Steve Thomas

Jim, From Eugene Boone's Sheriff's Report: http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh19/html/WH_Vol19_0264a.htm "Officer Whitman of Robie Love's office was with me when I found the rifle..." In this report, Boone identifies Whitman as Officer Whitman, DPD: In his Sheriff's Report, Eugene Boone said that an Officer Whitman, DPD was with him when the rifle was found. http://www.history-m...Vol19_0263a.htm From Seymour Weitzman's WC testimony: http://jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/weitzman.htm Mr. WEITZMAN - I took over as general manager of the Lamont Corp. which is a discount operation and the headquarters, which was Galveston, Tex. We had stores in Dallas, Fort Worth, Louisiana, Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz. At the end of 1960, I closed up all the stores, retired from the discount operation and went to work for Robie Love in Dallas County, precinct 1. Mr. BALL - You've been there ever since as deputy constable? Mr. WEITZMAN - That's right. Seymour Weitzman filed an Affidavit and said that he and Boone found the rifle at the same time and he very definitely said that the rifle was a 7.65 Mauser. https://www.maryferr...Id=246&tab=page So, was Officer Whitman and Seymour Weitzman the same person? I have, in the past tried to find a collection of reports filed by the Constables in Robie Love's office, similar to the Decker reports in vol 19 of the WC Exhibits, or the after-action reports filed by the DPD officers in the Dallas City JFK archives, but to no avail. I did run across this oral history summary of an interview with Robie Love held at Texas Tech University. That would be interesting I think. Oral History Collection MAIN ENTRY: Love, Robie DATE OF INTERVIEW: March 30, 1971 LOCATION OF INTERVIEW: Dallas, Texas INTERVIEWER: Fred Carpenter LENGTH OF INTERVIEW: 1 hour, 20 minutes SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE: TAPE TWO, SIDE ONE: Robie Love discusses his career as a bandleader in the 1930s and as a law enforcement officer for over 30 years. Constable of Dallas for 25 years Recalls first campaign for election States history of office of constable Duties of constable listed Reasons for long stay in office The duties of a Constable:http://www.county.org/texas-county-government/texas-county-officials/Pages/Constable.aspx Constable Description of Office Serves as a licensed peace officer and performs various law enforcement functions, including issuing traffic citations. Serves warrants and civil papers such as subpoenas and temporary restraining orders. Serves as bailiff for Justice of the Peace Court. Robie Love would appear later in a very interesting story about a box of documents found in the Dallas County Courthouse: http://coverthistory.blogspot.com/2005/07/so-just-how-much-truth-was-there-to.html "On March 28, 1976, the Dallas *Morning News* ran an unusual story when four Dallas deputy constables decided to come forward to relate something that had been bothering them for a very long time. Shortly after the assassination the four had examined a box of handwritten notes and assorted other papers in the Dallas County Courthouse, a number of which apparently linked Oswald and Ruby. Deputy Billy Preston, Constable Robie Love, and deputy constables Mike Callahan and Ben Cash all recalled that this box had come from the apartment of a Dallas woman (77)." Steve Thomas

Did somebody screw up and plant the wrong shells? I've been trying to determine why a 7.65 German Mauser had to be changed to a 6.5 Mannlicher Carcano. The first three people who were on the scene when the rifle was found, Weitzman, Boone and Craig were all Sheriff's Deputies. In one way or another, they all identified it as a German make. After the rifle was discovered, they were all ordered to stand down, turn the evidence over to the City authorities and return the Sheriff's Department. It was only after the Dallas City Department got a hold of the rifle was it changed to an Italian rifle. Why? Did the rifle have to match the caliber of the shells that were found? And by all accounts, it was the shells that were found first. In his Sherifff's Report, Harry Weatherford said the he was with Luke Mooney, Eugene Boone, Ralph Walters and Sam Webster. http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh19/html/WH_Vol19_0260b.htm In his Sheriff's Report, Ralph Walters said that by the time he got to the sixth floor, Officers Mooney and Grandstaff were already there and searching the floor. They told him that Webster and Victory had gone up to the seventh floor. Webster came to the head of the stairs and said they needed lights. Walters left and went back to the Sheriff's Department to get some lights. On the way back with the lights, he met up with L.C. Smith and Eugene Boone and they returned to the Depository. They took four lights up to the seventh floor and returned to the sixth floor "where Officers Mooney and Grandstaff were searching the floor". http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh19/html/WH_Vol19_0262a.htm In his Sheriff's Report, Luke Mooney said that he was the only one on the sixth floor. Officers Webster, Victory, and myself took to the building. Officers Webster and Victory took the stairs and I told them I would take the freight elevator. At the time I got on the elevator two women who work in the building got on the elevator, saying they wanted to go to their office. As the elevator started up, we went up one floor and the power to the elevator was cut off. I got out on the floor with these women and looked around in their office and I then took to the stairs and went to the 6th floor, and Officers Webster and Victory went up to the 7th floor. "I was the only person on the 6th floor when I searched it and was reasonably sure that there was no one else on this floor as I searched it" and then criss-crossed it, seeing only stacks of cartons of books. L.C. Smith said the he was on the floor when Boone found the rifle, but he doesn't say he was right there and identified it. http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh19/html/WH_Vol19_0267b.htm Seymour Weitzman filed an Affidavit and said that he and Boone found the rifle at the same time and he very definitely said that the rifle was a 7.65 Mauser. https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1140#relPageId=246&tab=page In his Sheriff's Report, Eugene Boone said that an Officer Whitman of the Dallas City Police Department was with him when the rifle was found. http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh19/html/WH_Vol19_0263a.htm Does anyone know of a report by, or any interviews with Officers Victory, Grandstaff , Webster or Whitman? It would be nice to know what they had to say on the matter. It appears that none of them were called by the Warren Commission. Steve Thomas

I remember reading an account by a woman in the Justice Department who was part of the team of lawyers who were drawing up the criminal charges against Richard Nixon in the Watergate affair. (She may have been the only woman on that panel, but I'm not sure of that). She was complaining about Ford's efforts to interfere in that effort. Ford was a dangerous man. Steve Thomas

On December 1, 1963 Detective K.L. Anderton wrote up a handwritten report of a meeting he had with prisoner "Robert" Borchgardt. DPD Archives, Box 2, Folder# 6, Item# 9 http://jfk.ci.dallas.tx.us/box2.htm I believe that "Robert" Borchgardt is actually Richard Borchgardt, who took part in Oswald's third line-up, which took place at 7:40 p.m. on the night of the 22nd. This is the infamous "Davis sisters" line-up, In summary, Borchgardt said he had information about a gun running operation, stolen cars and narcotics. Borchgardt said that he had gotten his information from 4 people both inside and outside of jail, and named them: E. Dalrymple (the first name is hard to make out, but I believe it is Elvis. Lawrence Miller Perry Wydell Marvin Fraizer Is this the same Elvis Dalrymple who testified against William Moncrief, who burned down the Dallas Sportatorium owned by Ed McLemore in 1953? William Theodore MONCRIEF, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee. Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas. November 10, 1954. http://www.leagle.com/decision/1954952274SW2d678_1850/MONCRIEF%20v.%20STATE Elvis Dalrymple testified that he had known the appellant (Moncrief) for about two years; that early in the morning of May 1 he had gone to appellant's home in Dallas and had proceeded with the appellant to take his wife to work; that on their return they passed the charred remains of the Sportatorium and the appellant had told him that he (the appellant) had been at a beer joint nearby when it had burned. Dalrymple testified that he and the appellant then proceeded to the Travis Hotel, where the appellant placed a collect call for one Tony in Houston and reported that "everything was alright up here and that he was coming in." Dalrymple stated that after that they returned to appellant's home, where he met Roy Tatum, and that he, Tatum and the appellant left for Houston. McCrory, an accomplice witness under the court's charge, testified that he, a woman named Alice and the appellant had come from Houston to Dallas in January, 1953, and that appellant had offered him $100 to help him burn the Sportatorium and told him that he (the appellant) was to be paid by Tony at the American Grill in Houston for the job. McCrory testified that he and the appellant had acquired two five gallon cans, that appellant had filled them with gasoline or kerosene at a filling station, and that they then proceeded to the Sportatorium late at night and placed the cans in an old automobile back of the building but that when it came time for them to ignite the fire he had lost his nerve and backed out of the venture. McCrory testified that a short while thereafter he, Ragsdale, Cook and the appellant had returned to Dallas and found that the cans had been removed and that the appellant had been unable to get anyone to help him burn the building on this occasion. The appellant told Dalrymple that he had been near the fire at the time it burned. The appellant called Tony in Houston in the presence of Dalrymple and reported that his mission had been accomplished. Appellant had told an accomplice that the money from the job was to come from Tony in Houston. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/53382404/ The Waco News-Tribune from Waco, Texas · January 22, 1954 Page 17Minimum sentences were given two men whose testimony helped convict a third on charges which grew' out of the fire which destroyed a wrestling arena here. Roy Houston Tatum. 26. former Chicagoan, received a 2-year term after saying he set the blaze which burned the Sportatorium to the ground. Tatum also pleaded guilty to conspiring last April with William Theodore Moncrief, 38, to burn the sports arena. He got two years on that charge, too, to run concurrently with the first. Alfred Huey McCrory, who was working as an aircraft mechanic in Los Angeles, Calif., when arrested last summer, pleaded guilty to conspiring w’ith Moncrief in January. 1953 , and received a 2- year probated term. Tatum testified he hacked out. Steve Thomas

This is just kind of weird. In Box 6 Folder# 6 Items 2 and 3 there is a list of the property seized from Oswald from his person, and from Irving and Beckley. The inventory lists things like a toothbrush and tube of toothpaste, etc. http://jfk.ci.dallas.tx.us/box6.htm Maybe I missed it, but I'm not finding an inventory for the bullets taken from his pants pocket. On another page, Fritz gives Curry a rundown of the evidence against Oswald and mentions the bus transfer, but again, no mention of the bullets in his pocket. (He says the list is by no means complete). BTW, the inventory lists two belts taken off Oswald. A black leather belt and a brown leather belt. Oswald was wearing two belts? Steve Thomas

I've been puzzled about something. In Box 1 Folder# 7 Item# 43 http://jfk.ci.dallas.tx.us/01/0190-001.gif there is a property clerk's invoice for property taken (the index says from 1026 N. Beckley) but I believe it was actually taken off Lee Harvey Oswald. The property clerk listed the items as having been received from Officer Boyd. Among other things it lists: a post office key for P.O. Box 1126. Does anyone know where this P.O. Box was located? Another thing that is listed is a Dallas County bus transfer ticket. What is not listed is 38 caliber revolver bullets. Now Elmer Boyd told the WC in 7H126 that he found those bullets in Oswald's pocket just before taking him down to the first lineup at 4:05 PM Mr. BALL. What did you do with them? Mr. BOYD. Well, I put them in an envelope and put them with the rest of the property up there to be turned in. Mr. BALL. And turned them over to whom? Mr. BOYD. Well, let me see---it seems like we had a drawer there where we had some more property, where we put it all in there you know, where they had the other stuff--I have forgotten just exactly where it would be. So there was other Oswald property there, and Fritz told the WC: Mr. BALL. He hadn't been searched up to that time, had he? Mr. FRITZ. Yes, sir; he had been searched. Mr. BALL. Wasn't he searched later in the jail office? Mr. FRITZ. He was searched, the officers who arrested him made the first search, I am sure. He had another search at the building and I believe that one of my officers, Mr. Boyd, found some cartridges in his pocket in the room after he came to the city hall. I can't tell you the exact time when he searched him. Mr. BALL. You don't have the record of the time when he was searched? Mr. FRITZ. No. Mr. BALL. You remember they found a transfer of Dallas Transit Company? Mr. FRITZ. Yes, sir; found a transfer. Mr. BALL. And some bullets? Mr. FRITZ. Bullets; yes, sir. Cartridges. What I haven't been able to find is exactly who found that transfer, and when they found it. How could they find the transfer, but miss the bullets? Steve Thomas

I think this would be a fruitful area of research. I have always been struck by the number of black or African-American spectators in Dealey Plaza at the time of assassination. I wonder if anyone has ever combed the archives of small black-owned Dallas newspapers in 1963 who might have published interviews with readers who were present on November 22nd. I think these observers have largely been overlooked. I know that in the 1970's, using federal grant money, the State Libraries in many states undertook a project to microfilm or archive the smaller newspapers held by public libraries in towns that didn't have the funds or equipment to do their own microfilming. I'm not talking about the Dallas Times Herald or Morning News, but the smaller papers that didn't get much attention. I don't have access to the Ulrich's International Directory, but it will tell you which papers were published and the dates of publication. Being smaller papers, these will probably not be indexed and a person will more than likely have to comb through the papers issue by issue, but I think it would be a worthwhile endeavor. Steve Thomas

Someday I'd like to write an essay about the women of JFK. No, I'm not talking about the Marilyn Monroe's or the Judith Campbell's or Mary Pinchot Meyer's; I'm talking about the Marita Lorentz's, the Rose Cheramie's, the Elizabeth Cole's; the Lillian Spingler's, the Sylvia Odio's; the women who spoke of an assassination attempt before it happened. I think men had the habit of a priori speaking of it because, either (a) women were beneath notice, or ( men were trying to puff themselves up or making them selves bigger in the womens' eyes. As Lillian Spingler said, "...that at that point, she felt that this individual was seeking attention" http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=10649#relPageId=5&tab=page It would make an interesting essay don't you think? Steve Thomas

If this is the hearse taking JFK back to Love Field, what is the vehicle on the left hand side of the image, off to the left of the crowd of people?https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A0LEVu5QkLRWuBYAwmsnnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTEwNzJpNmJwBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNyZWwtYm90?p=jfk+parkland+hospital&ei=UTF-8&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=mozilla&fr2=rs-bottom%2Cp%3As%2Cv%3Aw%2Cm%3Aat-s&fr=yhs-mozilla-001 While all the attention was on Air Force One, could the shipping casket have been placed on Air Force Two, or the C-130 military plane that took the limousine back to Washington? I would have to find the radio logs for Air Force Two or the cargo manifest for the C-130 to find out more. Steve Thomas This was suggested several years earlier in a post on the Education Forum by David Andrews on 23 August 2012 - 12:48 AM entitled: How JFK's body was wrapped.http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=19412 "Kellerman's and other SS agents' behavior on leaving Parkland in a hurry, with guns drawn, knocking people out of the way, could have been to prevent Texas authorities' possession and opening of an empty coffin. (Otherwise, it was necessary to keep the pre-autopsy alterations in DC on schedule.) I tend to think that David Lifton was on track in Best Evidence, and JFK's body actually returned to Washington on Air Force Two (the V-P plane). Which would mean switching the body at Parkland." So the question becomes, was there a point at any time when JFK's body was left unattended, or did any hospital personnel report any suspicious activity? Well, it appears that for a time, many hospital personnel were ushered out of Emergency and Trauma Room# 1 and were prevented from observing anything. Statement of Steve Landregan, Assistant Administrator of Parkland Hospital. Price Exhibit 7 http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pdf/WH21_Price_Ex_2-35.pdfpage 9 I closed the door to the Ob-Gyn area and had the door to Radiology closed and asked someone to cover the windows on both doors with paper and tape. Page 14: At this point, a member of the White House staff approached me and asked if there was any way that the President's body could be removed other .than the public corridor. I advised him that it could be taken out through the 0B-Gyn section and through the doorway across from Minor Medicine and Surgery, but that it would still have to be taken out the emergency room entrance. I showed him this possible route and he agreed that this would be the best one. I then attempted to clear the Ob-Gyn area of all but necessary personnel and asked that the windows and the doors in this area be covered to prevent the possibility of any unnecessary observation or photographs. ERA LUMPKIN,AIDE Price Exhibit 16 http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pdf/WH21_Price_Ex_2-35.pdf page 60 Finally, some one asked every one to leave out of the Emergency Room. So Shirley Randall and me left out and went into the waiting room. The policeman asked every one out. They told us, Shirley and me, we could stay after they asked where we worked. We said in Emergency Room. There were four patients, Shirley Randall and myself and several doctors left in the waiting room. As I looked out the window of the waiting room Oneal Ambulance brought in bronze casket and went towards Emergency Room. Later they came back with the casket. SHIRLEY RANDALL, AIDE Price Exhibit 22 http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pdf/WH21_Price_Ex_2-35.pdf page 69 Era and I left and went back to Surgery and stood in a booth. Mr. Lardrecan asked everybody, including the Emergency personnel, please to leave the room. We then went to the stairway and stood by the door, both feeling very depressed. Finally we went to the Waiting Room and stood there watching outside the window. The police made everyone leave the Waiting Room except the patients. I think it was about four patients in there. One policeman told me to put them all in a corner. So I asked three of them to move to the corner where they couldn't see anything; the other patient was in a wheelchair and I pushed her into the corner too. I explained to them that after everything was over, they could then go back and receive treatments. One patient wanted to know why they were trying to keep everybody from looking and going into the Emergency Room because the President was dead now. I explained that Mrs. Kennedy was not dead and it was probably for her safety. ROSA M. MAJORS, AIDE Price Exhibit 23 http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pdf/WH21_Price_Ex_2-35.pdf page 71 I stood there for a while with Faye; we decided to go across the hall in Minor Medicine and look out of the window. As we were going to look out of the window, Mr. Price came and pushed us out; I was pushed around so much that day until I began to think I was a volley ball. I started back in the Emergency Room when I was told to go back out, that if I was needed, they would call me; so I decided to go in Pedi E.O.R. And stay until we started seeing patients again . After they carried the President's body out, all the area was opened for work again... ACTIVITIES OF TOMMMY DUNN, ORDERLY Price Exhibit 26 http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pdf/WH21_Price_Ex_2-35.pdf page 76 Rose and I removed his (Governor Connolly) shoes and pants. We were then asked to leave Trauma Rooms. I returned to the patients in the booths, Mr. Price then asked everyone to leave the Emergency Room until further notice. After everything was over, I returned to regular duty. There seems to be a gap of time of about thirty minutes between the time when the casket was brought in and when it was wheeled out. Activities of 0.P. Wright Price Exhibit 29 http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pdf/WH21_Price_Ex_2-35.pdf page 81 When the casket arrived it was accompanied by Pegg Oneal, owner of Oneal Funeral Home . He was assisted in moving the casket into the area where the late President's body was. Approximately thirty minutes later, the casket was brought out through the door . I was told that it contained the body of the late President. Statement of R.G. Holcomb Assistant Administrator Price Exhibit 32 http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pdf/WH21_Price_Ex_2-35.pdf page 98 I recall seeing the casket brought into the area and remember seeing it being wheeled down the hall to the Major Surgery door. Mr. Price was, I believe, assisting with the manning it down the hall . Within some 30 minutes or so, Mr. Price came to me and said that they were ready to remove the President's body and for us to get the hall as clear as possible. David Sanders, who helped clean Trauma Room# 1 Price Ehibit 25 http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pdf/WH21_Price_Ex_2-35.pdf page 75 said that after Jackie came in and placed her ring on JFK's finger and kissing his hand, she left the room. Afterwards they placed the body in the casket. Two nurses said that after JFK was placed in the casket, Jackie came back in the room and remained with his body. Diana Bowron Price Exhibit 12 http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pdf/WH21_Price_Ex_2-35.pdf page 55 When Mrs. Kennedy had left we placed the President's body on a plastic sheet in the casket. We all left the room and Mrs Kennedy entered alone and stayed with the body until it was removed a short time later. ACTIVITIES OF MARGARET HINCHLIFFE. Price Exhibit 30 http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pdf/WH21_Price_Ex_2-35.pdf page 91 After Mrs.Kennedy and the priests left the room, Miss Bowron and myself, with the assistance of David Sanders, the orderly, prepared the body... We remained with the body until he was placed in the casket. Then, Mrs. Kennedy entered the room and everyone left the room and waited outside until the President's body was taken from the hospital. So, was JFK ever left alone? I just don't know. Steve Thomas

Dr. Price, Parkland Hospital Administrator was asked this. In his Warren Commission Price Exhibit 33, page 111 he wrote this: http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pdf/WH21_Price_Ex_2-35.pdf I noticed that Steve had started out of the area with a secret service man and asked where he was going. He said to get a casket, and I told him to wait a minute as someone had just asked me about one and had asked that no further action be taken at that tine. Right now, I don't know who "Steve" is, and I don't know who this "other man in the group talking with Mrs. Kennedy" was. I've since learned that "Steve" was Mr. Steve Landregan, Assistant Administrator of Parkland Hospital. Steve Thomas

I think this explains the big fight over the coffin/casket in the halls of Parkland hospital between the Secret Service and the Dallas authorities. The casket was already empty by then and the Secret Service could not afford to let the Dallas authorities get their hands on it. Steve Thomas I got to wondering where a "pink/grey" shipping casket may have come from. I mean, what does a hospital do when a person arrives DOA at a hospital, or dies during surgery, etc? Do hospitals keep a supply of caskets in storage or something? Dr. Price, Parkland Hospital Administrator was asked this. In his Warren Commission Price Exhibit 33, page 111 he wrote this: http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pdf/WH21_Price_Ex_2-35.pdf About this time a secret service man came to me and asked how we could move the president's body. He asked if we had a casket, a basket or anything that we could get to move the body immediately. I told him that we had nothing like that, but that we had several military installation nearby where we could get a casket, or we could get one from a local funeral director. He asked me to wait where I was, stating he would be back in just a minute,. I noticed that Steve had started out of the area with a secret service man and asked where he was going. He said to get a casket, and I told him to wait a minute as someone had just asked me about one and had asked that no further action be taken at that tine. Another man in the group who had been talking with Mrs. Kennedy and the other secret service agents near her came to me and asked that we get a casket of any kind from any place the quickest possible way. I then turned to Steve and relayed the request to him, and asked that he see what could be done about it. Right now, I don't know who "Steve" is, and I don't know who this "other man in the group talking with Mrs. Kennedy" was. If you needed a "pinkish/grey" shipping casket similar to ones used to ship servicemen home from Vietnam, what better place to get one than from a military installation. Is this how the casket was removed? On page 110 of this Exhibit, Price wrote: While talking with Mrs. Nelson, one of the secret service men who had been bruised or had a minor injury came to me and asked if there were another way that the President and Mrs. Kennedy could be taken out of the building. I told him there was a tunnel exit and that if he would come with me, I would walk it off for him. I walked down to inspect the tunnel, then returned to the surgery area of the Emergency Room. (Does anyone know about a Secret Service man who had been bruised or had a minor injury?) While I was talking with him, (a Mr. Maher) another secret service man grabbed me by the arm and asked if I knew an alternate route the Johnson*s could use for an exit. I told him I had walked out an alternate route with another agent a few minutes ago and that if he would come with me, I would show him. We went to the Emergency Room elevator, one of the maintenance men was manually operating it and told him to take us to the basement.... I instructed the elevator operator to go to second (floor for an emergency delivery of blood),and then to take us on down to the basement. The secret service agent and I "ran" the alternate route, then when we got back to the Emergency Room area, he asked me to show him where the Johnsons were. If this is the hearse taking JFK back to Love Field, what is the vehicle on the left hand side of the image, off to the left of the crowd of people? https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A0LEVu5QkLRWuBYAwmsnnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTEwNzJpNmJwBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNyZWwtYm90?p=jfk+parkland+hospital&ei=UTF-8&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=mozilla&fr2=rs-bottom%2Cp%3As%2Cv%3Aw%2Cm%3Aat-s&fr=yhs-mozilla-001 While all the attention was on Air Force One, could the shipping casket have been placed on Air Force Two, or the C-130 military plane that took the limousine back to Washington? I would have to find the radio logs for Air Force Two or the cargo manifest for the C-130 to find out more. Steve Thomas

I think this explains the big fight over the coffin/casket in the halls of Parkland hospital between the Secret Service and the Dallas authorities. The casket was already empty by then and the Secret Service could not afford to let the Dallas authorities get their hands on it. Steve Thomas

James, I have been looking for some connection between the Miller/Whitter gunrunning case, the right wing activities of Larry Schmidt and the Joiner family, Lawrence Howard and Loren Hall running guns through Dallas, and the anti-Castro Cubans. Frank Ellsworth told the Secret Service that John Thomas Masen had told him (Ellsworth) that Manuel Rodriguuez Orcarberro had tried to buy bazookas, machine guns, and other heavy equipment from him (Masen). Masen had told Ellsworth that George F. Parrel was a Cuban national who “was as associate of Rodriguez”, and who had also tried buying guns from Masen. Masen told Ellsworth that Rodriguez and Parrel had previously made purchases from him and that they had a large cashe of arms in the Dallas area. See: Warren Commission Document 853 - SS Rowley Memorandum of 24 Apr 1964 re: Manuel Rodriguez w/Attachments https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=11250#relPageId=4&tab=page One interesting thing, Warren Commission Document #320 is a memo from SS Agent Rowley. On page 162 of that Report there is a newspaper article from October 27, 1963 issue of the Dallas Times Herald concerning the Stevenson incident. In the article, Bobbie Joiner said there was no preplanning for Stevenson incident, but that, “some of the signs used were stored at former Major General Edwin A. Walker’s headquarters on Turtle Creek Blvd.” http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...p;relPageId=162 This was the same incident that Larry Schmidt took credit for in one of his letters to Bernard Weissman. Schmidt was also quoted in the same October 27th issue On page 6 of Wallace Heitman’s April 29 Report, right in the middle of a discussion about the Cubans in Garland, he says that his source said that (blank) and (blank) (Quintana and Castro?) had told him that they had attended the meeting at the Dallas Municipal Auditorium in October, 1963 where Adlai Stevenson had given a speech and that they had worn placards outside the Auditorium which were anti-Stevenson in context. http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...p;relPageId=215 I'm not sure what this proves, other than these people were at the same place at the same time. Did they know each other? I don't know. From the WC testimony of Michael Paine: http://jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/paine_m1.htm Mr. LIEBELER - Are you a member of the American Civil Liberties Union? Mr. PAINE - Yes. Mr. LIEBELER - When did you become a member of that organization? Mr. PAINE - I suppose you become a member as soon as you contribute money, and I may have contributed money a good many years back. I didn't start going to a meeting of the organization until I was--I have only been to about four perhaps, in Dallas, four meetings. Mr. LIEBELER - Are you a member or have you ever attended any meetings of the John Birch Society? Mr. PAINE - I am not a member. I have been to one or, I guess chiefly one meeting of theirs. Mr. LIEBELER - Where was that? Mr. PAINE - That was in Dallas? Mr. LIEBELER - When? Mr. PAINE - That was the night Stevenson spoke in Dallas. The CHAIRMAN - When? Mr. PAINE - The night Stevenson spoke in Dallas, U.N. Day. Mr. PAINE - I had been seeking to go to a Birch meeting for some time, and then I was invited on this night so I went. It was an introductory meeting. Mr. DULLES - On the 9th of November? Mr. PAINE - It was November something, I don't know what, a Wednesday or Thursday night. Mr. LIEBELER - For the record I think the record should indicate that Mr. Stevenson was in Dallas on or about October 24, 1963. Mr. PAINE - When I went to the ACLU meeting he (Oswald) then got up, stood up and reported what had happened at the meeting of the far right which had occurred at convention hall the day before, U.N. Day, they called it U.S. Day, and I think Walker had spoken then. From this I gathered that he was doing more or less the same thing-- I thought he was, I didn't inquire how he spent his free time but I supposed he was going around to right wing groups being familiarizing himself for whatever his purposes were as I was... this was the only concrete evidence I had of how he spent, might have spent some of his time. It happened in the ACLU meeting in late October. I suppose he was familiar with the right-wing groups and activities, and movements. And certainly familiar with Walker; yes. So Oswald was at the anti-Stevenson rally at the same time as Larry Schmidt, Bobby Joiner, members of the John Birch Society and members of SNFE/Alpha 66? Steve Thomas

I had to laugh. Mr. LIEBELER - Are you a member or have you ever attended any meetings of the John Birch Society? Mr. PAINE - I am not a member. I have been to one or, I guess chiefly one meeting of theirs. Mr. LIEBELER - Where was that? Mr. PAINE - That was in Dallas? Mr. LIEBELER - When? Mr. PAINE - That was the night Stevenson spoke in Dallas. The CHAIRMAN - When? Mr. PAINE - The night Stevenson spoke in Dallas, U.N. Day. Mr. LIEBELER - The Birch meeting which you were down to was sparsely attended? Mr. PAINE - Yes. Mr. LIEBELER - Did this meeting have anything to do with the activity that occurred at Mr. Stevenson's meeting in Dallas? Mr. PAINE - No. You see they were taking place at the same time. It was rather sparsely attended, most of them were down spitting on Stevenson. Steve Thomas

Pat, I believe that this is Detective M. G. (Marlin G.) Hall from the Homicide and Robbery Bureau. He was partnered with Sims and Boyd and in his after-action report, talks about taking Oswald down to the midnight press conference with Sims and Boyd. http://jfk.ci.dallas.tx.us/09/0948-002.gif Steve Thomas

Paul, Your interests, Steve, probably also include the WC affidavit of ATF Agent Frank Ellsworth, who tracked Cuban Exile gun-running in Dallas, and was convinced that the Dallas Minutemen under General Walker were "the most likely to kill JFK in Dallas." Regards, --Paul Trejo Section 10, p. 6 of the FBI Liason Files, which you can find here: https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=62237 references a visit to Frank Ellsworth by Burt Griffin and Dallas SS Agent, William Patterson in April of 1964. In Section 25, on page 183 of those same Liason Files, it says that during Griffin's questioning of Ellsworth concerning Cuban exile gun-running activities, he asked Ellsworth what he knew about two FBI agents and the possible witholding of information. Do you know who Griffin might have been referring to? Steve Thomas

For a long time I have been fascinated by a little-known and not-discussed incident that Sylvia Odio refers to in an FBI October, 1964 interview. You can find it here: http://media.nara.gov/dc-metro/rg-272/605417-key-persons/odio_silvia/odio_silvia.pdf On Page 3 of that interview summary, Sylvia says that a bunch of Cuban families at the Crestwood Apartment Complex on Magellan Circle would get together occasionally, and that on one occasion, the son of a man named Masferrer got into a fight with another individual, and that that fight "deteriorated into a general disturbance, to which the police were called." Does anyone know of any press stories or police reports about this incident. I have a vague memory of that fight being referred to by someone else, perhaps an FBI interview with Kiki Masferrer? In her interview summary, Sylvia doesn't say when this fight took place, but I have a suspicion it happened in October, 1963. Someday I am going to compile a list of the things that were going on in Dallas in October, 1963: Adlai Stevenson incident Larry Schmidt and Bernard Weisman Alpha 66 guys storing protest signs at Walker's residence Loren Hall and Lawrence Howard visits to Dallas Miller and Whittier gunrunning meetings (at least one conducted in Spanish and one in English) taking place at banks (at least one where it has been alleged Oswald attended). So many things swirling around. Steve Thomas

Is anyone in here familiar with requesting things or have requested things from the French National Archives? Steve Thomas

Robert, On 15 September 2015, you wrote: "Rutledge covered Jack Ruby's killing of Lee Harvey Oswald, the man suspected of assassinating President Kennedy, in 1963. He was called to testify as a prosecution witness at Ruby's trial, said his son, Daniel M. Rutledge of Bryan, because he had seen Ruby hanging around the police station just before the killing." In those boxed files of Henry Wade's there are these three accounts in pdf 2108 of Group 44: pdf 2108. Warrren Ritchey, engineer for WBAP-TV says he saw Ruby on the Commerce St. sidewalk outside of the police station at about 9:00 AM on 11/24/63. John Smith, video reporter for WBAP-TV saw Ruby at about 8:00 AM on 11/24 standing on the Commerce St. sidewalk. WBAB-TV truck parked on Commerce St. about 25' from the basement ramp. Smith spoke to Ruby. Saw him again about 10:00 AM next to the ramp. Ruby looked like a person who was "just killing time." Ira Walker, employee WBAB-TV saw Ruby between 7:30 and 8:00 AM near WBAB-TV truck. Walker said he first saw Ruby shortly after the armored truck was backed into the basement of the Police Department. Ruby came up to the WBAP-TV truck and asked if Oswald had been brought down yet. Walker told him "no". uby came up to truck and asked this question on two occasions. Have these ever been disproven? Steve Thomas

Lee, Nancy Perrin Rich said that she attended a meeting also attended by Jack Ruby. Gun running was discussed. The guns being discussed were British Enfields. Steve Thomas

Lee, Nancy Perrin Rich told the Warren Commission that the gun running meetings she attended with Jack Ruby involved Enfields. Steve Thomas

Got this from a former Dallas policeman: Charles Osburn died March 30, 2012 Steve, in every presentation showing the School Book Depository Building right after the assassination, it shows a Dallas Officer, with a rain shield on his cap, holding a shotgun and looking up towards the building. That was Charles Orsburn. Steve Thomas

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/18/fidel-castro-may-have-known-of-oswald-plot-to-kill-jfk-ex-cia-officer-claims/ Steve Thomas

I got this from a former Dallas policeman: Richard Milton Sims, Dallas police detective who guarded Lee Harvey Oswald, dies By WENDY HUNDLEY Richard Sims Photo: File 2007 / Staff Photo After police captured Lee Harvey Oswald, Richard Milton Sims and his partner were assigned to guard the accused presidential assassin. Mr. Sims, a Dallas police officer and detective for 28 years, died Thursday of congestive heart failure at his Dallas home. He was 87. A funeral service is set for 2 p.m. Monday at Grove Hill Chapel, where Dallas officers will serve as the honor guard. “He was a great family man,” said Mr. Sims’ son, Richard Sims Jr. “He was very loyal to his friends and family.” The Dallas native graduated from Wilmer-Hutchins High School in 1942 and served in the Navy during World War II. He was assigned to the USS Tulsa, a patrol gunboat deployed in the Pacific Ocean during the war. In an ironic twist, his son said, the boat once towed the PT-109, a vessel later commanded by Lt. John F. Kennedy. Mr. Sims returned to Dallas after the war and joined the Dallas Police Department as a patrol officer. “He was only in uniform for six weeks before he went into plain clothes to work with the vice squad,” his son said. Mr. Sims, who earned a degree in criminal justice from Sam Houston State University, later became a detective in the robbery and homicide units. On Nov. 22, 1963, he and his longtime partner, Elmer “Sonny” Boyd, were assigned to guard Oswald, who had just been captured for shooting President Kennedy and Dallas police Officer J.D. Tippit. The two detectives are thought to have spent more time than anyone else with Oswald during the following two days. “He didn’t give us any trouble at all,” Mr. Sims said in a 2007 interview with The Dallas Morning News. “He went along like a little puppy dog when Boyd and I had him.” On the night of the assassination, Mr. Sims took a telephone call from a man he knew from his days on the vice squad: Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby. “He offered to bring some sandwiches and drinks over to the department,” Richard Sims Jr. said. His father declined the offer but later wondered if Ruby was trying to get into police headquarters that night to kill Oswald. Despite the many conspiracy theories, Mr. Sims “was convinced … [Oswald] was the lone shooter,” his son said. Mr. Sims’ role in the historic event made him a celebrity of sorts. Over the years, people from around the world sent letters asking him to autograph photographs and newspaper clippings about the assassination, his family said. He always tried to accommodate the requests that included postage-paid return envelopes. But he wasn’t able to sign them all before his death. “There are still some on the table,” his son said. Steve Thomas

Got this message today: Stacey Brezik has reported that Jim Leavelle had a serious fall while visiting his daughter Karla and was flown to Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas for immediate surgery to remove his eye due to the severity of damage. Keep Jim and his family in your prayers. There will be updates on Jim as received. Steve Thomas