Chris Scally

John, I have a particular interest in the "UPI Films", Muchmore and Nix. Could you possibly post even a summary list of the alterations to these two films, please? TIA.

Thanks for posting this, Gil. A very good summation of the book in 80 minutes, and some of the highest-quality photos and movies I've seen in a documentary.

Many thanks, Tony. Yes, now that you mention it, I do recall hearing something about the interview in the historical society journal, but I never managed to get a copy of it. I'll renew my efforts to find it! Many thanks again.

FWIW, gents, I believe Zapruder was almost certainly talking about Marilyn Sitzman, his receptionist, and Lillian Rogers, his secretary/PA, who were instrumental in getting him to return home to get his camera on the morning of the assassination (Ref. David Wrone's "The Zapruder Film - Reframing JFK's Assassination", 2003, p. 9; Richard Trask's "National Nightmare on six feet of film", 2005, pp. 29-30) . For Tony Krome: Tony, any idea where that quote from Lillian Zapruder about Mr. Z's phone call from Kodak at 8pm on the night of the assassination comes from, please? I haven't come across that one before. Any information would be much appreciated, thanks.

Does anyone have, or know where I might find, a photo of former NYPD detective and HSCA staff investigator Albert (Al) Maxwell, please? All (or any) help would be very much appreciated. Many thanks, in anticipation ....

Richard, My apologies - you are correct! Let's give them a few days and see if they can get it fixed properly. As promised earlier, I will post any update from Hood which I get.

Richard / Steve It seems, from a very cursory look, that the Browse function is now working again. Late in the evening here now, but I'll check it out more fully tomorrow. The college have told me they get it back up and running as soon as possible, but it appears they've got it sorted out already.

I discovered that the site was not working last weekend, and contacted Hood. They were initially unaware of the problem, but later told me the site had been attacked, and thought it was fixed mid-week. However, I discovered the same problem as Richard yesterday, so I will email the new Curator again today. Will update this thread when I hear further from them.

Hi Larry Your reference to the many tapes, photos or documents that are claimed to exist and yet cannot be produced is a phenomenon that is very familiar to me - I have spent a lot of time and effort in trying to find documents that many people claim to know about, yet nobody (not even the always-helpful staff at NARA) can produce a copy! Glad to hear I'm not the only one who has spent too much time spinning my wheels! Chris

Message for Steven Kossor: Steve, I'm having trouble e-mailing you, so I have sent you a message via this Forum's internal message system. Chris Scally

Pete Mellor - Sorry it has taken me so long to respond, Pete. Many years ago, when the McFarland's were back in Liverpool, I contacted Dr.McFarland. However, his written response (via what I presume was his secretary) was along the lines that he (and his wife?) had told the authorities all he/they knew, and he/they did not want to discuss the case further with anyone. I still have his reply "filed" safely somewhere, and if I can find it I'll send a copy to you, but I'm sad to report that it added nothing whatsoever to what we already knew.

Denis Morissette - totally agree with you re Gary Mack. I wonder how many of those who jump on every opportunity to malign him ever had any direct dealings with him? Probably not too many, I'd guess. As you said he was very accessible and a solid source of information, and he never once refused to help me, no matter what I sought. His passing, like that of Ian Griggs, was a major loss to the research community.

Pete Mellor - Thanks for your kind words about Ian - he was a wonderful friend, mentor, and an endless source of good information and advice. He is, and long will continue to be, sorely missed. As you so rightly said, a well-respected man!

James DiEugenio posted yesterday: "Well Chris, he seems to be still around. GIve him a call." Not sure which Chris this was meant for, but if it was me, please be assured that I have far better and more important things to do than chasing down this kind of rubbish, LOL. Having spoken with people in the FBI, DPD, HSCA, and Ramsey Panel who were directly involved in the whole dictabelt/acoustics issue, and highly respected researchers on both sides of the debate, I don't think I'll bother with this one, thanks! Happy Easter to all, and stay home, stay safe, and stay well.

There have to be serious doubts about Leo Chaloukian's story! He tells of an unidentified "someone" in Washington DC, in the 70's, but he cannot obviously be more precise than that? Was this person from the FBI, or from the HSCA? He had the original and a copy of the radio recording? The description of the original recording doesn't sound like a dictabelt to me. There was a "recorder" on McLain's motorcycle? "Everyone" said there were two shots, until Chaloukian identified four? The unidentified guy from Washington testified at a mock trial of Oswald about the recording - anyone know what trial that was? This sounds like a good cocktail-party story to me, at best!

Keyvan / Steve, Many thanks for your replies. I will reply to your message as soon as I can, Keyvan. Chris.

Keyvan, I have just sent you a message via the Forum ... Steve, just a small correction, but possibly important to the lady in question - Gayle is the granddaughter of Orville Nix, and not his daughter ! Chris Scally

Sounds that way to me, too, Mark.

Yes, David - That is exactly the "hot line" or "emergency only" phone line I was thinking about. Have you ever come across anything which might indicate an electronic logging/recording system or mechanism was linked to that phone line? I certainly haven't, and was just theorizing that there might have been some sort of log-book beside it, in which something like a one- or two-line handwritten entry might have been made (or was supposed to have been made), containing date, approximate time, who was called, and the reason for the call. Just a theory, however - I've no evidence that such a log existed, and if it did exist, it has probably been lost or taken as a "souvenir" long ago! Chris

Steve: I honestly believe that the DPD had a "hot line" or "emergency-only" phone which could contact hospitals, Sheriff's Department, Courthouse, County Jail, etc by simply pressing a designated button. This would have been a standard telephone line, used by the telephone operator(s) in the DPD Dispatcher's Office. As such, it was not a police radio channel of any kind, and calls on it would almost certainly not have been recorded (although they might have been 'recorded' manually in a paper log of some kind). I've never heard or seen any reference to such a recording if such even existed. i would also caution against over-reliance on transcripts from the time, too. Most of them contain glaring errors and are incomplete, some to a significant degree. The only reliable (if we accept that they have not been amended/edited/tampered with) records of what was actually said and at what time are the original physical recordings (or verified copies of them) which still exist, and these are degrading significantly with the passage of time. Even the multitude of versions of the DPD Channel 1 and 2 radio transcripts are each at variance with the actual recordings, so ...! As for police channels or mechanisms that we have no record of, I would suggest not, and the only radio comms network that I know of (but have no transcripts or recordings from) is a Secret Service one between the vehicles in the motorcade. Nobody to my knowledge has ever found a recording or transcript of it, and I suspect that it no longer exists in any form. Chris.

Hi Steve: "Station 5" was the Sheriff's Office - you will note in a complete Channel 2 recording or transcript that immediately before the DPD Dispatcher said "Station 5 will be notified", Sheriff Decker (call sign "Dallas 1") had asked the Dispatcher to "Advise my department to have all men available back there". As for the "Mentzel/Courson" issue, that seems to be a historical error, as I've come across it previously, and there is no evidence whatsoever that I could ever find to suggest that Mentzel and Courson were anywhere near one another. In reality, W.D. Mentzel (Call sign "91") took a break (possibly for lunch in Luby's Cafeteria at 430 W. Jefferson) at or about 12:31-12:32, and reported back for duty at just before 1:07 pm. J.W. Courson (call sign "153") was riding a police motorcycle in the motorcade, on the left side and towards the rear near the Press buses, and after the shooting in Dealey Plaza, he followed the rest of the vehicles to Parkland Hospital. Finally, it is probable / likely that a DPD Dispatcher's office telephone operator would have made the emergency call on a dedicated line to Parkland, asking them to stand-by for an emergency involving the President. Hope this helps. Chris. [Edited to add info re Mentzel's lunch location]

Nice work, Mark Tyler - good to see someone trying to put the entire event together like this.

I note that, at approximate 2:40 into the Youtube clip, John Barbour refers to a book by Richard Sprague called "The Taking of America 1-2-3", and suggests that it was the work of Richard A. Sprague, who was the first Chief Counsel of the HSCA. I would just like to emphasize that this book was written by researcher and HSCA photo consultant Richard E. Sprague, and NOT by Richard A. Sprague.

Stephanie / Steve: Re my listing of who occupied the Dal-Tex building in 1963 - the information that I had at the time I compiled that list was as accurate as I could establish at the time I originally wrote it, but - looking at it again now - it wouldn't really make sense that a building like that would not have anyone occupying the first floor. However, do I also correctly recall a wall-mounted list of occupiers on the outside of the TSBD in a photo/film (the Cook film, perhaps?) taken in the immediate aftermath of the assassination? If my memory is anything like I think it is, the companies Steve identified in an earlier post are on the wall-list of the TSBD, which was at 411 Elm. not 501 Elm. Chris. [PS. Just found that Cook frame - attached, I hope]

Many thanks, Gary - great work! Chris