Who saw Baker enter the TSBD?

[Robert Prudhomme]

To the best of my knowledge, only three witnesses saw Officer Marion Baker run up the front steps of the TSBD, and only one of these witnesses actually testified to seeing Baker enter the front door of the TSBD. The two witnesses who only saw Baker ascend the steps were Billy Lovelady and Bill Shelley, while their boss, Roy Samson Truly, actually testified to seeing Baker enter the front door.

As Truly then is the only witness to recall seeing a white helmeted motorcycle cop enter the front of the TSBD, perhaps it is time I give Shelley and Lovelady a rest, and concentrate on Roy Truly for a bit. Analysis of photos, timing and testimony to begin tomorrow.

[Robert Prudhomme]

First, we should establish exactly where Roy Truly was during the shooting. Truly testified that he was on the little concrete island, directly in front of the TSBD steps, and on the other side of the Elm St. extension.

I consulted Don Roberdeau's Dealey Plaza map, and found he had located them in this precise position. He and his boss Ochus Campbell are identified by Roberdeau as standing one person to the west of "stetson hat man".

Can this possibly be Roy Truly, as seen on our right, and Ochus Campbell to our left of him? They hardly seem dressed like management, especially when you consider these photos of Roy Truly, in suit, tie and fedora, were supposedly taken later on that day on the main floor of the TSBD.

Is Roberdeau correct? Are the two fellows who are dressed like tradesmen really manager Roy Truly and his boss, Ochus Campbell?

[Ray Mitcham]

I would agree with your comments, Bob. The two men shown do not appear to be dressed in "management" apparel.

Edited May 4, 2015 by Ray Mitcham

[Robert Prudhomme]

Something else I find a bit odd. Roy Truly was a fairly short man. We know this because, in his testimony, he stated that some of the coloured boys were having trouble seeing over the crowd, due to them being very short. He then stated he wasn't doing much better in that department himself.

If we compare Baker to Truly, we see he is not much taller and, in other photos, Baker can be seen to be quite chunky with a double chin.

Can this be the tall lanky cop we see running in the Couch film?

Edited May 5, 2015 by Robert Prudhomme

[Robert Prudhomme]

A more likely location to find Truly and Campbell was directly below the traffic light, seen in this still from the Couch film below:

Baker's motorcycle can be seen parked at the left of the photo, approximately 45 feet from the front steps of the TSBD. This would place Truly and Campbell about 30 feet from the steps.

We get a slightly earlier view of this scene in this still from the Wiegman film:

Interestingly, we see only one man wearing a fedora by the traffic light. Considering this man is wearing a light coloured fedora, and Truly's fedora was dark, we have to assume this man to be none other than Ochus V. Campbell. Where is Truly? Has he already headed back inside the TSBD?

[Robert Prudhomme]

Here is what is likely the best gif ever made of the Couch film. Baker's motorcycle can clearly be seen, and Baker running to the TSBD is also very clear.

C:\Users\Robert\Downloads\Truly-Baker.gif

It is a bit tricky to get to this gif. I found I had to c/p this title and enter it as an address.

If we ignore Baker for a second, and look only at the steps of the TSBD, we can see a man near the foot of the steps who turns around as Baker runs by. This may very well be Truly, as he is wearing a dark fedora.

More interesting, though, is if we look at the steps, just up from where we see Truly. There is a man who looks very much like Lovelady, and he is bent over speaking to what appears to be a lady in a dark top and a light coloured skirt.

Does she sound familiar? No? Who did Lovelady claim returned to the steps with news of the assassination, before he and Shelley made their way to the rail yard?

If you guessed Gloria Calvary, you're right! Now, how did she get to the steps before Baker, considering she was standing down by the Stemmons Freeway sign?

Edited May 8, 2015 by Robert Prudhomme

[Mark Knight]

Robert, that "address" seems to be a file on the C-drive of your own computer...which the rest of us have no way to access.

[Robert Prudhomme]

Darn. I was afraid of that. I'll see if I can find where I saw that gif. Sorry about that.

[Robert Prudhomme]

I found the file. It's in something on my desktop called Downloads. Any idea how I can share it on here?

[Guest Mark Valenti]

Whatever you do, don't hit the delete key - it'll make your computer disappear.

[Robert Prudhomme]

Ha ha! Don't you know it's considered cruel to tease the computer illiterate?

[Larry Hancock]

Robert, that just means that its a file you saved into the download area of your computer. To share it you would have to upload/publish it to some site on the internet. Perhaps you could email it as an attachment to one of the moderators who could in turn publish it here? Otherwise you would have to email it to someone who operates a web site who could publish it there for linkage.

[Thomas Graves]

Robert, that just means that its a file you saved into the download area of your computer. To share it you would have to upload/publish it to some site on the internet. Perhaps you could email it as an attachment to one of the moderators who could in turn publish it here? Otherwise you would have to email it to someone who operates a web site who could publish it there for linkage.

Why can't he just bring it up on his computer and copy and paste it into a post here as an "edit"?

--Tommy

[Larry Hancock]

Beats me, if he can copy a photo into a post maybe it would work...not something I've ever tried.

[Robert Prudhomme]

I tried to attach it but it is a very large file, and the limit seems to be 177 bytes. I'll see if I can load it onto my Photobucket account and post a link here.