Carolyn Walther

[John Simkin]

Carolyn Walther lived in Dallas, Texas and on 22nd November, 1963, saw the motorcade of President John F. Kennedy from Elm Street. She later claimed that saw two men firing at Kennedy from the Texas School Book Depository. She was not called to give evidence to the Warren Commission.

This is what she told CBS Television on 25th June, 1967:

I think I got out on the street about 12:15 or 12:20 - something along there. And we were looking around, back and forth. People were talking and laughing, and in a very good mood. And I looked at this building (Texas Book Depository) and saw a man with a gun, and there was another man standing to his right. I could not see all of this man, and I couldn't see his face.

The other man was holding a short gun. It wasn't as long as a rifle. He was holding it pointed down, and he was kneeling in the window, or sitting. His arms were on the window. He was holding the gun in a downward position, and he was looking downward. ...

Just as I was looking at this man the people started shouting "Here he comes, here he comes." So I looked the other way and forgot about the man.

The President passed us, and he was smiling, and everybody was waving. Then the last of the cars went by, and I heard the shot. I thought it was a firecracker. Then I started back to work, and it was along the curb, and then two shots right together, and then another one. I'm sure there were four shots.

And then I said "It's gunshots." And people started screaming. I told them that I saw the man had light hair, or brown, and was wearing a white shirt. I explained to the FBI agents that I wasn't sure about that. That was my impression on thinking about it later. That I thought that was the way the man was dressed. This other man was wearing a brown suit. That was all I could see, half of this man's body from his shoulders to his hips. He was facing the window. Evidently he was looking out. But his face was in the upper part, where the glass was dirty, and I couldn't see his face....

The first statement that I made, I said the man was on the fourth or fifth floor, and I still feel the same way.

What do you make of her testimony?

[William O'Neil]

Well, it's unlikely that these two men could fit in the "snipers nest", as photographed. The 5th floor keeps coming into play, as you read the various reports.

-Bill

[Ron Ecker]

She says that people said, "Here he comes." She doesn't mention sirens. Were there or were there not sirens being used in the motorcade before the shots? Was it normal practice or no?

As I recall, the shooter Saul in the book Appointment in Dallas heard the sirens coming. His credibility thus lives or dies with sirens.

Do any witnesses at all mention hearing sirens before the shooting?

And if there were sirens, and they are not on the dictabelt, what does that say about the acoustical evidence?

[Jack White]

She says that people said, "Here he comes." She doesn't mention sirens. Were there or were there not sirens being used in the motorcade before the shots? Was it normal practice or no?

As I recall, the shooter Saul in the book Appointment in Dallas heard the sirens coming. His credibility thus lives or dies with sirens.

Do any witnesses at all mention hearing sirens before the shooting?

And if there were sirens, and they are not on the dictabelt, what does that say about the acoustical evidence?

I have never read of sirens used during the motorcade...just afterward on the way to Parkland.

Jack

[Ron Ecker]

Thanks, Jack. I forgot about a book that I recently read about, maybe here. I can't remember which book, but it's a fictional account of the assassination. I think it involved two guys waiting behind the fence on the grassy knoll, and they hear the sirens. Does this ring a bell (or set off a siren)?

[Kathleen Collins]

Carolyn Walther lived in Dallas, Texas and on 22nd November, 1963, saw the motorcade of President John F. Kennedy from Elm Street. She later claimed that saw two men firing at Kennedy from the Texas School Book Depository. She was not called to give evidence to the Warren Commission.

This is what she told CBS Television on 25th June, 1967:

I think I got out on the street about 12:15 or 12:20 - something along there. And we were looking around, back and forth. People were talking and laughing, and in a very good mood. And I looked at this building (Texas Book Depository) and saw a man with a gun, and there was another man standing to his right. I could not see all of this man, and I couldn't see his face.

The other man was holding a short gun. It wasn't as long as a rifle. He was holding it pointed down, and he was kneeling in the window, or sitting. His arms were on the window. He was holding the gun in a downward position, and he was looking downward. ...

Just as I was looking at this man the people started shouting "Here he comes, here he comes." So I looked the other way and forgot about the man.

The President passed us, and he was smiling, and everybody was waving. Then the last of the cars went by, and I heard the shot. I thought it was a firecracker. Then I started back to work, and it was along the curb, and then two shots right together, and then another one. I'm sure there were four shots.

And then I said "It's gunshots." And people started screaming. I told them that I saw the man had light hair, or brown, and was wearing a white shirt. I explained to the FBI agents that I wasn't sure about that. That was my impression on thinking about it later. That I thought that was the way the man was dressed. This other man was wearing a brown suit. That was all I could see, half of this man's body from his shoulders to his hips. He was facing the window. Evidently he was looking out. But his face was in the upper part, where the glass was dirty, and I couldn't see his face....

The first statement that I made, I said the man was on the fourth or fifth floor, and I still feel the same way.

What do you make of her testimony?

I read in another thread some time ago that someone had looked up -- I think it was a man -- and seen a man holding a rifle. So you have an empty area and the President's coming, you see a gun -- and you do nothing! I would have tried to find a cop, something. BTW, I assume she's the wife of Walther with the black hat.

Kathy

[William Kelly]

Of those witnesses who saw a man with a rifle in the windows of the TSBD, most described the man as wearing a white shirt, open at the colar, with a white t-shirt.

A few witnesses described more than one person in the window with a man with a rifle, and most of these witnesses were consistant in their description of the other person as wearing a brown sports coat or suit coat.

Certainly more than one person with the man with a rifle would imply a conspiracy.

And the description of the man with the rifle as wearing a white shirt open at the colar would eleminate Oswald as a suspect, since he was wearing a dark brown shirt, and had an alibi, having been seen on the first and second floors of the TSBD within minutes of the assassination.

These basic facts are important to establish in order to convince a District Attorney to convein a grand jury to develop the evidence from that point on.

How many Dealey Plaza witnesses are still alive?

BK