Mooney vs Alyea, and the two depository shooting sites

[Donald Willis]

The Fritz & Alyea Show is meant, I think, to obfuscate the (apparent) fact that Fritz picked up the hulls (or was handed them) in another location--the place where Mooney found the shells--and much later passed on to Studebaker to film in the "nest".  As if they had originally been found there.  In his December '64 statement, Alyea seems to have no idea what the "nest" was for.  Not surprising if he saw the shells, earlier, in the other, undisclosed location, and he thought the chicken and Dr. Pepper window might be where a second shooter shot from.  Alyea admitted that he didn't want to ask too many questions or he might be escorted out of the building.  He even ID'd, in that original statement, Fritz as a Crime Lab man.

As for the chicken adorning the "nest"--principally in the reports of Sheriff's deputies--mention of it originated in Insp. Sawyer's briefing for reporters that afternoon:  "Police found the remains of fried chicken and paper on the fifth floor.  Apparently the person had been there quite a while"--Stockton Record (AP) 11/22/63 p8.  (It's only in his 1:12 radio message that Sawyer mentions the shells.)  That "fifth" would seem to have been a miscounting error for "sixth".  However, both photographers in the building that day--Alyea and Studebaker--insisted that no chicken remains were found in or near the "nest" or they would  have shown up in the pictures they took.  So what "fifth" actually meant is anybody's guess.  Just to make things more interesting:  In his 1:12 dispatch Sawyer said "3rd floor".  

[Larry Hancock]

Well the answer should be in the camera footage of Fritz holding the shells in his hand - which Alyea was positive about filming.  Its either one or three so that footage should be the tie breaker and at least answer one question.  I did think it a bit strange that Fritz was able to get behind the boxes and pick out either one or three and Alyea could not get at least one from that angle...on the other hand he may only have been wanting a close up of the shell so that might explain Alyea just getting one for him to film - although Alyea certainly didn't put it in those words.

  -- and I didn't think to ask at him either....too bad we didn't have all the right questions back then...

[Paul Cummings]

I believe Alyea didn't enter the building until nearly 20 minutes after the shooting.