Jim Hargrove

The fellow at the theater Westbrook didn’t want the world to know about was American-born Lee Oswald, who was wearing a white shirt and sitting in the balcony when the police arrived. Lee Oswald killed J.D. Tippit and led police to the Texas Theater, where Russian-speaking Harvey Oswald was already sitting on the main floor.. Lee looked enough like Harvey to fool many witnesses, including apparently, some Dallas police. There are two DPD reports indicating that “Lee Harvey Oswald” was arrested in the balcony of the theater. See lines 6 & 7 in the main paragraph below: From John’s write-up on November 22 at my website: After HARVEY Oswald was arrested and taken out the front of the theater, LEE Oswald was escorted out the back of the theater. There is no police report, no record of arrest, nor any mention of a person taken out the rear of the theater. Capt. Westbrook saw LEE Oswald shoot officer Tippit at 10th & Patton. He produced a 2nd Oswald wallet at 10th & Patton. Westbrook either planted or knew exactly where to find the suspect's jacket. He was the first police officer to arrive at the theater. Westbrook ordered police to compile a list of the names and addresses of theater patrons, a list that soon disappeared. Westbrook was the highest ranking officer at the Texas Theater, and may have escorted LEE Oswald out the rear of the theater. During author James Douglas's 2007 interview with theater concessionaire Butch Burroughs, Burroughs said that he saw two different people arrested in the Texas Theater. He saw (Harvey) Oswald's arrest and then, "three or four minutes later," watched as the Dallas police arrested "an Oswald lookalike." Burroughs added that the second man arrested "looked almost like Oswald, like he was his brother or something." Apparently, Butch Burroughs saw both Harvey and Lee at the Texas Theater. Bernard Haire, owner of a hobby shop two doors east of the theater, saw the police escort a young man who he thought was LEE Oswald out the rear of the theater. Perhaps the young man in the balcony, who was identified by Deputy Sheriff Bill Courson as LEE Oswald, was this man. For the next 25 years Mr. Haire thought he had seen the arrest of Oswald. If Bernard Haire and Butch Burroughs observed "LEE" Oswald taken out the back of the theater then who, if not Captain Westbrook, was responsible for escorting him out of the back of the theater? After all, it was likely Capt. Westbrook who watched his co-conspirator, LEE Oswald, murder Tippit at 10th Patton only a half hour earlier. After he was taken out the rear of the theater, someone (perhaps Croy) then drove LEE Oswald to a two-tone blue 1957 Plymouth that was parked nearby. Croy told the Warren Commission that after leaving 10th & Patton he drove by the Texas Theater (how convenient).

Good luck with your project, Sandy. I’m pretty sure you’ll find that witness descriptions about the Tippit shooting are all over the place, but one thing John has always told me is that, when evaluating what each witness says, you have to consider where each was when Tippit was killed. For example, Acquilla Clemmons was in the next block west of Patton on 10th Ave, the block west of the block in which Tippit was killed. She could easily get some details wrong. Another example showing how important location was to witnesses involves Doris Holan. Among all the witnesses, Mrs. Holan alone described the 2nd squad car at the murder scene. But remember… location, location, location! Mrs. Holan lived directly across the street from the narrow driveway between the duplexes at 404/406 and 408/410 10th St. and, from her second story window, she had a clear view of that driveway because she could see over Tippit’s car, which was parked directly in front of the driveway. The second squad car was in that driveway, hidden by houses on either side and Tippit’s squad car in front. Here are a map and an aerial shot prepared by John and David Josephs to help make this stuff clearer. Hope this helps!

And guess who most likely "lost" the patron list? Not much of a surprise here, either. Not-so-good ole Capt. W.R. Westbrook! From John's Nov 22 write-up on my website: Before leaving the Texas Theater, Capt. Westbrook ordered Detective Taylor, Lt. Cunningham, and J.B. Tony "to take the names and addresses of the occupants of the theater." Detective Taylor noted in his report (CE 2003, page 97, at WCH 24/243) that he, Lt. Cunningham, and J.B. Tony remained at the theater following the arrest "and took the names and addresses of the occupants of the theater." These officers would likely have turned their completed lists over to the man who gave them the order, Captain Westbrook. But these lists of theater patrons, like the wallet produced by Westbrook at 10th & Patton, disappeared and were never seen again. There was no chain of evidence regarding the list of theater patrons or the wallet, no police reports, and both items simply disappeared. The WC, perhaps intentionally, did not take the testimony of Taylor, Cunningham, or Tony. They could have asked any of these officers what they did with their completed lists. The WC did ask Westbrook about the list of theater patrons and, as can be expected, he answered "No; possibly Lieutenant Cunningham will know, but I don't know who has the list." There are so many nails in Westbrook's coffin it's hard to imagine more. But we'll have some more in a few weeks.

Hosty appears to be genuinely puzzled about how the drop wallet from 10th and Patton disappeared. Also from p. 62 of his book he writes this: Although official police reports would later state that Oswald's wallet and identification were found on Oswald's person when he was arrested in the movie theater, Barrett insists that Westbrook found them near where Tippit was slain. I have to speculate that at the theater, Westbrook had handed the wallet to a lower-ranking officer, and in the confusion it was assumed the wallet had been retrieved from Oswald's person. The FBI decided to go with the official police version.… Notice how Westbrook is absolutely the central figure handling the evidence in all of this stuff. Back at headquarters, he keeps the .38 revolver(s) in his office—THE PERSONNEL OFFICE—for an hour or so. Also, below is a copy of the DPD report showing that Tippit’s wallet was black (the wallet at 10th and Patton was brown).

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!

IT WAS NOT TIPPIT'S WALLET FILMED AT 10TH & PATTON BY RON REILAND! 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.

LEE Oswald probably waited for Westbrook to arrive to give him the go ahead to kill Tippit. He surely wanted the approval of someone in a higher place before shooting a Dallas cop in broad daylight. This was a well-planned ambush, and everyone was playing out a role. LEE Oswald’s job was to shoot Tippit and to be seen doing it, especially as he made his way toward the Texas Theater, probably soon meeting Westbrook to hand over the incriminating evidence. Westbrook’s job was clearly to confirm Tippit’s death, or the plot couldn’t continue. TIPPIT HAD TO BE DEAD before his shooting could be blamed on the poor schmuck already sitting in the Texas Theater and wearing a brown shirt (HARVEY Oswald). Westbrook was calling the shots (sorry) at Tenth & Patton, but unlike the guy in the white t-shirt (LEE Oswald), Westbrook did NOT want to be seen, and only a couple of people saw him. Doris Holan was in the best position to see everything, because she was directly across the street from the narrow driveway in which Westbrook emerged from the squad car, and she was on the second floor, able to easily see over Tippit’s car into the narrow driveway. And remember, Jack Tatum saw the scene and said that Tippit and his killer appeared to be friends. Under the circumstances, wouldn’t Tippit have had every reason to be suspicious of someone resembling LEE Oswald? These guys knew each other, and this whole thing was carefully planned.

John has been mulling over these issues for a long time. His thinking now is that Westbrook and LEE Oswald probably met in an alley or some place similar right after the shooting and there LEE handed Westbrook the wallet, the jacket and the murder weapon.... which, if so, is another indication that the whole thing was premeditated. Mrs. Doris Holan arguably had the best view of the scene from her house on the 2nd floor at 409 E Tenth Street, directly across the street. She is one of the few, if not the only, eyewitness to the Tippit shooting, that was in a position to see the second squad car in the narrow driveway. She said the second man (probably Westbrook) approached the body "seconds" after the final shot. Regarding the "over the top" nature of the throwdown wallet, my theory is that the plotters weren’t all that concerned about how good their so-called evidence was. All they needed was a pre-ordained patsy with ties to American Intel AND the FBI, and they had to just know all the breaks would go their way. Just look at how terrible the rifle evidence is, as Sandy Larsen was so helpful in exposing, and consider what a poor fit the bolt-action Carcano was for that type of job. Sloppy, but it worked for half a century. My guess is that Tippit wasn't entirely an innocent. Otherwise, how would he know to wait at the Gloco Station for Harvey Oswald to get off a bus that he usually didn't take? But beyond that is sheer speculation. It’s kind of weird, though, that Tippit was a regular around the 10th and Patton neighborhood, nowhere near his home or his regular beat. Virginia Davis thought Tippit lived in the duplex apartment at 408/410 E. 10th, right next to the murder scene. Many other locals said they saw him around all the time and knew him as “Friendly.” There was a single woman whose name I forget who lived in that duplex? Could she have been a Tippit girlfriend? Or even a honey trap for him? John speculates that, if Tippit was a conspirator, this familiar territory might have been a good place to meet up with his co-conspirators, Westbrook, Croy, and Lee Oswald. From the eyewitness descriptions of his murder, he had no inkling he was being double-crossed.

Yep, during several phone conversations, John Armstrong has speculated about an almost identical scenario! Here's how he put it on my website: As Tippit walked near the front of his patrol car LEE Oswald pulled his pistol and fired three shots. After Tippit fell to the ground LEE Oswald walked to the back of Tippit's car. He then stopped, returned to where Tippit was laying, and and deliberately shot him in the head (around 1:06-1:08 PM). Could Westbrook, who got out of the police car at the same time, have said, "finish the job," or something similar? That could have caused LEE Oswald to stop, turn around and re-trace his steps, and then shoot Tippit in the head with a fourth shot. Jack Tatum saw the 4th shot and said, "whoever shot Tippit was determined that he shouldn't live and he was determined to finish the job." NOTE: JFK researcher Shirley Martin tape-recorded an interview with Mrs. Aquilla Clemmons in August, 1964. Mrs. Clemmons said that while sitting on her porch, she saw two men standing near the police cruiser moments before Tippit was shot. Mrs. Doris Holan lived on the 2nd floor at 409 E Tenth Street (see map above), directly across the street from the Tippit shooting. Mrs Holan had just returned home from her job a few minutes after 1:00 PM when she heard several gun shots. From her 2nd floor bedroom window she had possibly the best view of the murder scene (see photo), and saw Tippit lying on the street near the left front of his patrol car. Mrs. Holan observed the shooter as he was walking across the Davis's lawn toward Patton. Mrs Holan also noticed a 2nd police car parked in the narrow driveway between the houses directly across the street (between 404 and 410 E. 10th). Tippit's car was parked on 10th St., directly in front of the narrow driveway, and prevented the 2nd police car from driving onto 10th St.

Hi, Steve, Interesting idea, but I’m not sure where your description of the two Oswalds’ character distinctions comes from. The accusations of wife beating were made by Marina against the man John identifies as Russian-speaking HARVEY Oswald. John also writes this on page 412 of Harvey and Lee. There was never a single indication that Lee Harvey Oswald harmed or abused Marina in the Soviet Union. Nor was there an indication that he harmed or abused her at Robert Oswald's house or "Marguerite Oswald's" apartment in Fort Worth in the summer of 1962. But soon after the young couple moved into the apartment on Mercedes Street, and were alone, Marina began to complain that her husband was beating her. Unless you have found something in Harvey and Lee that I’m forgetting (it ain’t easy to remember everything in a book that takes up more than a thousand pages just for the text), I’d like to clarify what John (and I) believe about the two young men. Russian-speaking HARVEY Oswald was about 5’8” tall, didn’t drink, was fastidious, quiet and withdrawn, and somewhat of a loner. American-born LEE Oswald was about 5’10” tall, sometimes drank to excess, was sexually active enough in the Marine Corps to acquire a venereal disease, not as neat and fastidious as Harvey, and more outgoing and boisterous. Laura Kittrell of the Texas Employment Commission interviewed both Oswalds and described their differences to the HSCA and in a long handwritten document. A summary of her observations can be read here. Good luck with the handwriting analysis. The HSCA devoted much of an entire volume (I can’t remember the number) to trying to prove there was just one Oswald, using handwriting experts, fingerprints and that sort of thing. But on page 243 of Robert Groden’s The Search for Lee Harvey Oswald, he presents a page of Oswald signatures from the National Archives. Although some look clearly similar, others are obviously quite different. Again, good luck with this. I don’t know of anyone other than WC loyalists who have attempted this.

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. Tom, Interesting line of thought, much of which sounds right to me. I do think, though, that the Tippit murder was premeditated, not so much by the DPD per se as by Westbrook, Croy and .... uh .... a guy who looked a bit like the "Lee Harvey Oswald" we all think we know, but was wearing a white t-shirt and dark pants in the early afternoon of 11/22/63. I think Westbrook brought the infamous wallet to 10th & Patton and introduced it into evidence there. I think he got the Eisenhower jacket and a .38 revolver from a certain person in a white t-shirt who , again, looked a little like the LHO we all think we know. And I couldn't agree more about Martino and the Cubans.

The Marine Corps records, though they take a little more time to go through, are also compelling and relatively easy to understand. I think they offer the best proof of all of two "Lee Harvey Oswalds" living partly parallel lives. The best account is in John's book, Harvey and Lee, though a decent taste of it can be found on my website here.

Thanks, Gene. My guess is that three Dallas cops were in on the set-up of “Lee Harvey Oswald:” Westbrook, Croy, and Roscoe White.

A third Oswald might be useful in explaining the evidence from late Sept./early Oct. 1963, when so much “Oswald” stuff was happening (Sylvia Odio, Mexico City, Alice Texas, and more). Robert Groden had a chapter in his book called “Too Many Oswalds.” For the most part, though, the evidence seems to show there were two—and just two--young men going by the name “Lee Harvey Oswald.” Sporadically, they lead parallel lives. (The idea, I think, was to give Russian-speaking Harvey a taste of American-born Lee’s life so that Harvey could successfully assume the role of a native-born American during, say, a false defection to the Soviet Union). The Marine Corps records are particularly helpful here, in part because the USMC keeps pretty careful records, and also because this is where Harvey assumed Lee’s identity in preparation for the “defection,” which was just months away from the conclusion of Harvey’s Marine service. Although they are sometimes combined and fudged (for obvious reasons), USMC records clearly show two distinct “Lee Harvey Oswald’s” traveling with two distinct groups of soldiers. One (Lee) sometimes got drunk and got involved in various sexual peccadillos, the other (Harvey) didn’t. One (Harvey) was sent aboard the U.S.S. Skagit to Formosa (Taiwan) while the other (Lee) remained in Atsugi, Japan, where he was treated repeatedly for a venereal disease. One (Lee) shot himself in the left arm just above the elbow with a pistol. The other (Harvey) didn’t. There are two easy ways to get to know the differing personalities of Lee and Harvey Oswald. One is through the Marine Corps records. Read about them HERE. The other way is to read the descriptions by Texas Employment Commission employee Laura Kittrell, who interviewed both Oswalds in some depth, soon realized that she was talking to two different “Lee Harvey Oswalds,” and then went on to compare and contrast their personalities, pretty much matching what you would expect from the USMC records of the two young men. See a brief overview of Ms. Kittrell’s observations HERE.

How could John Pic possibly recognize as his brother the Oswald in custody, but not the Oswald in the FPCC pictures? They look the same to me. Don't they look the same to most people? Was John Pic ever asked if he recognized the Oswald in custody? By the WC or researchers? The Oswald in custody and the Oswald of the FPCC charade were the same person--Russian-speaking HARVEY, who was not related to John Pic. Pic identified pictures of his real half brother, American-born LEE Oswald, but declined to identify the only two pictures he was shown of HARVEY (the other picture was the famous Bronx Zoo photo of young HARVEY). The WC attorneys had no curiosity whatsoever about Pic's revelation. They knew they were tiptoeing through an evidentiary mine field. John Armstrong tried to interview John Pic on the telephone, but Pic merely said that he stood by his Warren Commission testimony and had nothing else to say.

There ABSOLUTELY is evidence that American-born Lee Oswald was involved in the assassination plot. One of the clearest links was his relationship with Jack Ruby, who had a far more important role in the murder of JFK than most people realize. Lee Oswald's relationship with Jack Ruby may date back at least to 1961 (when Harvey Oswald was in Russia). There are reports that both men were involved in anti-Castro activities around the Florida Keys. During the summer and early fall of 1963 (while Harvey was still in New Orleans) Ruby and Lee were seen together by many people in Dallas and the vicinity. For example, from John's write-up on Jack Ruby: In the summer of 1963 Dorothy Marcum was dating Ruby and her aunt worked for Ruby. Dorothy told the FBI that LEE Oswald worked for Ruby during June and July and the two men definitely knew each other. Ruby was interviewing Francis Irene Hise for a job as a waitress when a young man entered the Carousel Club and Ruby said “Hi, Ozzie” to the young man. After she was hired Miss Hise served drinks to “Ozzie," whom she recognized after the assassination as LHO. Another employee, Clyde Malcolm Limbough, worked for Ruby three years and saw Oswald in Ruby's office on several occasions. Helen Kay Smith (“Pixie Lynn”), who worked at the Carousel, told the Dallas Police that she saw Ruby and Oswald together on several occasions. Other employees of Ruby who saw Oswald in the Carousel Club were William Crowe, Wally Weston, Dixie Lynn, and Kathy Kay. Robert Roy was Ruby's auto mechanic and said that Oswald used to drop off Ruby's car for repairs. Roy then drove Oswald back to Ruby's “burlesque house.” Ruby parked his car at Gibbs Auto Service and occasionally allowed friends and associates to borrow his car. Leon Woods was the manager of Gibbs and kept a “check-in and check-out” book that listed the names of people who took Ruby's car from the garage. Mr. Woods gave the book to the FBI following the assassination of President Kennedy, which the FBI later denied. During the last week of July (1963) Western Union employee Marshall Hicks delivered several telegrams addressed to “LEE Harvey Oswald” at the Rotary Apartments, 1501-1503 W. 7th St. in Dallas (while HARVEY and Marina were living in New Orleans). The FBI made no attempt to locate copies of these telegrams. DPD Detective H.M. Hart, of the Criminal Intelligence Division, received information from a Dallas Police confidential informant who knew Ruby. The informant said that in September (1963) Ruby rented an apartment at 223 S. Ewing for LEE Oswald. Here's a photo of what certainly appears to be LEE Oswald enjoying the talent at Ruby's Carousel Club: Ruby may well have been keeping tabs on HARVEY Oswald as well. Also from John's write-up on Ruby: In October, a three-man musical "combo" group was performing in Ruby's club that consisted of John Anderson (trumpet), Bill Willis (drums), and William Simmons (piano). The small group worked only four hours a day, from 9 PM to 1 AM. Curiously, and without explanation, Willis and Simmons lived fifteen miles away from the Carousel Club, in a house located at 2530 W. 5th in Irving, TX., just 200 feet west on the opposite side of the street from Ruth Paine (2515 W. 5th). When Ruby shot HARVEY Oswald, Nancy Powell (Tammi True) told the WC that she saw Bill Willis (drummer) near the police station. Neither Willis nor Simmons were interviewed by the WC.

Paul, See: The Man Who Could--And Couldn't Drive

To untangle the legend of “Lee Harvey Oswald” on November 22, 1963, you really have to untangle the legend dating back at least a decade earlier. For just a few examples…. In 1953 two “Lee Harvey Oswalds” simultaneously attended Beauregard Junior High School in New Orleans and Public School 44 in New York City. J. Edgar Hoover and Alan Dulles missed the conflicting records, and they are published in the Warren volumes. (Within hours after the assassination, the FBI was confiscating most of the school and teen-age employment records of “Lee Harvey Oswald,” because Hoover was aware of the “Oswald Project.”) John Pic (Oswald’s half brother) told the Warren Commission that some photographs of “Lee Harvey Oswald” were accurate, while he didn’t recognize the “Oswald” in two others pictures, including the famous FPCC charade in New Orleans. While one “Lee Harvey Oswald” was being treated for VD in Japan, another “Lee Harvey Oswald” was en route and stationed in Taiwan. When the one “Lee Harvey Oswald” we all think we know was in Russia, another was involved in all kinds of things here, including the well-documented Bolton Ford incident, working with anti-Castro Cubans in Miami and the Everglades, even filling out forms and taking tests at the Texas Employment Commission. The “Lee Harvey Oswald” we think we know didn’t have a car and couldn’t drive, but the other had a valid Texas driver’s license. In the weeks prior to the assassination of JFK, while “Lee Harvey Oswald” was working at the Book Depository, another “Lee Harvey Oswald” was traveling around the Dallas area setting up his counterpart as the patsy for the JFK hit. These activities are well known: numerous appearances at the Sports Drome Rifle Range, the Downtown Lincoln Mercury dealership, Morgan’s Gun Shop, Dial Ryder’s gun shop, the Southland Building, hitchhiking with “curtain rods” with Ralph Yates, and so on. So…. Right after the assassination of JFK, someone who looked like “Lee Harvey Oswald” shot and killed J.D. Tippit near 10th and Patton, while the fellow we know today as “Lee Harvey Oswald” was already sitting in the Texas Theater. There were two “Lee Harvey Oswalds” active on November 22, 1963, but he original “Oswald Project” was created at least a decade earlier to give a Russian speaking youth (Harvey Oswald) an American identity and the birth certificate of American-born Lee Harvey Oswald (Lee Oswald). With that feat accomplished, Russian-speaking Harvey could be sent to Russia as a spy who secretly understood Russian. And that’s exactly what happened. In the summer of 1963, the “Oswald Project” got entangled in the plot to assassinate JFK, which was a U.S. intelligence operation from start to finish. Lee framed Harvey for the hit. His final act was shooting J.D. Tippit and leading cops to the Texas Theater, where Harvey, as instructed, was already waiting.

And maybe the guy who got in the Nash Rambler, who looked quite a bit like the guy shot by Jack Ruby, was the same guy who murdered J.D. Tippit and led cops to the Texas Theater and was briefly detained in the balcony of the theater prompting those DPD reports of "Oswald" being arrested in the balcony. Maybe it was the same guy who had been impersonating "Lee Harvey Oswald" at the Sports Dome Rifle Range and other places all around Dallas in the weeks preceding the murder of JFK. The evidence for the Nash Rambler ride is strong. So is the evidence for the bus and taxi ride. As I said before, Fritz's notes indicate "Oswald" himself said he rode the bus and taxi. For more evidence about just how strong the evidence is for the Nash Rambler AND the bus and taxi ride, see http://harveyandlee.net/Leaving/Leaving_the_TSBD.html. To see the original write-up that prompted this thread, see http://harveyandlee.net/November/November_22.htm. For half a century, many have been suspicious of Dallas Police activities surrounding the assassination of JFK. I believe that for the first time ever, we can name the officers involved: Capt. W.R. Westbrook (who would soon travel to Vietnam and become an adviser to Saigon police) and Reserve Officer Kenneth Croy. (Roscoe White was probably also involved, but his activities on 11/22/63 are largely unknown and he is outside the scope of the November 22 article.)

There was a very long thread on this forum that many members believe showed that the bus and taxi rides described in the Warren Report never happened. And you're right that some of the testimony is hardly definitive. But the overall EVIDENCE for the rides is very strong. For one thing, at least according to Fritz's notes, Harvey Oswald said he took the bus and taxi rides during his police interrogations. John has written a lengthy essay showing just how good the bus and taxi ride evidence is, and how difficult it would have been to fake the evidence within a few hours of the assassination. See: http://harveyandlee.net/Leaving/Leaving_the_TSBD.html

Jim, You said the bus route didn't go near LHO's rooming house. What was it's route AFTER passing the TSBD? Sandy and Jim, Perhaps like the movie theater, he was supposed to meet someone on the bus? Someone he knew, or someone who knew him. Could he have been handed the revolver and/or the torn-in-half bills on the bus? It has never made sense to me that he went 'home' to retrieve the revolver. There was no place in the room to hide it, and IIRC, the owner checked the room regularly for alcohol. Or, no contact-get off bus, back to TSBD, and enter Rambler station wagon. Then go to backup rendezvous at the theater to meet someone he did not know, hence the torn bills. Hi, Tom, I see Chuck Schwartz has elaborated above on his earlier post about Captain Westbrook, and that may require some study. In the meantime, since I already decided to post this .... Before arriving or after leaving the TSBD, McWatters' bus route never got even close to 1026 N. Beckley. I don't think the fellow the world knows as "Lee Harvey Oswald" ever got into a Nash Rambler on Elm St. (but someone else who looked a little like him and was legally named "Lee Harvey Oswald" probably did)! Here are two paragraphs from Mr. Armstrong's write-up that might be of interest to you. After shots were fired at President Kennedy, LEE Oswald walked through the office of the Book Depository and was seen by Mrs. Reid carrying a coke and wearing a white t-shirt. He then left the building and may have been given a pistol by Jack Ruby, as witnessed by three women from the Dal-Tex Bldg. LEE Oswald then walked west on the Elm Street extension in front of the TSBD and waited. At 12:40 PM a light colored Nash Rambler station wagon, with a chrome luggage rack, pulled over to the curb and stopped. Deputy Sheriff Roger Craig heard a shrill whistle, which attracted his attention, and watched as a young man wearing a white t-shirt walked over to the car and got in. Craig identified the man as (LEE) Harvey Oswald. Marvin Robinson was driving his Cadillac directly behind the Nash Rambler when it suddenly stopped. Robinson saw a white male hurry over to the car and get in. Robinson's employee, Roy Cooper, was following him in a different vehicle and also saw the man hurry over and get into the car. Both men told the FBI the man who got into the Nash Rambler was (LEE) Harvey Oswald, but neither man was interviewed by the WC. Helen Forrest saw the same man run toward the Nash Rambler and get in. She said, "If it wasn't Oswald, it was his identical twin." Helen Forrest was never interviewed by the WC nor was her statement published in the WC volumes. The Nash Rambler was last seen driving under the triple overpass with LEE Oswald, who was wearing a white t-shirt. Before meeting up with Officer Tippit near 10th & Patton, LEE Oswald acquired a pistol and a light colored medium-sized jacket that he wore over his white t-shirt. .... Victoria Adams, who worked in the TSBD, told the WC that she observed a man standing on the corner of Houston and Elm a few minutes after the assassination who may have been Jack Ruby. Across the street Mrs. Louis Velez, and two co-workers, saw Ruby walking up and down the street near the TSBD. When LEE Oswald came out of the building, they saw Ruby give a pistol to him. The women knew Oswald, who ate with them at a nearby restaurant, and both were acquainted with Jack Ruby. Mrs. Velez told her story of Ruby giving Oswald a pistol to her mother (Mrs. Evelyn Harris), who was interviewed by FBI agent Manning on 11/30/63. Neither Mrs. Velez nor her co-workers were interviewed by the DPD or FBI and given the opportunity to confirm or deny their story. If their story is true, then Ruby was deeply involved in the assassination. Ruby knew and associated with LEE Oswald in the summer of 1963, while HARVEY and Marina were living in New Orleans. If you haven't seen it, folks, please take a look at John Armstrong's major new revision of his write-up called "November 22, 1963" on my webpage here: http://harveyandlee.net/November/November_22.htm If you were ever suspicious of the Dallas Police Department's possible involvement in JFK's assassination, and want to know which two or three guys were involved (Roscoe White isn't discussed since there is no record of his activities on 11/22/63) read the page above. After more than half a century, I believe we finally know how in the Dallas Police Department was complicit in the assassination of President John Kennedy and Officer J.D. Tippit.

Hi, Sandy, What a great question!! Why would the designated patsy for the assassination of JFK walk away from the murder scene and then get on a bus heading TOWARD the scene of the crime? For that matter, why would Dallas cops search that very same bus right after the assassination while it was STILL heading TOWARD the Book Depository? Even weirder, why would U.S. Army civilian employee Stuart Reed snap a picture of the front of that bus, and the back of that bus at the very time it was approaching the Book Depository, and also take pictures of the front of the Book Depository and then just happen to take high qualtiy shots of "Lee Harvey Oswald" being led out of the Texas Theater by Dallas's Finest? WHAT LUCK!! It's almost as if someone had instructed a certain desginated patsy to be on that very bus, a bus that didn't even go anywhere near his rooming house. (Harvey Oswald boarded McWatters' bus about 12:40 PM and, according to Roy Milton Jones, police boarded the bus just a few minutes later. Lee Oswald left the Book Depository in a green Nash Rambler and was seen by Roger Craig and several others.)

Ian, Now that you mention it, that DOES look like Frazier's car. Linnae Mae Randle lived nearby, but it still seems weird to have caught the car there. I'll try to remember to ask John what else he knows about the photo. Maybe it was staged by "investigators" after the assassination.

Thanks for the comments, Denny. Harvey and Lee Oswald may have had similar appearances, but they were hardly twins. What confused so many people is that they both used the Lee Oswald name and they both carried Oswald IDs. For example, on the morning of 11/22/63, while Harvey Oswald was working at the Book Depository, Lee Oswald walked into the Jiffy store at 310 S. Industrial and showed store clerk Fred Moore a Texas driver’s license so he could buy two bottles of beer. Moore told the FBI the name on the license was “Lee Oswald” or “H. Lee Oswald.” (Harvey Oswald didn’t drive and didn’t have a driver’s license.) Also, John Armstrong has a whole lot to say about Johnny Brewer. See the second half of the November 22 write-up.

Ron, One of the reasons Harvey Oswald became the designated patsy was that he had already demonstrated that he could follow orders... even fairly difficult ones. And the designated patsy had to follow all kinds of orders on 11/22/63, such as being in the right place at the right time, and so much more. According to the DPD report, Harvey had on his person two torn in half dollar bills when he was arrested. No doubt these halved bills were supposed to be used to find his "contact," who would hold one or two of the matching halves. At least that's probably what the poor schmuck was told. I don't think Harvey had any idea he was being set up for either murder as he walked into the theater. He was just following orders and playing more spy games, as he had for years.