Two Dallas cops were involved in the pre-arranged murder of Tippit...

[Sandy Larsen]

I originally did have a hard time accepting that Nicolleti had chosen Files to be a shooter. I mean, Files was just a kid. But later that didn't bother me so much, after I had reread the story more carefully. Upon rereading that part, it appears that Nicolleti was merely making a last minute decision to add Files as a backup shooter.

In addition to the bit about Files being chosen at the last minute as a shooter, I recall that there was also a problem with the weapon that Files claimed he used. It's been years since I read his story, but it was definitely less than credible.

At one time I read that the weapon Files said he used wasn't available in 1963. But later it turns out that it was available after all. Again, according to something I read.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Sandy Larsen

[Ron Ecker]

I originally did have a hard time accepting that Nicolleti had chosen Files to be a shooter. I mean, Files was just a kid. But later that didn't bother me so much, after I had reread the story more carefully. Upon rereading that part, it appears that Nicolleti was merely making a last minute decision to add Files as a backup shooter.

In addition to the bit about Files being chosen at the last minute as a shooter, I recall that there was also a problem with the weapon that Files claimed he used. It's been years since I read his story, but it was definitely less than credible.

At one time I read that the weapon Files said he used wasn't available in 1963. But later it turns out that it was available after all. Again, according to something I read.

I don't recall that. What I remember is the problem of the weapon's recoil, which would have made it difficult to quickly re-acquire the target. I believe the problem was that Files claimed he watched the result of his shot through the scope, which would have been impossible with that weapon because of the recoil.

[Sandy Larsen]

I don't recall that. What I remember is the problem of the weapon's recoil, which would have made it difficult to quickly re-acquire the target. I believe the problem was that Files claimed he watched the result of his shot through the scope, which would have been impossible with that weapon because of the recoil.

I don't know how its possible, but two videos show very little kick with the XP-100. It seems to defy laws of physics.

In this video, the first shooter does experience a lot of kick, but not the second. In this video (at 8:30) there is again very little kick.

Here is another.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Sandy Larsen

[Ron Ecker]

Seems to me that any amount of kick would be enough to disrupt one's view through the scope of the bullet's impact. It's one reason I filed away his story a long time ago.

[Jim Hargrove]

Yes, yet another suspicious death. To me, though, the most interesting thing about Benavides testimony was that he seemed to genuinely believe the killer looked like the news images he saw of Lee Harvey Oswald.

When he testified in March(?) 1964, Benavides even referred to the shooter as "Oswald" for the reason you stated. His brother wasn't shot dead until Feb(?) 1965. Thus, there was no need to coerce Benavides. So why kill his brother in a case of mistaken identity?

Had Benavides changed his mind about the identity of the shooter?

Tom

There's controversy about the year his brother was killed.

Penn Jones wrote this in 1/84 The Rebel mag:

Domingo Benavides, an auto mechanic, was witness to the murder of Officer Tippit. Benavides testified he got a "really good view of the slayer."

Benavides said the killer resembled newspaper pictures of Oswald, but he described him differently, "I remember the back of his head seemed like his hairline went square instead of tapered off . . ."

Benavides reported he was repeatedly threatened by the police who advised him not to talk about what he saw.

In mid-February 1964, his brother Eddy, who resembled him, was fatally shot in the back of the head at a beer joint on Second Avenue in Dallas. The case was marked "unsolved."

Benavides's father-in-law J. W. Jackson was not impressed by the investigation. He began his own inquiry. Two weeks later, J.W. Jackson was shot at his home. As the gunman escaped, a police car came around the block. It made no attempt to follow the speeding car with the gunman.

WC loyalist John McAdams says the correct year of Edwards' death was 1965, and he published a death certificate attempting to prove it, but "Benavides" is spelled differently on the certificate, as "Benavidez."

Without more evidence, I'm not sure what to make of the year-of-death controversy. Do you know anything else?

At any rate, though, from Penn Jones's description as well as Benavides' WC testimony, it seems pretty clear that Benavides' could have seen a man who looked similar to the "Lee Harvey Oswald" killed by Jack Ruby, but wasn't quite the same, especially from the back of his head.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Jim Hargrove

[Sandy Larsen]

Seems to me that any amount of kick would be enough to disrupt one's view through the scope of the bullet's impact. It's one reason I filed away his story a long time ago.

It seems that way. But of all the things Files could have gotten wrong, I wouldn't think that the thing about keeping sight of the target after firing the gun would be one of them. Because he apparently did have experience shooting guns. At people.

[Tom Neal]

There's controversy about the year his brother was killed.

WC loyalist John McAdams says the correct year of Edwards' death was 1965, and he published a death certificate attempting to prove it, but "Benavides" is spelled differently on the certificate, as "Benavidez."

Without more evidence, I'm not sure what to make of the year-of-death controversy. Do you know anything else?

Jim,

I agree that there is controversy surrounding the date of brother Eddie. From my old notes I never found an ORIGINAL source for Domingo stating that his brother was killed, or that he himself was hounded to keep quiet. It was all secondary sources without a referral to any ORIGINAL source. Do you know of any quotes from Domingo that the murdered "Eddie" was his brother?

In his April 2, 1964 WC testimony, Domingo states that he was born "April 9" and he's "27", "and 26 now." To me he's saying he's currently 26 years old, but next week he'll be 27. This would be a birth year of 1937.

From Texas birth records:

Domingo Benavides

born April 9, 1937

father: Domingo Benavides

mother: Elvis Clark

From SS Death Index

:

Domingo Benavides

born April 9, 1937

died September 29, 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada

At the time I was unable to find an Ed, Eddie, Eduardo or Edward Benavides in the birth records from 1930-1937.

Are you a member of any Genealogy site? The 1940 census is available and there should be a listing for father Domingo Benavides and his children. Domingo would be 4 years old, and "Eddie" about 6.

Tom

[Ron Ecker]

Penn Jones wrote this in 1/84 The Rebel mag:

Domingo Benavides, an auto mechanic, was witness to the murder of Officer Tippit. Benavides testified he got a "really good view of the slayer."

Benavides said the killer resembled newspaper pictures of Oswald, but he described him differently, "I remember the back of his head seemed like his hairline went square instead of tapered off . . ."

Benavides reported he was repeatedly threatened by the police who advised him not to talk about what he saw.

It seems odd to me that Benavides would be the target of threats and even murder. He said that the slayer of Tippit looked like Oswald. What more could they want? Why would they be out to get him about his description of a hairline? I would think that the perps had more important things to worry about regarding the murders that day than splitting hairs about the Oswald that Benavides thought he saw.

[Jim Hargrove]

Ron,

It does seem weird. There are some good photos showing at least part of the back of "Lee Harvey Oswald's" head while in police custody, and it is clear that his hairline in back was tapered rather than squared off, but to go from that to an assumption that Benavides might have exposed an "Oswald" lookalike project serious enough to generate personal threats seems like a real stretch. OTOH, I can't think of another explanation. I wish Penn Jones had offered a source for the alleged police threats against Domingo. The hairline description, though, is in Benavides' Warren testimony.

[Jim Hargrove]

Jim,

I agree that there is controversy surrounding the date of brother Eddie. From my old notes I never found an ORIGINAL source for Domingo stating that his brother was killed, or that he himself was hounded to keep quiet. It was all secondary sources without a referral to any ORIGINAL source. Do you know of any quotes from Domingo that the murdered "Eddie" was his brother?

No, I don't. But I did some searching at the online John Armstrong Collection at Baylor and came up with this, sort of an original source doc on Edward:

I'd never seen it before, but since there surely isn't another Edward Benavides relevant to this case, it seems to suggest Blakey either thought Domingo's brother died in Feb. 64 or was simply trying to debunk the rumor that he died during the WC's existence. Haven't seen the response from Dallas Medical Examiner, which could probably settle this issue.

While looking in the John's Baylor files, I also came across another very strange HSCA document that I'll try to post a little later.

[Tom Neal]

I did some searching at the online John Armstrong Collection at Baylor and came up with this, sort of an original source doc on Edward:

/quote]

It would certainly be interesting to see FULL obits for Domingo and "Eddie."

I wonder what Mr. Blakey received in response to his request of the Dallas ME? That should answer our questions...

Tom

[Tom Neal]

Texas Birth Index of Domingo Benavides and Death Certificate of Edward Benavides:

Note that both men have the same mother "Elvis Clark." How many women named "Elvis Clark" were married to a man named Domingo Benavides/Benavidez in this time period in Dallas? Could the "z" spelling be the original latino spelling, and Domingo (who called himself "Donnie" for a while) "Americanized" it with an "s"?

SS Death Index for Donnie Benavides/Domingo Benavides:

Note that Birth/Death dates match that of Domingo Benavides, and his mother's name is listed as "Elvis Osuna." In his WC testimony, Domingo states that after witnessing the JDT shooting, he started to run "to his mother's house" which was nearby, but instead returned to the murder site and recovered the two spent shells. I doubt he would have said his "mother's house" if his father lived there as well. Perhaps he was deceased, or divorced and Domingo's mother remarried.

Edward Benavidez Obituary from the Dallas News:

Note that parents are listed as "Mr. and Mrs. Domingo Benavidez," and a brother "Donnie Benavidez."

Las Vegas Obituary for Domingo Benavides:

Perhaps someone would like to research further and contact some of Domingo's 6 children? There are a number of details to confirm, and it would certainly be *interesting* to hear if he was harassed and DID believe that Eddie was murdered in a case of mistaken identity.

Tom

Edited June 23, 2016 by Tom Neal

[Jim Hargrove]

That’s great work, Tom. Thank you!

I haven’t been able to find a reply to Blakey from the Dallas ME re Edward’s date of death, but your work showing his and Domingo’s identical mother’s name pretty much clinches it, at least for me. “Benavides” probably is some sort of anglicized variant of “Benavidez,” as you suggest.

Domingo Benavides is such a crucial witness! He was the closest known witness to the Tippit shooting and lived, according to your SS research, until 2005. Do you suppose any other researcher interviewed him? It’s impossible, at least for me, to keep track of all the books and articles out there.

Anyway, when I was searching the Tippit and Benavides files at Baylor’s John Armstrong Collection yesterday, I came across the following document, which strikes me as fascinating. Have you seen this before?

All kinds of interesting things above, but no's 6 and 8 really surprised me.

[Sandy Larsen]

That’s great work, Tom. Thank you!

I haven’t been able to find a reply to Blakey from the Dallas ME re Edward’s date of death, but your work showing his and Domingo’s identical mother’s name pretty much clinches it, at least for me. “Benavides” probably is some sort of anglicized variant of “Benavidez,” as you suggest.

Domingo Benavides is such a crucial witness! He was the closest known witness to the Tippit shooting and lived, according to your SS research, until 2005. Do you suppose any other researcher interviewed him? It’s impossible, at least for me, to keep track of all the books and articles out there.

Anyway, when I was searching the Tippit and Benavides files at Baylor’s John Armstrong Collection yesterday, I came across the following document, which strikes me as fascinating. Have you seen this before?

All kinds of interesting things above, but no's 6 and 8 really surprised me.

My understanding -- before reading the above document -- was that Domingo Benavides did identify the shooter as Oswald, based on pictures he'd seen of Oswald in news reports. But the above document suggests the exact opposite, in #2a.

Please, somebody tell me where I've gone wrong. To me it appears that an incorrect assumption is being made in #2a in the document.

P.S. THANK YOU Margo Jackson for the great questions. NO THANKS to the HSCA administrators for not getting answers.

[Tom Neal]

Thats great work, Tom. Thank you!

Jim,

Thanks for the compliment.

...your work showing his and Domingos identical mothers name pretty much clinches it, at least for me.

I forgot to mention in my earlier post that in the records it is stated that Domingo Benavides had a sister named "Shelby Ann" born 5-11-1945. In his obit that I posted, Eddie also has a sister named Mrs. "Shelby" Harrison. I'm convinced, but I really would like to have found some record of Domingo (,Sr.) and Elvis Benavides' family that included Domingo(,Jr.) AND Edward just to be 100% certain.

Domingo Benavides is such a crucial witness! He was the closest known witness to the Tippit shooting and lived, according to your SS research, until 2005. Do you suppose any other researcher interviewed him? Its impossible, at least for me, to keep track of all the books and articles out there.

Agreed. According to the obit I posted, he has brothers and sisters living in Dallas who were alive in 2005. Also, he has 6 children. I wouldn't think it would be too difficult to track them down.

I'm unaware of any author's interviews with him. There is a video of him a few years after the shooting that takes place at the murder site, but there's nothing that isn't in his WC testimony.

Domingo Benavides & Ted Calloway TV Interview

Anyway, when I was searching the Tippit and Benavides files at Baylors John Armstrong Collection yesterday, I came across the following document, which strikes me as fascinating. Have you seen this before?

All kinds of interesting things above, but no's 6 and 8 really surprised me.

Yes, I have seen this document before.

6. I don't know how official it was, but it was "decided" that Ruby only knew one "Tippit" and it was not JDT. This "Tippit" spelled his name differently.

8. The 4 spent hulls were of different brands. There were 2 Winchesters, and 2 Remingtons, but 3 Winchesters and 1 Remington were removed from JDT's body and his jacket button. IIRC, I had decided this required 5 shots (which only ex-Marine Calloway stated he heard) one of which was a missed shot. The mixed brands, the fact that the 3rd and 4th shells were found hours later, etc. make the official story unlikely IMO.

Edited June 24, 2016 by Tom Neal