The Tippit Witnesses --- Part II

[Gil Jesus]

TED CALLAWAY AND SAM GUINYARD

Ted Callaway and Sam Guinyard both worked at a used car lot a block south of the Tippit murder. Callaway was the manager and Guinyard was a lot porter.

The way he told it, either Ted Callaway was the bravest man who ever lived or he was the biggest xxxx.
Knowing how many car salesmen I've known in my life, the fact that he was a car salesman makes my choice of the two easier.

After hearing gunshots, he confronted an armed man who approached him while himself being unarmed, a man who he testified came within 20 feet of him.
This is the kind of heroism that put Hollywood on the map.
But I doubt it happened this way. I don't believe that either one of these witnesses were ever close enough to the gunman to be able to identify him.
As proof of that I cite their original affidavits given to the Dallas Police on the day of the assassination. Neither witness described the man he saw as being anything other than a "white man".

https://gil-jesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/callaway-guinyard-affis.png

 

No description of the man.
No description of his clothing.
No description of his weapon.
Nothing.

Another reason to doubt that either of these men got more than a passing glance at the gunman: although they were in the same location and witnessing the same thing, each of them had the gunman running on opposite sides of the street.

https://gil-jesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/WH_Vol17_236-tippit-map.jpg

Then there's the 1:35 Dallas Police broadcast that the gunman was armed with an automatic weapon, a description attributed to Callaway. Both witnesses described the gunman as holding the weapon with the barrel up. Callaway testified that the gunman got within 20 feet of him, Guinyard testified the gunman was 10 feet away.
How could anyone that close to the gun mistake an automatic for a revolver when they look nothing alike ?

https://gil-jesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/38auto-vs-revolver.jpg

Then there are the lineups from which the witnesses chose Oswald. They witnessed Lineup # 2, which included two police detectives and the police clerk Don Ables.

https://gil-jesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/OSWALD_LINEUP.jpg

 

Jim Leavelle conducted lineup #'s 1,2 and 4 and spoke to the witnesses prior to lineup 2.

Leavelle indicated in testimony that he knew that two officers from the Vice Unit and a jail clerk had been used for the first lineup. ( 7 H 263-264 )

Leavelle testified that he had seen Oswald, " the first day he was arrested and when they brought him in and out of the office taking him to and from the jail, and of course, I had saw him at the lineups, what-have-you ". ( 7 H 268 )

So Leavelle was more than aware that Oswald was the suspect. He knew it.

This is a no-no. See my essay on the police lineups.

Sam Guinyard lied under oath when he testified that no police officer spoke to him prior to his viewing the lineup.

Mr. Ball : Did the police officer say anyhting to you before you went in there ?
Mr. Guinyard : No Sir.
Mr. Ball: Did he say that he thought they had the man who killed the police officer ?
Mr. Guinyard: No sir, he didn't tell me that. ( 7 H 400 )

But Detective Jim Leavelle DID speak to the witnesses before they viewed the lineup. Callaway quoted that Leavelle told himself, Guinyard and McWatters that Tippit's killer was in the lineup before they viewed it:

Mr. CALLAWAY. We first went into the room. There was Jim Leavelle, the detective, Sam Guinyard, and then this busdriver and myself......and Jim told us, "When I show you these guys, be sure, take your time, see if you can make a positive identification.........We want to be sure, we want to try to wrap him up real tight on killing this officer. We think he is the same one that shot the President. But if we can wrap him up tight on killing this officer, we have got him."
( 3 H 355 )

Leavelle influenced their choice by telling the witnesses that the suspect in Tippit's killing and the President's assassination was in the lineup they were about to see.

That's another no-no.

Guinyard also lied when he said that he was at the murder scene before Domingo Benevides and that Benevides didn't drive up until they loaded Tippit into the ambulance. ( 7 H 398 ) Benevides was the closest witness to the murder and the fact that he went right to the spot and picked up the cartridge shells is proof that he was present AT THE TIME OF THE SHOOTING.

Guinyard's eyesight was so good that he could see the gunman rolling the cylinder of the gun with his right thumb from almost a block away !!!! ( 7 H 397 )

Give me a break.

The natural reaction when one hears gunshots and sees a man with a gun heading your way is to take cover. The natural instinct is for self-preservation.

Callaway's version of challenging the gunman while himself being unarmed may make for great Hollywood script, but it's unrealistic. He didn't display any courage until he had Tippit's gun in his hand. Then he wanted to go after the guy.

I doubt that these witnesses ever got more than a glimpse of the gunman. The more likely scenario was they saw him coming down the street, took cover by ducking between the cars in the lot, then emerged after the man had passed.

Yet these were two more of the witnesses who the Commission claimed "positively identified" Oswald as the man they saw.

Two witnesses who:

1. Originally could only identify the gunman as nothing more than a white man
2. Saw him fleeing on opposite sides of the street
3. Misidentified his weapon from a distance of 10-20 feet away
4. Lied under oath
5. Were coaxed by a Dallas Police detective in choosing Oswald from a lineup consisting of himself and three police employees.


Those are some credible witnesses.
And that's some positive identification.
But there's more.

NEXT WEEKEND: THE DAVISES

[Sean Coleman]

Enjoying these instalments, hoping there’s a bus ride/cab ride examination coming soon

[Gil Jesus]

15 hours ago, Sean Coleman said:

Enjoying these instalments, hoping there’s a bus ride/cab ride examination coming soon

oh yeah :-)

[Karl Hilliard]

On 9/18/2021 at 7:33 AM, Gil Jesus said:

TED CALLAWAY AND SAM GUINYARD

After hearing gunshots, he confronted an armed man who approached him while himself being unarmed, a man who he testified came within 20 feet of him.

 

  Callaway testified that the gunman got within 20 feet of him, Guinyard testified the gunman was 10 feet away.

How could anyone that close to the gun mistake an automatic for a revolver when they look nothing alike ?

 

Quote

 

Mr. BALL. Tell us what happened.
Mr. CALLAWAY. We first went into the room. There was Jim Leavelle, the detective, Sam Guinyard, and then this busdriver and myself. We waited down there for probably 20 or 30 minutes. And Jim told us, "When I show you these guys, be sure,. take your time, see if you can make a positive identification."
Mr. BALL. Had you known him before?
Mr. CALLAWAY. No. And he said, "We want to be sure, we want to try to wrap him up real tight on killing this officer. We think he is the same one that shot the President. But if we can wrap him up tight on killing this officer, we have got him." So they brought four men in.
I stepped to the back of the room, so I could kind of see him from the same distance which I had seen him before. And when he came out, I knew him.
Mr. BALL. You mean he looked like the same man?
Mr. CALLAWAY. Yes.
Mr. BALL. About what distance was he away from you--the closest that he ever was to you?
Mr. CALLAWAY. About 56 feet.
Mr. BALL. You measured that, did you?
Mr. CALLAWAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Last Saturday morning?
Mr. CALLAWAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Measured it with a tape measure?
Mr. CALLAWAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Did he have the same clothes on in the lineup--did the man have the same clothes?
Mr. CALLAWAY. He had the same trousers and shirt, but he didn't have his jacket on. He had ditched his jacket.   

 

I couldn't find where Callaway stated that he was as close as 20 feet to the suspect...just 56 feet which made me quite skeptical. [I have a neighbor who looks like her sister--at 60 feet away I can't tell which one sometimes and I have 20/20 vision] I also couldn't find where Callaway described the weapon as an automatic. Noticed that the policeman told him that they could "wrap up" the shooting of the president as well.. with his identification of the suspected shooter.

That could have just given Callaway the idea that he could make a place for himself in history as the witness who nailed the assassin.

Callaway stated that the suspect had "ditched his jacket". How could he have known this? The police could have very well removed it upon/after arrest.

 I surmise that after five months--the witnesses were summarily rehearsed.
 

Quote

 

 
Mr. BALL. What did you see him doing?
Mr. GUINYARD. He came through there running and knocking empty shells out of his pistol and he had it up just like this with his hand.
Mr. BALL. With which hand?
Mr. GUINYARD. With his right hand; just kicking them out.
Mr. BALL. He had it up?
Mr. GUINYARD. Yes; he had it up just like this.
Mr. BALL. How was he kicking them out?
Mr. GUINYARD. He was rolling them with his hand--with his thumb.
Mr. BALL. Rolling them with his thumb?
Mr. GUINYARD. Checking them--he had the pistol up just like this [indicating].
Mr. BALL. Did he use his left hand any?
Mr. GUINYARD. No; I never did see him use his left hand.
Mr. BALL. He didn't?
Mr. GUINYARD. No, sir.

Mr. BALL. Now, he had a light gray jacket on?
Mr. GUINYARD. And a brown shirt on.
Mr. BALL. And a white T-shirt on?
Mr. GUINYARD. Underneath it, because this brown shirt was open at the throat

Mr. BALL. How close .was he to you when you saw him?
Mr. GUINYARD. I guess he was about 10 feet from me---maybe.
Mr. BALL. About 10 feet?
Mr. GUINYARD. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Mr. Callaway has told us and we measured it with a tape measure, that Oswald was on the west side of the street, and we measured it and he figured it was about 55 feet from him when he passed.
Mr. GUINYARD. Well, he crossed over after he crossed the driveway.
Mr. BALL. Well----
Mr. GUINYARD. Mr. Callaway followed him, you see, we was together--he was my boss at that time and he followed him.
Mr. BALL. Callaway?
Mr. GUINYARD. Yes; trying to see which way was he going.

Mr. BALL. Were they all about the same color?
Mr. GUINYARD. No, sir; they wasn't all about the same color.
Mr. BALL. All about the same color?
Mr. GUINYARD. No, sir; they wasn't all about the same color.

Guinyard describes a pistol with which the alleged perp was "kicking"? out the shells. "Rolling them out with his thumb"....That is just nonsense. For one thing-- [if it was a S&W ..any caliber.. and most any other revolvers]--you have an ejector in front of the barrel to remove shells. You can't hardly remove them one at a time. Why would someone even try to do that? You push the ejector..they all come out and you reload. Other witnesses stated this unloading one shell at a time and flinging them up in the air. How can you not use your left hand to perform any such action? He contradicts his boss stating that the suspect was 10 feet [maybe] away from him. That is almost close enough to shake hands huh? Guinyard apparently saw this brown shirt that Callaway didn't. Callaway's business only had two workers? Himself and a porter. Also...Guinyard said "we was together" and his boss followed the perp. Then what did Guinyard do? Wasn't asked. Questioned about the line up---"They wasn't all about the same color". I have trouble translating that. One guy was blue?..one was green? Oh well--with only a sixth grade education--perhaps he couldn't remember his lines.

[Gil Jesus]

14 hours ago, Karl Hilliard said:

I couldn't find where Callaway stated that he was as close as 20 feet to the suspect..

Callaway affidavit to the SS, 12/3/63 says when the gunman got about twenty feet and across the street from him he hollered at him. ( CD 87, pg. 552 )

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=10490#relPageId=552

It was a typo that I forgot to change.

Edited September 26, 2021 by Gil Jesus

[Gil Jesus]

14 hours ago, Karl Hilliard said:

 

Guinyard describes a pistol with which the alleged perp was "kicking"? out the shells. "Rolling them out with his thumb"....That is just nonsense. For one thing-- [if it was a S&W ..any caliber.. and most any other revolvers]--you have an ejector in front of the barrel to remove shells. You can't hardly remove them one at a time. Why would someone even try to do that? You push the ejector..they all come out and you reload. Other witnesses stated this unloading one shell at a time and flinging them up in the air. How can you not use your left hand to perform any such action? He contradicts his boss stating that the suspect was 10 feet [maybe] away from him. That is almost close enough to shake hands huh? Guinyard apparently saw this brown shirt that Callaway didn't. Callaway's business only had two workers? Himself and a porter. Also...Guinyard said "we was together" and his boss followed the perp. Then what did Guinyard do? Wasn't asked. Questioned about the line up---"They wasn't all about the same color". I have trouble translating that. One guy was blue?..one was green? Oh well--with only a sixth grade education--perhaps he couldn't remember his lines.

You make some good points here, not the least of which is his description of the gunman unloading the shells. You're spot on that you wouldn't roll the cylinder to unload a revolver. You'd roll it to load, but that's a two handed operation and he said he never saw the gunman use his left hand. It makes for great drama, but it makes no sense. My feeling is that if these guys were telling the truth, they're stories should at least have some semblance in basic details. And those details should make some sense and be supported by the facts. As you point out, they don't. So how reliable are their accounts ?

Edited September 26, 2021 by Gil Jesus