here. A newsreel film captures Dave Powers filming.
A
Deep Politics Timeline - Tracy Riddle - 28-04-2014
The Assassination 12:30pm, Dallas, November 22 1963
Z# indicates a frame in the Zapruder film (18fps speed of the film)12:30 PM
Abraham Zapruder, a Dallas dress manufacturer, begins to film the motorcade from the north side of Elm St. with his new 8 mm camera. He is standing on a concrete monument, filming from the President's right as the limousine moves along Elm St.In the motorcade's lead car which is almost beneath the overpass, Forrest V. Sorrels says to Chief Jesse Curry: "Five more minutes and we'll have him there." Winston G. Lawson calls the Trade Mart, giving them a five minute warning.
Rose Cheramie, now convalescing at a state hospital in Jackson, Louisiana, is watching television with several nurses when a spot report about JFK's motorcade comes on. Cheramie says "This is when it is going to happen!" The nurses dismiss her remarks - until moments later. Cheramie has also told one of the hospital interns "...that one of the men involved in the plot was a man named Jack Rubenstein." (Probe Vol. 6, No. 5)
Walter Sheridan is sitting in a federal court building in Nashville, where Jimmy Hoffa is awaiting trial.
Positioned in the front doorway of the Texas School Book Depository, watching the motorcade are: Wesley Buell Frazier, Danny Arce, Billy Lovelady and -- fifteen feet away, near a lone v-shaped oak tree -- Mr. Roy Truly and Mr. Ochus Campbell.
SS Agent Emory Roberts jots in his shift report, "12:35 pm, the President arrived at the Trade Mart."
Laura Knight writes: "The Secret Service could count on the reinforcement of its 28 agents in Texas, including 5 based in Dallas. Eight agents were assigned to guard the Trade Mart, but there were none at all at Dealey Plaza. The Secret Service was so unconcerned about the Texas trip that it even left its chief behind. At the time of the assassination, Jerry Behn was dining in a Washington restaurant. Roy Kellerman, who took his place at Dallas, proved so incompetent that at Parkland Hospital his men started taking orders from agent Emory Roberts. Later, during the flight back to Washington, Rufus Youngblood took over. These men had traveled 200,000 miles with the President. Somewhere along the line, they had neglected the first rule of security: they had lost their reflexes." Note: Whenever French President Charles De Gaulle now travels by car, he is protected by 47 motorcycle policemen spread out in rows. Several police cars precede and follow the Presidential vehicle, and the car immediately following the President contains a sharpshooter and a photographer equipped with an automatic Japanese camera similar to a Robot. When de Gaulle makes shorter, routine trips, he is protected by a smaller force of 8 motorcycle policemen who surround the car. Today, only four motorcycle policeman are positioned at the rear and on either side of JFK's limo. The Protective Research Section, headed by Robert I. Bouck, now has 65 offices across the country and 50,000 files on people who have threatened the President. Between November 1961 and November 1963, it has investigated 34 Texas residents and opened 115 other files on Texans. On November 8, 1963, the PRS spent ten minutes inspecting Dallas.
Army Intelligence officer James Powell is now in the Dal Tex building. This is the building that Jim Braden will be found coming out of in a matter of minutes and will be arrested. Braden has an office in New Orleans : Room 1701 in the Pere Marquette Building. During this same period in late 1963, David Ferrie is working for Carlos Marcello on the same floor ... in the same building .... just down the hall from Braden -- in Room 1707.
(Beginning of the Zapruder film) the motorcade comes into view with three motorcycle cops out in front. Zapruder films the lead motorcycle cops for a few of seconds, and then there is a break in the film and suddenly the presidential limo appears. Zapruder turned his camera off and then turned it back on several seconds later. His camera could only film for under a minute before running out of film. He started filming when he saw a motorcycle come around the corner. But as soon as he realized the president's limousine was not in sight, he turned it back on. The view is looking up Elm Street, with the buildings behind the Dal-Tex visible. On the right is the solid white wall of the County Records Building.
Z25
At about this frame the bike on the right hand side of the street keeps going north on Houston, while the other two turn onto Elm. Livingstone says that this is not the case; officer H.B. Freeman "is very clearly one of the three motorcycles we see in their proper position ahead of the car in the Bell film. Mel McIntire's photo in The Dallas Times Herald showed the limousine rapidly overtaking all three of the cycles as it approached the Stemmons Freeway on-ramp." (Killing the Truth 329)At roughly Zapruder frame 120, James Towner takes a photograph of the limo beginning the turn onto Elm. The Dal-Tex building is in the background.
Associated Press photographer, James W. Altgens has now stationed himself at a vantage point on Elm Street across from the Texas School Book Depository Building to photograph the presidential motorcade as it passes through Dealey Plaza and heads onto the Stemmons Freeway.
The Tina Towner film shows the limo turning in front of the TSBD. Victoria Elizabeth Adams, a witness observing the motorcade from the 4th floor of the TSBD says: "I watched the motorcade come down Main, as it turned from Main onto Houston, and watched it proceed around the corner on Elm, and apparently somebody in the crowd called to the late President, because he and his wife both turned abruptly and faced the building, so we had a very good view of both of them."
The Bell film captures the limo passing in front of the TSBD. He turned his camera off just before the shooting began.
The Elsie Dorman film is taken from the fourth floor of the TSBD.
Z133
The film cuts to the presidential limousine turning onto Elm. Howard Brennan is sitting on the wall at upper-right.The Zapruder film has often been seen as a "complete record of the Kennedy assassination". This view is, however, challenged by Max Holland, author of The Kennedy Assassination Tapes, and the professional photographer Johann Rush in a joint editorial piece published by The New York Times on November 22, 2007. Holland and Rush point out that Zapruder temporarily stopped filming at frame 132, when only police motorcycles were visible. When he resumed filming, frame 133 already shows the presidential motorcade in view. This pause could have great significance for the interpretation of the assassination, Holland and Rush suggest. Holland and Rush argue that the break in the Zapruder film might conceal a first shot earlier than analysts have hitherto assumed, and point out that in this case a horizontal traffic mast would temporarily have obstructed Oswald's view of his target. In the authors' words, "The film, we realize, does not depict an assassination about to commence. It shows one that had already started."
SS agent Winston Lawson, riding in the motorcade's lead car, tries to wave onlookers off the triple underpass. The Dallas police officer, standing with the railroad employees on the overpass, does not notice the signaling. Lawson will later say: "From Love Field to Dealey Plaza, there were 20,000 windows. How could we possibly check them all?"
Police Ban (Channel 2) Jesse Curry, in the lead car, reports that his car has just reached the underpass. Eight seconds later, the police dispatcher announces the time: "12:30:18 PM CST"
Z135
JFK comes into view, waving with his right hand, his head turned slightly to the right.Z141
Rosemary Willis begins running along the sidewalk of Elm.Z150
Some researchers believe that the first shot (which hit the pavement) occured between 150-152. After this shot, Kennedy turns from his left to his front-right.Z154
Livingstone: "Kennedy turns very rapidly from left to right at Z 154..."Z155
Robert Groden says the film begins to blur at frame 155, indicating a possible nervous jolt by Zapruder as the shot (which missed) occured. Above is a frame from an undamaged copy.Z156
"Frames Z155 and 156 are...missing and at Z157 there is another splice in the original film...Life has never given a public accounting of this further loss of part of the original film." (Trasj 97) Above is from an undamaged copy of the film.Z157
H.E. Livingstone believes there is a splice at this point, and JFK appears to be reacting to something.Z158
The CBS 1967 documentary detected a noticeable blur between 158 and 160, perhaps caused by Zapruder's reaction to a gunshot. The HSCA believed that the first (missed) shot occured between 157 and 161.On hearing the first burst of firing, Sheriff Bill Decker glances back and thinks he sees a bullet bouncing off the street pavement. Motorcycle officer, Starvis Ellis also will testify he sees a bullet hit the pavement. (Neither Decker nor Ellis will ever be questioned about this by the Warren Commission.) Motorcycle officer James Chaney will also tell newsmen this day that the first shot missed. It is suggested that JFK is hit by small pieces of the street pavement, and stops waving for a moment.
The John Martin film shows Rosemary Willis running through the gap between the concrete monuments.
Mrs. Donald Baker, standing in front of the TSBD, says that she sees a shot hit the pavement near the Stemmons Freeway sign. "I thought it was a firecracker. It looked just like you could see the sparks from it and I just thought it was a firecracker and I was thinking that there was somebody was fixing to get in a lot of trouble and we thought the kids or whoever threw it were down below or standing near the underpass or back up here by the sign."
Mrs. DONALD BAKER. Well, after he passed us, then we heard a noise and I thought it was firecrackers, because I saw a shot or something hit the pavement.
Mr. LIEBELER. And you heard that immediately after the first noise; is that right?
Mrs. BAKER. Yes…Well, as I said, I thought it was a firecracker. It looked just like you could see the sparks from it and I just thought it was a firecracker..
Z160
Robert Croft photo, taken around Z160-Z162 (he can be seen in the Zapruder film taking the photo).Gerald Posner believes that the first (missed) shot occured near this frame, or soon after: "Beginning at frame 160, a young girl in a red skirt and white top who was running along the left side of the President's car...began turning to her right." (Case Closed 321,323) John McAdams: "Most people today who believe that Oswald did the shooting by himself believe that he made the first shot at about Zapruder frame 160, giving him about 8.4 seconds to get off all three shots." Vincent Bugliosi also agrees that the first shot was fired here.
Robert Harris believes that at this frame, a shot was fired from the 3rd floor of the Dal Tex building. It was fired by a rifle using a silencer, which caused it go to awry and it missed the car, hit the pavement, produced an explosive-like sound described by many witnesses as probably a "firecracker" or a "backfire," produced debris that president was shielding himself from with his hand positioned in front of his face. Some witnesses started to react to that shot too (like Mrs. Kennedy starting to turn her head), but their reaction was relatively slow because the sound was nowhere near that loud and startling as the next shots.
Z161
JFK continues waving and Connally turns to look over his shoulder.Z162
"[Connally's] head turned from mid-left to far right in less than half a second, beginning at frame 162, when the Willis girl started turning around and the President stopped waving." (Case Closed 322) Livingstone: "Mrs Kennedy begins turning her head from left to right at frame 162."Z166
Starting at this frame the WC determined that a tree blocked the view of the President from the sixth floor window.Z177
H.E. Livingstone believes that Kennedy was shot in the back from a low position at about this frame.Z183
Livingstone: "Jackie begins looking to the right a second time at about frame 183. Everyone in the car is looking to the right at about frame 183..."Z185
Limo was travelling at about 17.5 mph. Sylvia Meagher notes that those WC supporters who claim that Oswald could have fired the single-bullet shot at earlier frames ignore the fact that "an earlier shot would have meant a steeper downward trajectory..."Z186
The WC determined that the limo came back into view from the Sixth Floor window for this one frame. (H 5 146-51)The Hugh Betzner photo, taken on the south side of Elm, corresponds with Z186 according to the HSCA
Z187
"By frame 187, less than 1.5 seconds later, the enhancement cleary shows [Rosemary Willis] has stopped, twisted completely away from the motorcade, and was staring back at the... Depository...Just after...the enhanced film shows that President Kennedy...suddenly stopped waving. He looked to his right toward the crowd, and then back to his left toward Jacqueline...As the President began waving again, Mrs Kennedy's head abruptly twisted from her left to right..." (POSNER 321-22)Z188
Rosemary stops running; Kennedy is still waving.Robert Groden believes that Kennedy was first hit in the throat (from the front) at 188; "...his upper torso pushed rearward...the President's right hand appears to move forward slightly when, in fact, it is his upper body that is being thrown to the rear. The film shows the changing position of the President's hand in relation to his head: His hands and arms start to drop, then come up to his throat. This motion continues after after the President disappears behind the [sign]." The "sniper's nest" was still blocked at this point.
Z189
Trask: "Beginning at about Z189, the President's hand acts in a manner inconsistent with his previous waving motion." Sprague and Cutler believe JFK was shot in the throat from the fence on the knoll at this point.Z190
The HSCA believed JFK was first hit at this frame. NPIC's analysis in 1963 also listed this frame as a possibility for the first shot. CBS's 1967 tests showed a "jiggle" in the picture around Z189-190, reacting to a shot a few frames earlier.Jim Moore: "Connally's doctors agreed that the Governor had turned his body to the right by the time he was shot. So, the Governor couldn't have been sitting in front of the President facing straight ahead. In the HSCA diagrams, he isn't. In the Zapruder film, however, he is facing directly ahead of him. Frame 193...for instance shows the Governor's head turned to the right....His torso is, however, facing forward...The Governor's body had to be turned to his right, which doesn't happen until at least frame 234..." (Conspiracy of One 172)
According to Pat Speer:
Hit Kennedy in back around 190, fell out in limousine. (Possibly a hand-loaded bullet.)
From: the sixth floor window of the TSBD.
Heard by: pretty much everyone in Dealey Plaza between the time of the shot and 10 frames afterward.
Other evidence for: the wound in Kennedy's back. Kennedy's jerky head and hand movements beginning around Zapruder frame 194. Jackie Kennedy's turning to her husband beginning at 190. Phil Willis' testimony that Mrs. Kennedy snapped her head in that direction at the sound of the first shot. Kennedy's lowering his right arm and lifting his left before frame 224. Nearly intact bullet found on a gurney in Parkland hospital. Secret Service Agent George Hickey's turning to his right starting around frame 193. Secret Service Agent John Ready's turning to his right around Zapruder frame 203. Hugh Betzner's photograph, believed by him to be taken just before the first shot, determined to have been taken at frame 186. Rosemary Willis's turning to her right around frame 198 in the Zapruder film. Phil Willis' photograph taken as a reaction to the first shot, determined to have been taken at frame 202. Connally's testimony that he believed the first and second shot were fired very close together and indicative of automatic rifle fire. The testimony of numerous witnesses indicating that the first shot rang out when Kennedy was waving or as the limousine approached the Thornton Freeway sign.
Jiggle analysis: Zapruder's camera jiggles at 194.
Z192
Livingstone: "The frames badly blur at 190-92, which may indicate Zapruder's reaction to a shot."Z193
Connally can be seen beginning to turn to look over his right shoulder.Z195
Limo was traveling at about 11.2 mph.Z197
Livingstone: "JFK is clearly reacting to a shot by frame 197."Z200
Groden: "By Zapruder frame 200, the President's right hand has stopped waving, and the next few frames show the succession of rapid head movements from right to left. This is evidence of...the throat shot." Sylvia Meagher observed that "Mrs Kennedy makes a sudden sharp turn toward the President, bending her head as if to look at him...." (Accessories After the Fact 28) Jim Moore: "Kennedy's hand stops in mid-wave, and his head begins a turn from his right toward the left in the direction of Mrs. Kennedy."Z202
Phil Willis photo taken about this time opposite Zapruder's position (frame 202 according to the WC). Almost exactly the same as Betzner's photo. government experts to have been taken at Z-frame 202. (H 15 695-7) Willis: "As I was about to squeeze my shutter, that is when the first shot rang out and my reflex just took that picture at that moment. I might have waited another full second...but being with my war nerves anyway - when that shot rang out, I just flinched and got it." (Willis interview with Trask)Rosemary Willis is standing still at this frame.
Z206
JFK begins to disappear behind the Stemmons Freeway sign; he was still waving. NPIC listed this as a possible location for the first shot.Trask: "At Z206 the tip of a dark umbrella is first seen...It is revolving slightly clockwise and moving up and then down..."
Z207
A splice shows in the frame in the WC's evidence. Sylvia Meagher observed that Howard Brennan was looking over his left shoulder until this frame, when "he turns his head suddenly to look at the right. The Secret Service agent riding on the front right running board of the follow-up car...also looks sharply to his right in Frame 207." (Accessories After the Fact 28)Howard Brennan later said he saw the man firing the rifle in the 6[SUP]th[/SUP] floor window of the TSBD "was standing up and resting against the left window sill." (H 3 144). But photos taken that day right after the shooting show the window not even halfway up, which meant "most probably he was either sitting or kneeling." (the Commission's words)(H 6 164; H 19 563-64; WR 144). But the WC considered it "understandable, however, for Brennan to have believed that the man with the rifle was standing" because "the window ledges in the Depository Building are lower than in most buildings," and "from the street, this creates the impression that the person is standing." (WR 144-45). But Brennan insisted that he had seen the man both stand up and sit down: before the motorcade arrived "he came to the window and he sat sideways on the window sill...And I could see practically his whole body, from his hips up. He also saw the man walk away from the window "a couple of times." (H 3 143-44)
Weisberg: "A page after beginning its account of the observation of its "accurate observer," the Report begins apologizing for him. It says, "although Brennan testified that the man in the window was standing when he fired the shots, most probably he was sitting or kneeling." It does not say how Brennan would have known the height, weight and clothing of a man sitting or kneeling behind a solid 16-inch wall. Exhibit 1312, previously referred to, shows a sitting man could not have performed this feat without major contortions, and his face would have been against a double thickness of dirty windows from which the sun was reflecting. Exhibit 1311 (22H484) shows a standing man also would have had to fire through the doubled window." (Whitewash)
Brennan also claims he thought the first shot was a backfire: "I heard this crack that I positively thought was a backfire." (H 3 143) Then something made him think that there was a "firecracker being thrown" from the building. He "glanced up" at the sixth floor window and saw the man: "Well, as it appeared to me he was standing up and resting against the left window sill...and taking positive aim and fired his last shot. As I calculate a couple of seconds. He drew the gun back from the window as though he was drawing it back to his side and maybe paused for another second as though to assure hisself [sic] that he hit his mark, and then he disappeared." (H 3 144). He said as he heard the final shot he was "diving off of that firewall and to the right for bullet protection of this stone wall." (H 3 144); what is interesting about this statement is that if he did that, he would still be in the line of fire from the Depository, but protected from any bullets coming from west-northwest. (H 27 197-98; see photo of wall above). He said he heard only two shots (WR 63)
Z208
In the WC's evidence, this frame was missing; limo was traveling at about 8.2mph (Citizen's Dissent) Harold Weisberg: "Frames 208-211 are missing. What is labeled Frame 212 [in the FBI's photographic prints] seems to be the top of 208 and the bottom of 212. Now, in saying that the FBI had the uncut film, Hoover acknowledges that the FBI could have supplied the missing frames to the Commission." But in H 18 these frames are missing. This is no small matter, for these are probably the frames in which Kennedy was first shot. Shaneyfelt said that none of the Commission members viewed the original print of the film; only the FBI and Secret Service did. (Photographic Whitewash; Case Open 4-5)Z209
In the WC's evidence, this frame was missingZ210
In the WC's evidence, this frame was missing. The WC determined that this was the first frame at which a sixth-floor gunman would have a clear view of the President, unobstructed by trees. They felt that he was first shot between frames 210 and 225. Livingstone saw a slide of this frame: "Frame 210 is badly blurred." Josiah Thompson believed that the first shot came somewhere between Z210 and 224; Bugliosi agrees with this.Z211
In the WC's evidence, this frame was missingZ212
JFK is completely behind the sign and the right half of the black umbrella becomes visible to the right of the sign. Beginning at 212 there are several frames with bad scratches. 212-228: black umbrella moves noticeably upward (in relation to the sign) as the limousine passes in front of it.Z213
NPIC listed this as a possible frame for the first shot.Z215
Limo was traveling at about 12.2 mph.Z221
Connally comes back into view; he is looking to his right. Connally seems to be reacting to something from here on - either a wound or a gunshot.Z222
Jacqueline can be seen looking to her right.Pat Speer: Shot or shots #2. Approximate firing time: Zapruder frame 222.
Hit Kennedy in hairline at frame 224, exited his throat. Connally wounded in his chest, wrist, and thigh. Wounds seem instantaneous, but it seems likely they were created by separate bullets rapid-fired from a semi-automatic weapon.
From: most likely the upper floors or roof of the Dal-Tex Building.
Heard by: a few near Houston and Elm, perhaps a few on the railroad bridge. Bullet and/or bullets were either fired from a rifle equipped with a silencer, or fired from deep within a building so its sound was muffled in comparison to the other shots. Subsonic ammunition may also have been involved. It's noted that Nellie Connally, both in her book and in her testimony, says "and then--a second shot" or "and then there was a second shot;" and that she rarely mentions hearing this second shot. In fact, she didn't mention hearing this second shot until 1966, when she said as much to Life Magazine. Since she also swore she saw her husband get hit by this shot and that it came after he yelled "No, no, no," and since her husband's testimony and the Zapruder film demonstrate she didn't even look at him till frame 230 and he didn't yell anything until after he'd already been hit, it's safe to say she might have been confused. Neither her husband, for that matter, nor Mrs. Kennedy, recalled hearing a shot between the first shot which hit the President, and the last, which killed him. As a result it seems possible that, due to her proximity, Mrs. Connally simply heard this shot strike the President and/or her husband, and registered it as a shot, without noting that it was not as loud as the first shot.
Other evidence for: the small entrance wound in Kennedy's hairline, and the small wound in Kennedy's throat. Connally's back wound, which, according to Connally's doctors, suggested that the bullet striking Connally had not previously struck Kennedy. Connally's wrist wound, which, according to Connally's doctor, Dr. Charles Gregory, was inconsistent with a wound created by the nearly pristine bullet supposedly creating this wound, Exhibit CE 399, unless this bullet was traveling backwards. The traces of copper found on the front of Connally's clothing, which suggests that the jacket of the bullet striking Connally had been disrupted even prior to striking his wrist. The movement of Connally's jacket forwards which briefly obscures his shirt from view in the Zapruder film. The rapid lifting of Kennedy's hands towards his throat as seen in frames 226 and 227. (His hands were actually dropping towards his chest between 224 and 225, but they shot sharply upward at 226.) Connally's hair jumping up and his being straightened out in his seat, only to collapse back to his right around 234. Bullet fragments removed from Connally's wrist that do not match the bullet found on the gurney nor the fragments found in the President's skull. (Actual bullet or bullets may have bounced out of the car off Connally's leg, or been picked up by a Secret Service Agent. There were rumors that a hole in the floor of the limousine was discovered in early 1964, which might account for the bullet leaving Kennedy's neck should it have been a separate bullet.)
Jiggle analysis: Zapruder's camera jiggles around 227 and again at 231.
Z223
Limo was traveling at about 9.2 mph. (Citizen's Dissent) Posner believes that the single-bullet shot occured between 223 and 224. (p329)Z224
Connally's lapel flips up; Posner believes that this is when the bullet passed through his chest. But the lapel could have flipped up because of the strong north-south wind blowing that day (according to some sources; motorcycle cop Billy Joe Martin remembered the wind coming from the southwest. Photographic evidence shows the coats of Jean Hill and Mary Moorman blowing to the east). "The movement of the jacket took place at the exact area where the Governor's suit and shirt have a bullet hole, as the missile passed through his right shoulder blade and out under his right nipple." Posner says that a film enhancement of that frame by Michael West showed that Connally's hat, which he had in his right hand, started rising. It flipped up quickly in 227 and 228 and then at 229 started coming down rapidly; West says that violent movement is "positive proof" of a neurological reaction to physical trauma. (Case Closed 330)Z225
JFK comes back into view, and is raising his arms up to his throat; his right arm is above his left. His mouth seems to be wide open, as if yelling. Groden believes Connally can be seen at the moment the bullet passed through his chest (shot #3); the right front of his jacket moves. Groden feels this bullet was fired from the western window of the Depository. Posner: "the President is almost in full view and his hand is lower, with the elbow resting on the edge of the car. He was bringing it down from a wave." (Case Closed 328)Although expert lip-readers Mr. and Ms. Petrimoulx had not previously studied any of these materials, they noted immediately that President Kennedy was already shot when he emerged from behind the Stemmons Freeway sign.
Mrs. Connally: . . . I could resist no longer. When we got past this area I did turn to the President and said, 'Mr. President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you.' Then I don't know how soon, it seems to me it was very soon, that I heard a noise, and not being an expert rifleman, I was not aware that it was a rifle. It was just a frightening noise, and it came from the right. I turned over my right shoulder and looked back, and saw the President as he had both hands at his neck.
(Arlen Specter, Assistant Counsel). And you are indicating with your own hands, two hands crossing over gripping your own neck?
Mrs. Connally. Yes; and it seemed to me there was -- he made no utterance, no cry. I saw no blood, no anything. It was just sort of nothing, the expression on his face, and he just sort of slumped down. Then very soon there was the second shot that hit John. As the first shot was hit, and I turned to look at the same time, I recall John saying, 'Oh, no, no, no.' Then there was a second shot, and it hit John, and as he recoiled to the right, just crumpled like a wounded animal to the right, he said, 'My God, they are going to kill us all.' I never again --
(Allen W. Dulles, Commission Member). To the right was into your arms more or less?
Mrs. Connally. No, he turned away from me. I was pretending that I was him. I never again looked in the back seat of the car after my husband was shot. My concern was for him, and I remember that he turned to the right and then just slumped down into the seat, so that I reached over to pull him toward me. I was trying to get him down and me down. The jump seats were not very roomy, so that there (were) reports that he slid into the seat of the car, which he did not; that he fell over into my lap, which he did not. I just pulled him over into my arms because it would have been impossible to get us really both down with me sitting and me holding him. So that I looked out, I mean as he was in my arms, I put my head down over his head so that his head and my head were right together, and all I could see, too, were the people flashing by. I didn't look back any more. (4H147)
Roy Kellerman:
As we turned off Houston onto Elm and made the short little dip to the left going down grade, as I said, we were away from buildings, and were -- there was a sign on the side of the road which I don't recall what it was or what it said, but we no more than passed that and you are out in the open, and there is a report like a firecracker, pop. And I turned my head to the right because whatever this noise was I was sure that it came from the right and perhaps into the rear, and as I turned my head to the right to view whatever it was to see whatever it was, I heard a voice from the back seat and I firmly believe it was the President's, 'My God, I am hit,' and I turned around and he has got his hands up here like this.
Mr. Specter. Indicating right hand up toward his neck?
Mr. Kellerman. That is right, sir. In fact, both hands were up in that direction.
(Senator John Sherman Cooper, Commission Member). Which side of his neck?
Mr. Kellerman. Beg pardon?
Senator Cooper. Which side of his neck?
Mr. Kellerman. Both hands were up, sir; this one is like this here and here we are with the hands --
Mr. Specter. Indicating the left hand is up above the head.
Mr. Kellerman. In the collar section.
Mr. Specter. As you are positioning yourself in the witness chair, your right hand is up with the finger at the ear level as if clutching from the right of the head; would that be an accurate description of the position you pictured there?
Mr. Kellerman. Yes. Good. There was enough for me to verify that the man was hit. So, in the same motion, I come right back and grabbed the speaker and said to the driver, 'Let's get out of here; we are hit,' and grabbed the mike and I said, 'Lawson, this is Kellerman,' -- this is Lawson, who is in the front car. 'We are hit; get us to the hospital immediately.' Now, in the seconds that I talked just now, a flurry of shells come into the car. I then looked back and this time Mr. Hill, who was riding on the left front bumper of our follow-up car, was on the back trunk of that car; the President was sideways down into the back seat." (2H73-4)
Z226
The HSCA thought that Connally showed signs of reacting to a wound at about this frame. This means about two seconds elapsed after JFK was hit, according to the HSCA. Posner: "Kennedy started raising his arm again." (Case Closed 328) Trask: "At Z226 his right hand, which is holding a Stetson hat, suddenly shows itself to the camera, and during the next two frames, his head turns forward."Sprague and Cutler believe JFK was hit in the back from the Dal Tex building at this point.
Governor Connally: . . . We had just made the turn, well, when I heard what I thought was a shot I heard this noise which I immediately took to be a rifle shot. I instinctively turned to my right because the sound appeared to come from over my right shoulder, so I turned to look back over my right shoulder, and I saw nothing unusual except just people in the crowd, but I did not catch the President in the corner of my eye, and I was interested, because once I heard the shot in my own mind I identified it as a rifle shot, and I immediately -- the only thought that crossed my mind was that this is an assassination attempt. So I looked, failing to see him, I was turning to look back over my left shoulder into the back seat, but I never got that far in my turn. I got about in the position I am in now facing you, looking a little bit to the left of center, and then I felt like someone had hit me in the back.
Mr. Specter. What is the best estimate that you have as to the time span between the sound of the first shot and the feeling of someone hitting you in the back which you just described?
Governor Connally. A very, very brief span of time. Again my trend of thought just happened to me, I suppose along this line, I immediately thought that this -- that I had been shot. I knew it when I just looked down and I was covered with blood and the thought immediately passed through my mind that there were either two or three people involved or more in this or someone was shooting with an automatic rifle. These were just thoughts that went through my mind because of the rapidity of these two, of the first shot plus the blow that I took, and I knew I had been hit, and I immediately assumed, because of the amount of blood, and, in fact, that it had obviously passed through my chest, that I had probably been fatally hit. So I merely doubled up, and then turned to my right again and began to -- I just sat there, and Mrs. Connally pulled me over to her lap. She was sitting, of course, on the jump seat, so I reclined with my head in her lap, conscious all the time, and with my eyes open… (WC testimony)
Bronson photo (#3) above taken somewhere between 220-229. Bronson would then switch to his 8mm movie camera.
Z227
Posner: "President's elbow jerked off the car. He was in full reaction to the bullet..." (Case Closed 328) Mrs Connally turning toward her husband at 227-228. CBS's 1967 tests showed a "jiggle" in the film in this frame.Z228
Connally turns back to face the front. JFK's right arm is visibly higher than his left one. Groden believes he was shot in the back at about 228. Jim Moore: "Most researchers believe Kennedy is reacting to his first wound here. Instead, the President is responding in fright to a first, missed shot." (Conspiracy of One photo section)Z229
Trask: "The hat and hand then rise to Connally's chin level and in a fragment of a second between Z229 and Z230, he flips the hat over."Z230
The 11/25/1966 issue of Life quoted Specter as saying that "it looks like to me as if his face [Connally's] is wincing [in frame 230], indicating a probability he's been hit." The magazine responded, "Life's photo interpreters think he looks unharmed [in frame 230], as does Connally himself." Specter told Life, "We're pretty sure from the medical evidence that when Connally was hit, his right wrist was down in his lap...frame 230 the wrist is too high to be hit and throughout the rest of the sequence - all the way until Connally collapses - that wrist stays raised." But Life responded, "Nor is there any medical evidence, despite Specter's claim, that Connally's right hand was in his lap when he was hit."Cyril Wecht points out that Connally can be seen holding his Stetson hat with his right hand; this would indicate that he had not sustained the wrist wound yet. Kennedy leans back slightly. Moore: "The President's hands are rising to cover his face and Governor Connally is reacting to the sound of the shot."
Z233
Kennedy leans forward slightly. A man standing to the right of the freeway sign holds his open umbrella above his head and pumps it up and down as the limousine passes his location.Z234
Connally believed he was hit at this frame. (Life 11/25/1966); he had told the WC that he thought he was hit between frames 231 and 234 (H 4 145); Mrs Connally thought it was between 229 and 233. Dr. Gregory testified that he felt Connally could have been hit "in frames marked 234, 235 and 236." (H 4 128) Dr. Shaw believed that the bullet struck him at frame "236, give or take 1 or 2 frames." (H 4 114)Z235
At about this frame Connally starts to turn to his right; it appears to this author that he may have then switched his hat to his left hand. Posner: "Connally does not appear to show any reaction to his wounds until his mouth opens at frame 235...just over half a second between the reactions of the two men." (POSNER 326-7) Moore: "Oswald fires his second shot, which hits the President in the back...It's important to remember that at no time in frames 235 to 238 do either of Kennedy's hands cover his neck or throat....it appears likely that the President was hit by a bullet moving with a downward declination of about 19 degrees 42 minutes, and that shot struck him in the right shoulder. Hunched forward at the time, Kennedy's body position allowed the bullet to travel an almost level path through his body and exit his throat..."Lee Bowers, in the railroad tower behind the knoll, is aware of some kind of "commotion" behind the picket fence - where he has previously noticed two men milling around: " I just am unable to describe rather than it was something out of the ordinary, a sort of milling around, but something occurred in this particular spot which was out of the ordinary, which attracted my eye for some reason, which I could not identify."
Z236
JFK's forward-most position is shown. Connally's doctors believed that the Governor was hit at around this frame. (Thompson, Six Seconds 174) "Since the assassin's view of the Presidential limousine was no longer blocked by the oak tree it is unlikely that a bullet fired from Oswald's rifle at frame 236...could have hit anything other than the President... [CE399] was turned sideways at the moment of impact with Connally's rib, and flying nearly backwards when it hit the Governor's wrist." (Conspiracy of One 170)Lip-reading experts Mr. and Mrs. Petrimoulx believe Connally shows no sign of pain until now.
Governor John Connally recognizes the first noise as a rifle shot and the thought immediately crosses his mind that this is an assassination attempt. From his position in the right jump seat immediately in front of JFK, he instinctively turns to his right because, to him, the shot seems to have come from over his right shoulder. [WC] Mrs. Connally will later recall: "I heard a noise that I didn't think of as a gunshot. I just heard a disturbing noise and turned to my right from where I thought the noise had come and looked in the back and saw the President clutch his neck with both hands. He said nothing. He just sort of slumped down in the seat. John had turned to his right also when we heard that first noise and shouted, "no, no, no ..."
James T. Tague, standing near the concrete abutment of the triple underpass, about 260 feet downhill from the President's position, is hit on his cheek by a piece of concrete blown off the street curb when it is hit by one of the bullets fired at the President. Tague is standing on a curb on Main Street, not Elm Street. He is more than one full block away from the President's car. Tague will not be questioned by the Warren Commission and his existence is not even publicly announced for seven months following the assassination. If one draws a line from the point of impact on the curbstone (where Tague was standing) back to a position within a circle with an eighteen-inch diameter around the President's head and shoulders and then project that line back to some firing point, the gunman is placed in a window on the second floor of the Dal-Tex building, behind the President's car. On the other hand, if a line is drawn from that same point of contact with the curbstone back to the alleged lone gunman's lair on the sixth floor of the Book Depository building, the bullet would have traveled about twenty-two feet to its right.
Z238
Where most people believe that Connally first reacts to his wound: his right shoulder collapses, his cheeks puff out, and his hair flies. Presidential limo was travelling at about 13.2 mph. Josiah Thompson notes that Connally "gives the appearance of someone who has just had the wind knocked out of him." (Six Seconds 93; MOORE 119) Connally was probably struck around 236 or 237. Jim Moore: "the two men were in precise alignment during the tenth of a second in which Connally appears to be hit..." (MOORE 171)Sprague and Cutler believe Connally was hit in the back from the TSBD (from one of the western windows) at this point.
Z240
Connally is no longer in a position to receive a bullet in his back from the rear.Z242
NPIC's 1963 analysis showed this as the likely spot for the second shot. Z242-250 Lip-reading experts Mr. and Mrs Petrimoulx believe Connally is saying "no no no no" at this point.Z244
Roy Kellerman , riding in the front seat of the limo, will testify that he hears JFK say, "My God. I'm hit." No one else in the limo recalls hearing JFK say anything.Secret Service agent Clint Hill realizes immediately that something is wrong and jumps off the SS follow-up car. He sprints towards the President's limousine. The Altgens photo displays the reason: Hill is looking forward at the President while the other agents are looking in various directions. He is therefore undoubtedly the first Secret Service agent to recognize the president's distress.
According to LBJ, Rufus Youngblood, his SS bodyguard -- yells "Get down!" and immediately jumps on top of Vice-President Johnson, pushing him down in the car. Youngblood then practically sits on top of the prone VP. (This is the version of the story as told by LBJ. Ralph Yarborough refuted this version, saying that both Youngblood and LBJ ducked down in the car at the first sounds of gunfire and that Youngblood remained in the front seat.) LBJ's car is the only car in the motorcade that does NOT have a Secret Service driver.
Motorcycle policeman Marrion L. Baker immediately glances up and sees pigeons fluttering off the Depository's roof. He believes the shots have come from either the Depository or the Dal-Tex building. He dismounts from his motorcycle and, gun in hand, rushes towards the TSBD building.
Z249
Kennedy leans forward a bit more and then a little to the left.Z255
Gov. Connally is screaming and talking (his face is in shadow; he may be saying, "My God, they're going to kill us all," based on what can be seen of his expressions).Most researchers believe that this frame corresponds with the famous Altgens photo. Ike Altgens captures the president on film in a now-famous shot taken within two seconds of the impact of the bullet that strikes JFK's head. For a while, controversy rages around a figure visible in the background of the photograph. A man many people think strongly resembles Lee Harvey Oswald is pictured standing in the front entrance of the Book Depository Building. If it is, in fact, Oswald, he could not have been on the sixth floor of the building when the shots were fired. The Warren Commission will discount any possibility that the figure is Oswald, and instead identifies the man as Billy Nolan Lovelady, another building employee. One researcher argues that the Altgens photo was taken before 255, because Greer's hands are not on the steering wheel as shown in the Zapruder film.
Z256
Connally has turned all the way around to his right to look at Kennedy, and he is still clutching his hat; Groden says he is still holding it with his right hand. Michael Baden told Posner that "If he doesn't drop the hat, it doesn't mean a thing. Some say that the Governor's radial nerve was damaged, but that's not true. There was no radial damage, but even if that nerve had been hit, he wouldn't have dropped it. His wrist was clearly wounded, with the radius bone broken. No one argues that." Baden says it is a "moot point" since the film never shows him dropping the hat. (Case Closed 330) Trask: "Connally has his mouth open and is visibly still holding his Stetson in his right hand with a wrist now pierced and fractured by a bullet."SS agent Roy Kellerman, sitting next to the driver of JFK's limo (William Greer), testifies that he hears Mrs. Kennedy say to JFK: "What are they doing to you?" Kellerman does absolutely nothing during the shooting. Numerous witnesses describe the presidential limousine slowing down, though Greer denies this.
Agent John D. Ready jumps off SS follow-up car to dash to JFK limo. He is recalled by special Agent-in-Charge Emory Roberts. Roberts also orders all other agents not to move.
In her open convertible, Mrs. Earle Cabell smells the unmistakable odor of gunpowder in the air. Ralph Yarborough also smells gunpowder. He will eventually say: "I always thought that was strange because, being familiar with firearms, I never could see how I could smell the powder from a rifle high in that building."
Mary Moorman has fallen on the grass after taking a Polaroid photograph of JFK in his limo. She pulls at the leg of Jean Hill, screaming: "Get down! They're shooting!"
Five seconds after JFK has first clutched his neck, the limousine still seems to be in its stultifying pause, the driver (Greer) looking over his shoulder into the back seat. (Greer's son will eventually wonder why his father was JFK's driver, citing his father's intense dislike of JFK as the reason.)
In the motorcade press buses, men are asking each other if what they've just heard could be rifle fire. A driver says: "They're giving him a twenty-one-gun salute."
Mrs. Earle Cabell, is riding in an open convertible six cars back from the motorcade's lead car. At this moment, her car is just passing the Depository building. She jerks her head up on hearing the first shot because "I heard the direction from which the shot came ..." Looking up, she sees an object projecting from one of the top windows of the Depository building.
While still sprinting toward the Presidential limousine, Clint Hill hears more shots.
Z264
NPIC's analysis in 1963 placed the second shot here as possibly being at this frame, 4.1 seconds after the first shot.Z265
The David Wiegman film begins around this frame. Wiegman was in Camera Car #1Z276
From here on Connally's hat is out of the camera's view.Z280
Driver Will Greer first becomes clearly visible here. He has turned around to his right and seems to be looking at JFK.Gov. Connally will later testify: " I do not believe, nor will I ever believe, that I was hit with the first bullet. I don't believe that. I heard the first shot. I reacted to the first shot and I was not hit with that bullet: Now, there's a great deal of speculation that the President and I were hit with the same bullet that might well, be, but it surely wasn't the first bullet and Nelly doesn't think it's the second bullet. I don't know, I didn't hear the second bullet. I felt the second bullet. We obviously weren't hit by the third bullet. I was down reclining in her lap at the time the third bullet hit."
At this sound, driver William Greer will testify, he realizes that something is wrong, and he presses down on the accelerator as Roy Kellerman yells, "Get out of here fast." As he issues his instructions to Greer and to the lead car, Kellerman hears a "flurry of shots" within 5 seconds of the first noise. [WC]
Z285
Robert Harris: "…a gunshot at frame 285 which startled the limo passengers and caused Bill Greer to panic and lift his foot from the gas."Harris thinks this is the shot that missed and wounded James Tague.
Luis Alvarez believed that some loud noise must have happened at this frame to cause reactions by people in the following frames; he speculated that a siren must have sounded.
Sprague and Cutler believe that a shot from the Dal Tex building was fired at this point, and wounded James Tague.
Z288
Connally is still visibly upright and facing to the rear and after that he falls back onto the seat, into his wife's lap, and facing the camera.In this researcher's opinion, Connally may not have been shot until around 288-290, by a sniper on the South Knoll.
Z292
Connally does not appear to be in any pain here.Z293
Jacqueline leans closer to JFK.Z298
Blurring Zapruder's reaction to the shot that hit Connally? Connally now appears to be in pain.Z300
Greer briefly looks forward, then turns around again.Z301
Connally is clearly in pain and beginning to collapse into his wife's arms.Z310
Pat Speer: Shot #3. Approximate firing time: Zapruder frame 310-311.Hit Kennedy near the temple at frame 313. Bullet fragmented. One piece of its core seems to have continued on to chip the concrete near Tague around 319.
From: the sixth floor window of the TSBD
Heard by: everyone in Dealey Plaza from the time of the shot up to 10 frames afterward. Tague would have heard this shot around 319 or 320.
Other evidence for: extensive damage to the head of the President. Explosion of skull as visible in the Zapruder film. Bullet fragments found in the President's brain. Additional fragments believed to be linked to these fragments found underneath Nellie Connally's seat as well as on the front seat of the limousine. Front seat fragments linked to rifle found on the sixth floor of the TSBD.
Jiggle analysis: Zapruder's camera jiggles around 318 and 324 and again at 331.
Z312
Jim Moore: "The President's head moves forward, in an almost unseen blur....his head moves forward slightly as a result of the impact of the bullet on the back of the skull." Josiah Thompson found that between frames 312 and 313 (1/18th of second) there is an almost unnoticeable forward movement of JFK's head, followed by the massive jolt back of his head and body. He believed that a first shot hit him from behind, and then immediately after came one from the front.Sprague and Cutler believe a shot from the west end of the TSBD hit JFK in the head at this point.
Mary Moorman Polaroid was taken at almost the instant before the head shot. Other studies say it corresponds with Z315 or 316.
Z313
The fatal head shot occurs. Frame 313 was published in the WR (p108), though the photo is small and, since it is not shown in relation to the frames before and after it, not very helpful. " Based upon debris from the head shot, the Warren Commission reported frame 24 of the Nix film, frame 42 of the Muchmore film and frame 313 of the Zapruder film as synchronous. However, the hemline of Mary Ann Moorman's coat is freely hanging on frame 24 while windblown on frame 42.The right side of the President's head explodes in a shower of blood and brain tissue. JFK appears to be slammed backwards and to the left with violent force. This reaction is seen in the film by Abraham Zapruder and will be the subject of considerable discussion and debate in years to come.
Sprague and Cutler believe a shooter behind the concrete pergola fires this shot.
Escort motorcycle officers at the left-rear of the limousine - Bobby W. Hargis and B. J. Martin - are splattered by blood and brain matter. Martin, who has looked to his right after the first shots, will later find bloodstains on the left side of his helmet. Hargis, who is riding nearest the limousine about six to eight feet from the left rear fender, sees Kennedy's head explode and is hit by bits of flesh and bone with such impact that he will tell reporters he thought he had been shot. The motorcycle policemen to the right rear of the President's limousine are not struck with any debris.
Mrs Connally: "The third shot that I heard I felt, it felt like spent buckshot falling all over us, and then, of course, I too could see that it was the matter, brain tissue, or whatever, just human matter, all over the car and both of us. I thought John had been killed, and then there was some imperceptible movement, just some little something that let me know that there was still some life, and that is when I started saying to him, 'It's all right. Be still.'" (WC testimony)
At least seven witnesses see a puff of smoke on the grassy knoll.
Witness Howard Brennan, who is reportedly observing a rifle protruding from the sixth floor window at this time will later testify that he does NOT see the last shot fired. "But you heard the last shot?" he is asked. "Yes, sir."
In the Secret Service car immediately behind the Presidential limousine, SS agent George W. Hickey, Jr. reaches down and picks up an AR 15 (an automatic rifle) which has been kept "locked and loaded" in the car. Releasing the safety on the weapon, Hickey stands up in the rear car seat of the convertible and looks around to find the source of the shots. In a moment, the car will lurch forward, knocking him backward. (In the book MORTAL ERROR it is suggested that Hickey accidentally fires his AR 15, actually inflicting JFK's mortal head wound .)
Anthony Marsh has conducted a computer study based on the relationship of each person in the fatal limousine to parts of the car such as door handles and so on. His finding is that the President's head does not move forward at any time..the head only moves backward..." (Killing the Truth 334)
The WC, the FBI and the news media had never mentioned the backward-snap of JFK's head, though they had viewed the Z-film. Consequently, there was never any need to explain the backward movement until the film became more widely seen. Liebeler confirmed, "It's only since the critics have raised this point that anybody has ever looked at it closely." (Six Seconds 86-7)
Only after the head shot does Greer face forward and speed up. The WC determined that the fatal head shot occured 265.3 ft from the rifle in the window, at a downward angle of 15 deg 21 min. (CE 902, WR 108) H.E. Livingstone believes that this shot came from the manhole in front of the car, where the stockade fence joins the overpass. Jim Moore: "...a piece of bone can be seen rocketing several feet into the air." Weisberg has believed since the mid-60s that "the President was actually struck [in the head] from each direction almost simultaneously, the bullet before the one that explodes in Frame 313 coming from the rear." (Photographic Whitewash)
Z314
At about this frame Connally rolls to his left and he and his wife duck down out of view.Gov. Connally: …and then, of course, the third shot sounded, and I heard the shot very clearly. I heard it hit him. I heard the shot hit something, and I assumed again -- it never entered my mind that it ever hit anybody but the President. I heard it hit. It was a very loud noise, just that audible, that clear.
Immediately I could see on my clothes, my clothing, I could see on the interior of the car which, as I recall, was a pale blue, brain tissue, which I immediately recognized, and I recall very well, on my trousers there was one chunk of brain tissue as big as almost my thumb, thumbnail, and again I did not see the President at any time either after the first, second, or third shots, but I assumed always that it was he who was hit and no one else. I immediately, when I was hit, I said, 'Oh, no, no, no.' And then I said, 'My God, they are going to kill us all.' Nellie, when she pulled me over into her lap --
Mr. Specter. Nellie is Mrs. Connally?
Governor Connally. Mrs. Connally. When she pulled me over into her lap, she could tell I was still breathing, and moving, and she said, 'Don't worry. Be quiet. You are going to be all right.' She just kept telling me I was going to be all right. After the third shot, and I heard Roy Kellerman tell the driver, 'Bill, get out of line.' And then I saw him move, and I assumed he was moving a button or something on the panel of the automobile, and he said, 'Get us to a hospital quick.'I assumed he was saying this to the patrolman, the motorcycle police who were leading us. At about that time, we began to pull out of the cavalcade, out of the line, and I lost consciousness and didn't regain consciousness until we got to the hospital." (4H132-3)
Z315
The violent backward movement of JFK's head is explained by WC supporters as the "jet effect" or the result of a neuromuscular spasm. The blood and brain matter that splattered motorcycle cops riding to the rear of the car is explained by saying that they drove through it as the car moved forward, though even Gerald Posner admits that the car was basically stopped before the head shot.Roy Kellerman: So, in the same motion, I come right back and grabbed the speaker and said to the driver, 'Let's get out of here; we are hit,' and grabbed the mike and I said, 'Lawson, this is Kellerman,' -- this is Lawson, who is in the front car. 'We are hit; get us to the hospital immediately.' Now, in the seconds that I talked just now, a flurry of shells come into the car. I then looked back and this time Mr. Hill, who was riding on the left front bumper of our follow-up car, was on the back trunk of that car; the President was sideways down into the back seat." (2H73-4)
Z318
Nix film. CBS' 1967 tests showed a "jiggle" in the film at this frame, as Zapruder reacted to the head shot.Livingstone: "In 318 [of the National Archives slides] there is a big hole in the head generally in the precise position noted in the autopsy report. But it is not visible in each set of slides at the National Archives, and there is no way of knowing which set we are given. This box of slides ends at 323, and the next box of slides starts at 324. A close observation of the frames shortly after the fatal head shot shows a black shadow over the back of the head...Although the head would be somewhat out of the direct sunlight in that position, facing to the northeast, the shadow appears to be drawn on the film, and would mask the large loss of skull and scalp known to have occured in that area....Shadow in that position is highly unlikely at midday, with bright reflections close by on the film..." (Killing the Truth 334-5,77)
Z319
Robert Hill Jackson, in the motorcade: "And as we heard the first shot, I believe it was Tom Dillard from the Dallas News who made some remark as to that sounding like a firecracker, and it could have been somebody else who said that. But someone else did speak up and make that comment and before he actually the sentence we heard the other two shots. Then we realized or we thought it was gunfire, and then we could not at that point see the President's car. We were still moving slowly, and after the third shot the second two shots seemed much closer together than the first shot, than they were to the first shot. Then after the last shot, I guess all of us were just looking all around and I just looked straight up ahead of me which would have been looking at the School Book Depository and I noticed two Negro men in a window straining to see directly above them, and my eyes followed right on up to the window above them and I saw the rifle, or what looked like a rifle approximately half of weapon, I guess I saw. and just looked at it, it was drawn fairly slowly back into the building, and I saw no one in the window with it. I didn't even see a form in the window."Z320
Pat Speer: Sound or Shot #4. Approximate firing time: Zapruder frame 320-327.Missed or possibly not even a shot. Quite possibly a loud firecracker used as a diversionary device. Combat Lessons #6, a 1944 publication of the U.S. Army, noted that, in both the Pacific and European theaters of World War II, "enemy troops have used firecrackers for diversionary purposes, especially when trying to deceive our troops as to the positions of snipers." Combat Lessons #4, from 1942, notes as well that German snipers used slow-burning fuses so that no one would be near the firecrackers when they exploded. This tactic, which single-assassin theorist Mike Williams assures me is still in use today, was therefore not only known to snipers in 1963, but was one likely to be used, should there have been multiple shooters in buildings requiring minutes to escape.
From: somewhere west of the Texas School Book Depository, possibly the railroad yards, but more probably the back of the arcade north of the grassy knoll, or the parking lot across the street. William Newman, and Abraham Zapruder, both facing the President, with the picket fence on their right and school book depository on their left, nevertheless felt the last shot came from behind them. Since a loud sound coming from behind them at this time would arrive but a split second after the sound of a third shot fired from the depository building, a sound's coming from this area would be likely to confuse Newman and Zapruder, and other witnesses nearby, and lead them to recall hearing but two shots. Sure enough, Newman, Zapruder, Mrs. Kennedy, Bobby Hargis, Clint Hill, and Paul Landis, could clearly recall but two shots, and those nearby Kennedy claiming they heard three shots mostly did so while claiming the last two shots were nearly simultaneous. A diversionary device set off in this location would, of course, draw attention from the buildings behind the President when he was shot. If this was the plan, of course...it worked. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the bulk of the Police and eyewitnesses looking for the shooter ran towards the grassy knoll and railroad yards, and ignored the buildings behind the motorcade.
Heard by: everyone in Dealey Plaza from the time of the explosion to 10 frames afterward. Due to their proximity, many interpreted this shot or sound as being the same shot as shot #3. Tague would have heard this explosion around 331-334, which might explain why he was initially convinced he was hit before the third shot.
Other evidence for: reports of smoke near the stockade fence. There were gusts of wind up to twenty miles an hour which may have blown the smoke in that direction. The statements of Dallas officer Joe Marshall Smith, who thought he smelled gunpowder in the parking lot west of the School Book Depository.
Jiggle analysis: camera jiggles at 324 and again at 331.
Z323
Jackie has raised her head up and begun looking at JFK. At some point after she saw a piece of his head ejected back toward the trunk.Z334
JFK collapses onto Jackie.[h=2]Z33
Deep Politics Timeline - Peter Lemkin - 28-04-2014
Tracy, is this going to be bigger than the 26 volumes?! How long have you been working on this Opus?!
Deep Politics Timeline - Tracy Riddle - 29-04-2014
Peter, I guess I've been working on it for about 20 years. I started assembling a chronology almost as soon as I began studying the subject, just to help me keep it all straight.
Deep Politics Timeline - Tracy Riddle - 01-05-2014
Immediate Aftermath of the Assassination 12:30-12:44PM
12:30-31 PM
Mark Bell, who had turned his camera off just before the shooting, turned it back on and caught the limo leaving the Plaza. The Bell film shows the SS followup car, as the presidential limo is in the shadow of the Overpass.Right after the shooting, Dallas Times Herald photographer Bob Jackson (in the motorcade) sees a rifle protruding from the northeast sixth-floor window of the Texas School Book Depository. His camera empty, he alerts Thomas Dillard, chief photographer of the Dallas Morning News, who took two shots of the building seconds after the last shot is fired. The 6[SUP]th[/SUP] floor window is empty. Bonnie Ray Williams and Harold Norman can be seen on the 5th floor.
DILLARD 11 and 12 photos
Weisberg: "The exact window of the building from which the shots were supposed to have been fired was im*mediately pointed out. Yet this building was never sealed off -- not ever -- despite the obfuscation in the Report. Belatedly, it and the entire two or three block area were ordered isolated by an official, but there was not even a gesture in this direction. Even more inexplicably, there was no organized search of the building either immediately or as an afterthought. No one was ordered to inspect and search the area from which witnesses immediately reported the shots were fired. Not one of the police, from private to inspector, undertook this obvious search on his own. The empty cases of the bullets that both the police and the Commission concluded were fired were found in plain view at precisely the spot reported by witnesses -- 42 minutes after the assassination (R-79). The rifle was not found until ten minutes later than that, and it was on the same floor. An alleged eyewitness description of the man later accused of being the assassin was immediately reported to radio‑equipped police who did nothing about it. With the supposed killer still in the building, its exits were not secured. His description was not even broadcast on the police radio for almost 15 minutes. These blunders, if that is what they were, did not stop once the immediate shock of the crime had passed. They were the persistent pattern of the entire police operation, and they have been dignified and perpetuated by the Commission in both its hearings and its Report. Nowhere in the Report will you find any criticism of the police, except for its "public relations." Nowhere will you find any suggestion that the police could or should have done otherwise, or that their "errors" were in any way suspicious." (Whitewash)
As JFK's limo speeds under the Overpass, Mel McIntire takes a photo on the curb of the freeway onramp. The TSBD looms in the background; its clock sign says 12:30.
McIntire photo #2
Jack Daniel is also standing near the freeway onramp and films the limo approaching:
NBC cameraman David Wiegman in camera car #1: "…on the third [shot] I was [on the ground] running. The car had slowed down enough for me to jump out." He ran along with his camera going, and headed toward the grassy knoll, where he saw a policeman running. A frame from his film is shown below, taken just before he jumped out of the car, perhaps showing smoke on the knoll. However, this may actually be the leaves of a tree that had turned orange-brown (and can be seen in color photos).
In the next few moments, while almost everyone in Dealey Plaza will be reacting to the shots by either falling to the ground or rushing towards the area of the Grassy Knoll, the man identified as the "Umbrella Man" will sit down next to a dark complected man on the sidewalk of Elm Street. Several photographs taken at this time indicate that the dark-complected man talks into a radio. Jim Towner snaps a photograph in which an antenna - or an antenna-like device - can be seen jutting out from behind the man's head while his hands hold an object to his face. A few moments later, both men will stand up and walk away - each in different directions: the dark-complected man heads toward the Triple Underpass while the "Umbrella Man" is seen walking towards the Texas School Book Depository.
Mr. NORMAN. Well, it seems as though everyone else was running towards the railroad tracks, and we ran over there [to look out the window to the west]. Curious to see why everybody was running that way for. I thought maybe--
Mr. BALL. Did anybody say anything about going up to the sixth floor?
Mr. NORMAN. I don't remember anyone saying about going up to the sixth floor.
Mr. BALL. What did you look at when you looked out that window?
Mr. NORMAN. We saw the policeman, and I guess they were detectives, they were searching the empty cars over there. I remember seeing some guy on top of them.
Mr. BALL. On top of the cars?
Mr. NORMAN. Yes. They were going through there.
Mr. BALL. You saw police officers searching cars over on the railroad tracks?
Mr. NORMAN. Yes.
Mr. BALL. And how long did you stay at that window?
Mr. NORMAN. I don't remember, but it wasn't very long.
Mr. BALL. When you were brought to the first floor or when you came to the first floor how did you go down there?
Mr. NORMAN. We came down the stairway. I remember we came down the stairway.
Mr. BALL. When you got to the first floor did someone talk to you, police officers?
Mr. NORMAN. I don't remember a police officer talking to me as soon as we got down there. I don't.
Mr. BALL. The document that I have here shows the date 4th of December 1963. Do you remember having made a statement to Mr. Carter, Special Agent of the Secret Service, on that day?
Mr. NORMAN. I can't remember the exact date but I believe I remember Mr. Carter.
Mr. BALL. I want to call your attention to one part of the statement and I will ask you if you told him that:
"Just after the President passed by, I heard a shot and several seconds later I heard two more shots. I knew that the shots had come from directly above me, and I could hear the expended cartridges fall to the floor. I could also hear the bolt action of the rifle. I also saw some dust fall from the ceiling of the fifth floor and I felt sure that whoever had fired the shots was directly above me."
Did you make that statement to the Secret Service man?
Mr. NORMAN. I don't remember making a statement that I knew the shots came from directly above us. I didn't make that statement. And I don't remember saying I heard several seconds later. I merely told him that I heard three shots because I didn't have any idea what time it was.
Mr. BALL. I see. Did you tell them that you heard the bolt action of the rifle?
Mr. NORMAN. Yes.
Mr. BALL. And that you heard the expended cartridges fall to the floor?
Mr. NORMAN. Yes; I heard them making a sound.
Mr. BALL. You ran down to the west side of the building?
Mr. BONNIE RAY WILLIAMS. Yes, sir… We saw the policemen and people running, scared, running--there are some tracks on the west side of the building, railroad tracks. They were running. towards that way. And we thought maybe--well, to ourself, we know the shots practically came from over our head. But since everybody was running, you know, to the west side of the building, towards the railroad tracks, we assumed maybe somebody was down there. And so we all ran that way, the way that the people was running, and we was looking out the window.
Mr. BALL. When the cement fell on your head, did either one of the men notice it and say anything about it?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes, sir. I believe Harold was the first one.
Mr. BALL. That is Hank Norman?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I believe he was the first one. He said "Man, I know it came from there. It even shook the building." He said, "You got something on your head." And then James Jarman said, "Yes, man, don't you brush it out." By that time I just forgot about it. But after I got downstairs I think I brushed it out anyway.
Representative FORD.Why didn't you go up to the sixth floor?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I really don't know. We just never did think about it. And after we had made this last stop, James Jarman said, "Maybe we better get the hell out of here." And so we just ran down to the fourth floor, and came on down. We never did think about it, going up to the sixth floor. Maybe it was just because we were frightened.
Mr. BALL. Now, when you were questioned by the FBI agents, talking to Mr. Odum and Mr. Griffin, they reported in writing here that while you were standing at the west end of the building on the fifth floor, a police officer came up on the elevator and looked all around the fifth floor and left the floor. Did you see anything like that?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Well, at the time I was up there I saw a motorcycle policeman. He came up. And the only thing I saw of him was his white helmet.
Mr. BALL. What did he
Mr. WILLIAMS. He just came around, and around to the elevator.
Mr. BALL. Which elevator?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I believe it was the east elevator.
Mr. BALL. Did you see anybody with him?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I did not.
Mr. BALL. You were only able to see the top of his helmet?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. You could only see the top of his helmet
Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes, sir; that is the only thing I saw about it…When we arrived to the first floor, the first thing I noticed was that the policemen had rushed in. I think some firemen came in with a water hose. And then the next thing that happened, these detectives, or maybe FBI--anyway, they stopped us all and they said, "Do you work here?" And we told them yes. And they took our name, address, and they searched everybody. And then the other fellow--I think one fellow asked whether we had been working upstairs. I think we told him yes. They got out all the fellows I think that was working on the sixth floor at the time, and they took us all down to the courthouse, I think, and we had to fill out some affidavits and things.
Mr. McCLOY. I have some questions. When you came downstairs, do you remember seeing a man named Brennan, and did a man named Brennan identify you downstairs?
Mr. WILLIAMS. No, sir; I don't remember that.
Mr. McCLOY. No one that you know-no one said, "This is the man I have seen on the fifth floor window?"
Mr. WILLIAMS. No, sir.
Mr. McCLOY. Were you physically kept from leaving the building when you got downstairs? Did you try to go out of the building?
Mr. WILLIAMS. No, sir; I wasn't trying to go out of the building because there wasn't any use of trying to, because at the time we arrived on the first floor, I heard an officer shout out and say, "No one leave the building."
Mr. McCLOY. Have you got any appreciation of the time that elapsed between your hearing the first shot and the time that you got finally down to the first floor, after you had been on the fifth floor and the fourth floor?
Mr. WILLIAMS. No, sir; I could not give you any time.
Mr. McCLOY. Well, you did not give us any time. Do you have any recollection now of about how long that was? Was it 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes? How long did it take from the time that you were looking out that window and you heard that shot until you did get down to the first floor?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Well, I could say approximately 15 minutes, maybe a little before then, maybe after. I could not say exactly.
Mr. McCLOY. Do you know whether or not anybody got out of the building before the police could get there? Did any of your friends or the people you were working with, did you hear whether any of them had left the building before the building was closed?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes, sir; I heard Mr. Truly-he said that-he mentioned that-he said, "Where is Lee?" That is what everybody called him. "Where is Lee?", he said, and therefore I assume he did not know where Lee was, that he was out of the building, because everybody else was there. And there was another colored fellow by the name of Charles Givens. He wasn't in the building at the time. He was downtown somewhere.
Mr. McCLOY. Had he been at the building at the time of the shooting--Givens?
Mr. WILLIAMS. I don't believe he had.
Mr. DULLES. What did Mr. Truly say about Lee not being there?
Mr. WILLIAMS. The only thing I heard him say is--I think an officer asked him, "Is everyone here?" And he said, "Where is Lee?"--like that, you know.
Howard Brennan testified that he tried to get police to search the Depository rather than the Grassy Knoll, where most of them ran (H 3 144-45). An unidentified policeman took him to Secret Service agent Forrest Sorrels, who was at his car in front of the Depository (H 13 56; H 3 145); he was asked how long it took him to get to the Depository steps after the last shot and he said that it took less than ten minutes. Once there, he said he talked to Sorrels, but Sorrels didn't return from Parkland until about 12:55. "Well, we talked at the car, and then when these two colored guys came down the stairway onto the street, I pointed to them, and identified them as being the two that was in the floor below that floor [the fifth floor]." (H 3 158). Sorrels denied that Brennan told him this (H 7 349). Brennan was sure he could identify the two black men again, but when shown a picture of them he said, "No, I do not recognize them." Counsel then asked him whether he got "as good a look at the Negroes as you got at the man with the rifle." He replied that he had. When Junior Jarman, Harold Norman and Bonnie Ray Williams were brought before him in the hearing room, he could not identify which two he had seen: "I can't tell which of those two it was...I saw two but I can't identify which one it was." (H 3 156, 152, 184-85). Yet the WC stated that: "When the three employees appeared before the Commission, Brennan identified the two whom he saw leave the building." (WR 145, 825). Then he had trouble identifying which window he had seen them in (H 3 186).
Abraham Zapruder and Marilyn Sitzman get down from the wall and walk under the pergola where the Hesters are sitting.
Motorcycle cop Marrion Baker leaves his motorcycle in front of the TSBD and runs toward it right after the last shot. He can be seen in a film taken by Malcolm Couch. Couch was in Camera Car 3, the last camera car; it was almost at the corner of Elm when the last shot went off. He immediately picked up his movie camera and began filming; it begins just before the car came to a near-stop while making the turn onto Elm. It pans west to the Grassy Knoll and Elm Street.
Mr. WILLIAM SHELLEY - Well, officers started running down to the railroad yards and Billy and I walked down that way.
Mr. BALL - How did you get down that way; what course did you take?
Mr. SHELLEY - We walked down the middle of the little street.
Mr. BALL - The dead-end street?
Mr. SHELLEY - Yes.
Mr. BALL - Did you see Truly, Mr. Truly and an officer go into the building?
Mr. SHELLEY - Yeah, we saw them right at the front of the building while we were on the island.
Mr. BALL - While you were out there before you walked to the railroad yards?
Mr. SHELLEY - Yes.
Mr. BALL - Do you have any idea how long it was from the time you heard those three sounds or three noises until you saw Truly and Baker going into the building?
Mr. SHELLEY - It would have to be 3 or 4 minutes I would say because this girl that ran back up there was down near where the car was when the President was hit… We walked on down to the first railroad track there on the dead-end street and stood there and watched them searching cars down there in the parking lots for a little while and then we came in through our parking lot at the west end.
About 30 seconds after the shooting: the Newman family is lying on the grass on the north side of Elm taking cover. Thomas Atkins and Tom Craven jump out of the motorcade and start taking pictures. A photo was taken by Cecil Stoughton from Camera Car 2 as it passed.
Robert MacNeil, White House correspondent for NBC News is on the press bus. He jumps up and yells "They were shots! Stop the bus! Stop the bus!" The driver opens the door and MacNeil jumps out. "I saw several people running up the grassy hill beside the road. I thought they were chasing whoever had done the shooting and I ran after them."
Frank Cancellare was in camera car #2 in Dallas, and as it got to Elm Street, he jumped out of the car. "I did not know what had happened...Police ran their bikes up the bank towards the railroad overpass. I thought they were chasing the culprit, and I think they thought so also." (Letter to Trask, 1985) Cancellare took a photo showing the South Knoll.
Wilma Bond takes photos of the aftermath from the concrete wall by the reflecting pool on Houston. This is her 4[SUP]th[/SUP] photo (the first 3 were taken on Houston St before the shooting). In the middle of the street, Bobby Hargis is just returning to his bike (according to Trask). Jean Hill and Mary Moorman are sitting on the grass, as are Charles Brehm and his son.
Richard Bothun took a photo which showed the "umbrella man" and his dark-skinned companion sitting on the curb by the Stemmons Freeway sign; this photo was taken about 30 seconds after the shooting and Bobby Hargis can be seen having just jumped back on his bike after having stopped to look for a culprit on the north side of Elm. He would soon drive back to the TSBD. Behind a low wall, can be seen a silhouette of a man walking toward the TSBD
Mr. BALL - Did Norman say anything about hearing cartridges or ejection or anything like that, do you remember?
Mr. JARMAN - That was after we got down to the west side of the building.
Mr. BALL - After you got down where?
Mr. JARMAN - To the west side of the building.
Mr. BALL - Down the west side?
Mr. JARMAN - Right.
Mr. BALL - Now you ran down to the west side of the building, did you?
Mr. JARMAN - Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL - And what did you do after you opened the window?
Mr. JARMAN - I leaned out and the officers and various people was running across the tracks, toward the tracks over there where they had the passenger trains, and all, boxcars and things… When I looked out that window, I saw the policemen and the secret agents, the FBI men, searching the boxcar yard and the passenger train and things like that…[Norman] said it was something sounded like cartridges hitting the floor, and he could hear the action of the rifle, I mean the bolt, as it were pulled back, or something like that.
Mr. BALL - Had you heard anything like that?
Mr. JARMAN - No, sir; I hadn't
Mr. BALL - Had you heard any person running upstairs?
Mr. JARMAN - No, sir.
Mr. BALL - Or any steps upstairs?
Mr. BALL - Any noise at all up there?
Mr. JARMAN - None.
Mr. JARMAN - Well, after Norman had made his statement that he had heard the cartridges hit the floor and this bolt action, I told him we'd better get the hell from up here.
Mr. BALL - Did anybody suggest you go up to the sixth floor?
Mr. JARMAN - No, Sir.
Mr. BALL - And where did you go then?
Mr. JARMAN - Down. We ran to the elevator first, but the elevator had gone down.
Mr. BALL - Where did you go?
Mr. JARMAN - Then we ran to the stairway and ran downstairs, and we paused a few minutes on four.
Mr. BALL - Which elevator did you run
Mr. JARMAN - To the elevator on the west side.
Mr. BALL - On the west. That wasn't there?
Mr. JARMAN - No sir.
Mr. BALL - When you went downstairs, what did you see on the first floor?
Mr. JARMAN - When we got downstairs on the first floor, I think the first one I seen was Eddie Piper.
DPD Chief Jesse Curry, in the lead car, radios in: "Go to the hospital - Parkland Hospital. Have them stand by. Get a man on top of that triple underpass and see what happened up there." (H 17 461) Sheriff Bill Decker, also in the lead car, radioed, "Have my office move all available men out of my office into the railroad yard to try to determine what happened in there and hold everything secure until Homicide and other investigators should get there."
James Towner snapped a picture as Camera Car 1 dropped off some of its occupants on Elm. Camera Car 2 is behind it. Officer Haygood is on his bike driving towards the Overpass. Officer Edgar Leon Smith is seen with his gun drawn.
Al Volkland, on the Stemmons Freeway, takes a photo of the motorcade as it rushed past him to Parkland. This photo shows SS agent Hickey with his automatic rifle in hand. The buildings of Dealey Plaza are visible in the background.
LIFE photographer Arthur Rickerby takes three photos (apparently one in color, two in B&W) from the motorcade's Camera Car 2 as it races down Elm St. Haygood is on the motorcycle. Mrs. John Chism is running at the right of the frame with her son in her arms.
Rickerby #3 photo
Officer Haygood getting off his motorcycle is seen in the Couch film.
Clint Grant, in camera car #2, takes a photo. Craven is running down the sidewalk, and Atkins is running after him as they try to get back in the camera cars. Grant's brother-in-law, James Altgens, is standing at the curb. Cancellare is the only one still photographing the Newmans.
The Newman family photographed by Cancellare. James Altgens is standing in the background.
DILLARD 13 photo shows cars heading toward the Underpass.
Building engineer J. C. Price is on the roof of the Terminal Annex Building on the south side of Dealey Plaza. He sees a man run from the area behind the wooden fence. Price states that the man has something in his right hand and "was running very fast, which gave me the suspicion that he was doing the shooting." "I saw one man run towards the passenger cars on the railroad siding after the volley of shots. This man had a white dress shirt, no tie, and khaki colored trousers. His hair appeared to be long and dark and his agility running could be about 25 years of age. He had something in his hand. I couldn't be sure but it may have been a headpiece." - CE 2003 (Dallas Sheriff's Department Affidavit, 12-22-63)
About 30 seconds after the shooting, Army Intelligence agent James Powell took a photo of the TSBD
Phil Willis photo#6, about 30 seconds after the head shot. The Newman family is still on the ground; Umbrella Man and dark-complected man are sitting on the curb. Officer Haygood is seen near the Fort Worth sign running toward the Knoll. Dignitary cars 2 and 3 (convertibles), dignitary car 4 (a sedan), a station wagon, and the first press bus are visible, apparently stopped momentarily. The man in the apron was also visible in the Zapruder film on the north side of Elm.
Wilma Bond photo#5. The first press bus rolling down Elm Street. On that bus Fort Worth Star-Telegram photographer Harry Cabluck snapped three pictures through a window. Haygood can be seen in the distance running up to the where the fence meets the Overpass. On the South side of Elm, Jimmy Darnell of WBAP-TV is seen just ahead of the bus taking a movie film. Mary Moorman in her dark coat is back on her feet.
Harry Cabluck photo #1
Cabluck photo#2. James Altgens is standing on the curb. The man running by the Newman family may be Kent Biffle of the DMN. William Newman is pounding his fist on the ground.
The Wiegman film shows Cheryl McKinnon on the north side of Elm. The Wiegman film was shown repeatedly on NBC on Nov. 22 and 23.
Willis photo #6. The first press bus leaves as James Altgens crosses Elm St behind it. Jean Hill is visible in red coat.
Cabluck photo #3 shows Haygood climbing the picket fence.
Wilma Bond photo #6. Newman family is standing, dark-complected man in blue shirt is walking west on Elm just in front of them. Jean Hill can be seen standing in red coat. The sedan is carrying Morning News reporters. People are now running in the direction of Officer Haygood.
Jay Skaggs photo, taken at almost the same moment as Bond #7. The Babushka Lady is at center, with Jean Hill behind her, and Mary Moorman to the right.
Wilma Bond photo #7 shows dark-complected man in light blue shirt walking west on Elm.
Towner took his third photo farther down Elm, showing Haygood's bike parked on the curb. The second press bus is disappearing beneath the underpass. The dark-complected man who had been with the umbrella man can be seen walking casually down the street, with his hands in his back pockets. (Trask) Towner's fourth shot shows traffic reopened on Elm shortly after the shooting. He walked to the area behind the picket fence, having heard that that was where the shooting came from; but all he saw was a crowd of people milling about.
Frank Cancellare went up to the grassy knoll and took a photo that showed Officer Haygood on the wall and Robert MacNeil. (Pictures of the Pain p391-412) CD 206, an unpublished FBI report in the National Archives, describes an interview with MacNeil: "We climbed the fence and I followed the police who appeared to be chasing someone, or under the impression they were chasing someone, across the railroad tracks. Wanting to phone news of the shooting, I left there and went to the nearest place that looked like an office. It was the Texas School Book Depository."
Wilma Bond's photo #8, showing Jean Hill and Mary Moorman at far right. The dark-complected man, wearing a light-blue shirt, is walking west on Elm. The Newman family is standing. The umbrella man remains by the Stemmons sign.
Wilma Bond's photo #9 shows a bus carrying White House, Vice Presidential and governor's staff. The umbrella man is standing, looking west.
12:31 PM Over a minute after Curry orders the motorcade to the hospital, at 12:31:22, Sheriff Decker says, "Hold everything secure until the homicide and other investigators can get there." There will eventually be much discussion regarding the dictabelt recordings of police conversations on their respective radio channels. The solution regarding much confusion may be reached by the fact that Dallas police Sgt. S. Q. Bellah can be heard on both channels, asking: "You want me to hold this traffic on Stemmons until we find out something, or let it go?" These remarks come 179 seconds after the last gunshot on Channel One and 180 seconds after Curry's order to "go to the hospital" on Channel Two. When Bellah's words are used to line up the two channels, the gunshot sounds also recorded on the dictabelt "occur at the exact instant that John F. Kennedy was assassinated." The problem has historically been that Decker's remarks on Channel One come a full minute after Curry's on Channel Two and yet a half-second after the last gunshot on Channel One. It therefore suggests that this is most probably due to an accidental overdub. The recording needle for Channel One has most probably jumped. It is possible, for instance, to hear Decker giving a whole set of instructions on Channel Two, but on Channel One, there is only a fragment, ... hold everything secure. ... "
12:31 PM Approx a minute and a half after the shooting: Truly and officer Marrion Baker encounter Oswald in the second floor lunchroom. "Within about 1 minute after his encouter with Baker and Truly, Oswald was seen passing through the second-floor offices. In his hand was a full 'Coke' bottle which he had purchased from a vending machine in the lunchroom." (WR 6) The narrow staircase contained eight flights (72 steps) from the sixth to the second floor. At each floor, the steps emptied out into a landing, and then the steps continued down on the other side of the landing. Posner says that Oswald bought the Coke after encountering Baker: "He went to the soda machine and purchased a Coke as he decided how to leave the Depository." (Case Closed 265) The WR (151) said that Oswald had nothing in his hands when he encountered Baker. Epstein: "A Secret Service agent, simulating Oswald's movements, reached the second floor from the sixth in one minute and eighteen seconds. In any case, it is impossible to ascertain exactly what time Oswald was seen on the second floor; it could have been as long as five minutes after the assassination." (Counterplot 130)
James Jarman told the HSCA: "...as we was running out of the building the police stopped us, he told us to come back inside the building, so we proceeded back inside the building. And, after we was inside the building after that, I heard that Oswald had come down through the office and came down the front stairs and he was stopped by the officer that had stopped us and sent us back in the building and Mr. Truly told them that that was alright, that he worked there, so then, he proceeded own (sic) out the building and we wondered why he stopped us."
"Well, there was a Billy Lovelady standing out there, he was on the steps, see... And, Oswald was coming out the door and he (Lovelady) said the police had stopped Oswald and sent him back in the building, Billy Lovelady said that Mr. Trudy (sic) told the policeman that Oswald was alright, that he worked there, so Oswald walked on down the stairs."
Victoria Adams and Sandra Styles rush out of the back door of the TSBD. [Adams estimates that she and her friend left the building about a minute after the shooting.] They are stopped by a policeman.
"Get back into the building," he says.
"But I work here," Adams pleads.
"That is tough, get back."
"Well, was the President shot?"
"I don't know. Go back."
The two women obey, yet they do not return the way they came, but rather by going all the way around the west side to reenter the TSBD through the front entrance--talking to people along the way.
Lumpkin, now on Stemmons Freeway in the motorcade's pilot car, using motorcycle policemen to divert traffic, speaks into the microphone to Chief Curry: "What do you want with these men out here with me?" Curry: "Just go on to Parkland Hospital with me." Patrolman R.L. Gross: "Dispatcher on Channel One seems to have his mike stuck." Curry: "Get those trucks out of the way. Hold everything. Get out of the way!"
Agent-in-Charge Emory Roberts, in the follow-up car, picks up the phone: "Escort us to the nearest hospital - fast but at a safe speed."
On Capitol Hill, a closed session of the Senate Rules Committee presided over by B. Everett Jordan of North Carolina sparked by the unappeasable John Williams of Deleware is evoking well-documented testimony from an acutely panicked Don Reynolds. It implicates Lyndon B. Johnson. Billie sol Estes is leaking news from prison that he has paid off LBJ in a very substantial way, and references to all this are starting to break out in the newspapers. B&JE
After Jean Hill left to go behind the picket fence, Mary Moorman was approached by Jim Featherstone, who wanted her to take her camera and show the Polaroid to authorities. Frank Cancellare took a photo showing them.
Newsman James Underwood films people running up to the steps on the grassy knoll, after getting a camera from a fellow newsman on Main St.
12:32 PM
About 2.5 minutes after the shooting, Oswald is seen passing through second-floor offices in the Depository by Mrs Reid.Don Cook and Roy Cooper of KTVT-TV began filming in the car lot behind the fence approximately 2-3 minutes after the shooting stopped according to Richard Trask.
Postal Inspector Harry Holmes, viewing the assassination through binoculars from the window of the Terminal Annex Building overlooking Dealey Plaza from the south, observes a man in the grassy knoll area "trying to take a gun away " from a woman. (Holmes will later explain that "it later developed that he was trying to protect her from the shots." How the postal inspector came to "know" this later is unknown. He was never asked to describe her or her male companion.)
Richard Randolph Carr notices a man wearing a brown suit coat walking very fast, proceeding south on Houston Street and then turning left on Commerce. In addition to his brown suit coat, Carr also says he is now wearing a hat and has on horn-rimmed glasses. [Some researchers speculate the man wearing the brown jacket and horn-rimmed glasses may have been Lyndon Johnson's associate Mac Wallace, whose fingerprint may have been found on one of the boxes near the window on the 6th floor from where shots were fired. H&L] He steps into a 1961 or 1962 gray Nash Rambler station wagon parked along the street. The driver is a young Negro. The brown suit coat man is last seen as a passenger of this car going north on Record Street. (Carr is never called upon to testify. Still, police and other officials repeatedly come to his house outside Dallas to intimidate him into silence. He suffers death threats and coercion at the hands of the FBI who tell him, "If you didn't see Lee Harvey Oswald in the School book Depository with a rifle, then you didn't see anything." Jim Garrison secures Carr to testify at the Clay Shaw trial. The day before his testimony, Carr finds dynamite wired to the ignition of his car; however, he does testify. Carr will receive numerous threats and will suffer attacks on his life. He will even shoot and kill one of his attackers. He will eventually be stabbed to death in Atlanta in the 1970's.)
Richard Carr, on the seventh floor of the new courthouse watches as two men run from behind the Texas School Book Depository. The men enter a waiting station wagon and speed off north on Houston Street. Richard Carr described the man he saw as "heavy set, wearing a hat, tan sport coat and horn rim glasses." Minutes after the shooting, James Worrell saw a person described as "5' 10" and wearing some sort of coat" leave the rear of the Depository heading south on Houston Street. Carr saw the same man and recognized him as the man he had seen on the 6th floor of the Book Depository. The man walked south on Houston, turned east on Commerce, and got into a Rambler station wagon parked on the corner of Commerce and Record. The Rambler was next seen in front of the Book Depository by Deputy Sheriff Roger Craig. Craig saw a person wearing a light-colored, short-sleeved shirt, who he later identified as Oswald, get into the station wagon and then travel under the triple overpass towards Oak Cliff.
Police Ban (Channel 2) "There is a motorcycle officer up on Stemmons with his mike stuck open on Channel 1. Could you send someone up there to tell him to shut it off?"
Panic and confusion erupt in Dealey Plaza, yet the "Umbrella Man" calmly lowers his umbrella and gazes around. He then has a brief conference with another man who approaches him with what appears to be a two-way radio. After talking briefly together, the two men calmly leave the Plaza.
Abraham Zapruder, according to his secretary, shakily puts down his camera and starts screaming "They killed him! They killed him! They killed him!" He is reportedly so stricken by the experience that he never quite gets over it. His own is the last film or news report about Kennedy he will ever watch. He appears later, however, quite calm when he is interviewed by a local Dallas TV station. Some researchers will later claim that what we know as "the Zapruder film" was not actually shot by Abraham Zapruder. This subject is covered in more than a few books, most notably in Jim Fetzer's The Great Zapruder Film Hoax.
Jim Hicks, an eyewitness in Dealey Plaza, walks toward the knoll as the motorcade's press bus speeds by on its way to Parkland hospital. Photographs of Hicks, taken from the rear, show something in his back pocket resembling a radio with an antenna. (Hicks will later tell New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison that he was the radio coordinator for the assassination team. Shortly after admitting this to Garrison, Hicks is beaten up, kidnapped, and taken to an Air Force mental institution in Oklahoma, where he will be incarcerated until 1988. A few days after his release, Hicks will be murdered in Oklahoma.) It will later be suggested that Jim Hicks is possibly the man photographed in the Cuban and Soviet Embassies in Mexico by the CIA. If so, he is identified incorrectly as Oswald in those photographs.
Jerry Coley (a thirty-year old employee of the Dallas Morning News) and his friend, Charlie Mulkey, cross Houston St. from their vantage point near the old county jail. They circle behind the TSBD and cross a dirt field to reach the knoll. Heading to the TSBD from the knoll they notice a pool of red liquid on the steps leading down to Elm St. Mulkey touches the liquid with his finger, tastes it and says: "My God, Jerry, that's blood." Both men return to the Morning News building and get photographer Jim Hood. Returning to the scene Hood takes several pictures of the red liquid from different angles. Both men then hurry back to the newspaper offices to develop the photographs.
Mr. BELIN - Where was he at the time you made this statement?
Mr. MALCOLM COUCH - Uh - he was standing on that little sidewalk that runs between the - I met him on the little sidewalk between the Book Depository property and the beginning of the parkway.
Mr. BELIN - That would be the west side of the Depository Building?
Mr. COUCH - That's right; that's right. It's there that I saw blood on the sidewalk.
Mr. BELIN - All right. Now, you say you saw blood on the sidewalk, Mr. Couch?
Mr. COUCH - That's right.
Mr. BELIN - Where was that?
Mr. COUCH - This was the little walkway - steps and walkway that leads up to the corner, the west corner, the southwest corner of the book Depository Building. Another little sidewalk, as I recall, turns west and forms that little parkway and archway right next to the Book Depository Building.
Mr. BELIN - Did this appear to be freshly created blood?
Mr. COUCH - Yes; right.
Mr. BELIN - About how large was this spot of blood that you saw?
Mr. COUCH - Uh - from 8 to 10 inches in diameter.
Mr. BELIN - Did people around there say how it happened to get there, or not?
Mr. COUCH - No; no one knew. People were watching it - that is watching it carefully and walking and pointing to it. Uh - just as I ran up, policemen ran around the west corner and ran - uh - northward on the side of the building. And my first impression was that - uh - that they had chased someone out of the building around that corner, or possibly they had wounded someone. All of those policemen had their pistols pulled. And people were pointing back around those shrubs and that west corner and - uh - you would think that there was a chase going on in that direction.
Again, the reason that I didn't follow was because A.J. had come up, and my first concern was to get back with the President.
Mr. BELIN - This pool of blood - about how far would it have been north of the curbline of Elm Street as Elm Street goes under the expressway?
Mr. COUCH - I'd say - uh - well, from Elm Street, you mean, itself?
Mr. BELIN - Yes. This is from that part of Elm Street that goes into the expressway?
Mr. COUCH - I'd say - uh - 50 to 60 feet, and about 10 to 15 feet from the corner of the Texas Depository Building.
Mr. BELIN - It would be somewhere along that park area there?
Mr. COUCH - Right.
Mr. BELIN - Was there anything else you noticed by this pool of blood?
Mr. COUCH - No. There were no objects on the ground. We looked for something. We thought there would be something else, but -
Dallas Police Officer Joe Marshall Smith has drawn his pistol and is checking out the parking lot directly behind the fence on the grassy knoll. He smells gunpowder and encounters a man behind the stockade fence on the grassy knoll who produces Secret Service credentials. He is allowed to continue on his way. Deputy Sheriff Seymour Weitzman is with Smith. Years later, Weitzman will be interviewed by the author Michael Canfield and shown a photograph of Bernard Barker (a future Watergate burglar along with Hunt and Sturgis). Weitzman will say, "Yes, that's him," and identify Barker as the man who showed him Secret Service credentials on the grassy knoll. Weitzman subsequently picks up a piece of JFK's skull, which he finds near the curb on the south side of Elm Street, and turns it over to authorities. (Later, when Weitzman tells the Warren Commission about this piece of skull, he is suddenly taken "off the record.")
Explained Officer Smith: "He looked like an auto mechanic. He had on a sports shirt and sports pants. But he had dirty fingernails, it looked like, and hands that looked like an auto mechanic's hands. And afterwards it didn't ring true for the Secret Service. At the time we were so pressed for time, and we were searching. And he had produced correct identification, and we just overlooked the thing. I should have checked that man closer, but at the time I didn't snap on it. (Summers 50)
"After the shooting, Dallas Police officer Joe M. Smith encountered another suspicious man in the lot behind the picket fence [on the grassy knoll]. Smith told the Warren Commission that when he drew his pistol and approached the man, the man "showed [Smith] that he was a Secret Service agent." (WC Vol. VII, pg. 535; see interview of Joseph M. Smith, Feb. 8, 1978, House Select Committee on Assassinations (JFK Document 005886).)
"I looked into all the cars and checked around the bushes. Of course, I wasn't alone. There was some deputy sheriff with me, and I believe one Secret Service man when I got there. I got to make this statement, too. I felt awfully silly, but after the shot and this woman, I pulled my pistol from my holster, and I thought, this is silly, I don't know who I am looking for, and I put it back. Just as I did, he showed me that he was a Secret Service agent." (Warren Commission Hearings, Vol. VII, pg.. 531)
7H 535 Sylvia Meagher, in her book Accessories After The Fact states: "I suggest that he [the "Secret Service" agent] was one of the assassins, armed with false credentials... Few mysteries are as important as this one, and it is appalling that the [Warren] Commission ignored or failed to recognize the grounds here for serious suspicion of a well-planned conspiracy at work."
"[The Secret Service agents assigned to the motorcade] remained at their posts during the race to the hospital. None stayed at the scene of the shooting, and none entered the Texas School Book Depository at or immediately after the shooting ... Forrest V. Sorrels, special agent in charge of the Dallas office, was the first Secret Service agent to return to the scene of the assassination, approximately 20 or 25 minutes after the shots were fired." WR 52
During this time period, the Secret Service relies heavily on the CIA for technical support. The CIA even manufactures the lapel pins worn by Secret Service agents. It is also important to understand that there is an agreement in force from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, exempting the CIA from a statutory requirement to report any criminal activity by any of its employees or assets. This agreement, drawn up under Eisenhower and eventually to be rescinded under Gerald Ford, is so secret that the Attorneys General under JFK and LBJ (including Robert Kennedy) are never informed of it.
"Outside the Depository, some witnesses later claimed they ran into Secret Service agents. Since there were no Secret Service agents at Dealey until 1:00 P.M., when Forrest Sorrels returned from Parkland Hospital, could that mean that somebody was impersonating Secret Service agents, indicating a conspiracy? Most of the witnesses later admitted they were mistaken. And immediately after the assassination, different groups of law enforcement officials (most of them having been there to watch the motorcade from nearby government buildings) spread out in Dealey Plaza--they included Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agents, postal inspectors, officers from the Special Service Bureau of the Dallas Police, county sheriffs, IRS agents, and even an Army intelligence agent. . . . The author has reviewed the 1963 badges for the above organizations, and found that several look alike. Any of those law enforcement officials could have been confused with Secret Service agents. " (Posner 269)
"I rushed towards the park and saw people running towards the railroad yards beyond Elm Street and I ran over and jumped a fence and a railroad worker stated to me that he believed the smoke from the bullets came from the vicinity of a stockade fence which surrounds the park area." - Deputy Sheriff A. D. McCurley Decker Exhibit No. 5323
Crossing Elm Street to the area of the wooden fence, Malcolm Summers ran to the knoll moments after the shooting. He related the following in the 1988 documentary Who Murdered JFK?:
"I ran across the--Elm Street to right there toward the knoll. It was there [pointing to a spot on the knoll]--and we were stopped by a man in a suit and he had an overcoat--over his arm and he, he, I saw a gun under that overcoat. And he--his comment was, "Don't you all come up here any further, you could get shot, or killed," one of those words. A few months later, they told me they didn't have an FBI man in that area. If they didn't have anybody, it's a good question who it was." (Anderson 14)
Deputy Sheriff Roger Craig, who has run into the parking lot behind the knoll, remembers: "I began to question people when I noticed a woman in her early thirties attempting to drive out of the parking lot. She was in a brown 1962 or 1963 Chevrolet. I stopped her, identified myself and placed her under arrest. She told me that she HAD to leave and I said, "Lady, you're not going anywhere." I turned her over to Deputy Sheriff C. I. (Lummy) Lewis and told him the circumstances of the arrest. Officer Lewis told me that he would take her to Sheriff [Bill] Decker and take care of her car." Roger Craig describes the parking lot: "It was leased by Deputy Sheriff B. D. Gossett. He in turn rented parking space by the month to the deputies who worked in the court house, except for official vehicles. I rented one of these spaces from Gossett when I was a dispatcher working days or evenings. I paid Gossett $3.00 per month and was given a key to the lot. The lot had an iron bar across the only entrance and exit (which were the same). The bar had a chain and lock on it. The only people having access to it were deputies with keys."
AP photographer, James W. Altgens, sprints back to the Dallas News Building. Arriving at the third floor AP wire photo office, he picks up the interoffice phone which rings automatically in the news office. Dallas AP Bureau Chief Robert H. Johnson, Jr., comes on the line to hear Altgens blurt out, "Bob, the President has been shot!" Johnson confirms that Altgens actually saw it happen, then he yells, "Bulletin!" as he frantically types out the message. Night editor Ron Thompson pulls the bulletin from the typewriter and quickly hands it to wire operator Julia Saunders. At 12: 39 PM CST the bulletin is on the wire. POTP
Several people in Dealey Plaza (including Phillip Willis and his family) witness the arrest of a young man wearing a black leather jacket and black gloves. He is ushered out of the Dal-Tex building by two uniformed policemen, who put him in a police car and drive away from the crime scene as the crowd curses and jeers him. There is no official record of this arrest.
12:32 PM WFAA's John Allen reports that shots have been fired at the motorcade based on information from the police radio. Dallas Times Herald reporter Ben Stevens hears word of the shooting, stands up, and announces to the city newsroom: "This is it. … It looks like Kennedy's been hit." (source: Sixth Floor Museum website)
12:32 PM The telephone system in Washington DC went dead either completely or intermittently 2.5 minutes after the assassination; it was not restored for an hour. The explanation was that the breakdown was caused by overloaded phone wires. (Cover Up 199; Death of a President 198-99). "Telephone service in the nation's capital collapsed temporarily. The sudden load of telephone calls swamped central stations and it was impossible to get dial tone to make calls." (Los Angeles Times 11/23/1963)
12:33 PM
Oswald is outside the Depository according to the WC. "While it is difficult to determine exactly when the police sealed off the building, the earliest estimates would still have permitted Oswald to leave the building by 12:33" (R155). (Weisberg says this "is speculation based on the contrived testimony of two dubious witnesses.") Weisberg: That was really the Commission's only interest, getting Oswald out. The front door was not sealed until Inspector J. Herbert Sawyer arrived. With the most dubious kind of computations, the Report says this was "no earlier than 12:37 p.m." The Report refers to only one "rear door." It quotes Sorrels as saying he walked through it about 20 minutes after the assassination and found no one there (R156). What the Report avoids mentioning is that there are, besides the rear walk-through door, also four warehouse-type doors leading to loading docks. There is no reference to even a gesture toward securing them. Even though the Report says the police sealed off the building but it could not know when, there is no evidence the police ever did seal the building. No one saw Oswald leave the building and the Commission was extremely careful to avoid the photographic evidence that might have shown him leaving after 12:33, as certainly he did from the Commission's own evidence. (Whitewash)Oswald claimed foreman Shelley said there would be no more work that day, so he went out the front door. He encountered a young man with a crew cut who flashed an identity card - Oswald thought he was a Secret Service man. (CD 354). He directed him to a phone; this man was probably Robert MacNeil of NBC, who had left the motorcade after the shots. Why Oswald did not simply walk down to the first floor and leave by the back door, which was near the stairs, is unclear. The WC apparently did not try to determine where Oswald left his coke bottle, if he was seen or stopped by officers as he left the building, or verify his story about encountering a SS agent. He "probably walked east on Elm Street for seven blocks." But not a single witness saw Oswald leave the building after the shooting (WR 154-56). He then supposedly boarded a westbound bus at the corner of Elm and Murphy Streets, asked for a transfer and left the bus two blocks or so after getting on. (WR 157- 159). Oswald will later tell police that a Secret Service agent stops him in front of the Book Depository to ask where the nearest telephone is located. The man Oswald meets leaving the Texas School Book Depository is also claimed to be Pierce Allman, a crew cut reporter who enters the TSBD to telephone a report to WFAA radio. (After Oswald's arrest, Captain Will Fritz and the other interrogators of Oswald will never ask him which exit he used or whether a policeman had been stationed at the door, and if so, whether he had tried to prevent him from leaving or had checked his credentials.) AATF
When interviewed by Captain Fritz on 11/22/63, Oswald said "as he was leaving the TSBD building, two men (one with a crew cut) had intercepted him at the front door; identified themselves as Secret Service Agents and asked for the location of a telephone" (CD 354). Mr. Pierce Allman, who had brown crew cut hair, and Terrence Ford, of WFAA TV, ran into the TSBD a few minutes after the shooting. They entered the front door of the building, emerged into a hallway and there met a white male who they could not further identify. Allman asked this person for the location of a telephone. Oswald watched as Allman used the phone and Oswald then left the TSBD and walked east on Elm.
Pierce Allman, after reaching a phone inside the TSBD, phoned in a report saying that "three loud reverberating explosions" had been heard in DP, and 2 witnesses said shots were fired from an unknown upper floor of the TSBD.
12:33 Freelance photographer James Murray reaches his car on Houston to retrieve his cameras, and begins photographing the aftermath of events in Dealey Plaza. He takes more photographs in Dealey Plaza that day than anyone else. He moves up to the intersection of Elm and Houston and takes his first photo, of two sobbing black women. At this point he thinks only that two teenage boys he has seen running had thrown firecrackers at the president. In the background, wearing a hardhat, is Howard Brennan looking up. The Dal-Tex building is in the background. (Trask)
Mr. BALL - Did you ever see a fellow named Brennan?
Mr. JARMAN - Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL - Where did you see him first?
Mr. JARMAN - He was talking to a police officer.
Mr. BALL - How was he dressed?
Mr. JARMAN - He was dressed in construction clothes.
Mr. BALL - Anything else, any other way to describe him?
Mr. JARMAN - Well, he had on a silverlike helmet.
Mr. BALL - Hard-hat?
Mr. JARMAN - Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL - Did you stay out there very long?
Mr. JARMAN - Just a few minutes.
Mr. BALL - Then where did you go?
Mr. JARMAN - We heard him talking to this officer about that he had heard these shots and he had seen the barrel of the gun sticking out the window, and he said that the shots came from inside the building, and I told the officer that I believed that they came from inside the building also, and then he rushed us back inside.
Mr. BALL - The officer did?
Mr. JARMAN - Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL - How did you know this fellow was Brennan?
Mr. JARMAN - Well, at that time I didn't know him at all --
Mr. BALL - Have you learned that since?
Mr. JARMAN - Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL - Who told you that the man in the hard-hat was Brennan?
Mr. JARMAN - Well, they have had him down there at the building a couple of times.
A KBOX news car arrives on the scene- coming up behind the TSBD. James Romack, a truck driver for Coordinated Transportation, removes a portion of a barrier, allowing the vehicle to pass. Meanwhile, a man in the dark sportcoat dashes out the back door of the TSBD. A sawhorse barrier has been erected that crossed Houston St., located approximately 25 yards from the TSBD to block northbound traffic into a road construction zone.
On November 30, FBI Agent Alan Manning interviews Mrs. Evelyn Harris. In his summary of that interview, he writes: "The daughter of Mrs. Lucy Lopez, a white woman married to a Mexican, worked at a sewing room across the street from the TSBD. Her daughter and some of the other girls knew Lee Harvey Oswald and also were acquainted with Jack Ruby. They observed Jack Ruby give Oswald a pistol when Oswald came out of the building."
Mr. Roy Cooper is driving his car and following his boss who is driving a Cadillac. They are coming south on Houston and have had to wait for the motorcade. Cooper sees a white male somewhere between 20 and 30 years of age wave at a Nash Rambler station wagon, light colored, as it pulls out and seems ready to leave from Elm and Houston. The station wagon pulls out very fast in front of the Cadillac driven by Cooper's boss and his employer has to stop abruptly and nearly hits the Nash Rambler. Cooper cannot see who was driving the Nash Rambler and is not able furnish any further description of the man who jumps into the car. The Nash Rambler station wagon pulls off at a rather fast rate of speed and heads to the overpass toward Oak Cliff.
Law clerk, Lillian Mooneyham, sees a man in "the sniper's window" a few minutes after the shots are fired. Oswald could not have been the person moving around in the window (since the Warren Commission assumes Oswald exited the sniper's nest in a matter of seconds in order to have any hope of getting him to the second-floor lunchroom where he is seen by a police officer about 90 seconds after the shooting).
The interference on police Channel 1 stops. (The microphone has been "stuck" open for at least four minutes total). But first there is an electronic beeping in precisely the Morse code signal for "Victory." (A WC supporter, James Bowles, explained this: "Unidentified officers, in checking their mike buttons, unwittingly generated the sound of the Morse Code "V" or ". . . _____" and this was recorded. Some assassination buffs have construed this to be an officer signaling success to his cohorts by transmitting the World War II victory signal. This is absurd because the ". . ." is at a higher pitch than the "_____" just as it is in the musical form from Beethoven's Symphony #5. A single officer keying his mike cannot make it play music. In fact, he would have no way of knowing that his keying would even produce heterodyne.")
Aboard Air Force One, Col. James B. Swindal overhears Roy Kellerman on the Secret Service radio channel speaking from JFK's limo: "Lancer is hurt. It looks bad. We have to get to a hospital." Moments later, the Secret Service communications gear on Air Force One goes dead. Swindal receives the news that JFK is dead by tuning into network television aboard the aircraft.
12:34 PM
Dallas Police radio mentioned the Depository as the possible source of the shots. (WC) There is a call from officer, it says No. 136, that states, "A passer-by states the shots came from Texas School Book Depository Building."Police Ban (Channel 2) -- Orders to keep everything out of the emergency entrance to Parkland Hospital. Get all of the traffic out of the way. An officer in Dealey Plaza radios that he has a witness who saw a man with a gun in the TSBD. Curry tells officer get name, address, phone # and all information. Cut traffic on Hines & Industrial Blvd.
12:34 PM UPI's Merriman Smith dictates a wire transmission from the AT&T radio-car. This is the first account of the shooting on a national and international level. KBOXSam Pate calls in a report from the motorcade and goes on the air live just as Smith's wire clears. (Sixth Floor Museum website) The radio telephone in a press car carrying representatives of the wire services is rendered inoperative immediately after Merriman Smith gets out the first utterance of the shooting. It is reported that Smith yanks the phone wires out after he gets off his UPI news flash. (The press pool car contains Merriman Smith, Jack Bell, Marty Underwood, Bob Clark of ABC, and Bob Bascomb of the Dallas Morning News, plus the driver who is an employee of Southwest Bell Telephone.)
12:34 Photographer Jim Murray takes his second photo after moving down the dirt Elm St extension road into the parking area. Lee Bower's railroad tower is in the background. The next photo shows Amos Euins and Hugh Betzner.
12:34 PM UPI flashes the news that three shots have been fired at the motorcade.
12:34-12:36 PM Robert MacNeil reaches NBC from a Depository phone.
12:35 PM
Officer Haygood radios in: "I just talked to a guy here who was standing close to it and the best he could tell it came from the Texas School Book Depository building..."Jim Murray takes his next photo looking up the Elm St Extension toward the TSBD. Only now did Murray begin to learn what had happened to the motorcade. He then spent the next 20 minutes wandering around in a daze, taking pictures almost randomly. He went south to the area around Elm Street. (Trask)
Amos Euins is filmed being driven on Harkness' DPD three-wheel motorcycle.
12:35 PM Evelyn Ashmore is on the west side of the Stemmons Freeway on the service road across from the Trade Mart, where she knew he was scheduled to arrive. She snapped a photo of the limo rushing to Parkland Hospital.
Justin Newman takes a photo of the presidential limo near the Trade Mart. David Miller also takes a famous photo from Stemmons Freeway showing a foot (Hill's) sticking out of the back seat.
The Trade Mart was well-prepared for JFK's visit. There were 200 Texas law enforcement officers there. Sgt Robert E. Dugger of the DPD had watched plain-clothes men carry away three men with anti-Kennedy placards. Chief Curry had concentrated most of his force around this luncheon, which was made up of Dallas' elite civic leaders (including the editor of the Dallas Times Herald, who was a member of the John Birch Society). (Manchester)
12:35 PM (1:35pm EST) J. Edgar Hoover heard about the shooting a few minutes after it happened, from Gordon Shanklin; wrongly assuming that there was a federal law involved (Hoover had lobbied through a law making the killing of an FBI agent a federal crime), he told Shanklin that he would be in charge of the investigation in Texas, since he was the senior agent on the scene. (The Man and the Secrets p541) Hoover then called Robert Kennedy to give him the news; Kennedy later described his conversations with Hoover that day as "so unpleasant" because Hoover acted so cold and businesslike: He was "not quite as excited as if he was reporting the fact that he found a Communist on the faculty of Howard University [D.C.'s mostly black college.]" He never offered any words of condolences, and in the months RFK remained as Atty General, the two men would rarely speak. (Official and Confidential p364-5) According to Schlesinger's RFK and His Times, Hoover called at 12:35 PM after receiving word from the UPI ticker in his building. He tells RFK "The President's been shot, I think it is serious, I'll call you back…when I found out more." Hoover then called the Dallas office and ordered Agent Shanklin to begin a complete investigation. (Dallas Morning News 11/23/1963) Robert Morganthau watches as RFK turns away, a look of horror on his face, clapping his hand to his mouth. He turns to his aides and screams "Jack's been shot! It might be fatal." RFK then goes back to the main house, walking around in a state of shock. Later, followed by Ethel, he goes up to their bedroom to try calling Dallas. He is also simultaneously preparing to pack for an emergency flight to Texas. Eventually, RFK's call to Parkland is put through. He isn't sure to whom, though he believes it is to Secret Service agent Clint Hill. Later, RFK recalls: "They said that it was very serious. And I asked if he was conscious, and they said he wasn't, and I asked if they'd gotten a priest, and they said they had ... Then, I said, will you call me back, and he said yes, and then he - Clint Hill called me back, and I think it was about thirty minutes after I talked to Hoover ... and he said, "The President's dead." (LBTS)
Nicholas Katzenbach in a later interview recalled that RFK told him that when Hoover called to inform him that JFK was shot, Bobby said, "I think Hoover enjoyed telling me."
David Talbot in Brothers' explains RFK's receipt of Hoover's call by stating that at Hickory Hill in McLean, Virginia, the phone extension at Kennedy's swimming pool rings. RFK, still dressed in a wet bathing suit, is eating lunch near the pool. Ethel answers the phone and tells RFK that J. Edgar Hoover is calling. RFK knows something must be wrong because Hoover never calls him at home. When he answers the phone, Hoover says: "I have news for you. The president's been shot." Hoover's voice is blunt and matter of fact.
The phone log for J. Edgar Hoover on this day shows that, aside from calls to RFK and the head of the Secret Service, Hoover called only one man on the afternoon the President is shot: Billy Byars. Within four days, the FBI will receive a tip-off that Clint Murchison and Tom Webb - the FBI veteran the millionaire has hired at Hoover's suggestion - are both acquainted with Jack Ruby. While they deny it, Ruby has met one of Murchison's best friends, Humble Oil millionaire Billy Byars. Hoover and Byars are close. They use adjacent bungalows at Murchison's California hotel each summer. O&C
12:35 Jim Murray photos.
12:36 PM
The first national news bulletin of the shooting came over the ABC Radio Network at 12:36 PM CST/1:36 PM EST. At the time, Doris Day's recording of "Hooray for Hollywood" was playing over the airwaves when newscaster Don Gardiner broke in with this: "We interrupt this program to bring you a special bulletin from ABC Radio. Here is a special bulletin from Dallas, Texas. Three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade today in downtown Dallas, Texas. This is ABC Radio. To repeat: In Dallas Texas, three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade today, the President now making a two-day speaking tour of Texas. We're going to stand by for more details on the incident in Dallas, stay tuned to your ABC station for further details. Now we return you to your regular program."12:36 Jim Murray photo showing a young couple with the TSBD in the background.
CD 206, an unpublished FBI report in the Nationa
Deep Politics Timeline - Tracy Riddle - 01-05-2014
Immediate Aftermath of the Assassination 12:45-12:59PM
12:45 PM
Dallas' ABC television affiliate WFAA was airing a local lifestyle program, The Julie Benell Show, at the time. At 12:45 PM CST, the station abruptly cut from the prerecorded program to news director Jay Watson in the studio, who had been at Dealey Plaza and ran back to the station following the incident:"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. You'll excuse the fact that I am out of breath, but about 10 or 15 minutes ago a tragic thing from all indications at this point has happened in the city of Dallas. Let me quote to you this [briefly looks at the bulletin sheet in his left hand], and I'll...you'll excuse me if I am out of breath. A bulletin, this is from the United Press from Dallas: President Kennedy and Governor John Connally [in his agitated state, he mispronounced Connally's name as "Colony"] have been cut down by assassins' bullets in downtown Dallas." Bill and Gayle Newman are present in the studio, and are interviewed. Bill says the shots came from behind him (saying either "the knoll" or "mall"). Jay Watson and Newman agree that everyone was running toward the area of the fence/overpass after the shooting. Watson reads a UP report saying that Connally's wounds indicated an "automatic weapon" was used. Watson and fellow newsman Jerry Haynes had both been standing on Houston St. near Main, and recalled how they heard 3 shots.
12:45 PM Interview of motorcycle policeman J.M. Chaney, who was riding to the right-rear of the limousine. "On the first shot we thought it was a motorcycle backfire. I looked to my left and so did President Kennedy, looking back over his left shoulder, and when the second shot struck him in the face then we knew someone was shooting at the President.
"Q: When you saw the Bullet hit him, what did he do?"
"A: He slumped forward in the car. He fell forward in the seat there." …
"A: Did you see where the bullet came from or did you see the man with the gun?"
"A: No, all I knew it came over my right shoulder."" KLIF tape, The Fateful Hours, On tape, side I, 206 feet.
12:45 p.m. CST: KRLD-TV, a CBS affiliate, reported that a Secret Service agent had been killed. The first mention of the agent's death on the CBS television network actually came from Eddie Barker, news director at CBS affiliate KRLD, who was at the Trade Mart. During his first report for CBS, (around a half hour or so?) after full time CBS coverage began, Barker was fed the information by KRLD's Dick Wheeler, also at the Trade Mart. Barker reports, ". . . the fact that that one of the Secret Service agents who was riding with the President was killed." He then asks for backup of this from Wheeler, and Wheeler says, "That is the report at this moment." Wheeler had just seconds before indicated that Kennedy's condition as critical was only an "unconfirmed report." Although the story of Kennedy's critical condition was circulating, Wheeler was careful to label it only as "unconfirmed." But not so with the Secret Service agent story. Then after the "official" report of Kennedy's death by Eddie Barker (called "unconfirmed" by Walter Cronkite) and the quick followup "unconfirmed" announcement of the President's death by Dan Rather via either radio or phone report, Cronkite says, "A Secret Service man was also killed in the fusillade of shots that came apparently from a second story window." Again, this was not referred to as "unconfirmed" but as if it were fact. More than two hours later, the Secret Service agent story was still alive. In his first televised report, Rather now refers to the agent's death as "unconfirmed," but at the same time he answers the question as to where the story originated from. Rather says, "There is some confusion as to whether a Secret Serviceman also was killed at the time of the shooting. There has been no official confirmation of any Secret Serviceman being killed although there are widespread reports, including one from the Dallas Police Department, that a Secret Serviceman was killed at the same time President Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally were shot."
Eddie Barker, KRLD-TV, a CBS affiliate, will note, "The word is that the President was killed, one of his agents is dead, and Governor Connally was wounded." ABC News in Washington will report, "A Secret Service agent apparently was shot by one of the assassin's bullets." ABC's Bill Lord report includes, "Did confirm the death of the secret service agent... one of the Secret Service agents was killed ... Secret Service agents usually walk right beside the car." ABC Washington will also note, "One of the Secret Service agents traveling with the President was killed today." The Associated Press (AP) is quoted on WFAA (ABC):"A Secret Service agent and a Dallas policeman were shot and killed some distance from where the President was shot."
Stavis Ellis sees a young boy, who has taken photographs along the motorcade route, taking pictures of the limousine while it is parked at Parkland Hospital. A Secret Service agent grabs the boy's camera and exposes his film by rolling it out of the camera. Dallas Police Officer James W. Courson, another motorcade officer, corroborates this account of the Secret Service agent destroying the film.
A Secret Service agent is stationed at the entrance of the Vice President's room to stop anyone who is not a member of the Presidential party. U.S. Representatives Henry B. Gonzalez, Jack Brooks, Homer Thornberry, and Albert Thomas join Clifton C. Carter and the group of special agents protecting the Vice President. (On one occasion Mrs. Johnson, accompanied by two Secret Service agents, leaves the room to see Mrs. Kennedy and Mrs. Connally.) [WC]
Malcolm Kilduff contacts White House transportation official Wayne Hawks and tells him to "get hold of the telephone company and start moving [additional] phones [into the hospital.]"
12:45 PM Zapruder returns to his office, and tells secretary Lillian Rogers to call authorities; 2 DPD officers arrive, asking for film, but Zapruder refuses. Zapruder testimony, 7H 571; Wrone, 17; Trask, 33
ABC-TV coverage (time approx): Early witnesses describe suspect as being a white male, about 30 years old. Announcer comments how unusual the shooting is, "because of the unusually tight security measures that are ordinarily taken by the Secret Service…Normally, any vantage point, a rooftop and windows which command a parade route are carefully scrutinized and carefully guarded, and men are usually posted on rooftops along parade routes…" Eddie Barker at the Trade Mart reports that a Secret Service agent was "killed instantly…on the spot." Bill Lord reports that Dallas Sheriff's office said that 4 shots were fired and SS agent was killed. Sen. Yarborough said two shots came from his right rear, but he was not sure about the third shot.
Miss Doris Nelson asks Mrs. Kennedy to leave Trauma Room #1. Diana Bowron, S.R.N. and Margaret Hinchcliffe, R.N., undress JFK swiftly, removing all his clothes except his undershorts and brace and fold them on a corner shelf. The first physician to arrive, Charles J. Carrico, a second-year surgical resident, examines JFK quickly. There is no pulse, no blood pressure at all. Yet, JFK is making slow, agonizing efforts to breathe, and an occasional heart beat can be detected. Blood is caked on JFK's steel-gray suit, and his shirt is the same crimson color. Dr. Charles A. Crenshaw notices that the entire right hemisphere of his brain is missing, beginning at his hairline and extending all the way behind his right ear. Pieces of skull that haven't been blown away are hanging by blood-matted hair. Part of his brain, the cerebellum, is dangling from the back of his head by a single strand of tissue. It is reported that someone in the Trauma Room orders the medical team to "Get him (JFK) some steroids." This order refers to JFK's secret Addison's disease and that it creates the life-or-death urgency of an immediate infusion of cortical hormones in order to treat JFK's shock. Testimony reveals that "some admiral" behind Dr. Paul Peters gives this order. Some researchers credit the order to Dr. George G. Burkley. This, however, is impossible, since evidence points to the fact that Burkley does not arrive until around 12:53 PM. The late arrival by Burkley at Parkland Hospital is documented on film and corroborated by other photographs and testimony.
Other doctors rush into Trauma Room #1 to help. SS agent, Clint Hill, is rambling around the room in wild-eyed, disoriented fashion, waving a cocked and ready-to-fire .38 caliber pistol. Doris Nelson, supervisor of the emergency room turns to Hill and snaps: "Whoever shot the President is not in this room." Hill leaves. Dr. Charles Crenshaw removes the President's shoes and right sock and begins cutting off his suit trousers, with nurses Diana Bowron and Margaret Hinchcliffe assisting. Don Curtis, an oral surgery resident, is doing the same thing to the left limb. Dr. Crenshaw notices that one of the oxford shoes that he has tossed to the side of the room has a lift in the sole. The President's right leg is three-quarters of an inch longer than his left leg. As the doctors cut away JFK's suit pants, they also unstrap his back brace and sling it to the wall and out of the way. Admiral George Burkley, JFK's personal physician, traveling with the Presidential party, gives Dr. Carrico three 100-mg vials of Solu-Cortef from the medical bag he carries which contains JFK's personal medication. (As a matter of policy, the government has not furnished the President's blood type or medical history to Parkland prior to the President's arrival. This has to be determined on the spot.) JFK's blood type is O, RH positive. Everyone in the emergency room remains in utter bewilderment. FBI and Secret Service agents, as well as the Dallas police, are rushing around, trying to identify one another and secure the hospital.
12:45 PM (approx) The elevator operator in the Dal-Tex Building notices an unknown man inside the building. Feeling that the man doesn't belong in the building, the elevator operator seeks out a policeman, who detains the suspicious man, bringing him to the sheriff's office for questioning. They hold him for nearly three hours. He tells police that his name is Jim Braden, and that he is in Dallas on oil business. He shows them identification, and explains that he had entered the building in hopes of finding a telephone to call his mother. Braden further asserts that he entered the building only after the assassination occurred, although eyewitnesses place him in the building at the time the shots were actually fired. Eventually, the police accept his explanation and release him. Jim Braden is actually Eugene Hale Brading, an ex-con from Southern California with reputed underworld ties. On September 10, just two months before the assassination, Brading had his name legally changed to Braden. Had Dallas police known his actual name, they would have learned that he was a parolee with thirty-five arrests on his record. Brading had told his parole officer that he was going to Dallas on oil business, and his parole records indicate that he planned to meet with Lamar Hunt. Although he later denied meeting with Hunt, a witness (Hunt chief of security Paul Rothermal) placed Brading and three friends at the offices of Lamar Hunt on the afternoon before the assassination. Brading's presence at Hunt's office was also confirmed in an FBI report. Coincidentally, Jack Ruby accompanied a young woman to the Hunt's office that same afternoon. And on the twenty-first, (last night) Brading checked into the Cabana Hotel in Dallas, where Jack Ruby just happened to visit sometime around midnight that same evening. During the months preceding the assassination, Brading kept an office in the Pete Marquette Building in New Orleans. Also occupying an office in that building, on the same floor and just down the hall, was G. Wray Gill, a lawyer for New Orleans crime boss Carlos Marcello. One of Gill's detectives is David Ferrie, who has been in and out of Gill's office many times during the time Brading keeps an office there. Ferrie later became the focus of New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison's investigation into the Kennedy assassination. On the evening of June 4, 1968, Brading will check in to the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, more than a hundred miles from his home. Just a few minutes away at the Ambassador Hotel, Robert Kennedy will be murdered in the hotel pantry after winning the California primary. Upon learning of Brading's close proximity to the Ambassador Hotel that evening, the Los Angeles Police Department will be concerned enough to question Brading about his possible role in both assassinations.
Police car #106 - carrying Patrolmen B. L. Jones and M. D. Hall - arrives at the Texas School Book Depository. It has come from the corner of Pearl and Jackson Streets. (With Malice)
When motorcycle patrolman Bobby Hargis returns to the TSBD from Parkland Hospital, a man approaches him, vowing, in the officer's words, "to get his hands on $17,000 if I'd agree to sell him my helmet. I couldn't sell it anyway. It belonged to the city of Dallas." The helmet is spattered with JFK's blood and brain matter.
Washington Post Company president Katharine Graham, Osborn Elliott, Arthur Schlesinger [Jr.] and John Kenneth Galbraith are sitting in Graham's office having drinks when Al McCollough from the paper's copy desk pokes his head inside the door and says to Elliott: "I'm sorry to interrupt, Oz, but the president has just been shot." PKHBS
12:45 PM Officer J.D. Tippit received orders to move to the Oak Cliff area. (WC) After requesting orders, Tippit is ordered by radio to proceed to the central Oak Cliff area and to stand by for any emergency. Oak Cliff is about four miles south of Dealey Plaza. Officer Ronald C. Nelson is also ordered into the area. The previous statement is based on a transcript of a Dallas Police dictabelt recording. There is some question about whether or not this particular order was dubbed onto the tape at a later date by someone at the DPD. Not only is such an inexplicable instruction believed to be unique in the Dallas Police Department, it also was NOT included in the first transcript of the recording supplied to the Warren Commission. The speculation derives from the fact that, at the height of the turbulence and confusion surrounding the shooting of the President, when the police switchboard is constantly jammed with incoming and outgoing messages of utmost importance, someone still has time to order J.D. Tippit into central Oak Cliff, where at this time, there is not a single significant crime that requires police attention. At around 1:20, when Nelson next reports his position, he is in Dealey Plaza.
Dispatcher Murray Jackson, (a personal friend of Tippit's) orders squad "#87 and #78 move into Central Oak Cliff area." Jackson's reasoning for this is "there was the shooting involving the President and we immediately dispatched every available unit to the Triple Underpass, where the shot was reported to have come from. I realized that we were draining the Oak Cliff area of available Police Officers so if there was an emergency such as a robbery or a major accident to come up I wouldn't have anybody there that would be in close proximity to answer the call. And since J.D. was the outermost Unit, actually I had two Units, #87 which was Officer Nelson and #78 which was Officer Tippit" (in actuality Bill Anglin's District #79 was farther south and further away from the Texas School Book Depository than Tippit's District #78). It is also interesting to note that Bill Anglin responded to the 12:42P.M. radio call from the police dispatcher that said. "Attention all squads in the downtown area code 3 (red lights and siren) to Elm and Houston (Dealey Plaza) with caution. At 12:52P.M. Anglin radios the dispatcher that he will "be out at the triple underpass"(Dealey Plaza).
12:45 Dispatcher 87, 78, move into central Oak Cliff area.
12:45 78 (Ptm. J.D. Tippit) I'm about Kiest and Bonnie View.
12:45 87 (Ptm. R.C. Nelson) 87's going north on Marsalis at R.L. Thornton.
12:45 Dispatcher 10-4.
At approximately 12:45 to 1:00 P.M. there are 5 witnesses that placed Tippit not in Central Oak Cliff but at the Gloco (Good Luck Oil Company) gas station which was located at 1502 North Zang Boulevard. This is the absolute northernmost part of Oak Cliff, about 1.5 miles from the TSBD. They said Tippit stayed at the station for about 10 minutes, somewhere between 12:45 and 1:00 P.M., then drove off quickly toward the south. At 12:45 P.M. the Police Dispatcher asks Tippit his location, Tippit replies "I'm about Keist and Bonnie View"(8), we have to question the truthfulness of this statement. Police dispatcher, Murray Jackson, has stated in an interview that "If somebody is out of pocket off their district and you ask them their location, they are either not going to answer or they are going to give you somewhere else anyway." It is much easier to believe that Tippit was not being truthful about his location than to discount the statements of five witnesses that knew him personally and place him at a location approximately 5 miles away from the location he reported, at approximately the same time. The estimated travel time from Keist and Bonnie View to the Gloco station under normal driving conditions, is 18 minutes and 13-14 minutes for Tippit Travel Time. Given his witnessed location at 12:45 to 1:00 P.M. and the travel time involved it would seem more logical that Tippit had ventured out of his patrol district at approximately the time of the assassination for some unknown reason. Regardless of how good an officer J.D. Tippit was he could not have been in two places at the same time. Photographer, Al Volkland, and his wife, Lou, both of whom know J.D. Tippit, see him at a gas station and wave to him. They observe Tippit sitting in his police car at a Gloco gas station in Oak Cliff, watching the cars coming over the Houston Street Viaduct from downtown Dallas. Three employees of the Gloco station, Tom Mullins, Emmett Hollingshead, and J.B. "Shorty" Lewis, all of whom know Tippit confirm the Volklands' story. They say Tippit stays at the station for about 10 minutes, somewhere between 12:45 and 1:00 P.M., then he goes tearing off down Lancaster at high speed - on a bee-line toward Jack Ruby's apartment and in the direction of where he was killed a few minutes later. (Ramparts 11/1966, David Welsh)
12:45 PM Fritz arrives at the hospital. (WC testimony) DPD Chief Jessie Curry places CPT Fritz in charge of the crime scene. CPT Fritz, Detectives Boyd and Sims, and Sheriff Decker depart Parkland Hospital. (CD 81b)
Police Ban (Channel 2) -- TSBD should be saturated by now. Unknown if suspect is still inside. All information we have indicates the shot came from the 4th or 5th floor of the TSBD.
12:45 PM NBC reports that Kennedy and Connally have been wounded. Dallas Times HeraldManaging Editor Charlie Dameron orders the front page to be ripped up and new mock-ups developed. Dallas Times HeraldReporter Darwin Payne interviews Abraham Zapruder.
Dr. Ronald Coy Jones testifies: "There was a large defect in the back side of the head as the President lay on the cart with what appeared to be some brain hanging out of this wound with multiple pieces of skull noted next with the brain and with a tremendous amount of clot and blood."
Dr. Gene Akin, an Anesthesiologist at Parkland, testifies that "the back of the right occipital-parietal portion of JFK's head was shattered, with brain substance extruding."
Dr. Charles Baxter testifies that there is "a large gaping wound in the back of the skull." Baxter will also insist that the wound in the throat was "no more than a pinpoint. It was made by a small caliber weapons. And it was an entry wound."
Subsequent to the first interview with Parkland Hospital doctors by two unnamed Secret Service agents sometime before November 29, 1963, additional interviews are conducted with the Parkland doctors, nurses, and orderlies by both the Secret Service and the FBI. There are known to be 24 Secret Service and 6 FBI interviews, or a total of at least 30 interviews. Not one report of those 30 or more interviews will be included in the Hearings and Exhibits of The Warren Report. (Meagher)
Mrs. John Connally will later recall: "I saw all sorts of artillery and weapons. I assume it was Secret Service or security, I don't know, racing up and down around the corridor. Finally, somebody brought two chairs and sat them outside these two doors, and I sat in one and Mrs. Kennedy sat in the other. I kept seeing all this commotion in the President's room, and I wondered if--I knew the President was dead, but I wondered if they weren't all over there and nobody taking care of John. The only thing that would calm me a little was I would get up now and then and just push open the door in the room where he was, and if I could see any movement or hear them saying anything, then I was content to wait."
Gov. Connally recalled in his autobiography, In History's Shadow: "..the most curious discovery of all took place when they rolled me off the stretcher, and onto the examining table. A metal object fell to the floor, with a click no louder than a wedding band. The nurse picked it up and slipped it into her pocket. It was the bullet from my body, the one that passed though my back, chest and wrist and worked itself loose from my thigh. There was enormous significance to that scrap of metal, but I can't be certain how many years later I understood the importance of it. I have always believed that three bullets found their mark. What happened in the hospital demonstrated how easily a bullet could have been swept aside and lost.."
Inside Parkland Hospital, SS agent Roy Kellerman tells agent Clint Hill to establish continual telephone contact with Gerald A. Behn, Secret Service, White House. Telephone contact is made. Kellerman tells Behn there's been a double tragedy; that the President and Gov. Connally have been shot. Hill takes over telephone conversation and tells Behn the situation looks critical. Suddenly, the operator cuts in and says the Attorney General wants to speak to Hill. RFK comes on the line and asks Hill what the situation is. Hill advises him that JFK has been injured very seriously. Hill says he will keep RFK informed. Kellerman who has gone into Trauma Room #1 to check on JFK comes back and tells Hill: "Clint, tell Gerry that this is not for release and not official, but the man is dead." Gerald A. Behn has not only broken precedent by not coming to Texas with the Secret Service detail, he has left his men without a leader. In Parkland, Kellerman and Youngblood sometimes act independently of each other. For instance, when LBJ is taken to Air Force One, Kellerman will not be informed of the move.
When he sees Mrs. Kennedy at Parkland Hospital, limousine driver William Robert Greer breaks down and says, "Oh, Mrs. Kennedy, oh my God! Oh my God! I didn't mean to do it, I didn't hear, I should have swerved the car, I couldn't help it! Oh, Mrs. Kennedy, as soon as I saw it I swerved the car. If only I'd seen it in time!" He then weeps on the former First Lady's shoulder.
The Parkland Hospital doctors in trauma room #1, as a group, have the immediate impression that JFK's neck wound has been caused by a bullet entering from the front and possibly lodging in the chest or been deflected by the spine into the head. Dr. Malcolm Perry, himself a hunter who is familiar with different kinds of ammunition and the type of wounds they cause, is of the immediate opinion that JFK's neck wound is one of entrance. He initially observes the wound, asks a nurse for a "trake" (short for tracheotomy) tray, wipes off the wound, sees a ring of bruising around it, and starts making his incision. About a half-dozen of the Dallas doctors will testify that they believe the anterior neck wound is of entrance. At least two nurses also did. They are Diana Hamilton Bowron and Margaret M. Henchcliffe.
In Washington, D.C., Richard Reidel, press liaison aide in the U.S. Senate goes into the Senate chamber to Majority Leader Senator Mike Mansfield's desk. He raises his voice and tells Mansfield and those surrounding him: "Senators, the President has been shot."
In Parkland Hospital's Trauma Room #1, Dr. Kemp Clark (chief of neurosurgery) notes that the President's eyes are fixed and dilated. Glancing at the other doctors in the room, he shakes his head, indicating that it is too late. Still determined to continue, Dr. Malcolm Perry begins closed-chest cardiac massage. Dr. Jenkins continues to administer pure oxygen. None of the doctors wants to quit. Dr. Baxter testifies: "the time elapsing in all of this resuscitation and the time the heart actually ceased, I don't think one could be very sure of it. It was sometime between a quarter to 1 and 1 o'clock."
Another Dallas doctor, Dr. McClelland will be interviewed in 1989. He will explain that when he saw the President in the emergency room, a great flap of scalp and hair had been "split and thrown backwards, so we had looked down into the hole." Dr. McClelland will go on to say that the "great defect in the back" is visible on some photographs amongst the full set of some fifty pictures he will eventually see at the National Archives -- pictures in which the torn scalp has been allowed to fall back on the President's neck, pictures the public has so far never seen. None of the other doctors who will, over twenty-five years from now, inspect the autopsy evidence will refer to such photographs. On Inside Edition, a nationally syndicated television program, Dr. McClelland will, in 1989, say that "the X-rays do not show the same injuries to the President's head that he saw in the emergency room." "There is an inconsistency. Some of the skull X-rays show only the back part of the head missing, with a fracture of the anterior part of the skull on the right. Others, on the other hand, show what appears to be the entire right side on the skull gone, with a portion of the orbit -- that's the skull around the eye -- missing too. That to me is an inconsistent finding. I don't understand that, unless there has been some attempt to cover up the nature of the wound."
Dr. Robert Shaw arrives in Trauma Room 2 to take charge of the care of Governor John Connally.
Within the next hour, Dallas police sergeant D.V. Harkness, along with several other officers, rousts three "tramps" from a railroad car in the train yard just behind the Texas School Book Depository. The men have been spotted by Union Pacific Railroad dispatcher Lee Bowers and he orders the train stopped, then summons the Dallas Police. Once in the sheriff's custody, the three "tramps" officially disappear. (The House Subcommittee on Government Information and Individual Rights discover in 1975 that Dallas police arrest records for November 22, 1963, compiled for the Warren Commission, are missing.) The arrest reports of the three tramps are finally found by Larry Howard among the Dallas police records released in early 1992. Their names, according to those records, are Harold Doyle, John Forrester Gedney, and Gus W. Abrams. Of the three tramps escorted by the police through Dealey Plaza, one of the names used by the old man is "Albert Alexander Osborne." He also uses "Howard Bowen," and he has a son. The old man is thought by some to be the "House Mother" of a group of American assassins stabled in Mexico at the time. Albert Osborne is the name of the man who is said to have ridden on the bus with LHO to Mexico City prior to the assassination. Richard Helms will, during the Watergate hearings, mention a CIA agent by the name of Howard Osborne.
12:47 PM
12:47 PM NBCThe network airs a bulletin slide with Don Pardo reading the latest wire bulletins.12:47 PM LHO is reportedly seen at Tidy Lady Launderette at Davis and N. Clinton, where he makes phone call. (Armstrong)
12:48 PM
12:48 PM Oswald enters William Whaley's cab at the Greyhound bus station at Commerce and Lamar St (CE 1119-A) about five blocks away from Dealey Plaza.Whaley's log for November 22 records a trip for a single passenger from the Greyhound Bus Station to 500 North Beckley. It shows that the trip lasted from 12:30 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. If his time records are correct, it means that Oswald boards the cab at the exact time JFK is being shot in Dealey Plaza. The Warren Commission will later try to explain this away by saying that Whaley recorded his trips by quarter-hour intervals regardless of their actual length. But Whaley's log proves this theory to be in error. Further, Whaley testifies that, just as he was about to drive off, an old lady who sees his passenger enter the cab, tells Whaley she wants a cab too. Whaley's passenger opens the cab door and tells the lady that she can have Whaley's cab. The lady then says that Whaley can easily call another cab for her. Some researchers do not think the chivalrous passenger's behavior in this instance is exactly that of a fugitive who has just assassinated the President of the United States. If true, Oswald is the first presidential assassin to use public transportation to flee the scene of the crime. Relying solely on Whaley's testimony, the Warren Commission will eventually conclude that Oswald was unquestionably the man driven from the Greyhound Bus Station to North Beckley on the afternoon of November 22. To reach this finding, however, it has first to disprove almost every statement initially made by Whaley.
Police Ban (Channel 2) -- Someone remarks about an "interesting seizure" that someone had in the crowd prior to the motorcade's arrival in the Plaza. Instructions are given to check it out.
12:48 PM Rebroadcast of the suspect's description. A police broadcast indicates that the suspect was still believed to be in the TSBD and armed. (H 17 398)
12:48 PM Hoover gets in touch with the Dallas FBI office.
Sylvia Meagher: "The FBI was in the clear, but only for two hours....as the first interrogation of Oswald was getting under way, it became known to the Dallas police that the suspect had a thick FBI dossier...It became known that the FBI had not informed the Dallas police or the Secret Service of Oswald's presence in Dallas and his employment at the Book Depository. Suddenly the FBI became an interested party with huge stakes in the investigation of the assassination - stakes no less than reputation, trust, authority, and continued autonomy. The same FBI became the chief investigative agency for the Warren Commission...The FBI carried out about 25,000 interviews on behalf of the Commission, submitting more than 2,300 reports...Are there any indications that such a conflict of interests...compromised the performance of the FBI?" The Bureau's investigation of the assassination was its biggest ever. Within hours of the assassination, Hoover had decided that Oswald was the lone assassin, though publicly the agency would continue to go through the motions of an investigation for a short time. At the same time, the FBI also insisted that they never had any reason to believe that Oswald was violent, and therefore felt no need to inform the Secret Service of him when Kennedy went to Dallas. Asst Director Courtney Fields, Agent Harry Whidbee and supervisor Laurence Keenan all recalled how Hoover rushed them into wrapping up their investigation, and not pursuing leads that did not point to Oswald as the lone assassin. (Official and Confidential) When the FBI investigated the assassination, 80 special agents were detailed to the Dallas field office to assist. Gerald Posner: "After the assassination, J. Edgar Hoover was furious with the Bureau's handling of the case. Seventeen agents were secretly reprimanded for the preassassination investigation of Oswald. When some of the agents protested to Hoover that Oswald did not meet the criteria for the FBI's security index, he replied 'no one in full possession of all his faculties' could make such a claim. Hoover believed that agents with early contact to Oswald too willingly accepted his word that he was not in touch with Soviet agents or subversive elements and, at the very least, he should have been the subject of a more rigorous investigation. But Hoover kept this criticism private since he feared its disclosure would hurt the Bureau's reputation." (Case Closed 82) "According to a senior FBI official, Edgar ordered aides to get the Bureau's assassination report out of the Justice Department 'before Bobby gets back.'" (Official and Confidential 368) A Los Angeles Times article (11/21/1993, Sara Fritz) stated that since Congress passed a law (1992) requiring government agencies to disclose relevant documents about the assassination, the FBI still has 499,000 pages it refuses to release. (The CIA still has at least 10,000 pages.) In 1979 the HSCA decided that the FBI probe of the assassination was "seriously flawed," "insufficient to have uncovered a conspiracy." The HSCA also determined that Hoover seemed determined to make a lone-assassin case "within 24 hours of the assassination." (R 128) 1977 the FBI made a media hoopla out of release 100,000 pages from its assassination files; the US press cheered, but Anthony Summers got spokesman Hoynden to admit that "up to ten percent of the file will not be released" for reasons of national security and personal privacy. (12/1977) Harold Weisberg stumbled across much evidence of the FBI's writing guidebooks for authors and reporters who wanted to support the official version of the assassination and criticize conspiracy theorists.
12:48 PM CBSWalter Cronkite appears live on camera and begins CBS's continuous coverage.
12:49 PM
12:49 PM Capt. Talbert is still giving orders to seal the TSBD: "Have that cut off on the back side, will you? Make sure nobody leaves." He also ordered them to search "more than that building. Extend out from that building so it can be searched." (H 23 847,916)12:49 Police Ban (Channel 2) -- Was Governor Connally hit? No information. What to do at the Trade Mart?
12:50 PM
12:50 PM Cabinet aircraft turns around in mid-flight to return to Honolulu.12:50 PM Darwin Payne (Dallas Times Herald) tries unsuccessfully to purchase Zapruder film rights Wrone, 17; Trask, 95, 97-8; Payne/SFM interview
Photographer Jim Murray finds a phone and calls Patsy Swank of LIFE magazine. He then resumes taking photographs, noticing that activity in the Plaza is focusing on the TSBD. (Trask) He takes two photos of the front of the building. He takes a photo of Amos Euins in a police car, and photos of a man in glasses who looks somewhat like a younger Jack Ruby.
12:50 PM Dallas SS agent Forrest Sorrels finds rear door of Depository unguarded; asks Truly to draw up list of his employees.
12:50 PM Det. Senkel and Dep. Sheriff Weatherford enter the TSBD to begin a top-to-bottom search. DPD Asst. Chief Lumpkin, Detectives Senkel and Turner, MAJ Meiddemeyer, U.S. Army, and SA Forrest Sorrels arrive at TSBD. Senkel enters TSBD with Deputy Sheriff Weatherford and conducts search from ground floor up. Turner assists "in searching a box car" (CD 81b, 163 ( T.L. Bakers report))
Film from unknown time depicts Billy Lovelady outside the TSBD entrance in a red checkered shirt.
12:50 PM Dallas Police Sgt. S.Q. Bellah orders a rope barricade be erected to keep people away from the TSBD.
ABC News coverage (approximately this time): Several Secret Service agents went off in pursuit of the assassin, while the rest went with the President to the hospital. "When he was hit, Mr. Kennedy was standing up, he fell back over the seat of the car…" One anchor says that normally the SS carefully scrutinizes buildings and windows, men are posted on rooftops along the parade route. A SS agent was "killed instantly," confirmed by the Sheriff's Dept, which also said that 4 shots were fired.
NBC News coverage (approximately this time): Robert MacNeil is on the phone at the hospital. Several witnesses saw a man with a rifle in a window of a building overlooking the parade route. Switch to Ft Worth's Charles Murphy: a suspect, neatly dressed, early 20s was taken into custody in Dallas, protesting vehemently his innocence.
12:51 PM
Jim Murray photo showing the front of the TSBD.12:51 Police Ban (Channel 2) -- Homicide Chief Will Fritz: "Can we tell the crowd at the Trade Mart anything?" "Gov. Connally and the President have been shot." "Is President going to appear at Trade Mart?" Jesse Curry: "Very doubtful." Request for additional help at Main & Houston. Fire Dept. and rescue equipment are being dispatched to the location. Again, a request for a report on the extent of injuries. "Was the Governor hit?" Reply is that Governor Connally was hit. Injuries to JFK unknown.
Dallas police radio now indicates that the suspect is still believed to be in the TSBD and armed. "He is thought to be in this Texas School Book Depository here on the northwest corner Elm and Houston."
It is often suggested that LHO attracts the attention of police because he is the only employee who is absent when a check of TSBD personnel is made. Roy Truly says it is he who first notices that Oswald is absent and draws that to the attention of the police. However, LHO is not the only employee who does not return to the TSBD after the shooting.
Jack Charles Cason - President of School Book Depositary - left the building at 12:10 p.m. and went home. (VOL:22
640)Gloria Jean Holt - clerk at TSBD - did not return after shooting. (VOL:19
.526) (VOL:22.652)Sharon Simmons Nelson, Secretary, (VOL:19
.256;VOL: 22-P.665) did not return.Bonnie Richey, Secretary, (VOL22
.671) did not return.Carolyn Arnold (VOL:22
.635) did not return.Mrs. Donald Baker, Clerk, did not return (VOL:22
.635)Judy Marie Johnson (VOL22
.256) did not return.Mrs. Stella Mae Jacob (VOL:22
.665) did not return.Charles Givens did not come back.
Virginia H. Brnum - McGraw-Hill employee does not return (VOL:22
.636)Vida Lee Whatley, Clerk, does not return.(VOL:22
.680)Warren Caster (VOL;22
.641;VOL 26.738) eating lunch in Denton .Spauldin "Pud" Jones (VOL:22
.658) eating lunch at Blue Front with HerbertJunker (another McMillan employee) (22:659)
Mrs. Helen Palmer, clerk, (VOL:22
.666) not present was at Love Field.Franklin Kaiser - was absent from work on 11/22.(VOL:6
.342), (VOL:23.751)Vicki Davis, employee, was absent.
Dottie Lovelady, employee, was absent.
Mrs. Rudell Parsons, employee, was absent.
Joe Bergen, Scott Foresman, absent.
Maury Brown, McGraw-Hill, absent.
John Langston, absent.
12:52 PM
PABLO BRUNER (or BRENNER) received a phone call in Mexico City at 12:52pm on 11/22/1963 from a Riverside 8 exchange in Dallas. The caller said only, "He's dead, he's dead." (according to Gary Shaw in Conspiracy of Silence 91; the book does not elaborate further on the person's identity.)12:53 PM
12:53 PM NBCThe network begins continuous coverage by Chet Huntley, Frank McGee and Bill Ryan.Securing a pay telephone at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Merriman Smith constantly filed updates as he learned new information. A Smith dispatch, which cleared just before 12:55 p.m., says, "Some of the Secret Service agents thought the gunfire was from an automatic weapon fired to the right rear of the president's car, probably from a grassy knoll to which police rushed."
12:54 PM
12:54 PM Oswald leaves the cab at the 500 block of North Beckley Avenue (four-tenths of a mile beyond his rooming house.)(WR 158-62)Jim Murray contains taking photos outside the TSBD.
12:54 PM Police dispatcher Murray Jackson contacts J.D. Tippit, who reports in from Lancaster and Eighth in central Oak Cliff. Jackson tells him to "be at large for any emergency that comes in."
12:54 Dispatcher 78
12:54 78 (Ptm. J.D. Tippit) 78
12:54 Dispatcher You are in the Oak Cliff area, are you not?
12:54 78 (Ptm. J.D. Tippit) Lancaster and Eighth.
12:54 Dispatcher You will be at large for any emergency that comes in.
12:54 78 (Ptm. J.D. Tippit) 10-4.
It is about 8/10's of a mile from the Gloco station to Lancaster and Eighth. Normal travel time is about 4 minutes but since he was "tearing" when he left the gas station he could have made it in as little as 1-2 minutes. This definitely fits into the time frame and the direction he was headed as described by the five witnesses.
Some researchers have speculated that Tippit might have stopped off to see Harry Olsen, a Dallas Police Officer, who had broken his knee cap and by his own admission had taken a side job guarding an "Estate" in Oak Cliff from 7:00A.M. until 8:00P.M. on the day of the Assassination.(9) This is in the general area of the Tippit shooting. He could not remember many details about it, but he said the "estate" was on Eighth Street but he could not remember the exact location or address. Neither the Warren Commission, nor the House Select Committee asked him specifically if Tippit stopped off to see him.
FBI agent Robert M. Barrett arrives at the Texas School Book Depository. (With Malice)
In response to S. Q. Bellah's request, a Dallas Police dispatcher relates that they are sending a fire department rescue unit equipped with a large supply of rope to Dealey Plaza. (Trask)
12:55 PM
12:55 PM UPI reports that Jackie Kennedy and Nellie Connally are unharmed and that JFK is still alive.12:55 PM Another broadcast of the suspect's description.
12:55 PM For almost twenty minutes the emergency room crew in Parkland Hospital's Trauma Room #1 has been working to revive JFK. Drs. James "Red" Duke and David Mebane are stabilizing Governor John Connally in Trauma Room #2 by inserting a chest tube and starting intravenous infusion of Ringer's lactate before taking him to x-ray and surgery.
Under heavy guard, Lyndon Johnson remains hidden behind a curtain in the minor medicine room just across the hall from JFK in Trauma Room #1. Present in the room with LBJ are Mrs. Johnson, Congressman Homer Thornberry, ASAIC Youngblood, and most of the time, Congressman Jack Brooks and Special Agents Jerry Kivett and Warren Taylor. SS agent Roy Kellerman discusses JFK's condition with LBJ. LBJ requests coffee for himself and Mrs. Johnson. SS agent Youngblood tells Kivett to contact Austin and Washington and have agents assigned to the Vice President's daughters. Youngblood tells SS agent Thomas L. Johns (at the request of LBJ) to ask Kellerman for a report on the condition of JFK.
Jacqueline Kennedy is now just outside of Trauma Room #1. In shock, she sits down in a chair and asks a passing aide for a cigarette.
SS Agent Roberts tells LBJ: "The President won't make it. Let's get out of here." Youngblood concurs: "We don't know know the scope of this thing. We should get away from here immediately. We don't know what type of conspiracy this is, or who else is marked. The only place we can be sure you are safe is Washington."
Ken O'Donnell to Marty Underwood (advance man for JFK): "Marty, we don't know whether this is a plot -- maybe they're after Johnson, maybe they're not. We don't know. Get the vice president, and get them back to the plane."
Police dispatcher Murray Jackson contacts J. D. Tippit to make sure he has remained in Oak Cliff. Tippit responds affirmatively. This is to be J. D. Tippit's last known radio transmission. (With Malice)
Police car number 207, driven by James Valentine and carrying Sergeant Gerald L. Hill and Dallas Morning News reporter James Ewell arrives at the Texas School Book Depository. (With Malice)
12:56 PM
approx 12:45-12:56 PM J.D. Tippit arrives at the Gloco gas station at the south end of the Houston Street Viaduct, where Nelson has reported at 12:49 P.M. Witnesses state that Tippit sits in his car watching traffic coming out of downtown. Dispatcher Murray Jackson tries to raise Tippit during this time on his police radio. Tippit does not respond. It is assumed that Tippit has stepped away from his radio without notifying the dispatcher - a habit he has developed over the last few years.On the Oak Cliff side of the Houston Street viaduct is the Good Luck Oil Company service station (GLOCO). Five witnesses see J.D. Tippit arrive at the GLOCO station at 12:45 PM. He sits in his car and watches traffic cross the bridge from Dallas for about 10 minutes. There are no police dispatches ordering Tippit to this location. Tippit leaves GLOCO and speeds south on Lancaster. Two minutes later, at 12:54 PM, Tippit answers his dispatcher and says he is at "8th and Lancaster"- a mile south of the GLOCO Station. He turns right on Jefferson Blvd. and stops at the Top Ten Record Store a few minutes before 1:00 PM. Store owner Dub Stark and clerk Louis Cortinas watch Tippit rush into the store and use the telephone. Without completing his call or speaking to store personnel Tippit leaves, jumps into his squad car, and speeds north across Jefferson Blvd. He runs a stop sign, turns right on Sunset and is last seen speeding east-one block from N. Beckley. Tippit is now two minutes (at 45 mph) from Oswald's rooming house. Tippit's whereabouts for the next 8-10 minutes remain unknown.
12:57 PM
12:57 PM AP quotes Congressman Albert Thomas that JFK is in "very critical" condition. UPIWire reports state that priests have arrived at Parkland Memorial Hospital.12:57 PM Last rites are administered to JFK in Trauma Room #1 by Father Huber. JFK's clothes are now neatly folded and placed at one end of the room. Dr. Baxter testifies: "Mrs. Kennedy was in the room, there was a large number of people in the room by that time Secret Service Agents, the priests and so on. As soon as the President was pronounced dead, the Secret Service more or less--well, requested that we clear the room and leave them with the President's body, which was done. Everything that the Secret Service wished was carried out."
12:58-12:59 PM
12:58-12:59 PM Dallas Police Capt. Will Fritz enters the Texas School Book Depository (CD 81b) and gives orders to seal the building. There has been no effective containment of the crime scene for at least 10 minutes and possibly as long as twenty-eight minutes. Gerald Hill arrives at the TSBD just behind Capt. Fritz. (Trask)Mr. BALL. What time did you arrive there?
Mr. FRITZ. Well, sir; we arrived there---we arrived at the hospital at 12:45, if you want that time, and at the scene of the offense at 12:58.
Mr. BALL. 12:58; the Texas School Book Depository Building.
Mr. FRITZ. Some officer told us they thought he was in that building, so we had our guns----
Mr. McCLOY. Thought who was in the building?
Mr. FRITZ. The man who did the shooting was in the building. So, we, of course, took our shotguns and immediately entered the building and searched the building to see if we could find him…After I arrived one of the officers asked me if I would like to have the building sealed and I told him I would.
Mr. BALL. What officer was that?
Mr. FRITZ. That is a uniformed officer, but I don't know what his name was, he was outside, of course, I went upstairs and I don't know whether he did because I couldn't watch him…We began searching the floors, looking for anyone with a gun or looked suspicious, and we searched through hurriedly through most all the floors.
Mr. McCLOY. Which floor did you start with?
Mr. FRITZ. We started at the bottom; yes, sir. And, of course, and I think we went up probably to the top.
James Powell, Special Agent with the 112th Military Intelligence Group at 4th Army Headquarters at Fort Sam Houston carrying a 35 mm Minolta camera enters the Texas School Book Depository and is forced to show his identification after Dallas police seal the building. Powell has been taking photographs in Dealey Plaza prior to the assassination. No meaningful investigation is made by the government to determine what intelligence agent Powell is doing in Dealey Plaza at the time of the assassination.
According to William C. Bishop - a CIA contract agent, U.S. Army colonel, and confessed political assassin - he is awaiting JFK's arrival at the Trade Mart. He further states that his job this day is to make sure the press at the Trade Mart have proper credentials. He hears that shots have been fired in Dealey Plaza. He commandeers a police car and orders the driver to take him directly to Parkland Hospital. There, the SS instruct him to secure the area outside the Trauma Room and to make himself available to the First Lady or medical staff. Bishop will assert to assassination researchers in 1990 that one of his CIA assignments was the assassination of Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo in 1961.
12:59 PM (approx) The WC decided that after leaving the cab, Oswald walked the rest of the way, arriving home at 1026 North Beckley Avenue "about 12:59 to 1pm." (WR 163).
Charles Roberts: "In a reconstruction of his trip, Secret Service and FBI agents walked from the Depository to where he caught the bus (6.5 minutes), rode the bus through heavy traffic for two blocks (4 minutes), walked to where he caught the cab (4 minutes), rode the cab to where Whaley finally said he got out (6 minutes), then walked to his home (5 minutes). This 25.5 minutes of travel time...would put him in the door of the roominghouse at 12:58.5pm." (The Truth About the Assassination 68) Posner says that "he arrived at the rooming house about 12:55 to 12:56, and left again before 1:00. He had fifteen to seventeen minutes to walk nine-tenths of a mile" to the murder scene. (Case Closed 274) He got his gray jacket, apparently slipped a pistol in his waistband, and left the house a few minutes later. Mark Lane found it strange that Oswald would get his jacket when it was such a warm day. (National Guardian, 12/19/1963) Oswald told Fritz that during his stop at his roominghouse he had changed his trousers and his shirt "because they were dirty" and he had placed them "in the lower drawer of his dresser." (WR 604-605, 622) It was never established whether these items were found when police searched his room; the WC didn't seem to care, and they concluded that he wore the same shirt all day. (WR 124-5)
While he is inside, the housekeeper, Mrs. Earlene Roberts, says a police car pulls up outside the house, beeps its horn, then drives off. [An internal FBI document dated May 20, 1964, will state: "The reason for any police car honking the horn in front of this address is unknown, however, it is entirely possible this was a car in plant to determine if Oswald returned to his home."] (With Malice)
Exhaustive investigations have virtually established that the ONLY police car officially in the vicinity was that of Officer J.D. Tippit. It has also been suggested that the person who stops and sounds his car horn in front of Oswald's rooming house is actually Assistant D. A. William Alexander -- who is also a Right-Wing extremist. Alexander will be at The Texas Theater minutes later when Oswald is arrested there. Alexander rides in a car with Officer Gerald Hill, another Right Wing activist and friend of Jack Ruby. Hill was in command of the search that found the cartridge cases on the sixth floor of the TSBD. The discovery is actually credited in official reports to Deputy Sheriff Luke Mooney. Researchers have since become interested in the fact that Hill seems to be in quite a few important locations this day: present at TSBD and finds empty rifle cartridges; in the second squad car to arrive at scene of Tippit murder; at the Texas Theater to assist in Oswald's arrest; and in photo of Will Fritz's office - famous for finally proving Roger Craig's presence. It is also suggested that J. D. Tippit and Roscoe White could have been in this police car. This particular theory holds that Tippit has been told by White that they must pick up someone important and take them to the Redbird Airport. Once Tippit stops Oswald, gets out of the squad car and begins to draw his revolver, he is shot by White. White and Oswald then flee the scene in different directions with Oswald realizing that he is being framed.
Deep Politics Timeline - Tracy Riddle - 04-05-2014
Nov 22 (Friday) Times are Central Standard Time unless indicated
Nov 22 1pm
1:00 PM (approx) Officer Mooney noticed the pile of cartons stacked around the sixth-floor window. (WR 79) Weisberg: "It was about a half-hour after the assassination before the chief of the crime laboratory, Lieutenant J. C. Day (4H249-78; 7H402), was ordered to the scene. By the time he got there, newsmen were already on the sixth floor (4H623). He and his assistants took about 50 pictures, but not one showing the bag in the place where it was found. No question is raised about this in the Report, especially regrettable because of the importance this bag assumes in the Commission's reconstruction. All sorts of pictures were taken, but not that one. Instead, there is a picture of the blank floor showing where the bag allegedly had been (Exhibit 729). Yet Day had immediately recognized the importance of this evidence, for "at the time the sack was found," he wrote on it, "Found next to the sixth-floor window gun fired from. May have been used to carry gun" (4H266-7). A number of pictures were taken with the police photographer standing on the very spot where that bag was found. There were no fingerprints on the outside, although it had been moved by Day's assistant, Robert Lee Studebaker (7H137-49). Studebaker testified that he had not taken any pictures first and that the bag does not show in any other pictures (7H144). He was not asked why. Everything else Studebaker is known to have moved he left well supplied with fingerprints (R 566). The Commission was no less indifferent in questioning Day about the inexplicable moving of evidence." (Whitewash)1:00-1:02 PM Jay Watson, on WFAA-TV, continues his coverage of the assassination, reading a report that Secret Service agent Clint Hill had been heard saying "He's dead," referring to the president. "Some of the Secret Service agents thought the gunfire was from an automatic weapon fired to the right rear of the president's car, probably from a grassy knoll to which the police rushed…" The actual first use of "knoll" was in a wire service story reported on WFAA-TV at approximately 1:01 CST. It said the shots came from behind and to the right of the motorcade, from the "grassy knoll." WFAA reporter Jay Watson read a wire service bulletin (most likely United Press) on the air. It quoted a statement given by Congressman Jim Wright as follows: "Some of the Secret Service agents thought the gunfire was from an automatic weapon fired to the right rear of the President's car, probably from a grassy knoll, to which the police rushed."
1:00 PM (2PM EST) Summoned by McNamara, Joint Chiefs of Staff begin an emergency meeting.
1:00 PM (2pm EST) Walter Cronkite appears in a news flash; he turns the story over to local reporter Eddie Barker from KRLD, in Dallas covering the Trade Mart, who reports: "As you can imagine, there are many stories that are coming in now as to the actual condition of the President. One is that he is dead. This cannot be confirmed. Another is that Gov. Connally is in the operating room. This we have not confirmed. Another is, and apparently this is correct, that one of the Secret Service Agents whose job it was to guard the life of the President was killed in his line of duty."
1:00PM CST 2:00 PM (EST) Edward Reed said he was alerted that LBJ had had a heart attack and might be coming to Bethesda. (RT Image, 11/21/1988)
1:00 PM Dallas police officers were filmed by Ernest Charles Mentesana removing a rifle from the roof of the Depository. Unlike the Oswald rifle, the rifle Mentesana filmed had no sling, no scope, and protruded at least 7-8 inches past the stock, where Oswald's extended only 4-5 inches. In the film two police officers are standing on a fire escape at the seventh floor of the Depository gesturing to the roof. In the next sequence the rifle is being examined. (Sibley, Robert. "The Mysterious, Vanishing Rifle of the JFK Assassination," The Third Decade, v. 1, n. 6, September 1985, p. 16.) Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter Thayer Waldo watched a group of high-ranking Dallas police officers huddle together for a conference just a few minutes after 1 p.m. on the day of the shooting. When he spoke to a secretary who was privy to the officers' conversations, she told Waldo that police officers had found a rifle on the "roof of the School Book Depository." [18. Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibit, vol. 15, p. 5.] W. Anthony Marsh believes the rifle shown in the film is very likely a Dallas Police Department Remington 870 shotgun. Marsh notes that the Dallas Police Department used Remington 870 shotguns. One of the officers escorting three men in the railyards after the shooting was carrying a Remington 870 shotgun. There is no official record of this rifle. Frank Ellsworth, an agent of the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agency, assists in the TSBD search. He will testify that the "gun was not found on the same floor as the cartridges, but on a lower floor by a couple of city detectives ... I think the rifle was found on the fourth floor."
1:00 PM JFK pronounced dead by Dr. Kemp Clark, Parkland's director of neurological surgery. He tells Jacqueline Kennedy: "Your husband has sustained a fatal wound." She replies: "I know." There are approximately 19 doctors and nurses present during JFK's final agony - plus other witnesses such as the President's wife, Secret Service men, the Dallas Chief of Police, and Congressman Henry Gonzalez - who years from now will briefly serve as Chairman of the House Assassinations Committee.
Parkland nurse, Diana Bowron: "When we came back after all the work had been done on him [JFK]---so that Mrs. Kennedy could have a look before he was, you know, really moved into the coffin. We wrapped some extra sheets around his head so it wouldn't look so bad and there were some sheets on the floor so that nobody would step in the blood. Those were put down during all the work that was going on so the doctors wouldn't slip." Parkland nurse Doris Mae Nelson: "One of the nurses, Miss Hutton, came out and said that the President was having extensive bleeding from the head and they had wrapped four sheets around it but it was still oozing through, so I sent her to the second floor to obtain a mattress cover, a plastic mattress cover, to put in the casket prior to putting his body in the casket, so the mattress cover was placed in the casket and I did not see this happen, but this is how it was explained to me by the nurse, and the plastic was placed on the mattress cover and the cover was around the mattress."
Acting Press Secretary, Malcolm Kilduff will recall being at Parkland Hospital: "I didn't know what to call him [LBJ]. I sure as hell wasn't about to call him Lyndon. So when I said President Johnson,' Lady Bird let out a shriek. Nobody had bothered to tell the poor man" that Kennedy was dead. Kilduff will recall that Johnson is "as cool as a cucumber" and calmly asks what the next step is.
Dallas FBI SAIC J. Gordon Shanklin orders SA J. Doyle Williams to go to Parkland Hospital, locate the SS agent in charge, and inform him that J. Edgar Hoover has ordered all bureau resources to be at the ready to assist. Williams speeds to hospital, finds Roy Kellerman and relays message. He then offers J. Edgar Hoover's condolences to Mrs. Kennedy. He asks one of the nurses to help him find a telephone so that he can report to his superiors. When he returns from making this telephone call, reports of what happens next are confusing. Williams testifies that he is grabbed from behind by two SS agents and wrestled to the hall floor. Roy Kellerman steps in and asks Williams to leave. He does so and returns to his FBI office. Hoover will eventually demote Williams for this incident.
LBJ's Secret Service bodyguard, Rufus Youngblood, testifies: "When Mr. [Kenny] O'Donnell and Roy Kellerman told us that he [JFK] had died, the Vice President said, "Well, how about Mrs. Kennedy?" O'Donnell told the Vice President that Mrs. Kennedy would not leave the hospital without the President's body. And O'Donnell suggested we go to the plane and that they just come on the other plane. And I might add that, as a word of explanation, there were two jet planes, one Air Force 1, in which the President flew, and the other Air Force 2, in which the Vice President and his party flew on. And O'Donnell told us to go ahead and take Air Force 1. I believe this is mainly because Air Force 1 has better communications equipment and so forth than the other planes. President Johnson said that he didn't want to go off and leave Mrs. Kennedy in such a state. And so he agreed that we would go on to the airplane and board the plane and wait until Mrs. Kennedy and the body would come out."
SS agent Jerry D. Kivett, on orders from SS agent Rufus Youngblood, radios Love Field and speaks to someone aboard Air Force One. He orders them to refuel and be prepared for takeoff and to move the plane to another section of the airport. Kivett is advised that the plane is already refueled and that they are in the process of trying to find another location at the airport.
Jack Lawrence, a salesman from the Downtown Lincoln-Mercury dealership (two blocks west of Dealey Plaza) hurries into the dealership showroom with mud on his clothes. Pale and sweating profusely, he runs into the restroom and throws up. He tells coworkers that he has been ill and tried to drive a car (borrowed the day before from the dealership) back to the showroom but finally had to leave it parked some distance away because the traffic is so heavy. Two employees go to pick up the car and find it parked behind the wooden fence on the grassy knoll. The car salesman is arrested and soon released. He leaves Dallas immediately and is never questioned by the Warren Commission. An Air Force veteran, Lawrence has been qualified as an expert marksman. (It is interesting to note that Carlos Marcello had an interest in car dealerships in Dallas and his son, Carlos, Jr., settled in Highland Park, a ritzy suburb of Dallas.) Sam Giancana will later reportedly allege that Lawrence is sent along with Charles Harrelson by Carlos Marcello to take part in the assassination. Lawrence leaves almost immediately after the assassination and travels to North Carolina.
Jack Ruby telephones his sister, Eva Grant, from the Dallas Morning News building.
At about 1:00 PM, neighbors who live along the road running by the little Redbird private airport between Dallas and Fort Worth begin calling the police. A twin-engine plane, they report, is out there behaving very peculiarly. For an hour it has been revving its engines, not on the runway but parked at the end of the airstrip on a grassy area next to the fence. The noise has prevented nearby residents from hearing their TV's, as news comes over about the terrible events in downtown Dallas. But the police are too busy to check it out, and shortly thereafter the plane takes off.
Officers are also searching the bus that LHO has reportedly boarded. This search may suggest that someone other than Marina and Ruth Paine know that LHO cannot operate an automobile and has supposedly chosen to travel by bus.
No individual employed at the TSBD comes forward to police to indicate they are afraid to reenter the building. This may indicate that either all seventy-three known employees are convinced that shots have come from elsewhere, or that they know, or suspect, the depository as a location for shots, but now that JFK's car has passed, there is no further threat to human life. (Meagher)
Soon after 1pm, photographer Jim Murray has gone over to the Sheriff's office and photographs Larry Florer and others brought in for questioning. Then he made contact with amateur photographer Mary Moorman; he tried to get the picture for LIFE magazine, but UPI already had the rights. (Trask)
Max Allen Long, who lives with his mother at 324 East Tenth St. will later claim (on Aug. 24, 1977) that LHO is on his way to Long's address - which has been established as a "safe house." Long will claim that letting LHO come to his house is "supposed to wipe out a unspecific debt that Long had with some people in New Orleans." (With Malice)
Domingo Benavides, a mechanic at Dootch Motors, is approached by a man whose car is stalled on Patton between Tenth and Jefferson. Benavides looks it over and discovers the carburetor is faulty. (With Malice)
1:01 PM WBAPTom Whalen interviews Jean Hill on the radio.
1:01 PM Oswald is seen by Jimmy Burt and William Arthur Smith walking WEST. (The W.C. says LHO is walking EAST.) This puts LHO a block and a half east of the Tippit shooting and three blocks west of Ruby's apartment.
1:02 PM (2:02pm EST) Chase of Secret Service car transporting Caroline Kennedy.
1:03 The Associated Press releases the first picture of the assassination, taken by James Altgens right after JFK was first hit on Elm Street. (Trask)
1:00 PM or 1:03 PM (approx) Police dispatcher tries to contact Officer Tippit but there is no answer. Police dispatcher Murray Jackson called #78 (Tippit) at 1:03 P.M. and got no answer. One can guess that if Tippit was at Lancaster and Eighth at 12:54 P.M. he could have easily arrived at the Top Ten Record Shop a distance of 2 miles before 1:00 P.M. and could have been inside the record shop when the unanswered call was made. The distance from the Top Ten Record Shop to 404 E. 10th St. (the Tippit Murder site) is 6/10's of a mile with a travel time of about two minutes.
1:04 PM At about this time Oswald is noticed that he is missing at the Depository.
1:03-04 PM Earlene Roberts testified that she last saw Oswald waiting for a bus at this time. He went into his room and left again after three or four minutes. She said when he left he was zipping up his jacket. She said that it "was a dark color." The jacket found near the Tippit murder scene was a very light gray; in fact, the first police alert said the assailant was a "white jacket." (H 23 861-62; H 7 439).
1:04 - 1:07 PM This information is provided by Greg Lowrey by way of Bill Pulte. James A. Andrews worked for American National Life Insurance whose offices were located across the street from Austin's Barbecue. Greg Lowrey was interviewing Andrews to get recollections of Roscoe White who worked out of the same office as Andrews. During the interview Andrews told Greg "Since you are interested in the assassination, let me tell you something that happened" and told the following story. James A. Andrews was returning to work at his office in Oak Cliff a little after 1:00 P.M. on 11/22/63. He was driving west on West 10th Street (about eight or nine blocks from where Tippit was shot minutes later). Suddenly a police car also traveling west on West 10th Street came up from behind Andrews' car, passed him and cut in front of Andrews's car forcing him to stop. The police car pulled in front of Andrews' car at an angle heading into the curb in order to stop him. The officer then jumped out of the patrol car motioned to Andrews to remain stopped, ran back to Andrews' car, and looked in the space between the front seat and the back seat. Without saying a word the policeman went back to the patrol car and then drove off quickly. Andrews was perplexed by this strange behavior and looked at the officer's nameplate, which read "Tippit" (Tippit was wearing his nameplate on 11/22/63. This is documented in a list of personal effects removed from his body at the time of death. Source: Dallas Municipal Archives) Andrews remarked that Tippit seemed to be very upset and agitated and was acting wild. After returning to his police car Tippit turns the car around and begins driving EAST on 10th Street. (Armstrong)
The next Tippit encounter is one that has been reported in several different books and magazine articles but this incident remained unclear to me until I obtained transcripts of the interviews with the two men who were involved. This sighting took place at The Top Ten Record Shop which is near the corner of West Jefferson Boulevard and Bishop Ave. about one block West of the Texas Theater. Louis Cortinas, was an eighteen year-old clerk, in the record shop in 1963. The shop's owner and his boss was Dub Stark. In a 1981 interview with Dallas Morning News reporter Earl Golz, Cortinas stated the following: " He was behind the counter at The Top Ten Record Shop, 338 West Jefferson Boulevard, on November 22, 1963. Police Officer, J.D. Tippit, parked his car on Bishop Street, apparently heading North, and came into the shop in a hurry and asked Cortinas if he could use the phone at the counter. He recalls Tippit being in such a hurry that he had to ask people in the narrow aisle to step aside." "Tippit said nothing over the phone, apparently not getting an answer. He stood there long enough for it to ring seven or eight times. Tippit hung up the phone and walked off fast, he was upset or worried about something." "Tippit sped away in his squad car across Jefferson, down Bishop, to Sunset where he ran a stop sign and turned right down Sunset." "Maybe 10, no more than 10 minutes Tippit had left when I heard he had been shot on the radio." Cortinas said, "Tippit would come into the record shop occasionally to use the phone while on duty. He knew Tippit to talk to from other experience, having been ticketed many times for drag racing near Austin's Barbecue. He also knew Tippit from seeing him at Austin's Barbecue."
1:05 PM Presidential Naval aide Capt. Tazewell Shepard tells RFK that his brother is dead.
Bricklayer William Lawrence Smith leaves his Dallas construction job for lunch at the Town and Country Cafe - two doors west of the 10th Street Barber Shop. While walking east to the cafe a man, who he later identifies as LHO, walks past him heading west-toward 10th & Patton. A minute later, Oswald is seen by Jimmy Burt and William. A. Smith walking west. The suspect is now in a position to see J. D. Tippit's patrol car moving toward him. Some eyewitnesses claim that the gunman reverses his direction, so that he is now heading east - with his back to Tippit's approaching squad car.
Assistant District Attorney Bill Alexander, who will talk to residents along LHO's suspected route to the corner of Tenth & Patton, thinks it unlikely that LHO could have gotten to the scene on foot without being spotted. Alexander says: "There are enough old people that live in that neighborhood, that are at home, that in order to make that distance on foot, he would have to have double-timed a big part of the way, thus drawing attention to himself. Somebody would have seen him. Negative. I don't know how he got there and nobody else does either." (With Malice)
In 1978, author and researcher Anthony Summers retraces the route LHO took to the scene of the Tippit murder with William Alexander, who in 1963 was assistant district attorney in Dallas. Alexander says: "One of the questions that I would like to have answered is why Oswald was where he was when he shot Tippit ... Along with the police, we measured the route, all the conceivable routes he could have taken to that place; we interrogated bus drivers, we checked the cab-company records, but we still do not know how he got to where he was, or why he was where he was. I feel like if we could ever find out why he was there, then maybe some of the other mysteries would be solved. Was he supposed to meet someone? Was he trying to make a getaway? Did he miss a connection? Was there a connection? If you look at Oswald's behavior, he made very few nonpurposeful motions, very seldom did he do anything that did not serve a purpose to him. People who've studied his behavior feel there was a purpose in his being where he was. I, for one, would like to know what that was." (Not in Your Lifetime)
1:05 PM On Interstate 45, a few miles south of Dallas, highway patrolmen stopped a black car for speeding; witnesses to the incident say it contained three men in suits, one of whom identified himself to an officer as a Secret Service agent. This man reportedly said, "We're in a hurry to get to New Orleans to investigate part of the shooting." (Conspiracy of Silence 96) There is no record of Secret Service personnel being dispatched to New Orleans on the day of the assassination.
1:05 PM-1:12 PM Sgt. Gerald Hill is photographed leaning out a sixth floor window of the TSBD and pointing to the sniper's nest window. The Hertz sign on the roof says 1:05 according to Trask.
Homicide Detective Richard Sims thought the shells were found around 1:15pm. Inspector Sawyer called in a radio dispatch about them at 1:11pm. 1:12 PM The three empty bullet cases are found by police on the sixth floor by Luke Mooney (WR 79).
(WC testimony) Mr. FRITZ. I told them not to move the cartridges, not to touch anything until we could get the crime lab to take pictures of them just as they were lying there and I left an officer assigned there to see that that was done, and the crime lab came almost immediately, and took pictures, and dusted the shells for prints.
The Texas Theater begins showing newsreels and cartoons prior to the main feature, "War Is Hell." Concession attendant Butch Burroughs will tell British film producer Nigel Turner, "Oswald slipped into the theater between 1:00 and 1:07 PM." Butch Burroughs, an employee of the Texas Theater, hears someone enter the Texas Theater shortly after 1:00 PM and go to the balcony. About 1:15 PM LHO comes down from the balcony and buys popcorn from Burroughs. Burroughs watches him walk down the aisle and take a seat on the main floor. He sits next to Jack Davis during the opening credits of the first movie, several minutes before 1:20 PM. LHO then moves across the aisle and sits next to another man. A few minutes later Davis notices he moves again and sits next to a pregnant woman. Just before the police arrive, the pregnant woman goes to the balcony and is never seen again. In addition to Oswald there are seven people watching the movie on the main level (six after the pregnant woman left). Within 10 minutes, LHO will sit next to half of them. Note that at this time, J.D. Tippit has not yet been shot.
1:06 PM J.D. Tippit pulls out of the Gloco service station and heads south on Lancaster at a "high rate of speed." (With Malice)
Helen Markham leaves the washateria of her apartment house near the corner of 9th & Patton. While walking south on Patton she notices a police car driving slowly east on 10th Street. One half block in front of Markham, on the opposite side of Patton, cab driver William Scoggins is eating lunch in his cab. Scoggins notices a man walking west as J. D. Tippit's patrol car passes slowly in front of him. Jack Tatum, sitting in his red 1964 Ford Galaxie a block east, notices the same man turn and walk toward the police car. Tatum turns left onto 10th street and drives slowly west past Tippit's car.
1:07-1:10PM The best evidence from various witnesses is that the Tippit murder actually occurred during this time.
1:08 PM Tippit made two efforts to contact headquarters (H 17 406). Yet the Dallas transcript shows that the dispatcher did not answer him. The FBI's transcript changed these two entries to say that they came from officers 58 and 488, both unknown (Tippit was call #78.)(H 17 401,406; H 23 855,844,849,858; H 4 179).
William Drenas: "There have been many references in print to 2 calls that were made at 1:08 on the Dallas Police Radio. The original source of this information is the March 23, 1964 transcript of the channel 1 radio log, Commission Exhibit 705 page 17 in Vol. 17 page 406 of the Warren Commission Hearings. The transcript states that #78 (Tippit) called the dispatcher once just before 1:08 and then seconds later at exactly 1:08, but the dispatcher did not answer. Most researchers that have studied the many versions of the radio logs agree that Arch Kimbrough's Critics Copy is an excellent reference tool. Assassination researcher Russ Shearer has published a user-friendly copy of Arch's original work. The two radio calls in question at 1:08 do not appear in Arch's transcript. Upon discovering this discrepancy I started doing a great deal of work with my audio copy of the Dallas Police Tapes. I used noise filters to "clean up" the overall sound quality and used a 31 band graphic equalizer to make the voices on the tape clearer and more pronounced. After much study I concluded that the transmission was not made by Tippit but instead was made by "388" a unit from the Criminal Investigation Division. "388" was having a conversation with the dispatcher at about this time. Transmission #390A on page 31 of the Arch Kimbrough's Channel 1 transcript is what I believe was mistaken as "78" since it is slightly garbled. By comparing the voice characteristics of the calls Tippit made earlier in the tape to the 1:08 call in question I concluded that the voices did not match. At this point I contacted a very well respected Dallas researcher who has a great deal of experience listening to these tapes and he is in agreement with me that the 1:08 transmission is "388" and not Tippit."
1:09 pm cars 100X and 679X leave Parkland Hospital for Love Field. Secret Service records show both vehicles were driven directly, without stops, to the C-130 Hercules for loading.
1:10 PM McNamara joins the JCS meeting (2:10pm EST).
1:10 PM (CST) 2:10 PM (EST) Hoover called RFK again, still mentioning that Kennedy was only wounded; RFK shot back, "You may be interested to know that my brother is dead." RFK rushes upstairs in his home and immediately tries to call Kenny O'Donnell in Dallas. Not locating O'Donnell at Parkland Hospital, RFK speaks instead to Secret Service Agent Clint Hill. Edwin Guthman is on his way to RFK's home. When Guthman arrives, RFK tells him: "I thought they would get me, instead of the president." Guthman distinctly remembers RFK saying "they." (Brothers) Documents released in 1997 show that RFK was scheduled today to meet secretly with Manuel Artime, Roberto San Roman, and Harry Williams. It is not known if this meeting had in fact occurred when the news of JFK 's death arrived. According to author William Turner in an interview with Williams, "on that day he was meeting with CIA safe house in northwest Washington with Richard Helms, Howard Hunt, and several other CIA agents. Williams stated "it was the most important meeting I ever had on the problem of Cuba" with plans for this invasion from the Dominican Republic crystallizing. (Russo, 289; Hinckle and Turner, 251; Memo For the Secretary of the Army/Attn: Jos. Califano, "Training of Cuban Refugees in Nicaragua," 12-11-63) We know from other sources that Bobby Kennedy, on the afternoon of November 22, was fearful of a Cuban involvement in the assassination. Jack Anderson, the recipient of much secret CIA information, suggests that this concern may have been planted in Bobby's head by CIA Director McCone. "When CIA chief John McCone learned of the assassination, he rushed to Robert Kennedy's home in McLean, Virginia, and stayed with him for three hours. No one else was admitted. Even Bobby's priest was turned away. McCone told me he gave the attorney general a routine briefing on CIA business and swore that Castro's name never came up....Sources would later tell me that McCone anguished with Bobby over the terrible possibility that the assassination plots sanctioned by the president's own brother may have backfired. Then the following day, McCone briefed President Lyndon Johnson and his National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy. Afterward McCone told subordinates -- who later filled me in -- what happened at that meeting. The grim McCone shared with Johnson and Bundy a dispatch from the U.S. embassy in Mexico City, strongly suggesting that Castro was behind the assassination." [ Jack Anderson, with Daryl Gibson, Peace, War, and Politics: An Eyewitness Account (New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 1999), 115-16.] Barely an hour after the news from Dallas breaks, RFK is called by Haynes Johnson of the Washington Evening Star, who is on leave from the paper to write a book on the Bay of Pigs invasion. Johnson is in Harry William's room at the Ebbitt Hotel in Washington, the CIA's lodging of choice for visiting operatives because it is so nondescript. Williams, who has just arrived from his penultimate meeting with CIA officials on "the problem of Cuba," is Johnson's prime source among the Bay of Pigs veterans. He is also RFK's best-and-brightest choice to lead a renewed effort to get rid of Castro. As Bobby well knows, the CIA agenda has included assassination. "One of your guys did it," RFK tells Johnson in a flat, unemotional voice.
1:10 PM Police Ban (Channel 2) -- Report that Secret Service are coming downtown. Request made for K9 squad to help search TSBD.
1:10 PM Richard Saunders thought Ruby left the Morning News building at this time.
Cortinas said Tippit sped away from the record shop but by the time Tippit gets near the corner of East 10th and Patton Ave. Tippit Murder witness Helen Markham testifies Tippit's police car was "driving real slow now, real slow." William Scoggins a cab driver that also witnessed the Tippit murder while he was parked in his cab eating lunch near the murder scene describes Tippit's Patrol car as cruising "Not more than 10 or 12 miles a hour." Why would Tippit drive in such an erratic way? First very fast, then very slow in the last few minutes of his life may never be explained. Professor Bill Pulte has a possible explanation for Tippit's erratic movements in the final minutes of his life. Bill explained to me that Tippit's movements are consistent with the actions of a man frantically looking for someone. Let us look at Tippit's movements:
* Sitting at the Gloco station watching the cars come over the Houston Street Viaduct.
* Leaves the Gloco station and "tears" down Lancaster Road at a fast rate of speed.
* Could have possibly been involved in a "fight" at 12th and Marsalis.
* Makes a hurried phone call at the Top Ten Record Shop, and does not get an answer.
* Stops James A. Andrews car by cutting in front of him, does not say a word but looks between the front and back seats, and then leaves the scene without saying a word.
* Moments later Tippit is seen at the corner of 10th and Patton by William Scoggins and Helen Markham and they both remark in their testimonies that Tippit's car is traveling very slowly.
1:11 PM KRLDEddie Barker at the Trade Mart reports the unconfirmed death of President Kennedy.
1:11 or 1:21 PM JEAN HILL INTERVIEW - WBAP-TV (FT. WORTH) Broadcast over NBC at 1:11 p.m. C.S.T.
Q. "What is your name ma'am?''
A. "Jean Hill.''
Q. "From Dallas?"
A. "That's right."
Q. "Did you hear the shooting, Miss?"
A. "Yes sir."
Q. "Could you describe what happened?"
A. "Yes Sir.''
Q. "Will you do that now?"
"Ah...They were driving along...ah...and we were the only people in this area, on our side and the shots came from directly across the street from us, and just as the president's car became directly even with us, we...we took one look at him and he was sitting there - he and Jackie were looking at a dog that was in the middle of the...seat, and about that time two shots rang out just as he looked up - just as the president looked up - and these two shots rang out, as he grabbed his chest, and... looked like he was in pain, and he fell over the seat, and Jackie fell over on him and said, 'My God he's been, shot!"
Q. "Ah..have.."
A. "...And after that more shots rang out and the car sped away."
Q. "What kind of car was that?"
A. "What kind of car was it? The president's car.'
Q. "Well, no...Where did the shots come from?"
A. "The shots came from the hill."
Q. "From the hill?"
A. "Yes..ah..It was just east of the underpass ... and we were on the south side."
Q. "Did you see..could you..did you look up there where the shots came from, ma'am?"
A. "Yes Sir.''
Q. "Could you see anyone?"
A. "I thought I saw this man running, but I looked at the president, you know, for a while, and I looked up there and I thought I saw a man running and so, right after that, I guess I didn't have any better sense, I started running up there too."
1:11-1:12 PM Inspector J. H. Sawyer, who is the first officer on the scene at Elm and Houston Streets to coordinate police activity, calls in to radio dispatch (Police Channel 2) from outside the TSBD: "On the third floor of this book company down here, we found empty rifle hulls and it looked like the man had been here for some time. We are checking it out now." (H 3 285, H 7 162) Fritz places Detectives Johnson and Montgomery in charge of that location. Deputy Sheriff Luke Mooney reportedly notices a pile of cartons in front of the window in the southeast corner of the sixth floor of the TSBD. This area will eventually become known as "the sniper's nest." Photograph CE 723 shows eight stacks of cartons, three or four to a stack, arranged in a crude semi-circle, concealing the window area from view. Almost a half hour has now elapsed between the report by three employees who were watching the motorcade from the fifth-floor windows that they heard shells being ejected overhead, and this moment when Mooney stumbles into the sniper's nest. Police have also heard witnesses who have reported - immediately following the shots - that they had seen a rifle or an object like a rifle, or a man, or a man with a rifle, in the sixth-floor window of the TSBD. Despite this, no police have rushed immediately to the sixth floor. The sniper's nest is only discovered by chance during a floor-by-floor search.
1:12 PM Police Ban (Channel 2) -- Rifle hulls found in TSBD on sixth floor. Obvious that "the man" had been there for some time. A drunk has been spotted wandering on the railroad tracks. Ordered to be taken to #9 at Elm & Houston. Someone questions whether we should hold all men presently on duty. The answer is "yes."
Weisberg: "The police were at least consistent. The boxes in the area, especially those allegedly stacked up by the assassin to serve as a gun rest (7H149), were treated with equal carelessness. They were moved before they were photographed. Some had been moved before the police identification people arrived. Yet these were the pictures used to re-enact and reconstruct the crime!" (Whitewash)
1:12 PM DPD Lt. John Carl Day and Det. Studebaker arrive at the TSBD. (CE3145 26H829) Day takes a photograph which appears to show only two empty cartridges and one round of live ammunition laying on the floor. H&L Tomorrow, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover will sign a report that is sent to DPD Chief Jesse Curry which will identify two cartridge casings and one live cartridge that have been turned over to SA Vince Drain. The cartridges will be tested for latent fingerprints with negative results. Five days from now Captain Fritz will produce a third empty shell that he allegedly found on the sixth floor. This will conveniently back up the "official" story of three shots. The question is why Capt. Fritz picked up an empty casing on the sixth floor and failed to follow police procedure by immediately turning it over to the identification bureau. Additionally, the third empty casing has the initials "GD" scratched on it when it was allegedly picked up by Captain Fritz. "GD" would have most probably represented Captain George Doughty. However, Captain Doughty will not remember handling the third empty cartridge.
Weisberg: "The story of the empty rifle shells is just as bad and does not require complete tracing. They were photographed in place. Detective Sims carefully picked them up and Day sought fingerprints. There were none. They were put into an unsealed envelope which Day signed and returned to Sims. Although Day had earlier informed the Commission he had marked all three shells at the scene, he admitted that was incorrect. At about 10 o'clock that night he had marked two of the shells. Although the third shell was missing, Day said, "I didn't examine it too close at that time." The third shell bears the identification of Captain George Doughty, Day's superior. Why the shells did not all bear Day's mark is unexplained. How Doughty's mark constitutes any kind of an identification at all is a mystery. There was much conflicting and contradictory testimony about these empty cases and a number of affidavits of further explanation were filed. There is this additional mystery: Day was asked by the examiner of one of these shells, "It appears to be flattened out here. Do you know or have you any independent recollection as to whether or not is was flattened out on the small end when you saw it?" Day's response was, "No, sir; I don't." What needs explaining is how a deformed shell fit into a precisely machined rifle breach (4H253-5)." (Whitewash)
At this point, there are no photographs or any mention that an ammunition clip has been found in or near the sniper's nest. Only when the Warren Report is issued in September 1964 will the public learn that "when the rifle was found in the Texas School Book Depository Building it contained a clip." This assertion is unsupported by direct evidence and testimony. No fingerprints will be found on the clip - which holds six shells. One additional shell can also be loaded in the chamber of the rifle. Three spent shells are found on the sixth floor of the TSBD. One live shell will be ejected from the rifle now. This indicates that the clip was not fully loaded at the time of the assassination - which means that LHO set out to murder the President with only four shells - his last and only shells at that. No other rifle ammunition is ever found. Marina Oswald will later initially testify on December 16, 1963, that "Oswald did not have any ammunition for the rifle to her knowledge in either Dallas or New Orleans, and he did not speak of buying ammunition." However, Marina's story will change when she is questioned by the Commission on February 3, 1964. At that time, she will remember seeing ammunition in a box "in New Orleans and on Neely Street."
John McAdams: "Yet a little research would have turned up plenty of evidence that the clip was found with the rifle. Numerous still photos of Lt. J.C. Day taking the rifle out of the Depository show the clip in the rifle. One of them, shot by William G. Allen of the Dallas Times Herald, is shown at right, above. And Day did indeed document the discovery of the clip. A report, dated 11/22/63 and signed by him, mentions one live round in the barrel, three spent hulls, and notes that "THE CLIP IS STAMPED SMI 952." This is the notation on the clip that resides to this day in the National Archives in College Park, Maryland."
The Warren Report will also eventually state that "when the rifle was found in the Texas School book Depository Building it contained a clip." No witness who gave testimony about the search of the TSBD or the discovery of the rifle mentions an ammunition clip, either in the rifle or elsewhere on the sixth floor -- assuming this was the floor the rifle was actually found on. FBI expert Latona will later specifically refer to the clip by stating that no prints were found on the ammunition clip. The W.C. will state that "there is no evidence that Oswald wore gloves or that he wiped prints off the rifle." The clip should have been ejected from the rifle, falling on the floor somewhere near the southeast corner window. If it was not ejected, it may have been defective or deformed in such a way that it remained stuck in the weapon -- and that in itself should have been the subject of comment by Frazier or other witnesses. No such comment was made. The fact is that the rifle had not been fully loaded at the time of the assassination but had held only four cartridges instead of seven. If an ammunition clip was used in firing the rifle found in the Book Depository,, it must have been empty, since the single, live round was ejected from the chamber and no other unexpended ammunition was found in the Book Depository,. The clip should therefore have been ejected, falling on the floor somewhere near the southeast corner window. If it was not ejected, it may have been defective or deformed in such a way that it remained stuck in the weapon -- and that in itself should have been the subject of comment by Frazier or other witnesses. No such comment was made. Such an assassin would have had to be certain that he would hit his victim or victims without missing, and that his escape was guaranteed, so that there would be no need to shoot his way out of the Book Depository. The Warren Commission scenario, based upon available evidence, indicates that the rifle had not been fully loaded at the time of the assassination but held only four cartridges instead of seven. Thus, it conjures up a picture of a rather implausible assassin, who set out to kill the President armed with only four bullets, his last and only ones.
After many searches of LHO's property and possessions by local officers and federal agents, no rifle-cleaning equipment is ever found. According to the Warren Commission, LHO made active and frequent use of the rifle, even burying it in the ground for a few days. The rifle is well oiled when it is found in the TSBD. (Meagher)
Regarding the empty cartridges, Deputy Sheriff Luke Mooney recalls: "... he [Captain Fritz] was the first officer that picked them up, as far as I know, because I stood there and watched him go over and pick them up and look at them. As far as I could tell, I couldn't even tell what caliber they were, because I didn't get down that close to them. "They were brass cartridges, brass shells." BT
The unfired cartridge represented as Item-6 of Exhibit CE-738 more closely resembles an L.B.C.936, 6.5x52mm MC Italian GI cartridge, than it does an American made WCC 6.5x52mm MC Cartridge. Virtually all American bullets are jacketed with Gilders Metal which is an alloy of copper and zinc, with a distinct brassy appearance. The color photos of the unfired cartridge shows a bullet that is distinctly silver in color consistent with the cupra-nickle alloy used by European bullet makers. The spent cases more closely resemble a 6.5x54 mm Mannlicher-Schoenauer (MS) Cartridge then they do a 6.5x52mm MC cartridge. The distinction made in the above conclusion, if it holds up, is an important one as the Austrian designed MS rifle is prized for its smooth action, magazine efficiency, chambering characteristics and accuracy as opposed to the dismal performance of the MC rifle.
An evidence envelope, containing photographs, is signed by FBI special agent J. Doyle Williams today. The photographs in this envelope consist of eight prints, all showing only two empty cartridges and one round of live ammunition. Gary Shaw, in his book Cover-Up, also reveals a document showing that only two spent 6.5mm rounds were recorded in the original evidence sheet.
At least three Warren Commission photographs of the sixth floor "sniper's nest" -- Commission Exhibits 509, 724, and 733 -- show three different versions of the boxes stacked near the sixth-floor window. Sylvia Meagher notes that "it seems inconceivable that Oswald could have lifted and positioned those 24 cartons or more without leaving his prints. Yet neither the Report nor the Hearings and Exhibits suggest that any inquiry was made about the number and identification of prints on those cartons - an incomprehensible omission to which Leo Sauvage first called attention in a magazine article."
Luke Mooney, who stumbles on the "sniper's nest" first and might have been expected to see the long paper bag in his inventory of the scene, does not see it. The bag is not photographed in place. R. L. Studebaker says that he sees the bag in the southwest corner of the building - folded. He thinks he sees some sort of finger print on the bag and puts a piece of one-inch tape over it. (There is NO tape on the bag when it arrives in Washington and is examined by FBI fingerprint expert Sebastian Latona. He will testify that when he receives the bag, there is "nothing visible in the way of any latent prints"; or, needless to say, of the tape placed on the bag by Studebaker.) The bag is supposedly first picked up from the floor of the TSBD by L.D. Montgomery - yet his fingerprints are not found on the bag when it is delivered to Washington. Deputy Sheriff Roger Craig remembers a small paper lunch bag but not the long paper bag. Sergeant Gerald Hill remembers a lunch bag but says, "that was the only sack I saw... . If it [the long paper bag] was found up there on the sixth floor, if it was there, I didn't see it." J. B. Hicks of the police crime laboratory testifies that he does not see a long paper sack among the items taken from the Book Depository. Further, there are reportedly no oil stains on the bag - which is supposed to have contained a well oiled rifle. (Meagher)
The cast of The Andy Griffith Show has gathered around a table to read a script for an upcoming episode. The Assistant Director suddenly bursts in and gives everyone the news of the assassination. Andy Griffith softly says: "Those damn Southerners."
Atlanta, Georga - Dr. Martin Luther King has been watching television in his upstairs bedroom. Upon hearing the news of JFK's death, he tells his wife, Coretta Scott King: "That's what's going to happen to me. This is such a sick society."
From Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, ABC correspondent Larry Newman reports that state and local police have sealed off the area of Hyannis Port where the Kennedys live. No one is permitted to approach the area.
Police will find a set of fingerprints on Tippit's car, but they are not Oswald's. Officer Paul Bentley gives conflicting stories on the fingerprints, but tells George O'Toole that "we do know that his [Oswald's] fingerprints were taken off the passenger side of Tippit's car." Yet Sergeant W.E. Barnes (who dusted Tippit's car for prints) told the Warren Commission, "There were several smear prints. None of value ... No legible prints were found." When Tippit's cruiser is found, a police shirt is also found on the rear seat, and it does not belong to Tippit. (When LHO is eventually arrested at The Texas Theater, he will be wearing a rust brown salt-and-pepper shirt. Tippit witnesses describe Tippit's killer as wearing a white shirt underneath a tannish gray jacket, both of which are lighter in color than the rust brown shirt.)
T. F. Bowley is driving his daughter west on Tenth Street. He sees a group of by-standers gathered around a fallen policeman. As Bowley gets out of his car to lend assistance, he looks at his watch and notes the time is 1:10 PM. Aquilla Clemons, another eyewitness, sees two men at the scene. At the home of Mr. and Mrs. Smothers at 327 E. Tenth Street, Clemons hears the shots and goes outside. She looks down the street and sees two men standing on opposite sides of the street. The man nearest to a police car is short and heavy and he has a gun in his hand. The other man is tall and slender and is wearing a white shirt and light khaki pants. The heavy-set man is waving his gun with a sweeping gesture, urging the slender man to "go on." The two men separate, leaving the scene in opposite directions. Before the gunman disappears from view, Clemmons sees him either unloading or reloading his gun - an action which is consistent with the observations of other witnesses. The Fourth Decade/Nov. 1996
When news comes over the police radio that a police officer has been shot, Deputy Roger Craig, searching the sixth floor of the TSBD, looks at his watch and notes that the time is 1:06 PM.
Wes Wise, a reporter with KRLD-TV in Dallas (and later mayor of Dallas) says he receives information that a car near the scene of the Tippit shooting was traced to Carl Mather, a close friend of Tippit's. Tippit has also worked part-time at Austin's Barbecue. The owner, Austin Cook, is a member of the John Birch Society. CARL MATHER is now an employee of Collins Radio, an international firm based in Dallas, which specializes in the field of telecommunications. He has been here for twenty-one years. Prior to this job, he worked in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the Harley Davidson Motorcycle Co. In 1956, at the age of twenty-nine, he moved to Dallas, where he got his job with Collins Radio. He has been given a security clearance to work on secret projects. One of his assignments has taken him to Andrews Air Force Base in Brandywine, Maryland, where he has done electronic work on Air Force 2, which at this time is being used by Vice President Lyndon Johnson. In 1963, Collins Radio leases a boat which ostensibly is being used for electronic and oceanographic research, but is actually being used to transport illegal shipments of firearms to anti-Castro rebels. The Fourth Decade/Nov. 1996
Jack Ruby leaves the Dallas Morning News building.
Today, Dallas police receive reports of a man seen with a rifle near Cobb Stadium, located on the Stemmons Freeway route from downtown to the Trade Mart. Nothing comes of this report. Some researchers have put forth the theory that a second squad of shooters are at Cobb Stadium and are to fire at the president's limo if given orders to do so because the Dealey Plaza shooters conclude that the President is still alive after the shots in the Plaza.
1:13 PM Johnson is informed of Kennedy's death by Emory Roberts. (WC) In Parkland Hospital, Agent Roberts tells LBJ that JFK is dead. Johnson immediately looks at his watch and then turns to his wife and tells her to "make a note of the time."
1:13 PM Caroline Kennedy returns to the White House.
1:14 In his book, WITH MALICE, Dale K. Myers places the time of Tippit's murder at 1:14:30 P.M.
1:15 PM Ted Callaway spots the gunman who shot J.D. Tippit as he jumps through the hedges, cuts across the street, and runs toward him on Patton. WM After the shooting, the gunman reportedly goes south on Patton Street and turns west on Jefferson. Two used car lot workers named Warren Reynolds and B. M. Patterson see Tippit's assassin and start to chase him. The gunman realizes that he is being followed and dashes behind a Texaco gas station, hiding among the cars of a parking lot. Such a vulnerable hiding place could only have been the result of a desperate decision, but he really has no choice. If he tries to make a run across Crawford Street, he will be visible to his pursuers as he traverses the wide open ground of a drug store parking lot. The parking lot behind the gas station is quickly becoming an inescapable trap, as police come swarming into the area. The capture of the gunman is becoming a foregone conclusion. Yet a false alarm at a library saves him by diverting all the police to a location three blocks away. The Fourth Decade/Nov. 1996
1:15 PM (approx) Bill Newman is interviewed again by Jay Watson on WFAA-TV, recounted how he saw the President hit in the side of the head. He heard only 2 shots. Gayle Newman is interviewed again: "Kennedy reached up and grabbed his ear and blood just started gushing out…"
1:15 PM Photographer Jim Murray walks back down Houston to Elm and takes a photo. On the wall is graffiti reading, "If you want to live longer stay off the highways." (Trask)
1:15 PM LHO supposedly comes down from the balcony of the Texas Theatre and buys a box of popcorn from Butch Burroughs, walks into the main floor and sits next to a pregnant woman. This information is supplied by Burroughs. He says that Johnny Brewer arrives approximately 20 minutes after he sees LHO sit next to the pregnant woman. Within a few minutes the pregnant woman gets up from her seat, goes to the ladies' restroom in the balcony, and is never seen again. LHO then gets up from his seat, walks through the concession area, and reenters the theater by walking down the right aisle. (Armstrong)
"The suspect was the only employee of the school book building who was missing at a 1:15 checkup. It was at this point that Oswald was named in a police radio lookout." (Wash Post 12/1/1963)
1:15 PM (approx) Ira "Jack" Beers, local Morning News photographer, arrived at the TSBD around this time. (H 13 104-05) He took a photo of an older white-haired man in a disheveled suit being escorted by police.
1:15 PM (2:15PM EST) Joint Chiefs broadcast an alert to all US world commands.
1:15 PM Dallas Times HeraldThe newspaper releases a two-star edition.
1:16 PM Tippit is murdered around this time, according to the WC. Officer J. D. Tippit has now supposedly spotted a man walking east along Tenth Street who seems to fit the description of the suspected assailant in Dealey Plaza. Tippit then reportedly stops, and calls the man over to his car. The man walks over to the car, leans down, and speaks to Tippit through the window on the passenger's side. There is no indication that Tippit is at all concerned about the possibility of danger. Then, according to the Warren Commission report, Tippit gets out and starts to walk around the front of the car. The man Tippit has been talking to draws a pistol and fires from the hip, hitting Tippit in the chest. Earlier this morning, Tippit hugged his oldest son Allen and said, "no matter what happens today, I want you to know that I love you." This is the last time young Allen Tippit sees his father alive. In 2004, Tippit's widow will say: ""I was privileged to have been married to J.D. for 17 years. He was a good husband and a good father. And I knew I was loved. You know, that is the most important thing in your life. To be loved. And to be able to express that love to others. And that's what J.D. was for me." In the book, WITH MALICE, it is noted that Top Ten Record shop owner J.W. Stark and clerk Louis Cortinas claim Tippit comes into the store on west Jefferson and makes a phone call. Getting no answer, Tippit leaves heading north to Sunset, then east. The time given for Tippit's visit to top Ten Record shop is 1:11:00 PM.
This location was nine-tenths of a mile from Oswald's roominghouse. "From Oswald's rooming house, where he had stopped to pick up his gun, the nearest boarding point for use of the transfer was at Jefferson and Marsalis, and he had almost arrived there when he was stopped by Tippit." (Belin, Final Disclosure 214) Oswald could only have made it to the Tippit murder scene if he had run, and interviews with dozens of housewives in the area revealed that none of them saw a young man running at that time. No witness ever came forward saying they saw Oswald walking from his house to the murder scene. The WC determined that he had to have travelled the distance from his rooming-house to the murder scene in about 11 to 12 minutes. David Belin walked the distance and it took him 17:45. (H 6 434) One press account from that day read, "Investigators said....'We have a report the fellow who did the shooting of the policeman had a rifle in a car with him.'" (Dallas Times Herald 11/22/1963)
The Warren Commission and HSCA will ignore Markham's time of the shooting (1:06 PM), will not interview Bowley (1:10 PM), will not ask Roger Craig (1:06 PM) and will not use the time shown on original Dallas police logs. Instead, the Warren Commission (1964) will conclude that Oswald walks that distance in 13 minutes. The House Select Committee on Assassinations (1978) will determine the time was 14 minutes, 30 seconds. Both will conclude that Oswald was last seen at the corner of Beckley and Zang at 1:03 PM. Either of their times, 13 minutes or 14 minutes and 30 seconds, would place Oswald at 10th & Patton at 1:16 PM or later. The time of the Tippit shooting as placed by the Commission, 1:16 PM, contradicts the testimony of Markham, Bowley, Craig and the Dallas Police log. The Dallas Police record that the defendant was walking "west in the 400 block of East 10th." The Commission will ignore the evidence - 5 witnesses and the official Dallas Police report of the event - and will state that he was walking east, away from the Texas Theatre.
1:16 PM In the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, T. F. Bowley runs up to police car #10, grabs the microphone from Benavides and radios the dispatcher that an officer (Tippit) has been shot. "We've had a shooting here ... it's a police officer, somebody shot him!" This is the first report of the murder of Officer J.D. Tippit.
1:18 PM AP puts out an unconfirmed report that LBJ has been "wounded slightly." KRLDBarker reveals that a doctor from Parkland Memorial Hospital is his source for the unconfirmed announcement of the president's death.
1:18 PM 2:18 (EST) Speaker of the House John McCormack believes he may be President. (Manchester)
1:19 PM CBSDan Rather calls radio officials to discuss the announcement for television. In response to the conversation, radio personnel begin to play the "Star Spangled Banner." CBSCronkite relays KRLD's unconfirmed report of the president's death. Brinkley on camera in "controlled panic." (Manchester)
1:20 PM Police Ban (Channel 2) -- Need extra officers at Parkland Hospital
As the killer leaves the Tippit murder scene, he discards his light jacket on the street a few blocks away. A patrolman later examines the jacket and radios his colleagues: "The jacket the suspect was wearing ... bears a laundry tag with the letter B 9738. See if there is any way you can check this laundry tag." Eventually, every laundry and dry-cleaning establishment in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is checked -- 424 of them in all -- with no success. Knowing that Oswald has lived in New Orleans, the FBI checks 293 establishments in that area with similarly negative results. Further, the FBI's eventual examination of all of Oswald's clothing shows not a single laundry or dry-cleaning mark. The FBI will also learn that while the jacket is size medium, all of Oswald's other clothing is size small.
An ambulance is dispatched from Dudley Hughes Funeral Home (allegedly at 1:18 PM) and arrives at the Tippit murder scene within a minute. Tippit's body is quickly loaded into the ambulance by Clayton Butler, Eddie Kinsley (both Dudley Hughes employees) and Mr. Bowley. Tippit's body is en route to the Hospital by the time the Police arrive. Dallas Police Officer Westbrook is eventually given a brown wallet supposedly taken from where Tippit had fallen. He shows the wallet to FBI Agent Barrett. The wallet contains identification, including a driver's license, for Lee Harvey Oswald. It seems unbelievable that anyone would leave a wallet, containing identification, next to a policeman he has just shot. But Barrett insists Oswald's wallet was found at the Tippit murder scene. Supposedly, LHO does not drive - and yet a driver's license is also reported found in this wallet.
FBI agent Robert M. Barrett went to the scene of the Tippit murder and arrived after the body was taken away. Barrett insists that officer Westbrook picked up Oswald's leather wallet from the ground; it contained ID for both Lee Oswald and Alek J. Hidell. James Hosty (in Assignment Oswald) believes that Westbrook gave the wallet to another office at the Texas Theater, and they assumed it came off of Oswald there.
A Texas driver's license belonging to Lee Oswald will turn up at the Department of Public Safety the following week. Aletha Frair, and 6 employees of the DPS will see and handle Oswald's driver's license. It is dirty and worn as though it has been carried in a billfold. Mrs. Lee Bozarth (employee of DPS) states that she knows from direct personal experience there was a Texas driver's license file for Lee Harvey Oswald. The DPS file is pulled shortly after the assassination.
The second police car to arrive at the scene where Tippit was murdered is driven by Officer Gerald Hill. Riding with Hill is William Alexander. (Officer Hill testifies that he is given custody of the .38 revolver supposedly found on Oswald when he is arrested a few moments later.)
1:20 PM Ambulance, containing body of J.D. Tippit, leaves for Methodist Hospital. (With Malice)
Officer JD Tippit's sister, Christine Christopher, calls Tippit's wife, Marie, and asks, "Have you heard from J.D.? Do you know if he's all right?" "Why?" his wife asks, her startled tone followed by Ms. Christopher's admission that she has heard a news report about an Officer Tippit being shot in Oak Cliff, possibly by the same man who murdered the president. "So I called the station," says Marie. "There was so much confusion going on. But they told me he was dead. I just freaked out. I couldn't believe this was happening. Here the president and now my husband! You've got to be wrong!' It was total devastation."
NBC co-anchor Bill Ryan indicates that a neatly dressed young man has been taken into custody.
1:20 PM After Presidential aide Kenneth O'Donnell informs LBJ that JFK is dead, he advises LBJ to return to Washington ASAP.
1:21 PM Police Ban (Channel 2) -- Get me 20 more uniformed officers to Parkland entrance immediately. This is a precautionary move.
The second officer, H.W. Summers, arrives at the shooting scene of J.D. Tippit. (Myers)
1:22 PM The third officer, Roy W. Walker, arrives at the J. D. Tippit shooting scene. (Myers) Officer Walker radioed in: "We have a description on this suspect over here on Jefferson. Last seen about the 300 East Jefferson. He's a white male, about thirty, five feet eight inches, black hair, slender, wearing a white jacket and dark slacks." The dispatcher asked, "Armed with what?" He replied, "Unknown."
1:22 PM The suspected assassination rifle, a Mannlicher-Carcano, is found on the sixth floor of the TSBD, according to the Warren Commission. (H 3 294). The WC says that the weapon was found by Deputy Sheriff Eugene L. Boone on the sixth floor by the staircase. After Boone found the rifle, Captain Fritz, Deputy Roger Craig, and Deputy Sheriff Weitzman also examined the rifle.
Mr. FRITZ. A few minutes later some officer called me and said they had found the rifle over near the back stairway and I told them same thing, not to move it, not to touch it, not to move any of the boxes until we could get pictures, and as soon as Lieutenant Day could get over there he made pictures of that.
Mr. BALL. After the pictures had been taken of the rifle what happened then?
Mr. FRITZ. After the pictures had been made then I ejected a live shell, a live cartridge from the rifle.
Mr. BALL. And who did you give that to?
Mr. FRITZ. I believe that I kept that at that time myself. Later I gave it to the crime lab who, in turn, turned it over to the FBI.
Mr. BALL. Was there any conversation you heard that this rifle was a Mauser?
Mr. FRITZ. I heard all kinds of reports about that rifle. They called it most everything.
Mr. BALL. Did you hear any conversation right there that day?
Mr. FRITZ. Right at that time?
Mr. BALL. Yes
Mr. FRITZ. I just wouldn't be sure because there were so many people talking at the same time, I might have; I am not sure whether I did or not.
Mr. BALL. Did you think it was a Mauser?
Mr. FRITZ. No, sir; I knew--you can read on the rifle what it was and you could also see on the cartridge what caliber it was.
Weisberg: "After the rifle was photographed, Day held it by the stock. He assumed the stock would show no prints. Then Captain Fritz, perhaps because of the presence of newsmen, grasped the bolt and ejected a live cartridge. Day had found no fingerprints on the bolt. If there was any need for this operation, it was never indicated. There was no print on either the clip or the live bullet." (Whitewash)
The rifle found is initially described as a 7.6
Deep Politics Timeline - Tracy Riddle - 04-05-2014
Nov 22 2pm
2:00 PM LBJ telephones Robert Kennedy from Air Force One. (The records of this call remain secret.) LBJ also telephones Abe Fortas to ask about Don Reynolds and his testimony yesterday before the Senate Rules Committee. LBJ wants to know if Reynolds linked him to the Bobby Baker scandal. LBJ then calls J. W. "Waddie" Bullion, a Dallas lawyer and Johnson business crony. LBJ calls, in part, for advice on what to do with his stocks in light of the market's almost certain plunge on news of the assassination. Observing LBJ's behavior, Kenney O'Donnell is heard to say, "He's got what he wants now. But we take it back in 68." RFK dispatches Jack Miller to Dallas to be his eyes and ears and to determine what has happened. Miller is an Assistant Attorney General in the Justice Department's Criminal Division.Most of the TSBD employees left work for the day around this time.
At some point early in the afternoon or evening, a TV news broadcast (naming Oswald as being accused of killing Tippit, and as a "prime suspect" in the JFK killing) shows an interview clip of LHO from the summer in New Orleans.
According to 11/22/63 Dallas police radio transcripts, there were two separate groups of "tramps" taken off of the boxcars, located behind the grassy knoll, on two separate occasions that day. The records indicate that as many as 8 "tramps" were taken off of the boxcars that day. The first group was marshaled within 30 minutes of the assassination, and the other group, which were apparently the ones in the photographs, around 2:00pm. It is alleged the second group of tramps was Harold Doyle, John Gedney and Gus Abrams.
2:00 PM CST 3:00 PM (EST) FBI agents Sibert and O'Neill in Maryland are ordered into the case.
2:00 PM Sorrels orders DPD officers Osborn and Jones to take himself, Zapruder, Schwartz, and McCormick to DMN offices McCormick, DMN CD, 2002; Schwartz interview; Scally 2010 DMN unable to process film Zapruder & party walk next-door to WFAA studios Mack/SFM chronology; Trask, 101
2:00 PM (approx) Carcano rifle taken by Lt. Day to Identification Bureau of DPD and placed in evidence box. (CE 3145; H 26 830) Skaggs photo from around 2pm.
2:00 PM (approx) Marina found Lee's wedding ring in a china cup.
2:00 PM (approx) An elderly man named T. F. White works at an auto repair garage located at 110 W. Seventh Street - near the southwest corner of Seventh and Beckley. From the front of the garage, one can see the El Chico restaurant parking lot, five blocks north of the Texas Theater. White steps out of the garage to see what's going on. He sees a red four-door 1961 Ford Falcon (or a 1957 Plymouth?) in the parking lot, but not parked in the normal fashion as other cars in the lot. The red Ford is situated at an unusual angle next to a ground-level billboard sign. Inside the car is a man sitting in the driver's seat. It appears that he has parked the car behind the sign in such a way that it is less visible to the traffic on Beckley Avenue. White decides to move in closer to get a better look. As he approaches the car, he is coming from behind at a 45 degree angle to the driver's side. When he gets about ten to twelve yards from the car, the man inside turns his head suddenly to look behind. The movement gives White a clear view of his face. He can also see that the man is wearing a T-shirt. Upon seeing White, the man turns on the ignition and drives out of the parking lot at top speed. He is last seen turning left on Davis Street, heading west. Later today, while watching television at home, White sees a picture of the same man -- Lee Harvey Oswald. The red Falcon bears the license plate number PP4537. The license plate is registered to Carl Mather who lives in Garland, Texas. The Mather family happens to be close friends of the Tippit family. (The HSCA will take a deposition from Carl Mather on March 20, 1978. The deposition still remains classified, but a summary of it is published in the JSCA appendix.) The Fourth Decade/Nov. 1996
He wrote down the license plate number, because he had heard a description of the assassin coming in over the radio: TEXAS PP 4537. This number was traced to a blue '57 Plymouth belonging to Carl Mather, a close friend of Officer Tippit. "White said that after he saw the man sit in the car for a short time, the man left in the car at a high rate of speed, going west on Davis Street...White reiterated that he had correctly copied the number of the car and that after seeing the news reports of Oswald, he thought Oswald was possibly identical with the man White had seen in the car." (HSCA 12 39; Groden) When told by the FBI that Oswald was in jail at 2:00 PM, White will still maintain that the man he saw driving the red Falcon was "possibly identical" to the Oswald he had seen on TV after the assassination. Mr. White writes down the vehicle's license plate number. The plates belong to a blue 1957 Plymouth 4 door sedan - not a 1961 red Ford Falcon. The Plymouth belongs to Carl Mather, a long time employee of Collins Radio and close friend of J.D. Tippit. (Mather is later interviewed by the HSCA, but most of the documents relating to that interview remain classified in the National Archives.) Newsman and former Dallas Mayor Wes Wise hears of the unusual Oswald sighting. Mr. Wise and fellow news reporter Jane Bartell question Mather about the incident over dinner. Mather is so nervous he can hardly talk and says little. In 1977 the HSCA wants to interview Mather about this incident. He agrees, but not before he is granted immunity from prosecution by the Justice Department.
Oswald's prior connection to Collins Radio: Oswald, in the company of George De Mohrenschildt, had once visited the home of retired Admiral Henry Bruton, who was an executive of Collins Radio. Bruton had been a lawyer in Virginia before becoming a Navy intelligence officer. Bruton's specialty was electronic surveillance and this is what he was bringing to Collins Radio. In April of 1963, the Wall Street Journal announced that Collins would construct a modern radio communications system linking Laos, Thailand, and South Vietnam. On November 1, 1963, the New York Times reported that Fidel Castro had captured a large boat called the Rex which was being leased to Collins Radio at the time. The next day, one of the captured Cuban exiles aboard the Rex confessed that the boat had been used to ferry arms into Cuba and that "the CIA organized all arms shipments" (New York Times 11/3/63). The Rex reportedly was the flagship of the JM/WAVE fleet, the CIA's super station in Miami. Castro announced that the arms shipments were meant for an assassination attempt on top Cuban leaders.
Eugene Brading is still at the Dallas Sheriff's office, having been arrested in the Dal-Tex building immediately after the assassination for "acting suspiciously." His colleague, Morgan Brown, who is also staying at the Cabana Motel, departs abruptly at this time. (Conspiracy)
Head of the Dallas Secret Service Forrest Sorrels meets with Abraham Zapruder and requests copies of his film. Sorrels has arrived because members of the Dallas police have already visited Zapruder. They entered his office brandishing shotguns and demanded his film. Zapruder refused and demanded that a government representative be present. BT
2:00 PM (approx) The border with Mexico was closed "to prevent the escape southward of anyone who might have been connected with the assassination." (L.A. Times)
2:00 PM Shortly after 2pm (3pm EST) Shanklin told Hoover of Oswald's arrest and that the local FBI office had an open file on him. Hoover then asked how the president was - not JFK, he told Shanklin, whom he knew was dead, but LBJ, whom he had seen on TV clutching his chest in an odd way. (The Man and the Secrets 542)
2:00 PM (approx) Oswald arrived at the police station. (WR 8)
When the police car bringing Oswald from the Texas Theatre drives into the basement of police headquarters at about 2 p.m. on Friday, some reporters and cameramen, principally from local papers and stations, are already on hand. The policemen form a wedge around Oswald and conduct him to the elevator, but several newsmen crowd into the elevator with Oswald and the police. Sgt. Hill suggests to him that he could hide his face if he wants to. He says, "Why should I hide my face? I haven't done anything to be ashamed of." When the elevator stops at the third floor, the cameramen run ahead down the corridor, and then turn around and back up, taking pictures of Oswald as he is escorted toward the homicide and robbery bureau office. According to one escorting officer, some six or seven reporters follow the police into the bureau office. [From Friday afternoon, when Oswald arrives in the building, until Sunday, newspaper reporters and television cameras focus their attention on the homicide office. In full view and within arm's length of the assembled newsmen, Oswald traverses the 20 feet of corridor between the homicide office and the locked door leading to the jail elevator at least 15 times after his initial arrival. The jail elevator, sealed off from public use, takes him to his fifth floor cell and to the assembly room in the basement for lineups and the Friday night news conference. On most occasions, Oswald's escort of three to six detectives and policemen have to push their way through the newsmen who seek to surround them. Although the Dallas press normally do not take pictures of a prisoner without first obtaining permission of the police, who usually ask the prisoner, this practice is not followed by any of the newsmen with Oswald. Generally when Oswald appears the newsmen turn their cameras on him, thrust microphones at his face, and shout questions at him. Sometimes he answers. Reporters in the forefront of the throng repeat his answers for the benefit of those behind them who cannot hear.] Also, the name Tippit is not found once in the questions put to LHO immediately after his arrest, ostensibly for the murder of Tippit.
Oswald complained, "What is this all about?...I know my rights...A police officer has been killed?...I hear they burn for murder. Well, they say it just takes a second to die....All I did was carry a gun...No, Hidell is not my real name... I have been in the Marine Corps, have a dishonorable discharge, and went to Russia...I had some trouble with police in New Orleans for passing out pro-Castro literature...Why are you treating me this way?..I am not being handled right...I demand my rights." As soon as it became known that Oswald had been a defector and Communist propaganda was found among his belongings, there was instant local talk of the "international Communist conspiracy." (Death of a President)
Ian Griggs: One "official" account (published in the Warren Commission Report) indicates that between his arrest at 1.50pm on Friday 22nd and his death less than 46 hours later, Lee Harvey Oswald was put up on five separate lineups before no less than nine witnesses. Four of these lineups are scrupulously described and it is a simple matter to trace who appeared on them, either as witnesses or as Oswald's companions in the line, and which police officers organised them. During the preparation of this paper, I began to form a suspicion that the other lineup, the one involving Howard Leslie Brennan, never actually took place. This suspicion grew rapidly when I found another "official" version (again, published in the Warren Commission Report), which indicated that the only lineups attended by Oswald on Friday 22nd were those "at about 4:20" (obviously Helen Markham), "two hours later, at 6:20pm" (this would be Callaway, Guinyard and McWatters) and "a third lineup at about 7.40pm" (obviously the Davis sisters-in-law). The fourth and final lineup described is one at 2:15pm the following day.
News film footage captures Oswald being brought through an office in the police station where Billy Lovelady is sitting nearby. A clock on the wall shows the time as a minute or so after 2pm.
During his first interview today, Oswald tells Captain Fritz that he had arrived at N. Beckley and changed his trousers. The following day he tells Fritz he had changed both his trousers and shirt. Oswald described his dirty clothes as being a reddish colored, long sleeved shirt with a button down collar and gray colored trousers. He indicated that he placed these clothes in the lower drawer of his dresser (FBI memo of James Bookout). One "brown shirt with button down collar" and "one pair of gray trousers" were found at Oswald's N. Beckley address by Dallas Detective Fay M. Turner. Both articles of clothing were inventoried by Dallas Police and listed as "1 brown shirt with button-down collar and 1 pair gray trousers and other miscellaneous men's clothing" The gray pants, remembered by Bledsoe and Jones from the bus and by cab driver William Whaley, were also found at N. Beckley --- exactly where Oswald had told Fritz he had placed them.
The gray jacket worn by Oswald the morning of November 22, as remembered by Linnie Mae Randle and Wesley Frazier, may have been found by the Dallas Police at the TSBD. They found a heavy, blue colored, "Sir Jac" brand jacket at the TSBD. This jacket is never claimed by anyone. Marina Oswald will testify that her husband owned only two jackets, one blue and the other gray. The blue jacket was found in the TSBD and was identified by Marina as her husband's. Marina also identified Commission Exhibit No. 162, the jacket found by Captain Westbrook, as her husband's second jacket. Sylvia Meagher maintains, in Accessories After The Fact, that the jacket was NOT found by Westbrook. According to the list of items of evidence turned over to the FBI by the Dallas police on November 28, 1963, the gray zipper jacket which bears a laundry tag with the number "B 9738." When Captain Will Fritz interrogates LHO about his visit to his rented room at one o'clock, LHO will state that he had "changed both his shirt and trousers before going to the show." Fritz. with the gray zipper jacket (or a white jacket) already presumably in his possession, will not even ask LHO if he had put on any garment over his shirt. In short, both at the lineups and the interrogations, the police will act as though there is NO jacket, gray or white. The police never confront LHO with the jacket or give him the opportunity to confirm or deny that it is his property. "Oswald complained of a lineup wherein he had not been granted a request to put on a jacket" like the other men in the lineup. [WR 625] If the police really had in their hands a gray zipper jacket which they believed belonged to LHO and which they thought he had worn at the Tippit scene, why didn't they let him wear that jacket in the sight of witnesses for whose benefit LHO will soon be displayed in lineups? (AATF) COMMISSION EXHIBIT 162 IS A LIGHTWEIGHT GRAY ZIPPER JACKET.
2:00 PM LBJ calls Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach and RFK.
2:00 PM - 2:35 PM (somewhere during this time, probably closer to 2pm) Dan Rather appeared on CBS-TV and said, "We are told that the gunshot wound - the fatal wound inflicted on the president of the United States - entered at the base of the throat and came out at the base of the neck at the back side." (As it Happened documentary) [Note: Where did Rather get this information about the exit wound at the base of the neck?]
2:04 PM The presidential limo leaves Parkland Hospital, driven by SS Agent George W. Hickey, Jr. and a Dallas police officer. It is placed aboard a cargo plane - an Air Force C-130 - and flown back to Washington, DC.
2:00-2:08 PM At about this time, the struggle over the removal of JFK's body began at Parkland, between local authorities and the Secret Service. A few minutes after 2:00 p.m. CST, and after a ten to fifteen minute confrontation between cursing and weapons-brandishing Secret Service agents and doctors, President Kennedy's body was removed from Parkland Hospital and driven to Air Force One. After a heated argument between Dallas officials and Secret Service men, the body of JFK is removed from Parkland Hospital almost at gun point. By law, it should have remained in Texas for autopsy. Dr. Earl Rose warns the Secret Service agents that they are breaking the chain of evidence. Roy Kellerman suggests that Rose might like to come along to Washington, watching the casket all the way to make certain that the chain of evidence was not broken. Rose replies: "There is nothing that would allow me to do it under our law. The autopsy will be performed here." Kellerman counters: "The family doesn't have to go through this. We will take care of the matter when we get back to Washington." A Dallas policeman, wearing a helmet and a revolver, now stands at Dr. Rose's side. "These people say you can't go," the policeman says. Larry O'Brien snaps: "One side!" Kenny O'Donnell says: "We're leaving." Dr. George Burkley raises his voice: "We are removing it! This is the President of the United States; you can waive your local laws." Moments later, Judge Theron Ward is stunned to hear District Attorney Wade state, over the phone, that he has no objection whatever to the removal of the President's body. The casket is wheeled through the hospital doors. (Bishop)
Outside the hospital, the bronze casket is quickly loaded into an ambulance. Roy Kellerman orders Agent Andy Berger to get behind the wheel of the ambulance and drive immediately to Love Field. Kellerman radios ahead telling his agents at Love Field to permit an ambulance and one following car through the fence. Kenny O'Donnell is also radioing identical instructions from the second car. He also says to tell Colonel Swindal, the pilot of Air Force One, to get ready for takeoff at once. (Bishop)
Secret Service Agent Forrest Sorrels will tell the FBI that he "remained at Parkland Hospital until the president's body was taken to Love Field." Still photos in the Warren Commission Report will reveal that Sorrels returns to Dealey Plaza. Back at the murder scene, Sorrels proceeds to find two star government witnesses who claim to have seen gunfire from the "Oswald window." He also discovers "that Oswald was supposedly the only employee missing from the School Book Depository" (several, in fact, are missing); and Sorrels will take Abraham Zapruder to Eastman Kodak to make copies of the film. BT
2:04 pm The casket and Mrs. Kennedy leave Parkland for Love Field.
2:06 PM LBJ phones three Dallas lawyers, attempting to obtain wording of the presidential oath of office. (Manchester)
2:06 PM ABCOn live national television, Bob Clark, in a telephone interview, gives a description of Jackie Kennedy with President Kennedy's casket.
2:07 PM The N.Y. Stock Exchange closes after the market falls 24 points. Certain individuals make over $500 million selling short.
EST? Memo from J. Edgar Hoover at this time: Shanklin called to report JFK "in very poor condition but not dead," that shots came from 4th floor of an unnamed building from a Winchester rifle; asked if RFK will be coming to Dallas; Hoover does not know.
2:08 PM CBSRobert Pierpont calls the New York office and gives an account of what he has seen and continues to report events as they happen. He ends as Jackie Kennedy walks out of Parkland Memorial Hospital with her hand resting on her husband's coffin.
Around this time, Lieutenant Jack Revill and Lieutenant Dyson, accompanied by three detectives, are still conducting a systematic search of the TSBD. Revill, about to leave, encounters and recognizes Charles Givens, who is known to the police on narcotics charges. Revill says: "I asked him if he had been on the sixth floor and ... he said, yes, that he had observed Mr. Lee, over by this window ... So I turned this Givens individual over to one of our Negro detectives and told him to take him to Captain Fritz for interrogation." (By the time Revill gives this testimony, Givens will have already provided a different version of the incident in which there is no mention of Revill or of seeing "Mr. Lee" on the sixth floor. It is also apropos to remember that Givens, like LHO, was missing from the TSBD after the assassination.) (Meagher)
2:10 PM WFAA's Bert Shipp and Sorrels speak to Jack Harrison at Kodak about processing Zapruder film Wrone, 20; Trask, 106; Shipp and Harrison SFM interviews
2:10 PM (approx) Abraham Zapruder is interviewed live on TV (WFFA) by program director Jay Watson.
WATSON: A gentleman just walked in our studio that I am meeting for the first time as well as you, this is WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas. May I have your name please, sir?
ZAPRUDER: My name is Abraham Zapruder.
WATSON: Mr. Zapruda?
ZAPRUDER: Zapruder, yes sir.
WATSON: Zapruda. And would you tell us your story please, sir?
ZAPRUDER: I got out in, uh, about a half-hour earlier to get a good spot to shoot some pictures. And I found a spot, one of these concrete blocks they have down near that park, near the underpass. And I got on top there, there was another girl from my office, she was right behind me. And as I was shooting, as the President was coming down from Houston Street making his turn, it was about a half-way down there, I heard a shot, and he slumped to the side, like this. Then I heard another shot or two, I couldn't say it was one or two, and I saw his head practically open up, all blood and everything, and I kept on shooting. That's about all, I'm just sick, I can't…
WATSON: I think that pretty well expresses the entire feelings of the whole world.
ZAPRUDER: Terrible, terrible.
WATSON: You have the film in your camera, we'll try to get…
ZAPRUDER: Yes, I brought it on the studio, now.
WATSON: …we'll try to get that processed and have it as soon as possible.
WFAA then shows a video tape of the hearse with Kennedy's body leaving the Parkland Hospital driveway. Watson next shows a photograph of the Texas School Book Depository and points to the sixth floor window.
WATSON: There is a picture of the window where the gun was allegedly fired from that killed President Kennedy…
ZAPRUDER: I must have been in the line of fire.
WATSON: … today. Excuse me, go ahead sir.
ZAPRUDER: I say I must have been in the line of fire where I seen that picture where it was. I was right on that, uh, concrete block, as I said. And as I explained before, is a sickening scene. At first I thought perhaps it's a, uh, it sounded like, uh, somebody make a joke, you hear a, a shot and somebody grabs their stomach.
Switching to ABC network coverage, former Eisenhower aide James Haggerty comments that this "has to be a planned conspiracy, this is the first time in our history when a rifle has been used and fired at a President…" From his experience with the Eisenhower administration, he explains that it is impossible to guard every building and window in a motorcade. ABC announces that 24-year old "Lee Oswald" has been arrested in connection with police slaying and "presumably the slaying also of the Secret Service man in another part of Dallas, which happened shortly before the President's [unintelligible; reporter is interrupted with another story]. Back to WFAA-TV coverage, photographer Ron Reiland is interviewed, just back from the Texas Theater. He says that the police officer was shot with a ".38 automatic…200 or more police officers went into the Theater and found a man sitting in the second row from the back that was armed with a shotgun." Crowd outside the theater was almost a lynch mob. Reiland says that at the TSBD they found an "Argentine 6.5 Mauser." [Later, unknown time]: Reiland's film footage a cop holding a discarded white jacket. Report that a man had come into the Theater "with a shotgun over his arm, of course everybody broke and ran…" Video of an officer holding a revolver and a wallet; the revolver is identified as the one used to kill the police officer, and the wallet belonged to the officer, found on the ground by the car.
Also brief footage of the Dallas police car driving Oswald away from the Theater. Police Capt Pat Gannaway is reported to have said that suspect worked in TSBD, had been in Russia, married to a Russian, and was the same man who shot Tippit.
NBC News coverage this afternoon: reporter James Kerr in Dallas says that J.D. Tippit "was shot to death by an unknown man in a car minutes after" the assassination. "The officer was shot about 2 miles from the scene" of the assassination. Reporter John Holten (sp?), part of NBC's White House news crew, was in the motorcade and related that the first shot sounded like a cherry bomb, then followed by "two or three more."
2:10 PM ABCListeners learn of Vice President Johnson's plans to be sworn into office. CBSCronkite announces reports of shock and sorrow across the nation: "I realized I'd been reporting all afternoon how the telephone circuits were tied up all over the nation as people called one another. And here, I was blocked the same way. All the lines were busy. Well, as you know, on automatic telephone exchange boards, the lines go right through ... Well, just as I sat there, one of them went black. And I grabbed it quickly, and sure enough, there was a woman on the phone with a very, I thought, phony English accent. 'Hello? Hello? Hello? Is this CBS? CBS?' And I said, 'Well, yes, this is CBS.' 'I'd like to speak to someone in the news. This is Mrs. Henry Johnson Jones.' I mean, at least three hyphens in the name, and [she] gave a Park Avenue address. And said, 'I want to complain to somebody at CBS News.' I said, 'You're speaking to someone in CBS News.' And she said, 'Well, I want to complain about your having that Walter Cronkite on the camera at a time like this, crying his crocodile tears when everybody knows he hated John Kennedy.' Well, of course, I certainly didn't hate John Kennedy, and that was, you know, something I didn't want to hear in the first place. And I was furious, and I said, 'Madam, you are speaking to Walter Cronkite. And you, madam, are a damned idiot.' And I slammed down the phone." Walter Cronkite, Anchor, CBS News April 14, 2004 Oral History Collection
KRLDCBS waits to air footage from Parkland Memorial Hospital as KRLD processes it. WFAATom Alyea tosses exposed film of the interior of the Texas School Book Depository to a coworker in the crowd outside the building. He then resumes his coverage of the police search within the sealed-off building. New York TimesTom Wicker calls in his story from the assassination to the swearing in.
2:10 PM From J. Edgar Hoover memo: called RFK to advise him of President's condition and was told by RFK that JFK was dead; repeated all information from phone calls from Shanklin.
Dallas Police Memo (dated today):
To: Chief Stevenson
Captain Fritz
Subject: Information on threats against President Kennedy
The wife of Detective RE Abbott said that a former employee at Parkland Hospital was heard by Mrs Johnson on the admission desk and a orderly named HOSEY saying that President Kennedy would be killed. The former employee was a Cuban. His name can be furnished by Mr Morgan, who is Mrs Abbott's supervisor.
OA Jones
Captain of Police
2:12 PM AP report: Dallas -- Lt. Erich Kaminski of the Secret Service bureau said the assassin's weapon appears to have been a "high-powered army or Japanese rifle of about .25 caliber. The rifle had a scope on it, he said. AP, 2:12 p.m. CST
2:13 PM UPIJack Fallon sends a wire report that police arrested a gunman. NBCTom Whalen announces that a weapon and three empty cartridges were found in the Texas School Book Depository.
2:14 PM AP reports that a Secret Service agent has been killed.
2:14-2:18 PM The O'Neal hearse, carrying the bronze casket containing JFK's body, arrives at the plane (Air Force One). It is hastily loaded. Clint Hill sees a photographer taking pictures. "I'll get him," he says to Jacqueline Kennedy. "No," she replies. "I want them to see what they have done." (Bishop)
Researcher Gary Mack states that Jimmy Darnell, a local photographer working for the NBC affiliate, films the loading of JFK's casket on to Air Force One. He films from close range. A Dallas Police officer confiscates his film. The film is now missing. Neither the FBI or the Dallas police have any record of it. (The Great Zapruder Film Hoax)
About this time, Senator Edward Kennedy and Eunice Kennedy Shriver arrive at the White House. (Bishop)
CIA Director John McCone will have a three hour conversation with RFK this afternoon as the two men pace the backyard of RFK's home in McClean, Virginia. RFK will later say that he asks McCone point blank if the CIA killed JFK. "You know, at the time I asked McCone...if they had killed my brother, and I asked him in a way that he couldn't lie to me, and they hadn't." In the days following the shooting, McCone will come to the conclusion that there were two shooters in Dallas. There is no evidence that he ever came to suspect his own agency. (Brothers)
2:15 PM Fritz returns from TSBD to homicide bureau and told his officers to pick up Lee Harvey Oswald, who was missing from the Depository. He was told that the man was already in custody.
2:15 PM NBC News reports that a rifle has been found on the fifth floor of the Book Depository Building. Newspaper reports indicate that the rifle is a Mauser. Also reported is the discovery of the remains of a chicken lunch left by the assassin on the fifth floor.
Fort Worth photographer George Smith arrives at Dealey Plaza. (Trask)
Mr. BALL - How long did you stay in the building, the Texas School Book Depository Building that afternoon?
Mr. JARMAN - I'd say it was somewhere between two and two-thirty when they turned us loose and told us to go home.
Mr. BALL - When you were there did you notice whether any of the employees were missing?
Mr. JARMAN - Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL - When did you notice, and who was missing?
Mr. JARMAN - When we started to line up to show our identification, quite a few of us asked where was Lee. That is what we called him, and he wasn't anywhere around. We started asking each other, have you seen Lee Oswald, and they said no.
Mr. BALL - Was there anybody else missing?
Mr. JARMAN - Yes.
Mr. BALL - Who.
Mr. JARMAN - Charles Douglas Givens, I believe.
Mr. BALL - Charles Givens?
Mr. JARMAN - Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL - Anybody else?
Mr. JARMAN - I can't recall.
2:15 PM Dallas Times HeraldThree pages are replated: the front page and two pages on Kennedy.
2:15 PM Howe tells Hosty that Oswald has been arrested. Alan Belmont soon called and ordered Hosty to take part in the interrogation of Oswald. (Assignment Oswald 16)
FBI agent James Hosty is at the Dallas FBI office, putting together a list of right-wing extremists who potentially might be suspects in the assassination. Supervising agent Ken Howe approaches Hosty and tells him, "They've just arrested a guy named Lee Oswald, and they're booking him for the murder of the policeman over in Oak Cliff." Hosty says the news hits him like a ton of bricks. Hosty tells Howe that he is almost certain that Oswald has to be the one who shot Kennedy. Howe then asks for the Oswald file. The men discover the file is gone. They find the file in the mail clerk's office. Special Agent In Charge, Gordon Shanklin, then sends Hosty to the Dallas police department in order to take part in the interrogation of LHO.
2:15 PM 2:15-2:20pm: Oswald talked with Officers Guy F. Rose and Richard S. Stovall. No notes exist. While in custody, no transcripts or recordings of Oswald's statements during 12 hours of interrogations were made (H 4 232; WR 200) The people present made statements about the event from memory (Appendix XI of WR); Fritz wrote in his summary that he had made "rough notes" during the interrogation, though these have never surfaced. (WR 611) Reports made by Fritz, Hosty, Bookout, Manning Clements, Thomas Kelley, and Postal Inspector Holmes on Oswald's interrogation can be found starting at WR 598. People present during his interrogation (Legend 355): Will Fritz, Thomas Kelly, Hosty, Bookhout, Manning Clements, Sorrels, David Grant, Holmes, Robert Nash, Fay Turner, Elmer Boyd. Sylvia Meagher points out that there seem to be no questions about whether Oswald had any accomplices, and there is very little about the Tippit murder. Meagher also says that not one report of the interrogations between 4:20 and 11:25pm on 11/22/1963 is found anywhere except for a report by Agent Manning Clements (WR 614-617; Accessories). Several SS and FBI agents who were present were never questioned by the WC. Posner claims that it was not the department's policy in 1963 to record interrogations: "The department did not even own a tape recorder [H 4 201,204]." Gary Mack confirmed this. Bill Alexander told Posner: "In Texas, an oral statement under duress was no good. We had Miranda before the Supreme Court handed it down for the rest of the country. We had to inform that he did not have to make any statement, and that any he did make had to be voluntary, witnessed, reduced to writing, and could be used against him. So our questions for him were strictly to get information, but there was no way they could be used in court....Even if we gave him the proper warning, and then reduced his statement to writing, if he then refused to sign it in the presence of a witness, it was useless. That's how strict the Texas law was...That's why it was not important to record or transcribe the discussions." Fritz told the WC that the Dallas police had no means to monitor telephone conversations. (Case Closed 343-4) "The only notes known to be taken during the long 12-hour interview of Lee Oswald after the assassination appear to have been burned. Notes taken by a federal agent who interviewed Oswald before the assassination also went up in flames. A secret Central Intelligence Agency memo concerning Oswald, written prior to the assassination, went up in smoke while being Thermofaxed." (Oswald in New Orleans 11) In the WC's evidence is a floor plan of the police station's third floor, which clearly shows a room called "RECORDING ROOM" near Capt Fritz's office. Gary Mack says that "Prisoners were questioned and asked if they wanted to make a statement; if they did, a stenographer was brought in to take it down for him to sign. The statement and other related documents were stored in the "Recording Room.""
2:17 PM J. Edgar Hoover memo: Shanklin called and said local agents had learned that JFK was dead. Shanklin said "they had located 3 or 4 shells in the building and the Sheriff's office had picked up one man." Shanklin said Dallas police had informed him that a Secret Service agent has been killed.
2:18 PM Jacqueline boarded Air Force One. (The Truth about the Assassination)
2:18 PM Seats have been removed in the rear section of Air Force One. JFK's casket is placed inside. The casket is secured on the left side of the plane barely inside the rear door. General Godfrey McHugh announces that "The President is aboard." He is referring to JFK. Kenny O'Donnell tells McHugh to "Run forward and tell Colonel Swindal to get the plane out of here." It is at this point that the Kennedy entourage is shocked to realize that the Johnson entourage is also aboard Air Force One. There is a feeling of awkward friction and tension. Mrs. Johnson, seeing that Mrs. Kennedy's dress is soaked in blood, suggests that she get someone to help her change. Mrs. Kennedy replies: "Oh, no. Perhaps later I'll ask Mary Gallagher. But not right now." LBJ and Mrs. Johnson retire from the aft compartment, and LBJ goes into the private bedroom to make certain that Marie Fehmer has the oath of office typewritten correctly. He barely sits down when the compartment door opens revealing Jacqueline Kennedy. LBJ rises immediately, asks Miss Fehmer to leave and apologizes to Mrs. Kennedy. He leaves the room and Mrs. Kennedy goes into the lavatory. (Bishop)
2:16 or 2:20 PM (approx) Parkland press conference; Dr. Perry describes an entry wound in JFK's throat. Apparently no video or audio footage survives. A White House transcript, discovered in 1976 at the LBJ Library, contained the following: Dr. Perry said the throat wound was "a bullet hole almost in the midline...in the lower portion of the neck, in front...below the Adam's apple." Dr. Clark said the head wound was at "the back of his head...principally on the right side, toward the right side." Perry repeated twice that the throat wound was "an entrance wound." (Best Evidence 72)
This press conference was the beginning of a truly bizarre chain of events. During the Warren Commission investigation, the exact words of this press conference were debated. By the mid 1970's however a transcript was discovered at the LBJ Presidential Library in Texas. (While the transcript says the time of the press conference was 3:16 CST, it seems likely this was supposed to read 3:16 EST, and that it really took place at 2:16 CST. This is supported by the TV coverage of the assassination, in which Walter Cronkite discussed the impending swearing-in of President Johnson -- which took place at 3:38 EST--in the same segment as he reported on the press conference.)
AT THE WHITE HOUSE WITH WAYNE HAWKS
MR. HAWKS- Let me have your attention, please. You wanted to talk to some of the attending physicians. I have two of them here, Dr. Malcolm Perry, an attending surgeon here at Parkland Memorial Hospital. He will talk to you first, and then Dr. Kemp Clark, the chief neurosurgeon here at the hospital. He will tell you what he knows about it. Dr. Perry.
QUESTION- Were you in attendance when the President died?
QUESTION- Let him tell his story.
DR. MALCOM PERRY- I was summoned to the Emergency Room shortly after the President was brought in, on an emergency basis, immediately after the President's arrival. Upon reaching his side, I noted that he was in critical condition from a wound of the neck and of the head. Immediate resuscitative measures
QUESTION- Would you go slower?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- I noted he was in critical condition from the wound in the neck and the head.
QUESTION- Could that be done by one shot?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- I cannot conjecture. I don't know.
QUESTION- A wound of the neck and of the
DR. MALCOM PERRY- of the head. Immediate resuscitative measures were undertaken, and Dr. Kemp Clark, Professor of Neurosurgery, was summoned, along with several other members of the surgical and medical staff. They arrived immediately, but at this point the President's condition did not allow complete resuscitation.
QUESTION- What do you mean by "complete resuscitation"?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- He was critically ill and moribund at the time these measures were begun.
QUESTION- Completely ill and what?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- Moribund.
QUESTION- What does that mean?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- Near death.
QUESTION- What was the word you used?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- Moribund. Dr. Clark arrived thereafter, immediately.
QUESTION- Could you tell us what resuscitative measures were attempted?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- Assisted respiration.
QUESTION- What is that?
QUESTION- With what?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- Assisted respiration with oxygen and an anesthesia machine, passage of an endotracheal tube.
QUESTION- Does that mean you stick it in?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- Yes, place it in the trachea.
QUESTION- Spell it for us, please.
DR. MALCOM PERRY- E-n-d-o-t-r-a-c-h-e-a-l. A tracheostomy.
QUESTION- Did they perform a tracheostomy?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- Yes.
QUESTION- Would you spell it?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- T-r-a-c-h-e-o-s-t-o-m-y.
QUESTION- Was there a priest in the room at this time, Doctor?
MR. HAWKS- The doctor is just telling you about the operation.
DR. MALCOM PERRY- Blood and fluids were also given, and an electrocardiograph monitor was attached to record any heart beat that might be present. At this point, Dr. Clark was also in attendance.
QUESTION- What is his name?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- Dr. Kemp Clark. And Dr. Charles Baxter.
DR. KEMP CLARK- I was called by Dr. Perry because the President
QUESTION- You are Dr. Clark?
DR. KEMP CLARK- I am Dr. Clark. because the President had sustained a brain wound. On my arrival, the resuscitative efforts, the tracheostomy, the administration of chest tubes to relieve any possible
QUESTION- Could you slow down a little bit, Doctor, please?
DR. KEMP CLARK- to relieve any possibility of air being in the pleural space, the electrocardiogram had been hooked up, blood and fluids were being administered by Dr. Perry and Dr. Baxter. It was apparent that the President had sustained a lethal wound. A missile had gone in or out of the back of his head, causing extensive lacerations and loss of brain tissue. Shortly after I arrived, the patient, the President, lost his heart action by the electrocardiogram, his heart action had stopped. We attempted resuscitative measures of his heart, including closed chest cardiac massage, but to no avail.
QUESTION- Was that closed chest?
DR. KEMP CLARK- Yes.
QUESTION- Does that mean external, Doctor, closed?
DR. KEMP CLARK- Yes. We were able to obtain palpable pulses by this method, but, again, to no avail.
QUESTION- What is palpable?
MR. HAWKS- What did you ask?
QUESTION- Palpable?
DR. KEMP CLARK- Palpable.
QUESTION- Palpable what?
DR. KEMP CLARK- Pulses.
QUESTION- Doctor, how many doctors were in attendance at the time of the President's death?
QUESTION- Doctor, can you tell us how long after he arrived on the Emergency table before he expired? In other words, how long was he living while in the hospital?
DR. KEMP CLARK- 40 minutes, perhaps.
DR. MALCOM PERRY- I was far too busy to tell. I didn't even look at my watch.
DR. KEMP CLARK- I would guess about 40 minutes.
QUESTION- Doctor, can you describe the course of the wound through the head?
DR. KEMP CLARK- We were too busy to be absolutely sure of the track, but the back of his head.
QUESTION- And through the neck?
DR. KEMP CLARK- Principally on his right side, towards the right side.
QUESTION- What was the exact time of death, doctor?
DR. KEMP CLARK- That is very difficult to say. We were very busy, and in answer to someone else's question, we had a lot of people in attendance. We elected to make this at 1300.
QUESTION- You elected?
QUESTION- What, sir?
DR. KEMP CLARK- We pronounced him at 1300 hours.
QUESTION- Thirteen of?
MR. HAWKS- 1:00 o'clock.
QUESTION- Can you describe his neck wound?
DR. KEMP CLARK- I was busy with his head wound. I would like to ask the people took care of that part to describe that to you.
QUESTION- What was the question?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- The neck wound, as visible on the patient, revealed a bullet hole almost in the mid line.
QUESTION- What was that?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- A bullet hole almost in the mid line.
QUESTION- Would you demonstrate?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- In the lower portion of the neck, in front.
QUESTION- Can you demonstrate, Doctor, on your own neck?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- Approximately here (indicating).
QUESTION- Below the Adam's apple?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- Below the Adam's apple.
QUESTION- Doctor, is it the assumption that it went through the head?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- That would be on conjecture on my part. There are two wounds, as Dr. Clark noted, one of the neck and one of the head. Whether they are directly related or related to two bullets, I cannot say.
QUESTION- Where was the entrance wound?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- There was an entrance wound in the neck. As regards the one on the head, I cannot say.
QUESTION- Which way was the bullet coming on the neck wound? At him?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- It appeared to be coming at him.
QUESTION- And the one behind?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- The nature of the wound defies the ability to describe whether it went through it from either side. I cannot tell you that. Can you, Dr. Clark?
DR. KEMP CLARK- The head wound could have been either the exit wound from the neck or it could have been a tangential wound, as it was simply a large, gaping loss of tissue.
QUESTION- That was the immediate cause of death the head wound?
DR. KEMP CLARK- I assume so, yes.
QUESTION- There is a rumor that Lyndon Johnson had a heart attack, and I would like to check that out.
DR. KEMP CLARK- I have no information.
MR. HAWKS- I don't believe these gentlemen were in attendance with the Vice President.
QUESTION- Where was he when this was going on?
MR. HAWKS- That is not a question you should put to this doctor.
QUESTION- Can you tell us where he is?
MR. HAWKS- I can't now, but Mr. Kilduff will be available later and we will take those details then.
QUESTION- We can't hear you.
MR. HAWKS- They were asking where the Vice President was, but I don't know at the moment. That is not the proper question to put to these gentlemen. They were busy with the President at the time.
QUESTION- Where was Mrs. Kennedy?
MR. HAWKS- I don't know that detail either. As you might suspect, we were all busy around here.
QUESTION- Can't we clear this up just a little more? In your estimation, was there one or two wounds? Just give us something.
DR. MALCOM PERRY- I don't know. From the injury, it is conceivable that it could have been caused by one wound, but there could have been two just as well if the second bullet struck the head in addition to striking the neck, and I cannot tell you that due to the nature of the wound. There is no way for me to tell.
QUESTION- Doctor, describe the entrance wound. You think from the front in the throat?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- The wound appeared to be an entrance wound in the front of the throat; yes, that is correct. The exit wound, I don't know. It could have been the head or there could have been a second wound of the head. There was not time to determine this at the particular instant.
QUESTION- Would the bullet have to travel up from the neck wound to exit through the back?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- Unless it was deviated from its course by striking bone or some other object.
QUESTION- Doctor, can you give us your ages, please?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- I am 34.
QUESTION- You are Doctor who?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- Perry.
MR. HAWKS- This is Dr. Malcom Perry, attending surgeon, and this is Dr. Kemp Clark, chief of neurosurgery at this hospital.
QUESTION- How old are you, sir?
DR. KEMP CLARK- 38.
QUESTION- Is that C-l-a-r-k?
DR. KEMP CLARK- Yes.
QUESTION- Can you tell us whether the autopsy will be performed here or elsewhere?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- I do not have that information.
MR. HAWKS- I don't know either.
QUESTION- Will there be one?
MR. HAWKS- I don't know that.
QUESTION- Where is the President's body?
MR. HAWKS- I couldn't tell you.
QUESTION- Was the President ever conscious after the bullet struck him?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- No, not while I was in attendance.
QUESTION- How much blood was used?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- I don't know. There was considerable bleeding.
QUESTION- How soon did you see him after he got in?
QUESTION- Did you have to send for blood?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- Blood was sent for and obtained; yes.
QUESTION- Where?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- From our Blood Bank.
QUESTION- Here in the hospital?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- Here in the hospital.
QUESTION- How much was used?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- I don't know.
QUESTION- Doctor, were the last rites performed in the Emergency Room?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- Yes.
QUESTION- Yes, they were?
MR. HAWKS- Yes, they said they were. Kilduff told you, too.
QUESTION- Which room was this? What is the room like?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- Emergency Operating Room No. 1.
QUESTION- How far from the door is that, and which way?
DR. KEMP CLARK- Straight in from the Emergency Room entrance, at the back of the hospital, approximately 40 feet.
QUESTION- Approximately what?
MR. HAWKS- Forty feet from the emergency entrance.
QUESTION- The first floor?
DR. KEMP CLARK- The ground floor.
QUESTION- How many doctors and nurses were in attendance at the time of death?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- There were at least eight or ten physicians at that time.
QUESTION- At least eight or ten physicians?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- Yes.
QUESTION- Did you think him mortally wounded at the time you first examined him, or did you think there was no possibility of saving his life at that point?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- No, I did not.
DR. KEMP CLARK- No, sir.
QUESTION- Did you say there were eight or ten doctors or doctors and nurses?
DR. KEMP CLARK- Eight or ten doctors.
QUESTION- Can we get that straight, Doctor? Did you say you did not think there was any possibility of saving his life when you first looked at him?
DR KEMP CLARK- That is what I said; yes.
QUESTION- How long had he been in before you saw him, sir?
DR. KEMP CLARK- This I don't know because I was not looking at my watch.
QUESTION- Who was the first doctor who saw him, and how long before he got there?
DR. KEMP CLARK- Just a matter of a few seconds.
DR. MALCOM PERRY- I arrived there shortly after his admission. I can't tell you the exact time because I went immediately and he had just been admitted and I walked in the room. I don't know the exact time. I was in quite a hurry.
QUESTION- Were there any members of the family or others in the room besides the doctors, in the Emergency Room?
DR. MALCOM PERRY- I am afraid I was not aware of that. I was quite too busy to notice.
MR. HAWKS- We will have to get those details from Mac.
QUESTION- Do you have any new details about our plans, what you are going to do?
MR. HAWKS- I can't until I get a reading from you fellows. For instance, you have a new President.
QUESTION- Do we? Was he sworn in?
MR. HAWKS- Well, he went somewhere to get sworn in. I assume he is sworn in at this time, but I wasn't in attendance. Obviously, you are going to have a new President. Let's put it that way.
QUESTION- Where is he going to be?
MR. HAWKS- That is what I am trying to find out. Mac is with him, trying to get the details, and he will call me or come in here. We will try to find out.
DR. PERRY- Can we go now?
THE PRESS- Thank you, Doctors.
MR. HAWKS- Your plans, what do you want to do?
QUESTION- First, is there any more about Mrs. Kennedy?
MR. HAWKS- Let's do some "supposing" because we need some planning for your press plane.
QUESTION- How about Mrs. Kennedy? Has she gone back to Washington, or is she going?
MR. HAWKS- That is what Mac is trying to find out now. This takes a lot of doing.
QUESTION- Can we stay here with the new President?
MR. HAWKS- If you want to stay here with the new President, if he stays here. I don't know that he is going to stay here. That is why I want to "suppose" here for a minute.
QUESTION- Let's put it on the basis of what the new President does. If he stays, we stay; and if he goes, we go.
MR. HAWKS- Suppose the body goes back and the new President stays? Do some of you want to stay, or go?
QUESTION- Stay with the new President.
MR. HAWKS- All right, that is what I wanted to find out. You know, there are buses and planes and things like that.
QUESTION- I know I won't be going back in any case. Can I get my luggage back here? How do we get luggage on the press plane off of there?
MR. HAWKS- If we decide to spend the night here, we will get the luggage here. Don't worry about it.
QUESTION- We have luggage in the wire car, but God knows where it is.
QUESTION- Where will the next briefing be, here or where?
MR. HAWKS- Right here, so far as I know. This is where Mac said he could come back to.
The hallway on the third floor of Dallas police headquarters is beginning to resemble Grand Central Station at rush hour. One officer admits that the analogy to New York city's famous train depot is an understatement. Capt. Fritz arrives back at Dallas police headquarters.
2:20 PM Sometime after 2:20, George Smith takes photos of the three tramps being arrested. Researcher Greg Jaynes used the shadows in the photos to calculate the time and decided this happened at around 2:15pm. Sometime around this time, photographers Smith, Beers, and Allen take a series of photographs of the three "tramps" being escorted by the police through Dealey Plaza. (Trask)
2:20 PM Katzenbach dictates the text of the presidential oath to Air Force One. (Manchester)
2:21 PM DPD officer Osborn tells dispatcher that he and Officer J.B. Jones are on "special assignment" with Sorrels (possibly related to the Zapruder film) 17H 428, 480; 23H 885
2:21 PM J. Edgar Hoover makes note of his conversation with James Rowley, chief of the Secret Service, repeating the "information" from his calls from Shanklin. Rowley is unaware of reports that one of his agents has been killed. "Mr. Rowley stated he was also thinking of subversive elements -- Mexico and Cuba. I then mentioned the Klan element." Hoover has apparently received some further information after Shanklin's 1:48 statement about a witness seeing a "Negro" shooter: "They do not know whether it was a white or a black."
2:25 PM 2:25-4:04pm Interrogation in Captain Fritz's office. Mae Brussell's paraphrasing of Oswald's remarks based on accounts by participants: "My name is Lee Harvey Oswald...I work at the Texas School Book Depository Building...I lived in Minsk and in Moscow...I worked in a factory...I liked everything over there except the weather...I have a wife and some children...My residence is 1026 North Beckley, Dallas, Texas." He recognized FBI Agent Hosty and said, "You have been at my home two or three times talking to my wife. I don't appreciate your coming out there when I was not there...I was never in Mexico City. I have been in Tijuana... Please take the handcuffs from behind me, behind my back...I observed a rifle in the Texas School Book Depository, where I work, on Nov. 20, 1963...Mr Roy Truly, the supervisor, displayed the rifle to individuals in his office on the first floor...I never owned a rifle myself...I resided in the Soviet Union for three years, where I have many friends and relatives of my wife...I was secretary of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in New Orleans a few months ago...While in the Marines, I received an award for marksmanship...While living on Beckley Street, I used the name O.H. Lee...I was present in the Texas School Book Depository Building. I have been employed there since Oct 15 1963...As a laborer, I have access to the entire building...My usual place of work is on the first floor. However, I frequently use the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh floors to get books. I was on all floors this morning...Because of all the confusion, I figured there would be no work performed that afternoon so I decided to go home...I changed my clothing and went to a movie...I carried a pistol with me to the movie because I felt like it, for no other reason...I fought the Dallas Police who arrested me in the movie theater where I received a cut and a bump...I didn't shoot President John F Kennedy or Officer J.D. Tippit...An officer struck me, causing the marks on my left eye, after I had struck him..." When asked why he had bullets in his pocket he said, "I just had them in there." The first hour or so of the interrogation was conducted before any federal agents had arrived; Hosty and Bookhout showed up at 3:15.
2:30 PM Capt. Fritz sends Detectives Senkel, Potts, and LT Cunningham of the Forgery Bureau to 1025 North Beckley to search LHO's room. They arrive and wait for Justice of the Peace David Johnson and detectives Turner and Moore. (CD 81b) Jim Bishop and Sylvia Meagher report that a Dallas policeman whispers to Captain Will Fritz: "I hear this Oswald has a furnished room on Beckley." It is important to remember that, upon his arrest at the Texas Theater, LHO refused to give his address. He has no identification on his person which indicates that he is living in a furnished room on North Beckley Street. The TSBD records on LHO list his address as the Paine residence in Irving. Neither Marina Oswald nor Ruth Paine know the Beckley Street address. Nevertheless, Fritz related that "some officer told me outside of my office that he [Oswald] had a room on Beckley ..." (Bishop) (It has been suggested that the policeman who gave Fritz this information could have been Roscoe White.)
2:30 PM A plane takes off from Redbird Airport [a private airstrip located four miles to the south of LHO's Beckley Street address] - as witnessed by Louis D. Gaudin, the air traffic controller. It is a green and white Comanche-type aircraft. Gaudin speaks with the planes three well-dressed occupants. Forty minutes later, the plane returns to the airport with only two occupants. It is met by a part-time employee who is moonlighting from the Dallas Police Department. The plane then takes off again. According to CIA documents released in 1977, two Cuban men arrived at the Mexico City airport from Dallas, via Tijuana, on a twin-engine aircraft. The CIA receives "highly reliable" information that the men were met at the Mexico airport by Cuban diplomatic personnel from the Cuban embassy. One of the men then boarded either a FAR or Cubana Airlines plane, avoiding customs, and traveled to Cuba in the cockpit so as to avoid mixing with the passengers.
2:30 PM Dallas Times HeraldThe paper releases an update to its regular edition with a 150-point banner stating, "President Dead." Fort Worth Star-TelegramThe paper produces serial editions of the afternoon paper, remaking the front page page one whenever updates are available. Citizens in Fort Worth line up around the block at the Star-Telegram building to buy copies.
"At 2:30 P.M., police announced their search of the Texas Book Depository Building was finished." (Dallas Times Herald 11/23/1963)
2:30 PM Fritz told Detectives Stovall, Rose, and Adamcik to meet Sheriff Deputies at 215 West 5th Street in Irving, Ruth Paine's house. They meet Deputy Sheriffs W.E. Walthers and J.L. Oxford. (CD 81b)
2:30 PM (EST) The cabinet plane lands in Hawaii and refuels. (Manchester)
2:30 PM Judge Sarah Hughes arrives at Love Field, boards Air Force One to swear in LBJ.
This is the critical time period that author/researcher David Lifton theorizes that the body of JFK is left unguarded and could have been removed from the bronze casket aboard Air Force One during LBJ's swearing in. David Lifton puts forward in his book, BEST EVIDENCE, the theory that JFK's body was stolen from its coffin in the rear of the plane in the first few minutes directly after it was brought on board in Dallas. "The critical period was 2:18 to 2:32 PM (CST). It appeared, from the public record, that the coffin was then unattended." During the swearing in of LBJ as President, only General Godfrey McHugh remains with JFK's casket. Godfrey McHugh was listed in Who's Who in the CIA, a book confirmed by the Pentagon Papers as being accurate. McHugh's home of record is Fort Worth, although he was born in Belgium and educated in Paris. Jackie had known and dated McHugh during her "Paris days." Penn Jones, Jr. -- an assassination researcher who also retired from the military a brigadier general says: "Since the assassination was planned and executed by the military of the United States, we feel now that General McHugh was a high-ranking traitor for the military inside the Kennedy camp. We hope we are wrong, and we hope McHugh will defend himself, but the evidence so for indicates treachery."
2:32 PM NBCRobert MacNeil calls from Dallas reporting the president's condition upon arrival at Parkland Memorial Hospital based on doctors' reports. EST?
2:35 PM AP bulletin: "Dallas police today arrested a 24-year-old man, Lee H. Oswald, in connection with the slaying of a Dallas policeman shortly after President Kennedy was assassinated. He also was being interrogated to see if he had any connection with the slaying of the president." AP report - Dallas - The Dallas police Department today arrested a 24-year-old man, Lee H. Oswald, in connection with the slaying of a Dallas policeman shortly after President Kennedy was assassinated. He was also being interrogated to see if he had any connection with the slaying of the President. Oswald was pulled screaming and yelling from the Texas Theater in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas. AP, 2:35 p.m. CST
2:37 PM Ruby called Alexander Gruber.
At approximately 2:37pm, Sergeant R.E. Dugger (18) radios in on Channel 2:
"I have Judge Johnston here with (illegible) Parkland. Was there just one (illegible) from the shooting from the Presid… party?"
Dispatcher (illegible) I had on it 18
Dispatcher: 18, There were some more injured, but I don't know who they were, or how severe.
Dugger: I didn't read you. You know anything about an injured Secret Service Agent?
Dispatcher: No, I do not. There were some more injured, but I don't know who they were.
Patrolman J.W. Brooks (174): One of the Secret Service men on the field Elm and Houston; said that it came over his teletype that one of the Secret Service men had been killed.
Dispatcher: Well, 10-4. I don't have that information.
Dugger: I believe this is going to be incorrect. He's not at Parkland. Can you have someone canvas the major hospitals please?
Garbled
Patrolman L.H. Marshall (139): I have a man out here that doesn't know anything about that.
2:38 PM Lyndon Johnson is sworn in as President aboard Air Force One by Hughes. Among those watching is Police Chief Curry. LBJ requests that Jacqueline Kennedy come into the stateroom and stand with him while the oath is being administered. Mrs. Kennedy is found by Evelyn Lincoln in the lavatory on the airplane. When Mrs. Kennedy steps into the stateroom, LBJ grasps both her hands and whispers, "Thank you." He downs a glass of ice water before taking the oath. General Godfrey McHugh is demanding
Deep Politics Timeline - Tracy Riddle - 08-05-2014
Nov 22 (Friday) Times are Central Standard Time unless indicated
3pm
A photo of the paper bag being brought out of the TSBD, by William Allen taken around 2:30-3pm. Another photo of it was taken by Jack Beers.3:00 PM Word reaches LBJ aboard Air Force One (through Major-General Chester Clifton who is sorting messages in the communications shack) that LHO has a dossier in the State Department. LBJ asks for a quick check to find out if the State Department has erred in permitting LHO to return to the USA from Russia. (Bishop)
Around this time, Jack Ruby leaves the Carousel Club and is seen standing in line at the Merchant's State Bank. Ruby reports that he has $7000.00 in cash on his person. Ruby then stops at the Ritz Delicatessen.
Jacqueline Kennedy is offered a Scotch by Kenny O'Donnell. "I've never had a Scotch in my life," she replies. O'Donnell says: "Now is as good a time to start as any." (Bishop)
3:00PM CST 4:00 PM (EST) Paul Miller called Gen. Wehle and told him that the president's body would be taken to Bethesda. (Report/Summary from Gen. Wehle's office, MDW, 11/22/1963) Reed said he found out at this time that they might be doing the autopsy on Kennedy. (RT Image 11/21/1988)
A Dallas police dispatcher, speaking to Captain C. E. Talbert on Channel Two says: "A Mr. Bill Moyers is on his way to swear in Mr. Johnson as President and he will need an escort, but we don't know when he is going to get here." (Bishop)
Fort Worth photographer George Smith recalls gaining entry to the TSBD sometime between 3:00 and 4:00 along with members of the Dallas press. (Trask)
In the early afternoon of November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Silvia Odio heard of President Kennedy's assassination on the radio on her way back to work from lunch. Although the radio made no mention yet of Oswald, Silvia thought immediately of the three men's visit to her apartment and what Leopoldo said on the phone about Leon's remarks on killing Kennedy. She felt a deep sense of fear. She began saying to herself, "Leon did it! Leon did it!" (Silvia Odio interview. Annie Laurie Odio Mallo interview by Gaeton Fonzi, September 19, 1978)
While everyone was being sent home from Silvia's workplace, she became more terrified. As she was walking to her car, she fainted. She woke up in the hospital. When Silvia's sister, Annie, first saw Oswald on television that afternoon, she thought, "My God, I know this guy from somewhere!" She kept asking herself where she'd seen him. Her sister Serita phoned: Silvia had fainted at work and was in the hospital. Annie went immediately to the hospital. When Annie visited Silvia, she told her she knew she'd seen the guy on the TV who'd shot President Kennedy, but she didn't know where. Silvia began to cry. She asked Annie if she remembered the three men's visit to the apartment. Then Annie realized she'd not only seen Oswald but had spoken with him at the door. Silvia told her of Leopoldo's follow-up phone call about Oswald's threats against the president. Annie, too, became deeply frightened. Silvia by now had also seen television pictures of the presumed assassin. She was certain Lee Harvey Oswald was identical to the "Leon Oswald" who had stood at her door under the light between the two Cubans. Because of Silvia's and Annie's fears for themselves and their scattered family, the two sisters vowed to each other not to tell the authorities what they knew. However, a friend who heard their story told the FBI.
3:00 PM NBC network airs the first footage of the motorcade.
3:00 PM Detectives J.B. Hicks and H.R. Williams arrive at TSBD. (CE 3145)
3:00 PM Police arrived at the Paine house to ask Marina if Oswald owned a rifle. (WC)
3:01 PM (CST), Hoover wrote, "I called the Attorney General at his home and told him I thought we had the man who killed the President down in Dallas .. .. .I related that Oswald went to Russia and stayed three years; came back to the United States in June, 1962, and went to Cuba on several occasions but would not tell us what he went to Cuba for." (FBI memorandum from Hoover to Tolson, Belmont, Mohr, DeLoach, Evans, Rosen, Sullivan, 11/22/63, 4:01 pm EST)
There is nothing in FBI files on Oswald, as released to the public, to suggest either that Oswald had visited Cuba, or that he had been interrogated about such visits by the FBI. The final item was apparently not true of Oswald, but was true of the man, Jack Ruby, who would kill Oswald less than 48 hours later. It is a strange error and coincidence. Hoover also noted in this memo, and apparently told RFK, that the FBI had received a couple of tips suggesting that other people may have been involved in the assassination. Finally, Hoover stated that he had instructed the FBI in Dallas to go to police headquarters and participate in the interrogation of Oswald.
3:10 PM UPI reported that Dr. Malcolm Perry had said, "There was an entrance wound below the Adam's apple."
3:00-3:15 PM Lt. Day identified Exhibit 724 (17H505) as a picture he took at 3:00 or 3:15 p.m. the day of the assassination from the assassination window looking west on Elm Street. This is still a different, though official, version. This photograph has the boxes stacked one on top of the other, all pointed toward Elm Street at about a 45-degree angle to the west. None of the boxes is on the window sill. They had been carefully stacked to allow the assassin room for his body between them and the eastern end of the window, a situation precluded by the Dillard photograph. When he acknowledged that the boxes had been moved prior to the taking of the picture, the Commission had no further interest or questions about such an obvious fate (4H264-5). Day's first attempt at an explanation was interrupted by the Commission's examiner. Day then returned to his self-justification, saying that an hour and a half after the assassination he did not know the direction in which the shots had been fired. (Weisberg, Whitewash)
3:10-3:15 PM Lee Harvey Oswald's arrest is broadcast by news media.
3:15 PM-4:05 PM Hosty enters Captain Fritz's office to join in the interrogation of Oswald. (Assignment Oswald) From Hosty and Bookout's report: "Lee Harvey Oswald, 1026 North Beckley, Dallas, Texas, was interviewed by Captain Will Fritz of the Homicide Bureau, Dallas Police Department. Special Agents James P. Hosty, Jr. and James W. Bookhout were present during this interview. When the Agents entered the interview room at 3:15 p. m., Captain Fritz had been previously interviewing Lee Harvey Oswald for an undetermined period of time. Both Agents identified themselves to Oswald and advised him they were law enforcement officers and anything he said could be used against him. Oswald at this time adopted a violent attitude toward the FBI and both Agents and made many uncomplimentary remarks about the FBI. Oswald requested that Captain Fritz remove the cuffs from him, it being noted that Oswald was handcuffed with his hands behind him. Captain Fritz had one of his detectives remove the handcuffs and handcuff Oswald with his hands in front of him. Captain Fritz asked Oswald if he ever owned a rifle and Oswald stated that he had observed a Mr. Truly, a supervisor at the Texas Schoolbook Depository on November 20, 1963, display a rifle to some individuals in his office on the first floor of the Texas Schoolbook Depository, but denied ever owning a rifle himself. Oswald stated that he had never been in Mexico except to Tijuana on one occasion. However, he admitted to Captain Fritz to having reside in the Soviet Union for three years where he has many friends and relatives of his wife. Oswald also admitted that he was the secretary for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in New Orleans, Louisiana a few months ago. Oswald stated that the Fair Play for Cuba Committee has its headquarters in New York City. Oswald admitted to having received an award for marksmanship while a member of the U. S. Marine Corps. He further admitted that he was living at 1026 N. Beckley in Dallas, Texas, under the name of O. H. Lee. Oswald admitted that he was present in the Texas Schoolbook Depository on November 22, 1963, where he has been employed since October 15, 1963. Oswald stated that as a laborer, he has access to the entire building which has offices on the first and second floors and storage on the third and fourth, as well as the fifth and sixth floors. Oswald stated that he went to lunch at approximately noon and he claimed he ate his lunch on the first floor in the lunchroom; however he went to the second floor where the Coca-Cola machine was located and obtained a bottle of Coca-Cola for his lunch. Oswald claimed to be on the first floor when President John F. Kennedy passed this building. After hearing what had happened, he said that because of all the confusion there would be no work performed that afternoon so he decided to go home. Oswald stated he then went home by bus and changed his clothes and went to a movie. Oswald admitted to carrying a pistol with him to this move stating he did this because he felt like it, giving no other reason. Oswald further admitted attempting to fight the Dallas police officers who arrested him in this move theater when he received a cut and a bump. Oswald frantically denied shooting Dallas police officer Tippit or shooting President John F. Kennedy. The interview was concluded at 4:05 p. m. when Oswald was removed for a lineup."
Fritz (WC testimony): "I asked him just the general questions for getting acquainted with him, and so I would see about how to talk to him, and Mr. Hosty spoke up and asked him something about Russia, and asked him if he had been to Russia, and he asked him if he had been to Mexico City, and this irritated Oswald a great deal and he beat on the desk and went into a kind of a tantrum."
Mr. BALL. What did he say when he was asked if he had been to Mexico City?
Mr. FRITZ. He said he had not been. He did say he had been to Russia, he was in Russia, I believe he said for some time.
Mr. BALL. He said he had not been in Mexico City?
Mr. FRITZ. At that time he told me he had not been in Mexico City.
Mr. BALL. Who asked the question whether or not he had been to Mexico City?
Mr. FRITZ. Mr. Hosty. I wouldn't have known anything about Mexico City.
Mr. BALL. Was there anything said about Oswald's wife?
Mr. FRITZ. Yes, sir. He said, he told Hosty, he said, "I know you." He said, "You accosted my wife on two occasions," and he was getting pretty irritable and so I wanted to quiet him down a little bit because I noticed if I talked to him in a calm, easy manner it wasn't very hard to get him to settle down, and I asked him what he meant by accosting, I thought maybe he meant some physical abuse or something and he said, "Well, he threatened her." And he said, "He practically told her she would have to go back to Russia." And he said, "He accosted her on two different occasions."
Mr. BALL. Was there anything said about where he lived?
Mr. FRITZ. Where he lived? Right at that time?
Mr. BALL. Yes.
Mr. FRITZ. I am sure I had no way of asking him where he lived but I am not too sure about that--just how quick he told me because he corrected me, I thought he lived in Irving and he told me he didn't live in Irving. He lived on Beckley as the officer had told me outside. And I asked him about that arrangement and I am again, I can't be too sure when this question was asked. I asked him why his wife was living in Irving and why he was living on Beckley and he said she was living with Mrs. Paine. Mrs. Paine was trying to learn to speak Russian and that his wife, Mrs. Oswald, had a small baby and Mrs. Paine helped with the baby and his wife taught Mrs. Paine Russian and it made a good arrangement for both of them and he stayed over in town. I thought it was kind of an awkward arrangement and I questioned him about the arrangement a little bit and I asked him how often he went out there and he said weekends. I asked him why he didn't stay out there. He said he didn't want to stay out there all the time, Mrs. Paine and her husband didn't get along too well. They were separated a good part of the time and I asked him if he had a car and he said he didn't have a car, he said the Paines had two cars but he didn't use their cars.
Mr. BALL. Did you ask him anything about his address or did he volunteer the address?
Mr. FRITZ. He volunteered the address at Beckley?
Mr. BALL. Yes.
Mr. FRITZ. Well, I will tell you, whether we asked him or told him one, he never did deny it, he never did deny the Beckley Street address at all. The only thing was he didn't know whether it was north or south.
Mr. BALL. Did you ask him whether it was north or south?
Mr. FRITZ. Yes, but he didn't know. But from the description of surroundings we could tell it was North Beckley.
3:15 PM Referring to LBJ onboard Air Force One, Jim Bishop writes: "It seemed that he was phoning McGeorge Bundy in the White House Situation Room every few minutes." (Bishop)
3:15 PM LBJ calls Rose Kennedy and gives his condolences. LBJ will shortly talk to both Rose Kennedy and Mrs. Connally by phone from the plane. LBJ, while talking to Rose Kennedy, puts Mrs. Johnson on the telephone. Rose Kennedy does not ask Mrs. Johnson to switch her to Jacqueline Kennedy, who is sitting fifty feet behind the Johnsons. Nor does Jackie phone her mother in law. (Four months after the assassination, Rose Kennedy will tell author Jim Bishop: "I have not heard from Mrs. Kennedy' since the funeral.") General Godfrey McHugh notices Merriman Smith and other news writers aboard the plane and reminds them that "throughout this trip I remained back there with the President."
Secret Service agents McIntyre, Roberts, Lawton, and Ready depart Dallas, Texas via AF 6970, referred to as "the back-up plane."
Around this time today, Colonel Robert E. Jones of the 112th Military Intelligence Group at Fort Sam Houston contacts the FBI in Dallas, and links the name "A. J. Hidell" to LHO.
Autopsy is begun on J. D. Tippit's body.
Sometime in mid-afternoon today, Jerry Cabluck is sent out to Bell Helicopter located halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth with the assignment to take aerial photos of the scenes of the shooting in Dallas. Bell pilot Clem Bailey flies Cabluck to Dealey Plaza. Harry Cabluck leaves Parkland Hospital soon after the death announcement and goes to Dealey Plaza to spot for his brother's aerial photos. While in the Plaza area, Cabluck earlier took several photos of police officer James W. Foster who is near a manhole cover, by the infield curb of the south side of Elm Street in an area believed to be where a bullet has truck and ricocheted out.
3:15 PM Sorrels returned to DPD HQ following arrest of Oswald Bugliosi, 128; 13H 57
3:15 PM Sgt. Gerald L. Hill turns pistol, allegedly taken from LHO in the Texas Theater, over to Detective T.L. Baker.
3:15 PM Dallas Times HeraldThe final four-star edition is released. It contains Robert Jackson's eyewitness account, and says that the rifle found on the 6[SUP]th[/SUP] floor of the TSBD is a "high powered World War II surplus weapon with a telescopic sight…" It was found with a shell still in it, half hidden under books in the NW corner. Sgt. Jerry Hill said that three expended rifle shells were found near an open window, with a chicken lunch nearby. Sheriff Bill Decker said two eyewitnesses had been picked up who saw a man with a rifle and could identify the man. The search of the TSBD was completed at 2:30pm. The President's body was taken from Parkland in a Hearse at 2:08pm.
3:15 PM Ruby leaves the Carousel and goes to his sister's house. He stayed less than half an hour, going out again to pick up food for the weekend. (H 15 324-5) He stopped by the Carousel to tell Crafard to prepare a sign saying they would be closed. (H 13 455-57)
3:16 PM (approx) JEAN HILL INTERVIEW, WITH MARY MOORMAN - WBAP/NBC-TV
"...Just as Mary started to take the picture (shown), and the president became..came right even with us, two shots - we looked at him and he was looking at a dog in the middle of the seat two shots rang out and he grabbed his chest, and a look of pain on his face, and fell across towards Jackie, and she..ah..fell over on him and said, "My God, he's shot!" and..ah..there was an interval and then three or more shots rang out..by that time, the motorcade had sped away." (Note: Mary Moorman asked why she took the picture "at that particular instance" and whether she knew the president had been shot - she didn't.)
Q. "Did you see..were you a witness..did you see the person who..who fired the..?"
A. "No, not..I didn't see any person fire the weapon."
Q. "You only heard it."
A. "I only heard it..and I looked up and I saw a man running up this hill."
Q. "Ah..you had no idea ... you couldn't...
A. "No..I had no idea..and nothing to go by..I mean, I don't think it dawned on me for an instance that the president had been shot..I mean, I knew, and yet it just didn't register." (Note: Mary is asked if she got a look at the fence - she didn't; she also indicated having dropped to the ground immediately.)
3:20 PM In New Orleans, Carlos Marcello is acquitted. He walks from courtroom showing no emotion.
3:23 PM Network news broadcasters announce Oswald by name as a suspect. ABC/CBS/NBCAll three networks identify Lee Harvey Oswald as the suspect. ABCA description of Lee Harvey Oswald is reported to viewers. Dallas Times HeraldDarwin Payne goes to Oswald's room at his boarding house to further investigate the story. Fort Worth Star TelegramBob Schieffer takes a call from Lee Harvey Oswald's mother, Marguerite.
3:26 PM Networks tell of Oswald's application for Russian citizenship; around this time, Marguerite hears the news on her car radio.
3:30 PM (approx time) Jack Revill wrote a memo about his discovery that Hosty knew about Oswald. Detective V.J. Brain overheard part of the conversation between the two men. (WR 441-2)
3:00-3:30 PM Deputy sheriffs arrive at the Paine residence in Irving, Texas. Detective Guy Rose of Captain Fritz's staff is asked by Ruth Paine if he has a search warrant. He says no "but I can get the sheriff out here with one if you want." Paine says: "No, that's all right. Be my guests." Ruth retranslates her opinions back to Russian for Marina Oswald's benefit and it becomes obvious that Mrs. Oswald is not happy with her friend's show of initiative. Paine answers what questions she can, without translating for Marina. Linnie Mae Randall, who is also present, tells the sheriffs that LHO rode with her brother, Wesley Frazier, to work this morning and that LHO put something long on the back seat of Wes's car. It was, she recalls, wrapped in paper or maybe a box. (Bishop)
Mr. LIEBELER. What time did you arrive at your home in Irving?
Mr. PAINE. I would guess about 3 or 3:30, somewhere in that neighborhood.
Mr. LIEBELER. Who was there when you arrived?
Mr. PAINE. The police, the Dallas police mostly were there.
Mr. JENNER. The police arrived and what occurred.
Mrs. PAINE. I went to the door. They announced themselves as from both the sheriff's office and the Dallas Police Office, showed me at least one package or two. I was very surprised.
Mr. JENNER. Did you say anything?
Mrs. PAINE. I said nothing. I think I just dropped my jaw. And the man in front said by way of explanation "We have Lee Oswald in custody. He is charged with shooting an officer." This is the first I had any idea that Lee might be in trouble with the police or in any way involved in the day's events. I asked them to come in. They said they wanted to search the house. I asked if they had a warrant. They said they didn't. They said they could get the sheriff out here right away with one if I insisted. And I said no, that was all right, they could be my guests. They then did search the house.
Mr. JENNER. How many police officers were there?
Mrs. PAINE. There were six altogether, and they were busy in various parts of the house.(3 H 78-79)
Guy F. Rose, a homicide detective with the Dallas Police Department, told Warren Commission attorney Joseph Ball about his arrival at the Paine home that day.
Mr. Rose. ...just as soon as we walked up on the porch, Ruth Paine came to the door. She apparently recognized us--she said, "I've been expecting you all," and we identified ourselves, and she said, "Well, I've been expecting you to come out. Come right on in."
Mr. Ball. Did she say why she had been expecting you?
Mr. Rose. She said, "Just as soon as I heard where the shooting happened, I knew there would be someone out."
At that point, according to her own testimony, she thought Oswald was working at a second TSBD building--not the one at 411 Elm Street, where the Warren Commission ultimately placed Oswald and his rifle, but one that was located several blocks from Dealey Plaza.
Joseph Ball asked Richard S. Stovall, another DPD Homicide Detective, about their arrival at the Paine home.
Mr. Ball. Now, when you first went in, did Ruth Paine say anything to you about expecting you, or something of that sort?
Mr. Stovall. Yes, sir; when we first came to the door and knocked on the door, she came to the door and she says, and we identified ourselves, she said, "I have been expecting you. You are here about this mess that's on television," and the "mess that's on television" at the time she was talking about was when they were talking about the President's murder.
Detective Stovall also told the Commission about Ruth Paine's attitude toward a police search of her home: "We explained to her that we did not have a search warrant but if she wanted us to get one we would, and she said, `That won't be necessary'--for us to come right on in, so we went on in the house and started to search out the house."
An initial search of the garage of the Paine home in Irving, Texas -- where Oswald has stored belongings -- reveals no backyard photographs. The Dallas Police list of property that is seized contains the following item: "four 3 x 5 cards bearing respectively names G. Hall; A. J. Hidell; B. Davis; and V.T. Lee." Hall, Davis and Lee are real persons of some prominence in political movements of the Left.
3:30 PM LBJ calls Nellie Connally at Parkland; she told him that her husband would probably be OK.
A photo of the sniper's nest is taken by Jack Beers around 3:30pm.
3:33 PM CST 4:33 PM EST Washington - No Secret Servicemen were injured in the attack on President Kennedy, a top Treasury official said today. Robert A. Wallace, assistant secretary of the Treasury under which the Secret Service operates, said the service had received a report that a Dallas policeman had been killed by the fusillade from an assassin. "I believe this report is correct," Wallace said. It had been reported from Dallas that a policeman and a Secret Service man had been shot and killed some distance from the scene of the attack on Kennedy. AP, 4:33 p.m. EST
ATSAIC Stewart G."Stu" Stout, stationed at the Trade Mart on November 22, 1963, died--cause unknown--immediately after Dallas, according to Agents Sam Kinney and Floyd Boring. Ironically, S/A Stout rode in the hearse [JFK's] from Parkland Hospital to Love Field on November 22, 1963. However, three items of data appear to quash this initial identification of the "dead" agent: First, Stout's report of his activities, dated 11/29/63 (18H 785); secondly, Stout's report, dated April 29, 1964, concerning the infamous drinking incident (18H 680); finally, an actual film clip of Stout with LBJ in California in 1964 as depicted in the 1992 PBS video "LBJ." Reports of Stout's demise apparently were, at least initially, exaggerated. The only agent who is a real viable candidate for possibly being the dead agent is Dennis R. Halterman, a White House Detail agent who, as the shift reports bear out, was in San Antonio with the President on November 21 but who, for all intents and purposes, "disappears" from the record after that date. (Vince Palamara)
3:35 PM WFAAThe station airs footage of the motorcade as it traveled through Dallas.
3:35 PM A C-130 carrying 100X and 679X departs Love Field.
3:48 PM CST 4:48 PM EST The sun set at this time in Washington.
3:40 PM WFAAAn AP wire service photo of the hearse is shown on air.
3:41 PM WFAANews of President Johnson's swearing in is reported.
3:54 PM NBC newsman Bill Ryan announces on national television that "Lee Oswald seems to be the prime suspect in the assassination of John F. Kennedy."
4pm
Shortly before 4 PM, Mary Moorman gives one of her Polaroid photographs of the assassination to Secret Service agents Howlett and Patterson. TGZFHIra "Jack" Beers of the Dallas Morning News later recalled that he visited the sixth floor at around 4 PM and took photographs. (WC) Comparison of the official Warren Commission photograph (CE 1301) reveals obvious differences in the arrangement in the "rifle-rest" boxes.
4:00 PM CST 5:00 PM (EST) Capt. Patton informed MDW that the "President's remains will arrive AAFB 18:05 hrs." (Daily Staff Journal/Duty Officer's Log, Military District of Washington (MDW) HQ, 11/22/1963)
In Washington, RFK continues to make telephone calls during the afternoon. One of the people he contacts is Enrique "Harry" Ruiz Williams, a Bay of Pigs veteran who is his closest associate in the Cuban exile community. RFK stuns his friend by telling him point-blank, "One of your guys did it." After receiving word of death threats, RFK had sent Harry to Miami during JFK's last trip to that state in order to provide additional security. (Brothers)
4:00 PM Original unslit Zapruder film (perforated with processing identification # 0183) shown at Kodak Thompson 1998; Wrone, 23; Trask, 109; Horne, 1197; Zavada Study 1
4:00 PM Bill Stinson, Connally's press secretary, told the media that only a fragment of a bullet had lodged in Connally's thigh. (Killing the Truth 81)
Chief Jesse Curry arrives at Dallas police headquarters from Love Field where he has driven LBJ to board Air Force One
Dr. Charles F. Gregory begins to operate on the wounds of Gov. Connally's right wrist.
4:00 - 4:30 PM Jack Ruby is reported seen in the crowded Dallas Police Headquarters.
Oswald places a telephone call to Mrs. Ruth Paine from the Dallas City Hall. The call concerns his search for legal assistance.
The afternoon edition of The Dallas Times Herald states: "Witnesses said six or seven shots were fired."
Around this time, Abram Chayez, the Legal Counsel to the State Department in Washington receives a call from Acting Secretary of State George Ball (Secretary Rusk being away on the trip to the Honolulu conference) with the direction to "gather together the files in the Department on Oswald, and to prepare a report to be available to him the first thing in the morning, covering as best we could within that time span the contacts that Oswald had with the Department." Consider: LHO was arrested and only brought to headquarters about two hours earlier. There have been no lineups in which LHO has been identified even as Tippit's killer, no confession or any "connections to the rifle." Researchers have posed the question as to what available facts could have possibly prompted Under-Secretary Ball to commit so much manpower to a report on LHO -- and to further order that the report be ready by the following morning.
In Oswald's personal effects found in his room at 1026 North Beckley Avenue in Dallas is a purported international certificate of vaccination signed by "Dr. A. J. Hidell," Post Office Box 30016, New Orleans. It certifies that Lee Harvey Oswald has been vaccinated for smallpox on June 8, 1963. This, too, is a forgery. The signature of "A. J. Hideel" is in the handwriting of Lee Harvey Oswald. There is no "Dr. Hideel" licensed to practice medicine in Louisiana. W.C. There is immediate publicity on November 22, 1963 about the alias "O.H. Lee," which becomes known after investigation, but NOT about Hidell, supposedly discovered at once in a search of Oswald's person.
Robert Hester, a commercial photographer in Dallas, is called from home to help process assassination-related photographs of Oswald holding a rifle and pistol, sees an FBI agent with a color transparency of one of those pictures and one of the backyard photos he processes shows no figure in the picture. This claim is corroborated by Hester's wife. The photographs in question are not "officially" discovered until twelve hours later in the Paine's garage after an initial search reveals nothing.
The arrests of the three tramps are duly recorded at this time on official arrest forms. John Forrester Gedney, age 38, with no home address given; Gus W. Abrams, age 53, with no home address given; and Harold Doyle, age 32, of Red Jacket, West Virginia. All three have been arrested together. The arresting officer of record is W. E. Chambers. According to the record, the vagrants are released on Tuesday morning, November 26.
Police radio broadcasts linking an automobile to the Tippit shooting have been picked up by the news media. NBC affiliate WBAP-TV in Fort Worth is reporting that "Tippit was shot to death by an unknown man in a car." It may have been in response to these reports that Dallas police crime lab photographer W. E. Barnes snaps a photograph of a stop sign that has been knocked down at the corner of Tenth and Patton. [Later evidence points to the fact that the stop sign was knocked down this morning, prior to Tippit's murder.] (With Malice)
4:05 PM Richard Sims searches Oswald, but finds no wallet on him; he assumes it has already been removed. Fritz's report says that Oswald was searched at this time, "and five cartridges and other items were removed from his pockets." Sylvan Fox finds it "astonishing" that he was not thoroughly searched earlier: "Suppose Oswald had been carrying another gun, or a knife...were the police of Dallas hoping that Oswald would do something during those first desperate hours after his arrest that would give them an excuse for shooting him themselves?" (Unanswered Questions 44) Though he was searched at the time of his arrest, Detectives Boyd and Sims decide to search him again. In Oswald's pockets they find five live rounds of .38 ammunition and a bus transfer slip.
4:09 PM AP report: Dr. (Malcolm) Parry was working on Kennedy's neck wound when the chief executive died. He said a bullet tore through "at midline in the lower portion of his neck in front." Asked if that was just below the Adam's apple, he said, "yes." [Dr. Kemp] Clark said Kennedy also was wounded in the back of the head -- "a large gaping wound with considerable loss of tissue." He referred to brain tissue. AP, 4:09 p.m. CST.
4:10 PM Arrest footage of Lee Harvey Oswald airs on WFAA-TV.
4:15 PM CST Hoover wrote in a memo, "I told Mr. Schlei [Asst Attorney General Norbert Schlei] I thought very probably we had in custody the man who killed the President .... .I stated he was born an American but tried unsuccessfully to lose his American citizenship .... .I stated he would be in the category of a nut and the extremist pro-Castro crowd…an extreme radical of the Left ..... Oswald made several trips to Cuba: upon his return each time we interviewed him about what he went to Cuba for and he answered that it was none of our business .... .I stated our Agents view him as a nut as he freezes up and withdraws into himself when he is being questioned as he did this afternoon down in Dallas." (FBI memorandum from Hoover to Tolson, Belmont, Mohr, DeLoach, Evans, Rosen, Sullivan, 11/22/63, 5:15 pm)
4:18 PM WFAATom Alyea's footage, shot just after 1:00 p.m. at the Texas School Book Depository, is broadcast. Mention of the chicken bones and pop bottle. A photo of Oswald under arrest is shown.
4:20 PM Dr. Carrico wrote a report on JFK's wounds: "Two external wounds were noted. One small penetrating wound of ant. [anterior] neck in lower 1/3. The other wound had (illegible) the calvarium and shredded brain tissue present and profuse oozing." (WR)
4:20 PM CST 5:20 PM EST RFK, McNamara, and General Taylor depart Pentagon. RFK seeks shelter in airport truck. (Manchester)
4:25 PM Agent Harlan Brown told Hosty not to participate further in the interrogation, or give the police any information the FBI had on Oswald. (Assignment Oswald 26)
4:30 PM Osborn and Jones take Zapruder and Schwartz to their office, and McCormick to DMN office Wrone, 24; Trask, 112; Schwartz interview
4:30
M Felipe Vidal Santiago arrives in Miami from Dallas, Texas by 5:30 pm EST. It is suggested that he is flown on a private or military jet.LBJ - Nellie Connally, 4:30 PM This call occurred while LBJ was aboard Air Force One.
4:30PM CST 5:30 PM (EST) Clifton called Gen. Mock and told him that the body would be taken to Bethesda. (Report/Summary from Gen. Wehle's office, MDW, 11/22/1963)
4:33 PM CST 5:33 PM (EST) JFK's children are taken to O Street. (Manchester)
4:35 PM ABCInformation is released that authorities are questioning a suspect, Lee Harvey Oswald. CBSHarry Reasoner discusses how the day will be remembered.
4:35-4:45 PM Oswald is taken by officers to the show-up room for the first of several line ups. Tippit-shooting-witness Helen Markham views the lineup of Oswald and three others and gives a very shaky identification. Also in this lineup is Bill Berry, R.L. Clark and Dan Ables.
Mr. FRITZ. The first witness that went down with me convinced me on the Tippit killing.
Mr. McCLOY. That is Mrs. Markham?
Mr. FRITZ. Yes; Helen Markham. And she was a real good witness and she identified him positively and picked him out in a manner that you could tell she was honest in her identification.
Oswald: "It isn't right to put me in line with these teenagers...You know what you are doing, and you are trying to railroad me...I want my lawyer...You are doing me an injustice by putting me out there dressed different than these other men...I am out there, the only one with a bruise on his head...I don't believe the lineup is fair, and I desire to put on a jacket similar to those worn by some of the other individuals in the lineup... All of you have a shirt on, and I have a T-shirt on."
4:45 PM Dr. Robert McClelland of Parkland Hospital wrote a statement describing the president's wounds: "The cause of death was due to massive head and brain injury from a gunshot wound of the left temple."
While LHO is being interrogated by Captain Fritz, Captain Westbrook tells Sergeant Gerald Hill that the suspect has admitted being a communist - has previously been in the Marine Corps, has a dishonorable discharge, has been to Russia, and had some trouble with the police in New Orleans for passing out pro-Castro literature. This summary comes only an hour after LHO's arrest and obviously does not come from LHO, who is still being interrogated by Captain Fritz. In 1966 Westbrook takes early retirement from the DPD and goes to South Vietnam where he works for the Secret Police, which is controlled by the CIA.
4:45-6:30pm LHO is taken back to Captain Fritz's office for more interrogation.
Oswald interrogated in Fritz's office: "When I left the Texas School Book Depository, I went to my room, where I changed my trousers, got a pistol, and went to a picture show...You know how boys do when they have a gun, they carry it.... Yes, I had written the Russian Embassy...Mr Hosty, you have been accosting my wife. You mistreated her on two different occasions when you talked with her...I know you. Well, he threatened her. He practically told her she would have to go back to Russia. You know, I can't use a phone...I want that attorney in New York, Mr. Abt. I don't know him personally but I know about a case that he handled some years ago, where he represented the people who had violated the Smith Act...If I can't get him, then I may get the American Civil Liberties Union to send me an attorney. I went to school in New York and in Fort Worth...After getting into the Marines, I finished my high school eduation...I support the Castro revolution...My landlady didn't understand my name correctly, so it was her idea to call me O.H. Lee.. [Fritz reported this; Hosty and Bookhout reported that he admitted living there under the name O.H. Lee] The only package I brought to work was my lunch...I never had a card to the Communist Party...I am a Marxist, but not a Leninist-Marxist...I bought a pistol in Fort Worth several months ago...I refuse to tell you where the pistol was purchased...I never ordered any guns...I am not malcontent. Nothing irritated me about the President....How can I afford a rifle on the Book Depository salary of $1.25 an hour?...John Kennedy had a nice family....[the white station wagon that Roger Craig saw was mentioned]..That station wagon belongs to Mrs Ruth Paine. Don't try to tie her into this. She had nothing to do with it. I told you people I did [leave in the station wagon]...Everybody will know who I am now....I have not been given the opportunity to have counsel...As I said, the Fair Play for Cuba Committee has definitely been investigated, that is very true...The results of that investigation were zero..."
Mr. BALL. Did you ask him what happened that day; where he had been?
Mr. FRITZ. Well he told me that he was eating lunch with some of the employees when this happened, and that he saw all the excitement and he didn't think--I also asked him why he left the building. He said there was so much excitement there then that "I didn't think there would be any work done that afternoon and we don't punch a clock and they don't keep very close time on our work and I just left."
Mr. BALL. At that time didn't you know that one of your officers, Baker, had seen Oswald on the second floor?
Mr. FRITZ. They told me about that down at the bookstore; I believe Mr. Truly or someone told me about it, told me they had met him--I think he told me, person who told me about, I believe told me that they met him on the stairway, but our investigation shows that he actually saw him in a lunchroom, a little lunchroom where they were eating, and he held his gun on this man and Mr. Truly told him that he worked there, and the officer let him go.
Mr. BALL. Did you question Oswald about that?
Mr. FRITZ. Yes, sir; I asked him about that and he knew that the officer stopped him all right.
Mr. BALL. Did you ask him what he was doing in the lunchroom?
Mr. FRITZ. He said he was having his lunch. He had a cheese sandwich and a Coca-Cola.
Mr. BALL. Did he tell you he was up there to get a Coca-Cola?
Mr. FRITZ. He said he had a Coca-Cola.
Mr. BALL. That same time you also asked him about the rifle.
Mr. FRITZ. I am not sure that is the time I asked him about the rifle. I did ask him about the rifle sometime soon after that occurred, and after the showup; I am not sure which time I asked him about the rifle.
Mr. BALL. Did you bring the rifle down to your office?
Mr. FRITZ. Not to him; not for him to see.
Mr. BALL. You never showed it to him?
Mr. FRITZ. No, sir. I asked him if he owned a rifle and he said he did not. I asked him if he had ever owned a rifle. He said a good many years ago he owned a small rifle but he hadn't owned one for a long time. I asked him if he owned a rifle in Russia and he said, "You know you can't own a rifle in Russia." He said, "I had a shotgun over there. You can't own a rifle in Russia." And he denied owning a rifle of any kind.
Mr. BALL. Didn't he say that he had seen a rifle at the building?
Mr. FRITZ. Yes, sir; he told me he had seen a rifle at the building 2 or 3 days before that Mr. Truly and some men were looking at.
Mr. FRITZ. He told me he went over and caught a bus and rode the bus to North Beckley near where he lived and went by home and changed clothes and got his pistol and went to the show. I asked him why he took his pistol and he said, "Well, you know about a pistol; I just carried it." Let's see if I asked him anything else right that minute. That is just about it.
Mr. BALL. Did you ask him if he killed Tippit?
Mr. FRITZ. Sir?
Mr. BALL. Did you ask him if he shot Tippit?
Mr. FRITZ. Oh, yes.
Mr. BALL. What did he say.
Mr. FRITZ. He denied it---that he did not. The only thing he said he had done wrong, "The only law I violated was in the show; I hit the officer in the show; he hit me in the eye and I guess I deserved it." He said, "That is the only law I violated." He said, "That is the only thing I have done wrong."
4:55 PM CST 5:55 PM (EST) FBI instructed Sibert and O'Neill to accompany the body to Bethesda. (Sibert/O'Neill autopsy report.)
4:55 PM FBI Agent Shanklin contacts Washington headquarters to say that the local film processing houses in Dallas are unable to handle the processing of the Zapruder film. C.D. DeLoach tells Shanklin to put the film on a commercial flight to Washington, D.C. DeLoach indicates that the FBI may develop the film themselves or have a commercial lab do it with whom the FBI has a working relationship. (FBI memo)
4:58 PM CST 5:58 PM (EST) Air Force One arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, taxied to a stop at 6:05. (WC) As Air Force One prepares to land at Andrews Air Force Base, Jackie and Kenny O'Donnell decide that he and JFK's other close aides will carry the coffin off the plane. She pointedly tells White House military attache, Brigadier General Godfrey McHugh, "I want his friends to carry him down." When another general comes back to the rear of the plane to tell O'Donnell, "The Army is prepared to take the coffin off," O'Donnell shoots back, "We'll take it off." However, as soon as Air Force One taxies to a halt, McHugh orders JFK's friends to "Clear the area. We'll take care of the coffin." (Brothers)
4:58 PM CST 5:58 PM (EST) Samuel Bird, the officer in charge of the joint service casket team, reported to Gen. McHugh, who informed Bird that the SS would remove the casket from the plane. (Samuel Bird memo to Commanding General of MDW, 11/27/1963) Another casket team on the ground was pushed out of the way by the SS agents, who placed the casket in a waiting Navy ambulance. (Samuel Bird memo to Commanding General of MDW, 11/27/1963, Report to Commanding General, MDW)
5pm
5:00 PM Ruby called Cecil Hamlin. According to Cecil Hamlin, Jack Ruby telephones him at this time and weeps freely during the call. He tells Hamlin that he has closed both of his clubs for the weekend and expresses his sorrow for the Kennedy "kids."FBI agent Robert Frazier was appointed Lead Examiner in the JFK assassination before the end of the working day (5:00 PM) on Friday. His appointment was no accident as Frazier was the most experienced firearms and toolmark examiner on the FBI staff at the time of the assassination. Before sundown, Frazier was advised that a bullet had been recovered in Dallas and was in transit to Washington. He was instructed to be at the ready to make an examination of the bullet immediately upon arrival, no matter what the hour.
5:05 PM CST, 6:05 PM EST Air Force One taxis to a stop at Andrews with LBJ and the body of JFK. Bronze casket unloaded. A helicopter immediately takes off from the opposite side of the aircraft. Its function and destination - unknown. As a rule, aircraft are not permitted to take off or land so near Air Force One. LBJ makes brief public statement, then boards a helicopter for the White House.
Hoover was not present when Air Force One landed; he had already gone home. When LBJ called, Hoover told him that his men in Dallas were working on the investigation, and all necessary resources were being devoted to it. (The Man and the Secrets)
Controversy has surrounded this flight of Air Force One almost from the moment it touches down at Andrews Air Force Base. The fact that it arrives one-half hour late leads to speculation that the president's body was either tampered with during the flight or was removed from the coffin, spirited from the plane at Andrews, secretly placed aboard a nearby Army helicopter, and flown somewhere else to afford members of the conspiracy an opportunity to alter Kennedy's wounds before the autopsy. A second possibility is that the president's body was removed from Air Force One while it was still at Love Field before departing Dallas.
Several people have asked Jackie Kennedy if she wants to change clothes. She is still wearing the bloodstained pink Chanel suit which is covered with blood. She refuses saying: "Let them see what they've done." Janet Auchincloss will tell Jackie's maid, Provie, not to clean the suit. She will place the suit in a box marked "worn by Jackie 11-22-63" and store it in her attic at Hammersmith Farm - next to a box containing Jackie's wedding dress. The pink suit eventually goes to the National Archives to be kept in storage for one hundred years before it is to be publicly displayed.
5:10-5:15 PM CST 6:10-6:15 PM (EST) Jacqueline and Robert Kennedy depart in a GRAY navy ambulance for Bethesda Naval Hospital with bronze casket. William Greer drives the ambulance carrying the president's official coffin from Andrews Air Force Base to Bethesda Naval Hospital. Navy ambulance left with the body for Bethesda. The trip took roughly 45 minutes. (WR; H 2 455; H 2 102-3, Death of a President)
In the ambulance, RFK slides open the plastic partition separating the rear from the front and speaks to Roy Kellerman. "At the hospital I'll come up and talk to you," Kellerman tells RFK. "You do that," RFK replies and shuts the partition. After her husband dies, Kellerman's widow, June, will say that he always "accepted that there was a conspiracy." According to one account, the chief of the Secret Service, James Rowley, will tell RFK that JFK was cut down in a crossfire by three, perhaps four, gunmen. The Secret Service believes the president was "the victim of a powerful organization," Rowley will inform RFK. Rowley, however, will tell the Warren Commission he believes Oswald alone killed the president. (Brothers)
LBJ makes a short statement to the nation at 6:14 PM EST: "This is a sad time for all people. We have suffered a loss that cannot be weighed. For it is a deep personal tragedy...I will do my best. That is all I can do. I ask your help - and God's."
Dr. James Humes, lab director at the Bethesda Naval Hospital, receives a telephone call from Admiral Edward Kenney, the Surgeon General of the Navy, who says: "Jim, you'd better hurry over to the hospital."
5:18 PM Dallas - It seemed evident that there was some planning behind the assassination. In the Texas School Book Depository building, overlooking the underpass, officers found an old .30 caliber Enfield with telescopic sights, spent cartridges and scraps of fried chicken. The rifle was partly hidden behind books on the second-floor of the five-story building. The bullets had come from about a 45-degree angle. AP, Frank Cormier, 5:18 p.m. CST
5:26 PM CST 6:26 (EST) LBJ's helicopter lands on White House lawn. (Manchester)
5:30 PM Oswald called Ruth Paine.
5:30 PM Ruby returned to his sister's place, staying for about two hours; he had bought "enough groceries for 20 people...but he didn't know what he was doing then." He told her he decided to close both clubs for the next three days, though he needed the money. (H 15 326-8) Eva recalled that he was extremely distraught, felt that Kennedy had been a good president for the Jewish people, and kept calling Oswald a "creep," a "lousy Commie," and saying "Don't worry...we will get him." (H 14 468, 468,484, H 15 331) He continues his rapid rate of telephone calls, eats sparingly, becomes ill, and attempts to get some rest. He decides to close his club for three days. However, according to Detective August Eberhardt, who has known Ruby for five years, he speaks with Ruby between 6 and 7 o'clock in the third-floor hallway of the Dallas police building.
5:30 PM Texas Deputy Sheriff Roger Craig is taken by Will Fritz into an office where the suspect, Lee Harvey
Oswald, is being held. Craig positively identifies Oswald as the man he saw fleeing the Texas School Book Depository and get into a Rambler Station wagon on Elm St. Oswald tells them that the station wagon belongs to Mrs. Paine. "Don't try to tie her into this." Oswald says, "She had nothing to do with it." Then he continues by saying: "Everybody will know who I am now." Will Fritz tells the WC he remembers no such incident. It is not noted that LHO denies getting into the Rambler Station wagon.
This afternoon, according to his wife, David Atlee Phillips comes home and says nothing at all. He shows neither sadness, nor pleasure, nor interest. He simply has nothing to say.
During the afternoon of Nov. 22nd, Gilberto Policarpo Lopez crosses into Mexico from Nuevo Laredo. It is only hours after this border is reopened following its closure in the wake of the assassination. (By March 1964, Policarpo's name will be put forward by the CIA as having been involved in the Kennedy assassination. The CIA, however, will never inform the Warren Commission of Policarpo's activities.)
5:30 PM (approx) An aide for Gov. Connally gives a press conference at Parkland, says he had been in surgery for almost 4 hours. One bullet went through his chest, "grazed and fractured his wrist, and the bullet was spent, and renamed imbedded in the thigh."
5:30 PM (Mexico time) A taped call, one which caused the HSCA much consternation, involved Cuban Embassy employee Luisa Calderon. Volume XI of the HSCA's Report, careful to avoid disclosing sources and methods, laid out the issue: "A reliable source reported that on 22 November 1963, several hours after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Luisa Calderon Carralero, a Cuban employee of the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City, and believed to be a member of the Cuban Directorate General of Intelligence (DGI), discussed news of the assassination with an acquaintance. Initially, when asked if she had heard the latest news, Calderon replied, in what appeared to be a joking manner, "Yes, of course, I knew almost before Kennedy." [HSCA Report, Appendix XI, p. 494]
The "reliable source" is again a telephone tap, which captured a conversation at 5:30 PM local time. A loose "transcript" of the conversation starts this way:
HF asks LUISA if she has heard the latest news and LUISA, in a joking tone says, "Yes, of course, I knew almost before Kennedy." HF smiles and comments that it is very bad; ….
There are a few oddities here. How one ascertains that a person is "smiling" in a telephone conversation is one. Also, this conversation was accompanied by a handwritten note which includes: "22 Nov Lienvoy Luisa Calderon and man outside." "Man outside" is typical CIA-speak for a man on an outside telephone line (and LIENVOY is the teltap operation). But the "transcript" notes that the other person is HF, presumably Hispanic Female. The handwritten note also says that "cc original and transcript sent to Galbond via Kingman. Nothing to Buro yet," interestingly keeping the FBI in the dark for the moment. [Handwritten note and transcript at RIF #104-10400-10162]
In any case, the HSCA became greatly concerned about the possibility that Luisa Calderon had exhibited foreknowledge of the assassination with her joking statement "Yes, of course, I knew almost before Kennedy." If a "conspiracy buff" took some similar statement on the part of an American official and ballooned it into a conspiracy mountain, they would of course be subjected to deserved ridicule. But the double-standard applied to Cubans, particularly one thought to be in the employ of the Cuban intelligence service, made this case different. In his interview with William Coleman, Ed Lopez devoted 15 minutes to the topic of Luisa Calderon, even though Coleman couldn't even remember who such a person was. The HSCA wrote several pages in Volume XI about their concerns, and the page devoted to her in the Final Report was more space than they devoted to many more important matters.
An obvious question here is whether Luisa Calderon made any statements between the time of the assassination and this 5:30 PM call, statements which might clarify whether she really had any foreknowledge or was merely joking. For instance, is there a document with transcripts of all tapped calls for November 22, and does Luisa appear in other, earlier calls? There is no evidence that I've found to indicate that the HSCA asked this question, or received such a transcript log. But one does exist. RIF #104-10404-10426 contains 49 pages of Spanish transcripts and English translations for November 22, 1963. And indeed there is not just one but two prior calls involving Luisa Calderon, one at 1:30 PM and one at 2:00 PM. Here is the beginning of the English translation of the first call:
1330 hours. Unidentified woman calls LUISA (in Cuban Embassy). Caller asks LUISA if she knows the news about KENNEDY'S death.
LUISA: is surprised….says it is a lie and asks who?
CALLER: in an attempt in Texas.
LUISA: further surprise and again asks if news is official and when did it occur.
CALLER: yes, it happened at 1300 hours.
LUISA: laughs and says how great. ………. [ 104-10404-10426, p. 22]
The second call came a half-hour later. If Luisa Calderon exhibits foreknowledge in this call, it is related to Oswald's death and not Kennedy's:
about 1400 hours. YOYA calls to Cuban Embassy and asks LUISA if she heard the news and she says yes.
YOYA: what do you think of it?
LUISA: Well I don't know. I still don't know what opinion to have about it.
YOYA: What bruts. A good shot. Direct. Listen. Now they are going to say that it was from here. That it was some Cuban.
LUISA: That is possible. Then if they don't say it; they will die. ……… [104-10404-10426, p. 23]
It is very hard to believe that the HSCA would have written what it did about Luisa Calderon if HSCA staffers had seen these transcripts, which seem to exonerate Calderon of what was always a pretty weak charge. Was this just a case of bureaucratic snafu, with these earlier transcripts getting lost in the shuffle and overlooked? That too is hard to believe. The CIA Office of Legislative Counsel took the trouble to write Robert Blakey a ten-page letter in 1979, much of it taken up with bickering over the HSCA's writeup on the Calderon affair [Letter of 2-15-79, from OLC to Robert Blakey, at RIF #104-10400-10157]. Now that the damage was done, and the HSCA led on a wild goose chase into Cuban-conspiracy-land, the CIA was concerned that the HSCA would blow its sources and methods in their writeup. So the letter goes into great detail bickering over the exact wording of the Spanish words which were translated into "I knew almost before Kennedy," never pausing to mention "Oh, by the way, here are some earlier transcripts that will put the whole business to rest." It's of course possible to argue that people at the Office of Legislative Counsel were unaware of the earlier calls, but the idea that the CIA would not know how to look for "the day's take" of transcripts for November 22 is ludicrous. This episode is very damning of the Agency, adding fuel to the thesis that the Agency was more than happy in the 1970s to do what it had done with Warren Commission 15 years earlier, which is to push Communist conspiracy theories vigorously and divert the investigations from more fruitful avenues of research.
A final point about the Calderon affair has to do with the importance of original research using the documents, and being careful of writers with an agenda. I am referring to Gus Russo's Live by the Sword, a book which generally asserts that Oswald killed Kennedy by himself but a lot of secret sources and interviews conducted by Russo in the 1990s suggest that Oswald may have been dealing with Cuban agents and possibly egged on by them, and then bad Bobby Kennedy had to order a coverup because he and Jack had been going after Castro due to an ego-driven personal vendetta. Russo discusses Luisa Calderon, and even includes some new information from the new documents. Russo repeats the famous "I knew almost before Kennedy" quote, but then adds this:
CIA transcripts of the conversation support the source. But they reveal even more detail. The conversation is punctuated by so much laughter, and such joyous disbelief, that the two parties appear giddy. Calderon, through her laughter, said that she couldn't believe the news of Kennedy's death, and continually remarked on how great it was. When the caller said that Kennedy was "shot three times in the face," Calderon exclaimed "Perfect!" [Gus Russo, Live by the Sword, Bancroft Press, 1998, p. 226]
Russo exaggerates the amount of "laughter" and "joyous disbelief" in the conversation, unless he has been somehow privy to an actual recording and not the transcript in the record that the rest of us can read. But far more interesting is how he conflates multiple conversations into one. Calderon did indeed reply "Perfect" when told Kennedy was shot three times in the face. But she did this during the recently-released 1:30 PM call, the one in which Calderon repeatedly expresses surprise at the news of the assassination, not the 5:30 PM "foreknowledge" call. Russo has conveniently left out the exonerating aspects of this earlier call, and used only the portion that makes Calderon look bad. Readers beware.
5:45 PM CST 6:45 PM (EST) Dennis David observes arrival of BLACK hearse at the rear entrance of Bethesda with plain metal casket, accompanied by 6 - 7 men in plain clothes. He is told it is body of JFK. Plain metal casket brought into Bethesda morgue. Paul O'Connor reports JFK's body wrapped in BODY BAG; no brain inside head.
5:50 PM CST 6:50 PM (EST) an Army escort officer's report stated that he had been ordered by the Provost Marshall's office to go to Bethesda; he arrived there at approximately this time, and reported "the remains of the deceased President arrived at the same time." (Report concerning events of 11/22 by Escort Officer to the Commanding General)
5:50 PM CST 6:50-7:05pm (EST) somewhere in this time frame, the ambulance with the Kennedys arrives at Bethesda. (H 18 744,757; H 2 102-3; SS reports). O'Neill led them to the rear dock outside the morgue. (Francis X. O'Neill in 1992 Team Video) The HSCA and Humes determined that the body arrived at the morgue at 7:35 (HSCA 7 8; H 2 349).
5:55 PM CST 6:55 PM (EST) GRAY Navy ambulance, driven by William Greer, arrives at Bethesda front entrance. Jacqueline Kennedy enters hospital.