Jim Hargrove

Since the writer didn't respond to my request to post the letter here, there isn't much more I want to say. It was, obviously, an objection over copyright infringement.

A critical letter was sent out to Bernard Wilds and cc’d to me, Jim Di, Larry Hancock and others by a well-known researcher objecting to the site. I don’t know if he wants his name publicized, and so I won’t. It probably had something to do with the take-down.

I've been trying to catch up to Mr. Baker's work on Cricthon, despite a lot of H&L updates from JA. Evidence against Crichton is compelling but, as far as I can tell, purely circumstantial. As a former OSS employee with ties to the Dallas PD and Poppy Bush and especially as creator and long-term commander of the 488th Intel unit in Dallas, he was in a position to pull a lot of strings in that city in 1963. But the only thing approaching real evidence against him I’ve seen is that he set up the clearly agenda-driven Mamantov as interpreter for Marina and the authorities immediately after the hit. This is not to make light of his potential involvement in the assassination. If my life depended on the right answer, perhaps I’d bet he had something fairly significant to do with it, but from what I know so far, it is hardly a slam dunk. Compare this scant evidence against what we have for the CIA. For example, there are Oswald’s obvious intelligence ties, the diplomatic war between the Kennedy Administration and the CIA that had spilled into the pages of the NY Times, the simultaneous issue of the FBI cancellation of Oswald’s wanted notice with the CIA’s “Lee Henry Oswald” cable, Nagell’s knowledge of the coming hit, CIA accountant James Wilcott’s sworn testimony, and, even more significantly, how CIA people like Angleton, Hunt, Joannides, and especially Phillips just seemed to be all over this thing like flies on roadkill. Where is evidence like that against Crichton and the 488th? That complaint aside, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Crichton was one of the plotters.

Mr. Copeland, I would LOVE it, and I’m know JA would love it, if PrayerSmudge could be proved to be Classic Oswald©. If so, that one image would be the death forever of the Warren Report’s conclusions. But wishing it were so isn’t going to make it so, no matter what the PrayerSmudge proponents say. The image is too damned fuzzy. Show it to anyone without an agenda, and ask them if that image, without a doubt, shows LEE HARVEY OSWALD. Can you imagine showing it to a real jury? P.S. By the way, I don’t think JA is opposed to the theory that PrayerSmudge might be Oswald. We’ve never talked about the fuzzy image, but John believes Lee HARVEY Oswald was probably outside the building watching JFK go by. John’s argument goes something like, Can you imagine a politically-inclined kid like LHO missing a chance to see the President of the United States drive right by his workplace?

Michael, You’re right!! I had forgotten about that post. I (almost) always try to avoid this kind of divisiveness, but didn’t here. No more posting of other people’s criticism’s from me. Thanks for pointing it out.

I’m not going to wade through all the personal attacks against JA and me at ROKC. Enjoy your little group!

We’ll just have to disagree. Again, to see just how good the evidence is for both the bus and taxi ride and the Nash Rambler escape, see... Harvey and Lee Depart the TSBD

Wouldn't it be more logical to examine the evidence?

It's not whether a "whole idea" is a "morass," it's what does the evidence show? And the evidence shows one Oswald left the TSBD in a bus and later a taxi, and the other got into a green Nash Rambler station wagon. Many people on this forum believe the bus and taxi ride was fabricated, but a total of seventeen people, including a Secret Service Agent, a US Marshall, FBI Agents, DPD Detectives, and Capt Fritz were present during interrogations when Harvey Oswald said that he rode a bus. Twelve people were present during interrogations when Oswald said that he had obtained a bus transfer. If Oswald wasn't on the bus as planned, why was Tippit at the Gloco Station waiting for the bus to arrive, and, when it didn't arrive as planned, why did Tippit take off in his squad car to make a "hurried" phone call in a store? McWatters' recollection of Oswald was lousy, just as you would expect from a bus driver. But Whaley sure remembered him in his taxi. Harvey and Lee Depart the TSBD

Good point about Phipps’ study, John. Would you agree, though, that at the very least, if his measurements are reasonably accurate it is yet more evidence that there is a serious problem with the historic mug shots of the ONE AND ONLY LEE HARVEY OSWALD®? Of course, for you and me, this is preaching to the choir, but I doubt the public at large has ever heard this sermon. To be honest, I’m still at your initial stage of disbelief re the HSCA on the identity of Oswald mug shots. They devoted much of an entire volume (13, maybe?) trying to prove there was only one LHO. Seems like they’re trying awfully hard here, but I’ve noticed that on the very issue of two Oswalds, the HSCA was willing to lie to the American people right between the eyes. For example, faced with evidence that “Lee Harvey Oswald” was sailing for the South China Sea and had arrived in Ping Tung, North Taiwan at the very same time he was being treated for VD in Japan, Robert Blakey decided to believe the U.S. Navy’s pro forma excuse that Oswald didn’t sail on the boat at all, despite all the evidence that he did. For a few of the details, see my post here: TWO OSWALDS IN THE MARINES Would LOVE to see the results of your initial analysis of Jack White’s Evolution of LHO poster. My email address is at the very bottom of the HarveyandLee.net home page. My review of your reports at jfkrunningthegauntlet.com is going way too slowly. It is a cruel trick of fate that I am absolutely terrible with faces and find these kinds of analysis particularly difficult. It seems to be so easy for some people it really ticks me off! This will take some time, but your efforts in this aspect of the case are most appreciated.

John, For the EVOLUTION…. chart on the previous page, I doubt a screen capture will give good results. For me, at least, just right-clicking on the image, selecting “Save image as….” from the drop-down menu and saving the file to my desktop creates a perfect copy of what I uploaded. (I’m using Chrome browser on a Linux computer, but something similar to this should work on most setups.) The file should be about 905kB and when the view is enlarged enough, you should be able to read the captions for each of the 77 photos. The full image should be 3064 x 4152 pixels. Moving on, the minute I read the analysis presented in your post above the chart, it was obvious that you had put some serious work into studying images of “Lee Harvey Oswald.” I can’t wait to start reading your project, which I’ll do ASAP, despite a rather difficult schedule this weekend. Your analysis is based solely or primarily on visual analysis of the images, correct? It might be interesting to overlay the existing biographical data on images you find that don’t seem to match Classic Oswald (who we believe was Russian-speaking HARVEY Oswald—not the American born as LEE Harvey Oswald). Your conclusion that few photos survive of the young American born as Lee Harvey Oswald is not surprising. You might be interested, though, in a pixel-counting biometric study conducted by a Dallas attorney in 2015 of a dozen facial images of “LHO.” His study seems reasonably sophisticated, though he used only a subset of facial measurements used in more sophisticated algorithm’s such as Facebook’s. Here, in his own words, are the points he used to create ratios for comparisons: The ratios I will use are: “pupil-to-pupil / width of eye” (called P/W hereafter), “pupil-to-pupil / length of nose” (called P/N hereafter), “pupil-to-pupil / nose-to-top-lip” (called P/L hereafter) and “pupil-to-pupil / earlobe-to-earlobe” (called P/E hereafter). The use of ratios (instead of actual measurements) will make it unnecessary to know more about the distance from lens to face, or the type of camera, etc., since the proportions of the face of the same person should stay the same regardless of those other factors. He makes a number of caveats and disclaimers, but he concludes that there is some evidence that five of the photos are of one individual and seven of another. To read his full report…. CLICK HERE Again, I can hardly wait to start studying your analysis at jfkrunningthegauntlet.com!!

Fascinating, John. Have you been working on this long? The mughsots in the chart above were extracted from the much larger printed wall poster called "The Evolution of Lee Harvey Oswald." Jack did the graphics on both, with JA’s assistance. Jack White believed, by the way, that the 1956 image of LEE (top row of chart) was actually a pencil drawing. Sandy Larsen, active here, says that the giveaway of the pencil rendering is in the way the hair is drawn. I only had the pleasure of meeting Jack White on two occasions, but I still really miss him. John made the selection of mugshots, and the identification of each as either Harvey or Lee, based on all the available information available to him, which of course included biographical data. Obviously, though, it is hardly impossible that images of the two were deliberately or accidentally transposed. So your observations are of great interest to me. I’ve got several questions for you, but before asking them, I wonder if you have seen the big “Evolution” of LHO chart. A copy has been hanging on my home office door for roughly twenty years. I took the best shot of it I could, but it often gets compressed online. If you enlarge the image below, it should be possible to read the captions. Here ‘tis:

I’m not so sure, John. Here are a collection of “LHO” mugshuts from the Harvey and Lee homepage. From other biographical clues, and assuming the photographic record hasn’t been corrupted, the top row of pictures should show American-born LEE Oswald. The bottom row should show Russian-speaking HARVEY Oswald. Look at the top images (which should be LEE) for 1956, 1957, and 1958. Thee seems to be a fast developing widow’s peak in his hairline that seems to be progressing during those years. In 1963, Lee HARVEY Oswald clearly did not have such a pronounced widow’s peak. The top picture for 1959 is the anomaly in this list; either it is not LEE, or his hairline has been retouched, or he’s wearing a toupee, don’t you think? The chin issues are stunning! Jack White wrote about them at length in the poster he and JA worked up called "The Evolution of Lee Harvey Oswald." It's really kind of laughable how they go from wide to pointed and so on.

Oh, brother! Mr. Parnell supports the Warren Commission and says the Commission’s report told us the truth about the assassination of JFK!! Keep that in mind as you read how Mr. Parnell claims to be a better a researcher than John Armstrong (on just about any subject imaginable). The question of Landesberg and Oswald was addressed by the well-respected researcher Robert Charles-Dunne in a note he wrote to me nearly two decades ago. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I re-posted it. Read what RCD had to say about Oswald and Landesberg way back then. (Sorry about some scanning oddities. I lost this note many years ago but found it at the online John Armstrong Collection at Baylor University). The story is complicated enormously because there were two Steven Landesberg’s politically active in New York City at about the same time, but don’t let Mr. Parnell pull the wool over your eyes. There’s far more to this story than he wants you to know. For the real story on the Steve Landesbergs and Lee Harvey Oswald, see: http://harveyandlee.net/Landesberg/Landesbergs.html

John, The photo was scanned directly from the lithographic half-tone in Robert’s book, so there will be some artifacts. Do you have another reason to suspect it is edited? John believes Stephen Richard Landesberg (the actor) spent three years in the Marines sometime during the period of 1954 (when he graduated from high school) and 1961, so the dates certainly could overlap. It’s an interesting thought, though I’m not sure how to take it much farther. Have you read John Armstrong’s write-up on the two Landesbergs? http://harveyandlee.net/Landesberg/Landesbergs.html

The photo was taken while American-born LEE Oswald was on leave in the U.S. in November and December 58. While on leave in November, LEE opened a bank account at the West Side State Bank in Ft. Worth and listed his address as the Marine Corps Air Station in El Toro. At the same time, HARVEY Oswald was becoming very friendly with Sergeant Nelson Delgado at MACS 9 in Santa Ana, CA. Delgado told the Warren Commission that he and Oswald talked continuously about Castro, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. Delgado, Sergeant Erwin Lewis, Sergeant Camilous Brown, Buddy Simco, Mack Osborne, Neil Tessem, Henry Roussel, Robert Allen, and Paul Hickey all knew and associated with HARVEY Oswald in November and December, 1958--while LEE Oswald was either aboard ship en route to the USA (arrived 11/15/58) or on leave in Texas (returned to El Toro on 12/22/58). The Warren Commission either mistakenly or deliberately considered the bases at El Toro and Santa Ana as one unit, when they were actually different facilities located about ten miles apart. http://harveyandlee.net/Marines/Marines.html

Paul, I had a lengthy phone conversation last night with Russ Baker (whowhatwhy.org) who, as you may already know, has done all sorts of research on Jack Crichton and the 488th Military Intel Detachment in Dallas. Russ says this research is ongoing, beyond what he wrote in Family of Secrets. I’m looking forward to getting up to speed on his research.

No, the glasses are completely new to me. One picture I feel fairly certain is of American-born LEE Oswald was taken in 1958 by his brother Robert and published in Robert’s book, LEE, A Portrait of Lee Harvey Oswald, following page 96. Here it is: There may well many others, as John and DJ believe. Unfortunately, I'm not good with faces. Joe, No doubt assuming he was being a patriot, Robert Oswald was part of the “Oswald Project,” which was created to give an American ID to a Russian-speaking immigrant in order to eventually send him to the U.S.S.R, where he would pretend to speak little or no Russian, which is exactly what happened. Robert didn’t realize the “Oswald Project” had become involved in the Kennedy assassination until the day it happened. Garrison wrote about Robert having to take a long walk to sort things out, which were “far more complicated than they appeared.” There was a real Marguerite and a woman who posed as Marguerite. After all, two boys need two mothers. I’m not sure what to make of the glasses and Bullock’s description of how different his Oswald looked. Keep in mind, though, that this was an intel operation and so smoke and mirrors and cognitive dissonance were just part of the game. All your questions and more are answered clearly in John’s book and at HarveyandLee.net.

Nope. As I said in my first post above.... "Unexplained are LEE’s glasses and the fact that he didn’t look much like the man killed by Ruby, at least according to Mr. Bullock, unless he was referring more to his height and weight than his facial features."

Bart, Fritz’s notes also say that Lee HARVEY Oswald said he rode the bus and the taxi. If we accept Fritz’s notes as honest, then one Oswald clearly rode the bus and taxi while the other Oswald got into that green Nash Rambler.

Andrej, Ah, I forgot about Fritz's notes. Assuming they're honest, you're right about the two shirts. Thanks. However, a number of witnesses in the Book Depository, Bledsoe on the bus and Whaley in the cab indicated Harvey Oswald wore a long-sleeved brown shirt, not a short-sleeve shirt. PrayerSmudge appears to be wearing a short-sleeve dark shirt. If you think the sleeves were rolled up, do you have any evidence for that?

Isn't it curious that almost all those witnesses thought the other Oswald was taller and heavier than the one shot by Jack Ruby, matching the USMC medical records of American-born LEE. What a coincidence!!

John Armstrong just sent out William Kelly’s 2006 article above, as published in the Egg Harbor Township Current newspaper, to a dozen or so of his fellow researchers. The taller, heavier L. Oswald, or “Ozzie” Dick Bullock described as his Atsugi bunkmate for several months fits in nicely with the evidence of the taller, heavier LEE Oswald. LEE was stationed in the radar bubble at Atsugi, not HARVEY. Bullock describes his Atsugi Oswald (LEE) as being “two or three inches taller, 40 pounds heavier,” than the man killed by Ruby, just as the existing evidence shows. Unexplained are LEE’s glasses and the fact that he didn’t look much like the man killed by Ruby, at least according to Mr. Bullock, unless he was referring more to his height and weight than his facial features.

Andrej, Russian-speaking HARVEY Oswald wore the same long sleeved brown shirt in the morning and in the afternoon of 11/22/63. After all, Det. Sims removed the bus transfer from Harvey’s left shirt pocket at police headquarters. The transfer had expired at 1 pm. Why would LHO move an expired transfer from one shirt to another when he was at the boarding house? The confusion arises, perhaps, because Oswald probably took off his brown shirt when he was moving inventory around at the Book Depository. A number of witnesses said his undershirt appeared dirty. At the rooming house, he probably changed that undershirt and put back on the same brown shirt that wasn’t as soiled and that had the bus transfer in the pocket. American-born LEE Oswald, seen by a number of people entering the Nash Rambler wagon on Elm, was wearing a white shirt and, of course, needed no bus transfer.

PrayerSmudge appears to be too heavy-set to be either Oswald. Russian-speaking HARVEY Oswald was 5’9” tall and weighed just 135-150 lbs, probably closer to 135. American-born LEE Oswald was 5’11” tall and weighed about 165 lbs, still quite a bit thinner than PrayerSmudge appears to be, especially in the forearms, PrayerSmudge’s clearest attribute. PrayerSmudge is not dressed like either Oswald. In the photo Andrej showed, PrayerSmudge appears to be wearing a short-sleeved dark shirt, which was worn by neither Oswald on 11/22/63. HARVEY Oswald famously wore a long-sleeved dark brown shirt, as described by Bledsoe on the bus, Whaley in the taxi, and others both BEFORE and after he reached the rooming house. LEE Oswald was described by many, including those who saw him enter the green Nash Rambler station wagon on Elm, as wearing a short-sleeved white shirt. Neither Oswald wore a short-sleeve dark shirt, as PrayerSmudge appears to be wearing. Again, this is too bad, because it would be nice if PrayerSmudge was LHO, either LHO, but it doesn’t appear to be so.