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Two Dallas cops were involved in the pre-arranged murder of Tippit...


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1 hour ago, Mark Lawson said:

https://harveyandlee.net/Tippit/Tippit.html

Jim, at the above-referenced Web page, you and/or Jim Armstrong write: "Reserve officer Croy most likely arrived at 10th & Patton in police car #207 with personnel officer Capt. Westbrook, and they both watched as LEE Oswald shot and killed Tippit at 1:06 PM. Westbrook drove away in police car #207...."

Further down the same page, however, you write: "Westbrook did not drive directly to the scene of the Tippit murder at 10th & Patton.... Capt. Westbrook drove his own dark blue, unmarked police car to Oak Cliff with Sgt. Stringer sitting next to him in the front seat and with Dallas Morning News reporter Jim Ewell sitting in the back seat (read Jim Ewell's account here: http://www.kenrahn.com/JFK/History/The_deed/Sneed/Ewell.html). And an unknown police officer did NOT let Westbrook out at the scene of Tippit's murder, because Westbrook drove his unmarked police car from the Book Depository directly to the Texaco Station at 401 E. Jefferson and arrived shortly before 1:25 PM.... [italics and emphasis from the original]

Can you clarify, please? ML

From Westbrook's WC testimony:

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/westbrook.htm

 

So, there would have been three people in that car.

 

I came out on this dock, one of the men hollered and said there had been an officer killed in Oak Cliff.
Well, then, of course, I ran to my radio because I am the personnel officer and that then became, of course, my greatest interest right at that time, and so, Sergeant Stringer and I and some patrolman---I don't recall his name---then drove to the immediate vicinity of where Officer Tippit had been shot and killed.

Mr. BALL. Where was your car parked at that time?
Mr. WESTBROOK. It wasn't my car--we didn't have one. I don't know where this officer went after he let us out at the scene.
Mr. BALL. An officer drove you down to the scene?
Mr. WESTBROOK. An officer drove us to the scene.

 

Steve Thomas

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Mark,

Assume we’re right about the involvement of Westbrook and Croy in this whole affair, and then try to imagine yourself in Westbrook’s shoes.  Would you want to drive your own, personal car to meet the man who would soon be accused of killing JFK?  Or to be near the spot where a uniformed officer was about to be murdered?  That’s why we think Westbrook commandeered car # 207 and drove with Croy to the North Beckley rooming house, honked the horn, and soon parked in the narrow driveway near 10th and Patton.   Taking his own car would simply have been too dangerous.

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18 hours ago, Mark Lawson said:

https://harveyandlee.net/Tippit/Tippit.html

Jim, at the above-referenced Web page, you and/or Jim Armstrong write: "Reserve officer Croy most likely arrived at 10th & Patton in police car #207 with personnel officer Capt. Westbrook, and they both watched as LEE Oswald shot and killed Tippit at 1:06 PM. Westbrook drove away in police car #207...."

Further down the same page, however, you write: "Westbrook did not drive directly to the scene of the Tippit murder at 10th & Patton.... Capt. Westbrook drove his own dark blue, unmarked police car to Oak Cliff with Sgt. Stringer sitting next to him in the front seat and with Dallas Morning News reporter Jim Ewell sitting in the back seat (read Jim Ewell's account here: http://www.kenrahn.com/JFK/History/The_deed/Sneed/Ewell.html). And an unknown police officer did NOT let Westbrook out at the scene of Tippit's murder, because Westbrook drove his unmarked police car from the Book Depository directly to the Texaco Station at 401 E. Jefferson and arrived shortly before 1:25 PM.... [italics and emphasis from the original]

Can you clarify, please? ML

Steve and Mark,

I think Steve’s post just  above this one definitely belongs in another thread.  For now, I’d like to discuss the two cars we think Westbrook drove that fateful afternoon and the actions he took that prompted Mark Lawson’s question.  Following is an outline, partly excerpted from THE TIPPIT MURDER PAGE and partly in my own words, describing our theory about Westbrook’s movements.

Shortly after shots were fired at President Kennedy we think Capt. Westbrook, along with Sgt. Kenneth Croy, drove Westbrook's unmarked dark blue police car from police headquarters to Dealey Plaza, arriving about 12:40 PM.

A few earlier, Officer Valentine, along with news reporter Jim Ewell, drove Dallas police car #207 from police headquarters to the Book Depository. Valentine parked the car and assisted in the search of the building until late afternoon.

We believe that after Westbrook parked his unmarked police car near the Book Depository, both he and Croy boarded McWatters’ bus looking for HARVEY Oswald.

Next, Westbrook commandeered one of the many police cars parked in front of the Book Depository, likely squad car #207 driven there by Valentine. Westbrook, along with Sgt. Croy, drove car #207 to Oak Cliff  to find HARVEY Oswald and drive him to the Texas Theater.

After dropping HARVEY Oswald off in the deserted alley behind the Texas Theater, Westbrook and Croy drove police car #207 six blocks east thru the same alley and, after passing Patton St., turned left onto a very narrow driveway between two houses at 404 and 410 E. 10th.

Our theory is  that after Tippit was shot, Westbrook backed up car #207 into the alley and soon met up with LEE Oswald somewhere near the alley and the Abundant Life Church behind the Texaco station.  There, LEE gave Westbrook the jacket he had worn, his wallet containing Oswald and Hidell identification, and the .38 used to Kill Tippit.

Westbrook  then drove police car #207 back to the Texas School Book Depository, and arrived around 1:15 PM. It was important for Capt. Westbrook to be seen in and around the Book Depository before the shooting of Tippit was broadcast by the police dispatcher.

We think Westbrook told the Warren Commission all kinds of lies to hide his actions and whereabouts after he first left the Book Depository en route to Oak Cliff. Westbrook told the Commission that  "Some patrolman drove him" to where Tippit had been shot and killed. A lie, we believe. Capt. Westbrook drove his own dark blue, unmarked police car to Oak Cliff with Sgt. Stringer sitting next to him in the front seat and with Dallas Morning News reporter Jim Ewell sitting in the back seat.  And an unknown police officer did NOT let Westbrook out at the scene of Tippit's murder, because Westbrook drove his unmarked police car from the Book Depository directly to the Texaco Station at 401 E. Jefferson and arrived shortly before 1:25 PM. 

After Westbrook arrived at the Texaco station news reporter Jim Ewell got out of the car and walked to McCandles Minute Market. He placed a telephone call to the "city desk" at the Dallas Morning News and told his employer that he was in Oak Cliff. As Ewell left the Minute Mart he saw Assistant D.A. William Alexander "with an automatic pistol stalking across the balcony of a two story boarding house that police were searching." Sgt. Stringer got out of the car and joined fellow officers in shaking down adjacent buildings looking for the suspect.  Capt. Westbrook was then alone in his unmarked, dark blue police car and, in our opinion, drove about 50 feet past the Texaco station, turned right and drove about 150 feet to an alley where he again turned right. On the left side of the alley was the back side of the Abundant Life Church.  It is no accident that Westbrook drove directly to the car lot behind the Texaco station, and then just happened to be in the exact place where the jacket was "found" less than one minute after he arrived. Was there any reason, other than "finding the shooter's jacket," for Westbrook to drive from the Book Depository directly to the parking lot behind the Texaco Station?

Westbrook then drove his unmarked personal car to Tenth and Patton where he would show off the second “Oswald” wallet to onlookers and Ron Reiland’s WFAA-TV news camera.

With the wallet containing “Oswald” and “Hidell” identification now introduced, Westbrook's work was largely done and he was free to drive his unmarked blue car to the Texas Theater, where he parked it directly in front.

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On 12/14/2018 at 8:37 AM, Jim Hargrove said:

"... Westbrook  ... drove police car #207 back to the Texas School Book Depository, and arrived around 1:15 PM....

"[Then] Westbrook drove his unmarked police car from the Book Depository directly to the Texaco Station at 401 E. Jefferson and arrived shortly before 1:25 PM...."

Thanks much for the clarification, Jim!  Now I understand what I had interpreted to be a direct conflict between the two https://harveyandlee.net/Tippit/Tippit.html statements, as quoted above.  Perhaps you can make those critical time stamps more clear, as you did so well immediately above, in the Web site's treatment of those details.  Thanks again, ML

Edited by Mark Lawson
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Thanks for the careful reading, Mark.  Sometimes I have to read these detail-rich articles three or four times to digest even most of the information.  I'll see if we can make W's trip from TSBD to the Texaco Station clearer, but no doubt you know what we're up against.

Do you think we have proved that the Dallas Police radio transcripts and recordings from 11/22/63 were altered?

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14 hours ago, Jim Hargrove said:

... Sometimes I have to read these detail-rich articles three or four times to digest even most of the information....

Welcome to the club, Jim! <g>

14 hours ago, Jim Hargrove said:


... Do you think we have proved that the Dallas Police radio transcripts and recordings from 11/22/63 were altered?

In the following message thread, attorney Cory Santos sets out some interesting information on "reasonable doubt" and beyond, particularly as it applies to murder cases that are tried in court:

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/topic/25352-bush-not-in-dallas-he-is-dead/?page=9

Based on the currently available evidence, I do believe you, Sandy and others have presented a convincing case that the referenced DPD radio transcripts and recordings were altered.  In the meantime I have read James DiEugenio's April (2018) article "The Tippit Case in the New Millennium," at https://kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-articles/the-tippit-case-in-the-new-millennium - which provides additional, corroborating evidence in support of your Tippit murder theses.  Thank you for your continued hard work in this area of inquiry, which I will continue to follow closely. ML

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Thanks, Mark!

Last night, I uploaded a huge update to the TIPPIT MURDER PAGE. The updated material includes a complete list of all the Dallas cops who appeared at 10th and Patton that afternoon, as well as a completely revised description of the FBI's alteration of the Dallas Police radio recordings and transcripts:

=======================================================================================================================================

Below is a list of police officers who were either dispatched or arrived at the scene of the Tippit murder. As can be seen, there was Sgt. Croy, in uniform, and two sergeants wearing plain clothes at 10th & Patton, but they arrived at different times. Croy was the only police sergeant IN UNIFORM at 10th & Patton, and the only police sergeant available to talk to Temple Ford Bowley within minutes of the shooting. Sgt. Gerald Hill, while en route to 10th & Patton, saw the ambulance carrying Tippit's body at Colorado Blvd & Beckley as it was racing toward the Methodist Hospital. Hill turned left on Beckley and arrived at 10th & Patton a moment before patrolmen Joe Poe and Leonard Jez arrived (circa 1:18 PM).  Officers Roy Walker and H.W. Summers arrived a few minutes later, followed by detectives, police photographers, and officers from the Service Division (Identification Bureau, Fingerprint Section, Crime Scene Search Section). 

Following is a list of police officers who were either dispatched or arrived at 10th & Patton. As can be seen from the list below the only sergeant in uniform who could have spoken with T.F. Bowley at 10th & Patton was Croy. 

Anglin, Billy N. (patrolman)
Ashcraft, Holly M. (Love Field)
Baggett, E.R. (patrolman-temporarily assigned to special service bureau)
Croy, Kenneth Hudson (sergeant, in uniform; reserve officer)
Gregory, Thomas R. (patrolman)
Hawkins, Ray (patrolman) 
Hill, Gerald Lynn. (sergeant--plain clothes; temporarily assigned to Capt. Westbrook's Personnel Bureau; arrived at 10th & Patton a moment before Poe and
Jez arrived, circa 1:18-1:19; then went to Jefferson Blvd & Patton)
Hill, Leonard L. (patrolman)
Horn, Henry H. (patrolman)
Hutson, T.A. (patrolman, 3 wheel motorcycle)
Jez, Leonard E. (patrolman; with Poe, first squad at 10th & Patton)
McDonald, M.N. (patrolman)
Mentzel, William D. (patrolman)
Owens, Calvin B. (sergeant--plain clothes; arrived first at Jefferson Blvd & Patton, and helped to search buildings; at 10th & Patton circa 1:36 PM, after chasing suspect in the library)
Poe, Joe M. (patrolman; with Jez, first squad at 10th & Patton)
Pollard, Jerry G. (patrolman) 
Sebastian, E.G. (patrolman)
Smith, Walter E. (patrolman)
Summers, H.W. (patrolman)
Talbert, Capt. C.E. (plain clothes)
Thornhill, B.T. (accident prevention bureau)
Walker, C.T. (patrolman, accident prevention bureau)
Walker, Roy W. (patrolman, arrived at 10th & Patton circa 1:18 PM)
Westbrook, Capt. William R. (personnel bureau, plain clothes; arrived circa 1:43 PM)
Williams, Frank S. (patrolman)
Williams, J.W. (traffic division)

Croy told the Warren Commission that he "got me a witness" (Helen Markham) and questioned her for "a good 5 or 10 minutes" (circa 1:09-1:19 PM). As Croy was talking with Markham the first squad arrived and began to talk with Markham. Croy can be seen standing next to Helen Markham in this photo. Croy told the Warren Commission that he was at 10th & Patton for "a good 30 minutes." He said, "as I got ready to leave, there was another report that he ran into the Texas Theater, a man fitting Oswald's description had ran into the Texas Theater."

Croy.jpg

 

The FBI's written report on 11/23/63


On November 23, 1963, only one day after President Kennedy was assassinated, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover sent the FBI's report on the assassination to the Chief of the Secret Service, James J. Rowley, along with a letter that said, "The results of our inquiry into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and background information relative to Lee Harvey Oswald." Within 24 hours the Johnson Administration and the FBI decided that Oswald was guilty and were already distributing their written report!! Now the FBI needed to collect any and all information related to Oswald and make sure that information supported their written report. 

A few days after the assassination the Dallas Police gave the FBI their original dictabelts and discs that contained the original recordings of the dispatchers' radio transmissions from channel 1 and channel 2 on November 22, 1963. After FBI officials listened to the dictabelt recordings concerning citizens calling and reporting the shooting of a police officer, after they reviewed numerous witness statements, and after they examined Tippit's medical records, they realized there was a serious problem. Earlene Roberts, the housekeeper at 1026 N. Beckley, said that (HARVEY) Oswald left his rooming house shortly after 1:00 PM. The police dictabelts show that a little less than six minutes later, and .8 of a mile south at 10th & Patton, Tippit was shot and killed at 1:06 PM. The FBI realized that (HARVEY) Oswald could not possibly have walked .8 of a mile from his rooming house to 10th & Patton in under 6 minutes and shot Tippit at 1:06 PM.

 

The FBI alters the Dallas Police dictabelts


When the shooting of a police officer was first broadcast by the police dispatcher there was much confusion about the exact address of the Tippit shooting, because each caller apparently gave their home address or business address or an address close to Tippit's patrol car. The callers were Barbara Jeanette Davis, L.J. Lewis (510 E. Jefferson Blvd.), Mrs. Margie Higgins (417 E. 10th), Mrs. Frank Wright (501 E. 10th), William Scoggins' dispatcher, and radio transmissions by Domingo Benavides (410 E. 10th), T.F. Bowley (404 E. 10th), and Ted Callaway (501 E. Jefferson Blvd.). The dictabelts recorded the police dispatcher relaying this information to police officers.  

Updated_addresses.jpg

The information provided by the dispatcher and recorded by the dictabelt was correct, but the time of this dispatch (circa 1:06-1:08 PM) had to be changed in order to allow enough time for Oswald to have walked from his rooming house (1:00-1:01 PM) to 10th & Patton and shoot Tippit. The time that the police dispatcher notified officers of the Tippit shooting was changed from 1:06-1:08 PM to 1:18 PM (see 1:18 PM above in the typewritten transcripts). The typewritten transcript for channel 1 (below) now shows no calls to the police related to the Tippit shooting from 1:04 to 1:18 PM. The typewritten transcript for channel 2 (below) describes calls to and from the police dispatcher between 1:01 to 1:12 PM as "Most conversations were routine" (click here to view entire transcript). On December 3, 1963 the FBI returned the altered "belts and discs" for channel 1 and channel 2 to Capt. Bowles of the Dallas Police, who at that time had no reason to believe it was not their original dictabelt(s). The Dallas Police would not be able to detect any alteration or tampering with the dictabelt(s). They told Dallas Police Capt. Bowles that they were experiencing difficulty in preparing typewritten transcripts from the recordings (see below).

DPD_to_FBI.png

Thanks to FBI alterations, there was now enough time on both the dictabelts and the typewritten transcripts for (HARVEY) Oswald to have walked from his rooming house (circa 1:00 PM) to 10th & Patton in time to shoot Officer Tippit at 1:16 PM. These documents are definitive proof of manipulation and alteration of evidence by the FBI.

NOTE: The procedure by which dictabelts could be altered was simple. The dictabelt recordings could be played and recorded onto a tape recorder. The resulting tapes could then be easily altered with deletions and voice additions (time of day), and the altered tapes could then be played and recorded onto a new dictabelt.
Radio_1.jpg
Radio_2.jpg
A few examples of alteration that prove the dictabelts were altered


Dallas Police Officers R.A. Davenport and W.R. Bardin heard the broadcast of the shooting of a police officer on their police radio (circa 1:08 PM) and were en route to the scene of the shooting when they saw, and followed, the ambulance carrying Tippit speeding to the Methodist Hospital (circa 1:11-1:12 PM). There is no doubt these officers arrived at the Methodist Hospital with the ambulance, watched as doctors tried to bring him back to life, and were nearby when Tippit was pronounced dead on arrival at 1:15 PM.

Temple Ford Bowley arrived at 10th & Patton at 1:10 PM. He took the police microphone from Benavides and told the police dispatcher of the shooting of a police officer (below, highlighted in blue). The time on this altered transcript is 1:19 PM (see red arrows. Now, look at the bottom of this transcript "Suspect running west on Jefferson...." It is simply not possible for Bowley to be reporting the shooting of a police officer, before the dispatcher has notified officers of a shooting, while at exactly the same time (1:19 PM) the dispatcher is reporting that a witness saw the suspect running west on Jefferson. The timing of both broadcasts by the dispatcher have been altered.

Updated_addresses.jpg

The FBI's alteration of the dictabelts relating to the shooting of Officer Tippit were the first of several FBI alterations to these dictabelts. A dictabelt could record only 15 minutes of continual conversation. A conversation that continued past 15 minutes was automatically routed to a 2nd dictabelt on the same machine, while the first dictabelt was removed and replaced with a new dictabelt. A short conversation, perhaps one minute, would be recorded and the dictabelt machine would continue running for another 4 seconds before automatically shutting off if no further conversation. The machine would automatically start recording with the next conversation. Normally, a dictabelt machine could record dozens of short calls, which could cover an hour or more of calls. But on November 22, 1963, there were continual calls to and from the police dispatcher without interruption. In other words, on November 22, 1963, from 12:00 noon thru 1:00 PM, four dictabelts would be needed in order to record communications to and from the DPD police dispatcher (1 hour = 4 fifteen minute dictabelts). 

In order to better understand the FBI's involvement and manipulation with the original DPD dictabelts, simply look at the following information for dictabelts #2 thru #9 returned by the FBI to the Dallas police. Each dictabelt can record only 15 minutes, yet the times covered for each of these dictabelts are from 20-45 minutes--every one of these dictabelts are missing from 10 to 25 minutes of conversation. On dictabelt 6, for example, when the DPD dispatcher had continuous contact with police officers from 12:40 to 1:10 PM (JFK shot at 12:30 PM; Tippit shot at 1:06 PM), this dictabelt has only 15 minutes of recording--and 15 minutes of police related conversation were eliminated!

9_dictabelts.jpg

Nineteen years later, in March, 1982, after the dictabelts had been examined by experts and found to have evidence of alteration, Dallas researcher Gary Mack interviewed Capt. Bowles of the Dallas Police. Bowles told Gary Mack that he could not give any assurance that the belts which were returned by the FBI were the ones which left the possession of the DPD.  (Click here to read the complete article relating to the scientific analysis of the dictabelts.)

 

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This part has always puzzled me:

 

WC testimony of W.R. Westbrook:

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/westbrook.htm

 

“There wasn't a car available, and so I walked from the city hall to the Depository Building, and I would stop on the way down where there would be a group of people listening to somebody's transistor radio and I would stop and catch a few false reports,...”

 

“I had walked down an aisle and opened a door onto an outside loading dock, and when I came out on this dock, one of the men hollered and said there had been an officer killed in Oak Cliff.
Well, then, of course, I ran to my radio because I am the personnel officer...”

 

If he had walked from City Hall to the TSBD, then how...?

 

Steve Thomas

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11 hours ago, Jim Hargrove said:

... Last night, I uploaded a huge update to the TIPPIT MURDER PAGE. The updated material includes a complete list of all the Dallas cops who appeared at 10th and Patton that afternoon, as well as a completely revised description of the FBI's alteration of the Dallas Police radio recordings and transcripts....

A tour de force, Jim!  ML

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12 hours ago, Jim Hargrove said:

Last night, I uploaded a huge update to the TIPPIT MURDER PAGE. The updated material includes a complete list of all the Dallas cops who appeared at 10th and Patton that afternoon, as well as a completely revised description of the FBI's alteration of the Dallas Police radio recordings and transcripts:

I agree, that's an impressive amount of work. Thanks for sharing it and doing all that research.

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16 hours ago, Steve Thomas said:

This part has always puzzled me:

 

WC testimony of W.R. Westbrook:

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/westbrook.htm

 

“There wasn't a car available, and so I walked from the city hall to the Depository Building, and I would stop on the way down where there would be a group of people listening to somebody's transistor radio and I would stop and catch a few false reports,...”

 

“I had walked down an aisle and opened a door onto an outside loading dock, and when I came out on this dock, one of the men hollered and said there had been an officer killed in Oak Cliff.
Well, then, of course, I ran to my radio because I am the personnel officer...”

 

If he had walked from City Hall to the TSBD, then how...?

 

Steve Thomas

Great catch, Steve!  Of course, we believe Westbrook drove his unmarked, personal car from police headquarters to the Book Depository before Tippit was shot, so his radio would have been available to him there.  Then he took a marked squad car, probably # 207, to the N. Beckley rooming house and then to the narrow driveway near 10th and Patton.  After Tippit was shot, we think he drove back to Dealey Plaza and got his personal car, so he could drive Sgt. Stringer and reporter Jim Ewell to the Tippit murder scene when it was reported on the police radio.

All that “walking” was probably just a way to account for his time.  Is it likely that a Dallas police captain wouldn’t have a car available to him?

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