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J. D. Tippit: Was he part of the conspiracy?


John Simkin

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In his book, Who Killed Kennedy? (May, 1964) Thomas G. Buchanan suggests that J. D. Tippit was involved in the conspiracy to kill JFK. Buchanan, who was living in France at the time (he had lost his job with the Washington Evening Star in 1948 because of his alleged membership of the American Communist Party). He claims that there were several stories circulating in Europe at this time that Tippit was a member of the team that was involved in the plot against Kennedy.

Buchanan refers to an article written by Serge Groussard in L’Aurore (a right-wing newspaper which had supported the O.A.S. during the Algerian War). Groussard claimed he had received information that Tippit had been employed to help a man escape from Dallas. He was not told what crime the man had done (or was about to do). When he realised that the man who he was supposed to help had killed JFK, he changed his mind and tried to arrest Oswald. When Oswald realized what was happening, he killed Tippit.

Buchanan rejects this theory. However, he does believe that Tippit was involved in the conspiracy. He puts forward the following points to support this view:

(1) The physical description of Oswald giving out by the Dallas Police was not accurate enough for Tippit to have recognized him. What is more, as Oswald had already returned home to change, the description of his clothing was no longer valid.

(2) Tippit was alone at the time that he apprehended Oswald. According to Buchanan: “Standing orders for police in Dallas, as in other cities, are that radio cars of the type Tippit was driving must have two policemen in them.”

(3) Tippit was not in the sector of Dallas where he had been assigned the day before. He should “have been in downtown Dallas at the time he intercepted Oswald half way between Oswald’s room and Ruby’s”.

(4) Tippit violated police procedure by “failing to make use of the radio beside him to notify his fellow-officers that he was stopping to question a suspect in the Kennedy assassination”.

(5) According to one witness “Oswald smiled at Tippit when he saw him, ambled over to the scout car, and they had an amicable conversation for almost a minute. Tippit staying in the car and Oswald standing in the street beside his rolled-down car window.”

(6) Buchanan claimed that Eva Grant had told reporters that Ruby and Oswald “were like brothers”.

What do members think? Was Tippit involved in the conspiracy? If so, what was his role?

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What difference does it make to Tippit's possible involvement whether Ruby knew Oswald?  Do you mean that Tippit knew Ruby, or that Tippit knew Oswald?

Eva Grant said that Ruby knew Tippit. As Grant was Ruby's sister this information needs to be taken seriously. The point that Buchanan is making is that Oswald, Ruby and Tippit were all involved in the original conspiracy. Most researchers are if the opinion that Ruby was only involved in the cover-up.

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John, in the Buchanan thread I said I was an agnostic re whether Tippit was part of the conspiracy or not. I am much less so if Ruby knew Tippit well. (Of course, I understand Ruby knew, casually, many members of the Dallas police force.)

I suspect Ruby was involved in the conspiracy before the assassination. I suggest he may have used his contacts on the police force to obtain police uniforms for the conspirators.

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"Judyth here appears to be recycling an ancient factoid which dates back to Mark Lane’s claims to the Warren Commission. Jack Ruby most certainly did know an Officer Tippit, but it was a different Tippit, and not the cop shot in Oak Cliff less than an hour after the assassination. Warren Commission Report, pp. 297-298, 368."

I've just recently read about Judyth Baker in John McAdams "Should we belive JB" and I remembered the passage about Ruby knowing an other officer named Tippit.

Who is this officer called Tippit? Has anybody some info on that?

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According to John's question I do belive that officer Tippit had a part

in the assasination. His last day on duty is very well descibed by Bill Drenas.

I'd like to add some more points to the list.

7) He stopped James A. Andrews car, searched the space between the front

and back seats and left without a word.

8) His unanswered call at 1:03 from the police dispatcher

9) The phone call he tried to make at the The Top Then Record Shop but

not getting an answer. He rush away.

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According to the Dallas Underground, by several reserchers.......

Tippit was most likely involved in the conspiracy and knew both Ruby and Oswald. Tippit was what is referred to, as a redneck and also a corrupt cop. Although Tippit was also a womanizer, I will leave out the possible repercussions to Tippit in this regards.

An undercover narcotics officer working for Sheriff Bill Decker, was also working as a musician in various night clubs, including Jack Ruby's. He claims that Tippit was one of the Dallas Police Officers closest to Ruby and who performed tasks for him.

Mack Pate, owner of a garage, who knew a large number of the Dallas police heard from several of them who took their cars to him, that Tippit was a "dirty cop." A friend of Tippit's own mother also confirms this.

Mack Pate's mechanic, T. F. White, who was interviewed by the FBI, spotted a car parked at the El Chico restaurant, across from their garage, just after the shooting at Dealey Plaza. White insisted the man sitting in the car was Oswald.

Mack Pate and Wes Wise checked around Oak Cliff for some time and found quite a number of people who had seen Ruby and Oswald together on many occasions during the weeks preceding the assassination. (Wes Wise later became Mayor of Dallas.)

Earl Crater of the Pig and Whistle restaurant said that LHO, Ruby and Tippit had breakfast there on a number of occasions at 7:00 A.M. Crater said that LHO never had more then a cup of coffee.

It is believed that Tippit went home for lunch on the 22nd. Then, about 12:45, 15 minutes after JFK was shot, Tippit was parked at the south end of the Houston Street Viaduct, in North Oak Cliff, facing the cars coming off the viaduct....presumably watching for someone.

Several employees of the Good Luck Gas Station saw Tippit sitting there for several minutes. Then he was observed driving away from the gas station at a high rate of speed, at about 12:50 and headed south. Tippits radio call at 12:54 places him at E. 8th and Lancaster, a few blocks south of the service station

At no time that afternoon was Tippit in his assigned district and he was always in North Oak Cliff. That district was assigned to Officer William D. Mentzel.

Tippit made a call from Top Ten Records on Jefferson, a few blocks west of 12th and Marsalis, around 1:00 P.M. When he came out, he was agitated and drove off fast. Tippits movements and actions appeared to be as though frantically looking for someone.

Tippit then, cut off a car driven by an Insurance salesman, James Andrews, who was headed west on 10th Street about eight blocks west of where Tippit would be killed. Tippit, also driving west behind the salesman's car passed him, pulled to the right in front of him, blocking him in. Tippit then rushed to the drivers side of the car and looked at the floor between the seats. Tippit apparently did not see what he was looking for, jumped back in his patrol car and drove away quickly, reversing his direction and heading back east.

The salesman who experienced this incident, James Andrews, worked for American National LIfe Insurance, which had not long before also employed Roscoe White, until he began at the Police Dept. Roscoe White and Tippit knew each other.lived near each other and their families were connected. Mrs Tippit had been a bridesmaid at Whites wedding to Geneva.

According to DPD personnel records, starting in 1956, Tippit worked security at the Stevens Park Theater, which showed both English and Spanish speaking films. The owner, Manuel Avila, was allegedly involved in prostitution, in the hispanic community and ran a well-known Latin Club. Avila had ties to anti-Castro Cubans. Before coming to Dallas, Avila had been a CBS correspondent in Mexico and was the Dallas Spanish Language Voice of America correspendent.

Dallas researcher, Prof. Bill Pulte says:

"There can be little doubt that Avila knew Ruby, given the proximity of Avila's theater to downtown Dallas, where Ruby's clubs were located plus given the mutual interest in prostitution of Avila and Ruby. Tippit worked for Avila for several years. Ralph Paul owned the Miramar Restaurant, catty-corner to Avila's theater and Tippit got to know Paul.

A good friend of Paul's was Austin Cook owner of Auston's Barbeque. This may have been how Tippit took a second part-time moonlighting job, at Austins. In addition, Ralph Paul was Ruby's backer and silent partner. The Warren Commission also raised quesations about the possibility that Tippit was involved with drugs."

Little has been mentoned or known about Tippit working for Avila. The focus has been on his moonlighting as security at Austin's Barbeque.

Tippit had a close friend, Officer Billy Anglin, and both had adjoining patrol areas which included Harendale--the sreet in East Oak Cliff where a house full of violent Cuban conspirators involved in the anti-Castro movement (SNFE/Alpha 66) and arms smuggling was located.

Anglin last saw Tippit on the morning he was killed, having had coffee at "The Old Drive-In" about 11:30-11:45. The Warren Commission never called any relative, associate or police officer who worked with Tippit to testify. Even the HSCA wondered why not!

What was Tippit doing in the section of North Oak Cliff where Ruby and Oswald both lived--not his assigned district--when most other police were concerned with the assassination and in Dealey Plaza? Oak Cliff was Tippits district, although three miles away and primarily the downtown police officers were called to Dealey Plaza. Dispatcher, Jim Bowles (later Sheriff) said that Tippit was in his assigned district. Although he didn't seem to be, he was apparently several miles from where he was supposed to be. He was ordered to move into "Central Oak Cliff" at 12:45 p.m.This order was not in the first transcript produce by the DPD and then suddenly appeared in a later transcript. This has caused many reserchers to speculate this order was later dubbed into the tape by the police friends of Tippit.

There was no reason for Tippit to be moved to that area, which was far from his assigned area. Yet it is believed he strayed over to that area many tiimes. Many witnesses say they saw Tippit in that area quite often, and in fact some thought he even lived in that area....particularly around the area where he was killed.

It is quite possible that the Cubans were directed to rent a house in Tippit's or Anglin's district to provide them with protection and a blind eye to the arms going in and out. If perhaps as some believe, Oswald was an undercover agent reporting on illegal arms to law enforcement agents or perhaps to the Dodd Committee, then Oswald would be targeted by the Cubans, if perhaps they were on to him. There is some belief that Oswald had been to the house at 3126 Harlendale too.

A group of Mexican-Americans were involved with the Cubans and acted as translators, some provided by Manuel Avila, who most probbaly knew Jack Ruby, also involved in ilegal arms sales. Avila was a honcho in the Mexican-Americamn community, and he employed J D Tippit, in a part-time security job.

Working for Avila gave Tippit knowledge of the Latin underworld and the fringe of the Cuban undergound. The Mexican-American group moved into the 3200 block of Harlendale about the same time that the Cubans moved into 3126 Harlendale.

_____________________________________

Compiled from information in Harrison Livingstone's, The Radical Right and the Murder of John F. Kennedy....(2004)

Dixie Dea

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Dixie: great posting. Harrison Livingstone's book looks very interesting. I have just ordered a copy. Does he mention the Suite 8F Group? I am especially interested in the following members: George Brown and Herman Brown (Brown & Root), Jesse H. Jones (Reconstruction Finance Corporation), Gus Wortham (American General Insurance Company), James Abercrombie (Cameron Iron Works), Hugh R. Cullen (Quintana Petroleum), William Hobby (Houston Post), William Vinson (Great Southern Life Insurance), James Elkins (American General Insurance and Pure Oil Pipe Line), Morgan J. Davis (Humble Oil), Fred Korth (Continental National Bank), Eugene B. Germany (Mustang Oil Company), Lawrence D. Bell (Bell Helicopters), Albert Thomas (chairman of the House Appropriations Committee), John Connally and Edward Clark.

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George and John.

Who is this officer called Tippit? Has anybody some info on that?

In 1963 there were three Tippit's on the Dallas Police force.

Two of them spelled their last names the same - Tippit.

The third spelled his name Tippet I think.

The Tippit that Jack Ruby knew was a man named G.M. Tippt. He worked in the Special Service Bureau. He worked Vice I think. He got to know Ruby when Ruby was running the Silver Spur. He and Ruby liked each other, and when Ruby was informed that an Officer Tippit had been killed, he thought it was his friend.

Steve Thomas

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Great post, Dixie - wish I could get my hands on a copy of that book, but that's not likely ( anything that even looks as if it's against Republicans, my mother throws out - I had to buy & hide Robert F. Kennedy Jr's latest book because it's bashing George W )..

I'm loving all this info on Tippit, he's a character that's always interested me. As stated, Oswald couldn't be recognized by the vague description, so why was he stopped? Why didn't Tippit follow procedure?

The screenwriter in me has long since wondered if there was another officer in the car, who was dropped off a block away, to appear to be Oswald infront of witnesses. That, however, is incredibly far-fetched.

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I suspect Ruby was involved in the conspiracy before the assassination.  I suggest he may have used his contacts on the police force to obtain police uniforms for the conspirators.

Tim,

Good suggestion, that could very well be.

None of the men whom witnesses saw at the TSBD windows, or who were seen running from it, wore police uniforms. But there was the unidentified uniformed officer whom Mabra encountered in the railroad yard, and there is of course Badge Man.

But your suggestion brings me back to the two officers on the triple overpass. They were both assigned to the north end, which Al has pointed out was not good procedure, both ends should have been covered. Was there a reason they were assigned to the north end only?

If the officer on the northwest side of the overpass noticed one or two men in police uniforms appear at the southeast side, he probably would have thought nothing of it, just two more officers to cover the south end. He may have been waved hello to them. I hadn't thought of it before but it makes perfect sense that a shooter (and possibly a spotter with him) on the south end of the overpass would wear a police uniform to escape any scrutiny. (He could have even been a real cop, such as Tippit, though I doubt it. How good a shot was Tippit or any other Dallas policeman compared to, say, a military sniper?)

After the shooting and by the time to testify about it, the north-end officers may have concocted their obstructing freight train story out of fear of what at least one of them had seen, especially if they thought there were conspirators on the police force.

Ron

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Well Nic,

What you said, sorta reminded me of something else....Here is another new interesting story in regard to Tippit. I'm sure some have heard about it, but it might be new to some. I first read about it in Walt Brown's, JFK/DPQ Publication and is also included in Livingstones new book.

For Reaseach Purposes Only!

A woman by the name of Mrs. Doris Holan, lived at 409 E Tenth Street, She lived upstairs directly across the street and her windows looked directly on Tippit's Patrol car and the murder scene.

Mrs Holan has been an unreported witness all these years. Yet she was dying of terminal cancer and talked to Dallas Researcher Michael Brownlow prior to her death in 2000. She met with Brownlow twice and once accompanied with reseracher Prof. BIll Pulte.

Mrs Holan had just returned home from her job that morning, a few minutes after 1:00, then she heard gun shots. She hurried to her window and saw Tippit's patrol car, across the street and parked in front of the driveway between 404 and 410 E. Tenth Sreet. Tippit was lying on the street, near the left front of the car. She saw a man leaving the scene, moving westward towards Patton.

Mrs Holan also noticed something else that had not previously, ever been reported. A second police car in the driveway, which went all the way back to the alley, moving forward slowly towards Tippit's car on Tenth. Near the police car she also saw a man in the driveway walking toward the street where Tippit was parked.

She went downstairs at once and over to Tippit. The man in the driveway continued to the street, walked in front of Tippit's patrol car, paused and looked down at Tippit's head, and retraced his path up the driveway. At the same time, the police car changed direction and backed up in the driveway to the alley running parallel to Tenth, behind the houses on 404 and 410.

In 1963, the driveway could be entered from the alley from the rear, as well as from Tenth. Because Tippit's car was parked in front of the Tenth Street entrance, the alley provided the only passage from the driveway for the driver of the police car.

Mrs. Holan's account of a second police car is supported by the comments of Sam Guinyard, who told Brownlow in 1970 that he saw a police car in the alley shortly after the police shooting. The man in the driveway was apparently also seen by others: a resident of the neighborhood, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Prof Pulte, in 1990, that he had heard about a man in the driveway who approached Tippit's car.

Another thought...Earlene Roberts saw a police car stop and honk in front of the boarding house on 1026 N Beckley, where LHO lived.... at around 1:03. Tippit was shot at around 1:10 to 1:15 at the latest. This could possibly have been the police car she saw.

Dixie

P.S. Nic, don't feel too bad about your Mom not allowing Right Wing Books in the house. When my daughter was a pre-teen, I told her that I didn't want any of those $#%@*& "Beatles" records in the house. Then sometime later, I changed and was even trying to play their music on my guitar....:-)

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P.S. Nic, don't feel too bad about your Mom not allowing Right Wing Books in the house. When my daughter was a pre-teen, I told her that I didn't want any of those $#%@*& "Beatles" records in the house. Then sometime later, I changed and was even trying to play their music on my guitar....:-)

Very interesting about the second police car, I'd heard of that before but never in detail.

My mom is one of those overly-religious Republicans that believes gays burn in hell and that George W Bush is the best President we've ever had. She didn't speak to my stepfather for a week after he voted for Perot instead of Bob Dole and we got Clinton for another four years. Considering her daughter is a pansexual Libertarian, you'd think she'd get over it, but nah.

Oh well, at least The Beatles still rock. I'm partial to George Harrison myself. ;D

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P.S. Nic, don't feel too bad about your Mom not allowing Right Wing Books in the house. When my daughter was a pre-teen, I told her that I didn't want any of those $#%@*& "Beatles" records in the house. Then sometime later, I changed and was even trying to play their music on my guitar....:-)

Very interesting about the second police car, I'd heard of that before but never in detail.

My mom is one of those overly-religious Republicans that believes gays burn in hell and that George W Bush is the best President we've ever had. She didn't speak to my stepfather for a week after he voted for Perot instead of Bob Dole and we got Clinton for another four years. Considering her daughter is a pansexual Libertarian, you'd think she'd get over it, but nah.

Oh well, at least The Beatles still rock. I'm partial to George Harrison myself. ;D

Nic

What do you think about that Tippitt death scene, looks like a closely managed

group effort...I always had problems with the Tippitt murder, the number of

people (who didn't look like Odwald) being the chief difficulty.

shanet

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A group of Mexican-Americans were involved with the Cubans and acted as translators, some provided by Manuel Avila, who most probbaly knew Jack Ruby, also involved in ilegal arms sales. Avila was a honcho in the Mexican-Americamn community, and he employed J D Tippit, in a part-time security job.

Working for Avila gave Tippit knowledge of the Latin underworld and the fringe of the Cuban undergound. The Mexican-American group moved into the 3200 block of Harlendale about the same time that the Cubans moved into 3126 Harlendale. (Dixie Dea)

Linda Christopher, Tippit's niece, claimed she borrowed a Spanish language book from the library for her Uncle. Tippit returned it to her during the early morning of the assassination.

Now given that Tippit was working part time at the Stevens Park Theater, speaking Spanish or at least knowing what was being said around him would have been advantageous. However, since Tippit had supposedly been in the Theater's employ since 1956, he sure took his time getting around to it. Or was his interest in Spanish piqued by the activity around Harlendale?

It would also be interesting if there was a relationship between Manuel Avila and Manuel Orcarberrio from the Dallas chapter of Alpha 66.

James

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