The Tippit Witnesses --- Part IV

[Gil Jesus]

THE JEFFERSON AVE WITNESSES


Warren Reynolds worked at his brother's dealership, Reynolds Motor Company located at 500 E. Jefferson.
On November 22, 1963, Reynolds saw a man with a gun running south on Patton Ave. He then allegedly followed the man on the opposite side of the street as the man went west on West Jefferson Blvd. He said he lost the man behind a gas station on Crawford St.

On 23rd January, 1964, Reynolds was himself the victim of a violent attack. As he went into the basement of the dealership to shut off the lights for the night, he was shot in the head by someone with a .22 caliber rifle who was lying in wait for him.
No charges were ever brought against anyone in this attack. A suspect was picked up and questioned but he had an alibi and passed a polygraph exam so the police released him.
Reynolds survived the attack and made a full recovery.
In March, 1964, Reynolds had a meeting with General Edwin Walker who read his story in the paper and was interested in talking with him. The newspaper article claimed that Reynolds was shot because he "fingered Oswald". But during this meeting, he admitted to Walker that contrary to the newspaper article "he did not finger Oswald." (CE 2587, pg. 2 )
Later that month, a man tried to get Reynolds' 9 year old daughter Terri into his car by offering her money. She ran away and reported the incident to her parents. (ibid., pg.3)
Understandably, this made Reynolds "apprehensive" to stick to his original story.

That original story is found in Commission Exhibit 2523, a January 21, 1964 interview where Reynolds told the FBI that " he would hesitate to definitely identify Oswald as the individual" he saw.
https://gil-jesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/WC_Vol25_731-reynolds.gif

This statement was given two days BEFORE he was shot in the head, so he was clear-minded.
Before he was shot in the head, he couldn't identify Oswald.
After he was shot in the head, he was able to identify Oswald "in his mind" when he saw Oswald's picture in the newspaper and on television. ( 11 H 435 )

Apparently, he didn't see a picture of Oswald in a newspaper or on television between November 22nd and January 21st when he still hesitated "to definitely identify Oswald as the individual".

https://gil-jesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Reynolds-ID.jpg

So for the immediate TWO MONTHS after the assassination, when the biggest crime of the century was still a hot news topic, he never saw Oswald's picture in a newspaper, never saw him on television, even when he was murdered by Jack Ruby ?
That is so much BS.
If Oswald was the man he saw, why didn't he go to the authorities and report it right away ? Why did he tell the FBI that he couldn't identify Oswald just two months after the assassination ? Why did he wait nine months to identify Oswald in his testimony ?
Because the man was frightened for himself and his family.
If the attempted murder of him wasn't enough, the attempted kidnapping of his daughter was the straw that broke the camel's back. He changed his mind and "identified" Oswald as the man he had seen running from the scene of the crime, even though he knew it wasn't true.
Why would he identify an innocent man ?
That human instinct of survival.
Oswald was dead and identifying him wasn't going to change anything for Oswald but not identifying him could have dangerous consequences for Reynolds and his family.
This was the message he got from all of this and this is what changed his mind.
So he identified Oswald "in his mind ".

The man who allegedly pursued the gunman with Reynolds was another employee of the car lot, B.T. "Pat" Patterson. Like Reynolds, he never viewed a live lineup and he never reported seeing Oswald until the time he was interviewed by the FBI on August 26, 1964.
Even though Oswald was known around the world just hours after the assassination, it took Patterson ten months to identify him as the man he saw.
And his "positive identification" didn't even involve a photographic lineup, where he should have been shown photographs of different men along with Oswald's and asked to pick the man out.
He was shown just two photographs, both of Oswald: Oswald's Dallas PD mugshot and one of the "backyard photographs" with him holding the rifle. ( 21 H 27-28 )

https://gil-jesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/21H27-patterson-b.png

This is what the Commission accepted as a "positive identification": a witness who never came forward and took ten months to identify Oswald and did so from photographs which included no one else and suggested Oswald was guilty.
Patterson told the FBI that "the individual stopped still, ejected the cartridges, reloaded the gun, and then placed the weapon inside his waistband." ( 21 H 27 )
But there's no evidence that the gunman "ejected the cartridges" after having passed the Davis' apartment building. Patterson was a block away from there.
How could he see that ?

Another witness who took months to come forward was Mary Brock. She and her husband ran the Ballew Texaco Service Station on the 500 block of Jefferson. She was interviewed by the FBI on January 21, 1964 and told them that at approximately 1:30 pm on November 22nd, a white male wearing light clothing came past her at a fast pace.
Like Patterson, she identified Oswald after being shown a single photograph, again of his mugshot, this time from New Orleans. ( 19 H 181 )

https://gil-jesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/mary-brock.gif

What's interesting about this interview is that she said that FIVE MINUTES later, two individuals from the Johnny Reynolds car lot came up and inquired about the man she saw. "They informed her that this individual had in all probability shot a Dallas Police officer."

First of all, a five minute head start is a long time when you're following someone. At a normal walking pace of 2.5 miles per hour ( 13,500 ft/hr ), that's an 1,100 foot lead.
That's nearly 4 football fields. How do you "follow" someone with a lead like that ? Even in a car, you're going to lose them.

Or maybe there's more to the story.

Reynolds and Patterson were supposed to have heard the shots, seen the gunman fleeing south on Patton, and then followed him as he went west on Jefferson and north on Crawford.
How could they know that a police officer had been the victim of the shooting if they hadn't been to the scene of the murder ? Supposedly, all they heard was shots. The murder scene was out of their range of vision.

Because the evidence indicates that at least one of them had been.

Page 87 of Commission Document 385 is the FBI interview of Harold Russell, another employee of the Johnny Reynolds car lot, conducted on January 21st. In it Russell says that both he AND Pat Patterson "proceeded to the area of Tenth and Patton Ave."

https://gil-jesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/russell-3.png

He then implies that Patterson left to go with Warren Reynolds "to follow the individual as he headed west on Jefferson Street".
I don't believe that Reynolds followed the gunman right away for the same reason I don't believe Callaway confronted an armed man while being unarmed. I believe that Reynolds watched the gunman and waited for Patterson to return before they both "followed" the path of the gunman as far as Reynolds could see.
And I believe that took all of five minutes and was the reason why that they were five minutes behind the gunman getting to the gas station.
And the reason why they lost him.
Look at Reynolds' own statement of 1/21/64 to the FBI in which he said that "he last observed the individual to turn north by the Ballew Texaco station and at this point he did not observe the individual." ( 25 H 731 )
And that he had to make an inquiry at the gas station ( ibid. ), something he would not have had to do if he had followed the gunman and kept him in his sight.
And that five minutes or ten minutes later, "an unknown source" told him that the man he had been tailing had shot and killed a uniformed officer of the Dallas Police. ( ibid.)
How could an unknown person know he was tailing the guy ?
I believe that unknown source was Pat Patterson.

Getting back to Russell, he also described the man as wearing a light blue jacket and light slacks.

https://gil-jesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/russell.png

He then stated that although he was an eyewitness who could identify the killer of a fellow police officer, the Dallas Police simply let him walk away while they were searching for Tippit's killer. He said, "he left the officers and then went in a nearby drug store and then went about his business and thought nothing more about it."

Really.

These were the nine witnesses for the prosecution: Helen Markham, Scoggins, Callaway, Guinyard, Barbara Davis, Virginia Davis, Reynolds, Patterson and Mary Brock.
Witnesses who, on the day of the murder, gave no description of the man they saw.
Nine witnesses who either identified Oswald from invalid lineups or identified him from mugshots that implied his guilt.

To consider these as "positive identifications" is ridiculous.

These are the types of actions you take when you're trying to influence a witness' identification and frame an innocent man for a crime he did not commit.
But there were other witnesses who did not fall for these tactics, witnesses who described a man who clearly was NOT Oswald. Witnesses who refused to identify Oswald as the gunman. Witnesses whose accounts were never published nor were they called to give testimony to the Warren Commission.
Because they had nothing to contribute to the "Oswald-did-it" narrative, their accounts were simply ignored and it wasn't until years later their accounts became publicized thanks to the efforts of researchers who tracked them down and made their accounts known.
I call these "the defense witnesses."

NEXT WEEKEND: THE DEFENSE WITNESSES

[Steve Thomas]

Gil,

I don't know if you want to work this into your project or not, but I had some questions about Domingo Benevides for what it's worth.

Steve Thomas

 

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

Mr. BELIN - Then what happened? Did the officers ever get in touch with you?
Mr. BENAVIDES - Later on that evening, about 4 o'clock, there was two officers came by and asked for me, Mr. Callaway asked me---I had told them that I had seen the officer, and the reporters were there and I was trying to hide from the reporters because they will just bother you all the time.

I was just trying to hide from the reporters and everything, and these two officers came around and asked me if I'd seen him, and I told him yes, and told them what I had seen,...
Mr. BELIN - Did he ever take you to the police station and ask you if you could identify him?
Mr. BENAVIDES - No; they didn't.

Another FBI file from SA Joseph J. Loeffler to SAC (89-43) dated December 4, 1963.
https://books.google.com/books?id=IdnhAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT757&lpg=PT757&dq=%22Domingo+Benavides%22+CBS&source=bl&ots=eODtmXcfZ5&sig=FqLkfGuuiw6qUA5NRAnj1nJeifk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj0trfvxfPYAhVD7IMKHX2PCoA4ChDoAQgpMAE#v=onepage&q=%22Domingo%20Benavides%22%20CBS&f=false

“4 empty hulls – 2 found by unidentified witness at the scene of the shooting of Tippit – 400 E. 10th St. and given to Officer, J.M. Poe. He has no recollection of who gave them to him.” The memo goes on to talk about the shells found by the Davis sisters.

Why is Benevides still "unidentified" as late as December 4, 1963?

Poe's after-action report dated 11/22/63

Supplementary Offense Report
Portal to Texas History

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth338726/m1/1/?q=J.M.%20Poe

Poe wrote, "Unidentified witness handed Officer Poe two empty hulls in an empty cigarette package and stated, "These were the bullets that killed the officer.". The bottom of the Report is marked “Pending”.

 

The only mention of Benavides in the DPD Archives Index is a Report by James Leavelle.
DPD Archives Box 16, Folder# 12, Item# 6.
http://jfk.ci.dallas.tx.us/box1617.htm

It's dated the 22nd, and it had to have been written up after 6:30PM, because he mentions the 6:30 lineup.
Leavelle wrote, "Another witness who saw the officer laying in the street, but did not see the suspect was a Domingo Benavides..."
Leavelle wrote that Benavides found two shells and turned them over to Poe, who in turn, turned them over to Pete Barnes, who "dusted the car for prints".

At the time Poe wrote his Report, Benavides was still unidentified. By 6:30, he is identified by name in Leavelle's Report. Benavides said that 2 officers came by (at Dootch Motors, I believe), at 4:00 and he told them what he had seen.

Why does the FBI Report filed by James Loeffler on December 4, 1963 says that it was an “unidentified witness” who gave Poe the shells, and that Poe “has no recollection of who gave them to him”?

 

Who were the two officers? Where is their report?

Why did the police and the WC give so much more attention to Helen Markham than they did to Domingo Benavides? He was actually closer to the shooter than Markham was, wasn't he?

Is it because Benavides describes a shooter who looked different than Oswald?

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

Mr. BELIN - I am between 5' 10" and 5' 11". Closer to 5' 11", I believe.

Mr. BENAVIDES - I would say he was about your size,

Mr. BELIN - Was he average weight, slender, or heavy?
Mr. BENAVIDES - I would say he was average weight.
Mr. BELIN - What color hair did he have?
Mr. BENAVIDES - Oh, dark. I mean not dark.
Mr. BELIN - Black hair?
Mr. BENAVIDES - No. Not black or brown, just kind of a----
Mr. BELIN - You say he is my size, my weight, and my color hair?
Mr. BENAVIDES - He kind of looks like---well, his hair was a little bit curlier.
Mr. BELIN - Anything else about him that looked like me.
Mr. BENAVIDES - No. that is all.
Mr. BELIN - What about his skin? Was he fair complexioned or dark complexioned?
Mr. BENAVIDES - He wasn't dark.
Mr. BELIN - Average complexion?
Mr. BENAVIDES - No; a little bit darker than average.
Of course he looked, his skin looked a little bit ruddier than mine.
Mr. BENAVIDES - I remember the back of his head seemed like his hairline was sort of--looked like his hairline sort of went square instead of tapered off. and he looked like he needed a haircut for about 2 weeks, but his hair didn't taper off, it kind of went down and squared off and made his head look fiat in back.

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

The first man that came up to me, he said, "The man that shot him was a white male about 5'10", weighing 160 to 170 pounds, and brown bushy hair."

Mr. BELIN. Now, let me interrupt you here, sergeant. Do you remember the name of the person that gave you the description?
Mr. HILL. No. I turned him over to Poe, and I didn't even get his name.

Mr. BELIN - When you put these two shells that you found in this cigarette package, what did you do with them?
Mr. BENAVIDES - I gave them to an officer.
Mr. BELIN - That came out to the scene shortly after?
Mr. BENAVIDES - Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN - Do you remember the name of the officer?
Mr. BENAVIDES - No, sir; I didn't even ask him. I just told him that this was the shells that he had fired, and I handed them to him. Seemed like he was a young guy, maybe 24.

Poe's after-action report dated 11/22/63
Supplementary Offense Report
Portal to Texas History

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth338726/m1/1/?q=J.M.%20Poe

Poe wrote, "Unidentified witness handed Officer Poe two empty hulls in an empty cigarette package and stated, "These were the bullets that killed the officer.".

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/callaway1.htm

Mr. BALL. What kind--when you talked to the police officers before you saw this man, did you give them a description of the clothing he had on?
Mr. CALLAWAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. What did you tell them you saw?
Mr. CALLAWAY. I told them he had some dark trousers and a light tannish gray windbreaker jacket, and I told him that he was fair complexion, dark hair.
Mr. BALL. Tell them the size?
Mr. CALLAWAY. Yes; I told them--I think I told them about 5'10"--

Mr. BALL. Was he fat or thin?
Mr. CALLAWAY. He was just--
Mr. BALL. I mean the man you saw across the street?
Mr. CALLAWAY. Just a nice athletic type size boy, I mean. Neither fat nor thin.
Mr. BALL. What did you estimate his weight when you talked to the officer before the lineup?
Mr. CALLAWAY. I told him it looked to me like around 160 pounds.

 

Mr. BELIN - Taking you back to November 22, 1963, anything unusual happen that day?
Mr. BENAVIDES - On the 22d?
Mr. BELIN - 22d of November 1963?
Mr. BENAVIDES - This would be embarrassing. Was that the day of the Assassination of the President?
Mr. BELIN - Yes.
Mr. BENAVIDES - I was thinking it was the 24th. Well, nothing except it seemed like a pretty nice day.
Mr. BELIN - Do you remember what day of the week it was?
Mr. BENAVIDES - I don't remember.
Mr. BELIN - Do you remember the day that the President was assassinated?
Mr. BENAVIDES - No.
Mr. BELIN - Do you remember that he was assassinated in Dallas?
Mr. BENAVIDES - Oh, yes; I remember this.

 

Mr. BELIN - When the officers came out there, did you tell them what you had seen?
Mr. BENAVIDES - No, sir.
Mr. BELIN - What did you do?
Mr. BENAVIDES - I left right after. I give the shells to the officer. I turned around and went back and we returned to work.

 

Who is we?

 

Mr. BENAVIDES - Later on that evening, about 4 o'clock, there was two officers came by and asked for me, Mr. Callaway asked me---I had told them that I had seen the officer, and the reporters were there and I was trying to hide from the reporters because they will just bother you all the time.

I was just trying to hide from the reporters and everything, and these two officers came around and asked me if I'd seen him, and I told him yes, and told them what I had seen...

What time did Poe write his Supplementary Offense Report”

The witness who gave him the shells is still unidentified, but two officers go looking for Benevides at 4:00PM. Leavelle identifies him at 6:30.

 

Who were these two officers, and where is their Report?

Why didn’t they take Benevides down to the Station?

Callaway makes no mention of this 4:00 PM visit.

Why does neither Hill nor Poe get the name of the person who handed them the shells?

[David Andrews]

To be shot two days after an FBI interview implies a fast-moving conspiracy, large or otherwise.

Might Reynolds have done some other talking previous to the interview that brought the shooting on?

Shooting witnesses in the head (including, allegedly by mistake, Benavides's brother) is a doubtful way to get a better identification - or any response at all.

Stray thoughts of a devil's advocate.

Edited October 2, 2021 by David Andrews

[Gil Jesus]

1 hour ago, David Andrews said:

To be shot two days after an FBI interview implies a fast-moving conspiracy, large or otherwise.

Might Reynolds have done some other talking previous to the interview that brought the shooting on?

Shooting witnesses in the head (including, allegedly by mistake, Benavides's brother) is a doubtful way to get a better identification - or any response at all.

Stray thoughts of a devil's advocate.

Some good points, Dave. Maybe the shooter was still at large and was afraid Reynolds might see him and identify him.

[Gil Jesus]

5 hours ago, Steve Thomas said:

Gil,

I don't know if you want to work this into your project or not, but I had some questions about Domingo Benevides for what it's worth.

Steve Thomas

 

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

Mr. BELIN - Then what happened? Did the officers ever get in touch with you?
Mr. BENAVIDES - Later on that evening, about 4 o'clock, there was two officers came by and asked for me, Mr. Callaway asked me---I had told them that I had seen the officer, and the reporters were there and I was trying to hide from the reporters because they will just bother you all the time.

I was just trying to hide from the reporters and everything, and these two officers came around and asked me if I'd seen him, and I told him yes, and told them what I had seen,...
Mr. BELIN - Did he ever take you to the police station and ask you if you could identify him?
Mr. BENAVIDES - No; they didn't.

Another FBI file from SA Joseph J. Loeffler to SAC (89-43) dated December 4, 1963.
https://books.google.com/books?id=IdnhAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT757&lpg=PT757&dq=%22Domingo+Benavides%22+CBS&source=bl&ots=eODtmXcfZ5&sig=FqLkfGuuiw6qUA5NRAnj1nJeifk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj0trfvxfPYAhVD7IMKHX2PCoA4ChDoAQgpMAE#v=onepage&q=%22Domingo%20Benavides%22%20CBS&f=false

“4 empty hulls – 2 found by unidentified witness at the scene of the shooting of Tippit – 400 E. 10th St. and given to Officer, J.M. Poe. He has no recollection of who gave them to him.” The memo goes on to talk about the shells found by the Davis sisters.

Why is Benevides still "unidentified" as late as December 4, 1963?

Poe's after-action report dated 11/22/63

Supplementary Offense Report
Portal to Texas History

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth338726/m1/1/?q=J.M.%20Poe

Poe wrote, "Unidentified witness handed Officer Poe two empty hulls in an empty cigarette package and stated, "These were the bullets that killed the officer.". The bottom of the Report is marked “Pending”.

 

The only mention of Benavides in the DPD Archives Index is a Report by James Leavelle.
DPD Archives Box 16, Folder# 12, Item# 6.
http://jfk.ci.dallas.tx.us/box1617.htm

It's dated the 22nd, and it had to have been written up after 6:30PM, because he mentions the 6:30 lineup.
Leavelle wrote, "Another witness who saw the officer laying in the street, but did not see the suspect was a Domingo Benavides..."
Leavelle wrote that Benavides found two shells and turned them over to Poe, who in turn, turned them over to Pete Barnes, who "dusted the car for prints".

At the time Poe wrote his Report, Benavides was still unidentified. By 6:30, he is identified by name in Leavelle's Report. Benavides said that 2 officers came by (at Dootch Motors, I believe), at 4:00 and he told them what he had seen.

Why does the FBI Report filed by James Loeffler on December 4, 1963 says that it was an “unidentified witness” who gave Poe the shells, and that Poe “has no recollection of who gave them to him”?

 

Who were the two officers? Where is their report?

Why did the police and the WC give so much more attention to Helen Markham than they did to Domingo Benavides? He was actually closer to the shooter than Markham was, wasn't he?

Is it because Benavides describes a shooter who looked different than Oswald?

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

Mr. BELIN - I am between 5' 10" and 5' 11". Closer to 5' 11", I believe.

Mr. BENAVIDES - I would say he was about your size,

Mr. BELIN - Was he average weight, slender, or heavy?
Mr. BENAVIDES - I would say he was average weight.
Mr. BELIN - What color hair did he have?
Mr. BENAVIDES - Oh, dark. I mean not dark.
Mr. BELIN - Black hair?
Mr. BENAVIDES - No. Not black or brown, just kind of a----
Mr. BELIN - You say he is my size, my weight, and my color hair?
Mr. BENAVIDES - He kind of looks like---well, his hair was a little bit curlier.
Mr. BELIN - Anything else about him that looked like me.
Mr. BENAVIDES - No. that is all.
Mr. BELIN - What about his skin? Was he fair complexioned or dark complexioned?
Mr. BENAVIDES - He wasn't dark.
Mr. BELIN - Average complexion?
Mr. BENAVIDES - No; a little bit darker than average.
Of course he looked, his skin looked a little bit ruddier than mine.
Mr. BENAVIDES - I remember the back of his head seemed like his hairline was sort of--looked like his hairline sort of went square instead of tapered off. and he looked like he needed a haircut for about 2 weeks, but his hair didn't taper off, it kind of went down and squared off and made his head look fiat in back.

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

The first man that came up to me, he said, "The man that shot him was a white male about 5'10", weighing 160 to 170 pounds, and brown bushy hair."

Mr. BELIN. Now, let me interrupt you here, sergeant. Do you remember the name of the person that gave you the description?
Mr. HILL. No. I turned him over to Poe, and I didn't even get his name.

Mr. BELIN - When you put these two shells that you found in this cigarette package, what did you do with them?
Mr. BENAVIDES - I gave them to an officer.
Mr. BELIN - That came out to the scene shortly after?
Mr. BENAVIDES - Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN - Do you remember the name of the officer?
Mr. BENAVIDES - No, sir; I didn't even ask him. I just told him that this was the shells that he had fired, and I handed them to him. Seemed like he was a young guy, maybe 24.

Poe's after-action report dated 11/22/63
Supplementary Offense Report
Portal to Texas History

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth338726/m1/1/?q=J.M.%20Poe

Poe wrote, "Unidentified witness handed Officer Poe two empty hulls in an empty cigarette package and stated, "These were the bullets that killed the officer.".

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/callaway1.htm

Mr. BALL. What kind--when you talked to the police officers before you saw this man, did you give them a description of the clothing he had on?
Mr. CALLAWAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. What did you tell them you saw?
Mr. CALLAWAY. I told them he had some dark trousers and a light tannish gray windbreaker jacket, and I told him that he was fair complexion, dark hair.
Mr. BALL. Tell them the size?
Mr. CALLAWAY. Yes; I told them--I think I told them about 5'10"--

Mr. BALL. Was he fat or thin?
Mr. CALLAWAY. He was just--
Mr. BALL. I mean the man you saw across the street?
Mr. CALLAWAY. Just a nice athletic type size boy, I mean. Neither fat nor thin.
Mr. BALL. What did you estimate his weight when you talked to the officer before the lineup?
Mr. CALLAWAY. I told him it looked to me like around 160 pounds.

 

Mr. BELIN - Taking you back to November 22, 1963, anything unusual happen that day?
Mr. BENAVIDES - On the 22d?
Mr. BELIN - 22d of November 1963?
Mr. BENAVIDES - This would be embarrassing. Was that the day of the Assassination of the President?
Mr. BELIN - Yes.
Mr. BENAVIDES - I was thinking it was the 24th. Well, nothing except it seemed like a pretty nice day.
Mr. BELIN - Do you remember what day of the week it was?
Mr. BENAVIDES - I don't remember.
Mr. BELIN - Do you remember the day that the President was assassinated?
Mr. BENAVIDES - No.
Mr. BELIN - Do you remember that he was assassinated in Dallas?
Mr. BENAVIDES - Oh, yes; I remember this.

 

Mr. BELIN - When the officers came out there, did you tell them what you had seen?
Mr. BENAVIDES - No, sir.
Mr. BELIN - What did you do?
Mr. BENAVIDES - I left right after. I give the shells to the officer. I turned around and went back and we returned to work.

 

Who is we?

 

Mr. BENAVIDES - Later on that evening, about 4 o'clock, there was two officers came by and asked for me, Mr. Callaway asked me---I had told them that I had seen the officer, and the reporters were there and I was trying to hide from the reporters because they will just bother you all the time.

I was just trying to hide from the reporters and everything, and these two officers came around and asked me if I'd seen him, and I told him yes, and told them what I had seen...

What time did Poe write his Supplementary Offense Report”

The witness who gave him the shells is still unidentified, but two officers go looking for Benevides at 4:00PM. Leavelle identifies him at 6:30.

 

Who were these two officers, and where is their Report?

Why didn’t they take Benevides down to the Station?

Callaway makes no mention of this 4:00 PM visit.

Why does neither Hill nor Poe get the name of the person who handed them the shells?

Benavides is an interesting witness. He was the closest one to the shooter and yet couldn't identify him. Another reason why I think the killer was someone from the neighborhood and was known but feared by the neighbors. Some may have known him by sight, others by name, but once Oswald was dead all of a sudden it was Oswald.

Stay tuned for the conclusion in part 6, it tells a lot about eyewitnesses and how research has shown that their memories decline as time goes on.

Edited October 2, 2021 by Gil Jesus