Ron Ecker

T. Folsom: All I can assume you are referring to is that he seemed to recall that he was still walking towards the Presidential motorcade when the shots were first fired, and the Zapruder film shows him stationary at the time of the first shot. I cannot imagine what else you are referring to as being so damning in his testimony. Did you read his testimony? If you did, you need to read more carefully. He didn't just say he was walking forward, he went on to say that he couldn't even see the president when he was being shot because he had the umbrella up in front of his face, presumably still trying to open it. Take a look at the Z film or the photos of UM (who appears to be standing still) and see if the umbrella he's holding over his head is in any way blocking his view of the president. T. Folsom: But I'm still not even sure what you are struggling to prove by thie Umbrella Man nonsense. Maybe I havenot read enough conspiracy lunacy to understand. Please explain. I'm not trying to prove anything. I simply stated my opinion that Witt was not UM, and I base that on his testimony and the photographic evidence.

Why are you asking me what testimony I'm referring to, and when it was given, when the very first post in this thread says that Witt testified before "the HCSA, Monday, September 25, 1978"? Now that you have that basic info, you can easily look up his testimony for yourself with a Google, and compare what he says he was doing when the shots were fired and what the UM is seen doing on film and in photos. I'm not going to do the work for you, since I really have no interest in arguing with a sarcastic lone nutter, about this or anything else.

There is evidence, however, that the man with the umbrella, regardless of what he was doing in the plaza, was not Mr. Witt. The evidence is Witt's own testimony v. what cameras in the plaza recorded. I prefer to believe the camera.

James, Hargraves was an explosives man. If there was indeed a car bomb waiting to be used if needed out on Stemmons, why would the conspirators have their explosives man holding an umbrella in Dealey Plaza? Not good use of available personnel. Seems to me that Hargraves would much more likely be stationed at a window with a view at the Cabana Motor Hotel, with his finger on a button, waiting for that limo to make its appearance.

Before leaving the subject of Stemmons, I have to display my ignorance: What does the word Volkand or Volkland refer to?

The exact address was 899 Stemmons Freeway. http://www.dallashistory.org/cgi-bin/webbb...ig.pl?read=7860

Larry, In the link below on the Cabana (later the Bill Decker Jail), it talks about the prisoners on the Stemmons side having "great downtown views." That would certainly suggest a good view of the freeway. http://www.dallashistory.org/cgi-bin/webbb...ig.pl?read=8163 Ron

Lee, I certainly think a scan of one document, for research purposes, out of a folder of notes and manuscripts would fall under the fair use doctrine. Ron Ecker

Lee, What is the source for this note from Cutler to Sprague and Sprague's comments? Thanks.

Larry, The Cabana Motel, where I believe Braden and some other shady characters stayed on the night of 11/21 and where I believe Ruby visited, was near Stemmons, was it not? As I recall it was near where Continental Ave/St met Stemmons. Did the motel have more than one floor? I'm wondering if it might not have been a perfect location for some motel guest(s) to be watching the freeway and set off a car bomb by remote control as the limo went by. I'm also reminded of the report that some men were seen sighting with rifles on Continental on the night of 11/20. I wonder how close to Stemmons and the motel they were.

Larry, I've finished your book. Great stuff. I have a question about Johnson, but not Lyndon Baines. In the Hargraves interview in your book, they talk about Robert Evan Johnson as someone who may have important papers, on stuff "that nobody ever even thought to cover up" (p. 277). Hemmings is said to believe that Johnson was the famous "Raoul" in the King assassination. Johnson was also involved with Hall and Sturgis in "burning" Hemmings's Dallas connections (p. 279). Hargraves says that Johnson's files would lead to one Rita Wilson, "who has the pictures of just about everyone in the camp in those days" (p. 305). So my question is, what do we know about this Robert Evan Johnson with this treasure trove of stuff, a character I had never heard of till reading your book? I've looked for him in other books, but the closest I've found is Robert Emmett Johnson in the book Deadly Secrets. This Johnson was "a paramilitary journalist and mercenary schemer who had once been on Trujillo's payroll" (p. 291). And coincidentally (?) he worked in Montreal with a man named Raul Dagnais, in a plot against Duvalier.