Tippit, Ruby and Austin's BBQ

[Steve Thomas]

Is this an area of research worth looking into?

I vaguely remember in my past reading someone,  (maybe Larry Hancock?) talking about the Cuban exiles connections, and also drug connections to Austin's BBQ.

 

From: 

“A look back at Austin’s Barbecue”

The Advocate. January 27, 2011

 

http://oakcliff.advocatemag.com/2011/01/barbecue-with-a-side-of-heart/

 

 

"Originally named the Bull Pen, the restaurant at 2321 W. Illinois opened in 1949. (It sat on the northeast corner of Hampton and Illinois,"

 

"In 1957, when Oak Cliff voted itself “dry,” co-owner Bert Bowman sold out his half interest to his business partner, Austin Cook, who changed the menu, the restaurant’s name and the hours of operation."

 

"Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippit moonlighted at Austin’s, working security on weekends. The Staff Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations reads “that he [Cook] had employed Tippit at the time of the assassination ‘as a deterrent’ to any teenage trouble from youths who frequented the establishment.”"

 

"Due to a web of coincidental liaisons between Bowman and assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, the FBI interviewed Cook and many of the Cook and Bowman family members, with Cook telling the investigators that he never heard Tippit mention Oswald or Jack Ruby."

 

"A man named Ralph Paul had purchased the restaurant Bowman opened after selling his share of the Bull Pen to Cook. Bowman’s wife stated she had known Paul since his 1951 move to Dallas and that at the time of the assassination, Paul was living in the lower level of the Bowman home. She reported that Paul was a close friend of Ruby’s and had expressed great concern for his friend after Oswald’s shooting. She also stated that Paul had brought Ruby by her home approximately four and a half years earlier, but that Ruby remained for only a short time."

"Nothing came of the investigation."

 

After Bert Bowman sold his half interest in the Bull Pen to Austin Cook, he opened another restaurant.

He sold this restaurant to Ralph Paul.

What was the name of the restaurant Ralph Paul purchased from Bert Bowman?

 

Oswald allegedly shoots Tippit.

Ruby shoots Oswald.

Bert Bowman sells his half interest in the Bull Pen to Austin Cook who re-names it Austin's BBQ.

After selling the Bull Pen, Bowman opens another restaurant.

Ralph Paul buys this restaurant and lives in the Bowman home.

Ralph Paul is Jack Ruby's best friend and business partner for years

Tippit works part time at Austin's BBQ

 

After Jfk's assassination, Tippit makes an unrecorded landline phone call from the Top Ten Record store.

Tippit is killed

Ray Hawkins makes an unrecorded landline phone call from a Mobil Gas Station at 10^th and Beckley

Hawkins arrests Lee Oswald. The handcuffs he uses to cuff Oswald are his own personal possessions and are later auctioned off for $250,000. 

Ray Hawkins has a permanent pass to the Carousel Club and visits several times.

 

Austin Cook was asked by the FBI if Tippit knew Oswald or Ruby. Cook says no.

Was Ruby ever asked if he knew Tippit?

 

What do you think of the possibility that Tippit and Hawkins were calling the same person - --- Ruby --- to tell him that Oswald wasn't here, and they couldn't find him? What should they do?

 

I think that the police officers' behavior in the Texas Theater was very suspicious. Three people; McDonald, Hawkins, and Brewer, said that Oswald was sitting by himself, and that Oswald was pointed out to them before they ever started down the theater aisles.   Why did McDonald stop and frisk two other people before getting to Oswald? I think they were hoping Oswald would make a break for it and could be "shot while trying to escape."

 

Steve Thomas

 

 

 

[Michael Clark]

From the Testimony of Wanda Yvonne Hemlick

Employee of Ralph Paul, an acquaintance of Jack Ruby.

Employee at The Bull Pen

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/helmick.htm

Mr. GRIFFIN. Now, what happened? Will you tell us what happened?
Mrs. HELMICK. Well, we were sitting there gossiping about something, I don't remember what, but we was teasing or aggravating Johnnie well, Paul you call him.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Was Ralph Paul sitting there at the booth with you?
Mrs. HELMICK. No, he was behind the counter, and Rose got up and went back there to do something, and she started talking to him, and the telephone rang, and she said, "It is for you. It is Jack."
So he took the phone and he had been talking quite a while, and he said something. He either said, "Are you crazy? A gun?" or something like that, or he said something about a gun.
Then he said, "Are you crazy?" But he did say something about a gun, and he asked him if he was crazy.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How long did he talk on this telephone call?
Mrs. HELMICK. He Just talked for about 5 minutes, I guess. It wasn't very long.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you hear anything else that was said in the telephone conversation?
Mrs. HELMICK. He said something about either he had a date with Tammi or Jack had a date with Tammi, and Jack wanted to talk to Ralph, and that is all I know.



 

Edited May 7, 2017 by Michael Clark

[Paul Trejo]

Steve,

Your topic is worth a lot of research.  Jeff Caufield (2015) says that Ex-General Walker held his weekend meetings of the John Birch Society at Austin's BBQ in 1963.

The key Dallas players in the JFK plot met there.  This included some rogue and high officials in the Dallas Police and Sheriff's office, as well as Dallas Postmaster Harry Holmes.

Caufield proposes that JD Tippit was drafted into Walker's JFK plot (and may have been a shooter in Dealey Plaza).  Tippit's main job was to shoot Lee Harvey Oswald on sight.

The name of Caufield's recent book is, General Walker and the Murder of President Kennedy: the Extensive New Evidence of a Radical Right Conspiracy (2015).

Regards,
--Paul Trejo

Edited May 7, 2017 by Paul Trejo

[Michael Clark]

Steve Thomas asked:

"Was Ruby ever asked if he knew Tippit?"

In the 59 pages Of Jack Ruby testimony that I have (there has to be more), Tippits name comes up 10 times. Jack Ruby is allowed to obfuscate and dodge the question:

 

Mr. RANKIN. Did you know Officer Tippit?
Mr. RUBY. I knew there was three Tippits on the force. The only one I knew used to work for the special services, and I am certain this wasn't the Tippit, this wasn't the man.
Mr. RANKIN. The man that was murdered. There was a story that you were seen sitting in your Carousel Club with Mr. Weissman, Officer Tippit, and another who has been called a rich oil man, at one time shortly before the assassination. Can you tell us anything about that?

-------------------
Mr. Ruby. .....As far as Tippit, it is not Tippitts, it is not Tippitts it is Tippit.
Mr. RANKIN. This Weissman and the rich oil man, did you ever have a conversation with them?
Mr. RUBY. There was only a few. Bill Rudman from the YMCA, and I haven't seen him in years. And there is a Bill Howard, but he is not a rich oil man. He owns the Stork Club now. He used to dabble in oil.
Chief Justice WARREN. This story was given by a lawyer by the name of Mark Lane, who is representing Mrs. Marguerite Oswald, the mother of Lee Harvey Oswald, and it was in the paper, so we subpenaed him, and he testified that someone had given him information to the effect that a week or two before President Kennedy was assassinated, that in your Carousel Club you and Weissman and Tippit, Officer Tippit, the one who was killed, and a rich oil man had an interview or conversation for an hour or two. And we asked him who it was that told him, and he said that it was confidential and he couldn't tell at the moment, but that he would find out for us if whether he could be released or not from his confidential relationship.

He has never done it, and we have written him several letters asking him to disclose the name of that person, and he has never complied.
Mr. RUBY. Isn't that foolish? If a man is patriotic enough in the first place, who am I to be concerned if he wasn't an informer.

I am incarcerated, nothing to be worried about anyone hurting me.
Chief Justice WARREN. Mr. Ruby, I am not questioning your story at all. I wanted you to know the background of this thing, and to know that it was with us only hearsay. But I did feel that our record should show that we would ask you the question and that you would answer it, and you have answered it.
Mr. RUBY. How many days prior to the assassination was that?

and on and on, obfuscating, avoiding........ 11 more pages and Tippit is not mentioned again.

---------------------------------

Steve Thomas wrote:

"Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippit moonlighted at Austin’s, working security on weekends. The Staff Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations reads “that he [Cook] had employed Tippit at the time of the assassination ‘as a deterrent’ to any teenage trouble from youths who frequented the establishment.”"

 

In Ralph Paul's 71 pages of WC testimony, J.D. Tippit's name is mentioned 4 times, as follows:

Mr. HUBERT. Did (Jack Ruby)'he say anything about Tippit?
Mr. PAUL. No, sir; I didn't know nothing about Tippit. I didn't know nothing about Tippit.
Mr. HUBERT. He didn't tell you?
Mr. PAUL. No; he didn't tell me anything about Tippit.

 

 

Edited May 8, 2017 by Michael Clark

[Michael Clark]

I found another 80 pages of Jack Ruby testimony.

More obfuscation and diversion:

Mr. SPECTER. We have asked you if you ever knew him before, and now we're focusing on this.
Mr. RUBY. Oh--"How many times did he come up to the club?"--that's something else. Also, somebody said that they saw Tippit, I, this Mr. Lane stated that he saw Tippit, myself, and Oswald at the club--so go ahead, I don't want to throw you off.
Mr. SPECTER. Well, we will add a question there at that point, such as this: "Did you ever meet with Officer Tippit and Oswald at your club?"
Mr. HERNDON. Do you want that "Oswald and" or "or"?
Mr. SPECTER. Yes; we do. Use "and."
Mr. RUBY. The first thing about that post office box--how do we know whether it's really authentic or the man had the box there or not? It could have been placed there at a later date?
Mr. ALEXANDER. It was right, Jack. He had it. I saw the key myself and it had "X" number on the box.
Mr. RUBY. How come it never come out before then? Why didn't it come out still before that?
Mr. ALEXANDER. It did.
Mr. RUBY. No; it didn't come out until a long time until just recently.

Bla bla bla....   And a little later:

Mr. HERNDON. "Did you shoot Oswald in order to save Mrs. Kennedy the ordeal of a trial?"
Mr. RUBY. Yes.
Mr. HERNDON. "Did you know Officer Tippit?"
Mr. RUBY. This is off the record for a minute, please?
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. Ruby, I think it would be unwise for us to go off the record on this question.
Mr. RUBY. Well, all right. There were three Officer Tippits in the police department. I only knew one.

Mr. SPECTER. Was that Officer J. D. Tippit?
Mr. RUBY. He's the one who was slain?
Mr. SPECTER. Yes--Officer J. D. Tippit?
Mr. RUBY. No; I don't think he was the one.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you know Officer Tippit who was slain?
Mr. RUBY. No; I don't know him. You see, I know so many officers and there are three Tippits, but I know one Tippit, and which one that is--if I would see him personally and see his physical features and knowing him---of course, I didn't have time to--I was incarcerated too soon to find out. Actually, the Tippit I knew, who worked at special service in the police department--you know which one I'm talking about, Bill?
Mr. ALEXANDER. Yes; but that's not the one.
Mr. RUBY. I don't know this Tippit.
Mr. ALEXANDER. This boy had always been a radio patrolman.
Mr. RUBY. Well, I don't know that I had ever seen this fellow before I had never seen him before. I may have seen him before but I didn't know him.
Mr. HERNDON. Mr. Ruby, if I ask a question, "Did you know the Officer Tippit slain?" Can you reasonably answer that truthfully "Yes" or "No"?
Mr. RUBY. No.

Mr. HERNDON. I mean--you can answer it without any problem mentally?
Mr. RUBY. Yes; that's what I mean. 

 

Mr. SPECTER. To state it differently, you are able to answer whether or not you knew Officer J. D. Tippit?
Mr. RUBY. Well, I can't answer "Yes" or "No" and say whether or not.
Mr. SPECTER. Well, I want to be sure that your last answer is responsive so that we are clear.

Mr. RUBY. Well, I gave the answer "No."
Mr. ALEXANDER. Let's put it this way---"Did you know the Tippiit that was killed?"
Mr. RUBY. Repeat that question?
Mr. HERNDON. "Did you know the Tippit that was killed?"
Mr. RUBY. No.

----------------------------

. HERNDON. "Did you ever meet with Oswald and Officer Tippit at your apartment?"
Mr. RUBY. No.
Mr. HERNDON. Here again the Officer Tippit is the one we're talking about that was killed.
Mr. RUBY. Right.
Mr. HERNDON. All right, Mr. Ruby, those are the questions and we will proceed on those.
Mr. SPECTER. Fine. Let's proceed with this series.
Mr. ALEXANDER. What was that last question?
Mr. HERNDON. "Did you ever meet with Oswald and Officer Tippitt at your apartment?"
Mr. SPECTER. Let the record show that Mr. Alexander and Mr. Tonahill have left the room.
Mr. HERNDON. Do you feel all right now, Mr. Ruby?
Mr. RUBY. Yes.

------------------------------

And Lie detector questions:

Mr. HERNDON. "Did you know the Tippit that was killed?"
Mr. RUBY. "No."
Mr. HERNDON. "Did you tell the truth about relaying the message to Ray Brantley to get McWillie a few guns?"
Mr. RUBY. "Yes."
Mr. HERNDON. "Did you go to the assembly room on Friday night to get the telephone number of KLIF?"
Mr. RUBY. "Yes."
Mr. HERNDON. "Did you ever meet with Oswald and Officer Tippit at your club?"
Mr. RUBY. "No."
Mr. HERNDON. That completes that series. I will release that pressure and you can now relax. 

Edited May 8, 2017 by Michael Clark

[Michael Clark]

The above represents, I believe, every mention of the name  "Tippit" in Jack Ruby's testimony

[Chris Newton]

1 minute ago, Michael Clark said:

The above represents, I believe, every mention of the name  "Tippit" in Jack Ruby's testimony

Thanks Michael. I don't remember hearing him mention Tippet in his Rant with Judge Warren but I might go back and review that too.

[Michael Clark]

15 minutes ago, Chris Newton said:

Thanks Michael. I don't remember hearing him mention Tippet in his Rant with Judge Warren but I might go back and review that too.

[Steve Thomas]

5 hours ago, Michael Clark said:

Mr. RANKIN. The man that was murdered. There was a story that you were seen sitting in your Carousel Club with Mr. Weissman, Officer Tippit, and another who has been called a rich oil man, at one time shortly before the assassination. Can you tell us anything about that?

 

 

There was a story at one time that J.D. Tippit and Jack Ruby had been seen together in the Carousel. I don't remember the details right now.

 

There was a G.M. Tippit in the Special Service Bureau. His first name was Gayle. He told me once that he liked and was a friend of Jack Ruby's. He was sort of embarrased about his first name and went by the name, "Tip".

 

Thanks for the research help on whether Ruby was ever asked if he knew J.D. Tippit.

 

Steve Thomas

[Steve Thomas]

6 hours ago, Steve Thomas said:

There was a story at one time that J.D. Tippit and Jack Ruby had been seen together in the Carousel. I don't remember the details right now.

From Bernard Weissman's WC testimony:

 

Mr. JENNER. Did you at anytime while you were in Dallas ever have a meeting with or sit in the Carousel Club with Officer Tippit?
Mr. WEISSMAN. No.
Mr. JENNER. Do you know or do you have any information as to whether any of the associates you have mentioned ever had a meeting with Officer Tippit in the Carousel Club?
Mr. WEISSMAN. None whatsoever.
Mr. JENNER. Or whether or not, irrespective of whether it was a formal meeting or even an informal one, that they were with Officer Tippit at anytime in the Carousel Club.
Mr. WEISSMAN. Absolutely not.
Mr. JENNER. And you were never in the Carousel Club at all; and you never were with Officer Tippit.
Mr. WEISSMAN. Right.
Mr. JENNER. Any place.
Mr. WEISSMAN. Any place.
Mr. JENNER. Mr. Weissman, it has been asserted that a meeting took place on November 14, 1963, in the Carousel Club between Officer Tippit and yourself--and I take it from your testimony that you vigorously deny that that ever took place.
Mr. WEISSMAN. Very definitely. May I say something in relation to this?
Mr. JENNER. Is it pertinent to this?
Mr. WEISSMAN. I believe so. I believe that this is a statement made by Mark Lane, who claimed to be attorney for the deceased Oswald. It was originally made at the Town Hall in New York, and later that same evening, I do not recall the date exactly, on a radio program Contact WINS New York, at about midnight of that same day.

 

And in any case, I telephoned him several days after our radio and telephone conversation--I telephoned him at his office in Manhattan and got him on the line again. And I said. "Well, what has happened?" I was very curious as to what he had done about this.
Mr. JENNER. Where did you reach him?
Mr. WEISSMAN. At his office in Manhattan. I do not know the address. I had first contacted a law firm he was associated with previously, and they gave me his office number in lower Manhattan. And I telephoned him at his office. The secretary answered, then he got on the line. And he said this time--I don't recall exactly what was said before or after this particular part of the conversation. But I said that I want to meet this guy in Dallas, the one who told him this story and call him a xxxx to his face, and that I wanted it to be a public meeting, and Mark Lane said he would arrange for a public meeting, he would pay my transportation to Dallas to see this guy as soon as he could arrange a meeting. And I have not heard from him since.

 

Steve Thomas

[Michael Clark]

It's amazing. People come out of the woodwork to testify regarding LHO; Yet Tippit hardly seems to have existed.

[Steve Thomas]

3 hours ago, Michael Clark said:

It's amazing. People come out of the woodwork to testify regarding LHO; Yet Tippit hardly seems to have existed.

This makes Kenneth Croy's WC testimony and his decision to eat lunch at Austin's BBQ all the more suspicious.

 

[Thomas Graves]

8 minutes ago, Steve Thomas said:

This makes Kenneth Croy's WC testimony and his decision to eat lunch at Austin's BBQ all the more suspicious.

 

It must be a conspiracy.

--  Tommy

[Michael Clark]

15 minutes ago, Steve Thomas said:

This makes Kenneth Croy's WC testimony and his decision to eat lunch at Austin's BBQ all the more suspicious.

 

I'll have a look..

[Steve Thomas]

2 hours ago, Michael Clark said:

I'll have a look..

Michael,

 

Sit down with a map in one hand and Croy's testimony beginning on page 200 here: (and compare what he says on pp 200-201, with he says on pp 205+)

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/croy.htm

 

and see if what he says makes any sense. On one hand, he says that he was going home (on Illinois presumablt) to change clothes, but then says that his clothes were at his parents house which was located 3 - 4 miles north.

 

It's baffling to say the least.

 

Steve Thomas