Michael Kalin

Thanks, good to see a medical person refute cyber quack Parker's diagnosis. Another bogus Parker diagnosis is his finding that Oswald was an aspie, possibly a topic some day for another thread.

Never to be outdone, here's the HSCA version of Mentzel's activities. It is a mass of error discussed in some detail in the DPD Dispatcher Alterations and Tippit Murder thread. The killjoys at HSCA didn't even allow Mentzel to touch his tray of food. There's no estimate of how long he cruised West 10th and Zangs, but it was probably no longer than it took to drive the 450 feet to the Mobil gas station at 10th & Beckley. The FBI report is right in that this location is not within six or eight blocks of the intersection of Zangs & Beckley. It is disappointing to drop the idea that Mentzel at Luby's and Tippit at Top Ten called their contacts almost simultaneously, but the former's vigil over his lunch tray never made sense.

Steve, Mentzel's purported phone call from Luby's is just as "mysterious and suspicious." There are a couple of interesting items related to him in a lengthy FBI report of an investigation into Roberts' claim that "Dallas police car 207 drove by 1026 North Beckley" at about 1PM on 11/22/63. Page 10: W. D. MENTZEL, Districts 91 and 92, car 84. Was eating lunch at 430 West Jefferson at time of assassination. Left restaurant to answer shooting call in 400 block East 10th Street, Oak Cliff. Did not pass intersection of Zangs and Beckley. Page 12: Officer MENTZEL stated at approximately 12:30 P.M. he stopped for lunch at Luby's Cafeteria, 430 West Jefferson, Oak Cliff. He advised he tried on several occasions to call the station by telephone, but did not get through to the operator until about 1:00 P.M., at which time he was told the President had just been shot. He stated he left the remainder of his lunch and went into service by car radio, and was immediately dispatched to the 800 block of West Davis on an accident call, code 7, where he remained about ten minutes handling that call. He advised he then traveled west on Davis to Tyler when he heard the call involving a shooting of an officer in the 400 block of East 10th Street. He stated he was dispatched to the intersection of Beckley and Jefferson to look for a reported individual running away from that intersection, but was unable to locate the suspect. He stated that he, in company with other officers, entered the library at that intersection, and then was dispatched to the Texas Theatre, where the suspect was reportedly hiding. Officer MENTZEL advised he did not go north on Beckley to Zangs Boulevard at any time on that day, and could not recall being within six or eight blocks of that location. There is no signal 5 (mark out to eat) message from Mentzel (91) on the radio tapes, and the idea that he stared at a partially eaten lunch for 35 minutes or so before being dispatched to handle an automobile accident is ludicrous. Why didn't he immediately contact the dispatcher by radio? Was he at Luby's at all? My money is on the Mobil gas station at 10th & Beckley. There are complications which I'll put off for now in deference to an item unrelated to Mentzel. It's about another officer whose name will be familiar to some. Page 10: R. C. Nelson, District 87, Car 156. Dispatched to Texas School Book Depository where stationed in front of building all afternoon. Either someone at DPD did not keep J. Edgar abreast of dispatches or Jackson's claim that he dispatched Nelson to Oak Cliff was a load of hooey. The FBI report can be found toward the end of the Earline Roberts JFK Key Person file at NARA.

Ah, here we go down a crooked road. Greg, Callaway was tall but not thin, and he did not wear khakis. Per Greg Lowrey Clemmons' version of events has the support of various other people at the scene who remain anonymous. Exclusion from the official investigation does not invalidate them as witnesses. This is discussed in McBride's Into the Nightmare. [490-4] To my mind this version has the ring of truth because I am certain Tippit was decoyed by a second person as he stepped out of his car. He was a tough customer, a WW2 paratrooper who knew how to defend himself. On the other hand I believe almost nothing Callaway said about anything. What a gasbag!

An exception is Clemmons' description of someone at the scene immediately after the murder wearing light khaki trousers and a white shirt. He was tall & thin. It fits Vaganov as far as it goes.

Steve, stay a while. Threads always get hijacked. It's the way of message boards. Think of this by William Blake: Bugger strait roads -- let's go down roads of genius!

According to Mark Bridger's article in Daily Plaza Echo, Volume 2, Issue 2, "...the continuing story of the Russian rover: Ivan Vaganov," SAs Hall & Abernathy interviewed Vaganov on 11/22/63, reported in FBI Memorandum 23.11.63, SA C. Ray Hall to SAC Dallas. So far no luck finding the memo (NARA does not have a Vaganov key person file), but it was not destroyed. Bridger was familiar with the contents. It does not refer to the Tippit murder even though Vaganov resided in Oak Cliff.

Gene, I'm replying to points you raise in all three of your preceding posts. Crafard's involvement is a vexed topic mainly because it suffers from a dearth of evidentiary support, resting entirely on coincidence & speculation. The WC attorneys indeed questioned Crafard at length, but after reading it all the most polite single word description I can come with up is "fatuous." This was because the FBI had failed to provide WC with evidentiary leverage that might have been applied to force him to open up. For example, slow to develop information, the Detroit division's creepy interviews with Crafard's cousin & aunt were not conducted until June of 64, long after Crafard's WC sessions. My take on Benavides is that he was describing Belin whose coiffure had a square cut neckline. Domingo was in a pawky mood that day and enjoyed teasing Belin during his testimony. Belin actually lost his composure. Perhaps Croy did the shooting? Can't say, but speculation will undo us. If forced to cough up a conjecture as to the identity of a Tippit murder participant it would be Vaganov for whom there is a smattering of evidence (at best). Hmm -- come to think of it, wasn't he interviewed by the FBI on 11/22/63? The report could be another missing document. Research continues...

Steve, as always you go down interesting avenues, particularly this one that leads to the Mobil Station at 10th and Beckley. Nice if it could be positively connected to Croy, but I'm not seeing a missing first day document in this, only missing content from the radio tapes. Am I splitting hairs? Probably, but I'm hoping to avoid discussion of the radio tapes' defects in this thread.

Perhaps I did not identify the telephone call sheets accurately. The reference was to DPD's records of incoming telephone calls from the public on 11/22/63. I believe they were destroyed with the consequent loss of important information.

Thanks, DJ, but what's missing is the 11/22/63 report itself.

Thanks, Greg. The first two items hit the nail on the head, but I am not aware of missing first day documents with respect to either of the last two items.

Thanks, Gene, for the summary, but the Crafard angle is strictly speculative. I am not aware of associated first day documents, missing or otherwise.

Thanks, Steve, for #8, on point.

1. Benavides' DPD affidavit. (Leavelle's Supplementary Offense Report 11/22/63) 2. Benavides' FBI statement. (United States Government Memorandum 3/1/67) 3. DPD telephone call sheets. 4. Scoggins' trip manifest. 5. Scoggins' cab company statement. (FBI report 3/17/64) 6. Cab company's telephone log. (FBI report 11/28/63) 7. Dudley M. Hughes Funeral Home ambulance call slip. ("The Other Witnesses" by the Nashes 10/12/64) I can think of seven so far that have a direct bearing on the case, arranged more or less in descending order of importance. With the exception of #5 there is little doubt that they existed on 11/22/63 and were subsequently ignored, lost or discarded. References are noted in parentheses. Most, if not all, might have proven far more helpful in resolving the timing issues than the muddled radio tapes. The discarded Benavides documents also cut directly to the heart of what actually happened when Tippit was murdered. If there are others please add them to the list. Better yet, if I'm mistaken, copies will be welcome.