Robert McNeil vs. Pearce Allman: One of them is lying, or there really were two Oswalds

[Jim Hargrove]

In addition to what Albert wrote, I can't figure out how anyone can believe that a film of the TSBD entrance that lasted less than 2 seconds, really more like one second, can possibly prove anything about anyone leaving or entering the building except during those one or two seconds. It would be an absolute miracle if either Oswald was seen in the TSBD entrance during such a brief span.


But beyond parsing these seconds, there's a lot more to the evidence surrounding these brief minutes in the TSBD. Here's an excerpt, just a little over three pages, from Harvey and Lee. (There probably will be some formatting errors here… my apologies.)




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The Warren Commission merges the activities of Harvey and Lee


The WarrenCommission concluded that after firing at President Kennedy one
man, "LeeHarvey Oswald," ran down the rear stairs to the 2nd floor andentered the
lunchroom. Afterbeing confronted by Truly and Baker (wearing a brownshirt) Oswald
purchased a Coke,left the lunchroom, entered the TSBD office, walked past Mrs. Rob-*
ert Reid with theCoke in hand (wearing a white t-shirt), throughthe TSBD office on the
2nd floor, down thefront stairs, through the foyer, out the building, and then walked 7
blocks east on ElmStreet before boarding a city bus (wearing a long sleeved brownshirt
and carrying a greyjacket). In order to reach this conclusion the Commission hadto over*
come the followingcontradictions:

1) (Harvey) Oswald purchased a Coke shortly after noon beforereturning to the
1st floor to eat lunch, yet he (Lee Oswald) was seen carryinga full bottle of
Coke at 12:32 pm. This would have been (Harvey)Oswald's second Coke within a
half hour.


2) (Harvey) Oswald did not have a Coke when seen by Baker andTruly, yet
(Lee) Oswald had a full bottle of Coke when seen by Mrs. Reidonly moments
later. When (Harvey) was seen by the reporters in the lobby ofthe TSBD he
did not have a bottle of Coke.


3) Neither Baker, Truly, nor Mrs. Reid saw (Lee) Oswald carry a greywork jacket
during or after he was seen in the lunchroom, yet he (Harvey Oswald)was seen
on the city bus wearing a grey work jacket.


4) (Harvey) Oswald was seen wearing a brown shirtin the lunchroom, a white t-*
shirt in the TSBD office (Lee), and a brownshirt and grey jacket on a city bus
(Harvey).

The above sequenceof events was simply not possible with one person.


The "Coke problem"


SA James Hosty'snotes from Harvey Oswald's interrogation on November 22 at
3:15 pm reflect thathe bought a Coke before he ate lunch in the domino room on the
1st floor. Hosty'snotes read, "At noon went to lunch ..... went to 2nd floor toget coco*
cola to eat withlunch and returned to 1st floor to eat lunch." Hosty's notesdo not reflect
that Oswaldpurchased a 2nd coke after being confronted by Officer Baker and RoyTruly in the
2nd floorlunchroom at 12:32 pm.


The following dayHosty wrote a report that contradicted his notes. SA Hosty
reported, "Oswaldstated that he went to lunch at approximately noon and he claimed
he ate his lunch onthe first floor lunchroom; however he went to the second floor where
the Coca-Colamachine was located and obtained a bottle of Coca-Cola for hislunch."[SUP]116[/SUP]
Hosty's carefullyworded report made it appear as though Oswald purchased a Coke butnever
returned tothe 1st floor.

NOTE: Oswald's account of his activities as told to CaptainFritz was probably accu*
rate. Before noon he was on the 5th floor when co-workers Jarman,Norman, and Wil*
liams rode the elevator to the 1st floor. Williams returned to the6th floor to eat his lunch
while Norman ate lunch in the domino room and Jarman ate asandwich while walk*
ing around the 1st floor. Eddie Piper saw Oswald on the 1st floorat 12:00 noon standing
near the windows overlooking Elm Street. Oswald probably went tothe 2nd floor, bought
a Coke, and returned to the domino room where he ate lunch withthe "short man"
(Norman). A few minutes later Norman left the domino room toaccompany Jarman
outside to watch the motorcade. Oswald was next seen in thelunchroom on the 2nd floor
at 12:25 by Carolyn Arnold and was then confronted at 12:32 pm byOfficer Baker and
Roy Truly.

SA Hosty's notesreflect that he, SA James Bookhout, and Captain Fritz were
present during theinterview with Oswald. When SA Bookhout wrote his report on
November 25(allegedly reflecting Captain Fritz's interview of Oswald on November
22 at 3:15pm), itdiffered from Hosty's notes and Hosty's report. Bookhout wrote, "He
was on the secondfloor of said building, having just purchased a Coca-Cola from the
soft-drinkmachine at which time a police officer came into the room with pistoldrawn
and asked him if heworked there."[SUP]117[/SUP] Bookhout's report made it appearas though Oswald
purchased thecoke before he was confronted by Baker and Truly.


The Commissionresolved the problem of when Oswald purchased the coke by conclud-*
ing, "Hepresumably purchased (the Coke) after the encounter with Baker andTruly. "[SUP]118[/SUP]


A Blue jacket and a Grey jacket


According to LinnieMae Randle, Harvey Oswald was wearing a grey work
jacket when she sawhim in the morning, which he probably left in the domino room
after entering theTSBD at 8:00 am.


Between 12:25 and12:32 pm neither Baker, Truly, nor Mrs. Reid saw Oswald
with a jacket, yetminutes later he was seen on a city bus with a work jacket, and seenin a cab
wearing a greyjacket by driver William Whaley. This means that afterHarvey Oswald was
confronted byOfficer Baker, wearing a long-sleeved brown shirt, he had to returnto the
domino room to pickup his grey jacket before leaving the TSBD.


A problem surfacedwhen a blue jacket was found in the domino room that Ma*
rina lateridentified as her husband's. The Commission never located theowner of the jacket
nor attempted toexplain how Oswald was able to leave his jacket in the domino roomand yet wear
a jacket whenriding in William Whaley scab and Cecil McWatters' bus.


Brown shirt, White shirt, Brown shirt


The Commission faceda far more serious problem with the different shirts worn
by "Lee HarveyOswald" when he was seen by Baker and Truly in the lunchroom
(brown shirt),Mrs. Reid in the TSBD office (white shirt), and bus passengersand cab
driver WilliamWhaley after he left the building (brown shirt).


NOTE: The Commission never realized that one person waswearing a white t-shirt
(Lee) while a second person (Harvey) was wearing a brown shirt.




David Belin deposedOfficer Marrion Baker, who confronted Oswald at 12:32
pm and rememberedthat he was wearing a light brown jacket. Bakerlater corrected him*
self and said thathe assumed Oswald was wearing a brown jacket because it was"hang*
ing out."[SUP]119[/SUP]Harvey Oswald was actually wearing a long-sleevedbutton-down brown shirt.


The Commissionbelieved that Oswald, after being confronted by Officer Baker,
immediately left thelunchroom and walked through the TSBD office where he was
seen by Mrs. Reid.But Mrs. Reid told Belin that Oswald was wearing a whitet-shirt as
he walked throughher office carrying abottle of Coke(no grey jacket).


The Commissionbelieved that after Oswald left the TSBD (last seen by Mrs. Reid
wearing a whitet-shirt) he walked east onElm Street and boarded a city bus. But when
attorney Joseph Ballquestioned Mary Bledsoe (Oswald's former landlady) the Commis*
sion learned that(Harvey) Oswald boarded the bus wearing a long-sleeved brownshirt.
When Ball questionedbus driver Cecil McWatters he was told that Oswald also had a
little oldjacket.[SUP]120[/SUP] After riding the bus for a few minutes(Harvey) Oswald got off, walked
a couple of blocks,and got into a cab driven by William Whaley. Whaley told the Com*
mission that(Harvey) Oswald was wearing a "brown shirt with alittle silver-like stripe
on it" and awork jacket that almost matched his khaki pants(grey).[SUP]121[/SUP]


Neither David Belinnor Commission members could understand how Oswald
could have beenwearing a long-sleeved brown shirt when confronted byOfficer Baker,
then a whitet-shirt just seconds later when seen by Mrs. Reid, and then along-sleeved
brown shirtand grey work jacket while riding a bus and a cab.Belin attempted to resolve
the problem byquestioning Mrs. Reid and retracing Oswald's steps to see if he some*
how could havereturned to the lunchroom and obtained his brown shirt andgrey jacket
before leaving theTSBD:

Belin: How far did you see him go?
Reid: I didn't turn around. He went on straight, he did not go onpast the back
door because I was facing that way.
Belin: But you know he did not go out the same back door he came in?
Reid: No, he did not.
Belin: Do you know whether or not he went into the conference room?(the con*
ference room was adjacent to both the TSBD office and the lunchroom.There
were doors, with keyed locks, between the conference room/office andconference
room/ lunchroom)
Reid: Well, I wouldn't think he did because this door off here waslocked and I
had unlocked it for the policeman myself.
Mr. Dulles: On which side was it locked or did you take the key away,was it
locked so that you-
Mrs. Reid: I would go in from this way. I wasn't going in from ouroffice into the
conference room.
Mr. Dulles: And you locked that door?
Mrs. Reid: We did. They asked me, I went in there with the policemaninto the
conference room.
Mr. Dulles: Did you take the key?
Mrs. Reid: Yes, sir. I got it from Mr. Williams.
Mr. Dulles: No, I mean after you locked the door do you leave the keyin the
lock.
Mrs. Reid: No.
Belin: What I want to know is this, Mrs. Reid. When you came back upinto the
building after the shooting and you walked into the conference room,
at that time was the door which you have marked "locked,"was it
locked at that time when you came in?
Mrs. Reid: Yes, sir. It was to-it was locked when I got to it, I willsay that.
Belin: Let me ask you this. Had you been the one who had locked itbefore or
you don't know?
Mrs. Reid: Oh, no, I couldn't say that because too many people usedthe con*
ference room. I would have no way of knowing who locked it or if itis
left unlocked. The porter locks it in the evening.
Belin: All right. If one is locking that door with a key do you lockthe door from
the inside of the conference room?
Mrs. Reid: Either way.
Belin: Who has custody of the key?
Mrs. Reid: I got that from Mr. Williams's desk, because that is whereI got it
from, and then the porter has one. I could not say. They have all the
keys.
Belin: When did you get it to unlock the door?
Mrs. Reid: Well, by the time the policeman got there and startedsearching our
floor.
Belin: When you were at point "RX" and moving, if someonewould have
walked into the conference room would you have heard him in any way?
Mrs. Reid: I could have heard him open the door.
Belin: You could hear them open the door. During the time, the priorof time
you were there and saw Lee Harvey Oswald, did you hear anyone open
the door to the conference room?
Mrs. Reid: I do not recall any.
Belin: From your best judgment, if Lee Harvey Oswald didn't go intothe con*
ference room and didn't go back to the door marked around between 27
and 28 (the rear office door, a few feet from the lunchroom), howwould
he have gotten out of the office?
Mrs. Reid: Right straight out this door (front door to the office)down this stair*
way and out the front door (on to Elm Street).
Belin: Have you ever talked to anyone there who ever saw Lee HarveyOswald
leave the building?
Mrs. Reid: No. I haven't.
Belin: Anything about whether or not his clothes were clean or dirty?
Mrs. Reid: Well, they were clean.
Belin: Do you remember what hand he was carrying his coke in?
Mrs. Reid: Yes.
Belin: In what hand.
Mrs. Reid: In his right hand.

It is clear fromMrs. Reid's answers that (Lee) Oswald, wearing the white t-shirt,
did not return tothe 2nd floor lunchroom. Neither Belin nor the Commission could
understand whereOswald obtained the "brown shirt" and "greywork jacket" that he was
wearing when heboarded Cecil McWatters' bus.

NOTE: David Belin, Joseph Ball and Commission members heardtestimony that they
were unable to reconcile. They did not understand that Mrs. Reidsaw Lee Oswald, wear*
ing a short-sleeved white t-shirt and carrying a bottle ofCoke, pass through the TSBD
office only moments before Truly and Baker confrontedHarvey Oswald in the lunchroom
wearing a long-sleeved brown shirt.


After Harvey Oswald was confronted by Officer Baker hesimply walked down the rear
stairs, picked up his grey jacket from the domino room,left the building, and boarded the
bus.

--From Harvey andLee, pp. 815-819