Steve Thomas

My name is Steve Thomas. I'm a Librarian currently working in Newburgh, IN.

I've been researching JFK's assassination for a couple of years now.

Antti,

Does anyone recall who this was, or were there more unfamiliar individuals roaming around on 11/22/63?

From the 11/22/63 affidavit of Danny Arce:

The only person I saw was a real old man, and he had on an old brown suit and a western type hat. I saw this man leave the building and drive off in an old black Buick. This man was not carrying anything in his hands when I saw him. This man was in the building after lunch. This man left in the car before the President was shot. I didn't see any other people in the building but this old man, other than the people that I named that worked there.

Steve Thomas

Larry,

You wrote:

After considerable study I can't answer that any more than they could but I can affirm to you that Jones is a terrible source and the only net effect was that his testimony managed to divert the investigation of the people with ID - a very serious issue.

During his HSCA testimony, Jones spoke about intelligence sources within local law enforcement:

Mr. Jones. Our special agents assigned to a military intelligence group were military personnel in most cases, and they would have sources within the police department that would be on the payroll of the police department report to them.

And the source that I received this information from came through a source in the police department through my agent that I considered a source to me.

I happened to stumble across this document in the NARA database:

Have you ever run across information concerning Don Stringfellow?

AGENCY INFORMATION

AGENCY : USA

RECORD NUMBER : 197-10002-10369

RECORDS SERIES : HEADQUARTERS FILES, PENTAGON TELECOMMUNICATIONS CENTER

DOCUMENT INFORMATION

ORIGINATOR : COMMANDING GENERAL US CONTINENTAL ARMY COMMAND

FROM :

TO : CINC, US STRIKE COMMAND

TITLE : INFORMATION ON FAIR PLAY FOR CUBA COMMITTEE

DATE : 11/26/1963

PAGES : 3

DOCUMENT TYPE : PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

SUBJECTS : MILITARY DOMESTIC SURVEILLANCE (SECURITY

RISKS/COUNTERINTELLIGENCE); MILITARY DOMESTIC

SURVEILLANCE (FAIR PLAY FOR CUBA COMMITTEE); LEE

HARVEY OSWALD; COLLINS, BARBARA; GIBSON, RICHARD; OSWALD, HARVEY LEE: BACKGROUND INFORMATION, CONNECTION WITH COMMITTEE; MEMBER OF COMMUNIST PARTY; TRAVEL TO USSR, CUBA; OSWALD, MARINA NIKOLAEVNA: SPOUSE; STRINGFELLOW, DON: ASST CHIEF, INTELLIGENCE SECTION, DALLAS POLICE DEPT; MILITARY INTELLIGENCE LIAISON WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT (DALLAS POLICE)

CLASSIFICATION : UNCLASSIFIED

RESTRICTIONS : OPEN IN FULL

CURRENT STATUS : OPEN

DATE OF LAST REVIEW : 07/30/1996

COMMENTS : COPY ATTACHED

Steve Thomas

Larry,

and the reserve MI officer in it was not from the 112th, he has been interviewed and was simply there for personal reasons to get a ride in the President's motorcade. He was worked into the car by one of the officers who was his friend.

Thanks, I didn't know that. I always wondered how he wound up in the motorcade.

I assume you've got his interview on the CD you put together. Did he have any salient observations?

Steve Thomas

Steve Thomas

B.A. in History from St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, IN.

Master's in Library Science from Clarion University in Clarion, PA.

Currently (2004) serving as the Director of the Ohio Township Public Library System in Newburgh, IN.

I've been researching the assassination of John F. Kennedy for several years and have written a paper on the accounts of Dallas Police and Dallas County Sheriff's Deputies encountering persons who they identified, or who were identified to them as being members of the U.S. Secret Service at a time and place when no members of the Secret Service were known to have been present.

As of 2004 this paper has not been published.

Larry,

Just one small point.

You wrote:

(the daily briefing conducted by DPD for officers focused on traffic and the point car for the motorcade was actually driven by a traffic officer).

The point car has always been one of my biggest bones of contention in this case.

It contained two homicide dtectives, a member of the 112th MI, and was driven by Deputy Chief of Police, Goerge Lumpkin. His job on the force? He was head of the Service Division - the administrative office that covered things like the Fingerprint Section, the ID Bureau, Crime Search and the Headquarters Section (the jail, cooks, porters, etc.)

I would have been happy if they HAD put someone trained in traffic in that car.

Scattered throughout the DPD Archives there are documents stating that the last passenger in the car was a Secret Service Agent. I think there should have been.

Instead, officially anyway, we find the last passenger to be Jack Puterbaugh, Democratic Committee Advance Man. How he would be qualified to spot trouble in the streets is beyond me.

Steve Thomas

Greg,

As I said, Karen had been on what the DPD called "The Circuit" -- a multi-state, prostitution and drug ring, so I'm not totally surprised by the Californian driver's licence. Do you see something of significance with it? Do you believe, for instance, it was someone other than KC?

No, it's just that there is a background to Karen the we don't know about.

This is from the May '63 police report I linked to: "Officer Cox describes this girl as being a post[it]ute, which (sic) he knows went on the Circuit, which is a group of prostitutes who travel from place to place over the United States."

I have read the American Guild of Variety Artists hearings before Congress in 1961 I think it was.

It was a sordid business. Those guys kept those women in a virtual white slavery ring.

You said,

You might also want to read, I think it is a Secret Service report of an interview with Little Lynn by Roger Warner. Very instructive.

Is this online somewhere? Not sure if I've seen it before or not...

You can read Roger Warner's affidavit of his interview with Little Lynn here:

http://jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/warner_r.htm

Steve Thomas

Greg,

I was reading through the WC testimony of Jesse Strong. He was the Fort Worth Western Union employee who gave Karen Bennett the $25.00 on 11/24/63 that Jack Ruby sent her. When she arrived to get her money, she presented a California drivers license as identification.

http://jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/strong.htm

Mr. STRONG. I actually paid the $25 to Karen Bennett when she came into the office, approximately at 3:20 p.m., on the afternoon of November 24.

Mr. HUBERT. In what way do you identify this document? Is there anything on it?

Mr. STRONG. Yes, I asked her for identification and she presented her California driver's license No. 768114, and description, black hair, blue eyes, height 5 feet 2. Weight 105.

In 1963, Karen was 19 years old, which means that she would have to have gotten her CA drivers license in the last 3-4 years.

Another oddity about picking this money up...

Though she called Jack Ruby at least twice for the money (once on Sat. night and once on Sun morning) for rent and groceries, she said that she called JR about 10:00AM on Sun. morning and Jack said that he would go downtown and send it Western Union, she and Bruce didn't go pick it up until 3:20 in the afternoon.

Karen said that she and Bruce took a bus to downtown Fort Worth, but Strong said that Karen was alone. Maybe Bruce was outside pacing the sidewalk.

You might also want to read, I think it is a Secret Service report of an interview with Little Lynn by Roger Warner. Very instructive.

It's also interesting to compare the testimony of Bruce Carlin against Jack Ruby about how long they were in the car together on Friday night.

Steve Thomas

John,

Jack Ruby, the latest section of the Photo Archive has now been uploaded.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Ruby.htm

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In Picture number 9, on the right hand side, there is a picture of a girl wearing two six guns.

I believe that this picture was not taken inside the Carousel. I think it was taken inside either the Colony or Theater Clubs. You might want to ask Ian Griggs.

Steve Thomas

Lee,

Bowers said that the first car, the 1959 Oldsmobile, and the third car, the '61 or '62 Chevrolet had the same license plate configuration - six black numbers on a white background.

I once wrote to the License Plate Collectors Association of America and asked them what state had that particular configuration in 1963. The answer I got back was that the only state in the Union that had that particular configuration in 1963 was the state of Virginia. The plates could have been stolen of course, but I found that answer odd.

Steve Thomas

Could someone please enlighten me as to who the three men are standing on the steps of the grassy knoll, leading down to the roadside.

One of the three men was groundskeeper, Emmett Hudson. You can read his Warren Commission testimony here:

http://jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/hudson.htm

It's either in the Muchmore or Nix films you can see one of the three men turn and start to charge up the steps. I don't believe he has ever come forward.

Steve Thomas

Well, if it is Dealey Plaza I am at loss where that wall is.

Wim

Wim,

I don't think that is a wall. I think they are train cars.

Steve Thomas

I have been told that Oswald had one or more photos taken in Mexico City for a passport or visa and that those photos still exist.

Does anyone know of a source where I can see these pictures online?

Thanks,

Steve Thomas

John, as far as I know that "white stuffed animal" was never actually verified and indeed it is probably a mistake.

Larry,

I think it was a Lamb Chop puppet.

From a 9/24/02 posting in the Lancer Forum by Jim Oliver:

"It was at an Ask CONFERENCE that researcher Wallace Millam(?spelling) produced the footage of Jackie Kennedy being given a little white stuffed animal (Lamb Chop) at the fence at Love Field. Mrs. Kennedy placed the white toy animal(that did look like a little dog)on the rear seat of the limo between her and the President. This really impressed me as to how close to the car Jean actually was and how much she did see."

Steve Thomas

John,

An assassin not only has to plan the shot, he also has to plan his getaway. As a matter of fact, I think a professional assassin would be pretty confident about making the kill. What is not so sure is his getaway and escape - preferably without detection.

If the shot had been taken while JFK's limo was still on Houston, there would have been no doubt as to its origin. By waiting until the limo was on Elm, with multiple possible shooting origins, the assassins were able to sew doubt and create confusion, thereby giving them enough time to effect their escape.

Steve Thomas

Mr. PAINE - I asked him what he was doing, his job, and he showed me a picture on the wall, which was a piece of newspaper, I think--that is beside the point. I asked him about Russia, what he liked about.

Mr. DULLES - Could we get that picture?

Mr. PAINE - I think it was beside the point. It was a piece of newspaper showing a fashion ad, I think. I think his job was--

Antti,

This exchange with Michael Paine seems to confirm for me that LHO had a photography job at one point.

Paine asks Oswald what he does for a living. Oswald points to a picture on the wall. The picture contained a piece of magazine showing a fashion ad.

I don't think that is "beside the point" as Paine says twice.

It seems to me that Oswald was skilled in photography and in Minsk, did electronics work. What's he doing cleaning coffee machines at Reily and filling book orders at the TSBD?

Steve Thomas

Was reading through Marina Oswald's testimony before the WC and came across the passage quoted below from her first appearance before the WC on February 3, 1964.

Does anyone know to what she is referring?

Mr. RANKIN. Did he seem to like his job at the depository?

Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, because it was not dirty work.

Mr. RANKIN. Had he talked about getting any other job?

Mrs. OSWALD. Yes. When he went to answer some ads, he preferred to get some work connected with photography rather than this work. He liked this work relatively speaking--he liked it. But, of course, he wanted to get something better.

Mr. RANKIN. Did you like the photographic work?

Mrs. OSWALD. Yes. It was interesting for him. When he would see his work in the newspaper he would always point it out.

Steve Thomas

John,

For me, it's the Commencement address JFK gave at American University on June 10, 1963, part of which is excerpted below:

http://www.ratical.org/co-globalize/JFK061063.html

Today, should total war ever break out again -- no matter how -- our two countries would become the primary targets. It is an ironic but accurate fact that the two strongest powers are the two in the most danger of devastation. All we have built, all we have worked for, would be destroyed in the first twenty-four hours. And even in the cold war, which brings burdens and dangers to so many countries, including this nation's closest allies -- our two countries bear the heaviest burdens. For we are both devoting to weapons massive sums of money that could be better devoted to combating ignorance, poverty and disease. We are both caught up in a vicious and dangerous cycle in which suspicion on one side breeds suspicion on the other, and new weapons beget counterweapons.

In short, both the United States and its allies, and the Soviet Union and its allies, have a mutually deep interest in a just and genuine peace and in halting the arms race. Agreements to this end are in the interests of the Soviet Union as well as ours -- and even the most hostile nations can be relied upon to accept and keep those treaty obligations, and only those treaty obligations, which are in their own interest.

So, let us not be blind to our differences -- but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.

He was advocating an accomodation with the Soviet Union, and there were definitely people in 1963 who looked on that as tatamount to treason.

Steve Thomas

1. Who was LHO's mob contact?

Antti,

Oswald's efforts to get a job at the Allright Parking Garage - where Ruby parked his car; his efforts to get a job at the Adolphus Hotel - across the street from the Carousel Club, the reported sightings of Ruby and Oswald together at the Lucas B+B and Nita's Place and the reports of at least two mechanics I think saying that they saw Oswald driving Ruby's car lead me to believe that Oswald was either shadowing Ruby, or was trying to ingratiate himself into Ruby's life.

Steve Thomas

Lee,

There is this in the NARA database:

AGENCY INFORMATION

AGENCY : HSCA

RECORD NUMBER : 180-10090-10203

RECORDS SERIES : NUMBERED FILES

AGENCY FILE NUMBER : 000590

DOCUMENT INFORMATION

ORIGINATOR : NEW TIMES

FROM : NOBILEM, PHILLIP AND ROSENBAUM, RON

TO : [No To]

TITLE : THE CIRCUS AFTERMATH OF JFK'S BEST AND BRIGHTEST

AFFAIR

DATE : 07/09/1976

PAGES : 9

DOCUMENT TYPE : PRESS CLIPPINGS

SUBJECTS : MEYER, MARY PINCHOT; ANGLETON, JAMES; KENNEDY, JOHN

CLASSIFICATION : UNCLASSIFIED

RESTRICTIONS : OPEN IN FULL

CURRENT STATUS : OPEN

DATE OF LAST REVIEW : 07/30/1993

COMMENTS : Box 15.

Steve Thomas

John,

Over the last few days I have been reading Michael R. Bescholoss’ Taking Charge: The Johnson White House Tapes: 1963-1964 (Simon & Schuster).

Hello.

It's ironic. I have been reading the same book myself over the last couple of days.

I don't have the book with me at the moment, so I can't quote verbatim, nor provide citations, but when I got to the part where Johnson is discussing passing out little envelopes, and the part about him buying up land in the vicinity of what would become the Houston Space Center, my eyebrows shot up.

Steve Thomas