The Vehicle on the Grassy Knoll

[Albert Doyle]

"What's unique about this is this vehicle actually transported his rifle back to Dallas from where Oswald had been living in New Orleans," said Farris Rookstool III, a JFK historian.

1955 Chevy BelAir that transported Lee Harvey Oswald's rifle back to Dallas from New Orleans. (Photo: Jason Whitely, WFAA)

Farris Rookstool is an FBI disinformationist who posts on the Amazon comments section.

[Albert Doyle]

As for Roger Craig, I've learned to be a little more skeptical of some of his stories. This is what Harold Weisberg wrote to a fellow researcher in 1970:

“Roger Craig may be a brave guy and all of that, but he is also full of what is generally reserved for toilets. I have gone over his annotation of his testimony, as printed, and his account of the changes is utterly impossible. I spent too many years working with court reporters, particularly, the firm the Commission used, to find it possible to credit this in any way. More, have traced that testimony all the way from Dallas to the Government Printing Office, and it is printed as it was taken down, I have copies of the typescript sent to the GPO, and I have the letter of transmittal to DC the bills for taking it, the whole story. Roger is, despite Penn's [Penn Jones] great love for him, at best simply wrong, in the newer areas, what he embellished his original testimony with. Now I have met Roger, and he is a finelooking, clean-cut kind of guy who appears to be truthful, serious and all that-just like dozens of guys I once guarded in an Army locked ward in a large mental institution. He does not impress me as the kind of guy who is out to make trouble. But he is.”

Tracy: What does this have to do with Craig's basic account of seeing Oswald walk out to the station wagon and his later encounter at the police station?

[Peter Lemkin]

You have to consider a bit what Weisberg was like. He acted liked he never met a person he trusted or liked. I know, I was in communication with him. He was a curmudgeon extraordinare. A great and indefatigable researcher, but a grump and fast on the draw to condemn or contradict everyone about anything.......

[Tracy Riddle]

As for Roger Craig, I've learned to be a little more skeptical of some of his stories. This is what Harold Weisberg wrote to a fellow researcher in 1970:

“Roger Craig may be a brave guy and all of that, but he is also full of what is generally reserved for toilets. I have gone over his annotation of his testimony, as printed, and his account of the changes is utterly impossible. I spent too many years working with court reporters, particularly, the firm the Commission used, to find it possible to credit this in any way. More, have traced that testimony all the way from Dallas to the Government Printing Office, and it is printed as it was taken down, I have copies of the typescript sent to the GPO, and I have the letter of transmittal to DC the bills for taking it, the whole story. Roger is, despite Penn's [Penn Jones] great love for him, at best simply wrong, in the newer areas, what he embellished his original testimony with. Now I have met Roger, and he is a finelooking, clean-cut kind of guy who appears to be truthful, serious and all that-just like dozens of guys I once guarded in an Army locked ward in a large mental institution. He does not impress me as the kind of guy who is out to make trouble. But he is.”

Tracy: What does this have to do with Craig's basic account of seeing Oswald walk out to the station wagon and his later encounter at the police station?

Because he said it was a Nash Rambler, and Oswald claimed it belonged to Ruth Paine. Paine obviously owned a Chevy BelAir. It's true that the two station wagons are superficially similar to each other.

[Tracy Riddle]

You have to consider a bit what Weisberg was like. He acted liked he never met a person he trusted or liked. I know, I was in communication with him. He was a curmudgeon extraordinare. A great and indefatigable researcher, but a grump and fast on the draw to condemn or contradict everyone about anything.......

Yes, that's true.

[Drew Phipps]

1. "What's unique about this is this vehicle actually transported his rifle back to Dallas from where Oswald had been living in New Orleans," said Farris Rookstool III, a JFK historian.

2. "Oswald rode in this vehicle on October 14, 1963 because Ruth was driving him to Dallas so he could try to get this job at the Texas School Book Depository," he continued.

1. Entirely a guess. RP at least has no memory of unpacking the gun/blanket, and Michael Paine statement is that he remembers the blanket.

2. Flat wrong. Oswald did not know about any job opening.

Oswald claimed it belonged to Ruth Paine.

This may be simply an error on Oswald's part, assuming that the cops are talking about the similarly colored station wagon that he had been a passenger in. He might have no interest in the different makes and models.

[Albert Doyle]

Those quotes are from the FAA article and not from me. Though FAA should have mentioned that Rookstool is an FBI agent who posts pro-Warren Report entries on the internet.


The station wagon mistake does raise serious issues about which Oswald got into it. However Craig is pretty solid and was probably assassinated for his witnessing. There's a recent trend for researchers to turn on main witnesses who suffered for their witnessing. I think it is a byproduct of overzealous analysis.

[Drew Phipps]

For what it's worth, I think Craig is sincere. I just think that he quickly jumped to some of the wrong conclusions (such as that the car he saw was the same car that Oswald was talking about), and that, coupled with the fact that no one "important" really appeared to take him seriously, fueled a bad part of his mind, and led ultimately to the destruction of his career and his early death.

[Albert Doyle]

I think Craig bore witness to something dangerous like Ralph Yates and was persecuted and offed for it like Yates.

[Jim Hargrove]

The fate of Roger Craig


Roger Craig received honors as a Deputy Sheriff prior to the assassination, but after
testifying before the Warren Commission in 1964 he was dismissed.


In 1967, after returning from a meeting with New Orleans District Attorney Jim Gar-
rison, someone shot at Roger Craig and a bullet grazed his head.


In 1973 Craig's car was forced off the road in West Texas by an unidentified individual,
causing serious injuries.


In 1974 Craig opened the door of his house was confronted by a man who shot him in
the shoulder with a blast from a shotgun.


In 1975, 39-year-old Roger Craig was found dead in his father's home in Dallas, the
victim of a gunshot wound fired from a rifle

(H&L p. 824)