The Tippit Case in the New Millenium

[James DiEugenio]

From Hasan Yusuf and his review of With Malice

 

As far as Jack Tatum is concerned, there is good reason to believe that he may be a phony witness used not only to help incriminate Oswald for Tippit's murder, but to also help explain the presence of a suspicious red Ford at the Tippit murder scene. When Tatum was interviewed by HSCA investigators on February 1, 1978, he claimed that after he witnessed Tippit being shot in the head, he sped off in his car, and made no mention of having returned to the murder scene (HSCA report, Volume XII, page 41). In fact, when Tatum was asked if there was anything he wished to add to the statement he made to investigators Jack Moriarty and Joe Bastori, he replied; "At this time I can't think of anything." (John Armstrong Baylor research collection, tab entitled: Jack Tatum). However, when Myers interviewed Tatum in 1983/84, Tatum now began to aggrandize his story and his importance in it. He now claimed that he had gone back to the Tippit murder scene, and had taken Helen Markham to a policeman (With Malice, Chapter 4). Evidently, by the time Myers had interviewed him, Tatum had experienced a case of memory improvement. It is also noteworthy that during a telephone interview on March 18, 1986, Tatum allegedly stated that he had taken Markham to the police station to give evidence (John Armstrong Baylor research collection, tab entitled: Jack Tatum). However, this allegation is dubious. As Myers acknowledges in his book, Markham was taken to DPD headquarters by an officer named George W. Hammer (With Malice, Chapter 7). According to the transcripts of the DPD radio communications, Hammer was indeed the officer who took Markham to DPD headquarters (WCE 705/1974).

 

 

[David Von Pein]

Re: Jack Tatum....

Reclaiming-History-Book-Excerpts-Regarding-Jack-Tatum

 

Edited June 1, 2018 by David Von Pein

[James DiEugenio]

From Rob Caprio, a frequent DVP nemesis who he uses at his web site:

That brings us to the subject of this particular post—Jack Tatum. Tatum would be interviewed by members of the HSCA on February 1, 1978 in his office in Hobiezelle Hospital which is part of Baylor University Medical Center. Here is statement in full.

Quote on

Although I did not remember the exact time I remember it was early in the afternoon on Friday, November 22, 1963. I was driving XXXX north on Denver and stopped at 10th St. when I first saw the squad car and men walking on the sidewalk near the squad car. Both the squad car and this young white male were coming in my direction(East on 10th Street). At the time I was just approaching the squad car, I noticed this young white male with both hands in the pockets of his zippered jacket leaning over the passenger side of the squad car. This young white male was looking into the squad car from the passenger side. The next thing I knew I heard something that sounded like gun shots as I approached the intersection. (10th & Patton). I heard three shots in rapid (illegible) I went right through the intersection, stopped my car and turned to look back. I then saw the officer lying on the street and saw this young white man standing near the front of the squad car. Next, this man with a gun in his hand ran toward the back of the squad car, but instead of running away he stepped into the street and shot the police officer who was lying in the street. At that point this young man looked around him and then started to walk away in my direction and as he started to break into a small run in my direction, I sped off in my auto. All I saw him to the intersection and run south on Patton towards Jefferson.

Q. Did you know Lee Harvey Oswald, Officer Tippit or anyone else at the scene.
A. No

Q Did you not report this information to the authorities?
A. There were more than enough people there and I could not see what I could contribute.

Q. Is there anything you wish to add to your statement?
A. At this time I can't think or anything.

Jack Moriarty, Joe Basteri, Jack R. Tatum
Feb, 1 1978

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Quote off

You’ll notice that Tatum said the man that he saw was walking EAST on 10th Street and that he heard three rapid shots. Why did the interviewers put “illegible” after rapid when they were interviewing Tatum and could have asked him to repeat what he said? Most likely he said rapid shots and this would show the shooter had good experience with a pistol and this was never shown to be the case with LHO. Moreover, a rapid firing would support the idea of an AUTOMATIC being used in the killing, and we had two police transmissions that said an automatic was used (none proclaimed that a revolver was used in the crime). Furthermore, if LHO shot JDT in self defense or out of fear why did he stop and walk around the car, and instead of leaving, take the time to administer a coup de grace when JDT was dead anyway? To me, this is a person leaving a message and not someone acting out of self-defense and then in panic mode as LHO most certainly would have been. What do you think?

Next you will notice that Tatum NEVER said the man that he saw was LHO, but the first question he is asked makes it seem as if he did.

Quote on

Q. Did you know Lee Harvey Oswald, Officer Tippit or anyone else at the scene.

A. No

Quote off

Why was he asked if he knew LHO when he never said he saw LHO? All we got from Tatum was a “young white man” and “man”, but NOT LHO. This seems like a leading question to me. This was not the only source to mislead the reader as the HSCA report did the same thing.

Quote on

The committee, however, did find and interview one witness who had not been interviewed by the Warren Commission or FBI in 1963-64. His name is Jack Ray Tatum, and he reported witnessing the final moments of the shooting of Officer Tippit. Oswald, according to Tatum, after initially shooting Tippit from his position on the sidewalk, walked around the patrol car to where Tippit lay in the street and stood over him while he shot him at point blank range in the head. (Ibid)

Quote off

Notice how they wrote, “Oswald, according to Tatum, after initially shooting Tippit from his position on the sidewalk”, but when did Tatum say he saw LHO? I don’t see it anywhere in his interview so I am confused as to why they would write that. Furthermore, they added this footnote that furthers makes it doubtful that LHO shot JDT.

Quote on

13 Since Oswald’s revolver had been partially modified to shoot different ammunition than the type it was manufactured to shoot. It was NOT possible for the panel to DETERMINE whether the bullets that killed Tippit were FIRED FROM IT. The panel did determine that the characteristics of the bullets were consistent with their having been fried from Oswald’s revolver. (Ibid) (Emphasis added)

Quote off

Just like the WC the HSCA says the firearms panel (made up of experts) could NOT show the bullets found inside JDT came from CE 143 (LHO’s alleged revolver that had no chain of custody), but then leaves the impression that they probably did. By the way, the inability to match the bullets found inside JDT to CE 143 kind of DID DETERMINE the issue for us and no matter what the experts claimed later on can’t change this fact. They could NOT link the bullets that killed JDT to CE 143 and they, like the WC, could not link CE 143 to LHO with evidence. So how do you blame LHO for the murder? You use sleight of hand as we have seen here by claiming others said they saw LHO when they did not. Or you arrange for affidavits to be done selecting LHO BEFORE the witness actually viewed the lineup as we saw previously in my other series.

Perhaps the most important thing Tatum saw on November 22, 1963 was what he did NOT tell the HSCA, but that he would tell local researchers like Jim Marrs.

Quote on

Even Helen Markham, who was so confused about other matters, was certain of the time [of JDT’s killing] because she was on her way to catch her usual 1:12 P.M. bus for work. Asked by a Warren Commission attorney about the time she saw the Tippit shooting, Markham responded: “I wouldn’t be afraid to bet it wasn’t six or seven minutes after one.”

In this instance, Mrs. Markham’s recollection must be correct since another Tippit shooting witness, Jack Ray Tatum, told researchers that Mrs. Markham did not want to remain at the scene because she feared missing her bus for work. (Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy, by Jim Marrs, p. 348)

Quote off

It is clear by his comments, Markham’s testimony, Roger Craig’s comments, and T. F. Bowley’s comments (he said he heard the shots a 1:10 p.m.) that JDT was not shot “around 1:16 p.m.” as the WC claimed. Perhaps Tatum, like Bowley, was ignored by the WC because of this knowledge. What is odd is the timing of what he saw was NEVER asked of him by the HSCA interviewers either. Why not? Isn’t that a standard and basic question? I would think so, but the HSCA interviewers ignored this basic question and then the HSCA ignored the fact it was not asked when they wrote about Tatum’s observations. 

We see in this post the varying ways the HSCA operated in their investigation of the murder of President John F. Kennedy (JFK). While they can be commended for interviewing Jack Tatum when the WC ignored him, they cannot be commended for how they did this and how they represented what he said. Their failure to ask the basic question of when he saw JDT being shot is unforgivable and their inference that Tatum said he saw LHO when he did NOT say this is also unforgivable as they mislead the reader regarding what happened that day long ago. It would seem they simply went through the motions when they interviewed him and then tried to bend it the way they wanted which of course meant LHO shot JDT.

Sadly for them, as was the case with the WC, the evidence presented does NOT support this conclusion and sadly for us the real killer was never identified so this mystery remains nearly 51 years later.

« Last Edit: March 01, 2018, 03:39:02 AM by Rob Caprio »

 Logged

 

[Paul Trejo]

On 5/26/2018 at 10:14 PM, Paul Brancato said:

Who was it that originally pointed out that the head first went forward before snapping back? He has since come to the conclusion that it was an illusion caused by camera movement, and said by looking at the background you can spot the forward movement illusion. 

Paul B.,

In my opinion, the reason that that JFK's head first pushed forward before snapping backward was due to this:

1.   A shot from behind pushed the head forward, and then, a split second later,

2.  A shot from in front pushed the head backward.

This explains many factors in the JFK cover-up by the FBI and the LBJ Administration, for example, why the JFK autopsy report was mangled; and why the JFK brain went "missing" and why the JFK autopsy photos are self-contradictory.    The truth will show (IMHO) that there were at least TWO bullets in JFK"s brain --from Frangible bullets that would not exit the head, but explode in the skull...

Regards,
--Paul Trejo

Edited June 5, 2018 by Paul Trejo
Focus

[Paul Brancato]

4 hours ago, James DiEugenio said:

From Rob Caprio, a frequent DVP nemesis who he uses at his web site:

That brings us to the subject of this particular post—Jack Tatum. Tatum would be interviewed by members of the HSCA on February 1, 1978 in his office in Hobiezelle Hospital which is part of Baylor University Medical Center. Here is statement in full.

Quote on

Although I did not remember the exact time I remember it was early in the afternoon on Friday, November 22, 1963. I was driving XXXX north on Denver and stopped at 10th St. when I first saw the squad car and men walking on the sidewalk near the squad car. Both the squad car and this young white male were coming in my direction(East on 10th Street). At the time I was just approaching the squad car, I noticed this young white male with both hands in the pockets of his zippered jacket leaning over the passenger side of the squad car. This young white male was looking into the squad car from the passenger side. The next thing I knew I heard something that sounded like gun shots as I approached the intersection. (10th & Patton). I heard three shots in rapid (illegible) I went right through the intersection, stopped my car and turned to look back. I then saw the officer lying on the street and saw this young white man standing near the front of the squad car. Next, this man with a gun in his hand ran toward the back of the squad car, but instead of running away he stepped into the street and shot the police officer who was lying in the street. At that point this young man looked around him and then started to walk away in my direction and as he started to break into a small run in my direction, I sped off in my auto. All I saw him to the intersection and run south on Patton towards Jefferson.

Q. Did you know Lee Harvey Oswald, Officer Tippit or anyone else at the scene.
A. No

Q Did you not report this information to the authorities?
A. There were more than enough people there and I could not see what I could contribute.

Q. Is there anything you wish to add to your statement?
A. At this time I can't think or anything.

Jack Moriarty, Joe Basteri, Jack R. Tatum
Feb, 1 1978

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Quote off

You’ll notice that Tatum said the man that he saw was walking EAST on 10th Street and that he heard three rapid shots. Why did the interviewers put “illegible” after rapid when they were interviewing Tatum and could have asked him to repeat what he said? Most likely he said rapid shots and this would show the shooter had good experience with a pistol and this was never shown to be the case with LHO. Moreover, a rapid firing would support the idea of an AUTOMATIC being used in the killing, and we had two police transmissions that said an automatic was used (none proclaimed that a revolver was used in the crime). Furthermore, if LHO shot JDT in self defense or out of fear why did he stop and walk around the car, and instead of leaving, take the time to administer a coup de grace when JDT was dead anyway? To me, this is a person leaving a message and not someone acting out of self-defense and then in panic mode as LHO most certainly would have been. What do you think?

Next you will notice that Tatum NEVER said the man that he saw was LHO, but the first question he is asked makes it seem as if he did.

Quote on

Q. Did you know Lee Harvey Oswald, Officer Tippit or anyone else at the scene.

A. No

Quote off

Why was he asked if he knew LHO when he never said he saw LHO? All we got from Tatum was a “young white man” and “man”, but NOT LHO. This seems like a leading question to me. This was not the only source to mislead the reader as the HSCA report did the same thing.

Quote on

The committee, however, did find and interview one witness who had not been interviewed by the Warren Commission or FBI in 1963-64. His name is Jack Ray Tatum, and he reported witnessing the final moments of the shooting of Officer Tippit. Oswald, according to Tatum, after initially shooting Tippit from his position on the sidewalk, walked around the patrol car to where Tippit lay in the street and stood over him while he shot him at point blank range in the head. (Ibid)

Quote off

Notice how they wrote, “Oswald, according to Tatum, after initially shooting Tippit from his position on the sidewalk”, but when did Tatum say he saw LHO? I don’t see it anywhere in his interview so I am confused as to why they would write that. Furthermore, they added this footnote that furthers makes it doubtful that LHO shot JDT.

Quote on

13 Since Oswald’s revolver had been partially modified to shoot different ammunition than the type it was manufactured to shoot. It was NOT possible for the panel to DETERMINE whether the bullets that killed Tippit were FIRED FROM IT. The panel did determine that the characteristics of the bullets were consistent with their having been fried from Oswald’s revolver. (Ibid) (Emphasis added)

Quote off

Just like the WC the HSCA says the firearms panel (made up of experts) could NOT show the bullets found inside JDT came from CE 143 (LHO’s alleged revolver that had no chain of custody), but then leaves the impression that they probably did. By the way, the inability to match the bullets found inside JDT to CE 143 kind of DID DETERMINE the issue for us and no matter what the experts claimed later on can’t change this fact. They could NOT link the bullets that killed JDT to CE 143 and they, like the WC, could not link CE 143 to LHO with evidence. So how do you blame LHO for the murder? You use sleight of hand as we have seen here by claiming others said they saw LHO when they did not. Or you arrange for affidavits to be done selecting LHO BEFORE the witness actually viewed the lineup as we saw previously in my other series.

Perhaps the most important thing Tatum saw on November 22, 1963 was what he did NOT tell the HSCA, but that he would tell local researchers like Jim Marrs.

Quote on

Even Helen Markham, who was so confused about other matters, was certain of the time [of JDT’s killing] because she was on her way to catch her usual 1:12 P.M. bus for work. Asked by a Warren Commission attorney about the time she saw the Tippit shooting, Markham responded: “I wouldn’t be afraid to bet it wasn’t six or seven minutes after one.”

In this instance, Mrs. Markham’s recollection must be correct since another Tippit shooting witness, Jack Ray Tatum, told researchers that Mrs. Markham did not want to remain at the scene because she feared missing her bus for work. (Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy, by Jim Marrs, p. 348)

Quote off

It is clear by his comments, Markham’s testimony, Roger Craig’s comments, and T. F. Bowley’s comments (he said he heard the shots a 1:10 p.m.) that JDT was not shot “around 1:16 p.m.” as the WC claimed. Perhaps Tatum, like Bowley, was ignored by the WC because of this knowledge. What is odd is the timing of what he saw was NEVER asked of him by the HSCA interviewers either. Why not? Isn’t that a standard and basic question? I would think so, but the HSCA interviewers ignored this basic question and then the HSCA ignored the fact it was not asked when they wrote about Tatum’s observations. 

We see in this post the varying ways the HSCA operated in their investigation of the murder of President John F. Kennedy (JFK). While they can be commended for interviewing Jack Tatum when the WC ignored him, they cannot be commended for how they did this and how they represented what he said. Their failure to ask the basic question of when he saw JDT being shot is unforgivable and their inference that Tatum said he saw LHO when he did NOT say this is also unforgivable as they mislead the reader regarding what happened that day long ago. It would seem they simply went through the motions when they interviewed him and then tried to bend it the way they wanted which of course meant LHO shot JDT.

Sadly for them, as was the case with the WC, the evidence presented does NOT support this conclusion and sadly for us the real killer was never identified so this mystery remains nearly 51 years later.

« Last Edit: March 01, 2018, 03:39:02 AM by Rob Caprio »

 Logged

 

Question - what London trial? What year? Mr. Caprio does a good job with the HSCA testimony of Tatum, but Tatum makes clear in the London trial that he saw LHO. 

[David Von Pein]

4 minutes ago, Paul Brancato said:

Question - what London trial? What year?

"On Trial: Lee Harvey Oswald". The Bugliosi vs. Spence trial in 1986.

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v6ELx8MPBlc/WxCs2Q4m3bI/AAAAAAABO-s/R6ikleVPL7ES--jiJkiZxFo4laPsHSszACLcBGAs/s4000/RH-Excerpts-Regarding-Jack-Tatum.png

 

[James DiEugenio]

That is the point Caprio is trying to make Paul.

The HSCA is 1978. The phony London trial is 1986, and the PBS show is 1993.

Caprio is trying to say that those things are not available in the 1978 testimony.  Plus, no one else saw the so called coup de grace head shot. 

I cannot believe that Bugliosi defends Tatum by saying that Spence did not really try and challenge him on cross examination.  OMG, you cannot be serious Vince.  

Spence spent all of three months studying this case. He was not ready to challenge anyone on anything.

Edited June 1, 2018 by James DiEugenio

[Michael Clark]

On 6/1/2018 at 3:18 PM, Paul Trejo said:

Paul B.,

In my opinion,

.................

 It was a paramilitary, Radical Right conspiracy (IMHO), native to Dallas, Texas.

...............

All best,
--Paul

Paul Trejo finds an off-topic "in" to continue his broken-record-broadcast of his conspiracy theory...

Edited June 4, 2018 by Michael Clark

[Paul Trejo]

On 6/1/2018 at 5:23 PM, James DiEugenio said:

...Spence spent all of three months studying this case. He was not ready to challenge anyone on anything.

I agree that Gerry Spence was unprepared.to defend Lee Harvey Oswald in London against Vincent Bugliosi.

IMHO, Bugliosi arranged to sell his forthcoming book by convincing the London Trial Broadcast producers to avoid hiring Mark Lane at all costs. 

Even though the great Mark Lane never fully solved the JFK case, he would have mopped the floor with Vincent Bugliosi.

Simply by excluding Mark Lane, the London Trial Broadcast producers demonstrated their bias.  They deliberately chose a beginner in the legal defense Lee Harvey Oswald, instead of the world leader in his defense...who was available!

Regards,
--Paul Trejo

Edited June 5, 2018 by Paul Trejo

[James DiEugenio]

Thanks Mike.

I appreciate it.

I should add, I did not do that much with the Texas Theater, but that aspect also seems interesting to me.

As does the Mather affair with T. F. White.  Joe McBride did a  nice job summarizing that one in his book.

To have all those things happening is such a short time period, and all those Oswald lookalikes circulating.  If anything tells you it was an intelligence operation, that does.

[Joseph McBride]

And the Mathers going to the Tippit home that afternoon to console the widow . . . 

Edited June 5, 2018 by Joseph McBride

[James DiEugenio]

That is almost funny when you think about it.

I mean did he tell her," I got the lookalike out of town Marie! Now they'll never know. You're going to be rolling in dough. "

Edited June 5, 2018 by James DiEugenio

[Joseph McBride]

It would be valuable to know how Marie Tippit wound up with

the head of the State Democratic Party, Eugene Locke, the man in whose

office the motorcade route was decided, as her attorney. The donations

to the Tippit Fund were quite large, a reported total of $657,578, which would equal more than $5 million

in 2018 money (I think some donations were

in the nature of payoffs, and I went through all the police files of them

and media reports about donations but still couldn't account for more than half of them),

and Marie later complained that she had not received all the money she was due. The fund

was administered by the Dallas Police Department. The board consisted of the mayor, the city treasurer, newspaper

bosses Joe Dealey and James F. Chambers Jr., and other civic big wheels. She blamed poor

financial planning and unwise handling by her advisers. "That [money] was put into a trust . . .

and I can't say that we've come out earning a lot of money with

it," she said in 1983. She added that her children were each to receive

about $100,000, but for reasons she refused to discuss, "They did not

get that much money each at all."

Edited June 5, 2018 by Joseph McBride

[Paul Trejo]

On 5/25/2018 at 3:49 PM, David Von Pein said:

So, Paul, do you therefore think Captain Fritz lied through his teeth when he wrote these things in his report?....

"I asked him [Oswald] where he went to when he left work, and he told me that he had a room on 1026 North Beckley, that he went over there and changed his trousers and got his pistol and went to the picture show. I asked him why he carried his pistol, and he remarked, "You know how boys do when they have a gun, they just carry it." " [WCR; Page 601] [DVP's emphasis]

David,

I don't know about Paul Brancato, but I, for one, opine that Captain Fritz lied through his teeth about NEARLY EVERYTHING he claimed Lee Harvey Oswald ever said.

NEARLY EVERYTHING.

This goes for EVERYBODY who was in Captain Fritz's office during the final hours of the life of Lee Harvey Oswald (including James Hosty, James Bookhout and Harry Holmes)..  All their reports agree, because they all took several weeks coordinating their public reports. 

It's bizarre that anybody would accept everything that the Dallas Police testified.   Jason Ward has done some superior work analyzing the WC testimony of Captain William Westbrook and DPD Officer Gerry Hill -- and many more Dallas Police and Deputies whose WC testimony stinks to high heaven.

Following these Radical Right Police in Dallas, one will eventually solve the JFK Assassination after more than 50 years.   

That said -- since I accept every word that Marina Oswald said while under oath -- I take it as a fact that LHO (1) had a pistol; and (2) outdrew JD Tippit in a fair fight.  Otherwise, JD Tippit was ready to shoot LHO in the streets of Oak Cliff.  I have no doubt of this.   If anything -- Roscoe White was a second shooter at Tippit.  Evidently, the pressure of the events of 11/22/1963 overwhelmed JD Tippit -- who had drawn his own pistol for some reason -- but most likely to kill Lee Harvey Oswald on the spot.

All best,
--Paul

Edited June 6, 2018 by Paul Trejo

[Ron Bulman]

17 hours ago, Paul Trejo said:

David,

I don't know about Paul Brancato, but I, for one, opine that Captain Fritz lied through his teeth about NEARLY EVERYTHING he claimed Lee Harvey Oswald ever said.

NEARLY EVERYTHING.

This goes for EVERYBODY who was in Captain Fritz's office during the final hours of the life of Lee Harvey Oswald (including James Hosty, James Bookhout and Harry Holmes)..  All their reports agree, because they all took several weeks coordinating their public reports. 

It's bizarre that anybody would accept everything that the Dallas Police testified.   Jason Ward has done some superior work analyzing the WC testimony of Captain William Westbrook and DPD Officer Gerry Hill -- and many more Dallas Police and Deputies whose WC testimony stinks to high heaven.

Following these Radical Right Police in Dallas, one will eventually solve the JFK Assassination after more than 50 years.   

That said -- since I accept every word that Marina Oswald said while under oath -- I take it as a fact that LHO (1) had a pistol; and (2) outdrew JD Tippit in a fair fight.  Otherwise, JD Tippit was ready to shoot LHO in the streets of Oak Cliff.  I have no doubt of this.   If anything -- Roscoe White was a second shooter at Tippit.  Evidently, the pressure of the events of 11/22/1963 overwhelmed JD Tippit -- who had drawn his own pistol for some reason -- but most likely to kill Lee Harvey Oswald on the spot.

All best,
--Paul

Quickdraw Mc Oswald eh?  O ran a  3-4 minute mile, or a 11-12 minute one if you believe the Warren Omission and Helen Marhkam was lying about the time too...

Edited June 6, 2018 by Ron Bulman