X marks the spot?

[John Butler]

Death of the Lone Gunman Theory and the Zapruder film

I went to Dealey Plaza at about the same time I started thinking about the Kennedy assassination.

Robert Groden and his crew were set up there about July 17, 2015. 

 

 

Somehow, I got the notion he was responsible for X marks the spot.  If not, Robert, I stand corrected and apologize.

They were nice people until I screwed up and said I could paint the head wound in the Zapruder film better.  That ended the conversation dramatically as the fellow turned and walked away.

In recent times, if most people say that the Zapruder film is a hoax then we need to move on to something else.  So, what did the witnesses say happened about X marks the spot?

I surveyed 50 witnesses who were the closest to the alleged sniper’s nest and those that said they saw something happen in the TSBD on various floors.  This is because the Lone Gun Man theorists say that Lee Oswald fired his rifle from the eastern-most window on the 6^th floor of the TSBD.  And, this is the central core of that theory.

A list of these witnesses is at the end of this discussion.

Although I do include information on where the shots came from that is not the focus of this survey.  Other people have done that.  What I was interested in was where the witness was and where the President was when the witness heard shots.

I biased he study.  The bias is to what the witness said in their first testimony to either the FBI, the Dallas authorities, or the Secret Service.  That was preferred over their later testimony.  I thought their memories would be the freshest and they would not be as much influenced by others on what they said.

I noticed in reading these testimonies that they evolved from November, 1963 to March, 1964.  This evolution generally favored the Lone Gun Man theory.

A good example is the testimony of Bonnie Ray Williams.  First, he said he heard shots when the presidential limousine turned from Main Street onto Houston Street.  Second, he changed that to when the limousine turned into the intersection of Elm and Houston.  Third, he again changed that to after the limousine passed his position.  This seems to have satisfied the FBI.

If you were a smart lawyer wouldn’t you like to have this kind of testimony to work with?

So, you can redo this survey with later testimony and change the numbers somewhat.

There was not any complex statistical methods applied, there was no test of significance, no correlation ratios, or analysis of variance done.

What was used is just simple addition and percentages.  Here are the results.

Where The President Was When Shots Occurred

• One witness, Bonnie Ray Williams, locates the President at the intersection of Main and Houston Streets turning onto Houston St, when he heard two shots.

• 24 or nearly half of the 50 witnesses, about 48%, who had been surveyed made statements that located the President turning into the intersection of Elm Street and Houston Street, or in front of the TSBD when shots were heard.  In later testimony in their statements some changed their testimony to indicate the President had passed by their location thus indicating he was further down the street towards the Grassy Knoll.

• 8 witnesses, about 16%, located the President at or near the Grassy Knoll.

• 11 witnesses, about 22%, did not give enough information to indicate where the President was located when shots were heard.

•  1 witness located the assassination location as near the Triple Underpass.

• 5 witnesses, about 10%, didn’t know where the president was when they heard shots.

Where The Shots Came From

• 9 witnesses, 18%, said they did not know where the shots came from.

• 12 witnesses, 24%, didn’t say where the shots came from.

• 1 witness, 2%, said they came from up in the air and didn’t know for sure.

• If you combine the first 3 bullet points you come up with 22 witnesses or 44% didn’t know where the shots came from or didn’t say.

• 3 witnesses, 6%, said the shots came from the Triple Underpass.

• 6 witnesses, 12%, said the shots came from the 6^th floor of the TSBD.

• 7 witnesses, 14%, said the shots came from the TSBD.

• If you combine the last two bullet points on the TSBD then you would have 13 witnesses, 26%, who said shots came from the TSBD.

• 1 witness, Junior Jarmen on the 5^th floor, said he heard shots from low and to the left.

• 1 witness, Billy Lovelady, heard shots from across the street.

• 1 witness heard shots from the Court House.

• 1 witness heard shots from the Court Records building.

• When you combine the last 4 bullet points of witnesses hearing shots from near Houston Street you have 8%.

• 1 witness heard shooting in front of the TSBD and thought is was a party celebration.

• 7 witnesses, 14%, said they heard shooting from the Grassy Knoll.

With 48% of the witnesses surveyed saying the shooting began when the President’s limousine turned into the intersection of Elm and Houston or was in front of the TSBD casts reasonable doubt on the Lone Gun Man theory.  And, in court in with a jury, if there is reasonable doubt about an event then that event didn’t happen.  You can’t use it.  So, there goes a good deal of evidence about the Kennedy assassination.  Beyond a reasonable doubt is a killer.

Because of reasonable doubt you cannot prove that Lee Oswald or anyone fired a rifle from the alleged sniper’s nest.  Here’s a brief explanation concerning witnesses closest to the alleged sniper’s nest.

There were 3 men on the 5^th floor of the TBSD when the assassination occurred.  They were just below the sniper’s nest.  They are:

Harold Norman- testified in detail about shooting from the sniper’s nest

Bonnie Ray Williams- said essentially the same as Norman but in less detail

James “Junior” Jarmen- said in his Warren Commission testimony he heard shots from low and to the left.  What’s going on there?  Shots from the Dal-Tex?

There were 4 women two floors below the sniper’s nest and about 40 feet away on the 4^th floor.  Forty feet away is less than the average distance across an American home.  They should have heard what the men heard.

Vickie Adams-  said she was at the third sets of windows from the east side of the building on the fourth floor.  She heard shots in the direction of the Grassy Knoll

Sandra Styles- couldn’t tell where the shots came from

Dorothy Garner- said she heard shooting coming from the west.

Elsie Dorman-  said she heard shooting coming from the Court Records Building.

If you were a smart defense lawyer wouldn’t you love to have this kind of testimony to work with?  A good question is why didn’t the investigators pick up on this?

Five out of seven witnesses closest to the sniper’s nest said they did not hear shots coming from the alleged sniper’s nest.

Read what Barry Krusch has to say about the legal consequences of reasonable doubt in his book Impossible: The Case Against Lee Harvey Oswald.  It only takes one incidence of reasonable doubt to cast a whole pile of evidence into disarray.

List of 50 witnesses closest to alleged Sniper’s Nest

6^th Floor

Witnesses

Jack Daugherty- not there at the time of the assassination

Bonnie Ray Williams-  not there at the time of the assassination

Witnesses outside the TSBD who saw something on the 6^th floor or elsewhere

Carolyn Walther

Mrs. Pearl Springer

Arnold Rowland

Garland Slack

James Worrell

Robert Edwards

Ronald Fischer

Amos Euins

Harold Brennan

Mrs. Earle Cabell

Robert Jackson

Malcom Couch

Tom Dillard

James Underwood

5^th Floor

Witnesses

Harold Norman

Bonnie Ray Williams

James “Junior” Jarman

Mary Hollies- the two women are included here due to Mary Hollies 2011 statements.  They will only be counted once

Betty Alice Foster

The Fourth Floor Witnesses:

They Were:

Elsie Dorman

Sandra Styles

Vickie Adams

Dorothy Garner

Mary Hollies- allegedly on the 5^th floor

Betty Alice Foster- allegedly on the 5^th floor

Ruth Nelson

Yola Hopson

3^rd Floor Witnesses:

They were:

Steven Wilson

Doris Fay Burns

Sandra Sue Ellerson

Edna Case

The Second Floor Witnesses

They were:

Carol Hughes

Vida Lee Whatley?

Geneva Hine

Geraldine Reid (aka Jeraldean or Geraldean)

Lee Harvey Oswald

First Floor Witnesses

They were:

Eddie Piper

Troy West

Out Front of the TSBD Witnesses

Betty Jean Thornton

William “Bill” Shelley

Billy Lovelady

Carolyn  Arnold

Danny Arce

Jane Berry

Judith McCully

Ochus Cambell

Otis Neville Williams

Pauline Sanders (Mrs. Robert E. Sanders)

Mrs. R. A. Reid

Virginia Rackley

*Not all of these witnesses provided relevant testimony.  Lee Oswald and Vida Lee Whatley are examples.

Edited January 10, 2017 by John Butler

[Alistair Briggs]

On 08/01/2017 at 4:41 PM, John Butler said:

 

With 48% of the witnesses surveyed saying the shooting began when the President’s limousine turned into the intersection of Elm and Houston or was in front of the TSBD casts reasonable doubt on the Lone Gun Man theory.  

Yes and no. It may cast reasonable doubt on the 'Lone Gun Man theory' as that currently stands, but doesn't preclude a 'Lone Gun Man theory' (it just means the 'theory' has to be re-evaluated.

*Just saying that to 'bump' the thread for you John.