Police Magic at North Beckley

[Jim Hargrove]

During his arrest at the Texas Theater, and in the squad car driving to police headquarters, Lee HARVEY Oswald refused to say where he lived.

Mr. Belin. That last call then was made at 1:53 p.m., in which you advised who was in the car?

Mr. Hill. With us en route to the station.

Mr. Belin. And the first one that you made after you got to the car was at 1:52 p.m.?

[….]

Mr. Belin. Now after, from the time you started in motion until the time you called in, do you remember anyone saying anything at all in the car?

Mr. Hill. The suspect was asked what his name was.

Mr. Belin. What did he say?

Mr. Hill. He never did answer. He just sat there.

Mr. Belin. Was he asked where he lived?

Mr. Hill. That was the second question that was asked the suspect, and he didn't answer it, either. About the time I got through with the radio transmission, I asked Paul Bentley, "Why don't you see if he has any identification." Paul was sitting sort of sideways in the seat, and with his right hand he reached down and felt of the suspect's left hip pocket and said, "Yes, he has a billfold," and took it out. I never did have the billfold in my possession, but the name Lee Oswald was called out by Bentley from the back seat, and said this identification, I believe, was on the library card. And he also made the statement that there was some more identification in this other name which I don't remember, but it was the same name that later came in the paper that he bought the gun under.

[….]

Mr. Belin. Would the name Hidell mean anything? Alek Hidel?

Mr. Hill. That would be similar. I couldn't say specifically that is what it was, because this was a conversation and I never did see it written down, but that sounds like the name that I heard.

Mr. Belin. Was this the first time you learned of the name?

Mr. Hill. Yes; it was.

Mr. Belin. All right; when did you learn of his address?

Mr. Hill. There were two different addresses on the identification. One of them was in Oak Cliff. The other one was in Irving. But as near as I can recall of the conversation in the car, this was strictly conversation, because I didn't read any of the stuff. It didn't have an address on Beckley, that I recall hearing.

Mr. Belin. Was he ever asked again where he lived, up to the time you got to the station?

Mr. Hill. No; I don't believe so, because when Bentley got the identification out, we had two different addresses. We had two different names, and the comment was made, "I guess we are going to have to wait until we get to the station to find out who he actually is."

It should be noted that neither of the two addresses in Harvey's wallet were of the rooming house on North Beckley. Dallas cops apparently did not learn of the Beckley address until sometime after Oswald's arrival at police headquarters, probably after 2 PM.


What time did the Dallas Police arrive at North Beckley?

(Testimony of Mr. A.C. Johnson)

Mr. Belin. Do you remember about what time of the day they arrived?

Mr. Johnson. Well, it must have been around 1:30 or 2 o'clock---the best I remember.

Mr. Belin. When did you get home that day from your work?

Mr. Johnson. Well, it was around 1 o'clock or maybe a little bit after.

Mr. Belin. How long had you been at the house when the officers arrived?

Mr. Johnson. Oh, probably 30 minutes.

Mr. Belin. All right. What happened when the officers got there? They asked if Lee Harvey Oswald lived there?

Mr. Johnson. Yes.

(Testimony of Mrs. A.C. Johnson)

Mr. Ball. On the day of the 22d of November, were you home around 1 o'clock?

Mrs. Johnson. It must have been 1:30 or 2, something like that.

Mr. Ball. When you came home?

Mrs. Johnson. Yes; after serving lunch.

Mr. Ball. Did Earlene Roberts say anything to you whether or not this man had returned?

Mrs. Johnson. No; after these officers came in, well, then she began to-tell them that he did come rushing in.…

Earlene Roberts signed an affidavit (12/5/63) and said, "About thirty minutes later (after LHO left N. Beckley at 1:03 PM) three Dallas policemen came to the house looking for Lee Harvey Oswald. We didn't know who Lee Harvey Oswald was until sometime later his picture was flashed on television. I then let the Dallas policemen in the room occupied by Lee Oswald. While the Dallas police were searching the room two FBI agents came in. The police and FBI agents took everything in the room that belong to Lee Oswald and also took our pillow case and two towels and wash cloths."

(Testimony of Earlene Roberts)

The housekeeper, Mrs. Earlene Roberts, told the WC, "Well, it was Will Fritz' men---it was plainclothesmen and I was at the back doing something and Mr. Johnson answered the door and they identified themselves and then he called me. WC attorney Ball questioned Mrs. Roberts:

Mr. Ball. Do you remember the day the President was shot?

Mrs. Roberts. Yes; I remember it---who would forget that?

Mr. Ball. And the police officers came out there?

Mrs. Roberts. Yes, sir.

Mr. Ball. And they asked you if there was a man named Lee Oswald there?

Mrs. Roberts. Yes.

Mr. Ball. And you told them "No"?

Mrs. Roberts. Yes.

Mr. Ball. Then what happened after that?

Mrs. Roberts. Well, he was trying to make us understand that-I had two new men and they told me--Mrs. Johnson told me, "Go get your keys and let them
I had gone to the back and they still had the TV on, and they was broadcasting about Kennedy. Just as I unlocked the doors Fritz' men, two of them had walked in and she come running in and said, "Oh, Roberts, come here quick. This is this fellow Lee in this little room next to yours," and they flashed him on television, is how come us to know.

Mr. Ball. Then you knew it was the man?

Mrs. Roberts. Yes; and I come in there and she said, "Wait," and then again they flashed him back on and I said, "Yes, that's him-that's O. H. Lee see in." I had gone to the back and they still had the TV on, and they was broadcasting about Kennedy. Just as I unlocked the doors Fritz' men, two of them had walked in and she come running in and said, "Oh, Roberts, come here quick. This is this fellow Lee in this little room next to yours," and they flashed him on television, is how come us to know.

Mr. Ball. Then you knew it was the man?

Mrs. Roberts. Yes; and I come in there and she said, "Wait," and then again they flashed him back on and I said, "Yes, that's him-that's O. H. Lee

Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Carl Johnson and Earlene Roberts said the three plainclothes officers arrived between 1:30 and 2:00 PM, and were soon joined by two FBI agents. At 2:10 PM (CST), 11/22/63, local television broadcast the first pictures of (HARVEY) Oswald as he was being escorted through the basement at police headquarters. Reporters announced that he was under arrest for the Tippit murder and being questioned about the assassination of President Kennedy.


If Lee HARVEY Oswald refused to tell police about his North Beckley address until after he was questioned at headquarters sometime after 2 PM, how did the police begin searching the boarding house between 1:30 and 2:00 PM?


Perhaps because Captain Fritz or someone else realized there was a problem, Dallas cops told a different story. These officers said they arrived at Beckley at about 3:00 PM, without a search warrant, and did not search Oswald's room until a search warrant was issued. Officer Potts called Capt. Fritz and told him that Oswald was registered under the name "O.H. Lee." Justice of the Peace David Johnson issued a search warrant for Oswald's possessions, at 3:55 PM, and then drove to Beckley and served the warrant. Police officers then searched the room, removed everything, and inventoried the items after returning to police headquarters. According to the police, everything was done according to procedure.


If the testimony of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and Earlene Roberts is accurate, Dallas cops arrived impossibly early at the rooming house, indicating someone on the force had prior knowledge of Oswald as the suspect and his current residence. The purpose of the early visit may have been to plant evidence.


All the above is excerpted from the newly revised "November 22, 1963" page on HarveyandLee.net. It can be read in it's entirety at this link:

http://harveyandlee.net/November/November_22.htm

John's write-up on the North Beckley police search begins about three-quarters of the way down the page.

[Drew Phipps]

Well, I wouldn't assume that Johnson and Roberts were 100% accurate about time, but if they remember the co-incidence of the police arriving and the pictures being shown on TV, that is certainly worth looking into. What does the dispatch log say about someone being sent to Beckley? (If there isn't a radio dispatch, you'd have to believe that someone at Headquarters personally told the plainclothes guys to go there, so factor in a trip time....)

Of course we also know about the multiple wallets, there's (staged?) footage of DPD examining a wallet at the Tippet scene (presumably prior to the arrest), and then the wallet recovered from LHO. I wonder if the Tippet wallet contained a Beckley Street address?

[Albert Doyle]

And don't forget the police car honking outside the boarding house.


Their times are probably pretty accurate since they would remember how long before the first TV images that the cops arrived.

[Jim Hargrove]

Hill testified that the arrest wallet contained just two addresses, one in Irving, the other in Oak Cliff, where the boarding house was. But the Oak Cliff address in his wallet was in the 600 block of Elsbeth, where Harvey and Marina lived from 11/62 to 3/63. We believe the wallet from 10th & Patton disappeared,first seen and last seen, of course, in the hands of Captain Westbrook.

John A. thinks DPD Captain Westbrook and reserve officer Kenneth Croy were involved in the conspiracy, especially Westbrook, who later became a police consultant in Saigon, surely with CIA ties. John also notes how scarce Roscoe White seemed to be on November 22.

[Drew Phipps]

And don't forget the police car honking outside the boarding house.


Their times are probably pretty accurate since they would remember how long before the first TV images that the cops arrived.

Except we don't really know which TV station they had their receiver tuned to...it might not have been the very first published image.

[Albert Doyle]

Except we don't really know which TV station they had their receiver tuned to...it might not have been the very first published image.

You can be sure all the majors had it pegged and came out with it as soon as it was known.

[Jim Hargrove]

From John's new material on the H&L November 22 page:

Five radio stations covered the Dallas area on 11/22/63, and all routinely monitored the Dallas police radio. Four of these stations did not broadcast the Tippit shooting nor its location until after Oswald's arrest at 1:51 PM.


WBAP reported the Tippit shooting after Oswald's arrest at 1:51 PM.
KRLD reported the Tippit shooting after Oswald's arrest at 1:51 PM.
WFAA reported the Tippit shooting after Oswald's arrest at 1:51 PM (their archived recordings began at 1:47 PM, but did not cover the entire assassination period).
KLIF broadcast the Tippit shooting at 2:02 PM.
KBOX was only radio station that may have reported the Tippit shooting prior Oswald's arrest, but this has never been proven. KBOX has archived radio broadcast recordings from 11/22/63 which begin at 1:35 PM, but information about the Tippit shooting begins only after Oswald's arrest at 1:51 PM. At 1:59 PM newsman Sam Pate repeated information that had supposedly been previously reported on KBOX about the Tippit shooting. If true (there are no archived recordings), this information would have to have been broadcast prior to the beginning of the KBOX archived radio recording at 1:35 PM.

[Herbert Blenner]

During his arrest at the Texas Theater, and in the squad car driving to police headquarters, Lee HARVEY Oswald refused to say where he lived.

Mr. Belin. That last call then was made at 1:53 p.m., in which you advised who was in the car?

Mr. Hill. With us en route to the station.

Mr. Belin. And the first one that you made after you got to the car was at 1:52 p.m.?

[….]

Mr. Belin. Now after, from the time you started in motion until the time you called in, do you remember anyone saying anything at all in the car?

Mr. Hill. The suspect was asked what his name was.

Mr. Belin. What did he say?

Mr. Hill. He never did answer. He just sat there.

Mr. Belin. Was he asked where he lived?

Mr. Hill. That was the second question that was asked the suspect, and he didn't answer it, either. About the time I got through with the radio transmission, I asked Paul Bentley, "Why don't you see if he has any identification." Paul was sitting sort of sideways in the seat, and with his right hand he reached down and felt of the suspect's left hip pocket and said, "Yes, he has a billfold," and took it out. I never did have the billfold in my possession, but the name Lee Oswald was called out by Bentley from the back seat, and said this identification, I believe, was on the library card. And he also made the statement that there was some more identification in this other name which I don't remember, but it was the same name that later came in the paper that he bought the gun under.

[….]

Mr. Belin. Would the name Hidell mean anything? Alek Hidel?

Mr. Hill. That would be similar. I couldn't say specifically that is what it was, because this was a conversation and I never did see it written down, but that sounds like the name that I heard.

Mr. Belin. Was this the first time you learned of the name?

Mr. Hill. Yes; it was.

Mr. Belin. All right; when did you learn of his address?

Mr. Hill. There were two different addresses on the identification. One of them was in Oak Cliff. The other one was in Irving. But as near as I can recall of the conversation in the car, this was strictly conversation, because I didn't read any of the stuff. It didn't have an address on Beckley, that I recall hearing.

Mr. Belin. Was he ever asked again where he lived, up to the time you got to the station?

Mr. Hill. No; I don't believe so, because when Bentley got the identification out, we had two different addresses. We had two different names, and the comment was made, "I guess we are going to have to wait until we get to the station to find out who he actually is."

It should be noted that neither of the two addresses in Harvey's wallet were of the rooming house on North Beckley. Dallas cops apparently did not learn of the Beckley address until sometime after Oswald's arrival at police headquarters, probably after 2 PM.


What time did the Dallas Police arrive at North Beckley?

(Testimony of Mr. A.C. Johnson)

Mr. Belin. Do you remember about what time of the day they arrived?

Mr. Johnson. Well, it must have been around 1:30 or 2 o'clock---the best I remember.

Mr. Belin. When did you get home that day from your work?

Mr. Johnson. Well, it was around 1 o'clock or maybe a little bit after.

Mr. Belin. How long had you been at the house when the officers arrived?

Mr. Johnson. Oh, probably 30 minutes.

Mr. Belin. All right. What happened when the officers got there? They asked if Lee Harvey Oswald lived there?

Mr. Johnson. Yes.

(Testimony of Mrs. A.C. Johnson)

Mr. Ball. On the day of the 22d of November, were you home around 1 o'clock?

Mrs. Johnson. It must have been 1:30 or 2, something like that.

Mr. Ball. When you came home?

Mrs. Johnson. Yes; after serving lunch.

Mr. Ball. Did Earlene Roberts say anything to you whether or not this man had returned?

Mrs. Johnson. No; after these officers came in, well, then she began to-tell them that he did come rushing in.…

Earlene Roberts signed an affidavit (12/5/63) and said, "About thirty minutes later (after LHO left N. Beckley at 1:03 PM) three Dallas policemen came to the house looking for Lee Harvey Oswald. We didn't know who Lee Harvey Oswald was until sometime later his picture was flashed on television. I then let the Dallas policemen in the room occupied by Lee Oswald. While the Dallas police were searching the room two FBI agents came in. The police and FBI agents took everything in the room that belong to Lee Oswald and also took our pillow case and two towels and wash cloths."

(Testimony of Earlene Roberts)

The housekeeper, Mrs. Earlene Roberts, told the WC, "Well, it was Will Fritz' men---it was plainclothesmen and I was at the back doing something and Mr. Johnson answered the door and they identified themselves and then he called me. WC attorney Ball questioned Mrs. Roberts:

Mr. Ball. Do you remember the day the President was shot?

Mrs. Roberts. Yes; I remember it---who would forget that?

Mr. Ball. And the police officers came out there?

Mrs. Roberts. Yes, sir.

Mr. Ball. And they asked you if there was a man named Lee Oswald there?

Mrs. Roberts. Yes.

Mr. Ball. And you told them "No"?

Mrs. Roberts. Yes.

Mr. Ball. Then what happened after that?

Mrs. Roberts. Well, he was trying to make us understand that-I had two new men and they told me--Mrs. Johnson told me, "Go get your keys and let them
I had gone to the back and they still had the TV on, and they was broadcasting about Kennedy. Just as I unlocked the doors Fritz' men, two of them had walked in and she come running in and said, "Oh, Roberts, come here quick. This is this fellow Lee in this little room next to yours," and they flashed him on television, is how come us to know.

Mr. Ball. Then you knew it was the man?

Mrs. Roberts. Yes; and I come in there and she said, "Wait," and then again they flashed him back on and I said, "Yes, that's him-that's O. H. Lee see in." I had gone to the back and they still had the TV on, and they was broadcasting about Kennedy. Just as I unlocked the doors Fritz' men, two of them had walked in and she come running in and said, "Oh, Roberts, come here quick. This is this fellow Lee in this little room next to yours," and they flashed him on television, is how come us to know.

Mr. Ball. Then you knew it was the man?

Mrs. Roberts. Yes; and I come in there and she said, "Wait," and then again they flashed him back on and I said, "Yes, that's him-that's O. H. Lee

Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Carl Johnson and Earlene Roberts said the three plainclothes officers arrived between 1:30 and 2:00 PM, and were soon joined by two FBI agents. At 2:10 PM (CST), 11/22/63, local television broadcast the first pictures of (HARVEY) Oswald as he was being escorted through the basement at police headquarters. Reporters announced that he was under arrest for the Tippit murder and being questioned about the assassination of President Kennedy.


If Lee HARVEY Oswald refused to tell police about his North Beckley address until after he was questioned at headquarters sometime after 2 PM, how did the police begin searching the boarding house between 1:30 and 2:00 PM?


Perhaps because Captain Fritz or someone else realized there was a problem, Dallas cops told a different story. These officers said they arrived at Beckley at about 3:00 PM, without a search warrant, and did not search Oswald's room until a search warrant was issued. Officer Potts called Capt. Fritz and told him that Oswald was registered under the name "O.H. Lee." Justice of the Peace David Johnson issued a search warrant for Oswald's possessions, at 3:55 PM, and then drove to Beckley and served the warrant. Police officers then searched the room, removed everything, and inventoried the items after returning to police headquarters. According to the police, everything was done according to procedure.


If the testimony of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and Earlene Roberts is accurate, Dallas cops arrived impossibly early at the rooming house, indicating someone on the force had prior knowledge of Oswald as the suspect and his current residence. The purpose of the early visit may have been to plant evidence.


All the above is excerpted from the newly revised "November 22, 1963" page on HarveyandLee.net. It can be read in it's entirety at this link:

http://harveyandlee.net/November/November_22.htm

John's write-up on the North Beckley police search begins about three-quarters of the way down the page.

The Dallas Police behaved as if they were concealing an intelligence operation, which provided the telephone number and address of Lee Oswald. This information would have been obtained if the police had a tap of Ruth Paine's telephone.

Source: Warren Commission Testimony of Ruth Hyde Paine on March 19, 1964 -
3H, 44

http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/w..._0026b.htm

Mr. JENNER. You are absolutely clear about that. All right. Now, state, you
began to state the circumstances of the telephone call. Would you in your own
words and your own chronology proceed with that, please?
Mrs. PAINE. Marina had said, "Let's call papa," in Russian and asked me to
dial the number for her, knowing that I had a number that he had given us. I
then dialed the number-
Mr. JENNER. Excuse me, did you dial the first or the second number?
Mrs. PAINE. The second number.
Mr. JENNER. And that number is?
Mrs. PAINE. WH 38993.
Mr. JENNER. When you dialed the number did someone answer?
Mrs. PAINE. Someone answered and I said, "Is Lee Oswald there?" And the
person replied, "There is no Lee Oswald here," or something to that effect.

[Drew Phipps]

"trap and trace" is sufficient to provide that info, you don't need a wiretap. Trap and trace gives you number and duration, the information that Ma Bell kept for billing purposes anyhow. This information is and always has been obtainable from the phone company by subpoena (or written request from the police).

[Dawn Meredith]

Hill testified that the arrest wallet contained just two addresses, one in Irving, the other in Oak Cliff, where the boarding house was. But the Oak Cliff address in his wallet was in the 600 block of Elsbeth, where Harvey and Marina lived from 11/62 to 3/63. We believe the wallet from 10th & Patton disappeared,first seen and last seen, of course, in the hands of Captain Westbrook.

John A. thinks DPD Captain Westbrook and reserve officer Kenneth Croy were involved in the conspiracy, especially Westbrook, who later became a police consultant in Saigon, surely with CIA ties. John also notes how scarce Roscoe White seemed to be on November 22.

I was just going to say WESTBROOK is the key here. (To learn a lot more about this dirty cop read JA's write up on the Tippit shooting, that I was privileged to deliver for John in Dallas on the 50th anniversary).

Dawn