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Houston Street/Elm Street


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Last night I was reading Harold Weisberg’s book Whitewash. Although it was published in 1965 it is the first time I have looked at the book. Weisburg was one of the first writers to argue that the Warren Commission was a cover-up. I found one passage very thought-provoking.

When the motorcade turned toward the Depository Building on Houston Street, for several hundred feet there was a completely unobstructed view of it from the sixth-floor window. The police photographs and the forgotten Secret Service reconstruction of 1963 also show this. There was not a twig between the window and the President. There were no curves in that street, no tricky shooting angles. If all the shots came from this window, and the assassin was as cool and collected as the Report represents, why did he not shoot at the easiest and by far the best target? Why did he wait until his target was so difficult that the country's best shots could not duplicate his feat?

If Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman, why did he wait until the motorcade had reached Elm Street before opening fire? As Weisberg points out, Houston Street provides a clear view whereas from the sixth floor of the Texas Book Depository the first part of Elm Street was obscured by a tree. That is why the gunman had to leave it so late before opening fire.

The obvious reason is that gunmen in more than one position were involved in the assassination. In other words, he had to wait until Elm Street so that a gunman in the Grassy Knoll area was in a position to hit his target. If the gunman on the sixth floor of the Texas Book Depository had opened fire when the car was in Houston Street, the reactions of William Greer, driving Kennedy’s car, would have been such that the gunman at the Grassy Knoll would have stood no chance of hitting his target.

Has anyone else got a better explanation for the decision of the gunman in the Texas Book Depository not to open fire when the motorcade was in Houston Street?

Here is a drawing of the Dealey Plaza in November, 1963.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKmapL.htm

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If the gunman on the sixth floor of the Texas Book Depository had opened fire when the car was in Houston Street, the reactions of William Greer, driving Kennedy’s car, would have been such that the gunman at the Grassy Knoll would have stood no chance of hitting his target.

Your analogy appears to be a sound one. Had the assassin of opened fire while the subject was still on Houston Street, then the SS driver (Bill Greer) would most likely of sped on down Houstons Street and never passed the guns waiting at the stockade fence.

I personally do not believe that the shooters at the stockade fence were meant to be used unless necessary. Kennedy was to not get out of Dealey Plaza alive and those rifles were the last chance for sucess if the prior shots had failed to kill him. In other words, had the first shot of taken the top of Kennedy's head off, then I don't think other shooters would have risked being detected. There had to be multiple views of Kennedy to these waiting rifles in the event that an agent recated soon enough to get to the President before being fatally shot. A triangulation of crossfire has always been most logical scenaro for sucess in my opinion. This way if one assassin's view was blocked, then hopefully another assassin could still see his target. Anything short of this would be risking a higher chance of failure and failure was not an option for had Kennedy lived, there would have most likely been a totally different investigation taken place.

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Hi John.

1. I remember reading someplace about that window at 12:30pm being completely obscured by the light of the sun. I have no idea if this is correct.

2. Another reason, would be that the 'sniper's nest,' was a total machination for the purpose of providing a diversion and the set-up of the Patsy.

- If you credit Chauncey Holt's account, ammo was delivered that wasn't supposed to do much of anything but dribble out of the barrel.

- If you credit Plumlee's account, then the epileptic seizure would have been the beginning of a diversion, later followed on by someone poking a rifle out of the window and making a lot of commotion, which was customary for this type of operation.

- If you credit DalTex shooters, this angle was to provide cover for shots from the rear, in which case you'd need the LHO window.

- Also, a miss on a frontal shot on the approach should have caused Greer to accelerate rapidly and get the hell out of Dodge, making it more difficult to finish the job. Of course, I personally wouldn't want Greer as my driver even for a short taxi ride.

- Connally's head also may have blocked a kill shot from that angle?

3. Triangulation. IMAO [just learned that one], I still maintain that there is a very high probability of frontal shots from both the North and South Knolls. That's triangulation. The predetermined kill zone was Elm, and the limousine needed to downshift and slow to negotiate the corner. You would have covered the Lincoln from the back, where Kennedy was more visible in the Lincoln, and both sides.

To continue, I'd like to offer that all of the attention given to the North Knoll was due largely to eye witness accounts, the report, smoke, the various films and Zapruder. Was there a similar security team and shooter on the South Knoll using a silencer?

From www.jfkmurdersolved.com

"It would have been a very hard one to explain why two operatives were caught on the south knoll if there was more than one shot fired. At that point, we thought there was a battery of shots coming from up here and on out. Now later, when we got back to Redbird, Sergio and I sort of debriefed ourself and we both felt....that back here in this area right through here, approximately right along in here...that a shooter probably shot through here because we were about 25-30 feet to the right and we both felt that a shot went to our left and up above our head. When we got to this point right here we did smell gunsmoke. We felt that maybe that gunsmoke had drifted, because of the North wind, across here from the time span it took us to get from the light post to this intersection right here, we definitely picked up a good solid smell of gunpowder. Now it could either have been a shooter standing here that we had missed that may have been in the parking lot concealed in a car..."

Does anyone have an idea as to what Plumlee was referring to visually when he says 'right through here' and 'we were about 25-30 feet to the right and we both felt that a shot went to our left and up above our head. When we got to this point right here we did smell gunsmoke?'

From the film footage, if the smoke on the North knoll drifted in a Northerly direction, how could Plumlee smell it, unless there was another gun fired from above his position, on the south knoll?

There was a parking lot and a picket fence back there as well. I still make this as the cause of the hole in the windshield, which, correlated with the [unprobed] throat wound, appears to correspond with a trajectory of the south knoll. Just don't seem to have any witnesses around.

So again, the sniper's window was an intentional diversionary tactic. There would have been additional shooters in Dallas Book and DalTex, equipped with radios, and the predetermined kill zone was Elm street. First hit to Kennedy came from the front, and hit him in the throat, following a clear miss shot for diversionary purposes, which struck Elm street, probably fired from the Book Depository.

Sequence:

Book Depository shot for diversion.

First real shot to come from the South Knoll.

Next shots to come from Daltex and or County Records

More diversionary Book Depository shots, and perhaps some real shots from a different window [5th or 6th floor]

Radio signal for final shots from North Knoll, which would have been final fallback position?

I wouldn't be surprised to learn of another shooter positioned under, on top, or beyond the underpass as a final 'safety' measure.

- lee

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John,

An assassin not only has to plan the shot, he also has to plan his getaway. As a matter of fact, I think a professional assassin would be pretty confident about making the kill. What is not so sure is his getaway and escape - preferably without detection.

If the shot had been taken while JFK's limo was still on Houston, there would have been no doubt as to its origin. By waiting until the limo was on Elm, with multiple possible shooting origins, the assassins were able to sew doubt and create confusion, thereby giving them enough time to effect their escape.

Steve Thomas

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Is there anyone who doubts that at the very least a rifle was seen in the depository WC sniper lair?

Notice that I did not say fire. (even though there is evidence that rifle did fire at least once because two witnesses did say they saw the sniper lair rifle fire; one of whom said he heard a fourth shot -not necessarily from the depository- as he was running towards the depository rear just in time to see a coated man run out the depository back door)

Are any of the witnesses who said they saw two persons on the sixth floor still alive? What are their latest comments? Were they deposed by the WC, HS, ARRB?

Are any of the witnesses who said they saw this guy in the coat running away from the depository still alive? What are their latest comments? Were they deposed by the WC, HS, ARRB?

And Dulles said most persons would not read to learn more about the assassination. What an arrogant fool he must have been!

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Are any of the witnesses who said they saw this guy in the coat running away from the depository still alive? What are their latest comments? Were they deposed by the WC, HS, ARRB?

I believe Arnold Rowland and maybe Carolyn Walther are still alive. Rowland was only 19 at the time of the assassination. Then there are wtinesses who independently saw a man on the 6th floor from the street, but his clothing description varied which means more than one person was being seen on the 6th floor. Mark Oakes has Ronald Fischer on video in an interview where Fischer says there was several times Belin stopped his (Ron's) Commission testimony and stormed out complaining the description Ron was giving didn't match that of Oswald.

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The CIA planted a story on the day that they killed Oswald to make it look like he was, undeniably, the assassin. These are two short excerpts from my book. One is from the section on the Dallas police and Lee Harvey Oswald, and the other is from the section on Warren Commission member Allen Dulles.

FROM THE SECTION ON THE DALLAS POLICE AND LHO

On November 25, 1963, the Dallas Morning News reported that officers who searched Oswald’s room found a map on which a line marked the path of the bullets that killed President Kennedy. (R.P. 5)

On November 26, 1963, “District Attorney Henry Wade said he understood that the police had the map, but he had not seen it. Lieutenant Wells of the Police Department said the map was in Wade’s possession. Wade denied it . . . Chief Jesse Curry said that he knows nothing of the map and that all evidence had been turned over to Wade.” (R.P. 3)

Captain Glen King said, “I have heard there was a map, but I have not seen it. I heard there was one, but it was not from an authoritative source. But I am not saying there isn’t one. If there is a map, it is evidence. And I think Chief Curry has been very clear about evidence.”

On November 27, a Washington Post reporter wrote: “Dallas officials reported late yesterday that all evidence in their possession has been turned over to the FBI.” (R.P. 4)

The idea that there was a map in Oswald’s room that marked the path of the bullets undoubtedly did much to dispel any notion that Oswald might not have killed Kennedy.

The Dallas Morning News purportedly came into the information about the map on the evening of Sunday, November 24, 1963, the day Oswald was killed.

Citing nothing more than a “reliable source,” the copyrighted story on November 25th reads, “This was learned by the Dallas Morning News Sunday night from a reliable source who has seen the map.” (R.P. 5)

“He told the Dallas News, ‘This was a map of the City of Dallas. Oswald had placed marks at major intersections along the motorcade route; three or four as I recall. There was also a line from the Texas School Book Depository Building to Elm Street. This was the trajectory of the bullets which struck the President and Governor Connally.’”

“This map was apparently the ‘major evidence’ which Police Chief Jesse Curry reported officers had uncovered. Chief Curry refused to reveal the evidence, but said it definitely linked Oswald to the assassination of President Kennedy.”

“Officers theorized that Oswald, who was himself shot to death Sunday, marked the other intersections while considering spots from which a sniper could get a good shot at the Kennedy motorcade. He knew it would move slower than usual at these intersections.”

“Had Oswald faced a jury, District Attorney Henry Wade would have used the map as ‘Exhibit A’ in his legal fight to send the murder suspect to the chair.”

“Wade would have bolstered testimony of officers by calling Mrs. Earline Roberts to the stand. The 58-year-old housekeeper who cleaned Oswald’s room saw the map in the room.”

“ . . . Rubenstein’s bullet sealed Oswald’s lips, ending with sudden finality any chance of a confession.”

“Did Dallas police have the real killer?”

“Yes, said Police Chief Jesse Curry, Homicide Captain Will Fritz and Wade.”

“‘This is the man who killed the President,’ Fritz said.”

“After Oswald died, Fritz told reporters, ‘The case is closed.’”

“Fritz was convinced Oswald alone was involved.”

It is hard to imagine this copyrighted article, on November 25, 1963, three days after Kennedy was killed and one day after Oswald was killed, as saying anything more to legitimize the idea that Oswald killed Kennedy.

The Dallas officials wouldn’t be refuting the characterization of their perspectives, but those perspectives, in an article headlined “Oswald’s Room Yields Map of Bullets’ Path,” had nothing to do with the alleged map. Wade said he didn’t have the map and hadn’t seen it, and Chief Curry, who said all evidence had been turned over to Wade, said he didn’t know anything about the map.

FROM THE SECTION ON ALLEN DULLES

Dulles’s Deputy Director at the CIA, Air Force General C.P. Cabell, who had been fired prior to the Bay Of Pigs, also had a brother, but General Cabell’s brother seemed to hold a less powerful position than Allen Dulles’s brother, former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.

The General’s brother was Mayor Earl Cabell of Dallas.

On the day before President Kennedy’s assassination, Mayor Earl Cabell’s Administration made a change in the route that President Kennedy’s motorcade would take. Instead of traveling straight down Main through the middle of Dealey Plaza, which was the route published in the Dallas Morning News on November 21, the motorcade turned right on Houston and went over to the Texas School Book Depository at Elm and Houston. It then turned left and headed down Elm. President Kennedy was shot and killed on Elm. (The JFK Assassination: The Jim Garrison Tapes)

As cited earlier in this text, the CIA planted a story that there was a map found in Oswald’s room that traced a path of bullets from the Book Depository to the spot where Kennedy was assassinated: “There was a line from the Texas Book Depository Building to Elm Street. This was the trajectory of the bullets which struck the President and Governor Connally.”

The section on Warren Commission member Richard Russell cited that the parade route was not decided on until the Wednesday before the President’s arrival on Friday and was not published until Thursday, and “Oswald had no way of knowing when he took the job at the Texas School Book Depository that it would provide a vantage point for assassinating the President.”

Not only was Oswald unaware that the Book Depository job was along the President’s motorcade route, Oswald had no way of knowing that the motorcade would be on Elm Street. The fabricated story of a map tracing a trajectory of bullets from the Texas School Book Depository to Elm Street was, however, never rebuffed.

The “others” that Senator Russell admitted were involved in the assassination were the ones who knew that the motorcade would be on Elm Street. They simply positioned Oswald to take the fall and then killed him.

CASE CLOSED!

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On the day before President Kennedy’s assassination, Mayor Earl Cabell’s Administration made a change in the route that President Kennedy’s motorcade would take. Instead of traveling straight down Main through the middle of Dealey Plaza, which was the route published in the Dallas Morning News on November 21, the motorcade turned right on Houston and went over to the Texas School Book Depository at Elm and Houston. It then turned left and headed down Elm. President Kennedy was shot and killed on Elm. (The JFK Assassination: The Jim Garrison Tapes)

Dates and details of the motorcade route in Dallas seems to be a crucial element in understanding the assassination of JFK. Has anyone worked out the exact chronology of these events.

(1) The date that it was first decided to visit Dallas on 22nd November, 1963. The people involved in this decision. The date when this information was published in the media.

(2) The first time that a map was printed of the proposed motorcade route in Dallas. What was the route published at this time? Who was involved in deciding this route? Did this get national publicity?

(3) When was the route changed? What changes were made? Who was involved in making these changes? When did this new route first appear in the media? Did this get national publicty? Which newspapers in Texas showed this new route?

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Here are some answers to your questions, I don't think these are necessarily "the first times this information was made public" but anyhow, let this serve as a starting point.

1.) On Nov. 8th, 1963 LBJ announces that JFK and entourage will visit Dallas on Nov. 22nd 1963 (See Warren Report Chapter II)

Source:

http://www.jfk-fr.com/en/bio_119.php

2.) Apparently Monday evening, Nov. 18th 1963 it was known. On Nov. 19th 1963 it was printed wrong again in the Dallas Morning News, but it was printed correctly elsewhere.

Source:

http://home.flash.net/~dperry2/mtrcade.html

3.) My view is, it was changed just less than a week before Nov. 22, 1963. The only major change (as far as I know) was the little zig zag from Main, to Houston and then Elm.

Funny that the "who changed the route and why" is not clearly stated anywhere. My guess is it probably was Earle Cabell who may have changed it so more people could see JFK closer up along Dealey Plaza. Of ourse someone with an alternative motive may have "sold" Earle the more pleasant reason for the change.

Below is a link to the discovery channel and some 11/22/63 Kennedy, Dallas photos. There are several interesting comments in the articles below. See all 8? photos and comments! The link is to the first and click to go to the next.

Most interestingly, according to this site Kennedy had discussed security issues just prior to arriving in Dallas, and mentioned that it would be easy to kill the President using a rifle and scope to assassinate him from a high building.

here's a quote:

"Before leaving the hotel for Air Force One, the president had a discussion with his wife and special assistant Kenneth O'Donnell, who had arranged the two-day trip to Texas along with Gov. Connally and Vice President Johnson, about the inherent risks of presidential public appearances. Kennedy commented to O'Donnell that "if anybody really wanted to shoot the president of the United States, it was not a very difficult job — all one has to do is get in a high building someday with a telescopic rifle, and there would be nothing anybody could do to defend against such an attempt."

...and the link

http://dsc.discovery.com/anthology/unsolve...lery_zoom2.html

Edited by Antti Hynonen
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John, Antii has some good dates there....actually I've looked into this myself, partially because of John Martino's remark that they did have advance details of the motorcade and that was important to them.

However, the whole route thing is no great mystery in my opinion. The President's plane had to land at Love field, every major public appearance in Dallas involved a motorcade down Main street and that brings you into Dealey Plaza. So from the beginning it was safe to plan for an attack on Main or in DP, which is why the Oswald impersonator showed himself at so many places on Main both before and after Oswald got the job in the TSBD e.g. Oct 4 at the Adolphus, Oct 31 at the Statler Hilton, Nov. 7 at the Allright Parking Garage and Nov. 16 at the Southland Hotel.

The only real variable was how the motorcade would exit the Plaza and that depended on the location of the luncheon, finding out that as early as possible and finding out the sequence and personnel in the cars were the final pieces of the puzzle . However after Nov. 18 there was no longer an issue of making it look like Oswald was setting up for Main street, the issue became one of framing him in the TSBD since the President was known to be going down Elm to Stemmons.

As Antti points out there were articles several days before with a verbal description of the streets to be taken including Houston and Elm and although one newspaper carried a wrong map, another carried a correct one.

However as soon as the luncheon location became known known the overall route was relatively easy to figure out. Something much harder to get would have been details on vehicle sequence, vehicle occupants, exact placement of security cars, etc. The individual with an inside track on all that was Jack Puterborough, backed up by Cliff Carter, Johnson's closest aide.

....Larry

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With regards to the motorcade route, the New York Times stated the following on 11-29-63 (page 22):

“Wesley Randle, a teenage neighbor of Mrs. Paine, said he heard that Oswald was looking for a job and told Mrs. Paine that he knew of one at the Texas School Book Depository. Mrs. Paine called about the job and on October 14th, Oswald went in and made application. He was accepted and started work the next day, October 15th, as a stock clerk at $1.25 an hour.”

“Mrs. Paine said when Oswald got the job he had just received his last unemployment check and his wife was expecting the arrival of their second child. He telephoned from Dallas, Mrs. Paine said, and announced, ‘Hooray, I've got a job.’”

“It had been announced here on September 28th that President Kennedy would visit Dallas, but no parade route was disclosed. The parade route was not decided on until the Wednesday before the President’s arrival on Friday and was not published until Thursday, the day before his death.”

“Oswald had no way of knowing when he took the job at the Texas School Book Depository that it would provide a vantage point for assassinating the President.”

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  • 2 weeks later...

The official, government version of the assassination was that lone assassin, oddball, ex-Marine, self-proclaimed Marxist and defector to the Soviet Union - and how weird was that in 1963? - Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy from his place of employment, the Texas Book Depository, which overlooked the route of the parade Kennedy took through Dallas that day. He did it for reasons unknown, but probably down to personal inadequacies and jealously of the charismatic young president. According to the official version, having shot Kennedy, he left his clapped-out, dirt-cheap, bargain-bin, piece-of-xxxx, surplus rifle with inaccurate sights, ran down to the canteen in the warehouse and got a Coke from the machine in time to be sitting there to be confronted by a Dallas policeman investigating the shooting. Identified as an employee of the building, Oswald wandered out and caught a bus, went home, shot a Dallas policeman and sneaked into the movies without paying. Oswald was then arrested by the Dallas police and shot the next day, in the police station, by Jack Ruby, the owner of a strip club in Dallas. Incoming President Johnson set up a commission of inquiry, chaired by Chief Justice Earl Warren and stuffed with the great and the good - including Alien Dulles, erstwhile Director of the CIA. The Warren Commission, as it became known, published a report after its inquiry stating that

Oswald had done it alone.

The Commission's verdict was a lie, a deception, baloney - and insulting baloney at that. They didn't even do a good job on the deception. The politicians, the military and the intelligence services had been getting away with so much since 1945, had the major media so totally co-opted into the Cold War crusade against the Soviet Union, they didn't think it would matter that the Commission's report was nonsense: they thought the schmucks would buy whatever was served up to them.

Extract from Who Shot JFK (2002)

http://www.lobster-magazine.co.uk/who-shot-jfk.htm

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Ramsay wrote: The Commission's verdict was a lie, a deception, baloney - and insulting baloney at that. They didn't even do a good job on the deception. The politicians, the military and the intelligence services had been getting away with so much since 1945, had the major media so totally co-opted into the Cold War crusade against the Soviet Union, they didn't think it would matter that the Commission's report was nonsense: they thought the schmucks would buy whatever was served up to them.

T. Folsom: I hate to spoil the party but could you be a little more specific? Could you explain the following troubling pieces of evidence that I'm having a little trouble with:

1. What did Oswald take to work in the brown paper package that he claimed contained "curtain rods?" And, when you state what he took, please explain what happened to it.

2. Who did Howard Brennan see with a rifle in the SE corner window moments before and during the assassination? Why did he later say it was Oswald if he feared revealing such information might jeopardize his life? And an important second point, WHO did Oswald's co-workers hear firing a bolt-action rifle directly above their heads at the time of the assassination? Remember, they identified it as a bolt-action rifle even before the rifle was found. Pretty lucky guess, huh?

3. Why did Oswald flee the building within two minutes of the shooting? Why not stay and complete his work day like the other employees did?

4. Why didn't Oswald wait for the bus across the street from the TSBD at the corner of Houston and Elm instead of running seven blocks to catch the same bus?

5. Why did Oswald ask the cab driver to drop him off three blocks beyond his boarding house rather than just drop him off at his boarding house after the assassination?

6. Why didn't Oswald sit and watch the coverage of the assassination at his boarding house when he arrived there? Oswald was very politically aware and interested in current events - why rush in, grab a revolver, and rush to a movie for which he was already late?

7. Why would Oswald shoot and kill Officer Tippit if he were an innocent man wrongly accused of a crime he did not commit?

8. Why would Oswald duck into the Texas Theater, risking arrest for not paying admission, if he were innocent? Remember, Oswald had over $12 on him at the time of his arrest--more than enough to pay for admission.

9. When Oswald was approached in the Texas Theater and asked to stand up by a police officer, tell me why Oswald wouldn't naturally assume it was for sneaking into the movie theater without paying admission? Why would he jump up, yell, "This is it!" Strike the policeman and then attempt to shoot Officer McDonald? All for sneaking into the movie theater? (Careful with this explanation.)

10. Why would Oswald lie about owning a rifle if it was clear that the weapon in question couldn't have been the one to shoot the President? If the rifle was, as Ramsay claimed, a "clapped-out, dirt-cheap, bargain-bin, piece-of-xxxx, surplus rifle with inaccurate sights." If ANY of Ramsay's claims were even marginally accurate, wouldn't Oswald have gladly admitted to owning the rifle, knowing full well it could never be linked to the assassination? Why lie about a rifle that was incapable of committing the crime?

I have about fifty more questions, but to avoid overload I will stop at these ten. After you have responded to these innocent queries, we will discuss each of your answers in greater detail.

Good luck.

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Debating why Oswald waited to shoot until after the car made the turn on to Elm Street is really pointless. First of all, debating motive in ANYTHING is dodgy at best. We really don't know why anyone does anything, do we? That is exactly why establishing motive is not a part of the legal system. Often times motives are clear and well defined. O. J. Simpson killed Nicole Brown because he was overly possessive and hated the thought that anyone else should be enjoying her assets. John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln to avenge the South and strike a blow for the Southern rebellion. Other motives are bizarre. John Hinkley shot President Reagan so that actress Jodie Foster would fall in love with him. Ummmmm....go figure. Why Oswald waited to fire at Kennedy after the turn on to Elm street has a few possible explanations.

(Of course, since I consider theories and speculation about stockade fence shooters or multiple gunmen to be ridiculous and totally without serious merit or evidentiary support, I will not entertain such nonsense in my points.)

1. Oswald may have realized that shooting directly at the President would place Governor Connally in his path, blocking Kennedy from his view until right beneath the TSBD.

2. Oswald may have realized that the gentle slow down Elm towards the triple underpass would offer him a much longer time to fire off the necessary number of shots he believed would be necessary to hit the President.

3. Oswald may have felt that witnesses on Houston and the corner of Main may have had a perfect view of him firing directly into their faces as they followed the motorcade towards Elm and Houston.

4. Oswald may have been a couple of seconds late in picking up the President in the car. Remember there were six people in the limo and Oswald may have needed 10 seconds or so to insure he was aiming at the correct individual.

5. Oswald may have waited for no other reason than he preferred an unobstructed rear shot than a frontal shot.

But most importantly, we simply don't know. There could be a valid reason or a ridiculous reason.

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  • 2 years later...
John,

An assassin not only has to plan the shot, he also has to plan his getaway. As a matter of fact, I think a professional assassin would be pretty confident about making the kill. What is not so sure is his getaway and escape - preferably without detection.

If the shot had been taken while JFK's limo was still on Houston, there would have been no doubt as to its origin. By waiting until the limo was on Elm, with multiple possible shooting origins, the assassins were able to sew doubt and create confusion, thereby giving them enough time to effect their escape.

Steve Thomas

Good point Steve. I agree, any assassin, including Lee Oswald would want to be sure of his escape. But in Lee's case, he does his "job" from his place of employment, hangs around for awhile, finally leaves and "escapes" by public transportation and then traps himself in a movie theatre. He should really go down ( if you believe he did it) as the worlds dummest criminal, for operating like that.

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