Why the second floor lunch room encounter could not have happened

[Bob Prudhomme]

Some more interesting points about the 2nd floor landing.



What is comical about this diagram is the position it claims Baker was in (just in front of the vestibule door) when he spied Oswald in the lunch room. This photo below shows how difficult that would have been for him. You are looking at the vestibule door (leading to lunch room) from the 2nd floor landing.



Also note in the left foreground of the photo that the corner of the elevator shaft can be seen, at least six feet closer to the photographer than the vestibule door. In the 2nd floor plan in CE 1118 above, the elevator shaft and vestibule door have been incorrectly represented, making the vestibule door appear much closer and the elevator shaft much further away. This was done to give the impression it was possible for Baker to make a wide sweeping arc through the 2nd floor landing that would take him close enough to the vestibule door to be able to see Oswald in the lunch room.

However, as Truly never actually went through the vestibule door and let it close behind him, the 2nd floor lunch room encounter is still dead in the water.

From the WC testimony of Roy S. Truly:

"Mr. TRULY. I ran over and looked in this door No. 23.Mr. BELIN. Through the glass, or was the door open?
Mr. TRULY. I don't know. I think I opened the door. I feel like I did. I don't remember.
Mr. BELIN. It could have been open or it could have been closed, you do not remember?
Mr. TRULY. The chances are it was closed.
Mr. BELIN. You thought you opened it?
Mr. TRULY. I think I opened it. I opened the door back and leaned in this way.
Mr. BELIN. What did you see?
Mr. TRULY. I saw the officer almost directly in the doorway of the lunch-room facing Lee Harvey Oswald.
Mr. BELIN. And where was Lee Harvey Oswald at the time you saw him?
Mr. TRULY. He was at the front of the lunchroom, not very far inside he was just inside the lunchroom door."

Note that Truly testified "I think I opened it. I opened the door back and leaned in this way." Translation: He was holding the door open and leaning in. Baker was a couple of feet away from him, standing in the lunch room doorway and holding a gun on Oswald.

If Victoria Adams and Sandra Styles were passing through the 2nd floor landing while Baker was checking out Oswald, they would have seen, plain as day, Truly standing in the vestibule doorway speaking to Baker. They also would have heard every word spoken.

From the WC testimony of Victoria E. Adams:

"Mr. BELIN - You took those stairs. Were you walking or running as you went down the stairs?
Miss ADAMS - I was running. We were running.
Mr. BELIN - What kind of shoes did you have on?
Miss ADAMS - Three-inch heels.
Mr. BELIN - You had heels. Now, as you were running down the stairs, did you encounter anyone?
Miss ADAMS - Not during the actual running down the stairs; no, sir."