Witnesses to Window Shooters

[Tim Gratz]

I would like to start a new thread re the witnesses to the window shooters so a lot of the information can be gathered in one place. We have previously discussed the likelihood that Hemming was correct that some shots came from the west window of the sixth floor of the TSBD.

I am first going to discuss people who claimed they saw a shooter in the west window of the sixth floor. Most Forum members are familiar with the testimony of Arnold and Barbara Rowland:

At 12:15 pm, Arnold and Barbara Rowland, two teenage newlyweds, were

standing across the street from the Texas School Book Depository awaiting

the motorcade. He was certain of the time because "12:15" was displayed

on the large Hertz sign on top of the Book Depository. He nudged his wife

and asked her if she wanted to see a Secret Service agent. He pointed to

the westernmost (far left) window on the sixth floor of the Book

Depository, where a dark-haired man in an open-necked, plain white shirt

was staring at the street; the man was holding a rifle with a large

telescopic sight. Barbara Rowland turned to look but was distracted; by

the time she looked back the man was gone (6).

The man with the rifle was standing at "port arms" or "parade rest," with

the rifle held at a forty-five degree angle pointed downward across his

body. He appeared "tall and slender in build in proportion with his

width," maybe 140 or 150 lbs. Rowland noted his somewhat dark complexion,

and said he could have been either Caucasian or "light Latin," possibly

in his thirties. He had dark hair, closely cut, and wore a very

light-colored shirt with an open collar, and a white T-shirt underneath.

He stood a short distance back from the window. The rifle appeared to be

a "fairly high-powered rifle," possibly a ".30 size six rifle" (7).Rowland noted that the man seemed to have a partner, an elderly black man

who was standing in the easternmost (far right) window (the alleged

"Oswald" window); the second man did not have a rifle. At one point he

noticed the men "walking back and forth." Later Arnold Rowland would be

shown photographs of Lee Harvey Oswald; he wouldn't be able to identify

him as either one of the men he saw.

The above is from an article by Dave Reitzes called "Dealey Plaza Scenario".

Here is a link to Arnold Rowland's Warren Commission testimony:

http://www.jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/rowland-a.html/color]

And to his wife's testimony:

http://wwwjfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/rowland_barb.html

The Reitzes article also contains a reference to the Tom Dillard photo that may show a man in the westernmost window:

The photograph taken by Tom Dillard around fifteen seconds after the

shooting captured the upper part of the Book Depository's south side.

Photographic researcher Robert Groden has made a series of enlargements

of a number of the building's windows in this picture. He has identified

two men on the sixth floor. One can be indistinctly seen in the

westernmost window (among the farthest windows from the camera); he

appears to be a heavy-set white male with a receding hairline

Perhaps James can help post the Dillard photo.

Are there any other witnesses beside the Rowlands who stated they saw someone in the west window of the TSBD?

Edited March 23, 2005 by Tim Gratz

[Tim Gratz]

Now let us look at the people who said they saw someone in the east window (i.e. the so-called "sniper's nest):

John Powell was an inmate on the sixth floor of the Dallas County Jail in

Dealey Plaza, across the street to the southwest of the Book Depository,

at 12:30 pm on November 22, 1963. He and a number of other sixth floor

inmates watched two men in the southeast sixth floor TSBD window, one of

whom fired a rifle at President Kennedy. Powell could see the men clearly

enough to notice them "fooling with the scope" on the rifle; one had a

darker complexion than the other. Until the shooting began, Powell was

under the impression that the men were security guards. Powell's story

was available to the Warren Commission, as was his statement that a

number of other inmates could confirm it. Neither Powell nor anyone else

from the Dallas County Jail was called to testify before the Warren

Commission

The above is also from the Reitzes article refered to in my previous post.

In an FBI interview of December 5, 1963, Mrs. Ruby Henderson said that at

the time of the motorcade, she was standing on the east side of Elm

Street "just north of Houston Street." A man named Jerry Belknap had

apparently had an epileptic seizure in front of the Book Depository

building and was taken away by an ambulance; this occurred around 12:15

to 12:20. Immediately following this incident, Mrs. Henderson looked up

at the Book Depository and noticed two men in one of the eastern windows

on an upper floor. One of them had a dark complexion, and she guessed

that he was either a Mexican or a black man; he was wearing a white

shirt. The other man was taller and wore a darker shirt. She didn't

notice anyone else in any windows (18). Mrs. Henderson was not called as

a witness before the Warren Commission.

Again the quote is from the Reitzes' article.

Mrs. Carolyn Walther also told the FBI she saw two men on the sixth floor

of the Book Depository immediately after the ambulance had left with the

epileptic. She was standing on the east side of Houston Street about

fifty or sixty feet south of Elm. A man with blond or light brown hair

and a white shirt was holding a rifle, the barrel pointing downward. He

was looking straight down at Houston Street. The man had light brown or

blond hair and wore a white shirt. Mrs. Walther said the rifle had a

short barrel, and she thought it may have been a machine gun. A second

man wearing a brown suit coat could be seen in the same window, but his

face was concealed by the window ledge. Just as she noticed these men,

the first cars of the motorcade were rounding the corner of Main and

Houston (19). Walther was not called as a witness by the Warren

Commission.

Again the quotation is from Reitzes.

Ronald B. Fischer and Robert E. Edwards were standing across the street

from the Book Depository. About a minute before the shots, just as the

first cars in the motorcade were rounding the corner of Main and Houston

Streets, Edwards nudged Fischer and pointed out a man in the easternmost

sixth floor window of the building. The man had brown hair, wore a

light-colored shirt with an open neck, and possibly short sleeves (22).

He was staring as if transfixed down Elm Street towards the slope known

as the "grassy knoll" (23). The men remembered him because he was the

only person in sight who seemed uneasy (24).

When the shots began, neither man looked back at the window. Fischer

thought the shots came from the west, in the area of the grassy knoll

(25). Edwards had no idea where the shots came from (26). When shown a

photograph of Oswald, Fischer said he could be the man he saw, but he

wasn't sure (27). Edwards apparently was never asked.

Again, from Reitzes.

Note that the Rowlands, Powell, Henderson and Walther all claimed to see TWO men on the sixth floor (but only the Rowslands were called to testify before the Warren Commission).

MORE LATER--GOT TO RUN, THANKS!

[Lee Forman]

Tim,

Just an observation - did Hemming specifically mention which window? I just watched an old Castle Films production on Kennedy - 8mm. There are only 2 windows that are only partly open - the east window, and the third from the right at the West.

- lee

[Antti Hynonen]

Don't forget Amos Euins who identified a shooter with a bald spot on his head firing from the 6th floor, east? window. Amos also heard some other eye witness describe a similar looking man exiting (fleeing) out the back of the TSBD (to a police officer).

From what I recall, the man as described by Amos made me think of the Mexico City Oswald, aka Saul Sage, or Mario Tauler Sague.

[Ron Ecker]

John Powell was an inmate on the sixth floor of the Dallas County Jail in

Dealey Plaza, across the street to the southwest of the Book Depository,

at 12:30 pm on November 22, 1963. He and a number of other sixth floor

inmates watched two men in the southeast sixth floor TSBD window, one of

whom fired a rifle at President Kennedy. Powell could see the men clearly

enough to notice them "fooling with the scope" on the rifle; one had a

darker complexion than the other. Until the shooting began, Powell was

under the impression that the men were security guards. Powell's story

was available to the Warren Commission, as was his statement that a

number of other inmates could confirm it. Neither Powell nor anyone else

from the Dallas County Jail was called to testify before the Warren

Commission

According to Anthony Summers (Conspiracy, p. 43), the Warren Commission failed to follow up on a reminder that observers in the County Jail would have a perfect view of the assassination. John Powell and other inmates on the jail’s sixth floor were therefore not questioned.

Thanks to the ARRB, however, we learn that the FBI did follow up (in December 1964) on a report that inmates on the jail’s fifth floor had witnessed the assassination. The fifth floor was where the jail housed its mental cases. (Sheriff Bill Decker told the FBI as it was checking out the mental ward that a thorough investigation at the jail immediately after the assassination had located no witnesses.)

This is a passage from “The 11th Batch” on ARRB document releases, reviewed by Joseph Backes, with reference to Document # 124-10027-10235, written by the FBI’s Robert Gemberling:

On December 1, 1964 Fay Leon Blunt, Dallas, Texas, phoned the FBI at Washington, D.C. stating that 17 individuals in the Hospital Ward of the 5th floor of the Dallas County Jail had witnessed the assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963; however, Blunt stated that none of these witnesses have ever been interviewed.

The following investigation was conducted by Special Agent Richard J. Burnett.

On December 14, 1964 Sheriff Bill Decker, Dallas County Sheriffs Office, Dallas, Texas advised that thorough investigation was conducted at the Dallas County Jail immediately subsequent to the assassination and no witnesses to same were located among inmates.

Chief Jailer Ernest Lloyd Holman, Dallas County Jail, Dallas, Texas, on December 14, 1964, personally escorted Special Agent Richard J. Burnett through the hospital section of the County Jail on the fifth floor where white inmates with a mental history are confined. The mental inmates are kept in a large tank type cell which has one barred double window overlooking the scene of the assassination. The view from this window would have seen the President at the time of being struck by the assassin's bullets, but the window in the Texas School Book Depository from which the shots were fired is not visible from this cell area.

The hospital section for white prisoners on the fifth floor also has another large cell area in the northwest corner, which has west windows overlooking the site of the President's car at the time of the assassination, and another window on the north side of the building which overlooks the TSBD, including the window from which the shots were fired by the assassin.

However, Chief Jailer Holman advised that this large cell area is used only on weekends by persons serving their three-day sentences for "Driving While Intoxicated" charges and is not occupied until late on Friday nights as Texas law states any part of a day constitutes a full day's credit on drunk sentences. Thus, Holman noted that persons serving such "DWI" sentences report late on Friday's night to gain credit for one full day. Holman further advised that no "DWI" prisoners were in this cell at the time of the assassination.

It is noted that the north corner jail window (which overlooks the TSBD and the window of the TSBD from which assassin's window were fired) is very dirty and is backed by an iron mesh type grid guard. The view from this particular window is very distorted and it is believed by Holman to be impossible to identify anyone from this window, including the President in his car which would have been rounding the corner of Houston onto Elm Street approaching the Triple Underpass seconds before the shooting.

Both Sheriff Decker and Holman pointed out that anyone who would have been confined in the hospital section on the fifth floor of the jail at the time of the assassination would have been a mental case and the reliability of such a person would be highly questionable. Holman noted that it would be a most difficult and time consuming task at this late date to attempt to determine just who was confined in the Hospital Ward at the time of the assassination. Furthermore, Holman pointed out that such persons, if identified, have since been either released or sent to other State mental places of incarceration.

Holman and Chief Identification Officer James H. Kitching advised that Fay Leon Blunt (complainant in this matter) is well-known to them as a person completely unreliable who has been arrested on several occasions in the past on lunacy charges. Both stated they would place no confidence whatsoever in any information furnished by him. Kitching pulled Blunt's arrest record and noted that Blunt was not incarcerated in the Dallas county Jail at the time of the assassination.

http://spot.acorn.net/jfkplace/09/fp.back_...ue/arrb_11.html

Ron

[Robin Unger]

John Powell was an inmate on the sixth floor of the Dallas County Jail in

Dealey Plaza, across the street to the southwest of the Book Depository,

at 12:30 pm on November 22, 1963. He and a number of other sixth floor

inmates watched two men in the southeast sixth floor TSBD window, one of

whom fired a rifle at President Kennedy. Powell could see the men clearly

enough to notice them "fooling with the scope" on the rifle; one had a

darker complexion than the other. Until the shooting began, Powell was

under the impression that the men were security guards. Powell's story

was available to the Warren Commission, as was his statement that a

number of other inmates could confirm it. Neither Powell nor anyone else

from the Dallas County Jail was called to testify before the Warren

Commission

According to Anthony Summers (Conspiracy, p. 43), the Warren Commission failed to follow up on a reminder that observers in the County Jail would have a perfect view of the assassination. John Powell and other inmates on the jail’s sixth floor were therefore not questioned.

Thanks to the ARRB, however, we learn that the FBI did follow up (in December 1964) on a report that inmates on the jail’s fifth floor had witnessed the assassination. The fifth floor was where the jail housed its mental cases. (Sheriff Bill Decker told the FBI as it was checking out the mental ward that a thorough investigation at the jail immediately after the assassination had located no witnesses.)

This is a passage from “The 11th Batch” on ARRB document releases, reviewed by Joseph Backes, with reference to Document # 124-10027-10235, written by the FBI’s Robert Gemberling:

On December 1, 1964 Fay Leon Blunt, Dallas, Texas, phoned the FBI at Washington, D.C. stating that 17 individuals in the Hospital Ward of the 5th floor of the Dallas County Jail had witnessed the assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963; however, Blunt stated that none of these witnesses have ever been interviewed.

The following investigation was conducted by Special Agent Richard J. Burnett.

On December 14, 1964 Sheriff Bill Decker, Dallas County Sheriffs Office, Dallas, Texas advised that thorough investigation was conducted at the Dallas County Jail immediately subsequent to the assassination and no witnesses to same were located among inmates.

Chief Jailer Ernest Lloyd Holman, Dallas County Jail, Dallas, Texas, on December 14, 1964, personally escorted Special Agent Richard J. Burnett through the hospital section of the County Jail on the fifth floor where white inmates with a mental history are confined. The mental inmates are kept in a large tank type cell which has one barred double window overlooking the scene of the assassination. The view from this window would have seen the President at the time of being struck by the assassin's bullets, but the window in the Texas School Book Depository from which the shots were fired is not visible from this cell area.

The hospital section for white prisoners on the fifth floor also has another large cell area in the northwest corner, which has west windows overlooking the site of the President's car at the time of the assassination, and another window on the north side of the building which overlooks the TSBD, including the window from which the shots were fired by the assassin.

However, Chief Jailer Holman advised that this large cell area is used only on weekends by persons serving their three-day sentences for "Driving While Intoxicated" charges and is not occupied until late on Friday nights as Texas law states any part of a day constitutes a full day's credit on drunk sentences. Thus, Holman noted that persons serving such "DWI" sentences report late on Friday's night to gain credit for one full day. Holman further advised that no "DWI" prisoners were in this cell at the time of the assassination.

It is noted that the north corner jail window (which overlooks the TSBD and the window of the TSBD from which assassin's window were fired) is very dirty and is backed by an iron mesh type grid guard. The view from this particular window is very distorted and it is believed by Holman to be impossible to identify anyone from this window, including the President in his car which would have been rounding the corner of Houston onto Elm Street approaching the Triple Underpass seconds before the shooting.

Both Sheriff Decker and Holman pointed out that anyone who would have been confined in the hospital section on the fifth floor of the jail at the time of the assassination would have been a mental case and the reliability of such a person would be highly questionable. Holman noted that it would be a most difficult and time consuming task at this late date to attempt to determine just who was confined in the Hospital Ward at the time of the assassination. Furthermore, Holman pointed out that such persons, if identified, have since been either released or sent to other State mental places of incarceration.

Holman and Chief Identification Officer James H. Kitching advised that Fay Leon Blunt (complainant in this matter) is well-known to them as a person completely unreliable who has been arrested on several occasions in the past on lunacy charges. Both stated they would place no confidence whatsoever in any information furnished by him. Kitching pulled Blunt's arrest record and noted that Blunt was not incarcerated in the Dallas county Jail at the time of the assassination.

http://spot.acorn.net/jfkplace/09/fp.back_...ue/arrb_11.html

Ron

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks Ron.

I had not seen that information before.

Convenient, that any wittness in that situation who came forward with information other than Gov line, could easily be labelled as a "NUTCASE" and therefore not a reliable wittness.

[Tim Gratz]

Ron, yes that is excellent information!

It does not seem to address the matter of John Powell who stated he was an inmate on the sixth floor? Do you know if the jail indeed had six floors? Is there any information on whether this Powell was indeed an inmate?

[Robin Unger]

The Reitzes article also contains a reference to the Tom Dillard photo that may show a man in the westernmost window:

The photograph taken by Tom Dillard around fifteen seconds after the

shooting captured the upper part of the Book Depository's south side.

Photographic researcher Robert Groden has made a series of enlargements

of a number of the building's windows in this picture. He has identified

two men on the sixth floor. One can be indistinctly seen in the

westernmost window (among the farthest windows from the camera); he

appears to be a heavy-set white male with a receding hairline

Perhaps James can help post the Dillard photo.

Are there any other witnesses beside the Rowlands who stated they saw someone in the west window of the TSBD?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

WC Testimony of Robert Hill Jackson of the "Dallas Times Herald"

QUOTE:

Mr. SPECTER - All right. Will you now proceed to tell us what happened as you rounded the corner of Main and Houston , Please?

Mr. JACKSON - Well, as our reporter chased the film out into the street, we all looked back at him and were laughing, and it was approximately that time that we heard the first shot, and we had already rounded the corner, of course, when we heard the the first shot. We were approximately almost half a block on Houston Street.

Mr. SPECTER - Will you identify for me on Commission Exhibit 347, Precisely as possible, where your automobile was at the time you heard the first shot?

Mr. JACKSON - Approximately right here, I would say the midpoint of this building. Approximately where we heard the first report.

Mr. SPECTER - Now, will you mark a black "X" on 347 the spot where your car was at the time you heard the first shot?

Mr. JACKSON - Right here approximately. And as we heard the first shot, I believe it was Tom Dillard from the Dallas News who made some remark as to that sounding like a firecracker, and it could have been somebody else who said that. But someone else did speak up and make that comment and before he actually the sentence we heard the other two shots. Then we realized or we thought it was gunfire, and then we could not at that point see the President's car. We were still moving slowly, and after the third shot the second two shots seemed much closer together than the first shot, than they were to the first shot. Then after the last shot, I guess all of us were just looking all around and I just looked straight up ahead of me which would have been looking at the School Book Depository and I noticed two Negro men in a window straining to see directly above them, and my eyes followed right on up to the window above them and I saw the rifle, or what looked like a rifle approximately half of weapon, I guess I saw. and just looked at it, it was drawn fairly slowly back into the building, and I saw no one in the window with it. I didn't even see a form in the window.

Mr. SPECTER - What did you do next?

Mr. JACKSON - I said "There is the gun," or it came from that window. I tried to point it out. But by the time the other people looked up, of course, it was gone, and about that time, we were beginning to turn the corner.

http://jfkassassination.net/russ/m_j_russ/jackson.htm

Edited March 26, 2005 by Robin Unger

[Robin Unger]

WC Testimony of James Richard Worrell.

QUOTE:

Mr. SPECTER - How many shots did you hear?

Mr. WORRELL - Four.

Mr. SPECTER - Did you observe anything at about that time?

Mr. WORRELL - Yes, sir, I looked up and saw the rifle, but I would say about 6 inches of it.

Mr. SPECTER - And where did you see the rifle?

Mr. WORRELL - I'm not going - I am not too sure but I told the FBI it was either in the fifth or the sixth floor on the far corner, on the east side.

Mr. SPECTER - Now looking at the picture which we have identified as Commission Exhibit No. 360, which is where you have drawn an "X," can you indicate the line of vision which you followed to the point where the rifle was to the best of your ability to recollect?

Mr. WORRELL - Well, when I heard the first shot it was to loud to be a firecracker, I knew that, because there was quite a big boom, and I don't know, just out of nowhere, I looked up like that, just straight up.

Mr. SPECTER - Indicating you looked straight back over your head, raising your head to look over your body at the 90 degree angle?

Mr. WORRELL - Yes; and I saw it for the second time and I looked back to the motorcade.

Mr. SPECTER - What did you observe at that time?

Mr. WORRELL - I saw about 6 inches of the gun, the rifle. It had - well it had a regular long barrel but it had a long stock and you can only see maybe 4 inches of the barrel, and I could see --

Mr. SPECTER - Were you able to observe any of the stock?

Mr. WORRELL - Oh, yes.

Mr. SPECTER - How much of the stock were you able to observe?

Mr. WORRELL - Just very little, just about 2 inches.

Mr. SPECTER - How many inches of the barrel then could you observe protruding beyond the stock?

Mr. WORRELL - About 4 inches, I would say, not very much.

Mr. SPECTER - Now, at the time of the second shot were you able to observe anything at that precise instant?

Mr. WORRELL - You mean as to firing it.

Mr. SPECTER - As to anything at all. What did you see when the second shot went off?

Mr. WORRELL - Well, I looked to see where he was aiming and after the second shot and I have seen the President slumping down in the seat, and --

Mr. SPECTER - Did you see the President slump in his seat after the second shot?

Mr. WORRELL - Uh, huh. And about that --

Mr. SPECTER - Did you look up and see the rifle between the first and the second shots?

Mr. WORRELL - Yes, sir. And saw the firing on the second and then before he could get a shot I was - I took in everything but especially the car, The President's car, and saw him slumping, and I looked up again and turned around and started running and saw it fire a third time, and then --

Mr. SPECTER - When did you see it fire a third time, when you looked up, the time you just described?

Mr. WORRELL - When I was, I did it all in one motion, I looked up, turned around and ran, pivoted.

Mr. SPECTER - What did you hear, if anything, after that?

Mr. WORRELL - Just a lot of commotion, everybody was screaming and saying "duck."

Mr. SPECTER - After the third shot, did you hear a fourth shot?

Mr. WORRELL - Oh, yes. Just as I got to the corner of Exhibit 360, I heard the fourth shot.

Mr. SPECTER - Well, did these four shots come close together or how would you describe the timing in general on those?

Mr. WORRELL - Succession.

Mr. SPECTER - Were they very fast?

Mr. WORRELL - They were right in succession.

Mr. SPECTER - Now going back to the position of the rifle which you testified that you saw, you say it was either on the fifth or sixth floor?

Mr. WORRELL - Yes, sir.

Mr. SPECTER - Is there any way you can tell us which floor it was on, or would the angle of your observation permit you to be sure it was the fifth or sixth floors?

Mr. WORRELL - I am not going to say I am positive, but that one there.

Mr. SPECTER - All right, would you mark that one --

Mr. WORRELL - Because that right there, I feel, would have obstructed my vision but I said it was either on the fifth or the sixth floor.

Mr. SPECTER - Well, now, will you mark with a "Y" the window which you have just pointed to?

(At this point Chief Justice Warren departed the hearing room.)

Mr. WORRELL - A "Y?"

Mr. SPECTER - A "Y."

(Witness marking.)

Mr. SPECTER - You have marked the "Y" over two windows. Was it the window - which window was it there as best you can recollect, as between those two?

Mr. WORRELL - I didn't mean to bring it down that far but this one.

Mr. SPECTER - Would you put an arrow then at the window that you have just indicated, was the one where the rifle was protruding from?

(Witness marking.)

Mr. SPECTER - So the sum of it is you are not sure whether it was the fifth or the sixth floor, but you believe it was the floor where you have marked a "Y" which is the sixth floor and that was the line of vision as you looked straight up over your head?

Mr. WORRELL - Yes, sir.

Mr. SPECTER - Where did you run, which is what you have just described that you did next?

Mr. WORRELL - Well a better view of it is here in 360. I ran down Houston Street alongside the building and then crossed over the street, I ran alongside the building and crossed over, and in 359, I was standing over here, and I saw this man come bustling out of this door.

Mr. SPECTER - All right. Now will you put a "Z" where you first saw the man whom you have just described or mentioned?

Mr. WORRELL - It is here I am pretty sure, I am not positive.

(Witness marking.)

Mr. SPECTER - You are pretty sure - but you can't be positive - but you are pretty sure?

Mr. WORRELL - Yes.

Mr. SPECTER - Okay. Now describe as best you can the man whom you have testified you saw at point "Z."

Mr. WORRELL - Describe his appearance?

Mr. SPECTER - Yes. Start by telling us how tall he was, to the best of your ability to recollect and estimate?

Mr. WORRELL - To the - it is going to be within 3 inches, 5-7 to 5-10.

Mr. SPECTER - What is your best estimate as to his weight?

Mr. WORRELL - 155 to 165.

Mr. SPECTER - What is your best estimate as to his height?

Mr. WORRELL - 5-7, 5-10.

Mr. SPECTER - Pardon me, your best estimate as to his age.

Mr. WORRELL - Well, the way he was running, I would say he was in his late twenties or middle - I mean early thirties. Because he was fast moving on.

Mr. SPECTER - Of what race was he?

Mr. WORRELL - White.

Mr. SPECTER - Can you describe the characteristics of his hair?

Mr. WORRELL - Black.

Mr. SPECTER - Did he have --

Mr. WORRELL - Well, I will say brunette.

Mr. SPECTER - Did he have a full head of hair, a partial head of hair, or what?

Mr. WORRELL - Well, see, I didn't see his face, I just saw the back of his head and it was full in back. I don't know what the front looked like. But it was full in back.

Mr. SPECTER - What clothes did the man have on?

Mr. WORRELL - Dark, like a jacket like that.

Mr. SPECTER - Indicating a dark gray jacket?

Mr. WORRELL - No, no. It was a jacket like that.

Mr. SPECTER - A suit jacket?

Mr. WORRELL - Yes.

Mr. SPECTER - Or was it a sports jacket?

Mr. WORRELL - Sports jacket.

Mr. SPECTER - Did not have on matching coat and trousers?

Mr. WORRELL - No.

Mr. SPECTER - Was it dark in color or light?

Mr. WORRELL - It was dark in color. I don't know whether it was blue, black, or brown, but it was dark, and he had light pants. And that is all I can say on his clothes, except his coat was open and kind of flapping back in the breeze when he was running.

Mr. SPECTER - Now, are there any other distinguishing characteristics that you can describe about him?

Mr. WORRELL - Not a thing.

Mr. SPECTER - What did he --

Mr. WORRELL - He wasn't holding nothing when he was running. He was just running.

Mr. SPECTER - What did you observe him do if, anything?

Mr. WORRELL - Well, when he ran out here, he ran along the side of the Depository Building and then when he got --

Mr. SPECTER - Make a dotted line as to where he went, or take this black pencil and make a line as to where he went.

(Witness marking.)

Mr. SPECTER - Where did you see him eventually go?

Mr. WORRELL - Well, he went on further.

Mr. SPECTER - Is that the last you saw of him?

Mr. WORRELL - Yes, sir

http://jfkassassination.net/russ/m_j_russ/worrell.htm

Edited March 26, 2005 by Robin Unger

[James Richards]

Perhaps James can help post the Dillard photo. (Robin Unger)

Hi Robin,

Here's a pretty good look at it.

James

[Robin Unger]

WC Testimony of James Crawford.

Mr. BALL - Where were you when you watched the President pass?

Mr. CRAWFORD - I was at that location.

Mr. BALL - Which corner of the intersection?

Mr. CRAWFORD - The southeast corner of the intersection.

Mr. BALL - Where was the Texas School Book Depository Building from where you were standing?

Mr. CRAWFORD - It would be the northwest corner of the intersection.

Mr. BALL - Directly across?

Mr. CRAWFORD - Yes; right.

Mr. BALL - Did you have a good view at that point of the south exposure of the Texas School Book Depository?

Mr. CRAWFORD - I had a very good angle.

Mr. BALL - Did you see the Presidents car pass?

Mr. CRAWFORD - I did.

Mr. BALL - And just tell me in your own words what you observed after that?

Mr. CRAWFORD - As I observed the parade, I believe there was a car leading the President's car, followed by the President's car and followed, I suppose, by the Vice Presiden't car and, in turn, by the secret Service in a yellow closed sedan. The doors of the Sedan were open. It was after the Secret Service Sedan had gone around the corner that I heard the first report and at that time I thought it was a backfire of a car but, in analyzing the situation, it could not have been a backfire of a car because it would have had to have been the President's car or some car in the cavalcade there. The second shot followed some seconds, a little time elapsed after the first one, and followed very quickly by the third one. I could not see the President's car -

Mr. BALL - At that time?

Mr. CRAWFORD - That's right; I couldn't even see the secret Service car, at least wasn't looking for it. As the report from the third shot sounded, I looked up. I had previously looked around to see if there was somebody shooting firecrackers to see if I could see a puff of smoke, and after I decided it wasn't a backfire from an automobile and as the third report sounded, I looked up and from the far east corner of the sixth floor I saw a movement. It was just barely a glimpse.

Mr. BALL - Which window?

Mr. CRAWFORD - That would be the far east window -

Mr. BALL - On the -

Mr. CRAWFORD - On the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. I turned to Miss Mitchell and made the statement that if those were shots they came from that window. That was based mainly on the fact of the quick movement observrd in the window right at the conclusion of the report.

Mr. BALL - Could you give me any better description than just a movement? Could you use any other words to describe what you saw by way of color or size of what you saw moving?

Mr. CRAWFORD - If I were asked to describe it, I would sayhat it was a profile, somewhat from the waist up, but it was very quick movement and rather indistinct and it was very light colored. It was either light colored or it was a reflection from the sun. When the gun fas found, or when a gun was found, I asked the question if it was white, simply because if it was a gun I saw, then it was either white or it was reflecting the sn so it would appear white or light colored.

Mr. BALL - Did you see any boxes in that window?

Mr. CRAWFORD - Yes, directly behind the window, oh possibly three feet or less, there were boxes stacked up behind the window and I believe it was the only place in the building that I observed where boxes were stacked just like that.

Mr. BALL - Did you see any boxes in the window?

Mr. CRAWFORD - No, I didn't see any. There wasn't any boxes in the window.

http://jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/crawford.htm

Edited March 26, 2005 by Robin Unger

[Robin Unger]

James.

Thanks for the Dillard pic

[Don Roberdeau]

Tim,

Just an observation - did Hemming specifically mention which window?  I just watched an old Castle Films production on Kennedy - 8mm.  There are only 2 windows that are only partly open - the east window, and the third from the right at the West. 

- lee

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good Day Lee.... Counting the windows westward, starting from the farthest east, warrenatti-apologists, supposed, "lone nut" "snipers lair" #1 window was 22.1% open, and in the photographic evidences captured right after the attack, the TSBD south face, five farthest west, sixth floor windows were each open approximately....

#10 = 50%

#11 = 15%

#12 = 20%

#13 = 50% (ROWLAND saw armed man standing a few feet back

from at 12:15 pm, and, DILLARD photo 25-30 seconds after attack

shows a man in, looking outward and seemingly downward)

#14 = 50% open (lower window sash)

Due to each window unit actually consisting of two separate framed window sashes (an upper and the lower sash), the maximum any one, entire, window unit could be considered "open" is 50%.

On the TSBD fifth floor, the south face windows (again, numbering the windows from east to west), the open windows were #1, #2, (the "5th floor gang" of NORMAN, JARMAN, WILLIAMS were in window #'s 1 & 2) #4, #5, #10, and #14.

Additionally, on the fifth floor west face (which also afforded a theoretical snipers firing trajectory into the killing zone at President KENNEDY from about his Zf-185 street location onward, but, we would have to also factor in the heigth of the two oak trees west of the "magic-limbed-ricochet tree" and immediately south of the TSBD south face) the two farthest south windows were also open. The same views/theoretical trajectories would apply to the west face, sixth floor, farthest south window that was open.

TSBD fourth floor, south face open windows were #6 (DORMAN filmed from) and #11. (again, the heigth of oak trees immediately south of the TSBD south face might have been views/trajectories obstructing factors)

Don Roberdeau

U.S.S. John F. Kennedy, CV-67, "Big John" Plank Walker

Sooner, or later, the Truth emerges Clearly

http://members.aol.com/DRoberdeau/JFK/DP.jpg

http://members.aol.com/DRoberdeau/JFK/ROSE...NOUNCEMENT.html

T ogether

E veryone

A chieves

M ore

"I remarked to Mr. Campbell who was standing near by that I thought the shots had come from our building. But I heard someone else say 'no, I think it was further down the street.' "

-TSBD employee/attack witness JERALDEAN "Carolyn" REID, who stood directly in front of the warrenatti, supposed, "snipers lair," in her earliest 11-23-63 DPD affidavit (CE2003, 24H223)

Edited March 27, 2005 by Don Roberdeau

[Lee Forman]

Facinating Don - many thanks.

I think what appears to be the reflection of some form of lens, at the point slightly above where we should expect to see this individual's left eye is very interesting.

- lee

[Ron Ecker]

Do you know if the jail indeed had six floors?  Is there any information on whether this Powell was indeed an inmate?

Dave Reitzes has questioned why Powell waited 15 years to tell his story if he witnessed the assassination. Reitzes also says, “His claim that numerous other prisoners witnessed the same thing he did rings particularly false, given that none of these alleged witnesses has come forward, even belatedly.”

http://www.jfk-online.com/jfk100twomen.html

What “rings particularly false” is Sheriff Decker’s story that there was a “thorough investigation” at the jail right after the assassination that found no inmate witnesses. First, if such an investigation took place, it proves that inmates could have possibly been in position to view the scene. Second, if that were possible, why would at least some inmates not have viewed the president going by in the plaza? Did they have something better to do? Third, it makes no sense that inmates who saw the assassination would not have come forward, nor does it make sense that at least one or two inmates would not have come forward whether they actually saw the assassination or not. Jails are known to be full of liars. If there was really an investigation, there should have been inmates coming forward who saw the assassination as well as some who claimed to but didn't.

Finally, if the FBI was really interested in finding something out, why didn’t the agent check out the sixth floor, where the sane people were, while he was there touring the fifth one? No mention is made of the sixth floor in the report. If there wasn’t any sixth floor, making Powell a xxxx too, why have none of the naysayers like Reitzes pointed out that?

So was there really an "investigation" at the jail right after the assassination? What I suspect is that whenever Sheriff Decker came to the jail, there was one more xxxx in it.

Ron

Edited March 27, 2005 by Ron Ecker