Rick McTague

On 4/9/2019 at 1:14 PM, Darrell Curtis said:

"On walking to the west end of the fence to access the overpass, you can see to the west Stemmons Freeway (white bridge), where Ed Hoffman saw the shooter and accomplice right about where I was standing.  Note that Stemmons rises up to provide a better view of the fence/parking lot area:"

Please note that this is not the original Stemmons freeway, and was not there in 1963. That overpass (which is actually just highway, and not an actual overpass) that is visible in your photo is part of construction of new roadways to expand the existing highway system here in DFW. The highway expansion that this is a part of began after 2001. The portion of Stemmons that Hoffman would have stood on/at is much lower to the ground, as are all of the highways of that era here in DFW, except for our so-called "mixmasters."

This is coming from someone who was born and raised here, I drive these roads regularly and am quite familiar with them. I thought it should be mentioned so that misinformation about Ed Hoffman's location, what he could see, or not see, didn't result.

Darrell,

VERY valuable information from a DFW native - I didn't know it was lower back then, thank you for the insight!

Thanks

15 hours ago, B. A. Copeland said:

Thanks Rick. Wow the Plaza looks so small in scale. My mind always goes crazy when imagining the size of this historic area. What a perfect strategic location for a shooting ambush. I'm not sure you could even ask for much better as far as an urban location.

B.A.,

You are certainly welcome.  I wanted to convey the current reality of DP for those who can't go there in person, tried to capture it from important areas and angles.  I am amazed every time I go there how really concentrated it is in distances.  It's only just a little bit down Elm from Houston where the shootings took place and it does seem to me as well that it's just an ideal kill zone complete with triangulation from concealment and easy egress.  I don't know how much better it could have been planned.  

Its odd how the pictoral record enlarges the space when you compare it against the actual location.

Glad you enjoyed, thanks for the note.

Thanks

19 hours ago, Jim Hargrove said:

Rick,

I left Roscoe White off the list because I’m not aware of ANY reference to where he was or what he was doing on the day JFK was assassinated.  Do you have any info on that?

Also, I don’t think he killed J.D. Tippit, regardless of young Robinson's story.  I agree completely with the post above by Paul Jolliffe.

But your overall suspicion seems well grounded.  After all,  Roscoe White’s connection with one of the Lee Harvey Oswalds goes all the way back to the U.S. Marines (where he knew American-born LEE Oswald), and he was clearly directly involved with the fraudulent “backyard photos.”

Any not-well-known additional info you have on Roscoe White would be most appreciated.

Jim,

I'm really glad Denny Z added in those bullets about Roscoe White - I am not aware of any further info on him.  I do recall that he joined the DPD in October 1963 I believe so he hadn't been with them too long.

I based my comment on Mike Robinson's story on this post, recalling what he overheard in the men's locker room bathroom, and who he saw when he came out. At least it does fill in a portion of where he was on 11/22/63.  It doesn't deem made up to me, but I am definitely not anywhere near being a researcher, just someone who wants the truths of this case to be exposed against the cover up.

Your work here and with Mr. Armstrong helps in that effort.

Thanks

This was new to me, the transcript of the press conference held in Parkland by Dr. Malcolm Perry and Dr. Kemp Clark.

I've had a chance to speak with Dr. Perry's son about this, and he said his father tried to explain his answers to a pretty chaotic room full of press who interrupted him and couldn't understand some of the terminology he used, which is evidenced by this transcript.

The first day immediate observation by Dr. Perry was that the throat wound was an entrance wound and appeared as a wound of entrance.  The other observation by Dr. Clark is the large gaping wound in the back of the head towards the right, as noted by many other medical professionals in Parkland.  

It's also telling that they didn't described a front / top of the head wound that is shown in the Zapruder film - the big orange blob / flap.

Thanks

19 hours ago, Gene Kelly said:

Ron

I think the ability to escape is an essential consideration ... and the South Knoll shot origin and terminal Annex parking lot are ideal in that regard.  We've discussed the pros/cons of this South Knoll location before, in an October 2018 Umbrella Man EF thread.  Various knowledgeable posters have previously suggested that the emphasis on Zapruder, the Grassy Knoll fence and the Bookstore Depository are red herrings.  The main sniper was forward and to the left .... and escaped unnoticed.   The South Knoll location invokes controversies such as the hole in the windshield, the throat wound, and Tosh Plumlee's story.  It also strongly implies that the Zapruder filming is somehow a staged part of the entire scenario. A South Knoll shooter explains how they avoid collateral damage with Nellie and Jackie (all part of the plan) although hitting Governor Connally was not apparently part of the plan (David Lifton discusses why this threw a monkey wrench into the plot (and if they wanted to hit Connally, they could easily have done so).  Al Carrier discusses the possibility of an excellent marksman, who fired through the windshield and hit the President ... or given the elevations involved, could have gone over the windshield (or through a small space in the frame).  It was only 60+ yards away, with an excellent frontal vantage that didn't change as the Limo slowly advanced towards/into the kill zone. Here's an excerpt from Carrier's November 2004 EF thread entitled "South Knoll; Ballistics, Shot Trajectories":  

Making the shot is only half the objective, the other is escaping either undetected or without being molested. The military found a practice to overcome this obstacle and it has been termed “Canyon Shoot”. This practice utilizes multiple snipers from locations suited to draw attention to those origins where they cannot be accessed, or by allowing the terrain to confuse the shot origin to the enemy present. By utilizing startle reaction to cue simultaneous fire from three locations, three shots could easily sound like one.

This also explains why the decoy TSBD shooter - initially been facing the President from the sixth floor when the presidential limousine rounded the corner - waited, and took the more difficult shot from behind. That delay and more difficult shot from the rear was part of a triangulated ambush, with shooters on the Knolls able to use the overpass railroad tracks for escape routes. Such a positioning of the limousine for the kill shot would appear to be associated with Zapruder's camera POV, as well the expected echo distortion. This is why I'm so focused on the sniper/shooter priority of egress and to escape unnoticed. The Terminal Annex building's parking lot (an excellent sniper location with favorable ingress/egress).  The DCM or signal man is facing towards those locations.  This location affords an ideal pan angle on the limousine as it proceeded down Elm, with the greatest elevation over the limo's obstructions. The brightness of the noonday sun above the South Knoll renders anyone looking in that direction (from the street or limousine) essentially blind to the whole area ... which is also a classic sniper tactic.  By utilizing startle reaction to cue simultaneous fire from three locations, three shots could easily sound like one.  The south end of the overpass is where James Tague was standing (just below) and as Ron Ecker pointed out, Tague possibly encountered the shooter, a "patrolman" who turned up by Tague and asked him what happened (Tague's original account before he changed his story.)  The there's the two Dallas police officers (White and Foster) ostensibly in charge of keeping persons off of the overpass during the motorcade ... both happened to submit a written report on December 4, 1963 in which both used the exact same phrase to describe their instructions:  

 

“As I recall, he instructed me to keep all persons off the overpass at this location during the parade.  It was my understanding that I was to keep all unauthorized persons away from the location…”

 

For me, it all comes together when the South Knoll is added to the mix.

Gene 

 

Gene,

Here is a picture from about 20' from the south end of the TUP facing towards the parking lot - like you said, very east entrance and egress from that point.

Thanks

Rick

On 3/28/2019 at 11:48 PM, Ron Bulman said:

(Ron, I added some pics from the places you describe from my walking tour in February, 2019).

I've been to/through  DP, parts of it about a dozen times regarding looking around on foot.  Driven through it many more working, passing through.  I've mentioned before on here, living in the mid cities between Fort Worth and Dallas a get out of town evening cruise in high school in 73 was down the still new and modern airport freeway (Two lanes each way!) to Commerce.  East on it to Houston.  North on it to Elm. West on it to Stemmons and home again.

Having hunted deer in my youth then looking over the picket fence on the gassy knoll at the X's in the street years later I thought, who needs a scope?  Though one would be useful for a precise shot. 

(From February 2019 about 4-5' down from the 90' angle in the picket fence.)

Standing under the second set of windows of the Dal-Tex building (where Zapruder's dress making firm was located on the second or third floor) I thought a floor or two up would be a great spot for a deer stand looking about a hundred yards down Elm.  Going back on the 50th with my daughter this was reinforced looking out the window of the soda/sandwich shop they have there now.

(I thought I got a pic from that angle looking down Elm but this is my attempt at recreating Altgens 5 with the Dal-Tex 2nd floor in clear view.)

Last fall crouching beside the last pillar on the South side of the triple overpass I though maybe Sherry Fister was right about at least one shot.  I was pretty much concealed from anyone on the other half of it.  When JFK rounded the corner from Houston to Elm I'd of been facing him pretty much straight on.  I've no doubt Chris Kyle with a scoped 22 could have taken out JFK's larynx. 

(This was taken about 20' from the south end of the triple overpass, right over where James Tague was standing, at a spot like you describe, easy to conceal and escape.  Plus, the trajectory from there to the limo make sense ala Sherry Fiester.)

(And escaped over the tracks to the parking lot below.  Before anybody realized what had happened.

Jim,

Did you intentionally leave off Roscoe White?  I know he wasn't an official policeman on the force but he sure helped frame LHO, especially in the story of Mike Robinson.  If true, he was one who killed JD Tippit which certainly helped frame LHO.  I'd be interested in your take on Roscoe White.

Thanks

Rick

On 3/20/2019 at 8:20 PM, Sandy Larsen said:

 

 

Rick,

First, there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that there was a rear blowout in the back of Kennedy's head. Twenty medical professionals at Parkland said so, some of whom got a very close view. Not a single one saw a wound above the ear.

Even the autopsy findings are consistent with a rear blowout. It wasn't till the HSCA that the wound was moved to be above the ear. And this was done by people who hadn't even seen or held the body.

So when I hear Dino saying that what he saw in the Zapruder film isn't the same as what we see now, I'm not at all surprised. In fact it's what I expect. But for me, it's the testimony of the 20 medical professionals at Parkland that convinces me more than anything else.

 

Sandy,

Thanks for your reply.  I think the other side of the coin that you mention - back of head blowout seen by those medical professionals and not in the extant Z film - is the giant orange blob wound that we DO see in the extant Z film being seen by exactly zero medical professionals at Parkland.  

It almost comes down to two options:

1. Believe the extant Z film is authentic and not altered = believing autopsy pictures and xrays are authentic = shots from the rear only = believe WC findings = LHO did it alone from TSBD. 
2. Believe the extant Z film was altered to remove the BOH blowout and add front of head orange blob = believe the Parkland medical professionals (including entry wound to the throat) = believe autopsy pictures and xrays are not authentic / body was altered = shots from the front = conspiracy in the assassination and conspiracy in the coverup.

Or is that too simplistic?

Thanks

Pat,

Is there / was there a standard in autopsy procedures to weigh each brain either before formalin infusion or after infusion so everything is consistent?  It seems like if the other brains listed are all valid weights, they would have all been weighed to the standard in place at the time, including JFK's brain.

Just a thought, thanks.

Rick

6 minutes ago, Sandy Larsen said:

 

It's irrelevant whether or not the shadows in the Zapruder film look natural. They could have been painted in natural looking.

And the other two films likewise could have been touched up too, and most likely were.

 

 

Sandy,

I think the strongest evidence of the Z file alterations is the Doug Horne - Dino Brugioni interview.  What Dino describes is so far out of agreement with the extant Z film that is available today seals the deal for me that it was altered, and Doug does a great job tracking that first day camera original through the Saturday night 11/23 NPIC briefing board event with Dino, then the Sunday night Homer McMahon NPIC event with an unslit 16mm film that produced a second set of briefing boards.  That second film is what we have today as the extant Z film IMO.

What are your thoughts?

14 hours ago, David Von Pein said:

Excellent. I'm adding that one to my "Dealey Through The Years" page right now. Thanks!

Do you have the exact date when that pic was taken in 2018? (I like to put the precise dates on my site, if at all possible.)

 

1/5/2018.

8 hours ago, David Von Pein said:

Expanded Webpage ---- http://kennedy-photos.blogspot.com / Dealey Plaza Photographs (1930-2019)

David,

I am very honored that you used one of my pictures that I took around DP from 2/18/19!  Glad they can be of some use, please feel free to use any of the pics I post!

Here is a pic I took in 2018 that more closely matches the picture from 1963:

Take care,

Rick

All,

While not really focusing on the sewer covers, I thought I'd put a link up to a post I made of my annual walking tour of DP back in February for those who don't get to live in Texas.

Regarding the south knoll, no one would have to use sewer access there to either shoot or escape, as my photos will show.  Plenty of wide open access to a large parking lot and out to various streets from the south knoll.  Given the # people on the overpass towards the north side, a sewer escape makes sense.  There was the witness of the guy (forgot his name) who borrowed a car from a dealer close to DP and on Friday afternoon came back into the dealership muddy and disheveled with no car - which was found in the RR parking lot behind the fence.

Enjoy!

Rick

2 hours ago, James DiEugenio said:

Steve:

Do you really take this CIA world view stuff seriously?

Or is that why you led off with Coca Cola drinkers?

The JFK murder in and of itself, did not do the whole job.  That is why the others followed.

And if one cannot see how incredibly successful that was for the fascist right, then you must be blind. The election of the anit-RFK Nixon in 1968 could not have happened without those murders.

Jim,

Your post here brings something to mind.  If the fascist right were the primary benefactors of the assassinations of the 60's, why would the MSM, who are very left-leaning all the way back to Cronkite, be on the side of the findings of the Warren Commission so patently and vehemently against anyone who says otherwise?  I agree that the military-industrial complex was a huge benefactor since Vietnam was escalated/expanded; is that the context that you find the fascist right benefiting or is it something else?

Just trying to understand ... thanks.

Denny,

In addition to your very informative post on Roscoe White, please consider this post relating the experiences of a 14-year old in police headquarters on 11.22.63, Mike Robinson.  To me, this lends credence to Roscoe White being one of the two who shot J.D. Tippit.  I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on his involvement beyond what you posted, given what Mike said he overheard in the locker room bathroom.

Thanks

On 2/20/2019 at 4:56 AM, David Von Pein said:

Based on many of my conversations with the "occipital blowout people", I have gotten the distinct impression that, yes, they seem to think the large wound at the right-front of JFK's head just didn't exist at all. They sure don't mention it very much (if at all). It's always occipital, occipital, occipital and fake autopsy photos whenever CTers discuss where they think the exit wound was located.

Good question though, Micah.

BTW, do you think the right-frontal wound existed, Micah?

 

David,

How can we reconcile the Parkland medical professionals consistently describing the occipital blowout while none of them mentioned the large frontal flap?  If something should have been obvious, it would have been that frontal flap, and from what I know (which isn't much), no one at Parkland described seeing that.  I guess it's the OBPs vs. FFs - Occipital Blowout People vs. Frontal Flappers.  Believing Parkland professionals vs. believing the extant Z film.

Thanks

Rick

15 hours ago, Joe Bauer said:

What a gift Rick.

Thank you so much.

I will never see Dealey Plaza in person in my lifetime.

Just don't have the time, money and health.

So it is real nice to see it through your photos.

A lot of neat and thought provoking angles and perspectives too.

Your photos made me feel like I was actually there.

Dealey Plaza will always be a soul wrenching place to me.

I think I would have the most profound thoughts and feelings if I could go there and stand and just contemplate what went on there on 11,22,1963.

It's definitely a shrine isn't it. 

Seeing pictures of it on 11,22,1963 always seems like a surreal dream to me.

Boy, they sure have let those Texas Live Oaks in the Plaza grow.

Too overgrown in my opinion.

Also, the grass there dies back in Winter I can see.

I watched a part of a documentary the other night, showing the interior side of the sixth floor windows in the TXSBD building. The ones facing West and looking down on the path of the JFK motorcade. 

What struck me was how low to the floor those windows were.

Oswald must have been either on his knees or laying down to have any visual sighting and firing ability and room imo. The part of the window he shot from was the open lower half.

So low. 

The arched windows also were low to the floor. Any 6 ft. man standing behind those low windows would be impossible to see in his entire height.

Thanks again Rick.

Appreciatively, Joe B.

 

 

 

Joe,

You are sure welcome; folks that don't have the privilege of living in Texas  and can't otherwise visit DP is why I made that post.  

I do the same - walk, stand and contemplate - it is a shrine.  It is also highly offensive to me the young people who run out into Elm onto the "X" and smile for a picture.  It happens many many times each time I visit and it's really disturbing.  

I agree wholeheartedly on the lack of trimming of the live oaks; they are really overgrown.  And yes, the typical Texas lawns are brown through winter.

There isn't but maybe 12"-14" from the floor in the TSBD to the bottom edge of the windows - absolutely correct on that.  A shooter would have to be in the sitting position or leaning down.

The thing that isn't captured here is how small and tight the entire DP area is.  Not much distance, maybe 30'? from the turn on Elm to the first "X".  Then a little ways down and there is the second "X" then a little more ways down and you're under the TUP and on Stemmons.  Doesn't take but 10 seconds or so to drive it at normal speed.

Glad you liked the pics, thank you.

1 hour ago, David Andrews said:

Nobody will like this post.

In The Men Who Killed Kennedy, the Corsican Mob criminal Christian David gave hints to the assassination, and claimed that the real story was in an envelope that his lawyer would open if David were released.  David, and interviewer Steve Rivele, have since been discredited.

However, one of the hints David dropped was (paraphrase): "You have to understand, one of the shots was almost on the level" (with the limo).

I've always wondered if we could count on the designation "one of the shots" as insider information on a shooting position, perhaps heard third-hand, and perhaps true.

Dealey Plaza offers several sites to ponder where that one shooting position was: Grassy Knoll, Dal-Tex window, others.

I won't blame anyone for discounting this, and there are plenty of reasons to.

David,

If I had to guess on this, I would say the shallow back shot (first one to hit JFK) came from the Dal-Tex building window.  It's hard to understand the slope of Elm looking up; it really down have a significant downward slope while curving to the left.  Since JFK said (according to Kellerman) "My God, I'm hit!", the frontal throat shot could not have been the first one to hit him.  Firing down Elm, just a short distance from the turn from Houston, would be considered a shot "almost on the level".

Thanks

Rick

16 hours ago, Tony Krome said:

How many feet from the curb were you when this photo was taken? thanks

Tony,

I stepped out one step - maybe 2' - into Elm to take this pic.

Thanks

I decided to use this President's Day to do my annual walk around Dealey Plaza.  I park in the same lot off Elm each time, get a nice and hot double cheeseburger at the Record Grill, and stroll on down to Houston and Elm.  Pretty crowded today, many groups, and several folks like me, regular people walking the scene of the crime of the last century.

I started by walking down the service road, behind the pergola, around a fence to emerge near where Abraham Zapruder stood on the concrete block.  These were taken at that spot:

I walked a little out front of there to see around the overgrown live oaks and took a panoramic shot, please forgive the movement of cars and people:

I walked to the west, to the steps and up and behind the wooden fence.  I took this shot about 4' from the corner of the fence where there is a 90 degree turn to the north, so this is about where Badgeman and his spotter were standing:

I walked about 25' to the west, and once there was a clearing between the trees to the "X" in the street, took this pic:

On walking to the west end of the fence to access the overpass, you can see to the west Stemmons Freeway (white bridge), where Ed Hoffman saw the shooter and accomplice right about where I was standing.  Note that Stemmons rises up to provide a better view of the fence/parking lot area:

A view of the grassy knoll and Elm from the northern part of the TUP:

This is the view standing atop Main street, the center street between Elm and Commerce:

This 

This is a shot standing directly atop where James Tague was standing, where Main and Commerce Meet.  This is in the area of Sherry Feister's trajectories: 

I walked down to about 20' of the end of the TUP where the access to the South Knoll is gated and locked.  You could get around this by walking east, then south to access the parking lot.  Does anyone know if this security fence was in place in 11/1963?

I went to the extreme southern end of the TUP and took this shot:

And another panoramic pic, again please forgive the movement of vehicles.  This weird stoner girl (far left) walked up there with an old school dad pipe and lit that baby up.  Random, right?

On my way back to the street level, I took another shot facing west towards Stemmons, with the fence corner included for context.  I could make out cars and trucks (since traffic was at a standstill) with fairly good detail.  Looking back the other way like Ed Hoffman did, he could certainly see men, what they were wearing and what they were doing.  Not close enough to ID anyone but definitely enough to see their actions.

Standing with my back to the fence, looking at the location of Lee Bowers in the control station.  No way could he see anything on the Elm side of the fence, because of the trees and fence, but he did have a very clear sight to what happened behind the fence:

Back on street level again, I thought I'd try to recreate as best I cold some famous pics.  My first attempt was a close-up of the TSBD entryway as seen in Altgens 6.  I pulled up on on my phone to determine where the concrete abutment and tree were, and the doorway is right in between them.  Of course, the tree was much smaller in 1963:

First, here is Altgens 6:

Here is my attempt at a full-size version.  I had to walk quite a ways west down Elm to get the right angle for the doorway, which was my reference point:

While I was there I thought I'd shoot back towards the southern side of the TUP.  Imagine James Tague standing on that narrow concrete slab between Main and Commerce.  This also includes the storm drain where Roger Craig was standing while plainclothes officers inspected the ground for furrow caused by a shot; one of them picked up something and put it in his pocket.  While there, Roger Craig heard a loud whistle from the other side of Elm and saw LHO run down the short hill and get into a Nash Ramber station wagon:

Next, I tried to copy Mary Moorman's Polaroid:

I have NO IDEA who the old coot was on the sidewalk, he didn't move too much.  Cold day in Dallas:

I tried cropping these to closely match the originals.

Next, I wanted to get a current pic of the doorway from the Weigman (?) film that shows Prayer "It's Lee" Man:

I walked across the street, went back up Elm, got in my car, drove down Elm in the center lane, took the Stemmons exit and drove by Parkland and on home.

That's about it.

Thanks

On the topic of the Tippit scene's throw-down wallet, does anyone really believe that, for all the places LHO supposedly went on 11/22/63, the one place he drops his wallet is at the scene of the crime of murdering a Dallas police officer? 

I, for one, check and recheck if my wallet is in place several times when I go anywhere, don't guys just naturally do that?  Anyway, to think that LHO either accidentally or intentionally threw his own billfold down after shooting Tippet is just ridiculous.  As is the bread-crumb trail of spent pistol cases being dropped all over the scene.  It's obvious to me that someone worked hard to frame LHO/Hidell for the Tippit shooting.

Thanks

On 2/2/2019 at 2:35 PM, Rich Pope said:

Get a room.

Wow that was really uncalled for.  Regardless of any differences I might have with any member of this forum, including DVP, he has in fact establish a significant archive of JFKA materials, and we all benefit from that.  It's not free, and it takes effort to maintain, and I expressed my appreciation for that.  No need to be snarky about it.

Thanks

2 hours ago, Joe Bauer said:

What a film Bolden's story would make...but the society shaking truths it would expose are way too threatening to the powers to be.

There should also have been a major movie star A list motion picture made of Dorothy Kilgallen as well. But this has always been blocked for similar reasons.

How about Denzel Washington in the starring role?

Thanks

On 1/24/2019 at 1:22 AM, James DiEugenio said:

From one of the best news sites out there, the late Bob Parry's  Consortium News

https://consortiumnews.com/2019/01/18/narrative-control-firm-targeting-alternative-media/

When one combines this with what I have heard about what Google is doing with their search engine, its kind of discouraging.  I heard about this from Russ Baker and I then tested it.

I did a four part series on the Kennedys and Civil Rights.  If you punch that rubric into Bing or Yahoo, it will come up on the first page 2-3 times.

If you punch it into Google, it comes up once. Maybe this is why?

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/dec/20/googles-earth-how-the-tech-giant-is-helping-the-state-spy-on-us

There is a war on for the space between your ears.  And these guys will try anything to win.  As Thomas Jefferson said, the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. 

Jim,

There is one reason I use BING and not Google.  Because It's Not Google.

Thanks

On 1/20/2019 at 7:58 AM, Derek Thibeault said:

I read that we have 50 witnesses that saw the presidential limo stop before the fatal head shot. I watched Doug Horne's doc on the Zapruder film, which was very good and shows a strong case of alteration of the Zapruder film that would have taken those frames out among other changes. If you believe in those items as I do, how would have Greer known when to stop the limo? At a certain place, after hearing the first shot(which would be tough), a sign(Umbrella man, other), completely by accident, or other? I don't buy into Greer shooting Kennedy. Also if Greer is involved by stopping on purpose, isn't that a huge risk, hoping he is not shot in the process, putting faith in the gunmen not to miss?

Derek,

My answer to your very good question is the yellow curb markings showed him precisely where to slow / stop the limo because that is exactly what happened.

Thanks