Why was Tippit killed?

[Dan Rice]

I'm curious as to what the forum members think as to why was J.D. Tippit killed.  It seems to me that there are only three scenarios as far as 'who' killed Tippit.

!.  Oswald killed Tippit as a means to escape apprehension.  There has been a recent thread showing reasons and evidence why it couldn't have been Oswald.

2.  Gil Jesus has a thread and an interesting theory that the Tippit killing had nothing to do with the JFK assassination.

3.  A conspirator to the assassination did it. 

Number three seems to be the most popular opinion among forumites.  But why did it happen?  And why was a conspirator on foot?  That seems quite risky.  If a conspirator on foot killed Tippit it seems that it was designed to lead the police to the Texas Theater, albeit a risky one.

It does seem like Tippit was searching for someone, considering the witnesses at the Gloco gas station, the Top Ten Record Store and the man Tippit supposedly pulled over and checked his back seat without saying a word.  I'm wondering how reliable those witnesses were.

[Gil Jesus]

53 minutes ago, Dan Rice said:

I'm curious as to what the forum members think as to why was J.D. Tippit killed.  It seems to me that there are only three scenarios as far as 'who' killed Tippit.

!.  Oswald killed Tippit as a means to escape apprehension.  There has been a recent thread showing reasons and evidence why it couldn't have been Oswald.

2.  Gil Jesus has a thread and an interesting theory that the Tippit killing had nothing to do with the JFK assassination.

3.  A conspirator to the assassination did it. 

Number three seems to be the most popular opinion among forumites.  But why did it happen?  And why was a conspirator on foot?  That seems quite risky.  If a conspirator on foot killed Tippit it seems that it was designed to lead the police to the Texas Theater, albeit a risky one.

It does seem like Tippit was searching for someone, considering the witnesses at the Gloco gas station, the Top Ten Record Store and the man Tippit supposedly pulled over and checked his back seat without saying a word.  I'm wondering how reliable those witnesses were.

Dan, I'll be posting part III of "The Tippit Witnesses" tomorrow, centering on the Davises. I'm planning on Part IV the following weekend to cover the witnesses on Jefferson Ave.. That will conclude the nine witnesses that the WC said "positively identified Oswald" as killer of Tippit. Then I hope to post Part V the following weekend with the witnesses FOR Oswald's innocence. Part VI will be the last installment and will be the summary by defense counsel. ( I like playing a lawyer ) 🙂

Edited September 24, 2021 by Gil Jesus

[Matt Allison]

How well studied were Tippit's movements and actions in the weeks leading up to the assassination? I confess to never having read much about the Tippit killing.

[Matt Allison]

What if Oswald thought Tippit was party to those who set him up? Pretty weird that Tippit just happens to decide to stop a random person that happens to be walking down a sidewalk way over in Oak Cliff...

[Norman T. Field]

Mr. McBride's book on Tippit is well worth the purchase price.

There are those who allege that Tippit (said to be the best shot on the Dallas police department) is the 'Badgeman' shooter, so his elimination is standard CYA practice. And allegations that his corpse was used to fake some photos. 

[Guest]

Q.
Is it fair to assume that Lee Harvey Oswald was not supposed to be apprehended alive? 

The fact Ruby has to go and kill him in a police station foyer, seems a sub-optimal solution for Ruby as it means his arrest, detention and sentencing. The it’s also sub-optimal for the conspirators as it looks bad Oswald being offed in a police station. I think it would be fair to conclude that something had gone wrong between the time of the assassination and Oswald being arrested. Lets say there was a conspiracy to kill JFK and the security apparatus has procured or groomed LHO as the patsy, fall guy or sacrificial lamb. When LHO realises he’s playing this role, he goes on the run and when things are closing in on him, he goes to the most public place possible (theatre) and calls out that he is unarmed, so he can’’t be executed by cops and can be arrested alive. I would posit that Oswald was supposed to be killed resisting arrest somewhere else and that the Tippett killing adds to Oswalds notoriety, not just being wanted for the killing of a beloved president (in many parts) but, also a cop-killer. His trial was taking place in the public domain before he was even in custody, a place he was never meant to be. 
 

 

[Ron Bulman]

12 hours ago, Norman T. Field said:

Mr. McBride's book on Tippit is well worth the purchase price.

There are those who allege that Tippit (said to be the best shot on the Dallas police department) is the 'Badgeman' shooter, so his elimination is standard CYA practice. And allegations that his corpse was used to fake some photos. 

Indeed on the book.  His interview with Tippit's dad mentions another officer telling dad "they" were hunting Oswald.  Was they just the two of them, or might it have been a hunting party, for a man known to some of them?  JMO from reading over the years but I think Tippit was shot because Oswald was on the loose, in Oak Cliff.  After escaping the TSBD.  The DPD wanted intense focus on Oak Cliff, quickly, why?  Tippit was sacrificed to do so, to draw attention to the area, likely by an officer with "higher authority".

Thinking outside the box  Brainstorming?  Brain farts?  A theory?  Reasonable possibilities based on rational interpretation of known facts?  

  

Edited September 27, 2021 by Ron Bulman

[Norman T. Field]

Tippit's widow being brow beaten into accepting cremation instead of burial (most uncommon in a fundamental Baptist home) screams 'red flag'. Supposedly of similar size, build and coloration with JFK, Tippit's corpse could have been used to fake 'autopsy' photos. There are also  statements by Roscoe White claiming that he had to kill Tippit.

I tire of 'theories' from folks who haven't done their basic homework and due diligence prior to publishing their speculation. 

I also find the current forum software ranking me as a "rookie' rather incompatible with my almost 20 years of forum membership and more than 40 years of investigation into the assassinations of the '60s. Who created this flawed algorithm?

 

 

[Paul Brancato]

2 hours ago, Norman T. Field said:

Tippit's widow being brow beaten into accepting cremation instead of burial (most uncommon in a fundamental Baptist home) screams 'red flag'. Supposedly of similar size, build and coloration with JFK, Tippit's corpse could have been used to fake 'autopsy' photos. There are also  statements by Roscoe White claiming that he had to kill Tippit.

I tire of 'theories' from folks who haven't done their basic homework and due diligence prior to publishing their speculation. 

I also find the current forum software ranking me as a "rookie' rather incompatible with my almost 20 years of forum membership and more than 40 years of investigation into the assassinations of the '60s. Who created this flawed algorithm?

 

 

Number of posts create the algorithm.

thanks for encouraging people to read McBride’s book. I agree - it’s eye opening. 
I’m inclined to think that he had to be killed because he knew too much, rather than killed to provide impetus to the search for JFK’s killer.
Someone asked why would his killer be on foot? Isn’t there decent evidence of another cop car parked nearby and seen by a witness? There has been exploration of his life and movements prior to his killing.

McBride was the first to interview his father, and it seemed important to me. After reading the book I examined Tippit’s alibi, and it does not pass the smell test. It’s clear he had the time to be at Dealey Plaza, and to be at the local gas station 15 minutes later and Oak Cliff a few minutes later. 

[David Andrews]

It may be asking a bit much of J. D. to put him on the Grassy Knoll and the autopsy table.

Tippit looked like a tallish, rangy type.  There's video of JFK shirtless on a beach in 1962 to compare to the Bethesda photos.  Add a year and some cortisone bloat.

 

Edited September 28, 2021 by David Andrews

[Paul Brancato]

31 minutes ago, David Andrews said:

It may be asking a bit much of J. D. to put him on the Grassy Knoll and the autopsy table.

Tippit looked like a tallish, rangy type.  There's video of JFK shirtless on a beach in 1962 to compare to the Bethesda photos.  Add a year and some cortisone bloat.

 

It is weird though. Looking at dead JFK and then imagining it being Tippit instead isn’t hard. The ‘death mask’ changes ones appearance 

 

[David Andrews]

2 hours ago, Paul Brancato said:

It is weird though. Looking at dead JFK and then imagining it being Tippit instead isn’t hard. The ‘death mask’ changes ones appearance 

 

Do we know what Lil' Abner here looked like on a slab, or are we just reacting to what some hoo-haws on the DPD called him?

I mean, look at that neck.                                                                                               

Maybe JFK was cremated and buried in Dallas, and Tippit is up at Arlington.  Not.

Edited September 28, 2021 by David Andrews

[Paul Brancato]

I thought I saw a photo of dead Tippit somewhere, but I must be mistaken. 

[David Andrews]

33 minutes ago, Paul Brancato said:

I thought I saw a photo of dead Tippit somewhere, but I must be mistaken. 

No, I've seen it too, but couldn't find it last night.

The body swap may be taking the already stretched capacities of DPD too far.

But I don't know.  I wasn't there.  I was still wearing pajamas with feet.

[Dan Rice]