David Morales

[Larry Hancock]

It would be impossible to say where he specifically was on that date - his duty station was in Miami - JMWAVE...which is not exactly next door to New Orleans. As operations chief Morales was expected to be on duty there unless he was either in DC in meetings or traveling to Mexico City. We do know he traveled to MC on occasion and that there was also a small JMWAVE group there, completely independent of the MC station and its own facilities. We also know some of the AMOT group traveled there for training MC surveillance staff.

Unfortunately to get any specific detail you would have to get his detailed travel and pay records, normally protected under personnel privacy regulations.

[Thomas Graves]

It would be impossible to say where he specifically was on that date - his duty station was in Miami - JMWAVE...which is not exactly next door to New Orleans. As operations chief Morales was expected to be on duty there unless he was either in DC in meetings or traveling to Mexico City. We do know he traveled to MC on occasion and that there was also a small JMWAVE group there, completely independent of the MC station and its own facilities. We also know some of the AMOT group traveled there for training MC surveillance staff.

Unfortunately to get any specific detail you would have to get his detailed travel and pay records, normally protected under personnel privacy regulations.

Thanks, Larry.

Makes sense.

At least he wasn't in Uruguay or Tierra del Fuego as far as we know. "Officially," that is. LOL

--Tommy

Edited November 12, 2015 by Thomas Graves

[Thomas Graves]

Belated Thanks. I agree the man in the photo is the same man in the zapruder film.

I also wonder whois th tall man standing behind Morales inhte Zapruder film?

Tall, dark-complected, athletically-built (a football star in high school according to his buddy Ruben Carbajal) David Sanchez Morales is not visible in the Zapruder film to my knowledge, but I think he might be visible (wearing a grey suit and standing with his back to the camera) in the crowd in front of the TSBD several minutes after the assassination.

I believe Morales was monitoring Oswald's leafleting activity in New Orleans in August, 1963, and was "captured" on film by 16-year-old Jim Doyle during the arrest-of-Oswald-incident. I think Morales is the guy who walks into the scene from the left, scratching his neck the whole time (to hide the fact that he was "packing" from the camera?), and watches Oswald (wearing his placard on his chest) walk past him to Morales' left. This short Morales-and-Oswald scene starts at 3:55 in this Black Op Radio video:

.

Interestingly, Garrison "investigator" Richard Billing wrote about a gray suit-wearing "Spanish trace / shepherd" whom Bringuier and his buddies noticed monitoring and taking photos of Oswald that day. http://www.jfk-online.com/billings4.html

I'm trying to determine if the historical David Sanchez Morales had an inch-long scar on or above his left eyebrow. Edit: Yes he did.

Final thought: I don't want to sound politically-incorrect here but I gotta say that any dark-complected man (Morales was so dark that his colleagues referred to him as "El Indio") wearing a business suit in the southern cities of New Orleans and Dallas (in hot, muggy August in New Orleans!) in 1963 would have stuck out like a sore thumb as not being from those uhh.. racist areas. So, who is this guy or should I say, "who are these guys, in the photos I'm talking about, anyway?"

--Tommy

Edit: Upon further close "freeze frame" viewing, it's apparent that "Neck Scratcher" has a camera's thin brown leather strap around around his neck in the Black Op Radio video clip of Jim Doyle's color film , just like he did in this photo:

Edited November 18, 2015 by Thomas Graves

[Thomas Graves]

Belated Thanks. I agree the man in the photo is the same man in the Zapruder film.

I also wonder -- who is the tall man standing behind Morales in the Zapruder film?

Edited and augmented on 11/17/15:

Jeanie,

Dark-complected and athletically-built (a football and track star in high school according to his buddy Ruben Carbajal) David Sanchez Morales is not visible in the Zapruder film to my knowledge.

I do believe, however, that Morales was monitoring Oswald's leafleting activity in New Orleans on August 9, 1963, and was "captured" on film by 14-year-old Jim Doyle during the arrest-of-Oswald-incident. I think Morales is the guy who walks into the scene from the left, scratching his neck (to sneakily point out Oswald to a confederate, to try to hide the fact that he has a camera's strap around his neck?), and watches Oswald walk past him at 3:55 in this Black Op Radio video:

.

Interestingly, a Garrison investigator, Richard Billings, wrote about a coat-and-tie-wearing "Spanish (read: Hispanic-looking) Trace / Shepherd" whom Bringuier and his buddies noticed was monitoring and taking photos of Oswald that day. http://www.jfk-online.com/billings4.html

I'm presently trying to determine if the historical David Sanchez Morales had an inch-long scar on or above his left eyebrow like Garrison told Billings the photo-taking "Shepherd" had. Edit: Yes he did. See the 45-degree scar above Morales' left eyebrow in the photo below.

--Tommy

Edit: Upon further close "freeze frame" viewing of "Neck Scratcher" in the Jim Doyle color film clip (around 3:55), I've come to realize that "Neck Scratcher" has a thin, brown, shiny leather camera strap (barely-visible) around his neck. Just like David Sanchez Morales did in this 1966 photo! ------

Bear in mind that according to Richard Billings, Garrison was told by witnesses Carlos Bringuier and Miguel Cruz that the "Shepherd" or "Spanish Trace" was taking photos of Oswald on Canal Street that day.

Synopsis: Dark-complected "Neck Scratcher" had a camera with him while he was watching Oswald on August 9, 1963, just like Bringuier and Cruz said the dark-complected "Spanish Trace / Shepherd" had had with him that day. Garrison told one of his researchers, Richard Billings, that this dark-complected "Shepherd" had a one-inch scar on his left eyebrow. I have shown here and in earlier posts that David Sanchez Morales had a one-to-two-inch scar on his left eyebrow. In earlier posts I also showed that white-fingered "Neck Scratcher" was very dark complected.

Question: Was David Sanchez Morales the dark-complected, suit-wearing man with the scarred left eyebrow who was seen watching and taking photos of Oswald on August 9, 1963?

I believe that he was.

Edited November 19, 2015 by Thomas Graves

[Thomas Graves]

Belated Thanks. I agree the man in the photo is the same man in the Zapruder film.

I also wonder -- who is the tall man standing behind Morales in the Zapruder film?

Edited and augmented on 11/17/15:

Jeanie,

Dark-complected, athletically-built (football and track star in high school) David Sanchez Morales is not visible in the Zapruder film to my knowledge.

I do believe, however, that Morales was monitoring Oswald's leafleting activity in New Orleans on August 9, 1963, and was "captured" on film by 14-year-old Jim Doyle during the arrest-of-Oswald-incident. I say this because I'm now convinced that Morales is the guy who walks into view from the left, "scratching" his neck and watching Oswald walk past him at 3:55 in this Black Op Radio video:

.

Interestingly, a Garrison investigator, Richard Billings, wrote about a coat-and-tie-wearing "Spanish (read: Hispanic-looking) Trace / Shepherd" who was monitoring and taking photos of Oswald that day. and that the guy had a one-inch scar on his left eyebrow. http://www.jfk-online.com/billings4.html

Well...

See the 45-degree scar above Morales' left eyebrow in the photo below?

--Tommy

Edit: Upon further "freeze frame" viewing of "Neck Scratcher" (around 3:55), I've come to realize that he had a thin, brown, shiny leather camera strap (barely-visible) around his neck.

Just like David Sanchez Morales did in this 1966 photo:

Please bear in mind that according to Richard Billings, Garrison was told by witnesses Carlos Bringuier and Miguel Cruz that the "Shepherd" or "Spanish Trace" was taking photos of Oswald on Canal Street that day.

Synopsis: Dark-complected "Neck Scratcher" had a camera with him while he was watching Oswald on August 9, 1963, just like Bringuier and Cruz said the dark-complected "Spanish Trace / Shepherd" had had with him that day. Garrison told one of his researchers, Richard Billings, that this dark-complected "Shepherd" had a one-inch scar on his left eyebrow. I have shown here and in earlier posts that David Sanchez Morales had a one-to-two-inch scar on his left eyebrow. In earlier posts I also showed that white-fingered "Neck Scratcher" was dark complected, like David Sanchez Morales (who had white fingers and dark skin).

Question: Was David Sanchez Morales the dark-complected, white-fingered, coat-and-tie-wearing man who had a scarred left eyebrow and was seen watching and taking photos of Oswald on August 9, 1963?

I believe that he was. In this thread I have attempted to show you why.

Bumped one last time.

Question: Am I the only one here who thinks that "Neck Scratcher" was David Sanchez Morales?

Edited November 19, 2015 by Thomas Graves

[David Andrews]

He looks like too short and slight a man for Morales, and doesn't project Morales' big-chested air of authority.

He may be a Cuban. I doubt he's Japanese. The body and movements register as Hispanic to me.

Looking at the film, I think he's adjusting the camera neck strap, not scratching. There may be a strap buckle behind his head.

Edited November 19, 2015 by David Andrews

[Paul Brancato]

When I view that film I see a powerful looking man, not short or slight, scratching his neck, not adjusting a strap. Perhaps there was a strap and it was bothering his neck. If so I can't see it. And the scratching itself is odd. Looks more like a signal.

As for the rest of the film, Mellen makes a few statements as if they are proven facts. Perhaps she is right, but they are her opinions as far as I can tell.

[David Andrews]

Hasn't it been established from better copies of the film that there is a camera around his neck? I thought that was why he is thought significant.

If you remember old cameras and their straps, there was a buckle connecting the two strap halves, and you needed two hands to adjust, especially if it was around your neck.

He just looks like he's adjusting the strap and it's taking longer than he thought, during which he's required to change body positions. If he's in mid-buckling he's in danger of dropping a heavy camera.

"Slight" may have been a misleading word, but there's no way he's as big, broad, or thick as Morales. He's built more like Danny Arce.

We really need to work from a better copy of the complete footage.

Edited November 19, 2015 by David Andrews

[James DiEugenio]

Is there any evidence that Morales was in Dallas in November?

I think Scott Kaiser says there is.

[Thomas Graves]

[...]

"Slight" may have been a misleading word, but there's no way he's as big, broad, or thick as Morales. He's built more like Danny Arce.

[...]

Thanks for the feedback, David, especially on the camera.

Regarding your belief that "Neck Scratcher" was not as "big, broad, or thick" as Morales, I respectfully disagree.

By "big" do you mean "tall"?

Morales looks to be between 5'10" and 6'0 in his 1942 high school track team group photo, and also in the 1969 - 1971 photo in which he's standing next to two Vietnamese and the giant Colonel William Grimes who was, I believe, 6'7". (In this Vietnam War-era photo Morales' white index finger can also be seen.)

Morales might still have had a track star's / football player's "slender" athletic physique in 1963.

BTW, Did you read the part about the "Shepherd's" having a one-inch scar over his left eye, according to Jim Garrison?

Good.

Did you also see the one-to-two-inch 45-degree scar on Morales' left eyebrow in this photo, with the big notch in his eyebrow directly below the scar?:

Excellent!

What are the chances that it was just a coincidence?

--Tommy

PS There's a larger photo of Morales with the shiny thin camera strap around his neck in 1966 on the Mary Ferrell website, but unfortunately I'm unable to copy and paste it to this forum. The photo I'm talking about shows the camera (in its case).

Edited November 19, 2015 by Thomas Graves

[Thomas Graves]

On 11/19/2015 at 7:33 AM, Paul Brancato said:

When I view that film I see a powerful looking man, not short or slight, scratching his neck, not adjusting a strap. Perhaps there was a strap and it was bothering his neck. If so I can't see it. And the scratching itself is odd. Looks more like a signal.

As for the rest of the film, Mellen makes a few statements as if they are proven facts. Perhaps she is right, but they are her opinions as far as I can tell.

Thanks for the feedback, Paul.

Regarding the camera strap, it's brown and shiny and very narrow. So narrow, in fact, that it almost merges with the top of the subject's jacket collar, visually speaking. The dead giveaway that it's not part of his collar is that it's brown in color whereas the guy's jacket is bluish-grey, and the fact that if you look closely, there is a slight reflection of light off part of it, whereas the jacket's material didn't reflect "shiny" light like that.

Warning: You've got to freeze-frame the heck out of the footage from about 3:55 on to really see what I'm talking about. ("Click-click... Click-click..." Real fast like.)

--Tommy

Edited April 3, 2017 by Thomas Graves

[Paul Brancato]

It's the way he is moving his finger that doesn't look like a readjustment of a strap, or even scratching for that matter. Try scratching your own neck - is that how you do it?

[Thomas Graves]

On 11/19/2015 at 2:45 PM, Paul Brancato said:

It's the way he is moving his finger that doesn't look like a readjustment of a strap, or even scratching for that matter. Try scratching your own neck - is that how you do it?

I agree with you, Paul.

Everyone I show this video to voluntarily says the same thing, "He's pointing to someone or signaling something."

I see no attempt by the subject to adjust the shiny brown strap around his neck, or to really scratch his neck, in the video. I think he was probably taking photos of Oswald right before this clip began, knew that he was being filmed from behind by a stranger (16 year old Jim Doyle), and so he pretended to be scratching his neck in order to be able to "prove" at some point (if necessary) that he hadn't been taking photos of Oswald ("Look! I couldn't possibly have been taking photos with just my left hand!"). I think he may have been pointing towards Oswald (for the mysterious John T. Martin?), as well.

--Tommy

Edited April 3, 2017 by Thomas Graves

[Thomas Graves]

On 11/19/2015 at 3:05 AM, Thomas Graves said:

On 11/18/2015 at 3:54 AM, Thomas Graves said:

On 11/18/2015 at 3:50 AM, Thomas Graves said:

On 11/4/2015 at 8:59 PM, Thomas Graves said:

On 11/4/2015 at 2:21 PM, Jeanie Dean said:

Belated Thanks. I agree the man in the photo is the same man in the Zapruder film.

I also wonder -- who is the tall man standing behind Morales in the Zapruder film?

Edited and augmented on 11/17/15:

Jeanie,

Dark-complected, athletically-built (football and track star in high school) David Sanchez Morales is not visible in the Zapruder film to my knowledge.

I do believe, however, that Morales was monitoring Oswald's leafleting activity in New Orleans on August 9, 1963, and was "captured" on film by 16-year-old Jim Doyle during the arrest-of-Oswald-incident. I say this because I'm now convinced that Morales is the guy who walks into view from the left, "scratching" his neck and watching Oswald walk past him at 3:55 in this Black Op Radio video:

 

.

Interestingly, a Garrison investigator, Richard Billings, wrote about a coat-and-tie-wearing "Spanish (read: Hispanic-looking) Trace / Shepherd" who was monitoring and taking photos of Oswald that day, and that the guy had a one-inch scar on his left eyebrow. http://www.jfk-online.com/billings4.html

Well...

See the 45-degree scar above Morales' left eyebrow in the photo below?

--Tommy

Edit: Upon further "freeze frame" viewing of "Neck Scratcher" (around 3:55), I've come to realize that he had a thin, brown, shiny leather camera strap (barely-visible) around his neck.

Just like David Sanchez Morales did in this 1966 photo:

Please bear in mind that according to Richard Billings, Garrison was told by witnesses Carlos Bringuier and Miguel Cruz that the "Shepherd" or "Spanish Trace" was taking photos of Oswald on Canal Street that day.

Synopsis: Dark-complected "Neck Scratcher" had a camera with him while he was watching Oswald on August 9, 1963, just like Bringuier and Cruz said the dark-complected "Spanish Trace / Shepherd" had had with him that day. Garrison told one of his researchers, Richard Billings, that this dark-complected "Shepherd" had a one-inch scar on his left eyebrow. I have shown here and in earlier posts that David Sanchez Morales had a one-to-two-inch scar on his left eyebrow. In earlier posts I also showed that white-fingered "Neck Scratcher" was dark complected, like David Sanchez Morales (who had white fingers and dark skin).

Question: Was David Sanchez Morales the dark-complected, white-fingered, coat-and-tie-wearing man who had a scarred left eyebrow and was seen watching and taking photos of Oswald on August 9, 1963?

I believe that he was. In this thread I have attempted to show you why.

Bumped one last time.

Question: Am I the only one here who thinks that "Neck Scratcher" was David Sanchez Morales?

bumped for Scott Kaiser

Edited April 3, 2017 by Thomas Graves

[Thomas Graves]

Is there any evidence that Morales was in Dallas in November?

I think Scott Kaiser says there is.

Thanks, Jimbo.

--Tommy