Note 6: As to doubt whether relevant bullet was found on Connolly’s stretcher, see Note 3 to Chapter 2. In 1978, HSCA wound ballistics expert Sturdivan did say he felt more was missing from the magic bullet than is accounted for by the surviving fragments and surmised that some had been lost. (HSCA 1.412) Some fragments have indeed vanished since 1963 (see Note 2 on Guinn tests). Their loss, without proper accounting, fueled suspicion by some researchers that they were maliciously removed.
Finck: VF, December 1994.
Connally death/fragment: ibid., New York Times, UPI, June 19, 1993.
52 Jenkins: David Lifton, op. cit., p. 613; and cf.
Jenkins HSCA int., memo 002193, released 1995.
Throat merely probed: HSCA int. Dr. Thornton
Boswell, memo 002071, released 1995; (not sectioned) affidavit of FBI Agent James Sibert, October 24, 1978, released with HSCA Agency File no. 002191, in 1995.
53 McClelland: int., May 4, 1979; Livingstone & Groden, op. cit., p. 394.
Robinson: HSCA int., Agency File no. 000661, released 1995.
Crenshaw: VF, December 1994; and Charles Crenshaw et al., op cit.
Burkley: HSCA int. Burkley (undated), 1977, in AARB MD 19, www.maryferrell.org, & AARB Report, p. 131, re reported Burkley belief that there had been a conspiracy to kill the president. Baden: HSCA Report, pp. 80, 604n106.
54 Mantik, Riley: VF, December 1994; and int.
Mantik, 1995.
Note 7: More fully, the 2006 study’s findings were that “a conclusion of material evidence for only two bullets in the questioned JFK assassination specimens has no forensic basis… . Although collateral information from the overall investigation might very well narrow the choices, as stand-alone primary evidence, the recovered bullet fragments could be reflective of anywhere between two and five different rounds fired in Dealey Plaza that day.”
The study continues with the somewhat opaque observation that: “Only the near-complete mass of CE-399, the stretcher bullet, precludes the conclusion of one to five rounds. Moreover, the fragments need not necessarily have originated from MC [Mannlicher-Carcano] ammunition.” (Journal of Forensic Sciences, July, 2006, Vol. 51, No. 4)
4. Other Gunmen?
56 Curry: Curry, op. cit., p. 61.
Secret Service man with gun: picture in The Torch Is Passed (AP 1964) p. 17; and HSCA Report, p. 606nl55.
Willis: HSCA XII.7; (photographs) HSCA VI.121.
Price: XIX.492; interview of Price by Mark Lane, March 27, 1966; HSCA XII.12.
57 Bowers: VI.284; filmed interview by Mark Lane, March 31, 1966; HSCA XII.12–.
Smith: VII.535; Texas Observer, December 13, 1963; ints. with author, August 1978 and subsequently.
Note 1: The Assassinations Committee was unable to resolve the problem created by Officer Smith’s sighting of a man who showed Secret Service credentials. It considered the possibility that he had mistaken an Army Intelligence agent for a Secret Service man, given that some evidence shows that Army Intelligence officers were in the Dealey Plaza area. The Department of Defense, however, said the record contained nothing about such agents being active in Dallas on November 22. The Committee thought it possible that Dallas Police plainclothes detectives might have been taken for Secret Service agents. British researcher Chris Mills has since argued that the mystery man may have been a real Secret Service agent, Thomas “Lem” Johns. A former NBC cameraman, David Wiegman, has recalled seeing Johns on the knoll. But questions remain, not least over the unkempt appearance of the man Officer Smith encountered. That hardly fits the image of a Secret Service man on duty in the public eye. (HSCA Report, p. 183–; and “The Man Who Wasn’t There,” an article by Chris Mills, Dallas ’63, www.manuscriptsservice.com/DPQ/mills-1htm
58 Arnold: Dallas Morning News, August 17, 1978; int. by Earl Golz, May 23, 1979.
Summers: int. by Gary Mack for “Sixth Floor Museum,” 2002, Nova, PBS, 1988.
Curry: int. by author, December 1977.
Tilson: int. by Earl Golz of Dallas Morning News & Dallas Morning News, August 20,1978.
59 Other reports of cars: HSCA XII.13–.
Rowland: II.175; (and FBI) II.183.
60 Henderson: XXIV.524 (to FBI); interviewed by author, 1978, and by Earl Golz, in Dallas Morning News, December 19,1978. (In Henderson’s FBI statement, which is reported speech, it is not clear if she is discussing the specific sixth-floor window.)
Walther: XXIV.522 (to FBI); also, int. by author, 1978; and by Earl Golz of Dallas Morning News, 1978; recorded int. by Larry Schiller for Capitol Records, The Controversy, 1967.
61Powell: traced and interviewed by Earl Golz for Dallas Morning News, December 19, 1978.
62 Questioning at jail: Bugliosi, op. cit., p. 836.
Clerks: VI.194 (R. Fischer); and VI.203 (Edwards); and XXIV.207–.
Brennan: III.145; XI.206–.
Euins: II.209; VI.170; VII.349.
63 Worrell: Report, p. 253; II.190.
Mayor’s wife and photographers: VII.485– (Mrs. Cabell); 11.155 (R. Jackson); and VI.160 (M. Couch).
Radio calls: XXIII.916—transcript of police radio Channel 1; and Curry, op. cit., p. 43–.
Three employees: Report, p. 70–.
Warren did not establish: Report, p. 144.
64 Citizen call on radio: XVII.408, transcript of police radio Channel 1; (time) Report, p. 165.
Suspect description: XXIII.859–, transcript of police radio Channel 1.
Brewer: VII.4.
65 Ticket seller: VII.10– (J. Postal).
McDonald: interview with author, 1978; III.299.
Oswald cry: III.300 (McDonald).
5. Did Oswald Do It?
66 Oswald excuse for leaving scene: Report, p. 600.
Fritz: Report, 599 (p. 13, Fritz report).
Interrogation sessions: Report, Appendix XI, which contains reports of Captain Fritz, FBI Agents Hosty, Bookhout, Clements, Secret Service Inspector Thomas Kelley, and U.S. Postal Inspector H. D. Holmes.
Note 1: The Warren Report stated that Fritz kept no notes of the interrogation and that no stenographic or tape recordings were made. Fritz had in fact made scrawled notes, and these were released by the Assassination Records Review Board in 1997. They do not significantly change the existing knowledge of what Oswald said when interrogated. (No notes: Report, p. 180; released: AARB press release, November 20, 1997, www.maryferrel.org.)
67 Oswald statements to press: all are taken by the author from contemporary radio and TV tapes.
68 Cartridges found: III.283 (Mooney).
Gun found: III.293 (Boone); VII.107 (Weitzman).
Rifle described: III.392 (Frazier); IV.260 (Day).
Palm print: IVH.258 (Day).
Klein’s: VII.364 (Waldman); VII.370 (Scibor).
69 Oswald’s writing: VII.420 (Cadigan); IV.373 (Cole).
Hidell card: VII.58 (Hill).
Fibers: IV.83– (Stombaugh).
Marina on rifle: I.26, 52 (Marina Oswald).
Police search: VII.229 (Rose); VII.548 (Walthers); IV.286.
Liebeler: VF, December 1994.
70 Frazier: II.222 (Buell Frazier).
Frazier sister: II:248 (Linnie Randle).
Bag found: IV.266 (Day).
Prints on bag: Report, Appendix X.565–; IV.3 (Latona).
Fibers on bag: IV.77 (Stombaugh).
Photographs found: VII.231– (Officers Adamcik, Moore, Stovall, Rose).
Marina on photographs: I.15, 117; V.405.
71 Imperial Reflex: IV.284 (Shaneyfelt).
Marks on “magic bullet”: III.429 (Frazier); III.498 (Nicol); HSCA VII.368.
Tippit ballistics: dealt with extensively in Chapter 6.
>
Oswald charged on Tippit count: Report, p. 198.
Alexander decision: int. with author, 1978.
Curry account: Curry, op. cit., p. 79.
Note 2: There may be some doubt as to whether Oswald was actually arraigned for the President’s murder. An FBI report of November 25, 1963, states categorically, “No arraignment on the murder charge in connection with the death of President Kennedy was held, inasmuch as such arraignment was not necessary in view of the previous charges filed against Oswald and for which he was arraigned.” (CD5.400) Homicide Captain Fritz, Police Chief Curry, and Judge Johnston (IV.221; IV.155; XV.507–), however, said Oswald was charged. The time given was 1:35 a.m. Yet Officer J. B. Hicks, who was on duty in the relevant office until after 2:00 a.m., was certain Oswald was not arraigned at 1:35. Another FBI report, classified until 1975, indicates that Oswald was never arraigned on the presidential charge (CD 1084A.11). The author’s interview with Assistant District Attorney Bill Alexander suggests the charitable explanation—that officials confused the arraignment on the presidential charge with the earlier one involving Officer Tippit.
72 Oswald’s comments on rifle (and on all points unless indicated): Report, Appendix XI.
Note 3: Nobody at the Dallas post office concerned was ever formally asked whether they recalled handing a hefty package to somebody claiming to be the holder of Box 2915 a few months previously. The way such a package was delivered to a box holder was by leaving an advice note asking him to call at the counter. No postal worker recalled having given Oswald any such package. (Meagher, op. cit., p. 50.)
73 Warren Report on Hidell: Report, p. 313, 644–, 292.
Heindel: VIII.318.
74 “Hidell” card in wallet: VII.58 (Hill); and see discussion in Meagher, op. cit., p. 185.
Oswald identifies himself as Hidell: VII.228, but see also VII.187–.
Public discussion of Hidell: Meagher, op. cit., p. 188.
Note 4: Some have inferred that the Hidell identity card was fabricated by the authorities to link Oswald with the mail order for the rifle. This is impossible to square with Oswald’s handwriting on the order form, without assuming a plot to frame Oswald involving law enforcement officials across the United States. The author rejects that notion, not because it is inherently implausible that a man would be framed by the authorities, but because the deception involved would have involved too many people and been too vulnerable to exposure.
“Hidell” and military intelligence: Paul Hoch memo on “Army Intelligence, A. J. Hidell, and the FBI,” October 8, 1977; FBI document 105-82555 (unrecorded) (original in 62-109060-811); Dallas Morning News, March 19,1978; HSCA Report, p. 221.
75 Both names in Oswald wallet: VII.228.
76Note 5: FBI records show that Lieutenant Colonel Jones told the FBI that Hidell was an associate of Oswald, not a name used as an alias. The signature “A. J. Hidell” appears as “Chapter President” on a Fair Play for Cuba Committee card Oswald showed the police in New Orleans after his arrest following a demonstration over Cuba. Handwriting experts were of the opinion this was signed by Marina Oswald (HSCA VIII.238). The point here is that Oswald was using Hidell—whether he existed or not—as somebody other than himself. The same is suggested by the discovery in Oswald’s effects of an index card for Hidell, along with cards for real people (Meagher, op. cit., p. 197). Oswald was not carrying a Hidell ID when questioned in New Orleans (X.52–). See full discussion of this episode in this book, Chapter 17, “Blind Man’s Bluff in New Orleans.”
Shanklin affair: HSCA Report, p. 195–; (interviewed by HSCA) HSCA Report, p. 627.
77 Oswald’s intelligence: (school record) Texas Attorney General’s Report, VIII.2965.30d (the record also says Oswald’s IQ was “in the upper range of bright, normal intelligence”; (intelligence noted in Marines) VIII.290, 297, 300.
Oswald offers garage information: Report, p. 603.
78Note 6: Captain Fritz suggested (Report, p. 607) that the police had the backyard pictures by 12:35 p.m. on November 23. In light of the version of events offered by the policeman who found the pictures, that appears not to have been accurate. (VII.193, 231; HSCA VI.139).
79Persuasive evidence on pictures; (experts) Warren Report, p. 125 and HSCA VI.161; (Marina) I.117, 16.
Letter signed “L. H.”: see Albert Newman, op. cit., p. 154–, et. seq.
Taking of photographs: (Marina) I.117, 16, and HSCA II.241; (Marguerite) I.148; (White) HSCA II.321; HSCA VI.141; (fellow officer) HSCA VI.153.
80 Police reenactment: Warren Commission Exhibit (photographs only at LBJ Library, Austin, Texas).
Marina: (on burning picture) McMillan, op. cit., p. 441; (on Oswald and rifle) II.415.
Note 7: The Warren Commission based much of its case against Oswald on Marina’s testimony—though the very fact that she was Oswald’s wife would have disqualified her testimony had her husband come to trial.
Marina “lying”: Warren Commission memorandum, Redlich-Rankin, February 28, 1964.
81 HSCA on Marina: HSCA Report, p. 55.
Marina lapses of memory: HSCA XII.332.
Oswald colleague: X.201, Dennis Ofstein testimony.
82Note 8: Oswald may have signed one copy of the rifle photograph and given it to his Dallas associate George de Mohrenschildt. This possibility is dealt with in Chapter 12, “Oswald and the Baron.”
83 Fibers: (FBI) Report, p. 124; (Oswald on shirt change) Report, pp. 605, 613, 622, 626.
Independent analysis: Frontline, PBS, November 16, 1993; VF, December 1994.
Day: IV.261 (Day).
84Note 9: Lieutenant Day did not release the palm print to the FBI until November 26, 1963.
Location of print: IV.260 (Day).
Print old: int. of Day by Robbyn Swan, 1994.
Rods: Howard Roffman, op. cit., pp. 56, 146, 158–160, 174, et al.; Ray and Mary La Fontaine, op. cit., p. 371.
85 Shorter package: II.239 (Buell Frazier); II.248 (L. Randle); IX.475 (Krystinik).
Oiled gun: XXVI.455.
Inquiry conclusions: (Warren) Report, p. 137– & see HSCA Report, p. 57.
86 No ammunition: VII.226; XXVI.63.
Note 10: John T. Masen, of Masen’s Gunshop (CE 2694 and CD 897.83–), told the FBI he acquired and sold ten boxes of Mannlicher-Carcano ammunition in 1963. Masen had been investigated for violation of the Firearms Act before the assassination (CD 853A.2) and admitted an association with a prominent member of Alpha 66, Manuel Rodriguez. (See Index for other references to Alpha 66. At least one of its senior members has a major role in the mystery.)
87 Dodd theory: HSCA Report, p. 484– (Option one).
88 Oswald’s shooting record: XI.302.
Former marine on Oswald’s shooting expertise: VIII.235 (Nelson Delgado).
89 Oswald statements on whereabouts: Report, pp. 600, 613.
Prints on cartons: (Oswald’s) IV.31—Latona; (unidentified print) Report, pp. 249, 566.
Note 11: Astonishingly, not all the employees of the Book Depository were fingerprinted. After the workers known to have handled cartons had been checked and ruled out, the Depository superintendent “requested that other employees not be fingerprinted.” (XXIV.7) Obligingly, the authorities went along with his request.
Chemical test: IV.275 (Day); CD 5.145, 152.
Note 12: Nitrate deposits were found on Oswald’s hands, which was consistent with his having fired a handgun, like the one he allegedly used to shoot policeman Tippit. Similar deposits could also, however, have resulted from handling printed matter (as Oswald did in his job) or from urine splashes. The nitrate test has long since been considered outmoded and unreliable.
Givens: Report, p. 143; (narcotics) Roffman, op. cit., p. 177; XXIII.873; VI.355; (FBI questioning, November 22) VI.355.
; 90Oswald at 11:45 a.m.: III.168 (Williams); VI.337 (Lovelady).
Chicken bones/lunch: III.169– (Williams); III.288 (Mooney); VII.46 (Hill); VII.121 (Boyd); VII.105 (Johnson); VII.146 (Studebaker); VI.330 (Shelley); VI.307 (Brewer); IV.266 (Day).
91 Jarman: III.200– (Jarman).
Norman: III.189 (Norman).
Shelley: VII.390 (Shelley).
Piper: VI.383 (Piper).
Note 13: It appears that Jarman years later said that—like Givens—he observed Oswald on the first floor as early as noon. He did not say this in his more contemporary Warren Commission testimony. With Piper, Shelley (and Givens), this would make four witnesses who saw Oswald downstairs at noon. In his 2007 book, Vincent Bugliosi questioned whether it was noteworthy that Oswald had described seeing Jarman and Norman, but his argument appears to hinge to a degree on whether Oswald actually had lunch with the two men—something Oswald did not claim to have done. (HSCA Report, p. 57, referring to an HSCA interview; III.201; Vincent Bugliosi, Reclaiming History, The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, New York: Norton, 2007, p. 830).
92 “Going up to eat”: XIX.499 (Piper).
Carolyn Arnold: conversations with author, November 1978; also with Earl Golz of Dallas Morning News, November 26, 1978; FBI report V.41.
Note 14: Carolyn Arnold later remarried.
Note 15: Mrs. Arnold’s 1978 comments seem important, if true. The author received a letter from Associate Professor James Chalmers, of the Department of Political Science at Wayne State University in Detroit, expressing doubt on Mrs. Arnold’s 1978 version of events. He suspected that the passing of time led her to enlarge on what she really saw, and that the original FBI report cited here is the accurate version. There is, too, the statement of Pauline Sanders, a Depository clerk who said she left the second-floor lunchroom at about 12:20 p.m.—and did not see Oswald that day at all.
Chalmers, for his part, pointed out that Mrs. Arnold herself signed a 1964 affidavit stating that, having left the Depository at “about 12:25,” she “did not see Lee Harvey Oswald at the time President Kennedy was shot.” Chalmers also pointed out that Oswald, as reported by agents who were present during his interrogations, spoke variously of having lunched on either the first or second floor. But Mrs. Arnold’s 1964 affidavit should not necessarily lead us to doubt her 1978 account. When Kennedy was shot, Arnold was outside the Depository. The 1964 affidavit does not cover what she may have seen before leaving the building. The author found Mrs. Arnold credible when he spoke with her in 1978. On contacting her again in 1993, it emerged that she had been much harassed as a result of publicity following publication of the original edition of this book. Nevertheless, speaking through her husband, she confirmed that her version of events remained the same as in 1978. (Letter to author from Associate Professor James Chalmers, April 20, 1993; int. Mr. Arnold, 1993; and see Sanders & 1964 affidavit, CE 1381.)
Not in Your Lifetime: The Defining Book on the J.F.K. Assassination Page 43