There might be a simpler scenario which accounts for much of the observed facts, without twin Oswalds. How about if Westbrook, or Croy, came to the Tippet scene equipped with a "throw down" wallet that ties Oswald to the rifle allegedly recovered from the TSBD (Yes, that does imply foreknowledge of and participation in the assassination plan). Perhaps, when Oswald is safely dead, the "throw down" wallet, containing the incriminating fake ID, is supposed to be substituted for the real wallet. Tippet, I am imagining, is supposed to shoot Oswald during the process of arrest, but Oswald gets the drop on him.
Now, Westbrook's wallet, already photographed, is a liability, but the forged Hidell ID still needs to make it into evidence, so Westbrook plants just that into the real Oswald's pocket, after he has been subdued, or just hands the wallet to DPD Detective Bentley, who has a subsequent conversation with Oswald in the car.
FBI agent Barrett might agree with this scenario. He is the one who told the press that DPD Detective Bentley was lying about the recovery of the wallet AFTER the arrest in the car. Oswald, who by this point has realized he's being framed, gets snippy about the contents of his wallet, both in the car and in subsequent interrogation.
I have a hard time believing that any cop could let a cop killer walk away from the scene of a cop slaying, no matter what nefarious plan might be in the works. You must also suppose that a dead cop killer would be far more convenient than one who still might talk. Especially when the cop killing part of this scenario isn't necessary for framing Oswald for JFK, and in fact is not at all part of the plan.
I also observe that a police car in the alley there would have a line of sight to the scene of the slaying. PS very interesting information about Timmy Rowe. Is anything else known of him?
"All that is necessary for tyranny to succeed is for good men to do nothing." (unknown)
James Tracy: "There is sometimes an undue amount of paranoia among some conspiracy researchers that can contribute to flawed observations and analysis."
Gary Cornwell (Dept. Chief Counsel HSCA): "A fact merely marks the point at which we have agreed to let investigation cease."
Alan Ford: "Just because you believe it, that doesn't make it so."
Yeah, I see little wrong with your proposed scenario. The number of Oswalds involved in getting the jacket and "throw down" wallet into some sort of custody chain is relatively tangential here, though I do think the case for two Oswalds at the Texas Theater is pretty impressive. You may also be right about a good line of sight down the driveway from the exact spot Tippit got killed. If there was another police car in that driveway, it might have been a confidence booster for Tippit, who may have thought he had backup when the reality was far less sanguine.
As to letting a cop killer walk, no doubt your observation is spot-on, except I suspect Westbrook's loyalties may have run much deeper to a certain federal agency than to DPD. Admittedly, there is speculation in all of this. Garrison's office interviewed Tommy Rowe in 1967. That transcript is probably online somewhere.
If you're suggesting one non-double Oswald alone killed Tippit the times at the Texas Theater preclude that since another Oswald entered near 1 o'clock.
Drew Phipps Wrote:Especially when the cop killing part of this scenario isn't necessary for framing Oswald for JFK, and in fact is not at all part of the plan.
Maybe Harvey didn't go along with the plan when he wasn't there for the cops honking the horn at Mrs Roberts. This caused the need for the 10th St plan which was squarely designed to solve Harvey's no show at the boarding house.
Does Harvey get a quick ride to the Texas Theater from Mrs Robert's?
Does the Lee crew murder Tippit and then lead a huge squadron of cops to the Texas Theater?
JFK researcher Leo Sauvage asked Dallas Assistant District Attorney Jim Bowie whether a telephone call by Julia Postal had led to Oswald's arrest. Bowie told him there was a call from the cashier, but also that there were "Half a dozen calls!" Assuming this is correct, it seems pretty clear that everyone from Langley to the CIA station in Mexico City must have been calling the Dallas cops to get 26 of them to descend on the Texas Theater to collect that missing 90 cents!
For many years, John believed Lee's function was to lead the cops from 10th & Patton to the Texas Theater, but his thinking recently changed, prompting some of the new updates to the November 22 page of HarveyandLee.net. Harvey, wearing the brown shirt he was arrested in, probably arrived there a few minutes before 1:10. Soon he starts moving aimlessly around the theater, sitting next to one patron and then another, presumably seeking a contact.
Lee, wearing the white T-shirt all the Dallas police radio dispatches cited for the Tippit murder suspect, arrives at the theater around 1:20. For argument's sake, let's say Lee has already given his Eisenhower-style jacket and the Oswald/Hidell wallet to Westbrook, who is in the process of entering both into evidence at 10th & Patton. But Lee still has the revolver he used to kill Tippit. What does he do with it?
His job is to get the Tippit murder weapon into the patsy's hands, the final on-the-spot piece of the frame-up puzzle for "Lee Harvey Oswald." But exactly how does he do that?
Curiously, the call to the police does not go out from Postal (and others) until 1:45, nearly half an hour after the last Oswald arrived at the theater. So what was going on all that time?
John believes that the Tippit murder weapon was being transferred from Lee Oswald to Harvey Oswald via the "contact" Harvey was obviously seeking all the time he was at the theater. It may have been the pregnant lady Butch Burroughs saw Harvey Oswald sit next to. A minute or two after Harvey sat next to the pregnant lady, she walked out the theater, probably walking by the shoe store and giving the signal to Tommy Rowe and/or Johnny Brewer (most likely Rowe) that Harvey was now ready to be arrested. BRING ON THE 26 COPS, THE TRAP IS FULLY SET!
''John believes that the Tippit murder weapon was being transferred from Lee Oswald to Harvey Oswald via the "contact" Harvey was obviously seeking all the time he was at the theater. It may have been the pregnant lady Butch Burroughs saw Harvey Oswald sit next to. A minute or two after Harvey sat next to the pregnant lady, she walked out the theater, probably walking by the shoe store and giving the signal to Tommy Rowe and/or Johnny Brewer (most likely Rowe) that Harvey was now ready to be arrested. BRING ON THE 26 COPS, THE TRAP IS FULLY SET!''
Jim Hargrove Wrote:But Lee still has the revolver he used to kill Tippit. What does he do with it?
There's problems with this. The original bullet casings found at the scene were swapped if you examine the evidence. If it were as simple as Lee shooting Tippit in order to set-up Harvey they would have just left the casings as they were.
It doesn't really matter because once you realize there were 2 Oswalds at the Texas Theater you've got all the evidence you need.
Bart Kamp Wrote:Sorry but this is pure speculation.
Yes, it is, and is labeled so on the website:
SPECULATION: If Mrs. Holan was correct, and saw a second police car at the Tippit murder scene, it is very possible that Croy was the driver and Westbrook was the man who confirmed that Tippit was dead. The police car, after backing up to the alley, could have driven a half block south to Jefferson Blvd., and then turned right toward the Texas Theater (5 blocks west). If they met and/or picked up LEE near the Texaco station and drove him to the Texas Theater, this could explain how Capt. Westbrook acquired two very important items from LEE Oswald--his light-colored jacket (supposedly found under a car at the Texaco Station, and handled only by Westbrook) and the 2nd Oswald wallet, which Westbrook produced at the murder scene. LEE Oswald purchased a ticket, entered the theater, went directly to the balcony, and soon passed the murder weapon to his contact. Croy was dropped off at the Tippit murder scene while Westbrook drove the police car back to Dealy Plaza.
Albert Doyle Wrote:There's problems with this. The original bullet casings found at the scene were swapped if you examine the evidence. If it were as simple as Lee shooting Tippit in order to set-up Harvey they would have just left the casings as they were.
That's a good point. We often refer to the "Tippit murder weapon" and only once point out that this description is not certain. But can you tell me what evidence proves the casings were switched?
Here's what Garrison said:
Playboy: How do you explain the fact that the Warren Commission concluded that the bullets in Officer Tippit's body had all been fired from "the revolver in the possession of Oswald at the time of his arrest, to the exclusion of all other weapons"?
Garrison: The Warren Commission's conclusion was made in spite of the evidence and not because of it. To determine if Oswald's gun had fired the bullets, it was necessary to call in a ballistics expert who would be able to tell if the lines and grooves on the bullets had a relation to the barrel of the revolver. The Commission called as its witness FBI ballistics expert Cortlandt Cunningham, and he testified, after an examination of the bullets taken from Tippit's body, that it was impossible to determine whether or not these bullets had been fired from Oswald's gun.
Yet, on the basis of this expert testimony, the Warren Commission concluded with a straight face that the bullets were fired not only from Oswald's gun but "to the exclusion of all other weapons." They simply chose to ignore the fact that revolvers don't eject cartridges and that the cartridges left so conveniently on the street didn't match the bullets in Tippit's body.
John points out the following on the website:
WAS TIPPIT SHOT WITH A .38 REVOLVER OR A SEMI-AUTOMATIC PISTOL?
After talking with witness Ted Callaway Patrolman H.W. Summers reported that he had an "eyeball witness to the getaway man." The suspect was described as having black wavy hair, wearing an Eisenhower jacket of light color, with dark trousers and a white shirt. He was "apparently armed with a .32, dark finish, automatic pistol," which he had in his right hand. But if an automatic pistol was used to kill Tippit, three of the spent shell casings would have been ejected at the point where Oswald began shooting Tippit and probably landed on 10th St. (near the passenger side of Tippit's squad car). After Oswald shot Tippit in the head, at point blank range, the last shell casing would have been ejected onto the pavement on 10th St., which it was not. Barbara and Virginia Davis watched Oswald as he crossed in front of their house and crossed their lawn, using his right hand to shake shells from an open revolver into his left hand. Two shell casings were recovered near a bush in the Davis' side yard on 10th St., 50-60 ft. from the front of Tippit's squad car.
If you can point us to strong evidence that the casings from 10th & Patton were somehow switched, I'll pass this on to John right away. The new material up on the website needs this kind of scrutiny. Thanks for your interest.
