Tom Neal

Jim, Thanks for the compliment. 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. 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 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.

Roger, You might want to try one - they are all text searchable, so finding/refinding a specific bit of info is simple. I only mentioned an ebook because it would eliminate the heavy shipping cost mentioned by someone in an earlier post. Tom

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

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

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

Jim, Glad it worked for you. If the message displays with the quote boxes merged together, and the quote tags are visible, scroll to the bottom of the message in the editor. You will probably find a bunch of extra 'end quote' tags supplied unnecessarily by the editor - it likes to do that on its own. Tom

If it's available as an eBook you can eliminate the shipping costs...

It's been a LONG, long, time since I studied James Files, so I don't recall all the details, but unless some new info has come to light I don't find him credible. Roselli was a full-fledged CIA employee, more CIA than mob, although you never can break completely from the mob. Roselli was tight with Bill Harvey, who I believe was heavily involved in the assassination. IMO, if anyone called off the assassination it was CIA, not the mob. I'm sure Roselli kept the mob apprised of the plans, but I don't think they exerted any control over the event itself. I don't see any issues with Plumlee's scenario, but I don't think this originated with Files. I think he appropriated it. Yes. Jim Hargrove mentioned Hosty's "take" on the wallet found at the scene of JDT's murder from the 1996 book "Assignment Oswald" written by Hosty himself. I thought I had it, but I don't. The FBI version of Tippit's murder may provide some interesting ideas.

Interesting that as the closest witness to the murder, Benavides was not brought in to view LHO in the lineup. Are you referring to the shooting death of his brother in 1965? Glad to:Click on "Quote" In the message box that opens, click the symbol in the upper left corner to enter full edit mode highlight the desired text: [quote name="Jim Hargrove" post="330550" timestamp="1466261057"] control+c to copy this text move the cursor to the line ABOVE the text that you want to be quoted control+v to past this text move the cursor to the line BELOW the text that you want to be quoted add the following: [/quote]This is the code per the above: [quote name="Jim Hargrove" post="330550" timestamp="1466261057"] This is the text that you want quoted. [/quote] This is how the message will appear when posted: Or if you only want the Quote Box without the name and timestamp: [quote] This is the text that you want quoted. [/quote] This is how the message will appear when posted: If you have any problems with this, just LMK. Thanks, Jim!Tom

Thanks for the maps, Jim! What is your opinion as to why JDT was seen in this area so often that many neighbors believed he lived in that area? A local girlfriend? Tom

The shooter stayed in plain sight during his getaway, rather than running down the alley between the houses. He never attempted to hide his face or his gun and even looked straight into people's faces. Unless you are trying to be recognized why would you do this? Yet none of the shooter descriptions that I've encountered appear to describe LHO or someone who could be mistaken for him. I'm not aware of any such database. It is of course a fine idea. I'm still discovering how many things like this have either never been done, are have been kept in personal files only. I don't find Files credible. The parts of his evolving story that match other stories only appear after the that specific info is well known. What bothers me the most about files is all the "high-profile" names he assigns to the shooters. Would well-known people, who were not known as hitmen put themselves at risk of exposure as Files claims? How he claims he was selected as a shooter seems unlikely at best. IIRC Files was not the original source of this idea. Do you think he was?

Thank, Jim. I had a feeling Westbrook would be the most likely boy to have misplaced it. This of course leads to the question: Who was present in the theater that had to be kept secret? Despite the hyperbole and claims of "new" evidence, this does show a detailed comparison of "LHO's" wallet and JDT's as displayed by Marie Tippit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3nFKFoUyJ0 FBI SA Robert Barret comments on the presence of "a Dallas police Captain" handling the wallet, but the video does NOT name Westbrook. The video shows a man in jacket and tie or suit who is presumably Westbrook. A uniformed Sergeant is in the frame holding the wallet along with "Westbrook." According to Curry's book, Sergeants C.B. Owens and G.L. Hill were among the first to arrive at the Tippit murder scene. Gerry Hill also had possession of "LHO's" gun (given to him by Sgt. Bob Carroll) in the squad car that took LHO to DPD headquarters. IIRC correctly Aquila Clemmons described the tall man as wearing khakis and a white shirt. I don't recall anyone describing the 2nd man as wearing a suit. I'm most definitely looking forward to what is coming! Any hints would be appreciated... Tom

Considering that most of DPD was present in the theater for LHO's arrest... IIRC didn't they interview, or at least take the names of all patrons at the theater at the time of LHO's attest? I believe that is one of many documents that has disappeared. SURPRISE! Tom

Thanks, Ray. Now if we only knew if Westbrook fit the description. While searching for video of Westbrook, I found film taken by Ron Reiland of WFAA TV in Dallas. At the JDT murder scene, a closeup of a wallet is seen in the hand of policeman. Reiland himself narrating the film states that "the officer's billfold was found" at the crime scene. Hmmmmmmm... EDIT: After ALL this chatter about LHO's wallet found at the murder scene and NO ONE finds it interesting that only hours after JDT's murder, the TV cameraman who took footage of the wallet states on live TV that the wallet belonged to TIPPIT not OSWALD. Tippit's wallet accompanied his body to Methodist Hospital and is listed in the police report along with Tippit's badge and some other personal belongings. The police report indicated Tippit's wallet was black. The wallet filmed at 10th & Patton was brown. I'll try to dig up the report. It is in the John Armstrong Collection at Baylor. (See link on the Harvey and Lee homepage.) In the meantime.... From James P. Hosty, Assignment Oswald, p. 62: Captain Westbrook and the Dallas police were in charge, but Barrett set about inspecting the crime scene. Near the puddle of blood where Tippit’s body had lain, Westbrook had found a man’s leather wallet. In it, he discovered identification for Lee Oswald, as well as other identification for Alek J. Hidell. Westbrook called Barrett over and showed him the wallet and identifications. Westbrook asked Barrett if the FBI knew anything about Oswald or Hidell. Barrett shook his head. Westbrook took the wallet into his custody so that it could be placed into police property later. Hosty then goes on to explain how things got goofed up about the wallet. Indeed! Thanks, Jim. It never occurred to me the cops would be going through JDT's wallet in front of reporters--what were they looking for? There wasn't any question as the dead cops name... I'll pull out Hosty and see what he has to say. Tom

********** BUMP ********** Thanks, Ray. Now if we only knew if Westbrook fit the description. While searching for video of Westbrook, I found film taken by Ron Reiland of WFAA TV in Dallas. At the JDT murder scene, a closeup of a wallet is seen in the hand of policeman. Reiland himself narrating the film states that "the officer's billfold was found" at the crime scene. Hmmmmmmm... EDIT: After ALL this chatter about LHO's wallet found at the murder scene and NO ONE finds it interesting that only hours after JDT's murder, the TV cameraman who took footage of the wallet states on live TV that the wallet belonged to TIPPIT not OSWALD.

Thanks, Ray. Now if we only knew if Westbrook fit the description. While searching for video of Westbrook, I found film taken by Ron Reiland of WFAA TV in Dallas. At the JDT murder scene, a closeup of a wallet is seen in the hand of policeman. Reiland himself narrating the film states that "the officer's billfold was found" at the crime scene. Hmmmmmmm... EDIT: After ALL this chatter about LHO's wallet found at the murder scene and NO ONE finds it interesting that only hours after JDT's murder, the TV cameraman who took footage of the wallet states on live TV that the wallet belonged to TIPPIT not OSWALD.

Jim, The meeting of Westbrook and LHO after the shooting seems very reasonable to me, and is one of several scenarios I proposed. Did Aquilla Clemmons and/or Doris Holan provide descriptions of the two men she saw moments before the shooting? No doubt in my mind that due to his actions just prior to his death, JDT had something to do with the plot. If the plan was to take out JDT, I have to wonder why "LHO" waited until Westbrook arrived before taking out JDT? LHO was supposedly acting entirely on his own, and it wasn't necessary for Westbrook to risk being spotted at the murder scene. I'm not convinced whether the original plan was to take out JDT or not. It seems entirely possible to me that JDT did something unacceptable and had to be silenced. JDT supposedly had a married girlfriend living at or very near to the murder scene. There has been speculation that her husband killed him, but that scenario seems to have fallen out of favor.

Tom, I agree that dropping a wallet seems over the top for a plot to frame LHO. But how else can the wallet be explained? Are you saying that maybe it was part of a seat-of-the-pants backup operation? If so, I wonder why the perps happened to have the wallet in their possession. (Maybe they had a whole war chest full of LHO-related props?) If "LHO" was carrying the wallet he could have been using it earlier to ID himself as LHO. Westbrook could have taken the wallet from "LHO" when he got the jacket, or simply ordered "LHO" to drop the wallet while they were both at the crime scene. It isn't necessary for Westbrook to have carried the wallet prior to the shooting. Westbrook then dropped/hid the jacket so he could discover it later. I don't think the wallet was necessary to link LHO to the murder, but it would have been less likely to be considered "planted" evidence if it had been found in the jacket pocket, and that would link the jacket that was worn by the shooter to Lee himself. If the plan was to kill JDT and leave the wallet at the scene, then finding a wallet on LHO when arrested makes the murder-scene wallet a plant. It seems likely to me that Westbrook was improvising. Was it absolutely necessary to make LHO a cop-killer? That's the ONLY explanation I've heard and murdering an "innocent" doesn't appear to be necessary. However, if JDT needed to be silenced... If you want to know more about John Martino, here is a 1 hour interview of Larry Hancock by Rex Bradford. You can't put an entire book into 1 hour so you'll still need the book.

Sounds reasonable to me. continuing: "LHO" runs across the lawn throwing empty shells, and is then seen by other witnesses running down the perpendicular street wearing the gray jacket, with the revolver held high and shortly after this sighting he is no longer seen. This indicates that he had to meet Westbrook AFTER the final shot. My question is; was Westbrook present before the last shot was fired? (And it appears that he was.) If so, he had to make two appearances at the crime scene only minutes apart. However, if he arrived a few minutes after the last shot, he could have first met "LHO" and then appeared only once to plant the wallet. Or if Westbrook already had the wallet he could drop it at the crime scene and then proceeded to meet "LHO" to take the gun and jacket. Lots of workable scenarios here... Most witnesses saw one man with JDT, but least one witness reported two men with him. This is strong evidence that the second man arrived after the shooting started. Was a description of the second man given?

Jim, I can see reasons for premeditation, or execution of a backup plan. "LHO" dropping his wallet at the crime scene is too 'over the top' to have been planned. Especially when another wallet was "found on LHO" when he was arrested. You'd think the original plan would have been coordinated to a high degree. Was there a reason for killing JDT other than making LHO a "cop-killer?" Tom

DUPE!

David, This is my opinion, also. Clearly JDT was up to something with his visit to the record store and the phone call just prior to his murder. It appears that he was supposed to do something, or prevent something at that time, but failed to do it. Perhaps he was supposed to kill Oswald, or take control of LHO as part of the setup to tie Castro into the assassination, and bring him to where he was to be killed, but a suspicious LHO eluded him. With LHO unexpectedly 'on the loose' he could NOT be taken alive. That risk was unacceptable, so DPD needed an excuse to murder LHO rather than apprehend him. Whatever JDT was supposed to do, but didn't do, IMO required him to be silenced. Possibly he could no longer be trusted. DPD could put out the word that LHO the 'cop-killer' was not to be taken alive. The way it all went down at the theater, LHO thought that he would be shot - and IMO he would have been if not for his yelling "I am not resisting arrest!" Again, just my opinion, but I don't think their desire to make LHO a cop-killer was sufficient to sacrifice JDT had he fulfilled his assignment. One of many alternate scenarios would be that despite plans of others, DPD had no intention of allowing LHO to escape from Dallas. Not good for their reputation. So although this was "not supposed to happen" as far as Martino knew, DPD may have planned JDT's death all along.

Why are you so certain that Martino wasn't "told" that JFK was going to be assassinated? He was closely associated with David Morales and his group who surely knew. Is it because you believe Martino was wrong about JDT's murder being planned?

Sandy, Martino told his wife that they were going to kill JFK when he went to Dallas. The day of the assassination he had his son stay home from school for no stated reason. He then told the son to watch tv and let him know if anything important happened. When the son told him JFK had been shot the son says his father turned as white as a ghost. To me that indicates personal involvement, not an educated guess. Martino spent 3 years in Castro's jail, and blamed JFK for allowing Castro to live, BOP, etc,. At least for the Cubans involved, blaming Castro was an integral part of the plot. Martino told his business partner, his lawyer, and his family. They did not talk until after his death, and he never went public with the truth. The press simply stopped reporting that Castro did it for many reasons, not because Martino stopped talking about it. Tom