What is now known about "The Radio Man" in Dealey Plaza?

[Robert Reeves]

Re the topic title

DCM was part of the 'Three Tramps' procession. Although not easy to spot!

How many times have some of you looked at the three tramps photos and never noticed DCM/Radio Man was also there? 

 

Me, almost convinced DCM/Radio Man was also photographed at Parkland hospital. Did he, after witnessing the assassination, go to Parklands? and for what reason ... This person was closer to the destruction of JFK's head than almost anybody else in the plaza. DCM would/could have provided definitive witness testimony. Which is more puzzling, seeing we have no official account of this person.

Especially if he was photographing/videotaping the murder of JFK.

From Willis 5, cropped/enhanced by me

DCM appears to be holding an object at just above hip height.

And also seen in the Bronson clip, below

Most fascinating to me, the person photographed at Parkland, wearing similar clothes to DCM. The same oddly shaped jacket, too. 

This image of the DCM lookalike at Parkland appeared in a Dallas local history book, some years after the assassination. I do believe. 

How did this important assassination witness slip through the cracks? never came forwards to testify the very important details witnessed by them?

 

The person appears to be operating in a professional capacity. This person didn't flinch at the sounds of gunfire, didn't duck for cover, almost everyone else close to the gory destruction of JFK hit the ground. This person calmly sat on the curb with Umbrella Man. Acted like nothing had happened. This person would have served as a tremendous asset to the truth. But no. This person never came forwards to explain what he saw. These are not the actions of a person aligned with seeking justice. 

 

[Joe Bauer]

The man with the cap is right next to the Lincoln that carried LJB, Lady Bird, Ralph Yarborough and SS agent Rufus Youngblood just two cars behind JFK's limo in the motorcade. He is the only one close to it and it's passenger side and that door has been left open?

Interesting that they left LBJ's limo so unprotected and with it's passenger side door left open

I don't think this man is the DCM though.

[Greg Doudna]

Interesting suggestion Robert Reeves but I don't think there is an identity for this reason: complexion. DCM at Dealey Plaza looks maybe Indian or Pakistani, or maybe a darker-skinned Cuban, but the man with the similar cap at Parkland is white, which can be seen by comparison to African Americans at the back of the photo near the building. The man with the cap in the front of the photo is white like most of the rest of the people in the photo, therefore is not the DCM of Dealey Plaza. 

[Ron Bulman]

DCM is also RM.  If anyone wants to take a deep dive.

 

[Greg Doudna]

Umbrella Man, Dark-Complexioned Man (DCM), and a shooter in the storm drain: an hypothesis

I'm going to make a stab at interpreting DCM and Umbrella Man. I am skeptical of the Chamberlain appeasement symbol explanation. The motions of Umbrella Man and DCM, the what appears to be a radio with DCM, the sitting the way they do, and neither of them coming forward in any form until Witt in the 1970s, and the striking position exactly where JFK was shot driving by, add up to suspicion this was part of the assassination.

My analysis. Fact one: Umbrella Man is Witt, because the appearance matches as well as the confession.

Often the reason someone comes forward with something not previously disclosed is because it is going to come out anyway. The standard rule, e.g. with politicians, is when embarrassing or negative information is about to be disclosed from a hostile source, better to do so oneself first, "get in front of the story". The reason Witt came forward then, but not earlier, would be because he believed or realized he was going to be outed.  

Fact two: it is unlikely Witt would have been witting to any assassination plot details in advance. If he was, it would be expected that he would either have been killed unless he was able to disappear into hiding, but neither happened.

Speculation: Witt was asked, and either did as a favor, or perhaps for pay (doesn't matter), to do the umbrella signal when JFK's limousine was arriving at a certain position on Elm, and asked to keep it confidential, prepared in advance to give some other reason. The "some other reason" Witt had prepared or suggested to him from the beginning would be the appeasement symbol. What Witt actually was told was perhaps a photographer explained to Witt he needed the signal from Witt at a certain location to know when to start taking photos or film footage, but also gave some reason to Witt why he did not want that reason or his identity revealed and obtained Witt's agreement to confidentiality. The "cover story" of the appeasement-symbol was agreed at the outset as Witt's explanation if anyone asked at the time (no one did).

Witt successfully stayed under the radar unidentified until he came forward (to preempt being outed) to HSCA in the 1970s.

The reason Witt might not come forward following the assassination, or, when about to be outed years later did not tell truthfully to HSCA that a "photographer" whom he either did or did not know had arranged with him as a favor to signal when the limo was at a certain point, might be explained for two reasons. First, because that would force Witt to identify the photographer friend or associate to whom Witt had promised confidentiality, to which may or may not be added fear of consequences depending on who it was. So Witt stuck to the planned cover story. The other reason would be Witt would come under intense scrutiny, likely for life and possibly with criminal prosecution consequences, as suspected of being part of the assassination enhanced by his failure to come forward earlier with what he knew. Simpler to give the standby appeasement-symbol explanation, sounds plausible.

If Witt was asked to do so to assist a photographer, that opens the possibility that it might not really have been about a photographer needing a signal.

A conclusion from reasoning: Witt was innocent of advance knowledge of the assassination as related to his actions. If he was told and believed it was for a photographers' signal purpose Witt might or might not have continued to believe that after the assassination, viewing it, just as many others than Witt today view it, as a freak coincidence that JFK had been shot in the head a moment later.

Fact three (a further conclusion from reasoning): It is likely Witt did not know DCM (as Witt said he did not), but DCM is another story, and DCM may have been witting to the assassination. That is, Witt was innocent and doing what he thought was for a confidential, but innocent, purpose for a photographer. Witt did not choose to have DCM near him, but DCM chose to be near Witt.

Four (conclusion based on the radio with DCM): DCM is witting to the assassination.

Five (from reasoning): the movements of both DCM and Umbrella Man functioned (unwittingly in the case of Witt, no pun intended) as a signal seen by a shooter, who was prepared to shoot but not in a position to see the approach of the presidential limousine himself.

Six (from reasoning): the hypothesized shooter must be in line of sight to Umbrella Man and DCM (which is not saying much since they could be seen from nearly all directions, however not all directions could see Umbrella Man and DCM but could not also see the presidential limousine approach).

With that foundation, the Proposal or Hypothesis: the signal was to an assassin shooting from the storm drain. Prepared for one shot, able to see both Umbrella Man and DCM, but not able to see the approach of the presidential limousine (for such a shooter, a signal such as given by Umbrella Man and DCM was necessary).

Forget crazy ideas of an assassin crawling through drainage pipes 3 feet in diameter to exit somewhere else. Just forget all that, not reasonable. Those notions are not necessary to consideration of a storm-drain shooter. All that needs to be supposed is a lifting of the manhole cover, a man descends, the manhole cover is replaced. The shot is fired, one single shot. The assassin remains in place, perhaps as long as until nightfall, then makes his exit again via lifting of the manhole cover and letting it back down. 

Because that storm drain (referring to the one just ahead of JFK's limousine on the north side when JFK was shot in the head) is in public view, there must be, in such a scenario, some mechanism for subterfuge disguising the fact that a man was let down into that manhole cover surreptitiously. In fact, such a thing happened the morning of the assassination: a truck was stalled, stopped right on the sidewalk, in at least approximately and plausibly the exact location, of the manhole cover. Forget all the debates over claimed witnessing of Ruby as driver or a man with a cap walking up the Grassy Knoll with something that someone thought could have been a rifle. The hypothesis is that it was all about getting a man into the storm drain surreptitiously, full stop. The truck was stalled quite a while before it was repaired and moved. Just a couple of hours before JFK was shot in that approximate location on Elm Street. 

The activity of that stalled truck could be a mechanism for a man to have been let down surreptitiously into the storm drain and the manhole cover put back on, however the specifics of the subterfuge worked.  In such a way that that could have happened in broad daylight with police officers in the vicinity and members of the public, other traffic driving around, and no one noticed. 

Man in place, the truck is fixed and leaves, in time for the presidential parade to proceed.

Forget stories of Roselli in the storm drain. Just nonsense. It would not have been Roselli. Focus first on analysis of viability of a shooter in the storm drain itself, and forget trying to identify him until it is first established credibly that one could have been there. 

The most serious objection to the storm drain shooter idea has been that at the position of JFK at Z313 (the head shot), there is not line of sight or fire from the storm drain--the limousine was not close enough, was too far back by, what, maybe 10-20 feet or so. This has been shown and photographed and appears a fairly compelling argument that a JFK head shot at Z313 is ruled out from the storm drain on that grounds alone (apart from any other arguments or issues). 

However, there have been recurring proposals that there was an additional shot at ca. Z328 or 330, after the Z313 head shot (or two shots at Z312-313 if there were two then a split-second apart, as some think). 

The reconstruction of the shots and their points of origin, and harmonization with the medical evidence and so on, is over my head in terms of present research ability or conclusions to know. So I do not know whether these conjectures are viable in terms of the larger picture of evidence. If they are clearly and definitively falsified (e.g. a shot at ca. Z328-330) the hypothesis fails. All I know is these are conjectures on the table set forth independently, and a couple of them become of much interest if they are viable (in terms of other physical evidence), in terms of the present hypothesis.

The two key points I noticed and put together, to form this hypothesis, are these:

• A shot at Z328-330 would allow just enough time for forward movement of the presidential limousine to give a perfect shot for an assassin shooting from the storm drain, if one was there. The objection that Z313 is not close enough to be viable, is removed at ca. Z328-330.
• There has been a history of independent argument that there was a shot at ca. Z328-330 (primarily drawing from blur analysis, and some witness accounts of a post-Z313 shot).
• The trajectory of a shot fired from the storm drain at ca. Z328-330, if there was such a shooter, would go somewhat upward and be from a little to the right--the shot would miss the windshield, and assuming Connally was not in the way (he had fallen over by that time?), could have hit JFK in the throat--the notorious entrance wound to the throat that it looked like--and exited through the rear of JFK's head at the place where reports located a wound near the EOP. Because of the unusual violent backward motion--and to the left--of JFK's head from the shot(s) at Z312-Z313--a shot at ca. Z328-330 from the trajectory of the storm drain could be about right for a through-and-through shot, entrance the throat, under the brain, out the back of the head near the EOP.
• Again, this is out of my league to know if that shot is medically (or trajectory) viable. However I did read in Pat Speer's chapters on the shots, that Cyril Wecht had at an early stage supposed exactly that trajectory for one of the shots--entrance at the throat, exit the lower back of the head--although Wecht then abandoned it. (Speer himself argues for the same through-and-through trajectory between those two points but in the opposite direction, entrance rear of the head and exit the throat. Much of Speer's discussion is therefore of interest, just the hypothesis here is the early Wecht view of going in the opposite direction from Speer's reconstruction.) Without claiming to know for sure on these matters myself, my reasoning is that if someone with as much forensic pathology experience as Wecht could have originally found a throat-to-ca. rear EOP shot trajectory plausible, well then, maybe it is plausible.
• The notion of the throat wound of JFK being an entrance has all along seemed appealing in terms of the reported witnesses' shape of that wound, with the main objections to the front shot being a perceived inability to explain where, if so, the bullet went, and why it did not end up in the back seat of the limousine. But most such notions assume a downward or horizontal trajectory from say, the overpass area. Few have considered a sloping upward trajectory from the storm drain which would pass through JFK's neck and head in a thrown-back unusual position, with the bullet then passing over the rear seat of the limousine, possibly still headed slightly upward. The problem of what happened to the bullet if there was a shot from the front--not in JFK's neck, and not in the back seat of the limousine--is removed.

The argument for this hypothesis is some things seem to fit or mesh. The argument is vulnerable in that it has several key moving parts all of which must be true and it is over my head to know for sure whether all stand.

Just as the narrowly failed ambush attempt on de Gaulle--a conspiracy to assassinate de Gaulle by crossfire--so a shooter in the storm drain would be perfect in a similar conspiracy to shoot JFK, for concealment, and if timed right, a perfect shot.

Back to Umbrella Man and DCM. They function to signal to the assassin in the storm drain. He gets one shot, takes it, hits JFK in the throat. 

A storm drain shooter would explain one of the most puzzling witness reports, from many witnesses: smelling smoke in the vicinity of the limousine.

And reports of a shot fired very close to the limousine (misunderstood by Newcomb and Adams early on as being from the driver!--but a storm drain shooter would account for the same evidence). 

If there was an assassination in broad daylight such as at Dealey Plaza, there aren't too many ways to work the shooters without being seen. From the storm drain would be one such. Some have suggested a decoy shot from the Grassy Knoll, to draw attention to the sound.

Just as the conspiracy to assassinate de Gaulle failed, the Dealey Plaza attempt on JFK's life could also have failed. Some attempts work, some don't. One risk with a storm drain shooter would be if some law enforcement thought to look in that storm drain and would see a person there. But for whatever reason that did not happen. (There is no known report of any officer saying they looked in that storm drain and confirmed no one was there.)

But just in case with that risk, maybe someone--an accomplice--could be outside the storm drain, perhaps set to decoy or interfere or draw an officer's attention away from the storm drain if an officer did look like showing interest there. With that in mind ... notice DCM not only sitting near the storm drain, but looking around with the storm drain in his eyesight. Maybe it means nothing.

In this reconstruction, the man in the storm drain, due to all the people milling around, might be imagined to remain there with a thermos of coffee and some sandwiches until nightfall. Then in the dead of night some van or truck comes through Dealey Plaza, something happens, the man is retrieved and they are out of there, mission accomplished and body intact. 

DCM never came forward, and although there have been a few conjectures, there is no secure photo identification of DCM. But in this reconstruction: 

• there would have been an assassin in the storm drain, responsible for a shot at ca. Z328-330 which hit JFK from the lower right and front in the throat; that shooter successfully escaped, identity unknown.
• DCM was party to it, identity also unknown.

Its a conjecture. I don't claim its more than that.  

Edited August 13, 2023 by Greg Doudna

[Mervyn Hagger]

BOTTOM LINE CONCLUSION:

It does look as if a person next to the UM was using a walkie talkie. It does look as if the UM man was using his umbrella as a signal. It also appears that the UM was a typical racist - not in the daft woke sense, but in "the fear of other people" sense who are different from the majority "Baptist orientated White community of Dallas" in those days. (Billy Graham, a vocal son of Joe McCarthy claimed 1st Baptist in Dallas as his home town when he preached that "Communism is Satanism".

The man of the overpass looks as if he could be using a walkie talkie. The conjecture about him carrying a rifle in plain sight of the policeman and others on the overpass is an illogical conclusion.

Clearly if these two were speaking to each other then they were part of a group action. It could easily be interpreted that they were part of some sort of security operation to protect JFK. On the other hand, the UM man next to him appears to be giving a signal. It is possible that those two were also working together to protect rather than attack JFK.

As for the man who shows up with the absolutely ridiculous story about Chamberlain, that is so obscure and so silly that even on its face value it appears to demonstrate the kind of humor that certain Texans have been known to engage in as a silly prank. I know of one attorney who planted letters to the Editor of a paper to see if he could get them into print. He did. One of his letters appeared to be a harmless endorsement of some editorial position, but if the first letter of each paragraph is read downwards, it actually spelled out the opposite of what the body of the letter said. It was just one more example of this kind of Texas humor.

Another attorney I know, had little gatherings in his office of professional people, including a Dallas cop, and they viewed right-wing, anti-Communist films about Cuba as comedy entertainment, in much the same sort of way that the stereotyped attributed comment about the "DCM" is alleged to have been made.

Some Texans had a very, very weird sense of humor that ridiculed the majority conservative viewpoint on religion and politics - BUT - they had NO political agenda of their own. The same Texas attorney that I know of had a portrait of Adolph Hitler on his wall at home, but he was NOT a Nazi, he was just a person with a very twisted sense of humor.

Texas is a vast territory and it has a diversity of people living there and some of them are just plain misfits without any form of core attachment to family or society. Individually they also turn out to be unhappy people.

[Robert Reeves]

Hand signals

 

[Mervyn Hagger]

1 hour ago, Robert Reeves said:

Hand signals

 

Hi Robert. That is a very interesting clip. It could be a wave, and yet it could signify a spot-on 'hit'. = "Got him - good one!"

Not sure about the windshield/windscreen because in the photos I have seen there is an indication of damage just below the top where the glass meets the metal frame, but not where your arrow points. Do you have any other specific photos showing damage to the glass?

The hand is very interesting, BUT do you know when the hand went up as opposed to it suddenly appearing in the Zapruder film? If it was already up BEFORE JFK reacted to the shot, then it would imply a wave. But if it indeed did go up the moment he was shot, then that could be an indication of a coordinated hit.

Either way, thanks for putting it up because it is food for thought about a coordinated hit, until someone shows otherwise that was merely a wave to say "hello" as JFK passed by.

Edited August 13, 2023 by Mervyn Hagger

[Sean Coleman]

On 8/13/2023 at 12:11 AM, Robert Reeves said:

Re the topic title

DCM was part of the 'Three Tramps' procession. Although not easy to spot!

How many times have some of you looked at the three tramps photos and never noticed DCM/Radio Man was also there? 

 

Me, almost convinced DCM/Radio Man was also photographed at Parkland hospital. Did he, after witnessing the assassination, go to Parklands? and for what reason ... This person was closer to the destruction of JFK's head than almost anybody else in the plaza. DCM would/could have provided definitive witness testimony. Which is more puzzling, seeing we have no official account of this person.

Especially if he was photographing/videotaping the murder of JFK.

From Willis 5, cropped/enhanced by me

DCM appears to be holding an object at just above hip height.

And also seen in the Bronson clip, below

Most fascinating to me, the person photographed at Parkland, wearing similar clothes to DCM. The same oddly shaped jacket, too. 

This image of the DCM lookalike at Parkland appeared in a Dallas local history book, some years after the assassination. I do believe. 

How did this important assassination witness slip through the cracks? never came forwards to testify the very important details witnessed by them?

 

The person appears to be operating in a professional capacity. This person didn't flinch at the sounds of gunfire, didn't duck for cover, almost everyone else close to the gory destruction of JFK hit the ground. This person calmly sat on the curb with Umbrella Man. Acted like nothing had happened. This person would have served as a tremendous asset to the truth. But no. This person never came forwards to explain what he saw. These are not the actions of a person aligned with seeking justice. 

 

Robert, I like this line too. Also, his flat cap, popular in my native region, is quite unique for the day. 
The skin tone on the Parkland guy could be good too, what with contrast, sunlight, b/w film quality etc.

…and he maybe holding something at chest height on Elm….

…and - call me a romantic fool - but in the tramps pic, does the (hidden!) figure have that imperceptible stoop….?

Also…glasses, flat cap, close cut hair, possible darker skin tone, light jacket, stoop?, (looking shifty-maybe) can’t be too many 60’s guys wearing that look…

a lot of coulds & maybes, but I like it

 

Edited October 25, 2023 by Sean Coleman

[Denis Morissette]

He briefly talked with DMN reporter Ken Biffle. He said something like “They’re shooting folks”.

[Denis Morissette]

12 minutes ago, Sean Coleman said:

Robert, I like this line too. Also, his flat cap, popular in my native region, is quite unique for the day. 
The skin tone on the Parkland guy could be good too, what with contrast, sunlight, b/w film quality etc.

…and he maybe holding something at chest height on Elm….

…and - call me a romantic fool - but in the tramps pic, does the (hidden!) figure have that imperceptible stoop….?

Also…glasses, flat cap, close cut hair, possible darker skin tone, light jacket, stoop?, (looking shifty-maybe) can’t be too many 60’s guys wearing that look…

a lot of coulds & maybes, but I like it

That’s DMN photographer Joe Laird at Parkland.

[Mervyn Hagger]

30 minutes ago, Denis Morissette said:

That’s DMN photographer Joe Laird at Parkland.

Denis, does your comment mean that the "DCM" and the person standing by the car are two different people?

[Sean Coleman]

On 8/13/2023 at 1:15 PM, Denis Morissette said:

That’s DMN photographer Joe Laird at Parkland.

Well I’ll be scuppered sideways - another flat cap at Parkland! Not sure it’s him tho, different jacket, looks too ‘old mannish?’

Edited November 15, 2023 by Sean Coleman

[Greg Doudna]

3 hours ago, Denis Morissette said:

He briefly talked with DMN reporter Ken Biffle. He said something like “They’re shooting folks”.

17:27f at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWHbBrYXRIc. 

"And there was a wino sittin' on the curb, I walked up to him and said, 'What's happening?" And he said, "What's happenin'?" (laughs) I'm wasting my time here (laughing). So I made my way quickly back to the School Depository building..."

 

Edited August 13, 2023 by Greg Doudna

[Mart Hall]

2 hours ago, Denis Morissette said:

That’s DMN photographer Joe Laird at Parkland.

Just as this thread was getting interesting. A fuller picture of the photo reveals the man to have a camera and is wearing a coat rather than a jacket like DCM.