Escape from the 6th Floor

by John Armstrong

Texas School Book Depository building

The original building at the corner of Elm and Houston, in Dallas, was built by the Rock Island Plow Company in 1898. Three years later the building was struck by lightning, nearly burned to the ground, and was rebuilt the following year. There were now 7 floors in the building, each with about 10,000 square feet, and a basement. The building was constructed with single wall and single floor construction. Single wall construction is where a single layer of wood is attached to one side of an exterior wall. Single floor construction is where boards are attached to the top side of floor joists with nothing attached to the bottom side of the floor joist. Today, modern buildings are "double wall" construction, and have layers of material attached to both sides of the walls and ceilings. In most cases, the second layer of material is sheet rock.

On July 4, 1939 the building was sold at auction and purchased by David Harold Byrd (aka D.H. Byrd), an ultraconservative Texas oil-man and a co-founder of the Civil Air Patrol. The building was leased to grocer wholesaler John Sexton and Company and was known as the Sexton Building for the next 20 years.

NOTE: Byrd was a co-director of Dorchester Gas Producing with Jack Crichton, an oil man and member of the Army Intelligence Reserve. Crichton and George H. W. Bush raised funds for anti-Castro Cubans and for Operation 40, a group that upon receiving orders assassinated military or political leaders in foreign countries. Crichton also arranged for key Russians in the oil industry to act as interpreters for Marina Oswald at Dallas Police headquarters.

In the 1940's, a few blocks away on the 3rd floor of the Santa Fe Building on Main St., were the offices of numerous schoolbook companies. One of these companies was the Hugh Perry Book Depository, incorporated in 1927. Sharing the third floor were the offices of other schoolbook companies, including Bobbs-Merrill, Lyons & Carnahan, McGraw-Hill, Scott Foresman, and Southwestern.

In 1947 the president of the Hugh Perry Book Depository, Jack Cason, changed the companies name to the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD). Employees included 21 year old Bill Shelley, Joe Molina, and a shipping clerk named Roy Truly. Five years later, in 1952, most of these schoolbook companies moved from the Santa Fe Building to the first floor of the Dal-Tex Building, directly across the street from the Sexton Building at 411 Elm St. For the next 11 years the office of the Texas School Book Depository Company was on the first floor in the Dal-Tex building.

On November 14, 1961 Sexton Foods vacated the building at 411 Elm St. and moved to a modern distribution facility on Regal Row, in Dallas. The building remained vacant for over a year, until Jack Cason (President, TSBD) leased the building from D.H. Byrd for 15 years--purportedly for a very low price. In early 1963 the 60-year old building underwent extensive remodeling and was refurbished with new interior walls, partitions, updated lighting, plumbing, sprinkler systems and, perhaps the most important improvement, air conditioning. Carpeting was installed in offices on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors and a lunchroom for office workers was added on the 2nd floor. A new stairway at the front entrance provided access to the 2nd floor, and a newly installed traction-type passenger elevator carried office workers from the 1st thru the 4th floors. In the northwest corner of the building was the old wooden stairway and two open-gated freight elevators (one facing west; one facing east) that provided access to all floors and were to be used only by warehouse workers. The only other means of access to all floors of the Book Depository was a fire escape, attached to the outside of the building on Houston Street.

In the summer (1963) the Texas School Book Depository Company moved their company office from the Dal-Tex Building into the newly refurbished building at 411 Elm, and soon became known as the Texas School Book Depository building. Other schoolbook companies also moved into the newly refurbished building including Lyons & Carnahan, Southwestern, Allyn & Bacon, MacMillan, American Book, McGraw-Hill, Gregg, and Scott Foresman. Soon, there were seventy-seven people working inside the newly remodeled building--office workers in the new offices on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors and warehouse workers on the 1st, 5th, 6th and 7th floors.

The Texas School Book Depository distributed school books to five states surrounding Texas, including Louisiana. One of the TSBD employees, Bill Shelley (Oswald's supervisor), may have traveled to Louisiana in August, 1963 and been in contact with HARVEY Oswald in New Orleans. When Oswald was passing out FPCC literature, in front of Clay Shaw's International Trade Mart, a man who looks very much like Shelley was standing close to Oswald. There is no proof this man was Bill Shelley, but the physical resemblance is unmistakable.

Bill Shelley (??) in New Orleans with HARVEY Oswald

Bill Shelley on 11/22/63

Elzie Glaze was a Dallas journalist who in 1974 met a woman who had been working for the Texas Book Depository since 1969. Her immediate supervisor was Bill Shelley, who Glaze contacted and met 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."

NOTE: From all indications Oswald was alone, in the 2nd floor lunchroom, during the shooting. However, Oswald could not prove that he was in the lunchroom, and therefore needed someone to say that he and Oswald were together during the shooting (not on the 6th floor of the TSBD). While being questioned by DPD Capt. Fritz, Oswald said that he was "out with Bill Shelley in front" during the shooting (recorded on handwritten notes by Capt. Fritz and FBI agent Jim Hosty). Oswald expected his supervisor and CIA contact (Shelley) to confirm that he and Oswald were together during the shooting.  But Oswald did not realize that Shelley was part of a plan to make sure that he (HARVEY Oswald) quickly left the TSBD shortly after shots were fired at President Kennedy. Oswald's hasty departure would make it appear as though he was evading capture by the police. When Shelley was questioned about Oswald's whereabouts after the shooting, Shelley denied being with Oswald. It was also very likely/probable that it was Shelley who instructed Oswald to leave the TSBD, instructed him to board the Marsalis bus (#433), and instructed him to meet a contact at the Texas Theater. After the shooting someone instructed Oswald to go to the Texas Theater, and someone gave Oswald the halves of two one dollar bills that would likely be used to confirm his contact. If not Shelley, then who ??

For the purpose of this essay we are interested in floors 5 and 6, which were used as warehouse space, and still had the old style single floor construction. It appears from photos that the material used on the floors consisted of thick individual boards that ran horizontally from girder to girder (see photo below). These floor boards were laid side by side and nailed on the top of the wooden girders. If one or more of these floor boards were lifted, or removed, there was direct access to the floor below.

Witnesses see two men on the 6th floor

Minutes before 12:30 PM, on the morning of November 22, 1963 many people observed two men on the 6th floor as the Presidential motorcade approached Dealey Plaza. Charles L. Bronson was using his home movie camera to film scenes outside of the Book Depository. At 12:24 pm, his camera captured the images of two men moving in the south­ eastern window of the 6th floor, an area that is now known as the snipers nest.

Carolyn E. Walther was standing on the west side of Houston Street about 50 feet south of Elm. Just before the motorcade arrived she looked up at the Book Depository and saw two men in an upper floor window, one of whom was holding a rifle with the bar­rel pointed downward. She described the rifle as being considerably shorter and fatter than the rifle found by Dallas Police. She said the man carrying the gun was blond or light haired and was wearing a white shirt. The other man was wearing a brown suit coat.

Ruby Henderson was standing across the street from the Book Depository and also saw two men on an upper floor of the building. She said one of the men was wearing a white shirt and the other man was wearing a dark shirt. Ms. Henderson said, "One of them had dark hair ..... a darker complexion than the other ..... You could see their head and shoulders, but not like they were leaning out."

Ronald B. Fischer was standing next to Robert Edwards on the southwest cor­ner of Elm and Houston directly across the street from the Book Depository. Fischer saw the head and shoulders of a white man in his late 20's, with light hair, wearing an open-neck light ­colored shirt, staring in the direction of the triple underpass. Following the assassina­tion Fisher was interviewed by the Dallas Police and shown photographs of Harvey Oswald. Fisher said the photos looked like the man he saw at the window that shot at the President, but would not say the photographs were the same man.

Robert Edwin Edwards was standing next to Ronald Fischer facing the Book Depository two or three minutes before the motorcade arrived. He saw a white man on the 6th floor wearing a light-colored sports shirt, open at the neck, and said the man had short, light, sandy hair. When shown photographs of Oswald after the assassination, Edwards said he could not be sure the photographs were the same man.

Tom Dillard, the chief news photographer of the Dallas Morning News, saw two men in the arched windows on the 6th floor of the Book Depository as the car he was riding in turned the corner from Main onto Houston.

Howard L. Brennan, a construction worker, saw a man sitting sideways on the windowsill prior to the arrival of the motorcade. Brennan said he could practically see his whole body, from the hips up. He said the individual was a white man in his early 30's, was fair complexioned, slender, possibly 5-foot 10, 160 to 170 pounds, and wore light-colored clothing.

Across the street from the Book Depository as many as 40 inmates on the 5th floor of the county jail (see photo below) watched the two men as they "fooled around" with a scope on a rifle about 6 minutes before the shooting. Seventeen-year-old Johnny L. Powell had been in the county jail for 3 days charged with disturbing the peace. Powell said, "Quite a few of us jail inmates saw two men in the 6th floor window of the Book Depository. Everybody was trying to watch the parade and all that. We were looking across the street at the Book Depository because it was directly straight across. The first thing I thought is, it was security guards .... I remember the guys." Powell said the two men in the window "looked darker" than whites and were wearing "kind of brownish looking or duller clothes ... like work clothes."

NOTE: Attorney Stanley M Kaufman represented one of the inmates, Willie Mitchell, and told WC attorney Leon D. Hubert that numerous inmates witnessed the assas­sination from the 5th and 6th floors of the county jail. Attorney Kaufman said, "I remember that did occur and it sort of concerned me at the time as to why--if they were trying to find out all these facts--why they, the Warren Commission, didn't go up there and talk to these prisoners."

Four eyewitnesses saw a man wearing dark clothing or a brown coat. Seven eyewitnesses saw a 2nd man wearing a white or light-colored shirt. Five witnesses and perhaps as many as 40 inmates saw two men on the six floor of the Book Depository moments before the shooting.

HARVEY Oswald, the man charged with assassinating President Kennedy, was impersonated on many occasions in the months preceding the assassination. I believe this impersonation continued thru November 22, and the man impersonating HARVEY Oswald was on the 6th floor of the Book Depository. A photographic image of this man was captured by Dallas Morning News photographer Tom Dillard only seconds after the shooting (photo below, on left). This image, from Dillards film, shows the man wearing a a light-colored shirt as described by witnesses. I believe this man was LEE Oswald, who's hairline is very similar to a photo taken of LEE by his brother Robert Oswald (photo below, on right).

Richard Randolph Carr saw a man looking out the top floor of the Book Depository moments before the shooting. Carr, like Carolyn Walther, said the man was wearing a light brown coat. Carr described the man as having an athletic build, wearing horn rim glasses, and a hat. A few minutes after the assassination Carr saw the same man walking toward him on Houston, constantly looking back over his shoulder. The man turned east on Commerce St, walked one block to Record St., and got into a 1961 or 1962 light colored Nash Rambler station wagon. I believe the man wearing the brown coat drove this vehicle north on Record St., turned left on Elm, and stopped in front of the grassy knoll. Deputy Sheriff Roger Craig saw the Nash Rambler stop, heard a loud whistle, and watched as LEE Oswald hurried down the grassy knoll and got into this car at 12:40 PM. This incident occurred at the same time that HARVEY Oswald (the man accused of killing President Kennedy) was riding on a city bus, driven by Cecil McWatters, several blocks east of the Book Depository. LEE Oswald (white shirt) and the man wearing the brown jacket were seen together on the 6th floor of the TSBD (circa 12:30 PM). Ten minutes later (circa 12:40 PM) they were together in the Nash Rambler station wagon as the car quickly left Dealy Plaza.

For many years I wondered how LEE Oswald (white shirt) and the husky, dark skinned man wearing a brown jacket managed to get to the 6th floor and later escape from the 6th floor without being noticed, seen, or heard by anyone. Not one person who worked in the Book Depository reported seeing a stranger or strangers in the building before 12:30 PM on November 22. How did two or more "unidentified strangers" manage to enter the building, get to and from the 6th floor without being seen, recognized, or reported by anyone?

3 men on the 5th floor

At 12:30 PM  there were 2 unidentified men on the 6th floor, and 3 employees of the Book Depository directly below on the 5th floor--Harold Norman, Bonnie Rae Williams, and James Jarman. As the men on the 6th floor moved around, dust fell between the gaps in the floor boards and onto the heads of the 3 men on the 5th floor.  When the motorcade passed in front of the TSBD, shots were fired. These men heard shell casings as they dropped onto the 6th floor, directly overhead, but heard no footsteps and saw nobody run down the old wooden stairway. For many years I wondered about this. How could these men hear shell casings drop onto the floor, but not hear the footsteps of one or two adult men running across the 6th floor. And why did none of these men see anyone hurrying down the old wooden stairs or riding one of the two freight elevators in the NW corner of the building.

Geneva Hine, "The lights all went out"

As the Presidential limousine turned right from Main St. onto Houston Street Geneva Hines was sitting alone at her desk in her 2ne floor office at the Book Depository. This office, as can be seen in the 2nd floor diagram below, was in the middle of the building with only one exterior window, which was blocked in part by a counter (see photo below on left). The light source for office workers was provided by a dozen overhead ceiling lights, as can be seen in the photos below.

WC attorney Joseph Ball asked Hines, "Were you alone then at this time?"
Mrs. Hines. Yes.
Mr. Ball. Did you stay at your desk?
Mrs. Hines. Yes, sir. I was alone until the lights all went out and the phones became dead because the motorcade was coming near us and no one was calling so I got up and thought I could see it from the east window in our office (see 2nd floor diagram below).

"The lights all went out and the phones became dead."

The telephone on Mrs. Hines desk had 3 incoming lines and 3 very small lucite buttons which illuminated when a particular line was in use. In 1963 Western Electric was the major supplier of multi line telephones to AT&T, like the phone pictured below. Electricity required for the illumination of the lucite buttons was provided by the local electric company, and not by telephone lines. Lighting in Mrs. Hines office came from a dozen overhead ceiling lights. When Mrs. Hines said "all the lights went out," she was referring to the overhead lights in her office and the small button lights on her telephone. Someone shut off the electricity in the Book Depository only moments before President Kennedy was assassinated. BUT WHY AND FOR WHAT REASON?

Mr. Ball. Did you go to the window?
Mrs. Hines. Yes.
Mr. Ball. Did you look out?
Mrs. Hines. Yes.
Mr. Ball. What did you see?
Mrs. Hines. I saw the escort car come first up the middle of Houston Street.
Mr. Ball. Going north on Houston Street?

NOTE: It appears the electricity in the TSBD was turned off as the escort car turned from Main St. onto Houston St., less than one minute before shots were fired at the President. The electrical panels were located on the back side of the building on the first floor, close to the domino room and close to Bill Shelley's office.

Mrs. Hines. Yes, sir. going north on Houston Street. I saw it turn left and I saw the President's car coming and I saw the President and saw him waving his hand in greeting up in the air and I saw his wife and I saw him turn the corner and after he turned the corner I looked and I saw the next car coming just at the instant I saw the next car coming up was when I heard the shots.

Mrs. Hines wanted to see what had happened so she hurried down the hall to the office of Lyons and Carnahan (see #2-photo below), a publishing company with an office facing Elm Street (follow the green line On 2nd floor diagram below). She knocked on the door but nobody answered. She then hurried to the office of Southwest Publishing, another office that faced Elm Street (see #3-photo below). A young lady was in the office talking on the telephone, but would not answer the door.

On the 4th floor was the office of the Scott Forseman Company.  Office workers Sandra Styles, Victoria Adams, Elsie Dorman, and supervisor Dorothy Garner were watching the parade thru their office window. After hearing gun shots Victoria Adams and Sandra Styles hurried to the stairway and began to run down the stairs (see diagram below). WC attorney Belin asked Adams how long it took her to get from the office window to the bottom of the stairs on the 1st floor.

Mr. BELIN - How long do you think it was between the time the shots were fired and the time you left the window to start toward the stairway?
Miss ADAMS - Between 15 and 30 seconds, estimated, approximately.
Mr. BELIN - How long do you think it was, or do you think it took you to get from the window to the top of the fourth floor stairs?
Miss ADAMS - I don't think I can answer that question accurately, because the time approximation, without a stopwatch, would be difficult.
Mr. BELIN - How long do you think it took you. to get from the window to the bottom of the stairs on the first floor?
Miss ADAMS - I would say no longer than a minute at the most.
Mr. BELIN - So you think that from the time you left the window on the fourth floor until the time you got to the stairs at the bottom of the first floor, was approximately 1 minute?
Miss ADAMS - Yes, approximately.

Adams' testimony that she was on the first floor a minute after the shooting is very important, as we shall soon see. Office supervisor Dorothy Garner followed Styles and Adams out of the office and watched as the two women hurried to the NW stairway and began running down the stairs (see diagram below). A minute later Adams and Styles arrived on the first floor and saw two TSBD employees nearby at the back of the building--Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady. Adams told Shelley and Lovelady that she believed the President had been shot, and received no reply from either man. Neither woman saw nor heard anyone on the stairway.

QUESTION: Why, in less than one minute after shots were fired at President Kennedy, would Shelley and Lovelady be at the rear of the TSBD close to the old wooden stairs, two freight elevators, electrical panels, and loading dock?

After their brief encounter with Shelley and Lovelady, the two women left the building and ran onto the loading dock at the back of the building.

Miss ADAMS - I proceeded out to the Houston Street dock.
Mr. BELIN - That would be on this same diagram? It is marked Houston Street dock, and you went through what would be the north door, which is towards the rear of the first floor, is that correct? And down some stairs towards the rear of the dock?
Miss ADAMS - That's correct.
Mr. BELIN - Where did you go from there?
Miss ADAMS - I proceeded--which way is east and west?
Mr. BELIN - East is here. East is towards Houston, and west is towards the railroad tracks. You went east or west? Towards the railroad tracks or towards Houston Street?
Miss ADAMS - I went west towards the tracks.
Mr. BELIN - How far west did you go?
Miss ADAMS - I went approximately 2 yards within the tracks and there was an officer standing there, and he said, "Get back to the building." And I said, "But I work here." And he said, "That is tough, get back." I said, "Well, was the President shot?" And he said, "I don't know. Go back." And I said, "All right."

NOTE: I find it very curious, and suspicious, that an unidentified police officer was standing alone near the northwest corner of the TSBD within one minute of the shooting.

Mr. BELIN - Then what did you do?
Miss ADAMS - I went back, only I went southwest.
Mr. BELIN - Well, did you come back by way of the street, or did you come back the same entrance you went out?
Miss ADAMS - No, sir.
Mr. BELIN - You went back in through the front entrance, through the front of the building?
Miss ADAMS - Well, I didn't go back in right away.
Mr. BELIN - What did you do then? There is a street that would be a continuation of Elm Street that goes in front of the building, and Elm Street itself angles into the freeway. Did you go back either of those streets?
Miss ADAMS - Yes, sir. I went by the one directly in front of the building.

Officer Marrion Baker and Roy Truly

Dallas Police officer Marrion Baker was riding his motorcycle in the parade. After turning the corner from Main St. onto Houston St. he rode his motorcycle another 60-80 feet and heard what he thought were gun shots. Baker told the Warren Commission that he rode his motorcycle a half block north to the corner of Elm and Houston and stopped. On Warren Commission Exhibit 478 (photo below) Baker placed the letter "B" where he parked his motorcycle (red arrow), about 10 feet east of the traffic light pole (CE 477 below). Baker's motorcycle can be seen in a frame from the Darnell film (3rd photo below w/red arrow), taken about 25 seconds after shots were fired.

Baker hurried 45 feet to the steps of the TSBD, hurried up the steps, and entered the lobby which was filled with people.  Warren Commission member Senator Sherman Cooper asked Baker if there were any other police officers near the TSBD as he ran to the building.

SENATOR COOPER - Were there any officers that you saw near the School Book Depository when you went in?
Mr. BAKER - There was an officer working traffic on that corner, and Officer J. W. Williams was---
Mr. DULLES - By that corner you mean the corner of Elm and Houston?
Mr. BAKER - That is right, sir. J. W. Williams who is a motorcycle officer, was, I thought, over on the left-hand side of me, and he was right with me, but as I ran in this building, I found out that I was by myself. I didn't know where anybody went.

After entering the building Baker shouted "where are the stairs or elevator?" Roy Truly introduced himself as the building manager, and said "follow me." The passenger elevator, only a few steps away, was ignored and bypassed by Truly (see location of the passenger elevator below). Curiously, the Warren Commission never asked Truly why he didn't take the passenger elevator.

QUESTION: Did Truly bypass the passenger elevator because he knew, at that moment, the electricity had been turned off and the passenger elevator was inoperable? TSBD officer worker Geneva Hine told the Warren Commission that as the escort cars were driving (from Main St.) north on Houston Street the electricity was shut off.

The two men hurried thru the darkened 1st floor, with no overhead lights, over 140 feet to the northwest corner of the building where the 2 freight elevators and the old wooden stairway were located (photo below-follow red line). They arrived at the freight elevators within a minute and Truly pushed the call button. But the elevators were not working, because the electricity was shut off. Roy Truly, supervisor of the TSBD, most certainly knew the electrical panels were only 25 feet away (photo below--blue line), but made no attempt to check the electrical circuits. Why not?

On March 25, 1964 WC attorney David Belin was taking Officer Marrion Baker's testimony. Commission member member Senator Cooper asked Baker, "Did you see anyone else while you were in the building, other than this man you have identified later as Oswald, and Mr. Truly? Baker replied, "On the first floor there were two men. As we came through the main doorway to the elevators, I remember as we tried to get on the elevators I remember two men, one was sitting on this side and another one between 20 or 30 feet away from us looking at us."  WC member Allen Dulles then asked, "Were they white men?" Baker answered, "Yes, sir." These two men were almost certainly William (Bill) Shelley and Billy Lovelady.

The image below is a diagram of the 1st floor of the Book Depository showing the position of Baker and Truly (red line) as they approached the freight elevators. One of the two men was standing near the old wooden stairs (yellow), the only access to the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th floors when the electricity is off. The other man, according to Officer Baker, was "20 or 30 feet away," and likely standing very close to the buildings electrical panels (blue).

If these two men were Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady, as seen and identified by Victoria Adams only moments earlier, then Roy Truly knew both men very well. Truly either knew, or probably knew, they were responsible for turning off the electricity, which is why Truly ignored the passenger elevator, failed to look at the electrical panels, ignored the two men, and said nothing to the Dallas Police, the FBI, the Warren Commission nor anyone else about these two men.  Before running up the wooden stairs with Officer Baker, Truly told Bill Shelley not to let anybody up and down the elevator or stairway.  Shelley told the Warren Commission,  "Mr. Truly left me guarding the elevator, not to let anybody up and down the elevator or stairway...." The only time that Shelley saw Roy Truly on the first floor, next to the freight elevators, was 12:32-33 PM, before he (Shelley), Danny Arce, and Bonnie Ray Williams were taken to the police station 20 minutes later (12:50 PM).

Bill Shelley, together with Bonnie Ray Williams and Danny Arce, were driven to police headquarters (circa 12:50 PM) where they were questioned and signed affidavits. Danny Arce told the Warren Commission that after walking down Elm St. to the railroad tracks he returned to the building and then, about 15 minutes later (circa 12:50 PM), he and Shelley and Williams were driven to police headquarters.

Mr. BALL. Did you go up to the railroad tracks?
Mr. ARCE. Yeah.
Mr. BALL. Did you see anything up there?
Mr. ARCE. No, and they told us go back there and I went back inside the building.
Mr. BALL. Where did you go then?
Mr. ARCE. Back inside the building.
Mr. BALL. How long did you stay in there?
Mr. ARCE. Oh, about 15 minutes and they took us down to city hall to make statements out.

With Shelley guarding the freight elevators, Roy Truly began to run up the old wooden stairs followed by Officer Marion Baker.

QUESTION: The President  of the United States was shot moments earlier. Why would Roy Truly, or any unarmed citizen, race up the stairs in order to find and confront one or more armed assailants who would likely have shot him on sight? Truly's actions imply that he knew for a fact there was no reason to fear such a confrontation. And Truly's failure to discuss or describe to the Warren Commission the two unidentified "white men" near the stairs and elevators less than two minutes after the shooting, is reason to suspect and wonder if Truly was a co-conspirator. And the Warren Commission's failure to ask Truly about the "two white men" makes it appear as though the Commission intentionally avoided these men, avoided inquiring as to their identity, their description, their reason for being at the rear of the building only minutes after the shooting, and the possibility that these two "white men" were part of a conspiracy that involved Harvey Oswald.

From the last shot fired at President Kennedy, it had taken Baker between a minute and fifteen seconds and a minute and thirty seconds to park his motorcycle, meet up with Roy Truly at the entrance to the the building, and arrive at the freight elevators at the back of the building. BAKER AND TRULY ARRIVED AT THE FREIGHT ELEVATORS ONLY MOMENTS AFTER VICTORIA ADAMS AND SANDRA STYLES ARRIVED ON THE FIRST FLOOR (ONE MINUTE AFTER SHOTS WERE FIRED) AND THEN HURRIED OUT THE BACK DOOR OF THE BUILDING. Truly pushed the elevator call button but the neither the east nor west elevators responded (the electricity was off). Truly looked up the elevator shaft and saw that both elevators were on the 5th floor. Truly then began running up the old wooden stairs, with Officer Baker following. He ran up to the second floor and was beginning to run up to the 3rd floor when Officer Baker saw a man "walking away from the stairway." Later that afternoon Baker gave an affidavit to the DPD and said, "I called to the man (HARVEY Oswald) and he turned around and came back toward me. The building manager said, 'I know that man he works here.' I turned the man loose and went up to the top floor."

Warren Commission member Senator Sherman Cooper wanted to know if Officer Baker saw or heard anyone on the 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th floors....

SENATOR COOPER - Anyway, as you walked up the stairs could you see into each floor space as you passed from floor to floor?
Mr. BAKER - Partly. Now, this building has got pillars in it, you know, and then it has got books, cases of books stacked all in it. And the best that I could, you know, I would look through there and see if I could see anybody.
SENATOR COOPER - Did you see anyone?
Mr. BAKER - No, sir.
SENATOR COOPER - When you looked?
Mr. BAKER - Not from the second floor on up.

3RD OR 4TH FLOOR? In Baker's original affidavit he said that he encountered (HARVEY) Oswald on the 3rd or 4th floor. Baker, who was unfamiliar with the TSBD, may have thought that after climbing the stairs to enter the TSBD that he was on the 2nd floor of the TSBD building instead of on the 1st floor. This could be the reason, after climbing up the wooden stairs in the NW corner of the building, that he thought he encountered (HARVEY) Oswald on the 3rd or 4th floor. However, the encounter with (HARVEY) Oswald could not have happened on the 3rd floor (below, left), as the only area between the two sets of stairs is a very small, narrow hall with no door visible, no lunch room, no coke machine. The encounter with (HARVEY) Oswald could also not have happened on the 4th floor because Dorothy Garner watched Vickie Adams and Sandra Styles hurry down these stairs, and then Ms. Garner remained standing by the stairway (lower, right) and watched Roy Truly and Officer Baker as they ran past her and went up to the 5th floor.  It is important to remember that within 15-20 seconds after the last shot was fired, supervisor Dorothy Garner was standing by the stairs, and remained standing by the stairs while Baker and Truly ran past her and up to the 5th floor. During this time, nobody from the 5th or 6th floors could have hurried or run down these old, wooden stairs, nor ridden down the west  freight elevator without being heard and seen by Ms. Garner.

BAKER'S CONFIRMATION OF THE LUNCHROOM ENCOUNTER: On the afternoon of 11/22/63 Detective Marvin Johnson, DPD #879, took an affidavit from Officer Marrion Baker. Johnson described in a memo how Officer Baker, while sitting for his affidavit, saw Oswald after he (HARVEY Oswald) was brought to the police station. Det. Johnson wrote: "Patrolman Baker was in the Homicide Bureau giving an affidavit and (HARVEY) Oswald was brought into the room to talk to some Secret Service men. When Baker saw Oswald he stated, 'that is the man I stopped on the 4th floor of the School Book Depository.'"

OSWALD'S CONFIRMATION OF THE LUNCHROOM ENCOUNTER: When Capt. Fritz interviewed (HARVEY) Oswald for the first time, beginning at 3:15 PM, he wrote notes of Oswald's responses/answers to his questions. In relation to the lunchroom encounter Fritz wrote, "claims 2nd floor coke when off came in...to 1st fl...had lunch out with Bill Shelley in front."

OFFICER BAKER AND (HARVEY) OSWALD, ONLY A FEW HOURS AFTER PRESIDENT KENNEDY WAS MURDERED, INDEPENDENTLY CONFIRMED THEIR LUNCHROOM ENCOUNTER.

TIMING SEQUENCE: The Warren Commission recorded the time it took Officer Baker and Secret Service agent Howlett to run from the SE corner of the building to the 2nd floor lunchroom--between one minute fifteen seconds and one minute eighteen seconds. It is very clear that one or more shooters from the 6th floor could not have ran down the stairs nor rode the west freight elevator past the 4th floor without being seen by Dorothy Garner nor seen nor heard by Garner, Adams, Styles, Baker, or Truly. The man confronted by Officer Baker in the lunchroom, 1 1/2 minutes after the shooting, was alone and was already in the lunchroom before the shots were fired, when the shots were fired, and moments after shots were fired at President Kennedy.

On the 4th  floor, only moments after shots were fired, supervisor Dorothy Garner watched Victoria Adams and Sandra Styles run down the stairs to the first floor. Two minutes later she watched Baker and Truly as they ran past her on the 4th floor and continued running up the stairway. At the same time TSBD employee Geneva Hines returned to her office on the 2nd floor and saw the ceiling lights in her office and the lights on her 3-line telephone were now working. Within one to two minutes after President Kennedy was shot, the electricity was turned back on, while at the same time Baker and Truly were running from the 1st to the 5th floor. Now, all three elevators in the TSBD could be used (2 freight elevators and the passenger elevator).

NOTE: All but two of the warehouse workers were laborers, and their work consisted of receiving bulk shipments of books from dozens of companies, sorting and storing those books on floors 5 and 6, and then filling customer orders by locating specific school books, and then taking those books to the 1st floor, where they were boxed, wrapped, and shipped. There were two supervisors in charge of the laborers--Roy Truly and Bill Shelley. Following the shooting, Truly was with Officer Baker on the upper floors of the TSBD. Only one supervisor, Billy Shelley, was on the 1st floor and had the motive, means, and opportunity to turn the electricity on, and off, in the building.

After turning on the electricity (circa 12:32-33 PM) the two men on the first floor (Shelley/Lovelady) began walking toward Shelley's office. At the same time it appears that HARVEY Oswald entered the warehouse thru the double doors and began talking with Shelley. At the same time NBC newsman Robert MacNeil (circa 12:34 PM) entered the warehouse thru the double doors, and saw three "very calm men." MacNeil asked for the location of a telephone (probably the phone in Roy Truly's office), waited briefly for an open line, and called his office in New York City (time recorded at 12:36 PM).  It appears that Shelley and/or Lovelady may have then returned to the front steps of the TSBD with fellow employees.

QUESTION: Only ONE MINUTE after shots were fired at President Kennedy, what possible, legitimate reason could Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady have for being at the rear of the building? The electricity was turned back on when these two men were on the first floor near the electrical panels. If neither Shelley nor Lovelady turned on the electricity, then who did?

When Baker and Truly reached the 5th floor a policeman (Baker) was seen by three TSBD employees--Junior Jarman, Harold Norman, and Bonnie Ray Williams. When Truly noticed that the west elevator had moved, indicating the electricity had been turned back on, Baker and Truly then got on the east freight elevator and rode up to the 7th floor.

NOTE: We should remember that as Roy Truly and Officer Baker were running up the stairs they were passing by offices and office space that occupied the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors of the building. On the 5th floor, by choosing to ride the east freight elevator to the 7th floor, Roy Truly prevented Officer Baker from setting foot on the 6th floor. Whether this was intentional  or unintentional, Truly's decision to ride the freight elevator denied Officer Baker the opportunity to visually scan, observe, or perhaps see movement in 6th floor warehouse area, similar to Baker's observing the movement of HARVEY Oswald on the 2nd floor.

The two men on the 6th floor suddenly disappear

In 1963  there were only three ways for people to get from the 1st floor to the 5th, 6th, and 7th floor warehouse areas. #1--There were two freight elevators at the rear of the building, but they could only be used if the electricity was on. #2--There was an old wooden enclosed stairway at the rear of the building. #3--There was a fire escape on the outside of the building. The new passenger elevator, located near the front entrance to the building on Elm and Houston Streets, serviced only the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors.

#1--the freight elevators. A minute after the shooting Officer Baker and Roy Truly were on the first floor, at the rear of the TSBD, standing by the two freight elevators. Both elevators appeared to be stopped in place on the 5th floor, and did not respond when Truly pushed the call button for an elevator. The elevators were not working because the electricity was shut off. If the electricity were on, and anyone were to ride one of these slow moving freight elevators from the 6th to the 1st floor, they would first have been seen by Dorothy Garner, who was standing by the stairway on the 4th floor. If someone had ridden one of the elevators from the 6th floor down to the 1st floor, then that same elevator would have to travel back to the 5th floor by the time Truly and Baker arrived. In other words, one of these slow moving, noisy, freight elevators would have to travel from the 6th floor to the 1st floor, and then return to the 5th floor within one minute, which was impossible. Therefore, the two men on the 6th floor could not possibly have ridden either of the slow moving freight elevators to the 1st floor (escape route #1).

East freight elevator	Photo taken while standing inside of the west freight elevator

#2--the old wooden stairway. The first people to use the NW stairway following the shooting were Victoria Adams and Sandra Styles on the 4th floor. These two young women were running down the stairs to the first floor as Officer Baker was parking his police motorcycle at the corner of Elm and Houston. Baker looked around and told the Warren Commission "there were people running all over....500-600 people in this area." Baker hurried thru the crowd to the entrance of the TSBD, up the stairway, and into the building. Inside the lobby he shouted, "Where are the stairs?" Roy Truly, the building manager, introduced himself and said, "I am a building manager, follow me." Shoving people aside, the two men hurried thru the double doors, into the warehouse, past Bill Shelley's office, past Roy Truly's office, and arrived at the northwest corner of the building only moments after Victoria Adams and Sandra Styles left the building thru the rear door (onto the loading dock). As Truly pushed the elevator call button and shouted for an elevator, Officer Baker looked around and saw two men nearby. Baker told the Warren Commission, "On the first floor there were two men. As we came through the main doorway to the elevators, I remember as we tried to get on the elevators I remember two men, one was sitting on this side and another one between 20 or 30 feet away from us looking at us." WC member Allen Dulles asked, "Were they white men?" Officer Baker replied, "Yes, sir."

If these two "white men" were strangers, unknown to Roy Truly, then why did Truly not confront them and ask what they were doing in the TSBD? The fact that Truly said nothing to these men and nothing to Officer Baker is a good indication that he knew both of these men--in particular Bill Shelley who worked directly under Truly. It is interesting to note that Officer Baker was interviewed by W.C. attorney David Belin on March 20, 1964. Belin knew there were two unidentified "white men" at the back of the TSBD, only one minute after the shooting. But when Belin interviewed Roy Truly a few weeks later, he never questioned Truly about these two men, nor did Truly say anything about these two men.  Why not?

Officer Baker and Truly, with Truly leading the way, began to run up the old wooden stairway. Baker caught a glimpse of a man on the 2nd floor and confronted him (this was HARVEY Oswald--long sleeve brown shirt). After Truly told Baker the man was an employee the officer turned away and the two men continued running up the stairs. When interviewed on 11/22/63 by FBI agent James Bookout, Oswald described the confrontation with Officer Baker and Truly.

Moments after confronting HARVEY Oswald in the 2nd floor lunchroom Baker and Truly continued up the stairs and were seen on the 4th floor by Dorothy Garner, who moments before had watched her two young office workers, Vickie Adams and Sandra Styles, as they ran down the stairs. While Baker and Truly were climbing the stairs someone turned on the electricity, probably one of the two men seen by Officer Baker, standing "20 or 30 feet away from us," near the electrical panels on the first floor. After arriving on the 5th floor, Baker and Truly rode the east freight elevator up to the 7th floor, and conveniently bypassed the 5th and 6th floor warehouse areas. The west elevator had been moved down to a lower floor.

Moments after the last shot was fired Adams, Styles, Baker, and Truly were running up and down the old wooden stairs and neither saw or heard anyone else on the stairway. The two men seen on the 6th floor could not have used the old wooden stairs (escape route #2).

#3--the fire escape. The only other way of getting from the 6th to the 1st floor was the fire escape on the outside of the building on Houston St. But if anyone had been on this fire escape following the shooting, many people would have seen them and they likely would have been photographed. The two men on the 6th floor did not use the fire escape (escape route #3).

For years I wondered why so many people never heard nor saw anyone running across the 6th floor, hurrying down the old wooden stairway, or riding down on one of the freight elevators. Not one of these people saw or heard anyone on the stairs or elevators. How was this possible? How did 2 adult men vanish from the 6th floor? Nobody knows for certain. But what is certain is that they did not use the freight elevators, the old wooden stairway, or the fire escape.

Passenger elevator

The purpose of this essay is not to "prove" how two men vanished from the 6th floor. My purpose is to show researchers that there is at least one alternative "escape route." By using one plausible "escape route," which I will explain, we may be able to understand the reason why the electricity was briefly turned off, why the 3 men on the 5th floor heard nobody run across the 6th floor to the stairway, why neither the 3 men on the 5th floor (Jarman, Williams, Norman) or the lady office workers on the 4th floor (Styles, Adams) saw anybody running down the stairway or riding the freight elevators, and why Officer Baker and Roy Truly saw nobody on the freight elevators or stairway. What follows is an alternate, and very discreet and secret way by which to go from the 6th floor to the 1st floor. I BELIEVE THE 2 MEN ESCAPED FROM THE 6TH FLOOR BY USING THE PASSENGER ELEVATOR.

The passenger elevator is close to the main entrance of the building, and carried people from the 1st to the 4th floors. The elevator shaft, in which the elevator cabin moved from floor to floor, extended from the basement thru the 5th floor. The mechanical equipment, including cables, pulley's, gears, etc. was housed on the 5th floor (see diagram below). The Warren Commission published diagrams of all floors of the Book Depository. Access to the passenger elevator is shown on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floor diagrams. But diagrams for the basement and 5th floors show only the elevator shaft, with no public access at these levels.

Below is a diagram that shows the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors of a typical cable operated elevator. In this diagram the elevator is stopped on the 4th floor, with the mechanical equipment directly overhead on the 5th floor. It is very important for researchers to understand, and remember, that the wooden boards on the ceiling of the 5th floor elevator shaft are the floor boards for the 6th floor. I'll say it again: "The wooden boards on the ceiling of the 5th floor elevator shaft are the same wooden floor boards for the 6th floor." By simply lifting a few of these wooden boards, a person can climb onto the 6th floor. And these wooden ceiling/floor boards are only about 15 feet from the snipers nest on the 6th floor.

Building codes in the 1970s (found on-line) required elevators that serviced 4 or more floors to be vented (see #22 below), due to the large volume of air displaced as the elevator moved between floors. Vents were typically placed at the top and bottom of the elevator shaft (see diagram below). Building codes in many localities also required that elevator shafts have wall mounted ladders, which were routinely used by workers for maintenance.

All floors  in the Book Depository were constructed with solid, thick, wooden floor boards (single floor construction). The photo on the right, of the stairway, shows the size and shape of the wooden floor boards which were laid side by side. They appear to be 2" by 6" solid wood boards. The photo below shows the size and shape of the wood floor boards which were laid side by side.

The photo below shows the same 2 x 6 wooden boards on both the floor and the ceiling, extending from girder to girder. It is important to understand and remember that in the Book Depository the wooden ceiling boards on one floor are the wooden floor boards for the next level. We are focused on the 6th floor, on the area directly above the 5th floor passenger elevator shaft which is only about 15 feet from the snipers nest. If an air vent were installed in the ceiling of the 5th floor elevator shaft, it would allow air to flow from the open elevator shaft directly into the 6th floor (see diagram below). An air vent would also provide direct access from the 5th floor to the 6th floor. If an air vent were not installed in this area, then lifting a few 2 x 6 wood floor boards would provide the same direct access from the 5th floor to the 6th floor.

SUPPORTING WOOD BEAMS

The first two large wooden beams on the east side of the building, which support the 2" x 6" wooden floor/ceiling boards, are only 30" to 36" apart. Access between the 5th floor elevator shaft and the 6th floor would be a simple matter of lifting only a few wooden boards (30" to 36" long), as seen in the photo below.

6th floor ingress (access to the 6th floor)

The passenger elevator, near the entrance to the TSBD ran from the basement to the 4th floor. The elevator shaft, built solidly around the passenger elevator, rose from the basement to the ceiling of the 5th floor. On the 5th floor, above the elevator cabin, were the pulleys, cables, electrical connections, etc that were part of the mechanical controls that moved the elevator from floor to floor. Access to the elevator shaft from the 5th floor was available thru a locked door, but only to the maintenance crew. There was no public access to the elevator shaft on the 5th floor. The small caption on the photo below reads, "NO OPENING TO ELEV SHAFT ON THIS FLOOR."

If one or more people ("shooters") wanted to get onto the 6th floor, quietly and without being seen, access (ingress) could be accomplished by first getting into the elevator cabin from any floor (basement to 4th floor). Then, by lifting the emergency trap door (hatch) on the ceiling of the elevator cabin (see photos below), one or more people could then climb on top of the cabin.

On the top of elevator cabins was a permanently installed "car-top station" (elevator talk/terminology) that contained electrical switches and controls that could be used to move the elevator cabin both up and down, and from floor to floor, while on top of the cabin. These panels have been installed on elevators since the 1940's and are used by maintenance crews.

"Car-top station" control panel

One or more people (shooters) could ride the elevator from any floor to the 4th floor either in the elevator cabin or on top of the elevator cabin (shooters, riding on top of the cabin from basement to 5th floor, would not be seen or heard).  On the 4th floor of the TSBD the elevator cabin needed to remain in position while the shooters gained access to the 6th floor. This could be accomplished by pushing the red stop button on the "car-top station," allowing the shooters to step from the top of the elevator cabin onto the 5th floor (nearly the same level). From the 5th floor level, a wall mounted ladder could be used to climb a few feet to the wooden ceiling, which were the floor boards on the 6th floor. While one of the men was lifting the ventilation panel, or lifting a few loose wooden floor boards to climb onto the 6th floor, the second man could simply pull the red control button on the "car-top station" and return the passenger elevator to normal operation. Moving from the top of the elevator cabin (or the cabin itself), while stopped on the 4th floor, would take the shooters only 1-2 minutes to access the 6th floor, and was totally hidden from view. None of the men on the 5th floor (Williams, Jarman, Norman) could have seen or heard the "shooters" within the 5th floor elevator shaft, which was constructed with solid walls on all sides. The shooters were now on the 6th floor.

Now let's look at photos of the 6th floor, and the snipers nest, taken shortly after shots were fired (11/22/63). The passenger elevator is located on the Houston Street side of the Book Depository (east side), in front of the 2nd set of windows on the upper left side of the photo above. Looking at the floor it appears there are no boxes on the floor in front of the 2nd set of windows (see green lines), which is directly over the elevator shaft. An air vent in this area would provide direct access from the 5th floor to the 6th floor. If there was no elevator vent shaft, then lifting 3 or 4 wooden floor boards would provide the same direct access from the elevator cabin to the 6th floor.

Following the assassination of President Kennedy the Texas School Book Depository continued installing plywood on the 6th floor, which soon covered the original 2 x 6 wooden floor boards (see photo below, on left). When the 6th floor museum was built (opened in Feb, 1989) the plywood in and around the snipers nest was removed (see photo below, on right), and the original floor boards were shown to the public, behind glass panels. The 2 x 6 wooden floor boards, directly above the elevator shaft, were covered with plywood soon after 11/22/63 and remained covered with plywood to this day.

Escape from the 6th floor (egress)

Leaving the 6th floor (egress) was time sensitive and more precarious than accessing the 6th floor. Minutes before the shooting ended the elevator cabin had to be stopped in place on the 4th floor, waiting for the men on the 6th floor. As the Presidential parade was driving west on Main St., the passenger elevator had to be sent to the 4th floor, and remain stopped on the 4th floor while the shooter(s) climbed down and into the cabin. From the 1st floor an accomplice could push the 4th floor call button. When the floor indicator light, normally above the elevator door, read "4," the accomplice could signal a companion, or hurry to the electrical panel (60 feet away) to turn off the electricity.

Geneva Hine told the Warren Commission that as the motorcade was turning right from Main onto Houston St, "the lights went out." This was less than two minutes before the shooting. Billy Lovelady said he was on the first floor at that time. Lovelady told the Warren Commission, "...so, I started going to the domino room where I generally went in to set down and eat and nobody was there.'" The domino room is only a few steps away from the electrical panels. Lovelady said, "I happened to look on the outside and Mr. Shelley was standing outside with Miss Sarah Stanton (on the front steps, about 90 feet distant), I believe her name is, and I said, 'Well, I'll go out there and talk with them, sit down and eat my lunch out there, set on the steps,' so I went out there."  Moments later Lovelady was photographed standing conspicuously on the front steps when the President's motorcade passed. After shots were fired the two men in the "snipers nest" (white shirt; brown jacket) walked about 15 feet to the top of the elevator shaft (see diagram of 6th floor). They re-entered the elevator shaft (from the 6th floor to the 5th floor), and then dropped into the elevator cabin thru the access panel in the ceiling of the cabin (see access panel above). I don't believe the shooters stayed on top of the elevator cabin. If they stayed on top the elevator cabin, and then later dropped into the cabin on a lower floor, they would risk being seen by people using the elevator.

Moments after the shooting, when the two men on the 6th floor were climbing down and into the elevator cabin, their accomplices (most likely Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady) left the front steps and quickly returned to the rear of the building on the 1st floor. Their presence on the 1st floor, moments after the shooting, is confirmed by their affidavit's given to the Dallas Police less than an hour later. Shelley said, "I went back to the building and went inside and called my wife and told her what happened. I was on the first floor then and I stayed at the elevator (freight) and was told not to let anyone out of the elevator.  I left the elevator and went with the police up to the other floors." Lovelady said, "After it was over we [WE!! plural] went back into the building and took some police officers up to search the building."

QUESTION: One minute after the shooting Victoria Adams saw Shelley and Lovelady standing near the freight elevators. Adams walked past the two men, and hurried out onto the rear loading dock only moments before Truly and Baker arrived at the back of the TSBD (one and one-half minutes after the shooting). Officer Baker told the Warren Commission that when he and Truly arrived at the back of the building, he saw "two white men." If these men were strangers, at the back of the building less than two minutes after the shooting, building manager Truly would have confronted and questioned these men. However, if these men were Shelley and Lovelady, Truly knew both men.  According to Bill Shelley, he was told "not to let anyone out of the elevators." Who, besides Truly, was at the back of the TSBD and had the authority to tell Shelley to stay at the elevators if not Roy Truly? And why did building manager Truly, who knew the elevators were not working and likely the overhead lights were not working, not walk to the nearby electrical panels to re-set the breakers?

NOTE: In an honest investigation the Warren Commission would have tried to determine the identities of these men, near the stairs and elevators only two minutes after the shooting. The Commission could easily have brought Shelley and Lovelady together and asked Adams and Baker if these were the two men they saw at the back of the TSBD less than two minutes after the shooting. The Commission's lack of interest in these two "white men" is a clear indication they were focusing their attention on LHO as the one and only assassin, with no accomplices.

After the police arrived, Shelley and Lovelady accompanied the police as they searched the building. Police officers then took Shelley, and a few TSBD employees, to police squad cars and drove them to police headquarters to get their statements.

Danny Arce told the Warren Commission the police took Bonnie Ray Williams, himself, Bill Shelley, and other TSBD employees to DPD headquarters (see photo below) about 1/2 hour after the shooting. Arce described to the Warren Commission how soon after the shooting they were taken to DPD headquarters :

Mr. BALL. How many shots did you hear?
Mr. ARCE. Three
Mr. BALL. Did you look back at the building?
Mr. ARCE. No, I didn't think they came from there. I just looked directly to the railroad tracks and all the people started running up there and I just ran along with them.
Mr. BALL. Did you go up to the railroad tracks?
Mr. ARCE. Yeah.
Mr. BALL. Did you see anything up there?
Mr. ARCE. No, and they told us go back there and I went back inside the building.
Mr. BALL. Where did you go then?
Mr. ARCE. Back inside the building.
Mr. BALL. How long did you stay in there?
Mr. ARCE. Oh, about 15 minutes and they took us down to city hall to make statements out.
Mr. BALL. Then you made out your statement?
Mr. ARCE. Yes, sir; to the Police Department.

The best evidence is that during or immediately after the shooting Shelley went inside the TSBD and to the rear of the darkened building, where he was seen by Victoria Adams only one minute after the shooting. He was seen moments later by Officer Baker and Roy Truly, a minute or two later by NBC newsman Robert MacNeil, and he probably stayed near the elevator until police arrived. Shelley then accompanied police as they searched the upper floors of the TSBD, and was then driven directly to DPD headquarters where he provided an affidavit.

Danny Arce, Bonnie Ray Williams, Bill Shelley

Bonnie Ray Williams told the Warren Commission:

Mr. WILLIAMS. ...First I think they took me and another fellow, Danny-- they took us in one car. Then they took some other fellows in another car, and then another car, I think.
Mr. BALL. You were with Danny Arce and one or two police officers?
Mr. WILLIAMS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Anybody else?
Mr. WILLIAMS. That's all....They brought Bill Shelley and Bill Lovelady, a fellow by the name of Jack Dougherty, and Charles Givens later on, they brought them right behind us.

In Shelley's 11/22/63 affidavit he wrote, "I went back to the building & went inside & called my wife & told her what happened. I was on the first floor then & I stayed at the elevator & was told not to let anyone out of the elevator. I left the elevator and went with the police on up to the other floors." (see affidavit below, left). In Lovelady's 11/22/63 affidavit he wrote, "After it was over we went back into the building and went to work took some police officers up to search the building" (see affidavit below, right). Moments after the last shot was fired at President Kennedy, Shelley and Lovelady were at the back of the TSBD on the 1st floor, and both men then accompanied police officers as they searched the building.


Moments after arriving at the back of the TSBD both of these men were seen by Victoria Adams, who told Shelley that shots had been fired at President Kennedy. Adams told WC attorney David Belin that after shots were fired, she ran down the wooden stairs at the back of the building. Her supervisor, Dorothy Garner, followed Adams and Sandra Styles from their office to the stairs and watched the two women as they ran down the stairs. One minute later they arrived on the first floor where Adams saw the two men, Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady, and ran outside onto the loading dock.

Moments later Roy Truly and Officer Baker arrived at the back of the TSBD on the first floor and saw two "white men." Truly did not identify these men to Officer Baker as strangers, which is a good indication that he knew both men--the same two men seen by Victoria Adams and Sandra Styles only moments earlier--Bill Shelley, who worked directly under Truly and TSBD employee Billy Lovelady. Truly knew the electricity had been turned off because the elevators were not working. He knew the location of the nearby electrical panels, and he knew one of his employees was standing near these panels. If Truly was not a co-conspirator then he should have been suspicious of Shelley and Lovelady, and asked what they were doing at the back of the TSBD less than a minute after the shooting. But Truly said nothing. After noticing the elevators were not working, Truly should have checked the circuit for the elevators and lights in the electrical panel, but Truly did nothing. Instead, Truly ignored his two employees, ignored the electrical panels, and began to run up the stairs, ahead of Officer Baker. We must wonder why an unarmed civilian (Truly) would run up the stairs, ahead of an armed police officer, to search for a man who just shot and killed (allegedly) the President of the United States. His behaviour, showing no fear or concern for his safety, is very suspicious and raises even more doubt and skepticism about his true roll in the events of 11/22/63. Truly's indifference at the back of the building, about 1 1/2 minutes after the shooting, raises doubts, questions, and skepticism as to his behaviour, his motive, and his possible collusion with Shelley and Lovelady.

As Officer Baker and Truly began running up the darkened stairway, supervisor Dorothy Garner was still standing next to the stairs on the 4th floor, after watching her employees Victoria Adams and Sandra Styles hurry down the stairs. As Baker and Truly ran up the stairs the two men on the first floor turned the electricity back on.

QUESTION: Was the electricity turned on when Officer Baker saw and confronted Oswald in the lunchroom, and described the clothing he was wearing? The lunchroom had no windows, and without ceiling lights would have been very dark.

After the electricity was turned on the two men from the 6th floor (white shirt; brown jacket) were able to ride the elevator from the 4th floor to the 2nd floor where one of the men (LEE Oswald--white shirt) got off the elevator. LEE Oswald (white shirt), anxious to avoid crowds on the 1st floor, likely walked thru the hallway on the 2nd floor toward the old wooden stairway at the back of the building (follow the RED line below). His His intention was to walk down the steps to the first floor, and then leave out the west side of the building under the watchful eye of supervisor Bill Shelley. However, as LEE Oswald approached the hallway door leading to the stairs and lunchroom he may have heard people running up or down the stairs (Baker and Truly).  He hesitated and then, without opening the door directly in front of him (see position 27 below), opened the door immediately to his right and walked into the TSBD office (follow the GREEN line). LEE Oswald continued to walk thru the TSBD office, which was unfamiliar to him and unfamiliar to most warehouse workers. LEE Oswald, wearing a white shirt and carrying a Coke, was last seen by Mrs. Reid when he walked out the front door of the office and into the hallway.

Mrs. Reid, a TSBD employee, had just returned to her office when Oswald (LEE) walked into the office from the back door. As he walked thru the office Mrs. Reid said that he was wearing a white t-shirt and carrying a bottle of Coke. Mrs. Reid's testimony caused a great deal of trouble for the Warren Commission. The Commission knew that Oswald (HARVEY), when confronted by Officer Baker in the lunchroom, was wearing a long-sleeve brown shirt. The Commission, however, tried in vain to explain that a minute or two later Oswald (HARVEY) walked thru Mrs. Reid's office wearing a white shirt. But the Commission never understood nor was able to explain how Oswald (HARVEY) could wear a brown shirt in the lunch room, then only seconds later wear a white t-shirt in Mrs. Reid's office, then wear a brown shirt on Cecil McWatter's city bus, wear a brown shirt in William Whaley's taxi, and wear a brown shirt in the Texas Theater.  The Warren Commission never resolved this "white shirt/brown shirt" conflict, because they never understood nor realized there were two "Lee Harvey Oswalds" in the TSBD on 11/22/63. The man wearing the white t-shirt was on the 6th floor for the purpose of setting up HARVEY Oswald as the "patsy" (who was in the 1st floor domino room/lunchroom).

LEE OSWALD. After the shots were fired LEE Oswald rode the passenger elevator from the 6th to the 2nd floor, walked thru the TSBD office wearing a white t-shirt, left the building wearing a white t-shirt, and got into a Nash Rambler station wagon wearing a white t-shirt.

HARVEY OSWALD, wearing a long sleeve brown shirt in the lunchroom, where he was confronted by Officer Baker, walked to the main entrance of the TSBD wearing a long sleeve brown shirt, left the building wearing a long sleeve brown shirt, was wearing a brown  shirt on Cecil McWatter's city bus, was wearing a brown shirt William Whaley's taxi, and wearing a brown shirt when arrested at the Texas Theater .

THE DETAILS: WHITE SHIRT/BROWN SHIRT is easy to explain and understand. LEE Oswald was wearing the white t-shirt on the 6th floor (12:30 PM), wearing the white t-shirt when he walked thru Mrs. Reid's office (12:34 PM), wearing the white t-shirt when he got into the Nash Rambler (12:40 PM), wearing the white t-shirt when he shot Officer Tippit (1:06 PM), wearing the white t-shirt when he was in the balcony at the Texas Theater (1:40 PM), and wearing the white t-shirt when he was seen sitting in a red Ford Falcon at the El Chico restaurant parking lot (2:15 PM). HARVEY Oswald was wearing the long-sleeve brown shirt when confronted by Baker and Truly (12:32 PM), wearing the long-sleeve brown shirt on Cecil McWatters' city bus (12:40 PM), wearing the long-sleeve brown shirt in William Whaley's taxi (12:50 PM), wearing the long-sleeve brown shirt when arrested in the Texas Theater (1:52 PM), and wearing the long-sleeve brown shirt when taken to police headquarters (2:00 PM). It may be very difficult for some people to follow the activities of Harvey and Lee on November 22. But if you just remember "white shirt (LEE Oswald)--brown shirt (HARVEY Oswald)" it is much easier.

After (LEE) Oswald left the elevator on the 2nd floor, the man from the 6th floor wearing a brown jacket likely rode the passenger elevator to the 1st floor. He got off the elevator, hurried to the rear of the building, and likely passed by Shelley and Lovelady as he left the building. This man, wearing a brown jacket, was seen by James Worrell as he hurried out the back of the TSBD and then began walking south on Houston St. One block south this man walked past Richard Carr, who had seen this man a few minutes earlier on the 6th floor. Carr noticed this man was continually looking back over his shoulder as he was walking, and saw this man get into a Nash Rambler station wagon facing north on Record Street. Deputy Sheriff Roger Craig saw the same man, driving the Nash Rambler station wagon a few minutes later, when the station wagon stopped in front of the grassy knoll and picked up LEE Oswald, wearing a light colored shirt.

Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady on the first floor

On  the afternoon of 11/22/63 both Shelley and Lovelady said they returned to the building after the shooting (see affidavit's above). The presence of Shelley and Lovelady at the rear of the building, only a minute after the shooting, has never been explained, investigated, nor understood, yet was a major concern to the Warren Commission for several reasons....

1) The first and most important reason was "What were they doing at the back of the TSBD, only one minute after the shooting?" Seconds after the shooting Victoria Adams and Sandra Styles left their office on the 4th floor and began running down the old wooden stairs. Neither Adams nor Styles saw nor heard anyone else running down the stairway. Adams arrived on the 1st floor in one minute, saw and spoke to Shelley and Lovelady, and then hurried out the back door and onto the loading dock. The Warren Commission had to explain and show how Oswald was able to get from the 6th floor to the 2nd floor lunchroom, where confronted by Baker, while at the same time Adams and Styles were running down the stairs and Dorothy Garner was standing next to the stairs on the 4th floor.

NOTE: The biggest problem, however, was not Victoria Adams, it was her supervisor--Dorothy Garner. After the last shot was fired Garner followed the two young ladies to the nearby stairway, stood at the 4th floor stairway, and watched the two young women run down the stairs. Moments later Garner saw officer Baker and Roy Truly arrive on the 4th floor and continue running to the 5th floor. Nobody, including Oswald, came down these stairs after the shooting.

2) The second problem for the FBI/WC to resolve was the possibility that Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady, seen on the 1st floor by Victoria Adams, were co-conspirators, and were waiting for the two men from the 6th floor to arrive on the 1st floor and leave out the back of the TSBD. LEE Oswald, the young man wearing the white shirt on the 6th floor, got off the passenger elevator on the 2nd floor and was supposed to walk down the rear stairs to the 1st floor and then, accompanied by Bill Shelley, hurry out the back of the TSBD (instead, however, he walked thru the TSBD office on the 2nd floor where he was seen by Mrs. Reid). The man on the 6th floor, wearing the brown coat, got off the passenger elevator on the 1st floor and left the TSBD thru a rear door. This man was seen by Richard Worrell, hurrying out the back of the TSBD, and then walking south on Houston St. where this same man was seen by Richard Carr.

NOTE: I believe Shelley and Lovelady WERE waiting for LEE Oswald to arrive on the 1st floor via the stairway, but LEE Oswald had instead left the TSBD thru an overhead door on the west side of the building. HARVEY Oswald, after his encounter with Baker and Truly, hurried to the 1st floor and looked out the glass entry door while attempting to locate his contact/supervisor, Bill Shelley. HARVEY Oswald then hurried to the rear of the TSBD where he located and briefly talked with Shelley. He then picked up his jacket from the Domino Room, left the TSBD and onto the loading dock, and then began walking south on Houston St. (seen by Wesley Frazier)

3) The third problem, never considered, never explained, and never investigated was the fact that the electricity in the TSBD had been turned off a couple of minutes before the motorcade passed in front of the TSBD, and then turned back on 1-2 minutes after shots were fired at the President. Lovelady told the WC that he was by the Domino Room (near the electrical panels) moments before the Presidents' motorcade drove by the TSBD. Less than an hour after the shooting, both Shelley and Lovelady told the DPD that after the shooting they went back inside the TSBD and were at the back of the building (near the electrical panels). The significance of the electricity being turned off (all or partially) only moments before the assassination and turned back on moments after the shooting was not a coincidence and should never have been ignored. A simple check for fingerprints on the cover of the electrical panels and fingerprints on one or more of the switches inside the panels may have identified the person(s) responsible for the electrical shut off/on. If Shelley/Lovelady were not responsible for interruption of the electrical service during the Presidential parade, then who was?

Images of Bill Shelley (5'6" tall; thin build; red hair

Images of Billy Lovelady (5'8" tall; medium build; thin brown hair)

Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady's presence at the rear of the building on the first floor, only moments after the shooting, was a serious problem. With Adams and Styles running from the 4th floor to the first floor, followed moments later by Officer Baker and Roy Truly running from the 1st floor to the 5th floor, it was impossible for anyone to have ran down those old, creaky wooden stairs at the same time without being seen or heard by Adams, Styles, or their supervisor Dorothy Garner. Somehow this problem had to be "resolved" in order for the Warren Commission to show that "Oswald," after firing shots at President Kennedy, left the 6th floor, ran down the stairs to the 2nd floor lunchroom, was confronted by Officer Baker, and soon walked out the front  of the TSBD. The way to "resolve" this problem was to ignore Dorothy Garner, and attack and challenge Adams' claim that she was on the 1st floor one minute after the shooting. And Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady either had to "disappear" from the first floor, or change their stories and claim they arrived on the first floor much later where they were seen by Victoria Adams.

Identifying and "resolving" the problem

Victoria Adams was interviewed by the FBI on 11/24/63. The report read, "She and her friend (Sandra Styles) ran immediately to the back of the building to where the stairs were located and ran down the stairs. No one else was observed on the stairs at this time, and Adams was sure that this would be the only means of escape from the building from the sixth floor."  Adams said, "Whenever anyone was on the stairs you could hear them on any floor. We would have heard someone on the stairs. Absolutely." Adams and Styles ran out of the building, turned to the left and ran across the railroad tracks...." The FBI altered statements of many witnesses, and so we don't know with certainty what Victoria Adams really told the FBI agents on 11/24/63, but this FBI report does not mention anything about Shelley or Lovelady.

 JFK researcher Barry Ernest, author of The Girl on the Stairs, interviewed Victoria Adams in 2002, nearly 40 years after the assassination. He wrote, "The initial statements Ms. Adams made to investigators in her office that Friday afternoon (11/22/63) hoisted some flags. Ms. Adams suddenly became a focus of attention, questioned repeatedly by various agencies, always about the same thing: her trip down the stairs and exactly when she made it. Adams said, "It really didn't dawn on me that my actions were pertinent to anything until much later. In Dallas, the people in my office were pretty chagrined that the secret police and the CIA and all those others were interested in me. And, quite frankly, I couldn't figure out why they were so interested. At least then."

NOTE: Adams ran down the stairs (from the 4th floor), arrived on the 1st floor within one minute of the shooting, and heard nobody running up or down the stairway. Oswald (HARVEY) could not possibly have run from the sniper's nest to the NW stairway, and down 4 flights of stairs to the 2nd floor lunchroom, before Adams and Styles began running down the stairs from the 4th floor. It is now very clear that Oswald (HARVEY) was already in the lunchroom when Adams and Styles ran down the stairs and arrived on the first floor within one minute of the shooting. Moments later, as Dorothy Garner stood next to the stairs on the 4th floor, Officer Baker and Roy Truly confronted Oswald in the 2nd floor lunchroom. They then ran up to the 4th floor, where they were seen by Dorothy Garner, and continued running up to the 5th floor. Victoria Adams became a target because her statement, if true, proved that Oswald (HARVEY) could not possibly have been on the 6th floor at the time of the shooting.

Unknown to Adams at the time, she had become a target. She was watched, followed, and interviewed by government investigators continuously during the weeks and months following the assassination. Whenever these people appeared they always asked her exactly when she began her trip down the stairs. When she left her office for lunch or at the end of the day she saw some of these same men watching her as she walked from the building. On one occasion she stopped one of them--an FBI agent who had been in her office that morning, and was now following her thru town. She told these investigators again and again the same story about leaving her office and running down the stairs. Adams was very young (23 years old), alone, without family in a big city, and was becoming more and more frightened.

She recalled one such troubling encounter and told JFK investigator/author Barry Ernest, "One time [at 8:00 PM, February 17, 1964], a detective from the Dallas police (James Leavelle) came to my apartment, showed his badge, and asked to talk with me. I asked him why he needed to talk with me since I had already given my testimony to the Dallas Police. 'Oh,' he responded, 'the records were all burned in a fire we had and we have to interview everyone again. So I once again said the same thing, which at that point felt like ad nauseum." The officer's sudden appearance that evening was strange too because Ms. Adams had only the day before moved to this location, a new apartment. She had not yet notified anyone--not her boss, associates in her office, or even the post office--of her change of address. The apartment was even rented in her roommate's name. Ms. Adams became nervous about how the police had found her and, in hindsight, figures she must somehow have been followed (The Girl on the Stairs). In July, Adams was offered a job with Scott Foresman's home office in Chicago, which she gratefully accepted.

On February 17, 1964 Victoria Adams told DPD detective James Leavelle that she had seen "Mr. Shelley and another employee named Bill" on the first floor.

Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady--2nd version

On March 19, 1964, Bill Shelley was interviewed by the FBI, but changed his story. Four months earlier, on 11/22/63, Shelley told the Dallas Police, "I went back to the building & went inside & called my wife & told her what happened. I was on the first floor then & I stayed at the elevator & was told not to let anyone out of the elevator." Four months later, on March 18, 1964, Shelley changed his story and told the FBI, "Immediately following the shooting, Billy N. Lovelady and I accompanied some uniformed police officers to the railroad yards just west of the building and returned through the west side door of the building about ten minutes later" (see CE 1381, below). By claiming that he and Lovelady re-entered the TSBD ten minutes later, Shelley was now (4 months later) challenging Victoria Adams' testimony that she saw and spoke to Shelley on the 1st floor only one minute after the shooting. By claiming that he and Lovelady returned to the TSBD ten minutes after the shooting, and were then seen by Victoria Adams, there was now enough time for (HARVEY) Oswald to have run from the 6th floor sniper's nest to the 2nd floor lunchroom where he was confronted by Officer Baker.

On March 19, 1964, the same day the FBI re-interviewed Shelley, Billy Lovelady was interviewed by the FBI, and he too changed his story. Four months earlier, on 11/22/63, Lovelady told the Dallas Police, "After it was over we went back into the building and went to work took some police officers up to search the building." Four months later, on March 19, 1964, Lovelady told the FBI, "I recall that following the shooting, I ran toward the spot where President Kennedy's car stopped. William Shelley and myself stayed in that area for approximately five minutes when we then re-entered the Depository building by the side door located on the west side of the building" (see CE 1381, below). By claiming that he and Shelley ran to where President Kennedy's car stopped, and re-entered the TSBD five minutes later, Lovelady was also (4 months later) challenging Victoria Adams' testimony that she saw Lovelady on the 1st floor only one minute after the shooting. By claiming that he and Shelley returned to the TSBD 5 minutes after the shooting, when they were seen by Victoria Adams, there was now enough time for (HARVEY) Oswald to have run from the 6th floor to the 2nd floor lunchroom, where he was confronted by Officer Baker.

On March 23, 1964 the FBI again interviewed Victoria Adams who said, "After the third shot I observed the car carrying President Kennedy speed away. Sandra Styles and I then ran out of the building via the stairs and went in the direction of the railroad where we had observed other people running." We don't know with certainty what Victoria Adams really told the FBI agents on 3/23/64, but this FBI report does not mention anything about Adams descending the stairs to the first floor, at the rear of the TSBD, and then observing and talking to Shelley or Lovelady.

On March 25, 1964, Officer Marrion Baker told the Warren Commission that when he and Roy Truly arrived on the first floor at the back of the TSBD, only moments after the shooting, he saw two unknown men. One of these men was standing near the stairs (with the electricity shut off, the only access to the 6th floor) and the other man about 20-30 feet away (near the electrical panels). WC member Allen Dulles asked, "Were they white men?" Baker replied, "Yes."  These two men were undoubtedly the same two men seen by Victoria Adams and Sandra Styles only moments before Baker and Truly arrived.

NOTE: It is important to remember that Baker told the WC about the two unknown men on the first floor TWO WEEKS BEFORE Victoria Adams told the WC that she saw Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady when she arrived on the first floor one minute after the shooting--only moments before Baker and Truly arrived on the first floor.

In March, 1964, four months after Shelley and Lovelady said they returned to the TSBD after the shooting, they were now claiming they did not return to the TSBD for between 5 and 10 minutes. Lovelady later told the HSCA that he did not return to the building for 25 minutes.

NOTE: In January 1979, near the end of the HSCA hearings, Billy Lovelady died of a heart attack at age 41.  His wife, Patricia, refused to discuss his death except to say, “I have been harassed for 15 years, and I'm not going to be harassed any more."

Warren Commission attorney David Belin was familiar with Shelley and Lovelady's statements, wherein they said they did not return to the TSBD for 5 to 10 minutes. Belin was likely familiar with Victoria Adams' 2/17/64 statement to Jim Levelle, wherein she said that after running from the 4th floor to the 1st floor, she saw Shelley and Lovelady only one minute after the shooting. Belin knew that Adams' statement, if true and unchallenged, would make it virtually impossible for the Warren Commission to prove that "Oswald" ran from the sniper's nest on the 6th floor to the 2nd floor lunchroom after shooting President Kennedy.  Her unaltered testimony would also allow critics to suggest that Shelley and Lovelady were conspirators, waiting for the shooters to arrive on the 1st floor only one minute after the shooting. Before questioning Adams under oath, attorney Belin said to her, "Now Miss Adams, don't you think you could be wrong? Memory is a funny thing and tricks some people." Adams recalled, "I looked him straight in the eye and said, 'I could be, but I'm not wrong. I know what I saw, what I did and what I heard.'"

Victoria Adams testimony before the Warren Commission--April 7, 1964 (2:15 PM)

Victoria Adams testified before the Warren Commission and provided very detailed answers to questions asked by attorney David Belin.

Mr. BELIN - Were you standing with anyone?
Miss ADAMS - I was standing with Sandra Styles, Elsie Dorman, and Dorothy May Garner.

Miss ADAMS - ... and we heard a shot, and it was a pause, and then a second shot, and then a third shot.... And after the third shot, following that, the third shot, I went to the back of the building down the back stairs, and encountered Bill Shelley and Bill Lovelady on the first floor on the way out to the Houston Street dock.
Mr. BELIN - When you say on the way out to the Houston Street dock, you mean now you were on the way out?
Miss ADAMS - While I was on the way out.
Mr. BELIN - Was anyone going along with you?
Miss ADAMS - Yes, sir; Sandra Styles.

Mr. BELIN - As you ran down the stairs, did you see anyone on the stairs?
Miss ADAMS - No, sir.

Mr. BELIN - When you got to the bottom of the first floor, did you see anyone there as you entered the first floor from the stairway?
Miss ADAMS - Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN - Who did you see?
Miss ADAMS - Mr. Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady.
Mr. BELIN - Where did you see them on the first floor?
Miss ADAMS - Well, this is the stairs, and this is the Houston Street dock that I went out. They were approximately in this position here, so I don't know how you would describe that.
Mr. BELIN - You are looking now at a first floor plan or diagram of the Texas School Book Depository, and you have pointed to a position where you encountered Bill Lovelady and Mr. Bill Shelley?
Miss ADAMS - That's correct.
Mr. BELIN - It would be slightly east of the front of the east elevator, and probably as far south as the length of the elevator, is that correct?
Miss ADAMS - Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN - I have a document here called Commission's Exhibit No. 496, which includes a diagram of the first floor, and there is a No. 7 and a circle on it, and I have pointed to a place marked No. 7 on the diagram. Is that correct?
Miss ADAMS - That is approximate.

NOTE: Commission Exhibit 496, published in the W.C. volumes, is not the diagram  given to Adams. CE 496 is a copy of an application form Oswald filled out for his job at the TSBD. The document upon which Victoria Adams indicated the spot where she saw Shelley and Lovelady disappeared.

Mr. BELIN - Now when you were running down the stairs on your trip down the stairs, did you hear anyone using the Stairs?
Miss ADAMS - No, sir.
Mr. BELIN - Did you hear anyone calling for an elevator?
Miss ADAMS - No, sir.
Mr. BELIN - Did you see the foreman, Roy Truly? Did you see the superintendent of the warehouse, Roy S. Truly?
Miss ADAMS - No, sir; I did not.
Mr. BELIN - What about any motorcycle police officers?
Miss ADAMS - No, sir.
Mr. BELIN - Now what did you do after you encountered Mr. Shelley and Mr. Lovelady?
Miss ADAMS - I said I believed the President was shot.
Mr. BELIN - Do you remember what they said?
Miss ADAMS - Nothing.
Mr. BELIN - Then what did you do?
Miss ADAMS - I proceeded out to the Houston Street dock.

Mr. BELIN - How long do you think it was between the time the shots were fired and the time you left the window to start toward the stairway?
Miss ADAMS - Between 15 and 30 seconds, estimated, approximately.
Mr. BELIN - How long do you think it was, or do you think it took you to get from the window to the top of the fourth floor stairs?
Miss ADAMS - I don't think I can answer that question accurately, because the time approximation, without a stopwatch, would be difficult.
Mr. BELIN - How long do you think it took you to get from the window to the bottom of the stairs on the first floor?
Miss ADAMS - I would say no longer than a minute at the most.
Mr. BELIN - So you think that from the time you left the window on the fourth floor until the time you got to the stairs at the bottom of the first floor, was approximately 1 minute?
Miss ADAMS - Yes, approximately.
Mr. BELIN - As I understand your testimony previously, you saw neither Roy Truly nor any motorcycle police officer at any time?
Miss ADAMS - That's correct.
Mr. BELIN - You heard no one else running down the stairs?
Miss ADAMS - Correct.
Mr. BELIN - When you got to the first floor did you immediately proceed to this point where you say you encountered Mr. Shelley and Mr. Lovelady? Well, you showed me on a diagram of the first floor that there was a place which was south and somewhat east of the front part of the east elevator that you encountered Truly and Lovelady?
Miss ADAMS - I saw them there.
Mr. BELIN - I mean; you saw them?
Miss ADAMS - Yes.
Mr. BELIN - Would that have been a matter of seconds after you got to the bottom of the first floor?
Miss ADAMS - Definitely.
Mr. BELIN - Less than 30 seconds?
Miss ADAMS - Yes.

Mr. BELIN - During the trip down the stairs on the way down did you ever encounter Lee Harvey Oswald?
Miss ADAMS - No, sir.

The Warren Commission concluded that if Victoria Adams was correct with her timing, she "would probably have seen or heard...Oswald either above or below her." Sandra Styles and supervisor Dorothy Garner would have corroborated her story as to the time that she and Styles ran down the stairs--only moments after the shooting. But these two women were never questioned by the Warren Commission, because their combined testimony would have been nearly impossible for the Warren Commission to challenge.

A few days after her testimony, a man showed up at the Scott, Foresman office at the TSBD and asked to speak with Ms. Adams. He handed Adams a transcript of her W.C. deposition and asked her to read the document, make corrections, and then sign the document. Adams read the transcript carefully, made changes to grammar and content, signed the document, and gave it back to the man who then left the office.  The Warren Commission classified Adams' corrected and signed deposition as "TOP SECRET," because they knew that critics would claim this  document was proof that Oswald could not possibly have ran from the sniper's nest down to the 1st floor while at the same time Adams and Styles were running down the stairs.

Billy Lovelady's testimony before the Warren Commission--April 7, 1964 (3:50 PM)--3rd version of events

After Victoria Adams was questioned by David Belin, WC attorney Joseph Ball interviewed Billy Lovelady, who now changed his testimony for the 3rd time:

• #1 -- affidavit--"we went back into the building and took some police officers up to search the building."
• #2 -- FBI interview--"following the shooting I ran toward the spot where President Kennedy's car had stopped. William Shelley and myself stayed in that area for approximately five minutes when we then re-entered the Depository building by the side door."
• #3 -- WC testimony....

Mr. BALL - When Gloria came up and said the President had been shot, Gloria Calvary, what did you do?
Mr. LOVELADY - ... we run towards that little, old island and kind of down there in that little street. We went as far as the first tracks and everybody was hollering and crying and policemen started running out that way and we said we better get back into the building, so we went back into the west entrance on the back dock had that low ramp and went into the back dock back inside the building.

Mr. BALL - By the time you left the steps had Mr. Truly entered the building?
Mr. LOVELADY - As we left the steps I would say we were at least 15, maybe 25, steps away from the building. I looked back and I saw him and the policeman running into the building.

By claiming he saw Truly and a policeman enter the TSBD, Lovelady was attempting to provide proof that he was outside of the TSBD one minute after the shooting, and not at the rear of the TSBD on the first floor where he was seen by Victoria Adams and likely one of the two "white men" seen by Officer Baker 1 1/2 minutes after the shooting.

Mr. BALL - After you ran to the railroad tracks you came back and went in the back door of the building?
Mr. LOVELADY - Right.
Mr. BALL - Who did you see in the first floor?
Mr. LOVELADY - I saw a girl but I wouldn't swear to it it's Vickie.

QUESTION: How would Lovelady know the girl's name was"Vickie" when her name hadn't been previously mentioned during his testimony or questioning? Because Lovelady knew that Vickie Adams saw him on the first floor one minute after the shooting.

Mr. BALL - Who is Vickie?
Mr. LOVELADY - The girl that works for Scott, Foresman.

Lovelady can't swear that it was Vickie, yet he knows that Vickie worked for Scott, Foresman.

Mr. BALL - What is her full name?
Mr. LOVELADY - I wouldn't know.
Mr. BALL - Vickie Adams?

The only way that WC attorney Ball knew Vickie Adams' name was from her WC testimony, taken a few hours earlier, wherein she said that she saw Shelley and Lovelady on the 1st floor one minute after the shooting. The fact that Ball questioned Lovelady about who he saw on the 1st floor, and then asked Lovelady if her full name was 'Vickie Adams,' is confirmation that Adams told the W.C. about Shelley and Lovelady when she arrived on the first floor. If Adams had not mentioned Shelley and Lovelady in her W.C. testimony, then how would Ball know to ask Lovelady if he saw Vickie Adams on the 1st floor?

Mr. LOVELADY - I believe so.
Mr. BALL - Would you say it was Vickie you saw?
Mr. LOVELADY - I couldn't swear.
Mr. BALL - Where was the girl?
Mr. LOVELADY - I don't remember what place she was but I remember seeing a girl as she was talking to Bill or saw Bill or something....

The WC ignored the DPD interview of Adams, ignored Adams' signed deposition, ignored her WC testimony, and never interviewed Sandra Styles or supervisor Dorothy Garner. The WC instead chose to accept and then relied upon the testimony of Billy Lovelady in order to solve the "timing problem." After the shooting Lovelady claimed to have walked to the railroad tracks, walked around the west side of the building, and then re-entered the TSBD 5 or 10 minutes later where he saw a girl on the first floor talking to Bill (Shelley). The W.C. was then able to conclude that Victoria Adams could not have seen Shelley or Lovelady on the first floor only one minute after the shooting, because both men were outside of the TSBD at that time. The commission decided that Adams arrived on the 1st floor ten minutes after the shooting, and only then saw Shelley and Lovelady. Now there was enough time for Oswald to have hurried from the sniper's window, run down the stairway, enter the lunchroom, and be confronted by Officer Baker.

William Shelley's testimony before the Warren Commission--April 7, 1964 (4:10 PM)

Minutes after Lovelady's testimony ended WC attorney Joseph Ball interviewed Bill Shelley, who now changed his testimony for the 3rd time:

• #1 -- DPD affidavit--"I ran across the street to the corner of the park (about 45 ft). I ran into a girl crying and she said the President had been shot. I went back to the building and went inside and called my wife and told her what happened. I was on the first floor then and I stayed at the elevator....."
• #2 -- FBI interview--"Immediately following the shooting, Billy N. Lovelady and I accompanied some uniformed police officers to the railroad yards just west of the building and returned through the west side door of the building about ten minutes later."
• #3 -- WC testimony.....

Mr. SHELLEY - Gloria Calvary from South-Western Publishing Co. ran back up there crying and said "The President has been shot" and Billy Lovelady and myself took off across the street to that little, old island and we stopped there for a minute.

NOTE: Gloria Calvary was not interviewed by the Warren Commission.

Mr. BALL - You went out there and then what did you do?
Mr. SHELLEY - Well, officers started running down to the railroad yards and Billy and I walked down that way.

NOTE: On 11/22/63 Shelley gave an affidavit to the Dallas Police and, less than one hour after the assassination, said, "I went back to the building and went inside and called my wife and told her what happened. I was on the first floor then and I stayed at the elevator...."

Mr. BALL - Did you see Truly, Mr. Truly and an officer go into the building?
Mr. SHELLEY - Yeah, we saw them right at the front of the building while we were on the island.
Mr. BALL - Do you have any idea how long it was from the time you heard those three sounds or three noises until you saw Truly and Baker going into the building?
Mr. SHELLEY - It would have to be 3 or 4 minutes I would say because this girl that ran back up there was down near where the car was when the President was hit.

By claiming he saw Truly and a policeman enter the TSBD 3 or 4 minutes after the shooting, Shelley is attempting to provide proof that Victoria Adams could not have seen and spoken to him one minute after the shooting, and that he was not one of the two white men seen by Officer Baker on the 1st floor 1 1/2 minutes after the shooting.

Mr. BALL - What did you and Billy Lovelady do?
Mr. SHELLEY - We walked on down to the first railroad track there on the dead-end street and stood there and watched them searching cars down there in the parking lots for a little while and then we came in through our parking lot at the west end.
Mr. BALL - At the west end?
Mr. SHELLEY - Yes; and then in the side door into the shipping room.
Mr. BALL - Of the first floor of the building?
Mr. SHELLEY - Yes.
Mr. BALL - Did you ever see Vickie Adams?

The only way that Ball knew Vickie Adams' name was from her WC testimony, taken a few hours earlier, wherein she said that she saw Shelley and Lovelady on the 1st floor one minute after the shooting. The fact that Ball asked Shelley if he saw 'Vickie Adams' on the first floor is confirmation that Adams, only a few hours earlier that same day, told the W.C. that she saw and spoke to Shelley when she arrived on the first floor. If Adams had not mentioned Shelley in her W.C. testimony, then how would Ball know to ask Shelley if he saw Vickie Adams on the 1st floor?

Mr. SHELLEY - I saw her that day but I don't remember where I saw her.
Mr. BALL - You don't remember whether you saw her when you came back?
Mr. SHELLEY - It was after we entered the building.
Mr. BALL - You think you did see her after you entered the building?
Mr. SHELLEY - Yes, sir; I thought it was on the fourth floor awhile after that.

Shelley, like Lovelady, is now claiming that he "may" have seen Victoria Adams but can't remember where or when he saw her.

Mr. BALL - Did you see Vickie Adams after you came into the building and did you see her on the first floor?
Mr. SHELLEY - I sure don't remember.
Mr. BALL - You don't.
Mr. SHELLEY - No.

At the end of the day (April 7, 1964) the WC had a DPD police report and Adams' testimony that she saw Shelley and Lovelady on the 1st floor one minute after the shooting.  They also had  Shelley and Lovelady's DPD affidavits wherein both men said that immediately after the shooting they went back into the building. The commission also had FBI reports and now had their WC testimony that contradicted both Adams' testimony and Shelley/Lovelady's affidavits of 11/22/63. Why the WC did not ask Shelley or Lovelady to explain why their DPD affidavits conflicted with their testimony is now obvious, The WC knew that Oswald could not have ran down the stairs within one minute of the shooting, because he would have been seen or heard  by Adams and Styles. The commission's only option was to accept, without question, the testimony of Shelley and Lovlady who said they did not return to the TSBD for 10 minutes. 

The Commission accepted and relied upon their W.C. testimony, wherein Shelley/Lovelady said they did not return to the TSBD for 5-10 minutes. They concluded that Lovelady may have seen Adams talking with Shelley, and that Shelley may have seen Adams later in the day on the 4th floor. The Commission found there was now enough time for Oswald (HARVEY) to have run from the 6th floor to the 2nd floor lunchroom AFTER Adams and Styles ran down the stairs and left the TSBD

On May 14, 1964, 5 weeks after learning from Victoria Adams and Officer Marrion Baker about the two men on the 1st floor between one and one and a half minutes after the shooting, Commission attorney David Belin interviewed Roy Truly. Questioning Truly about the two men at the back of the TSBD within one minute of the shooting should have been Belin's focus of attention. Belin, however, pointedly failed to ask Truly to describe or identity either of these men. Why? ... because Belin did not want the identity of these men on the record. Belin dared not ask Truly to identify these men. Belin never asked Truly if they were strangers, never asked Truly if he knew these men, and never asked Truly if they were TSBD employees. Throughout his testimony Roy Truly never spoke a word nor volunteered any information about these two men. Both Shelley and Lovelady could have been brought before Officer Baker in an attempt to confirm or deny these were the two "white men" seen by Baker at the rear of the TSBD only 1 1/2 minutes after the shooting. But the W.C. did not want these two "white men" identified, and therefore failed to properly question Roy Truly and Officer Baker.

Truly should have identified these men to Officer Baker. If these men were strangers, then Baker would have asked them for identification and their reason for being in the TSBD. If Truly identified these men as Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady then two very serious issues would require answers:

#1--If identified by Truly as Shelley/Lovelady (1 1/2 minutes after the shooting) then these were undoubtedly the same two men seen by Victoria Adams in the same location only one minute after the shooting. The W.C. knew that it was impossible for anyone from the 6th floor to have run from the 6th floor "snipers nest" to the NW stairway, and down to the 2nd floor lunchroom--without being seen or heard by Victoria Adams and Sandra Styles--and then to have been confronted by Baker and Truly.
#2--Why were Shelley and Lovelady near the freight elevators only one minute after the shooting?

During his testimony Roy Truly's silence, his lack of candor, his behaviour, and his failure to volunteer any information about these two men are indicative of a co-conspirator. If he was a co-conspirator, then HARVEY Oswald was sent to the TSBD by CIA asset/agent Ruth Paine, hired by co-conspirator Roy Truly, and directly supervised by CIA asset Bill Shelley only weeks before President Kennedy's motorcade passed in front of the TSBD And let's not forget that after witnessing shots fired at the President of the United States, Roy Truly ran back inside the TSBD and ran up the stairs looking for the shooter(s), without showing any fear of danger. A half hour later it was Truly, after Bill Shelley said that he had not seen Oswald, who told DPD Capt. Fritz that Oswald was the only missing TSBD employee. Following the assassination the FBI wanted to fingerprint all TSBD employees, a request to which Roy Truly "strongly objected," but why?

The WC now had a DPD police report and Adams' testimony that she saw Shelley and Lovelady on the 1st floor one minute after the shooting.  They also had  Shelley and Lovelady's DPD affidavits wherein both men said that immediately after the shooting they went back into the building. The commission also had FBI reports and now had their WC testimony that contradicted both Adams' testimony and Shelley/Lovelady's affidavits of 11/22/63. Why the WC did not ask Shelley or Lovelady to explain why their DPD affidavits conflicted with their testimony is now obvious. It is now clear why the commission refused to interview Sandra Styles, refused to interview Dorothy Garner, refused to ask Roy Truly if the two "white men" on the 1st floor were Shelley and Lovelady, and refused to ask Officer Baker if the men he saw on the 1st floor of the TSBD were Shelley and Lovelady. The commission's refusal to question these key witnesses is a clear indication they knew Shelley and Lovelady were at the rear of the TSBD within one minute of the shooting, and they also knew that (HARVEY) Oswald could not possibly have run down the stairs within one minute of the shooting, because he would have been seen or heard  by Adams and Styles. The commission's only option was to accept, without question, the testimony of Shelley and Lovelady who said they did not return to the TSBD for 10 minutes.The Commission found there was now enough time for (HARVEY) Oswald to have run from the 6th floor to the 2nd floor lunchroom AFTER Adams and Styles ran down the stairs and left the TSBD. They further concluded that Lovelady may have seen Victoria Adams talking with Shelley, and that Shelley may have seen Adams later in the day on the 4th floor.

On June 2, 1964 assistant US attorney Martha Joe Stroud sent the following letter to J. Lee Rankin, chief counsel to the Warren Commission, in Washington, DC (air mail; registered letter). Miss Stroud wrote, "I am enclosing the signed deposition of Victoria Elizabeth Adams," and then explained the corrections made by Adams. Stroud wrote, "Mr. Belin was questioning Miss Adams about whether or not she saw anyone as she was running down the stairs. Miss Garner, Miss Adams' supervisor, stated this morning that after watching Miss Adams run downstairs she (Miss Garner) saw Mr. Truly and the policeman come up." The contents of this letter, from the US Dept of Justice, was confirmation that (HARVEY) Oswald was already in the lunchroom when Adams and Styles left the 4th floor, and was still in the lunchroom moments later when Baker and Truly hurried past Miss Garner on their way to the 5th floor. (HARVEY) Oswald could not possibly have run past Miss Garner during this time. Oswald was alone in the 2nd floor lunchroom before the shooting, during the shooting, and moments after the shooting when confronted by Officer Baker.
 

Warren Commission "resolves" the 1st problem

The WC "resolved" the 1st problem, the timing of Adams' run down the stairs, by ignoring  the DPD report, ignoring Vickie Adams' testimony, ignoring US attorney Martha Stroud's letter of June 2 1964, and never interviewing Sandra Styles or Dorothy Garner. Seconds after the shooting Adams, Styles, and Garner left their office and ran to the stairs. Garner stayed on the 4th floor and watched as Adams and Styles ran down the stairs. A minute later Garner saw Baker and Truly as they were running up the stairs to the 5th floor, but never saw or heard anyone else running up the stairs. Garner's  and/or Styles' testimony would have confirmed Victoria Adams' version as to the timing. Warren Commission attorney Wesley Liebeler studied this issue and wrote the following, "Victoria Adams testified that she came down the stairway, within about 1 minute after the shots, from the fourth floor to the first floor where she encountered two Depository employees--Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady. If Miss Adams was on the stairway at that time, the question is raised as to why she did not see Oswald..." Answer: Because (HARVEY) Oswald was not on the 6th floor at the time of the shooting, and never ran from the 6th floor to the 2nd floor lunchroom. As the Presidential motorcade drove past the TSBD, (HARVEY) Oswald  was in the 2nd floor lunchroom, allegedly purchasing a soda when confronted by Officer Baker. Oswald then left the lunchroom, returned to the 1st floor, spoke briefly with Bill Shelley, and then left the building.

The activities, testimony, and whereabouts of Truly, Shelley and Lovelady moments before and after the shooting, and (HARVEY) Oswald in the lunchroom during the shooting, is critical in understanding that Oswald was indeed a "patsy".....

• Lovelady was at the back of the warehouse, only moments before and after the shooting. He was most likely turning off electricity to the passenger elevator.
• (HARVEY) Oswald was alone in the lunchroom before, during, and after the shooting. He was most likely instructed to wait in the lunchroom.
  
• (HARVEY) Oswald told Capt. Fritz that after purchasing a Coke in the lunchroom he was confronted by a policeman (Baker)
• After leaving the lunchroom, Oswald walked downstairs to the 1st floor warehouse at the back of the building and picked up his flannel jacket in the domino room.
• (HARVEY) Oswald said that he talked with Shelley for a few minutes before leaving the building (most likely seen by NBC correrspondent Robert MacNeil at the rear of the TSBD minutes after the shooting). I believe it was Shelley who told Oswald to leave the building, ride the Marsalis bus to Oak Cliff, and arrive at the Texas Theater. Oswald's movements make it appear as though he was escaping from the TSBD and hiding in a darkened movie theater.
  
• During questioning (HARVEY) Oswald told Capt. Fritz that he was with Shelley on the fronts steps watching the parade. This was Oswald's attempt to establish an alibii as to his whereabouts during the shooting. Unfortunately, Oswald did not know that Shelley was a co-conspirator and complicit in framing him (Oswald) as the "patsy."

The Warren Commission decided to ignore Sandra Styles and Dorothy Garner, and focus their attention on Victoria Adams. They concluded that Adams was simply mistaken as to the time she ran down the stairs. The Commission instead accepted and relied upon the testimony of Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady, who said that after the shooting they walked to the railroad tracks, walked around the west side of the building, and then re-entered the TSBD 5-10 minutes later. They ignored US attorney Martha Stroud's letter concerning Dorothy Garner, and concluded that Adams began walking down the stairs only after Baker and Truly had confronted Oswald in the lunchroom. The Commission also concluded that Adams then may have seen Shelley and Lovelady on the first floor, but 5-10 minutes after the shooting.

How the Warren Commission solved the 2nd problem: co-conspirators (LEE) Oswald, Shelley, and Lovelady

The 2nd problem. The fact that two "white men" were at the back of the TSBD within one minute after shots were fired was well known to the Warren Commission and to their attorneys. DPD Officer Marrion Baker told the Warren Commission that when he and Roy Truly arrived on the first floor at the back of the TSBD, only moments after the shooting, he saw two unknown men. One of these men was standing near the stairs (access to the 6th floor) and the other man about 20-30 feet away (near the electrical panels). WC member Allen Dulles asked Baker, "Were they white men?" Baker replied, "Yes." Victoria Adams knew both of these men, and told the Warren Commission that she saw Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady on the first floor about one minute after the shooting--only moments before Baker and Truly arrived at the back of the TSBD. Adams' testimony suggested a conspiracy, by linking shooter(s) from the sixth floor (running down the stairs to the 1st floor) with Shelley and Lovelady (waiting by the stairs on the 1st floor)--only one minute after the shooting. Adams, however, did not understand the implications or seriousness of what she had seen and experienced.

On the day of the shooting Bill Shelley gave an affidavit to the Dallas Police Dept. Shelley said that after the shooting, "I went back to the building & went inside & called my wife & told her what happened. I was on the first floor then & I stayed at the elevator & was told not to let anyone out of the elevator." Five months later W.C. attorney Joseph Ball asked Bill Shelley, "Did you ever see Vickie Adams?" Mr. Ball knew, and could only have known from Adams' testimony taken that morning, that she saw and identified the two men seen by Baker definitely as Bill Shelley and probably Billy Lovelady at the back of the TSBD within one minute of the shooting. Shelley answered, "I saw her that day but I don't remember where I saw her." Mr. Ball, "You don't remember whether you saw her when you came back?" Shelley answered, "It was after we entered the building." Mr. Ball, "You think you did see her after you entered the building?" Shelley, "Yes, sir; I thought it was on the fourth floor awhile after that." Shelley, like Lovelady, is now claiming that he "may" have seen Victoria Adams but much later and he can't remember where or when he saw her. Mr. Ball, "Did you see Vickie Adams after you came into the building and did you see her on the first floor?" Shelley answered, "I sure don't remember." The only reason for Mr. Ball to ask Shelley if he saw Victoria Adams on the first floor was in response to Adams' testimony that she saw and spoke to Shelley on the first floor within one minute of the shooting.

On the day of the shooting Billy Lovelady gave an affidavit to the Dallas Police Dept. Lovelady said, "After it was over we went back into the building and went to work took some police officers up to search the building." W.C. attorney Ball asked Billy Lovelady, "Who did you see in the first floor?" The only reason for Mr. Ball to ask Lovelady if he saw someone on the first floor was in response to  Adams' testimony that she saw Lovelady on the first floor within one minute of the shooting. Lovelady replied, "I saw a girl but I wouldn't swear to it it's Vickie." How did Lovelady know to answer with the name "Vickie" when her name hadn't been mentioned during Lovelady's previous testimony or questioning? Ball then asked, "Who is Vickie?" Lovelady said, "The girl that works for Scott, Foresman." Lovelady can't swear that he saw Vickie, yet he knows that Vickie works for Scott, Foresman??

Neither Baker nor Truly provided any information to the Commission as to the two unknown "white men" seen at the back of the TSBD within two minutes of the shooting. Shelley and Lovelady's testimony, in April, 1964, was accepted by the Commission. The Commission concluded that Shelley and Lovelady were outside of the TSBD during and after the shooting, and only returned to the building 10 minutes later. The Commission concluded that during this time (HARVEY) Oswald was running from the sniper's nest to the 2nd floor lunchroom.

How the Warren Commission solved the 3rd problem: electrical service shut off during the shooting

The Warren Commission knew the electricity had been shut off minutes before the shooting and turned back on minutes after the shooting. This is not only very suspicious but suggestive of a conspiracy. The Commission had photographs of the electrical panels on the first floor and knew there were two "white men" nearby about one minute before and 1 1/2 minutes after the shooting. Why was the Commission not interested to learn the identity of these two men, who were at the back of the TSBD near the electrical panels and near the only means of escape from the the 6th floor only 1 1/2 minutes after the shooting? Why did the Commission fail to ask Roy Truly if he knew either of these men? Or ask Officer Baker to confirm or deny these two men were Bill Shelley or Billy Lovelady? Because the Commission's assignment was to conclude that one man, Lee Harvey Oswald, shot and killed President Kennedy---with no accomplices.

So, how did the two men on the 6th floor leave the building?

It is, and probably always will be, impossible to "prove" how two men managed to enter and then leave the 6th floor without being seen or heard by anyone. But escaping from the 6th floor thru the passenger elevator shaft, with the help of TSBD employees/accomplices, is quite easy and could explain why the electricity was briefly turned off minutes before the shooting and turned back on about two minutes after the shooting. Escaping thru the elevator shaft could explain why Jarman, Norman, Williams, Styles, Adams, Garner, Dougherty, Truly, and Baker neither saw nor heard anyone either on the 6th floor, neither heard nor saw anyone running down the old, wooden stairway or riding down on the freight elevators.

Entering the elevator shaft from the 6th floor and climbing into the elevator cabin could only be done if the passenger elevator was stopped on the 4th floor. Shutting off the electricity and stopping the passenger elevator on the 4th floor could explain the presence of Billy Lovelady on the first floor moments before the motorcade arrived. Turning the electricity back on to activate the passenger elevator, about two minutes after the shooting, could explain both Shelley and Lovelady's presence on the first floor at the back of the building where they were seen by Victoria Adams. Their unexplained presence at this location within a minute of the shooting, and Roy Truly's failure to acknowledge them, identify them to Officer Baker, or to ever mention them to anyone is also a good indication that Truly may have been a co-conspirator. Truly was the man responsible for hiring HARVEY Oswald only weeks before the assassination, placing him in the TSBD on 11/22/63, and telling police that Oswald was the only employee unaccounted for within minutes of the shooting.

Victoria Elizabeth Adams

After relocating to Chicago in 1964 Victoria Adams' life returned to normal, but she constantly thought about her turbulent time in Dallas. She told author Barry Ernest, "Remember, I was a very young woman at the time and believed in my government. Because of the strange circumstances and discounting of my statements, my multiple questioning by various government agencies and the Warren Commission's conclusions,  I lost my starry eyed beliefs in the integrity of our government. And I was scared. I was a young lady alone with no family or friend support at the time. Perhaps you can imagine the state of mind of a young lady in her 20's who had been frightened about many things.... When that Dallas detective lied to me (about the fire), I knew something wasn't right... But the faith loss actually hit it's finality when my testimony was discounted and I knew someone was trying to fit a puzzle together with lots of pieces from some other puzzle they had and create a story they wanted the public to believe.... I felt like a fool, an idiot whose credibility would be challenged from that point on. I had been disparaged and felt ridiculed and minimized. This truly shook me to my core.... I'm sure you can't imagine the feelings that coursed through me as I realized the possibilities of what was going on. I am convinced there was something funny going on.... Both Sandra and I were very nervous about the whole thing since we knew we had been where the killer reputedly was at approximately the same time. I cannot say much about what I believe happened, but I do suspect that Oswald was never on the sixth floor at the time of the assassination. I actually think the Warren Commission needed to bring an end to the investigation. I must say it was a great relief when I was offered a job at the Scott Foresman home office in Chicago."

In Chicago Adams met and married a man from a suburb, left the city in 1966, and moved to San Diego, CA. Thoughts of Dallas still haunted Vickie, but she returned to college, acquired a degree in general education, and graduated with honors. She had her first child in 1970. In 1974 Vickie became involved with real estate, while continuing her education at night, obtained a bachelor's degree in business administration. and graduated summa cum laude. Her accomplishments and career in business was acknowledged by Who's Who of American Women (a biographical dictionary of notable living American women) and Who's Who in the World (concise, accurate biographies of renowned individuals from around the world). A couple of years later Vickie and her husband traveled around the country in a five wheel trailer for the next 6 years. Her husband had become an avid reader of all JFK related material, and convinced Vickie that she should remain quiet about her background. Too many people were dying and it would be much safer if she kept quiet. Victoria followed her husband's advice.

February, 2002--Barry Ernest contacts Victoria

JFK researcher Barry Ernest contacted Ms. Adams in 2002, almost 40 years after the tragic events of 11/22/63. She was 61 years old and living on the west coast. She told Ernest, "I saw what I saw and my testimony apparently didn't fit what the government wanted...What I said was true. I said it so many times I got tired of saying it.... Repeatedly I asked that my testimony be confirmed by another witness who was with me part of the time, but I was basically thrown off....They literally wanted to hang the murder on someone and do it quickly to stop the truth from being known, whatever the truth really was.... Things kind of died around it and I just gave up.... My husband is bored by the topic, and I had no desire to read someone's opinion of what happened when I was actually there and indirectly participated in the events of the day.

Ernest asked Ms. Adams if this was the first time she had provided particulars to anyone. She answered, "Absolutely." Ernest knew that Adams told the W.C. that she saw and briefly spoke with William Shelley and Billy Lovelady on the first floor. When he began to ask Ms. Adams about this she replied, "They weren't there.... I honestly can't remember seeing them (on the first floor)... No, they weren't there." When asked if she knew these two men she replied, "Not at all, except to see them around.... How could I have seen them on the first floor anyway if they were outside the building for that long." Ernest noted, and wrote in his book, "Ms. Adams was clearly uneasy about this matter."

In 2002, nearly 40 years after being interviewed by DPD detective Lavelle, testifying before the Warren Commission, signing and making corrections to her transcribed deposition, she told JFK investigator/author Barry Ernest that she never saw Shelly or Lovelady on the first floor. It took Shelly and Lovelady five months to change their stories--from returning to the 1st floor of the TSBD immediately after the shooting to remaining outside of the TSBD for 5-10 minutes after the shooting. It took Adams nearly 40 years to change her story.

Let's take a few minutes to review the historical details and consider Adams' new story as of 2002....

• Within a half-hour of the assassination Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady were taken to DPD headquarters and gave signed affidavits stating that immediately after the shooting they went to the rear of the TSBD on the first floor, they stayed by the freight elevators, and then accompanied police as they searched the upper floors of the TSBD. Shelley was then photographed as he, Danny Arce, and Bonnie Ray Williams were escorted by police to a squad car and driven to police headquarters. It is extremely doubtful that Shelley and Lovelady left the TSBD after the shooting, walked to the railroad tracks, and then re-entered the TSBD 5-10 minutes later.
• Adams saw Shelley and Lovelady on the first floor about one minute after the shooting, as recorded in DPD detective James Leavelle's interview of Adams in February, 1964.
• Adams' W.C. testimony, about seeing Shelley and Lovelady on the first floor one minute after the shooting, was recorded on April 7, 1964.
• Shortly after giving testimony to the W.C., Adams read her deposition, made corrections, and signed the document. This careful, accurate, intelligent woman read and sign this document wherein she testified to seeing Shelley and Lovelady on the 1st floor the TSBD one minute after the shooting. This document was classified "TOP SECRET"  for the next 30 years.
• By testifying that she saw Shelley and Lovelady on the first floor within one minute of the shooting, the W.C. attorneys become acutely aware of a serious "timing problem," which is why her corrected and signed W.C. testimony was classified "TOP SECRET."
  
• The WC failed to interview supervisor Dorothy Garner, who stood by the 4th floor stairway and watched Adams and Styles run down the stairs, watched Truly and Baker as they ran past her and up to the 5th floor, and neither heard nor saw anyone else on the stairway.
• The W.C. deposed Victoria Adams (2:15 PM), Billy Lovelady (3:50 PM), and Bill Shelley (4:10 PM) all on the same day--April 7, 1964. The only way that W.C. attorney Joseph Ball knew to ask both Shelley and Lovelady if they saw Vickie Adams on 11/22/63 was because of her testimony, taken only two hours earlier. Ball's asking Shelley and Lovelady about Vickie Adams is proof that Adams told the WC that she saw Shelley/Lovelady on the first floor within one minute of the shooting, which was recorded in her W.C. testimony.  Without Adams/ testimony, attorney Ball would have no reason to ask Shelley/Lovelady about Vickie Adams--only a couple of hours later.
  
• WC counsel Wesley Liebeler read Adam's W.C. testimony and wrote, "Victoria Adams testified that she came down the stairway, within about 1 minute after the shots, from the fourth floor to the first floor where she encountered two Depository employees--Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady." If Adams saw these two men on the 1st floor, near the freight elevators and stairway, only one minute after the shooting, then how could Oswald have ran down the stairs from the 6th to the 2nd floor at the same time?
• DPD officer Marrion Baker said there were two "white men" on the first floor, at the back of the TSBD, about 1 1/2 minutes after the shooting. If these two men were not Shelley and Lovelady, as identified by Victoria Adams, then who were these men? Why did the WC not bring Baker, Shelley, and Lovelady together for the purpose of asking Officer Baker if these were the two men he saw at the rear of the TSBD 1 1/2 minutes after the shooting? If not Shelley and Lovelady then why did Roy Truly fail to identify either of these men to Officer Baker as strangers? And who, if not Truly, told Bill Shelley to stay by the elevators and not let anyone off?
  
• Shelley and Lovelady both changed their testimony as to their whereabouts, immediately following the shooting, on 3 separate occasions. Why change testimony, if not to hide their whereabouts and activites at the back of the TSBD on the 1st floor only moments after the shooting?
• There is no indication nor proof that Victoria Adams told anyone, prior to talking with Barry Ernest in 2002, that she did NOT see Shelley or Lovelady when she arrived on the first floor of the TSBD one minute after the shooting. Forty years later she told Ernest, for the first time, that she thinks someone added the information about Shelley and Lovelady to her testimony.

QUESTION: If Adams' claim that someone (FBI/WC) had added Shelley and Lovelady's information to Adams' original testimony, in an attempt to challenge her claim that she saw both men on the first floor one minute after the shooting, then why does her testimony say that she saw Shelley and Lovelady only ONE MINUTE after the shooting? If additional testimony had been added by the FBI/WC, then this additional testimony would have necessarily said that Adams saw Shelley and Lovelady 5-10 MINUTES AFTER the shooting--certainly not one minute after the shooting! How could additional testimony have been added to the DPD interview of Adams by James Levelle on 2/17/64? How could information about Shelley and Lovelady have been added when Adams read, corrected, and signed her WC testimony? WC attorney Ball became aware of Shelley and Lovelady's presence at the rear of the TSBD one minute after the shooting only because of Adams' WC testimony.

JFK researcher/investigator/author Barry Ernest knew that Adams was "clearly uneasy" when discussing Shelley and Lovelady. The question of whether or not Shelley and Lovelady were on the 1st floor, at the rear of the TSBD, within one minute of the shooting was crucial, and why were they there? In 1964, five months after the shooting, both Shelley and Lovelady say they did not return to the building for 5-10 minutes. In 2002, nearly forty years after the shooting, Victoria Adams said she did not see either man when she arrived on the first floor.

Barry Ernest knew that Adam's original testimony was recorded by a court stenographer, as was the testimony of all persons interviewed by the Commission. He traveled to the National Archives and asked to examine the court stenographers record. Mr. Ernest was surprised and troubled when advised that the original stenographer's records for April 7, 1964 were missing. The only people to have access to National Archive records are people within our Federal Government. And if certain records disappear from the National Archives, then they disappeared for the benefit of the government. Without the original stenographer's record, we will never know if her WC testimony, as recorded in the WC's 26 volumes, was accurate.

Adams died on November 15, 2007 (age 66) of cancer, so now it is up to JFK researchers to determine the truth. Was Adams' W.C. testimony accurately recorded and published in the W.C. volumes? Did she see Shelley and Lovelady on the 1st floor one minute after the shooting? Or did Adams, after 40 years of threats and intimidation, finally just give up and say what the government wanted her to say? The decision is yours.