Jim Hargrove

So, we are supposed to believe that Honest Ken Croy arrived in time to see Tippit loaded into the ambulance, talk to a lady witness for 10 minutes, find a second Oswald wallet (Ted Callaway said, "I'll tell you one thing, there was no wallet at the scene. If there were too many people would have seen it."), and then wait around for 1/2 hour (until approximately 1:40 PM) for Capt. Westbrook to arrive and give him the second wallet?

I don't know what you are having trouble with Jim. According to Croy's testimony, he had to have arrived at the scene at about 1:20, which is when the ambulance was about to leave. And he had to have left the scene after 1:40 or so, given that he saw the squad cars at the theater as he passed by. If Westbrook arrived at 1:40 as you say, then that was just 20 minutes after Croy arrived. Croy said he talked to a witness for about 15 minutes and that he turned over other witnesses to other officers. Then he left. If he did recover the wallet (my hypothesis), then he must have handed it over to Westbrook after speaking to his witness.

WELL, SANDY, CROY, ACCORDING TO VIRGINIA DAVIS, WAS ON THE SCENE MINUTES AFTER TIPPIT WAS SHOT (CIRCA 1:06 PM). OR WOULD YOU CARE TO IDENTIFY THE POLICE OFFICER TO WHOM SHE WAS REFERRING WHEN SHE TOLD THE WC "THEY WERE ALREADY THERE."

CROY, BY HIS OWN ADMISSION, WATCHED TIPPIT BEING LOADED INTO THE AMBULANCE. THIS OCCURRED ABOUT 1:10 PM, AS TIPPIT WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD WHEN HE ARRIVED AT THE HOSPITAL AT 1:15 PM. MY POINT IS THAT CROY WAS ON ALLEGEDLY THE SCENE FOR AT LEAST 1/2 HOUR (FROM 1:06 TO 1:10 PM UNTIL ABOUT 1:45 PM), YET NEITHER HE NOR ANY POLICE OFFICER NOR WITNESS REPORTED HIS PRESENCE.

(Ted Callaway said, "I'll tell you one thing, there was no wallet at the scene. If there were too many people would have seen it.")

An early witness may have picked up the wallet, like some were picking up bullet shells. It's not necessary that everybody saw it. (What time did Ted Callaway arrive at the murder scene?) CALLAWAY WATCHED OSWALD AS HE WAS HURRYING SOUTH ON PATTON (1/2 BLOCK FROM THE SCENE). CALLAWAY THEN HURRIED TO THE SCENE, ARRIVING ABOUT 1-2 MINUTES LATER (ABOUT 1:08). IF ANY WINTESS PICKED UP THE WALLET, THEN THE DAVIS SISTERS, STANDING NEAR TIPPIT'S BODY, WOULD HAVE SEEN THIS HAPPEN.

Minutes later, when all police officers hurried to the Texas Theater we are supposed to believe that Croy had more important things to do, such as meet his wife for lunch (now late by 1 hour).

Croy was off duty. He went home. Not everybody is dedicated to their jobs. NO, HONEST KEN DID NOT GO HOME. HONEST KEN APPARENTLY REMAINED AT THE SCENE FOR 1/2 HOUR AND, ACCORDING TO HIM, GAVE THE SECOND WALLET TO WESTBROOK. WE DON'T KNOW WHERE CROY WENT AFTER HE LEFT 10TH & PATTON, UNLESS YOU CAN OFFER DOCUMENTED PROOF (OTHER THAN HIS HIGHLY-SUSPECT WC TESTIMONY).

And not everything that is different than what we would expect has a sinister explanation behind it.

Would anyone care to explain why neither Croy nor Westbrook nor any police officer at 10th & Patton wrote a report concerning the second wallet "found" at the scene of the Tippit shooting.

According to my hypothesis, Croy did write a report (and/or made a statement) wherein he reported finding the Oswald Wallet. (Other officers may have as well.) WONDERFUL. PLEASE PROVIDE EVIDENCE FOR THAT. The report(s) had to be eliminated because the official story was that Oswald's wallet was found on him at the theater.

ACCORDING TO YOUR HYPOTHESIS, NUMEROUS DALLAS POLICE OFFICERS, FBI AGENTS, AND A TV CREW WOULD HAVE TO BE ACCOMPLICES IN COVERING UP A SECOND WALLET. DO YOU REALLY THINK THIS WAS POSSIBLE? CAN YOU IDENTIFY THE DPD OFFICIAL WHO ISSUED SUCH AN ORDER? DO YOU HAVE ANY EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER FOR YOUR HYPOTHESIS?

That said, you're not suggesting that the second wallet wasn't at the scene are you? The video proves it was, doesn't it? So the second wallet was there, and certain police officers saw it, and yet there is no (surviving) report mentioning it. Doesn't this prove that either reports mentioning the wallet were destroyed, or the officers who saw the wallet were told not to report or talk about it?

CROY SAID THAT HE HAD POSSESSION OF THE WALLET AND GAVE IT TO WESTBROOK. THE VIDEO PROVES THE WALLET WAS AT 10TH & PATTON. FBI AGENT HOSTY SAID WESTBROOK HAD POSSESSION OF THE WALLET AND THAT WESTBROOK WAS THE LAST PERSON KNOWN TO HAVE THE WALLET. THERE IS NO PROOF THAT A SINGLE REPORT OR TESTIMONY WAS GIVEN CONCERNING A 2ND WALLET. IT APPEARS THAT A HIGH-RANKING OFFICIAL TOLD POLICE OFFICERS WHO SAW THE WALLET NOT TO REPORT IT. COULD POLICE OFFICERS, OR FBI AGENTS, HAVE WRITTEN REPORTS ABOUT THE SECOND WALLET AND THOSE REPORTS DISAPPEARED? OF COURSE, BUT THERE IS NO PROOF THAT REPORTS WERE WRITTEN. THE ONLY "PROOF" WE HAVE IS THAT THERE ARE NO REPORTS OR TESTIMONY TO BE FOUND. THE ABSENCE OF REPORTS AND TESTIMONY CONCERNING THE SECOND WALLET, NO MATTER HOW YOU EXPLAIN IT, HAD TO OCCUR IN ORDER TO HIDE THE PLANTING OF EVIDENCE AND THE SUBSEQUENT COVERUP. BOTH HONEST KEN AND WESTBROOK WERE INVOLVED.

Would anyone care to explain why neither Honest Ken nor Westbrook mentioned the second wallet during their WC testimony, or to Chief Curry, or to the HSCA, or to news reporters? Would anyone care to explain why this vital piece of evidence was not entered into evidence by either Westbrook or Honest Ken?

We all know the answer to that, Jim. Why are you asking it?

I'M ASKING BECAUSE THE SECOND WALLET, HANDLED BY HONEST KEN AND WESTBROOK, WAS NEVER MENTIONED IN A POLICE REPORT, WC TESTIMONY, HSCA TESTIMONY, ETC. THE PLANTING AND COVERUP OF THE SECOND WALLET INVOLVED BOTH HONEST KEN AND WESTBROOK. WHEN YOU REALIZE THAT BOTH MEN WERE INVOLVED IN A COVERUP THAT INVOLVED THE MURDER OF A DALLAS POLICEMAN, THEN THE ALL TESTIMONY AND WRITTEN REPORTS OF BOTH MEN BECOME SUSPECT.

Would a lawyer on this forum please explain the consequences of police officers withholding a vital piece of evidence and then destroying that evidence (the second wallet that was allegedly "found" at the scene of Tippit's murder)? Can anyone offer a reasonable explanation as to why Honest Ken and Capt. Westbrook's possession of a second wallet AT 10th & Patton does not scream "PLANTED EVIDENCE" AND "COVERUP" ??

You're singing to the choir, Jim. We all believe the wallet was planted and then covered up. That it was planted is a part of my hypothesis. My hypothesis states that the wallet was planted by the shooter, not Westbrook. But it's just a hypothesis. Westbrook may very well have planted the wallet.

IF THE WALLET WAS PLANTED BY THE SHOOTER, THEN WHY DID NOT ONE SINGLE WITNESS SEE IT? IF THE WALLET WAS FOUND AT THE SCENE, REGARDLESS OF WHO FOUND IT, THEN WHY WAS IT NOT INITIALED BY THE OFFICER WHO FOUND IT, TURNED OVER BY THAT OFFICER TO HOMICIDE AND ROBBERY, PHOTOGRAHED, AND A REPORT WRITTEN BY THE OFFICER WHO FOUND THE ITEM. IF HONEST KEN "INNOCENTLY FOUND" THE WALLET, WHICH HE CLAIMED TO HAVE DONE 30 YEARS LATER, THEN WHY DID HE DO OR SAY NOTHING? IT APPEARS TO ME, A NON-LAWYER, THAT HONEST KEN IS JUST AS GUILTY AS WESTBROOK IN THE WITHHOLDING OF EVIDENCE AND THE DESTRUCTION OF EVIDENCE.

THE FACT THAT NOBODY SAW A WALLET AT THE TIPPIT MURDER SCENE, AND HONEST KEN SAID NOTHING ABOUT THE WALLET FOR 30 YEARS, IS THE BEST "PROOF" THAT THE SECOND WALLET WAS BROUGHT TO THE SCENE BY THE MAN WHO FIRST PRODUCED THE WALLET--CAPT. W.R. WESTBROOK. THE FACT THAT HONEST KEN SAID THAT HE GAVE THE WALLET TO WESTBROOK MAKES HIM AN ACCOMPLICE TO THE PLANTING OF EVIDENCE AND THE COVERUP.

NOW, IF YOU HAVE ANY EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER THAT DPD OFFICIALS (OTHER THAN WESTBROOK) HAD KNOWLEDGE OF THE SECOND WALLET, AND ORDERED POLICE OFFICERS TO IGNORE THE SECOND WALLET, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE PROVIDE SUCH DOCUMENTATION.

BY THE WAY, AFTER CAPT WESTBROOK ALLEGEDLY FOUND THE WHITE JACKET ALLEGEDLY DISCARDED BY OSWALD, THE JACKET WAS INITIALED BY DPD OFFICERS, A REPORT WRITTEN BY WESTBROOK, PHOTOGRAPHED, AND TURNED OVER TO HOMICIDE AND ROBBERY. THAT'S STANDARD POLICE PROCEEDURE.

Excellent find, Jim. Anything interesting on page two of this doc?

I believe he said that he made heroic efforts to grab Ruby by the coattail and put an end to his attempt to silence Oswald and befuddle American history for more than half a century. Judge for yourself here:

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth340065/

Croy states (in his WC testimony?) that he did NOT file an 'activities report' on 11-22-1963. Was he ever required to give an affidavit regarding his actions that day? As a VERY early arrival at the JDT murder scene (if not the first officer present) and the guy that found (if we can believe him 30 years later) or at least examined LHO's found wallet, I would think that would be a requirement.

Remember, though, that the Tenth & Patton wallet didn't officially exist for thirty years. Hosty and Bob Barrett spilled the beans, but nobody took it seriously until that WFAA footage resurfaced. Amazing that a wallet of vast historical import can be filmed on a public city street, and simply disappear for decades. (Did it just scream "planted evidence" that a guy would shoot a cop at point blank range, walk back and shoot him again, and then leave his wallet at the scene?)

Here's where we seem to stand:

1) Croy was there moments after the shooting. (Virginia Davis, who said officers were already "there" and Croy's testimony to the WC). Also, Mrs. Holan said that after looking at Tippit laying in the street the man walked back to the police car as the car was backing up--was Croy driving the car at that time?

-or-

2) Croy was never at 10th & Patton (no witnesses mention him; no police reports mention him; Croy himself failed to notify Chief Curry that he had been at 10th & Patton.

1A--If Croy was there moments after the shooting he (and Westbrook) was most certainly part of a conspiracy to murder Tippit

-or-

2A--If Croy was never at 10th & Patton, then he was involved in a conspiracy (with Westbrook) to blame Harvey Oswald for the murder of Tippit by stating that he was the person who found the second wallet and gave the wallet to Westbrook. There is no innocent explanation for Croy stating that it was he who found the second wallet and gave that wallet to Westbrook.

Bump.

Excellent find, Jim. Anything interesting on page two of this doc?

I believe he said that he made heroic efforts to grab Ruby by the coattail and put an end to his attempt to silence Oswald and befuddle American history for more than half a century. Judge for yourself here:

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth340065/

Croy states (in his WC testimony?) that he did NOT file an 'activities report' on 11-22-1963. Was he ever required to give an affidavit regarding his actions that day? As a VERY early arrival at the JDT murder scene (if not the first officer present) and the guy that found (if we can believe him 30 years later) or at least examined LHO's found wallet, I would think that would be a requirement.

Remember, though, that the Tenth & Patton wallet didn't officially exist for thirty years. Hosty and Bob Barrett spilled the beans, but nobody took it seriously until that WFAA footage resurfaced. Amazing that a wallet of vast historical import can be filmed on a public city street, and simply disappear for decades. (Did it just scream "planted evidence" that a guy would shoot a cop at point blank range, walk back and shoot him again, and then leave his wallet at the scene?)

Here's where we seem to stand:

1) Croy was there moments after the shooting. (Virginia Davis, who said officers were already "there" and Croy's testimony to the WC). Also, Mrs. Holan said that after looking at Tippit laying in the street the man walked back to the police car as the car was backing up--was Croy driving the car at that time?

-or-

2) Croy was never at 10th & Patton (no witnesses mention him; no police reports mention him; Croy himself failed to notify Chief Curry that he had been at 10th & Patton.

1A--If Croy was there moments after the shooting he (and Westbrook) was most certainly part of a conspiracy to murder Tippit

-or-

2A--If Croy was never at 10th & Patton, then he was involved in a conspiracy (with Westbrook) to blame Harvey Oswald for the murder of Tippit by stating that he was the person who found the second wallet and gave the wallet to Westbrook. There is no innocent explanation for Croy stating that it was he who found the second wallet and gave that wallet to Westbrook.

Is Westbrook also in the garage for "crowd control"?

I'd like to know the answer to that, too. Interesting, though, that Westbrook was Director of Personnel for the DPD. I'll bet he had considerable say on who would be where on a day-to-day basis.

Does anybody know where it is documented that Croy and Ruby were conversing?

Croy admitted it in both his Dec. 1 Affidavit and in his Warren Commission testimony. (There were simply too many potential witnesses in the basement to risk denying it.)

Croy's WC testimony is almost identical, right down to the references to Dear Old Dad. Amazing how he could remember this so well and virtually nothing else.

Also, Sandy, in another post you are not accurately representing what John Armstrong has written. If you read his "November 22, 1963" piece again, you might be able to answer a number of your own questions. Coming to grips with everything in that essay isn't easy... believe me, I've probably read it six times but I still need to go back to it from time to time. Why not give it another shot? (Ahhh, poor choice of words.)

November 22, 1963

Another coincidence. I mean, why on earth would Croy intentionally stand next to Ruby if he were involved in the conspiracy? It would make no sense.

Of course it would make sense. To encourage or reinforce Ruby. I imagine that Ruby standing there waiting with the task of shooting Oswald could use a little moral support. And from a public perspective what did it matter who was standing next to him, as the perps knew they could have Ruby execute Oswald on national TV and get away with it, as surely as they got away with blowing JFK's brains out in broad daylight? I mean, how many people have ever heard of officer Croy?

Well said, encouragement AND [finally!] an actual report from Croy--not to the DPD but to the plotters--in the event Ruby failed. But it goes beyond this....

Police were instructed to allow only cops, authorities, and reporters with proper press credentials into the basement that day. Ruby fit none of those requirements, but someone let him in nevertheless. Anyone care to guess what Dallas cop might have let Ruby in?

Anybody, tell me how I am wrong. But I don't see any reason to suspect Croy of foul play.

And so we have Dallas Police Department Reserve Sargent Kenneth Hudson Croy, the first Dallas cop to arrive at the Tippit murder scene. He's the man, he says, who gets the infamous wallet (though he doesn't remember how) linking Lee Harvey Oswald to Alek Hidell and therefore to the rifle that murdered JFK. Since no ambulance driver or other onlooker at 10th and Patton saw the wallet, we must assume Croy found it very early in the game, probably around 1:10 pm. And then he kept it to himself for about a half hour. Until Captain Westbrook arrived, and, Croy recalls, he gave it to Westbrook. For that period of nearly a half hour, Croy shows the wallet to no one, nor does anyone else see it.

(What's really happening, of course, is that Westbrook needed time to meet up with the Oswald in the white shirt who shot Tippit. From the white-shirted shooter, Westbrook probably got the wallet, the revolver, and perhaps the Eisenhower-type jacket. In the meantime, brown-shirted Oswald was already in the Texas Theater, no doubt looking for the contact he was told would holding a torn dollar bill matching one of the ones he was carrying.)

But lets get back to the story Honest Ken Croy wanted us to believe. Soon after hiding the wallet for a half hour and then handing it to Westbrook, Croy leaves 10th and Patton to go have a leisurely lunch with his estranged wife. He just happens, blind luck, to drive right by the Texas Theater where he sees police gathering. He wont be needed, though, because he needs to talk to his wife.

Apparently, Ken Croy is needed just two days later, on November 24th, Then he is stationed in the basement of Dallas City Hall at the very time Lee Harvey Oswald is led to his death. According to his affidavit and WC testimony, Honest Ken was standing right next to Jack Ruby, and actually talking to him, when Ruby lunged in front of Oswald and killed him. For a Reserve Sargent who wasn't needed at the very time Dallas Police dispatchers were frantically calling in off-duty cops, Honest Ken Croy sure managed to be in some interesting places. He sure didn't remember much, though.

By all means read Honest Ken's WC testimony (Sandy published the link above). I don't think even Burt Griffin believed him, do you? And these WC attorneys got the Big Bucks for being... uh... not very curious. Honest Ken waited thirty years to recall that he was the guy who handled the infamous wallet and gave it to Westbrook. He couldn't seem to remember another damned thing or write a report about anything at all, but he sure remembered that! His story just has honesty written all over it, don't you think?

DELETED: Double posted accidentally.

Sandy,

I'll have more time for this tonight, but if you read Croy's testimony you'd have seen that he told the WC that he watched as Tippit's body was loaded into the ambulance, which arrived within a minute or two of the shooting (it started, indeed, just a block or two from Tenth and Patton).

In the 1990s Croy said that he himself gave the magic, disappearing wallet to Westbrook. This doesn't make you wonder just how involved this guy was in the Tippit shooting???

Isn't this the same video I linked to in Post #135 ?

Yeah, it seems to be. My short-term memory isn't getting any damned better as I continue to not get any damned younger.

Or it could reveal that DB believed the DPD was involved.

Supposedly, DB said he was harassed by the police, and he and Eddie's father-in-law believed that Eddie was murdered because he was mistaken for Domingo. Either someone made up the harassment, and the mistaken identity murder, or DB spoke to someone about it. I can't believe Domingo and his parents as well as his siblings never spoke of Eddie's murder, especially since Eddie's father-in-law and supposedly Domingo, didn't believe that his murder was accidental.

Contacting Eddie's children would also be a good idea. At some point in their lives they surely would have heard that their father was killed under suspicious circumstances. It would have to be explained WHY someone would want to kill Uncle Domingo. This would lead back to the JDT murder. Certainly Eddie's children would want to know every detail as to WHY their father was murdered.

Roger that, and you'd make a great coach!

In fact, you've inspired me to try and reserve a few minutes each day to give your suggestion a shot. Thanks for the great assist of providing all the names of Domingo's kids. I'll start with the sons first, since their names surely will not have changed over the years.

And I'll try to keep some sort of record of the first contact(s). If something really interesting occurs, no doubt WC loyalists will accuse me of coaching the kids so I can make Big Bucks being a Conspiracy Theorist^TM. Thanks again.

Jim,

I had the same thought, but I can't decide whether or not he could have seen the police car or the person that got out of it. DB says that he was ducked down in his truck during the shooting and only got a good look at the gunman AFTER the shots were fired. After the shooter left, DB proceeded toward JDT, saw that he was dead, entered the police car via the left door and attempted to use the radio. Presuming he is telling the truth he would have missed seeing the 2nd man entirely, as he would have left the scene immediately following the shooting.

Has it been established how far back from 10th Street the police car was parked? Given Mrs. Holan's line of sight from directly across the street from the alley, it could have been parked almost anywhere along the alley. The fact that it was a police car and not an unmarked vehicle has to be considered as POSSIBLE evidence that this was a contingency plan.

This idea is well worth pursuing, and is the reason I tracked down the names and location of DB's siblings and children. If I had the time, I'd do it myself, but once I get my teeth into something I can't let go, so I don't dare get started.

Tom

It may be that the temperatures reached when a bullet is fired would vaporize all or most of the fingerprint oils left on the shell (although removing and palming the casings (s) would leave another opportunity for at least partial prints).

According to the 12/3/63 FBI report from R.H. Jevons to a Mr. Conrad printed in Myers' book "With Malice," none of the revolver cartridges had fingerprints. The includes the four shells recovered at the Tippit site, the four unfired bullets found in Oswald's revolver, and the five unfired bullet found in Oswald's pocket.

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.

Ahhh. My bet is that our Tippit indeed knew Jack Ruby, who apparently was far more involved in the assassination than is commonly believed.

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.

Indeed! I'm forgetting things here. This is how John described the shell situation in his book:

Empty Shells. Moments after the Tippit shooting Barbara Jeanette and Virginia

Davis watched Lee Oswald as he removed shells from his pistol and threw them onto

the ground. Two of the shells were found by Domingo Benavides, who put them into

an empty Winston cigarette package and then gave the package to Officer J .M. Poe. A

3rd shell was found by Barbara Davis underneath a window on the side of her house near

Patton (FBI #Q 76).⁶⁵ This shell was turned over to George Doughty, head of the crime

lab for the DPD, who was standing nearby.

Between 3:30 and 5:00 pm Virginia located a 4th shell near the walkway to the

door of her apartment (FBI # Q 75). This shell was turned over to Detective C.N.

Dhority of the Homicide Division later that evening.

NOTE: Witnesses to the shooting saw Tippit's assailant unload shell casings from a pis­-

tol. But not a single one of the 4 empty shell casings, or any of the 6 live rounds of am­-

munition taken from the .38 pistol, was found to have Oswald's fingerprints.⁶⁶ This was

because the person who loaded the pistol, and placed his fingerprints on the bullets, was

not the man arrested by the Dallas Police.

--Harvey and Lee, p. 892

My understanding -- before reading the above document -- was that Domingo Benavides did identify the shooter as Oswald, based on pictures he'd seen of Oswald in news reports. But the above document suggests the exact opposite, in #2a.

Please, somebody tell me where I've gone wrong. To me it appears that an incorrect assumption is being made in #2a in the document.

P.S. THANK YOU Margo Jackson for the great questions. NO THANKS to the HSCA administrators for not getting answers.

Sandy,

Benavides clearly said the man he saw resembled photos he'd seen of "Lee Harvey Oswald," but for some reason he didn't go to a police line-up (even though he had a high profile at Tenth & Patton). Wish someone here could recall whether he refused to identify him. Iirc, Benavides is on record having said something like he wasn't good at identifying faces, or something like that, which could be real enough or some sort of excuse. Wish a researcher had done a lengthy recorded interview of him. Now, I suppose, the best we can hope for would be to follow Tom Neal's suggestion to talk to his surviving siblings (if any) and his children.

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?

No, I don't. But I did some searching at the online John Armstrong Collection at Baylor and came up with this, sort of an original source doc on Edward:

I'd never seen it before, but since there surely isn't another Edward Benavides relevant to this case, it seems to suggest Blakey either thought Domingo's brother died in Feb. 64 or was simply trying to debunk the rumor that he died during the WC's existence. Haven't seen the response from Dallas Medical Examiner, which could probably settle this issue.

While looking in the John's Baylor files, I also came across another very strange HSCA document that I'll try to post a little later.

Ron,

It does seem weird. There are some good photos showing at least part of the back of "Lee Harvey Oswald's" head while in police custody, and it is clear that his hairline in back was tapered rather than squared off, but to go from that to an assumption that Benavides might have exposed an "Oswald" lookalike project serious enough to generate personal threats seems like a real stretch. OTOH, I can't think of another explanation. I wish Penn Jones had offered a source for the alleged police threats against Domingo. The hairline description, though, is in Benavides' Warren testimony.

Yes, yet another suspicious death. To me, though, the most interesting thing about Benavides testimony was that he seemed to genuinely believe the killer looked like the news images he saw of Lee Harvey Oswald.

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

There's controversy about the year his brother was killed.

Penn Jones wrote this in 1/84 The Rebel mag:

Domingo Benavides, an auto mechanic, was witness to the murder of Officer Tippit. Benavides testified he got a "really good view of the slayer."

Benavides said the killer resembled newspaper pictures of Oswald, but he described him differently, "I remember the back of his head seemed like his hairline went square instead of tapered off . . ."

Benavides reported he was repeatedly threatened by the police who advised him not to talk about what he saw.

In mid-February 1964, his brother Eddy, who resembled him, was fatally shot in the back of the head at a beer joint on Second Avenue in Dallas. The case was marked "unsolved."

Benavides's father-in-law J. W. Jackson was not impressed by the investigation. He began his own inquiry. Two weeks later, J.W. Jackson was shot at his home. As the gunman escaped, a police car came around the block. It made no attempt to follow the speeding car with the gunman.

WC loyalist John McAdams says the correct year of Edwards' death was 1965, and he published a death certificate attempting to prove it, but "Benavides" is spelled differently on the certificate, as "Benavidez."

Without more evidence, I'm not sure what to make of the year-of-death controversy. Do you know anything else?

At any rate, though, from Penn Jones's description as well as Benavides' WC testimony, it seems pretty clear that Benavides' could have seen a man who looked similar to the "Lee Harvey Oswald" killed by Jack Ruby, but wasn't quite the same, especially from the back of his head.

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?

Yes, yet another suspicious death. To me, though, the most interesting thing about Benavides’ testimony was that he seemed to genuinely believe the killer looked like the news images he saw of “Lee Harvey Oswald.”

To those of us who know viscerally that there was something profoundly wrong with the WC’s version of both murders that day, observations like Benavides’ can be difficult to accept. To me, though, it’s just more evidence that the guy killed by Jack Ruby was set up to take the fall for both crimes by a fellow who looked enough like him to fool many observers, like those at the Sports Drone rifle range, Downtown Lincoln/Mercury, Southland Hotel, and Alice Texas. Obviously, anyone with at least half a brain who planned to assassinate a U.S. president would simply have to create a patsy. Otherwise, the search would be relentless and the plotters would eventually be captured.

Glad to:

• Click on "Quote"
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Works like a charm. (The reveal codes icon at upper left was the secret that eluded me.) Thank you!

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.

He described a man who was Belin's height (5'10") wearing a light tan jacket. But he also described the back of his head, and the hairline at back clearly did not match classic "Oswald's." Benavides' story, if you haven't read it recently, is pretty fascinating.

Also, Tom, can you briefly tell me how to do the mutltiple quotes on this forum? I'd like to do some but can't figure out how to do it.

Hope the news out of Orlando is better for the next decade or so.

EDIT: Ooops! I should have said that Benavides had the best view of the shooting other than Westbrook and Croy.