Josiah Thompson's brand new book LAST SECOND IN DALLAS

[Cory Santos]

Just now, Cory Santos said:

Deleted

[John Butler]

Chris D.,

As far as I can tell, Paschall, Hughes, and Daniel have the same 3-wheeler coming down Main St. after the p. limo goes under the bridge and leaves Dealey Plaza.  The Bell film and Daniel have another 3-wheeler stationed just on the other side of the railroad bridge.

It seems reasonable to speculate that the other 3-wheeler, the one in Paschall, Hughes, and Daniel, was stationed somewhere on Main Street, perhaps just off the Main/Houston intersection.  I don't recall any film or photo showing a 3-wheeler in that area.  So, where would that 3-wheeler, the one motoring down Main St., have been stationed?

It maybe a candidate for Chris B.'s 3-wheeler.

[Pat Speer]

The three-wheeler in Paschall was driven by D.V. Harkness, as I recall. He was stationed at Houston and Main. started to run across the plaza after the shots, ran back to his trike, and then raced down Main under the overpass. He then drove back the wrong way on Elm to the knoll (as I recall it was on the sidewalk). In any event, he was then approached by Amos Euins, after which he gave Euins a ride on the trike down to the depository, where Euins was questioned further, and then later escorted to the Sheriff's office. 

Here is a shot of Harkness with Euins, as they turned north on Houston from Elm.

[Chris Bristow]

For what it's worth it seems to be running about 2300 RPM through almost all of the recording. Then it slows down just before the head shot which is consistent with McClain story about coming to a stop on Houston at Elm Street.

I think the biggest clue is those sirens that pass by whoever had their mic open. As I recall that happens 30 seconds or more after the shots. That should speak volumes about the location of the bike in question.

Since we hear the sirens approach and then pass by the open mic I have to wonder how that could ever be McClain. How could he be in a position where the sirens approach and pass him when he was behind the motorcade?

I'm going from memory again but don't  we hear  the sirens after chief Curry announces that they are going to Parkland? That would mean the open mic would have to be somewhere along the freeway or after they got off the freeway.

Because the sirens approached and then passed by within about 10 seconds we should be able to tell where the mic was based on how how much time elapsed between the shots and the sirens.

So let's say the sirens came 45 seconds after the shots. If so, and combined with the fact that the sirens approached the open mic, wouldn't that prove that the open mic was not in Dealey Plaza when the shots occurred?

 

[Chris Davidson]

14 hours ago, John Butler said:

It seems reasonable to speculate that the other 3-wheeler, the one in Paschall, Hughes, and Daniel, was stationed somewhere on Main Street, perhaps just off the Main/Houston intersection. 

I agree.

 

[Steve Thomas]

17 hours ago, John Butler said:

It seems reasonable to speculate that the other 3-wheeler, the one in Paschall, Hughes, and Daniel, was stationed somewhere on Main Street, perhaps just off the Main/Houston intersection.  I don't recall any film or photo showing a 3-wheeler in that area.  So, where would that 3-wheeler, the one motoring down Main St., have been stationed?

It maybe a candidate for Chris B.'s 3-wheeler.

Dallas Dispatch Tapes

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/dpdtapes/

 

12:34

Dispatcher

103 clear. 12:34

Dispatcher

Unknown motorcycle - up on Stemmons with his mike stuck open on Channel 1. Could you send someone up there to tell him to shut it off? (12:34 p.m.)

 

WC testimony of Joe E. Murphy

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

Mr. BALL. Were there any other officers on that overpass?
Mr. MURPHY. Yes; there were two more about - oh, a 100 feet south of me - to slow traffic or to stop traffic whenever the motorcade entered the Stemmons Freeway north entrance.
Mr. BALL. Now where were they located - and, did they as the motorcade came down Elm Street, did they go into the highway and stop traffic?
Mr. MURPHY. Yes; they did.
Mr. BALL. Will you put their positions on the Stemmons Freeway overpass at the time the motorcade came west on Elm, and mark it (2) and (3).
Mr. MURPHY. (Marked diagram as requested by Counsel Ball.)
Mr. BALL. Do you know the names of those officers that were (2) and (3)?
Mr. MURPHY. I can't recall. I know them but I can't recall who they were.
Mr. BALL. Were they three-wheeler officers too, do they drive three-wheelers?
Mr. MURPHY. I believe both of them three-wheelers.

Purdue Lawrence, page 494

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1137#relPageId=514&tab=page

To the best of my knowledge, none of these guys were called to testify before the Warren Commission.

Steve Thomas

 

[Steven Kossor]

A police officer (I think he had ID #30 or 38) was reporting about crowds walking along Stemmons near the Marriott hotel (across from the Trade Mart) and it seemed that the start of the open mic problem coincided with his transmission and continued until after the shooting.  With the sirens approaching and passing his position, it seems reasonable to conclude that he was located somewhere between DP and Parkland, so no shots in DP could have been recorded from a microphone that far away.  The audio profile of the "open mic" section of the DPD recording definitely shows some high amplitude short-duration bursts that would be consistent with rifle discharges, but there doesn't seem to be any image of a moving recording device in DP during the shooting that would have the background noise of a 3-wheeler overlaying those sounds.  I believe the dictabelt could only record one transmission at a time, so the sounds from the "open mic" out near the Marriott could not be overlaying gunshot sounds that were transmitted to the dictabelt tape via a different microphone (one that was traveling through DP during the shooting) at the same time.  It's possible that the sounds were mixed somehow afterward, but that really stretches the bounds of credulity.  The "gunshot" sounds on the dictabelt may be just artifacts and not the sound of actual gunshots in DP after all.

[Chris Bristow]

Here is a portion of the HSCA testimony and at 49:30 they address the issue of the sirens
 Some interesting points made here. The congressman notes that the sirens happen 3 minutes after the gunshots and asks how that is possible. The answer is the mic would not have picked up Curry's siren at the start because it was to far away and just beyond the underpass. But the first siren was the follow up SS limo. Kinney stated as soon as the head shot happened he hit the siren and made a radio call. So the question is still open because Kinney was more like 250 feet away and not beyond the overpass (The sirens start at 5:55.)
The engine on the open mic bike is still running around 2200 rpm during the sirens. So the bike is question was not going down the highway with the motorcade because the motorcade did nearly 100 mph down the freeway. McClain's 74 could never keep up with the 100 mph motorcade at 2300 rpm.  Just in case my memory from a few years ago is wrong and I measured the rpm at 3200, neither the 74 or the 45 could keep up at that rpm. An old hog at 100 mph would be running around 4500 rpm. (I counted the rpm by using a wave form program. Actually it was the mac program "Garage band" which works fine for analyzing wave forms).
 1. The bike in question is running at a low rpm during the sirens so it cannot be part of the motorcade.
2. The sirens start 3 minutes after the shots.

3. The sirens approach, pass, then fade off.
All this taken together would make it impossible for the open mic to be  McClain or anyone in the plaza.
 The only explanation to refute this idea is if the filters on the radio changed the rpm. It seems unlikely to me but I am open to the idea. The  possible explanation for the 3 minute gap between shots and sirens would be the dicta belt skipped like a LP (you know,a record album) and the sirens were not 3 minutes apart from the shots.
but if the 3 points above stand then the mic was not in the plaza during the shooting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuUI6HOId74

 

[Chris Bristow]

12 minutes ago, Steven Kossor said:

A police officer (I think he had ID #30 or 38) was reporting about crowds walking along Stemmons near the Marriott hotel (across from the Trade Mart) and it seemed that the start of the open mic problem coincided with his transmission and continued until after the shooting.  With the sirens approaching and passing his position, it seems reasonable to conclude that he was located somewhere between DP and Parkland, so no shots in DP could have been recorded from a microphone that far away.  The audio profile of the "open mic" section of the DPD recording definitely shows some high amplitude short-duration bursts that would be consistent with rifle discharges, but there doesn't seem to be any image of a moving recording device in DP during the shooting that would have the background noise of a 3-wheeler overlaying those sounds.  I believe the dictabelt could only record one transmission at a time, so the sounds from the "open mic" out near the Marriott could not be overlaying gunshot sounds that were transmitted to the dictabelt tape via a different microphone (one that was traveling through DP during the shooting) at the same time.  It's possible that the sounds were mixed somehow afterward, but that really stretches the bounds of credulity.  The "gunshot" sounds on the dictabelt may be just artifacts and not the sound of actual gunshots in DP after all.

I do wonder if it is possible that 2 mics were getting stuck off and on during the event. As to the belt recording more than one mic at a time, it does happen. When I worked in a job that used radios we could often hear the open mic and a faint sound of a second mic trying to get thru. When a mic is keyed and the dispatcher can't get thru it to tell the driver the dispatcher ups the gain a lot and then even with the mic keyed the driver can hear the dispatcher tell them to check their mic. 
 Imagine you are saying something very embarrassing and confidential yet 30 other drivers and dispatch are all hearing you loud and clear. There were times when a driver had to return to base at the end of the day after everyone heard them calling their boss a piece of s''t.

[Steven Kossor]

Chris, the depth of your understanding of dictabelt technology is certainly well beyond mine, so if it is possible for two transmissions to be encoded "at the same time" I guess it's technologically possible for the dictabelt recording to contain both the ambient "stuck mic" up near the Marriott as well as the high amplitude, short duration bursts characteristic of gunfire.  I did a wave form analysis some time ago and found evidence for at least six "shots" on the tape, but thought that they had to be artifacts if the only available mic was a mile or more away.  Makes me want to pull that audio study out and reexamine it; maybe it would be of interest here to see the wave forms?

[Chris Bristow]

53 minutes ago, Steven Kossor said:

Chris, the depth of your understanding of dictabelt technology is certainly well beyond mine, so if it is possible for two transmissions to be encoded "at the same time" I guess it's technologically possible for the dictabelt recording to contain both the ambient "stuck mic" up near the Marriott as well as the high amplitude, short duration bursts characteristic of gunfire.  I did a wave form analysis some time ago and found evidence for at least six "shots" on the tape, but thought that they had to be artifacts if the only available mic was a mile or more away.  Makes me want to pull that audio study out and reexamine it; maybe it would be of interest here to see the wave forms?

I would love to see the wave forms again. My old mac with my wave form program that came with it"Garage Band" died long ago.
I don't know how much filters would effect this measurement but I would like  to see how much doppler shift happened as the motorcade approached then passed the open mic. If filters don't reduce the effect it may show how fast the motorcade approached. If it exceeds 70 mph it would indicate the motorcade was on the freeway.

[Michael Clark]

On 2/5/2021 at 9:42 AM, Richard Price said:

I've heard/read this before about the 3 wheelers.  Has anyone worked on the location of the 3 wheel motorcycles in or around Dealey Plaza?  I know a number of them are seen in post assassination pictures and video.

IIRC The best, or only, candidate for the source of the trike motor recordings was identified  as a unit stationed at the Trademart.

 

Edited February 7, 2021 by Michael Clark

[Steven Kossor]

Speaking of wave forms....  Thought this would be helpful.  The acoustical analyses go far, far beyond this little paper but sometimes its helpful to look at the data without numerical overlays and analyses.  Hope this stimulates conversation!  By the way, Mark Tyler's work with Motorcade 63 has been a terrific source of information and perspective, thanks so much!

[Steven Kossor]

The most likely microphone that would have been traveling through DP at about 11 mph would be one inside the JFK limousine or on the Queen Mary.  Just a thought.  With all of the DPD and SS radios operating on different channels at the same time, maybe the signals got crossed and the sounds of the shots picked up by a SS microphone got "mixed" into the DPD dictabelt recording system as "crosstalk."  Thanks for the encouragement of my efforts to understand what happened!

[Chris Bristow]

The graphs shown in the wave pattern in the HSCA video have the middle of the range at 2.0 khz. A police siren is supposed to be around 1.8 khz and if the siren was approaching at 80 mph the doppler shift would increase it to a bit over 2.0 khz. As the siren pulled away it would drop from 1.8 to 1.6 khz. There are dopper shift calculators online that make it pretty simple to calculate.
 Regardless of the speed of the vehicle/siren the middle of the doppler shifted range should be around 1.8 khz if was recording it accurately. If it comes out that way I would be fairly confident the measured doppler shift would indicate the speed of the siren.

Edited February 7, 2021 by Chris Bristow