Patton Avenue flight paths

[Milo Reech]

For the purpose of identifying the gunman fleeing south on Patton Avenue following Tippit's murder several clusters of observers were deployed to satisfy the Warren Report, consisting of Markham, Scoggins & Benavides at the East 10th Street end and Johnnie Reynolds Motor Co. employees at the opposite East Jefferson Boulevard end. Callaway & Guinyard of Dootch Motors, situated side-by-side just southeast of the alley intersection, supplied the connection between them. Mostly in sync with each other, the scripts went awry regarding the side of Patton the fugitive traversed. Callaway stoutly promoted the preferred west side while Guinyard insisted he took the east side all the way to the intersection with East Jefferson. The Warren Report glosses over the discrepancy, as if reportage alone is sufficient to fulfill its investigative function when the scenario fails.

Curiously, the four observers from Johnnie's are not on record as to either side, but one of them should be. In August 1964 Rankin asked the FBI to obtain additional affidavits from L. J. Lewis & B. M. Patterson. The latter let the cat out of the bag:

On August 26, 1964, two different photographs were exhibited to B. M. Patterson, at which time Patterson advised that this person (Oswald) is positively and unquestionably the same person he saw at approximately 1:30 p.m., on the afternoon of November 22, 1963, running south down the east side of Patton Avenue between East Tenth Street and East Jefferson Boulevard, Dallas, Texas, with a revolver in his hand.

Patterson stated that he then saw Oswald stop, eject some cartridges from his revolver, and cross over to the north side of East Jefferson Boulevard, where he proceeded at a walk heading west on East Jefferson toward Crawford Street.

FBI memo (Hoover to Rankin) 8/27/64

Key Persons Files (Shooting) p.164

This information did not reach the Warren Report, but the issue is critical. Two against one, and Callaway blew smoke as usual. It is not trivial. Two sets of observers saw the same crossing at opposite ends of the street and no intervening crossing back -- the obvious conclusion is there were two runners. One disappeared down the alley at the Gentleman's Club while the other proceeded west on East Jefferson Boulevard.

[Milo Reech]

Two paths & two runners, both along Patton but on different segments. The east-west alley intersecting with Patton midway between Tenth & Jefferson was the dividing line.

The killer ran west on Tenth to the corner, turned left onto Patton, and turned right into the alley next to Gentleman's Club, startling Scoggins in his cab, eventually reaching Crawford Street. This path corresponds to information received by Cimino from Markham. It is also diagrammed by DPD and corroborated by Jimmy Burt. Nobody crashed through the Davis shrubbery.
http://jfk.ci.dallas.tx.us/25/2596-001.gif

The accomplice ran east on Tenth a short distance, turned right into the alley that ran between 404 & 410, turning right again at the east-west alley, arriving at Patton and turning left, where he was observed by the used car contingents, whose alacrity was greatly exaggerated.

They are the same paths described by Acquilla Clemons.

[Oscar Navarro]

.....or any other person who arrived at the scene, see Aquila Clemons at the murder scene? Ms. Clemons tells Mark Lane in the interview she ran to the scene where she saw J. D. Tippit lying on the ground.