THE PRE-ARRANGED MURDER OF J.D. TIPPIT -- Part 1
By John Armstrong
Warren Commission attorney David Belin called the Tippit murder the
rosetta stone of the Kennedy assassination. A rosetta stone is defined
as "a key to some previously undecipherable mystery." While the Kennedy
assassination has been an undecipherable mystery for the past 60 years,
the Tippit murder will not unlock all of the mysteries of the Kennedy
assassination. The Tippit murder does, however, show us there were two
men resembling Lee Harvey Oswald, two wallets, two sets of
identification, two arrests made in the Texas Theater, and two murders
which resulted in one man, HARVEY Oswald, being charged with the murder
of both Tippit and President Kennedy. A careful analysis of the Tippit
murder will allow us to identify certain members of the Dallas Police
who were corrupt, identify evidence that was created, evidence that was
manipulated, evidence that was destroyed, and understand how and why
Harvey Oswald was framed to take the blame for murdering Tippit. This
pattern of corruption, coverup, manipulation and destruction of
evidence by the Dallas Police in the Tippit murder can help us decipher
and understand a similar pattern of corruption, coverup, manipulation
and destruction of evidence by the FBI and CIA in the assassination of
President Kennedy. The Tippit murder clearly demonstrates that HARVEY
Oswald was framed by the Dallas Police for the Tippit murder. The
assassination of President Kennedy by a Russian speaking Lee Harvey
Oswald, a communist sympathizer, a “defector” to the Soviet Union, and
a supporter of Castro and Cuba, who was set up and framed for the
assassination of President Kennedy by the FBI and CIA made him the
perfect “patsy.” Understanding the two Oswald’s in the Tippit murder
may indeed be the "rosetta stone" that allows us to see thru the smoke
and mirrors of the President's murder and subsequent coverup that has
persisted for 60 years.
THE WARREN COMMISSION VERSION
After President Kennedy was shot HARVEY Oswald left the TSBD by way of
the loading dock at the rear of the building, He then walked east on
Elm St., and pounded on the door of the Marsalis bus while the bus was
stopped in traffic. The bus driver, Cecil McWaters, opened the bus door
and allowed Oswald to board. A few minutes later, with the bus stalled
in traffic, Oswald asked for a transfer and got off the bus. Oswald
then walked to the Greyhound bus station, got into a taxi, and rode to
his rooming house on N. Beckley St. Oswald spent a few minutes changing
clothes, picked up his pistol, and then walked out of the rooming house
zipping up his jacket.
Oswald then walked to 10th & Patton, arriving about 1:16 PM. A
police officer pulled over to the curb. Oswald walked to the police car
and began talking to the officer thru the passenger side car window. As
the police officer got out of the vehicle Oswald shot him. Oswald then
hurried south on Patton St., turned right on Jefferson Blvd., and
hurried thru a parking lot behind the Texaco station where he discarded
his light colored jacket. He then hurried west on Jefferson Blvd and
briefly ducked into a vestibule at Hardy's Shoe store where he was seen
by store manager Johnny Brewer. Brewer saw Oswald walk west on
Jefferson Blvd., and then sneak into the Texas Theater without
purchasing a ticket. Brewer asked the theater cashier, Julia Postal, if
Oswald purchased a ticket. Brewer then went into the theater looking
for the man who had snuck into the theater. Brewer could not find the
suspicious man, returned to the cashier and told her to call the
police. A few minutes later the police arrived, arrested Oswald, and
took him to jail. This is the Warren Commission's version of the Tippit
murder.
The details of the Tippit murder, the people involved, and their
activities are very difficult to follow. Many people are involved and
they are going in different directions and doing different things at
exactly the same time. Following these people and trying to remember
their activities and locations in sequential order, minute by minute,
can be frustrating and confusing.
The Pre-arranged murder of Officer J.D. Tippit
It should come as no surprise that nearly everything that involved
HARVEY Oswald and LEE Oswald on November 22 was
pre-planned—everything—because nothing could be left to chance. HARVEY
Oswald allegedly bringing a long package to the Book Depository on the
morning of 11/22/63 was pre-planned. Oswald working and leaving
fingerprints on the 6th floor of the Book Depository was pre-planned.
Oswald sitting in the lunchroom when Kennedy was shot was pre-planned.
Oswald leaving quickly from the Book Depository, made to appear as his
"escape" from the building, was pre-planned.
I do not believe that on the morning of 11/22/63, when HARVEY Oswald
left the Paine home, he knew anything about the pre-planned
assassination of President Kennedy. Nearly all of Oswald’s movements
and whereabouts on November 22 were pre-planned, but HARVEY Oswald knew
nothing of these plans—he was simply following orders.
After President Kennedy was shot HARVEY Oswald left the TSBD by way of
the loading dock at the rear of the building, He then walked east on
Elm St. and pounded on the door of the Marsalis bus while the bus was
stopped in traffic. Oswald boarding the Marsalis bus was pre-planned.
Officer Tippit sitting at the GLOCO Station, waiting for HARVEY Oswald,
was pre-planned. Oswald going to the Texas Theater was pre-planned. The
murder of Officer Tippit was pre-planned.
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LEE Oswald
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HARVEY Oswald
|
It may seem hard to imagine or understand why two Dallas Police
Officers would become involved in a plot to murder Officer J. D.
Tippit, a fellow Dallas policeman, in front of numerous eyewitnesses.
The extent of Tippit's involvement in the events of November 22 are
mostly unknown but officer Tippit, as we shall see, knew both LEE
Oswald and HARVEY Oswald. The precise time and exact location of
Tippit's murder was carefully planned and staged in order to make it
appear as though HARVEY Oswald shot and killed President Kennedy from
the Book Depository and 45 minutes later shot and killed Officer Tippit
in Oak Cliff. The murder of officer Tippit was simply the final act in
a long drama wherein LEE Oswald framed HARVEY Oswald for the murder of
President Kennedy and for the murder of Officer Tippit. Officer Tippit
was one of the few people who was familiar with both LEE Oswald and
with HARVEY Oswald.
Two days before the assassination, on November 20, Harvey Oswald left
his rooming house at 1026 N. Beckley, boarded the Beckley city bus, and
at 8:00 AM arrived for work at the Book Depository. Two hours later, at
10:00 am, LEE Oswald arrived at the Dobbs House Restaurant, a small
cafe located at 1221 N. Beckley, just two blocks north of HARVEY
Oswald's rooming house. LEE Oswald ordered coffee and "eggs over light"
from waitress Mary Ada Dowling. Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippit was
sitting at a nearby table drinking coffee. Tippit worked the 7:00 am to
3:00 pm shift in district #78 in south Oak Cliff, 6 miles south of the
Dobbs House restaurant. When Mary Dowling served Oswald's
breakfast he complained that the eggs were "cooked too hard" and he
cursed at her. When she offered to replace his order, Oswald
belligerently refused. A few minutes later, after waiting for a coffee
refill, Oswald again cursed at Mary and attracted the attention of
Officer Tippit, who said nothing. LEE Oswald's rude mannerisms were
also observed and remembered by chef Dolores Harrison, and restaurant
owner Sam Rogers. The next time LEE Oswald and Officer Tippit were seen
together was two days later on the morning of November 22....first when
they were seen at the same time in the Top 10 Record Store, and later
when they were talking to each other thru the passenger side car window
of Tippit's patrol car near 10th & Patton.
After finishing breakfast at the Dobbs House restaurant LEE Oswald was
next seen at the Beckley Street entrance to the R. L. Thornton
Expressway, a mile south of the restaurant. Ralph Leon Yates was a
27-year-old refrigeration serviceman who worked for the Texas Butcher
Supply Company at 2038 Commerce in Dallas. Yates was returning from
Charley Jordan's Meat Market in Oak Cliff when he spotted a man
attempting to secure a ride toward downtown Dallas. Yates stopped to
pick up the man, who was carrying a 4 -to 4- 1/2 foot-long package
wrapped in brown paper. Yates told the man he could put the package in
the back of the truck, but the man said the package contained curtain
rods and he preferred to carry it in the cab of the truck. As they
drove toward the downtown area the hitchhiker asked Yates if he thought
a man could be shot from a window in a tall building. Yates, somewhat
surprised, said that it would be possible if a man had a good rifle,
with a scope, and was a good shot. The hitchhiker then pulled out a
photograph that showed a man holding a rifle and asked Yates if he
thought the President could be killed with an identical rifle. Yates
glanced at the picture and recalled the photograph was the same man
sitting in his truck. In the photo the man was holding a rifle in his
right hand with the butt of the rifle resting on the ground. The rifle
had a strap, but no scope, and the man was also wearing a pistol in a
holster. The man then asked Yates if he knew the President's parade
route, and then asked if he thought the route would be changed. Yates
said that he doubted the route would be changed, unless it was changed
for safety reasons. As Yates approached downtown Dallas the hitchhiker
told Yates that he was going to Houston Street. Yates turned off the
expressway onto Commerce, drove north on Houston, and stopped for the
traffic light at Elm. The hitchhiker got out of the truck and Yates
watched as he crossed Elm and continued north on Houston. Yates turned
left in front of the Texas School Book Depository, got back on the
Expressway, and drove to the Parkit Market on Shady Grove Road in
Irving. When Yates returned to the Texas Butcher Supply Company, he
told fellow employee Dempsey Jones about the hitchhiker and the long
package that contained "curtain rods." Yates also told Dempsey the
young man talked about shooting a man from a window in a high-rise
building. The young man was LEE Oswald, who was once again
impersonating HARVEY Oswald, but on this occasion it was only two days
before the assassination of President Kennedy.
Oswald goes to Irving, TX
The day before the assassination, on Thursday, November 21, HARVEY
Oswald rode with Wesley Frazier to Ruth Paine's home in Irving, TX,
after work, allegedly to visit his wife and children. However, I
believe that HARVEY Oswald was following detailed "orders/instructions"
that were given to him by someone very close to the conspirators.
The real purpose of Oswald's visit may have been to pick up and open a
package that was mailed to him at the Paine's home. This package,
however, was not delivered to the Paine's because of insufficient
postage.
The package was held at the Irving post office and later opened by US
Postal Inspectors. The original address on this package was 2525 W.
5th, Irving, TX., the same address that appeared on the post office's
Notice of Attempted Delivery. Someone, within the post office, placed a
label over Ruth Paine's address after the assassination. The label
shows a different address for Oswald. The package as shown above
contained a long brown paper bag, similar in size and appearance to the
paper bag allegedly used by HARVEY Oswald to carry the rifle into the
Book Depository. If HARVEY Oswald had received this package at Ruth
Paine's home, opened this package, and examined the bag, then this
paper bag would have been placed on the 6th floor of the Book
Depository. Oswald's fingerprints on this paper bag would connect him
to the Manlicher Carcano rifle found on the 6th floor of the Book
Depository.
As HARVEY Oswald was relaxing with his family on Thursday evening in
Irving, TX., a young man knocked on the door of apartment #206 at 223
S. Ewing about 9:00 pm. The apartment, thirteen miles away in Oak
Cliff, was occupied by a Professor at Southern Methodist University.
The knock was answered by the Professor's friend, Helen McIntosh, who
greeted an unknown young man. When the man asked for Jack Ruby, the
Professor told Miss McIntosh that Ruby lived in the adjoining
apartment, number 207. The next day, following the assassination, Miss
McIntosh saw photographs of "Lee Harvey Oswald" on television and
realized that this was the young man who had appeared at the door of
the apartment the previous evening. The young man who spoke with Helen
McIntosh was not the man she saw on television, The man Helen saw on
Friday evening at 9:00 PM was
LEE Oswald.
A few hours later, at 2:15 am on November 22, LEE Oswald entered the
Lucas B&B Restaurant, at 3520 Oak Lawn, two doors from the Vegas
Club at 3805 Oak Lawn. Mary Lawrence was the head waitress and had
known Jack Ruby for 8 years.
Oswald told Mary and also told the night cashier that he was waiting
for Jack Ruby. A short while later Ruby entered the cafe, sat at a
table, and was soon joined by LEE Oswald. The two men sat together and
talked for over a half an hour and then left. The FBI did not take Mary
seriously because they knew that Lee Harvey Oswald spent the night with
his wife at Ruth Paine's. .When subsequently questioned by the Dallas
Police, Mary stuck to her story. She didn't care if Oswald was supposed
to have been at Ruth Paines at 2:15 am on November 22. Mary was
positive that she saw Ruby and Oswald together in her restaurant. Mary
told Dallas Detectives R. W Westphal and P. M. Parks that the man in
her restaurant was positively Lee Harvey Oswald and that he was waiting
for Jack Ruby. A week-and-a-half after the assassination, on December
3, Mary received a phone call from an unknown man who said, "If you
don't want to die, you better get out of town." Mary and her co-worker
both saw Lee Oswald and Jack Ruby together only 10 hours before the
assassination, yet neither woman was questioned or interviewed by the
Warren Commission.
MORNING OF NOVEMBER 22
On the morning of November 22, when Dallas Police officer J.D. Tippit
left for work, he hugged his 14-year-old son Allen and said, "No matter
what happens today, I want you to know that I love you." Allen Tippit
remembered this was an unusual display of affection from his normally
unaffectionate father. It was the last time Allen Tippit saw his father
alive.
On the morning of November 22 HARVEY Oswald left the Paine's home in
Irving, TX and walked to the nearby home of Wesley Frazier, with whom
he rode to the Book Depository in Dallas. Frazier's sister, Linnie Mae
Randle, saw Oswald as he walked to her house. Mz. Randle told Warren
Commission attorney Mr. Ball that Oswald was wearing a dark grey
colored jacket.
According to Mrs. Randle, HARVEY Oswald was wearing the dark colored
jacket described as CE 163 on the morning of 11/22/63. The
identification of this dark colored jacket, and the shirts worn by
HARVEY Oswald and by LEE Oswald, are crucial in following their
movements. On November 22nd LEE Oswald was wearing a white t-shirt and
the light colored jacket pictured above. HARVEY Oswald was wearing a
dark brown long sleeve shirt, over a white t-shirt, and the dark
colored blue/grey jacket shown above. LEE Oswald--white jacket;
HARVEY
Oswald--dark jacket.
At 7:30 AM, while HARVEY Oswald and Wesley Frazier were en route to the
Book Depository, J. W. "Dub" Stark arrived at his Top Ten Record Store
to find LEE Oswald waiting outside. Stark was the owner of the record
store which was located at 338 W. Jefferson in Oak Cliff. The store
still exists and is across the street and a block and a half west of
the Texas Theater.
After opening the store Dub Stark sold Oswald a ticket to the Dick
Clark show, "Caravan of Stars," which was to be held at the Dallas
Municipal auditorium that evening. LEE Oswald left the store but
returned a short time later and purchased another ticket for the same
show. During Oswald's second visit police Officer ].D. Tippit was also
in the store, but did not speak with Oswald.
This information about Oswald, Tippit, and the Top 10 Record Store was
provided by FBI agent Carl E. Walters in a memo that he wrote to the
Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas office. The memo read, "On
12/3/63 Mr. John D. Whitten telephonically advised that he heard Lee
Harvey Oswald was in the Top 10 Record Shop on Jefferson Blvd. on the
morning of 11/22/63. Oswald bought a ticket of some kind and left. Then
some time later, Oswald returned to the record shop and wanted to buy
another ticket." News reporter Earl Golz confirmed this story during an
interview with Dub Stark, the owner of Top 10, who sold Oswald a ticket
at 7:30 AM. Golz also interviewed 18-year-old Louis Cortinas, an
employee of Top Ten Records, who confirmed Mr. Stark's story.
At 9:30 am, while HARVEY Oswald was working in the Book Depository, LEE
Oswald entered the Jiffy Store at 310 South Industrial Blvd., one mile
southwest of the Book Depository. When LEE Oswald brought two beers to
the checkout counter the store clerk, Fred Moore, asked Oswald for
identification. LEE Oswald said, "Sure I got ID." He removed a Texas
driver's license from his billfold and showed it to Moore. Moore told
FBI agent David Barry that he remembered the name on the license was
either "Lee Oswald" or possibly as "H. Lee Oswald." Moore said the
birth year on the license was 1939 and he thought the month was
October. Barry described Moore's contact with Oswald in his report and
wrote, "Identification of this individual arose when he (Moore) asked
him (Oswald) for identification as to proof of age for the purchase of
two bottles of beer. Moore said he figured the man was over 21 but the
store frequently required proof by reason of past difficulties with
local authorities for serving beer to minors."
Store clerk Moore also told agent Barry, "Oswald returned in less than
a half hour to buy another beer and two pieces of Peco Brittle at five
cents each, which he consumed on the premises." Store clerk Moore
remarked to Oswald, in the form of a question, "Candy and beer?" as
Moore considered this to be an odd combination. Moore said, "The man
seemed to be nervous while in the store pacing the aisles as he ate the
candy."
Aletha Frair
The Warren Commission concluded that Oswald did not drive a car and did
not have a driver's license. However, five days after the assassination
LEE Oswald's driver's license turned up at the Texas Department of
Public Safety (TDPS) in Austin. Aletha Frair was an employee who worked
in the License Records Department, which was responsible for IBM
computer records of all driver's licenses issued in the state of Texas.
Five days after the assassination, on November 27, LEE Oswald's
well-worn driver's license came into her division.
Mrs. Frair said, "One of the girls working in the file cabinets pulling
driver's licenses to be renewed or because of change of name or because
of death ran across a license and exclaimed, 'I have his license.....I
have LEE Harvey Oswald's driver's license, right here.'" All of the
employees within earshot--5 or 6 people--then rushed to see the
license, and saw LEE Oswald's pink colored Texas driver's license. Mrs.
Frair wrote: I saw with my own eyes the pink Texas driver's
license--about 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches. The license had the name
'Lee Harvey Oswald' printed on the card as the licensee. The license
was stained with some sort of brownish discoloration. Mrs. Frair said
the brown stains on the dirty, worn license may have been caused by
carrying the license in a brown wallet. The license was the talk of the
office since everyone knew who Oswald was, and the reason his driver's
license records and IBM card were being pulled from the active file was
due to the fact that he had been killed. Fellow employee Mrs. Lee
Bozarth stated categorically that she knew from direct personal
experience there was a Texas driver's license and a file for LEE Harvey
Oswald, and that it was pulled and given to a federal agency in early
December, 1963. Texas Department of Public Safety procedures for
issuing licenses and creating files was confirmed by her supervisor,
Mr. Griffen, to the House Select Committee on Assassinations in 1978.
Six other employees also saw Oswald's file including Ray Sundy, Joyce
Bostic, Inez Leake, Gayle Scott, Peggy Smith, and Mrs. Ernie Isaacs. In
1978 House Select Committee investigator Gary Sanders contacted the
Texas Department of Public Safety for information about Oswald's
driver's license. After having a brief and curt conversation with Mrs.
Seay Mr. Sanders wrote, "It is very obvious to me that if there are any
records at the Department of Public Safety pertaining to LEE Harvey
Oswald they are not going to release them."
HARVEY OSWALD IN THE TSBD
A news reporter asked HARVEY Oswald "were you inside the building at
the time of the shooting?" Oswald replied, "Naturally if I work in that
building, yes sir." Had Oswald been outside on the steps, as some
researchers claim, he most certainly would have said so, and he would
have named other people who were on the steps with him. But Oswald
never said he was outside on the steps, not to the news reporter and
not to anyone. And not one of the people who were on the steps--Wesley
Frazier, Ochus Campbell, Sarah Stanton, Billy Lovelady, and others
never said that Oswald was outside on the steps with them. If people
want to believe Oswald was outside on the steps then they have to
explain why Oswald, on camera, said he was inside the building during
the assassination.
A few minutes after HARVEY Oswald learned that President Kennedy had
been shot he located and spoke with his supervisor and CIA contact Bill
Shelley. I believe that it was Shelley who told Oswald to board the
Marsalis Bus and meet his contact at the Texas Theater. If not Shelley,
then who in the Book Depository told Oswald to board the Marsalis Bus
and go to the Texas Theater? Someone, and I believe it was Bill
Shelley, gave Oswald half of two one dollar bills and told him that his
contact in the Texas Theater would show him the other half of the one
dollar bills for identification.
HARVEY Oswald leaves Book Depository
In 1974 Dallas journalist Elzie Glaze met a woman who had been working
for the Texas Book Depository since 1969. Her immediate supervisor was
Bill Shelley, who Glaze met and then contacted on numerous occasions.
In a 1989 letter Glaze wrote, "Mr. Shelley claims to have been an
intelligence officer during World War II and thereafter joined the
CIA." Shelley was Oswald's supervisor at the Book Depository, but his
connections with Oswald could have been much deeper. Here is a photo of
HARVEY Oswald handing out Fair Play for Cuba literature in front of the
International Trade Mart building in New Orleans. There is a man
standing behind Oswald and to his left with a very distinct hair style.
When the photo of this man is compared with photos of Bill Shelley
taken on November 22 the similarities are obvious. If the man in the
photo was Bill Shelley, then his connection with HARVEY Oswald is much
deeper.
HARVEY Oswald, wearing a long-sleeve brown shirt and carrying his
blue/grey jacket, quickly left the Book Depository. His quick departure
was pre-planned to make it appear as though Oswald was trying to
quickly “escape” from the scene of the shooting. Minutes after HARVEY
Oswald left the building it was Bill Shelley who told building
supervisor Roy Truly that Oswald was missing.
HARVEY Oswald walked east on Elm Street and saw the Marsalis bus
stopped in traffic near Griffin St. Oswald walked up to the bus and
began pounding on the door. Driver Cecil McWatters opened the door and
allowed HARVEY Oswald, and a blond woman, to board the bus around 12:40
PM. About the time HARVEY Oswald boarded the Marsalis bus a U.S.
government employee named Stuart L. Reed photographed the front of
McWatters' bus. Reed was a 30 year US Army veteran, who was then living
in Panama, managing civilian employees under the auspices of the U.S.
Army, which was in charge of the Panama Canal. Why would a US
government employee, living and working in Panama, travel to Dallas,
Texas and photograph the front of a nondescript city bus?
The Marsalis bus was soon stalled in traffic and about 4 minutes later
HARVEY Oswald got up from his seat, obtained a bus transfer, and left
the bus via the front door. The blond woman left the bus at the same
time thru the rear door. This blond woman may have been following
HARVEY Oswald, and may have followed Oswald to William Whaley's taxi.
While the bus was stalled in traffic US government employee Stuart L.
Reed took a photograph of the rear of the Marsalis Bus. Again, why
would a US government employee, living and working in Panama, travel to
Dallas, Texas and photograph the front and then the rear of the
Marsalis Bus? This was very near the time two police officers boarded
the bus, looking for HARVEY Oswald, who had left the bus only moments
earlier.
A few minutes later Stuart Reed took a photo of the 6th floor window of
the Book Depository, before this area was identified as the snipers
nest. One hour later Stuart Reed took several photos of HARVEY Oswald
as he was being escorted by police from the Texas Theater in handcuffs.
US Government employee Stuart Reed, who lived and worked in Panama,
took all of these photos which sequentially followed Oswald's movements
from the time he left the Book Depository to his arrest at the Texas
Theater.
Reed dropped his film off at a photo lab in Dallas, and then travelled
to New Orleans to catch a boat and return to the Canal Zone in Panama.
Prior to boarding the boat, Reed signed an authorization in New Orleans
that allowed the FBI to pick up his developed photo slides in Dallas.
The FBI told the Warren Commission that a government executive (Reed),
answering to the military, took the photos. This seemed to satisfy the
Warren Commission, and Reed dropped out of sight without ever seeing
his color slides or photos. If HARVEY Oswald had been killed by the two
police officers while on the Marsalis bus, Reed's photos would have
been on the front page of every newspaper and magazine.
After getting off the bus, HARVEY Oswald walked three blocks south on
Lamar St. toward the Greyhound Bus station and got into William
Whaley's taxi. Whaley said, "He wasn't in any hurry. He wasn't nervous
or anything." Whaley said that Oswald was wearing a dark brown
button-up shirt, a t-shirt, and a blue/grey jacket.
LEE Oswald
As HARVEY Oswald was walking to Whaley's taxi cab, LEE Oswald was seen
getting into a Nash Rambler station wagon in Dealey Plaza. Prior to the
shooting Richard Randolph Carr saw a man on the 6th floor of the Book
Depository and said he was wearing glasses, a hat, and a tan sport
coat. Carr saw the same man, moments after the shooting, walking south
on Houston St. directly towards him. He said the man was wearing
horn-rimmed glasses and was constantly looking back over his shoulder
towards the Book Depository. When the man reached Commerce Street he
turned east, walked one block to Record Street, and got into a 1961 or
1962 light colored Nash Rambler station wagon. The car was parked near
the intersection of Commerce and Record, facing north. The station
wagon was last seen by Mr. Carr heading north on Record Street toward
Elm St.--one block east of the Book Depository. Traffic was stalled on
Elm Street and the Nash Rambler was unable to turn left for several
minutes.
At 12:40 P.M., Deputy Sheriff Roger Craig was standing on the south
side of Elm Street when he heard a shrill whistle coming from across
the street. Craig saw a man with sandy brown hair, wearing faded blue
trousers and a light colored shirt, hurrying toward the street.
A light
green Nash Rambler station wagon with a chrome luggage rack, driven by
a husky latin man, with short, dark hair, was moving slowly west on Elm
Street. The vehicle suddenly stopped and the man, a white male in his
early 20's, wearing a light colored shirt, about 5'9” tall and 140-150
pounds, ran across the lawn that was adjacent to the Elm Street
extension and got into the station wagon. Craig was unable to cross Elm
Street, due to heavy traffic, and watched as the car drove west on Elm,
under the triple underpass, and headed in the direction of Oak Cliff.
Marvin Robinson was driving his Cadillac west on Elm Street, directly
behind the Nash Rambler station wagon. After crossing Houston he drove
past the Book Depository and almost slammed into the back of the Nash
Rambler when it suddenly stopped. Robinson noticed a white male, who he
later identified as Oswald, hurry down the grass covered incline and
enter the station wagon. He then followed the car as it drove under the
triple overpass. Marvin Robinson's employee, Roy Cooper, was following
Robinson in a different vehicle. Cooper remembered the Nash Rambler
stopped so suddenly that his boss, Mr. Robinson, narrowly avoided
running into the back of the Nash Rambler station wagon. Cooper saw a
white male between 20 and 30 years of age, who he thought was Oswald,
wave at the driver, hurry toward the car, and enter the vehicle. The
FBI interviewed Marvin Robinson and Roy Cooper, but they never
testified before the Warren Commission nor were their statements
published in the Warren Volumes.
Mrs. Helen Forrest saw the same young man run from the side of the Book
Depository and enter a Nash Rambler station wagon on Elm Street. Mrs.
Forrest said, "If it wasn't Oswald, it was his identical twin."
Mrs. Forrest was the first and only witness in Dealey Plaza to identify
the man in the white shirt as "Oswald" or his identical twin.
Another witness, James Pennington, also saw the same man, in a white
shirt, run from the side of the Book Depository and enter a Nash
Rambler station wagon. After viewing photographs of Oswald on
television, Pennington identified the man he saw get into the station
wagon as "Lee Harvey Oswald."
These eye-witnesses, Craig, Robinson, Cooper, Forrest, and Pennington,
saw a man who looked very much like HARVEY Oswald. But this man was NOT
HARVEY Oswald, who was arrested by the police and shot and killed two
days later by Jack Ruby. These witnesses saw LEE Oswald, the man who
had been impersonating HARVEY Oswald for several months for the purpose
of setting him up as a “patsy.”
Photographer Jim Murray took a picture of the crowd standing in front
of the Book Depository, and also captured the Hertz sign on the top of
the Book Depository which read 12:40 pm. Murray's photo shows a man
standing on the south of Elm Street, wearing a light-colored shirt, and
looking at the light colored Nash Rambler station wagon. Deputy Sheriff
Roger Craig can be seen standing on the east side of Elm Street,
observing the man as he approaches the car. Craig described the driver
to the Warren Commission, "Now, he struck me, at first, as being a
colored male. He was very dark complected, had real dark short hair,
and was wearing a thin white-looking Jacket....uh, it looked like the
short windbreaker type, you know, because it was real thin and had the
collar that came out over the shoulder (indicating with hands) like
that- just a short jacket.
LEE Oswald left Dealey Plaza at 12:40 PM, wearing a white t-shirt.
Fifteen minutes later he was seen wearing a white Eisenhower-type
jacket on 10th St and carrying a .38 revolver. It is possible the
jacket and the revolver were given to Oswald by the driver of the Nash
Rambler station wagon? It is also possible that LEE Oswald picked up
these items from Jack Ruby's apartment. A few minutes before 1:00 PM
LEE Oswald was seen walking west, past the 10th St. Barber Shop, only 3
blocks from Jack Ruby's apartment. A minute later LEE Oswald was
walking west on 10th St., 4 blocks from his pre-arranged meeting at
1:00 PM with Dallas police Capt. W. R. Westbrook and Officer J.D.
Tippit.
It may seem hard to imagine or understand why two Dallas Police
Officers would become involved in a plot to murder a fellow uniformed
Dallas policeman in broad daylight in front of numerous eyewitnesses.
However, as the following evidence will show, the murder of Dallas
Police officer J.D. Tippit was pre-arranged, as was Oswald's
pre-arranged trip to the Texas Theater, and involved LEE Oswald and two
or more Dallas Police officers. One of those police officers was 45
year old Capt. William Ralph Westbrook.
In 1963 Captain William Ralph Westbrook was 45 years old and in charge
of personnel at Dallas Police headquarters. He had his own office,
worked at a desk, and dressed in plain clothes. Westbrook's work, on a
day to day basis, was more like a civilian than a police officer.
Westbrook told the Warren Commission, "At the present time I am
personnel officer. We conduct all background investigations of
applicants, both civilian and police, and then we make--we investigate
all personnel complaints--not all of them, but the major ones."
On November 22, around 12:31 PM, Mrs. Kinney, one of the police
dispatchers, came into Westbrook's office and told him that shots had
been fired at President Kennedy. Westbrook sent officers from his
personnel office, Sergeants Stringer and Carver, and possibly Joe
Fields and H.L. McGee, to the Texas School Book Depository. But how
did
Westbrook know to send his officers DIRECTLY to the Texas School Book
Depository building when the earliest police dispatches reported
gunshots from the grassy knoll area? Westbrook told the WC that he
walked down the hall spreading the word and telling the other people
that they needed some men down there--at the Book Depository--and that
almost everybody left. Westbrook said that he "sat around" a while and
then decided to walk to Dealey Plaza. Westbrook told the Warren
Commission there wasn't a police car available to drive him to the Book
Depository, but this was the first of many lies that Westbrook told the
Warren Commission. Dallas Police car #207, assigned to Officer Jimmy
Valentine, was in the basement parking area as were other police cars.
Westbrook told the Warren Commission that while walking from the police
station to the Book Depository he stopped along the way to listen to
transistor radio reports. This was the first of many lies that
Weatbrook told to the Warren Commission. And Westbrook's lies can be
read and understood again and again in his testimony. Westbrook told
the Commission, "After WE reached the building [notice that
Westbrook
said WE, PLURAL, yet he told the WC he walked by himself to the Book
Depository], I contacted my sergeant, Sgt. Stringer, and he was
standing in front and so then I went into the building to help start
the search. Westbrook said he went into the building to help "START THE
SEARCH" BUT WHEN WESTBROOK FINALLY ARRIVED POLICE HAD ALREADY BEEN
SEARCHING THE BOOK DEPOSITORY. Westbrook then said, "I was on the first
floor and I had walked down an aisle and opened a door onto an outside
loading dock. And when I came out onto this dock, one of the men
hollered and said there had been an officer killed in Oak Cliff."
CAPT. WESTBROOK'S WARREN COMMISSION TESTIMONY ASIDE, HIS
WHEREABOUTS FROM THE TIME HE WAS LAST SEEN AT THE POLICE STATION--CIRCA
12:35 PM--TO HIS ARRIVAL AT THE BOOK DEPOSITORY--AROUND 1:20 PM--ARE
UNKNOWN. HIS STORY OF WALKING ALONE TO THE BOOK DEPOSITORY, AFTER THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES WAS SHOT, IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO
BELIEVE, AND THERE IS NO PROOF THAT WESTBROOK EVER WALKED TO DEALEY
PLAZA OR WAS EVER IN THE BOOK DEPOSITORY. BUT WESTBROOK'S STORY,
AS WE SHALL SEE, IS FULL OF LIES, BUT IT GAVE HIM AN ALIBI TO ACCOUNT
FOR 40-50 MINUTES OF HIS TIME. THE PURPOSE OF MY WORK IS TO DETERMINE
THE LIKELY WHEREABOUTS OF CAPT. WESTBROOK AND HIS ACCOMPLICE, RESERVE
OFFICER SGT. KENNETH CROY, AND THEIR WHEREABOUTS FROM 12:35 THRU 1:20
PM ON THE AFTERNOON OF NOVEMBER 22, 1963.
RESERVE OFFICER SGT. KENNETH CROY
Sgt. Kenneth Croy was an unpaid, voluntary reserve officer with the
Dallas Police. As a reserve officer Croy was not allowed to carry a gun
and could only carry a nightstick. I believe Dallas Police reserve
officer Sgt. Kenneth Croy was with Westbrook during Westbrook's missing
40-50 minutes. Croy was 26 years old, separated from his wife, and
living with his parents on November 22. Croy told the Warren Commission
that when President Kennedy was shot he was sitting in his car at City
Hall--the same location and the same time that Capt. Westbrook was
at
City Hall (Police Headquarters). Croy said that after he learned
that
shots were fired at President Kennedy he left the police station and
began to drive his car home. Croy told the Warren Commission that In
downtown Dallas he was "hemmed in from both sides" by traffic on
Main and Griffin for about 20 minutes. He testified that he then drove
past the courthouse on Elm St. and asked police officers, whose names
he did not know, if he could be of any assistance. Croy said that after
the officers said "No" that he proceeded to drive home. Croy would have
us believe that after shots were fired at the President, he left the
police station and was told by unknown officers that his services were
not needed, when many off-duty police officers were called at home and
told to report for duty. Croy testified that while talking with the
police officers in front of the courthouse his estranged wife "pulled
up beside me" in her car. They began talking and then decided to go to
lunch together at Austin's Barbecue, even though Croy and his wife were
separated. But first, Croy said that he needed to change clothes at his
parents' home. On the day of President Kennedy's assassination Croy
would like us to believe that his priorities were to drive to his
parents' house, change clothes, and have lunch with his estranged wife!!
CROY'S WARREN COMMISSION TESTIMONY ASIDE, HIS WHEREABOUTS FROM 12:30 PM
UNTIL 1:10 PM ARE UNKNOWN. HIS STORY OF SITTING IN HIS CAR WHEN THE
PRESIDENT WAS SHOT, AND GETTING HEMMED IN WITH TRAFFIC FOR 20 MINUTES,
GAVE HIM AN ALIBI TO ACCOUNT FOR NEARLY 3/4 OF AN HOUR OF HIS TIME.
CROY WOULD LIKE US TO BELIEVE THAT ON THE DAY THE PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES WAS KILLED, ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE DAYS OF THE
CENTURY, HE DECIDED TO HAVE LUNCH WITH HIS ESTRANGED WIFE AND GO HOME.
I do not believe that Westbrook walked to Dealey Plaza nor do I believe
Westbrook was in the Book Depository. I do not believe that Croy spoke
with police officers in front of the court house, or had lunch with his
wife, or went home to change clothes. I believe Westbrook and Croy's
stories and lies to the Warren Commission were an attempt to hide their
real activities following the assassination of President Kennedy. I
believe that around 12:37 PM Westbrook, along with Croy, drove to
Dealey Plaza and parked Westbrook's unmarked, dark blue police car near
the Book Depository.
After work HARVEY Oswald usually boarded the Beckley Ave bus next to
the Book Depository. The Beckley bus went under the triple overpass,
crossed over the Trinity River, turned left on North Beckley Ave., and
Oswald normally deboarded close to his rooming house at Beckley and
Zang. However, on November 22 HARVEY Oswald didn't board the Beckley
bus. HARVEY Oswald, following orders, boarded the Marsalis Ave. bus
driven by Cecil McWatters. Oswald's assignment was to go directly to
the Texas Theater and meet his contact. The same time that Oswald
boarded the bus, in the middle of the street, a woman also boarded the
bus. The Marsalis bus route was to turn left on Houston St., at the
Book Depository, continue south on Houston St., turn right, cross the
Trinity River on the Houston St. Viaduct, and then turn left on
Marsalis Ave. toward Jefferson Blvd. On the image above, follow the red
dotted line.
It appears that HARVEY Oswald's intention may have been to
deboard the bus when the bus stopped at Marsalis St. and Zang Blvd.,
which was across the street from the GLOCO station where Officer J.D.
Tippit was sitting in his squad car. I believe that HARVEY Oswald was
told that a police officer would be waiting at the GLOCO station to
pick him up and drive him to the theater. Tippit's assignment may have
been to pick up HARVEY Oswald, drive him to the Texas Theater, and then
meet up with Capt. Westbrook and LEE Oswald for their pre-arranged
meeting at 1:00 PM at 10th & Patton. Bus driver Cecil McWaters told
the WC, "As I left Field Street... it is just a short distance on to
Griffin Street, and that is when someone, a man, came up and knocked on
the door of the bus, and I opened the door of the bus and he got on....
And that is about seven or eight blocks from the Texas Book Depository
Building... I didn't pay any particular attention to him. He was to me
just dressed in what I would call work clothes, just some type of
little old jacket on.... I would say a cloth jacket... he just paid his
fare and sat down on the second cross seat on the right." HARVEY
Oswald's destination was the Texas Theater, where he was likely told
that he was to meet up with a "contact" in the darkened theater
sometime after 1:00 PM.
A few minutes after (HARVEY) Oswald boarded the Marsalis Ave. bus, it
became stalled in traffic. McWatters said, "Well, I was sitting in the
bus, there was some gentleman in front of me in a car, and he came back
and walked up to the bus and I opened the door and he said, 'I have
heard over my radio in my car that the President has been--I believe he
used the word--'has been shot.'" McWatters said "that is when the
gentleman decided he would get off the bus." Oswald got up from his
seat, asked for a bus transfer, put the transfer in his shirt pocket,
and got off the bus in the middle of the block, near Poydras and Lamar
St. The woman who boarded the bus at the same time Oswald boarded
the
bus also requested a transfer, and left the bus the same time as Oswald
left the bus.
The bus transfer that McWatters gave to HARVEY Oswald was found by
police in HARVEY Oswald's shirt pocket 3 hours later, around 4:45 PM.
The police contacted the Dallas Transit Company and spoke with a
supervisor, who identified Cecil McWatters as the driver who issued the
transfer. Two hours later, while driving the Marsalis bus past City
Hall, McWatters was stopped by the police. McWatters told the Warren
Commission, "Well, they (Dallas Police) stopped me; it was, I would say
around 6:15 or somewhere around 6:15 or 6:20 that afternoon....they
told me that they had a transfer that I had issued that was cut for
Lamar Street at 1 o'clock, and they wanted to know if I knew anything
about it. And I, after I looked at the transfer and my punch, said yes,
that is the transfer I issued because it had my punch mark on it....the
superintendent has a list, in other words, it would be just like this
and every man has a punch and he has his name, and everything. In other
words, if anyone calls in about a transfer or anything, I mean brings
one in he can look right down the list by the punch mark and tell whose
punch it is, and who it is registered to."
WILLIAM WHALEY'S TAXI
After leaving McWatters' bus HARVEY Oswald walked south on Lamar St. to
the Greyhound Bus depot. Taxi driver William Whaley saw Oswald and told
the WC, "He was walking south on Lamar from Commerce St. when I saw
him.... He was dressed in just ordinary work clothes. It wasn't khaki
pants but they were khaki material, blue faded blue color, like a blue
uniform made in khaki. Then he had on a brown shirt with a little
silverlike stripe on it and he had on some kind of jacket, I didn't
notice very close but I think it was a work jacket that almost matched
the pants (blue/grey jacket--CE #163). He, his shirt was open
three
buttons down here. He said, 'May I have the cab?'.... And instead of
opening the back door he opened the front door, which is allowable
there, and got in.... And about that time an old lady, I think she was
an old lady, I don't remember nothing but her sticking her head down
past him in the door and said, 'Driver, will you call me a cab down
here?'.... he [Oswald] said, 'I will let you have this one,' and she
said, 'No, the driver can call me one.'" I have wondered for years if
this woman was the same woman who got on the bus and off the bus the
same time as HARVEY Oswald. If yes, then she was following Oswald.
McWatters continued, "I asked him where he wanted to go. And he said,
'500 North Beckley.'" As Whaley drove he noticed that his passenger was
wearing a shiny bracelet.
Whaley told the WC, "I always notice watchbands, unusual watchbands,
and identification bracelets like these, because I make them
myself....it was just a common stretchband identification bracelet. A
lot of them are made of chain links and not stretchbands. Stretchbands
are unusual because there is very few of them....this one was a
stretchband....he had it on the arm next to me, which was the left arm.
Westbrook, with Croy, drove his unmarked dark blue
police car to the TSBD
We know that after shots were fired at President Kennedy, Capt.
Westbrook drove his unmarked dark blue police car, together with
reserve Officer Kenneth Croy, from police headquarters to Dealey Plaza
and arrived around 12:40 PM. Westbrook knew that HARVEY Oswald,
according to plan, was supposed to be on Cecil McWatters’ Marsalis Ave.
bus. Westbrook also knew that Officer Tippit was waiting for HARVEY
Oswald to arrive on the Marsalis bus at or near the GLOCO station. I
believe that after Westbrook parked his dark blue unmarked police car,
he saw the Marsalis bus stopped near the Book Depository. Westbrook and
Croy boarded this bus looking for HARVEY Oswald, but did not know that
only a few minutes earlier HARVEY Oswald had de-boarded the bus.
Roy Milton Jones, a passenger on McWatters’ bus, told the FBI that two
police officers came on the bus and searched passengers for weapons,
only a few minutes after a young man--HARVEY Oswald--got off the bus.
Jones said this man was wearing a light blue jacket and grey khaki
pants. The presence of two police officers boarding McWatters' bus was
not discussed nor investigated by the Warren Commission nor by the FBI
nor by the Dallas Police. After failing to locate HARVEY Oswald on the
bus Capt. Westbrook now knew that HARVEY Oswald would not be meeting up
with Officer Tippit at or near the GLOCO station. Where was HARVEY
Oswald? Why did he get off the bus? Westbrook now had to locate HARVEY
Oswald and make sure that he arrived at the Texas Theater.
TIPPIT AT THE GLOCO STATION
Only 10 minutes after the President of the United States was murdered
Officer Tippit was sitting in his patrol car at the GLOCO Station
watching traffic cross the viaduct from Dallas to Oak Cliff.
It is obvious that Tippit was following orders, probably from
Westbrook, and was somehow involved in the conspiracy. Tippit knew LEE
Oswald and either knew HARVEY Oswald or knew about him. I believe that
on November 22 Officer Tippit was told that his assignment was to make
sure that both young men arrived safely at the Texas Theater--first
HARVEY Oswald, who he was supposed to meet at the bus stop across the
street from the GLOCO Station, and then LEE Oswald who he was to meet
near 10th & Patton.
Around 12:45 PM, as Whaley was driving HARVEY Oswald in his taxi,
Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippit was observed by 5 witnesses sitting
in his patrol car at the GLOCO station watching traffic. The GLOCO
station was at 1502 N. Zang Blvd, just across the Trinity River from
downtown Dallas via the Houston Street Viaduct. The 5 witnesses who saw
Tippit sitting in his patrol car were photographer Al Volkland, his
wife Lou, and three employees of the GLOCO station--Tom Mullins, Emmett
Hollingshead, and J.B. "Shortly" Lewis. They all knew Tippit
personally. The author believes that Tippit was waiting for HARVEY
Oswald to arrive on the Marsalis Ave. bus, which turned left from Zang
Blvd. onto Marsalis Ave., and then stopped, allowing passengers to
deboard. But when HARVEY Oswald did not get off the bus at either
Marsalis Ave. or Jefferson Blvd, Tippit knew there was a problem.
Unknown to Tippit, HARVEY Oswald had already deboarded the Marsalis
Ave. bus on Elm St. in Dallas. Around 12:52-12:53 Officer Tippit
quickly left the GLOCO Station, hurried south on Lancaster Ave., and
was likely following and monitoring McWatters’ bus as it drove south on
Marsalis Ave. Tippit's route, from the GLOCO station to Jefferson Blvd.
can be seen with the dotted purple line. Tippit was following the bus
because he wanted to to see if, when, and where HARVEY Oswald would get
off the Marsalis bus. At 12:54 PM Tippit was driving his patrol car
south on Lancaster St., following the Marsalis bus, and reported his
position to the dispatcher as "Lancaster & 8th." After the Marsalis
bus turned left on Jefferson Blvd., with no sign of HARVEY Oswald,
Tippit knew there was a problem.
Tippit turned right on Jefferson Blvd., and hurried to the Top 10
Record Store.
Tippit was known to store employees and asked to use the telephone,
probably trying to contact Capt. Westbrook.
Tippit was in a hurry and, after asking a few customers to step aside,
he placed a call. A minute later, apparently with no answer, Tippit
hung up the phone and hurried to his police car. He began driving to
10th & Patton for his 1:00 PM meeting with Capt. Westbrook and LEE
Oswald.
Around the time Tippit left the GLOCO station taxi driver William
Whaley had already driven past the GLOCO station. Whaley continued on
Zang Blvd., turned left on Beckley Ave., and drove past Oswald's
rooming house.
Whaley said, "when I got pretty close to the 500 block at Neches and
North Beckley which is the 500 block, he (HARVEY Oswald) said, "This
will do fine," and I pulled over to the curb right there (circa 12:54
PM). He gave me a dollar bill, the trip was 95 cents. He gave me a
dollar bill and didn't say anything, just got out and closed the door
and walked around the front of the cab over to the other side of the
street. Of course, traffic was moving through there and I put it in
gear and moved on, that is the last I saw of him."
CAR 207
As William Whaley was driving HARVEY Oswald to his rooming house,
Officer Jimmy Valentine left Dallas Police headquarters in police car
#207 and drove Officer Gerry Hill and Dallas Morning news reporter Jim
Ewell to the Book Depository, arriving around 12:50 PM.
DALLAS POLICE CAR #207
After Capt. Westbrook failed to find HARVEY Oswald on the Marsalis bus,
he needed to locate HARVEY Oswald and make sure that he arrived at the
Texas Theater. The most likely place to look for HARVEY Oswald was his
rooming house on North Beckley. But Westbrook dared not drive his
unmarked dark blue police car to Oak Cliff, looking for the man who
would soon be accused of killing President Kennedy. Instead, Capt.
Westbrook commandeered a nearby police car that just arrived at the
Book Depository with Officer Jimmy Valentine driving, along with
Officer Gerry Hill and Dallas Morning news reporter Jim Ewell.
Ewell said, “This officer, Jimmy Valentine, drove us back from east to
west through downtown on the most circuitous route I can recall, and we
were back there at the School Book Depository probably in less than two
minutes….We found ourselves standing right out in the middle of the
intersection of Houston and Elm.
Capt. Westbrook, along with Sgt. Croy commandeered police car #207 and
drove directly to Oswald's rooming house in Oak Cliff, hoping to locate
HARVEY Oswald. I believe Capt. Westbrook and Croy were the two police
officers seen by Earlene Roberts driving slowly past 1026 N. Beckley,
honking their horn, while Oswald was in his room changing clothes.
Mrs.Roberts saw the car and told the FBI the police car was #207 with
two occupants.
It is important to question and wonder why anyone in the Dallas Police
Dept. would have any innocent reason to personally know or be
acquainted with HARVEY Oswald prior to November 22, and to know where
he was living. Capt. Westbrook knew all about HARVEY Oswald because
Westbrook was involved in the pre-arranged plan to murder Officer
Tippit and then blame HARVEY Oswald for Tippit’s murder and for the
murder of President Kennedy. When Earlene Roberts heard a car honking
the horn she looked out the window, saw a police car, and told the FBI
the police car was #207. The occupants of car #207 were not only
co-conspirators, they were a direct link to the people who conspired to
murder President Kennedy.
Earlene Roberts' identification of police car #207, driving past 1026
N. Beckley at 1:00 PM and honking the horn, was a very serious problem.
How would the Dallas police explain two of their officers driving past
the rooming house of the man accused of killing President Kennedy only
a half hour earlier? Who were these two police officers? Who ordered
them to 1026 N. Beckley?
Officer Jimmy Valentine had the keys to car #207 and would only have
given the keys to a fellow police officer, and Valentine would have
known their identity. But Jimmy Valentine was never investigated
nor
questioned. Why not? Valentine should have been interviewed
by DPD
internal affairs, the FBI, the Secret Service, and/or the Warren
Commission and asked who borrowed his squad car that afternoon.
Valentine should have provided a written statement or affidavit as to
either the location of car #207 or the officer to whom he gave the keys
to car #207 prior to 1:00 PM on 11/22/63. The opportunity to identify
and connect the police officers in car #207 with (HARVEY) Oswald was
now lost, and I believe was intentionally lost.
To resolve this problem, the Warren Commission requested Dallas Police
Chief Jesse Curry to determine the whereabouts of car #207 at 1:00 PM.
A brief "letter of explanation" was prepared and given to Chief Curry,
who then forwarded this letter to the Warren Commission. This "letter
of explanation" claimed that car #207 was parked at the Book Depository
all afternoon. But this letter was not prepared or signed by the
department of internal affairs, nor by Officer Jimmy Valentine, or his
Sergeant, or his Lieutenant, or his Platoon Commander--Capt. Cecil
Talbert. This letter was prepared and signed by the man in charge
of
the personnel department--Capt. W.R. Westbrook--the man who I believe
drove car #207 past Oswald's rooming house that was seen by Earlene
Roberts. We must therefore wonder why Dallas police Chief Curry would
select Capt. Westbrook to investigate the whereabouts of car #207 and
then prepare and sign this letter.
Officer Jimmy Valentine was not interviewed by the Warren Commission
and there is no confirmation that Valentine gave the car keys to his
sergeant, Sgt. Putnam, or anyone. When St. Putnam was interviewed by
the Warren Commission he was not asked, nor did he offer, any
information relating to keys to police cars given to him at the Book
Depository on November 22. Putnam told the Warren Commission, "he
assisted in covering the Book Depository Building and aiding in
searching the building."
After getting out of Whaley's taxi, HARVEY Oswald walked to his rooming
house and arrived a minute or two before 1:00 PM. According to
housekeeper Earlene Roberts, Oswald arrived "in his shirtsleeves". On
November 22 we need to remember that HARVEY Oswald wore his blue/grey
jacket to Wesley Frazier's house in Irving, TX., wore this jacket when
he arrived at the Book Depository, wore the same jacket on McWatters
bus, and wore the same jacket in William Whaley's taxi. Oswald was
likely carrying his blue/grey zippered jacket in hand when he entered
the boarding house. HARVEY Oswald spent a minute or two changing his
pants and his work shirt (t-shirt) before leaving. Housekeeper Earlene
Roberts saw Oswald as he left the rooming house. She said "I noticed he
had a jacket he was putting on. I recall the jacket was a dark color
and it was the type that zips up the front." Mz. Roberts last saw
Oswald near the corner of Beckley and Zang, on the right side of the
rooming house.
We know that Oswald was arrested for killing Officer Tippit but Capt.
Fritz, in charge of the homicide department, never asked Oswald a
single question about the Tippit murder. Nobody knew how or when Oswald
arrived at 10th & Patton and met up with Officer Tippit. The Dallas
Police then interviewed many residents in Oak Cliff to determine if
anyone had seen Oswald walking toward 10th & Patton. Not one
resident saw Oswald walking anywhere in Oak Cliff during the afternoon
of November 22. It is obvious that HARVEY Oswald never walked or
arrived at 10th & Patton, but somehow he arrived at the Texas
Theater at 1:07 PM, only a few minutes after he was last seen standing
on the corner of Beckley St. and Zang.