Constructing the Assassin, Part 4 Continuing my adaptation of "Harvey and
Lee" by John Armstrong
Unlike the events described in the first three installments of this
series, John Armstrong and this author disagree substantially on the
events of November 22, 1963. Our differences will be rendered as clearly
as possible.
On Wednesday, November 20, Harvey Oswald called Marina from his room in
Oak Cliff. Marina told him that she and Ruth Paine had tried to reach him
by phone the night before, but were told that no Lee Harvey Oswald lived
there. Oswald told her that he wasn't using that name at the rooming
house, as he didn't care to be recognized as the infamous "defector" to
Russia. He and Marina argued bitterly over what she regarded as just
'more of Lee's foolishness' (1). The following evening, Thursday,
November 21, Oswald asked the Paines' neighbor, Buell Wesley Frazier, if
he could ride to Irving with Frazier as he normally did on the weekends.
Frazier said he could, and asked why he was going home on Thursday this
week. According to Frazier, Oswald said he had some curtain rods to pick
up from Mrs. Paine. Frazier would recall that on Thursday evening, Oswald
brought nothing with him to Irving (2).
Oswald tried to make up with Marina that evening. She refused to even
speak to him (3).
Oswald overslept his alarm clock, waking at 7:15. He dressed quickly and
departed without speaking to anyone. He left behind his wedding ring --
the first time he was ever known to go without it -- and his wallet
containing $170, his life savings (4).
He arrived at Wesley Frazier's home carrying a brown paper package, about
27 or 28 inches long, about five to eight inches wide, and maybe a couple
inches thick; both Wesley Frazier and his sister, Linnie Mae Randle, saw
the package (5). He gripped it at the top, and let the package hang at
his side; it didn't quite touch the ground (6). It was bulkier at the
bottom, tapering towards the top. Oswald put it in the back seat of
Frazier's car, resting it inside one of the bucket seats (7). Frazier
asked Oswald what was in the package, and Oswald said it was the curtain
rods he'd come for (8).
When Oswald arrived at work just prior to 8 am, his supervisor, Jack
Dougherty, saw him enter the building. He said Oswald had nothing with
him at the time (9).
At 7:30, as Harvey Oswald arrived at Linnie Mae Randle's home, J. W.
Stark arrived at his place of business, the Top Ten Records store at 338
West Jefferson Boulevard in Oak Cliff -- half a block from the
soon-to-be-famous Texas Theatre -- to find a man he later believed to be
Lee Harvey Oswald waiting outside the store. Oswald purchased a ticket to
the Dick Clark Show and left by bus, according to Stark (10).
Dale Myers writes, "Twelve days after the assassination, John D. Whitten
telephoned the Dallas FBI office and told them that he heard that
'Oswald' was in the Top Ten Record shop the morning of the assassination,
bought a ticket of some kind, and left. Later, 'Oswald' returned to the
shop and wanted to buy another ticket. Officer Tippit was reportedly in
the store on the second visit, although it was apparently a coincidence.
'Oswald' left for a second time, according to Whitten, who wasn't sure if
he bought the other ticket" (11).
Stark did not recall a second visit by Oswald, but he affirmed that
Tippit had stopped into the store briefly around 1:00 pm to use the
telephone, which was not uncommon. Stark did not know the name John D.
Whitten (12).
John Armstrong believes that Lee Oswald was at the Top Ten Records store
at least once that day (13).
Sometime during the morning, Harvey Oswald stopped co-worker James
Jarman, Jr., known as Junior, by a first floor window, and asked why
people were beginning to congregate in front of the Depository. Jarman
told him the President's parade would be passing by. Oswald asked Jarman
if he knew which way the parade was coming. Jarman said it probably would
be headed west on Main, turn north on Houston, then make a left turn in
front of the Depository to head west on Elm. Oswald replied, "Oh, I see"
(14).
Around 11:00 am, a young man purchased two bottles of beer at the Jiffy
Store on Industrial Boulevard near Dealey Plaza. When asked for
identification, he showed the store clerk, Fred Moore, a Texas driver's
license with the name Lee Oswald, with an October 1939 birth date. Oswald
returned a short time later and purchased "peco" brittle. Moore
remembered him later, as beer and candy seemed an unusual combination
(15).
At 12:00 pm, Eddie Piper met Harvey Oswald on the first floor of the Book
Depository. Oswald told him he was on his way to eat lunch (16). Between
12:15 and 12:25 pm, Mrs. Carolyn Arnold, who worked at the Depository and
knew Oswald, saw him near the first floor lunchroom (17). Mrs. Arnold was
not called to testify before the Warren Commission.
When asked by the Dallas Police where he was at 12:30 that day, Oswald
told them he was eating his lunch in the first floor lunchroom (18). He
accurately named a number of co-workers who'd passed through the room on
their way to view the motorcade, which was due in Dealey Plaza at 12:20
or 12:25 (19). The President was scheduled to arrive at the nearby Trade
Mart at 12:30 (20).
For a scenario of what occurred on Dealey Plaza based on a full review of
the evidence, please click here.
Fifteen seconds after the shooting, photographer Tom Dillard 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 (21). At the right edge of
the easternmost window, from which Oswald is supposed to have fled
immediately following the shooting, we can make out the form of a man
still in the so-called "sniper's nest." His face is not visible (22).
James Richard Worrell, Jr., a senior in high school who'd skipped class
to see the President, was standing at the foot of the Book Depository
when he heard the first shot. Looking directly up he saw a few inches of
a rifle sticking out of the sixth floor window, and he saw the rifle
fire. Panicking, he ran around the corner, then stopped to get his
breath. About two minutes later he saw a white man, about 5'10", with
dark hair, wearing a sports coat, run from the back door of the Book
Depository and walk briskly south on Houston Street. He did not see the
man's face (23). Worrell identified the man as Oswald when shown Oswald's
photograph by the FBI, then denied to the Warren Commission ever
identifying anyone (24).
Richard Randolph Carr, a steelworker watching the motorcade from the
seventh floor of the courthouse across the street from the Book
Depository, saw a heavy-set man wearing a hat, a tan sport coat, and
horn-rimmed glasses looking out of a window on an upper floor of the Book
Depository. Soon after the assassination, Carr saw the man hurrying south
from the Book Depository on Houston Street, then east on Commerce, where
he got into a Nash Rambler station wagon with a luggage rack on top and
Texas license plates, parked on the corner of Commerce and Record. A
dark-complected man was waiting for him in the driver's seat of the
Rambler. The man in the brown sports jacket got in the passenger side,
and the Rambler headed north on Houston (25). The FBI interviewed Carr on
January 4, 1964. The Warren Commission did not call him as a witness nor
mention him in any of their published evidence.
Deputy Sheriff Roger Craig was standing on the south side of Elm Street
seeking out witnesses when he heard a sharp whistle from behind him. He
turned to see a white male with dark hair wearing a light-colored,
short-sleeved shirt, run down the incline from behind the Texas School
Book Depository to Elm Street, where a light-colored Nash Rambler station
wagon with a luggage rack on top, driven by a dark-complected man wearing
a white windbreaker-type jacket, had pulled up. Deputy Sheriff Craig
would later identify the man running toward the station wagon as Lee
Harvey Oswald. As this man was the only person who seemed to be in a
hurry to leave the scene, Craig tried to cross the street and hold him,
but traffic was too heavy. The man got into the station wagon, which then
sped off through the triple underpass in the direction of Oak Cliff (26).
Mrs. Helen Forrest was standing among a group of people on the incline
between the TSBD and the area known as the grassy knoll. She saw a man
run down the incline from the rear of the Book Depository and enter a
Nash Rambler station wagon. She later told historian Michael L. Kurtz,
"If it wasn't Oswald, it was his identical twin" (27). Another witness,
James Pennington, saw the exact same thing (28). Due to the mysterious
circumstances perceived to surround the deaths of a number of witnesses,
Pennington told his story only with great reluctance (29).
Marvin C. Robinson had been driving south on Houston at about 12:30 pm,
and had to wait for several minutes at Houston and Elm until the
motorcade had passed. An employee of his at the Garland, Texas, Ling
Temco Vought (LTV) plant, Roy Cooper, was following him in his own car to
Robinson's home in Oak Cliff. Robinson had just made a right turn and was
driving his Cadillac west on Elm Street when a light-colored Nash Rambler
station wagon pulled out in front of him and abruptly stopped in front of
the Texas School Book Depository; Robinson had to slam on his brakes to
avoid hitting it. A young man came down the grassy incline and got into
the vehicle, which sped away under the triple underpass in the direction
of Oak Cliff. Robinson was interviewed by the FBI on November 23, 1963.
He said he would be unable to identify the man he saw. He was not called
to testify before the Warren Commission, is not mentioned in the Warren
Report, and his statement was not published in the Warren Commission
Hearings volumes (30).
Roy Cooper of Euless, Texas, had just turned right on Elm Street and was
driving west directly behind the Cadillac belonging to his supervisor,
Marvin Robinson's. He saw a light-colored Nash Rambler station wagon
which "pulled our real fast in front of the Cadillac driven by his boss,
and his employer had to stop abruptly and nearly hit this Nash Rambler."
He observed a white man between the ages of 20 and 30 come down the
grassy incline, wave at the station wagon, then get in when it pulled up.
He was interviewed by the Dallas FBI on November 23, 1963. "Cooper could
not see who was driving the Nash Rambler and could not furnish any
further description of the man who jumped in the car. They drove off at a
rather fast rate of speed and went down toward the overpass toward Oak
Cliff. . . . He believed that Robinson could give further information
about the Rambler station wagon, also the driver and the rider" (31). Roy
Cooper was not called as a witness by the Warren Commission or the House
Select Committee on Assassinations; his FBI report was classified until
at least 1992. It was discovered at the National Archives II building in
College Park, Maryland by researcher Chris Courtwright in 1996 (32).
A photograph taken by Jim Murray from south of Elm Street shows a man in
a light-colored button or zip-up shirt or jacket headed toward a Nash
Rambler station wagon with a luggage rack in front of the Texas School
Book Depository. Deputy Sheriff Roger Craig, also in the photo, is
pictured looking at either the man or the station wagon. The Hertz sign
on top of the Book Depository shows the time as 12:40 pm. When the photo
is greatly enlarged, the man appears to be young, quite thin, and has
very short, dark hair. The enlargement is far too indistinct to allow any
firm conclusions as to how closely the man resembles Lee Harvey Oswald
(33). John Armstrong theorizes this was the man we have been referring to
as "Lee Oswald." This author does not endorse the theory.
The Warren Commission decided that Oswald probably left the building at
12:33 pm, which is probably reasonably accurate. He strolled out the
front door, and walked east on Elm, catching an Oak Cliff-bound bus at
around 12:40 (34). The bus was traveling west, and drove past the Texas
School Book Depository on its way to the triple underpass. Oswald only
remained on the bus to Oak Cliff a few minutes. By a remarkable
coincidence, another passenger on the bus was his onetime landlady (for
less than a week) Mary Bledsoe; she noticed he was wearing "a brown shirt
with holes in the elbows" (35). After the bus stalled in the sudden crush
of traffic, Oswald asked for a transfer (which would be found in his
pocket following his arrest) and left the bus (36).
John Armstrong has written a microstudy of Harvey and Lee's movements in
the moments following the assassination, "Harvey and Lee: Just the Facts,
Please," available on-line at:LINK 1
Oswald walked to the nearby Greyhound bus station, where, rather than hop
on the first bus to Mexico and freedom, Oswald instead hailed a taxi
(37). Driver William Whaley described to the Commission what happened
when Oswald got in. ". . . about that time an old lady . . . [stuck] her
head down past him in the door and said, 'Driver, will you call me a cab
down here?' . . . and he [Oswald] opened the door a little bit like he
was going to get out and he said, 'I will let you have this one,' and she
says, 'No, the driver can call me one'" (38).
The Warren Commission would eventually conclude, regarding the accused
assassin's motive, that there was no evidence to indicate that Lee Harvey
Oswald was of unsound mind. One might think that in the absence of a
conclusive psychiatric evaluation, episodes like the above might have
provided ample basis for questioning Oswald's sanity.
Whaley left Oswald off near the corner of Neely Street and North Beckley
a few minutes before 1:00 pm (39). Oswald walked three and a half blocks
north to his rooming house. Housekeeper Earlene Roberts had been watching
television coverage of the assassination, which had begun at 12:58 pm.
Oswald arrived shortly thereafter, and spent "three or four minutes" in
his room, where he supposedly changed clothes and picked up a .38
revolver (40).
While Oswald was in his room, a Dallas patrol car reportedly drove by
slowly, stopped briefly in front of 1026 North Beckley, honked its horn
twice, then drove on. Mrs. Roberts turned to look out the front door,
thinking it was a policeman friend of hers, but quickly realized it
wasn't, and turned back to the television (38). When asked by the Warren
Commission if she'd noticed the squad car's number, she said that she
hadn't, but that possibly it was 106 or 107 (41). J. D. Tippit's car was
number 10. All other police cars were accounted for at that time; none
but Tippit's was supposed to be in Oak Cliff. If this was not Tippit, who
was it? As far as the record shows, the Commission never sought to find
out. Researcher Dale Myers has demonstrated that Earlene Roberts' story
has some inherent defects, however, and it is no longer certain that her
claim regarding the police car is true (42).
Oswald emerged from his room, zipping up a jacket (43). Oswald would not
be wearing a jacket when arrested. He was last seen by Roberts standing
motionless at the corner of North Beckley and Zangs Streets. The time was
approximately 1:04 pm (44).
It is at the point of the murder of Officer J. D. Tippit that this
author's beliefs diverge markedly from those of John Armstrong (45).
Armstrong believes that Harvey is innocent of the murder and that "Lee"
was responsible for the crime. His theory can be found in his own words
in John Armstrong, "Harvey, Lee, and Tippit," *PROBE,* Vol. 5, No. 2,
January-February 1998, available on-line at:
LINK 2
Cry of Battle / War Is Hell
As the opening credits of the 1:20 pm showing of Cry of Battle began at
the Texas Theatre, patron Jack Davis was startled as another customer
squeezed by and sat down right next to him. Davis' surprise was due to
the fact that the 900-seat theater was then occupied only by fifteen to
twenty people. After a moment the man stood up, walked across the aisle,
and sat down next to another person. A few minutes later the man moved
again; Davis paid no more attention once the movie had begun, although he
recalls the man moved at least once more. When the police arrived, Davis
believed it was this man that they arrested. Of course, that would be Lee
Harvey Oswald (46).
No one contests that the manager of a shoe store, Johnny Calvin Brewer,
followed a suspicious looking man down the street and duck into the Texas
Theatre. Brewer asked the ticket-taker, Julia Postal, if she had sold a
ticket to the man, whom Brewer later identified as Lee Harvey Oswald.
Postal said she hadn't and, sensing she may have had an assassination
suspect hiding out in the theater, phoned the police (47).
At approximately 1:45 pm, the police radio broadcast that a suspect had
entered the Texas Theatre. At least fifteen police officers converged
upon the theater immediately. At approximately 1:50 pm, the lights in the
theater went up. Patrolmen M. N. "Nick" McDonald, R. Hawkins, T. A.
Hutson, C. T. Walker, and Sgt. Gerald Hill entered the theater through
several doors. Johnny Calvin Brewer pointed Oswald out to Patrolman
McDonald (48).
When Officer McDonald approached Oswald, Oswald mumbled something,
alternately remembered as, "This is it," or, "Well, it's all over now."
He leapt to his feet and punched Officer McDonald flush in the mouth.
Then -- though John Armstrong does not endorse this view -- this author
believes the several eyewitnesses who saw Oswald draw his revolver and
point it at McDonald, who quickly took hold of the gun, jamming the
webbing of his hand into the crevice between the revolver's hammer and
action. Only this action saved McDonald's life as Oswald pulled the
trigger (49).
This is the author's opinion, not John Armstrong's; Armstrong does not
agree that Harvey Oswald committed any such act.
It took four police officers to subdue Oswald; one of them was reported
to have called out Oswald's name. The Warren Commission never sought to
identify the officer. If it was Captain Westbrook or Agent Barrett, the
information might have been obtained from a wallet allegedly found at the
Tippit crime scene (50).
The man arrested was Harvey Oswald, who would be forever emblazoned on
the world's consciousness as "Lee Harvey Oswald." As his hands were
cuffed and he was led out the front of the theater, the man who only
seconds before had punched a Officer Nick McDonald in the mouth and -- in
this author's opinion -- tried to shoot him at point blank range was now
crying out, "I am not resisting arrest! I am not resisting arrest! I
protest this police brutality!" (51)
While en route to the police station, Oswald asked his captors, "Why am I
being arrested? I know I was carrying a gun, but why else am I being
arrested?" When informed that he was being arrested for murdering a
police officer, Oswald coolly replied, "A police officer has been killed?
I hear they burn for murder. Well, they say it just takes a second to
die" (52).
Shortly after 2:00 pm, Mr. T. F. White observed a man sitting in a 1961
red Ford Falcon, parked with the engine running, in the El Chico parking
lot behind White's garage, five blocks north of the Texas Theatre.
Something about the man in the Ford struck White as suspicious, and he
approached the car. When the driver noticed him, he immediately pulled
out of the lot and sped off in a westerly direction on Davis Street.
White described the man as Caucasian, with dark hair and a white T-shirt.
When he saw Lee Harvey Oswald on television only a short while later, he
immediately believed that Oswald was the man in the Ford Falcon. When
told by the FBI that Oswald was in jail at 2:00, White reaffirmed his
conviction, stating that the driver was "possibly identical" to Oswald
(53).
This could, of course, be a simple case of mistaken identity. But White,
who had been through police training, had on a hunch written down the
Falcon's license plate number. A trace found that the plates belonged not
to a 1961 red Ford Falcon at all, but a two-toned blue 1957 Plymouth
4-door sedan. The Plymouth belonged to Carl Mather, a longtime employee
of Collins Radio and a close personal friend of J. D. Tippit who had very
few friends outside of the DPD. At 3:00 on November 22, Mather was paying
his respects to Mrs. Tippit at her home (54).
Reporter and future Dallas Mayor Wes Wise heard of this unusual incident.
Wise and another reporter, Jane Bartell, questioned Mather about it over
dinner. Wise later recalled that Mather was so nervous he couldn't eat.
He seemed barely able to talk and, in fact, said little. In 1977 the HSCA
decided to interview Mather about the incident. Mather agreed, but not
before he was granted immunity from prosecution by the Justice Department
immunity from what we don't know. Mather testified before a closed
session of the House Committee, but most of the documents from that
interview remain classified indefinitely in the National Archives. Why?
(55)
"Everyone Will Know"
"Oswald was questioned intermittently for approximately 12 hours between
2:30 pm on November 22, and 11 am on November 24. Throughout this
interrogation he denied that he had anything to do either with the
assassination of President Kennedy or the murder of Patrolman Tippit.
Captain Fritz of the homicide and robbery bureau did most of the
questioning . . . [T]here were no stenographic or tape recordings.
Representatives of other law enforcement agencies were also present,
including the FBI and the US Secret Service. They occasionally
participated in the questioning" (56).
Oswald told Fritz he believed he was on the first floor at the time of
the shooting. He said there was so much excitement he didn't think there
would be any more work done that day, and that as company "wasn't
particular about their hours," he thought it would be just as well that
he left for the rest of the afternoon. He denied owning a rifle, but
acknowledged owning the revolver taken from him. He at first denied
having been in Mexico except once to Tijuana (57). Fritz asked him why he
carried his pistol to the theater, and he remarked, "You know how boys do
when they have a gun, they just carry it." Oswald confirmed that the
pistol was taken from him upon his arrest, and he claimed to have
purchased it seven months previously in Fort Worth. Numerous law
enforcement officials were present when he admitted ownership of the
pistol. He denied ordering any weapons through the mail (58).
He acknowledged writing to the Russian Embassy in the US on November 9th.
When he learned that one of his interrogators was FBI SA James Hosty, he
grew angry and accused Hosty of harassing his wife, a charge that
bewildered the other men present; Hosty had indeed questioned Marina
Oswald and Ruth Paine on two occasions (59).
He expressed his desire to have Mr. John Abt of New York as his counsel;
he pointed out that Abt had defended Smith Act cases in 1949-50, but
denied knowing him personally. Captain Fritz advised Oswald that
arrangements would be made for Oswald to call him. He stated he had
nothing against John F. Kennedy personally, "however in view of the
present charges against him, he did not desire to discuss this phase
further." He refused to take a polygraph test without the advice of
counsel. He said he was a member of the ACLU, and added that Ruth Paine
was also a member (60).
On Saturday Oswald was allowed to speak to his mother and wife at the
station through a two-way phone. He told his mother he was all right, not
to worry, he was going to get in touch with the attorney John Abt. He
told Marina that he was fine, denied that the police had beaten him,
asked if she'd brought June and Rachel. He said the situation was all a
mistake and he was not guilty. He reassured her that there were people
who would help him and she should try not to think about it, that
everything would be okay. He told her if she was asked anything, she had
a right not to answer, and asked her if she understood. He told her not
to worry, that she had friends who would help her, and if need be she
could always turn to the Red Cross. The last thing he said to his wife
was that he loved her, that she should give 'Junie' and Rachel a kiss for
him, and to be sure that she bought some new shoes for June (61).
Captain Fritz showed him the famous backyard photograph of Oswald posing
with a rifle, pistol, and two Leftist newspapers. This had allegedly been
found in a Saturday afternoon search of the Paine garage, but Michael
Paine testified that the police showed him the photo on Friday night, a
statement Paine has reiterated in recent years; the Commission did not
pursue this statement. Oswald immediately stated that the photograph was
not of him and that he had never seen it before. He said the head was
certainly his, but that it had been superimposed on the image of another
man in order to smear him. He added that he knew quite a bit about
photography, and in time would be able to prove his allegations. He
refused to further discuss the photograph without an attorney present. He
admitted possessing the items of "Hidell" ID taken from him but refused
to discuss the purpose of the IDs or the use he might have made of them.
He again denied shooting President Kennedy, and added that he was unaware
until this time that Governor Connally had been shot; he also denied
having anything to do with this incident (62).
He spoke to his brother Robert, who hadn't seen Lee since November 22,
1962, and was surprised to learn he had a second niece. Lee advised him
not to say much because the line was probably tapped. (What could Robert
possibly say?) He asked what Robert thought of baby Rachel, and added
that he'd wanted a boy. Robert didn't ask him if he was guilty or
innocent, but Lee told him, "Don't believe the so-called evidence." "At
the time we were talking I searched his eyes for any sign of guilt or
whatever you call it. There was nothing there -- no guilt, no shame, no
nothing. Lee, finally aware of my looking into his eyes, he stated,
"Brother, you will not find anything there" (63). "'Junie' needs a new
pair of shoes," Lee told him, and that was all. Later Robert would tell
the Warren Commission, "To me his answers were mechanical, and I was not
talking to the Lee I knew" (64).
Oswald was visited in jail by H. Louis Nichols, President of the Dallas
Bar Association, who was concerned about the prisoner's pleas for legal
representation. He was surprised, then, to discover that Oswald wasn't
especially interested in his help. He said he was trying to get ahold of
Mr. Abt, but asked Nichols if he knew any lawyers who were members of the
ACLU. Oswald said he was a member of that organization, and would prefer
that one of their people represent him. Nichols offered to find him a
lawyer, but Oswald said, "No, not now. You might come back next week, and
if I don't get some of these other people to assist me, I might ask you
to get somebody to represent me." This was all Oswald said except, "Well,
I really don't know what this is all about" (65).
Oswald consistently asked for the services of John Abt, a New York lawyer
he'd never met. Abt was famous for defending alleged Communist
subversives accused of violating the Smith Act, which made it illegal to
advocate the violent overthrow of the US government. Most of his captors
assumed that the "Communist" Oswald wanted a "Communist" lawyer. Only one
man, Secret Service Inspector Thomas Kelley, grasped another possibility:
"He stated that he wanted to contact a Mr. Abt, a New York lawyer whom he
did not know but who had defended the Smith Act 'victims' in 1949 or 1950
in connection with a conspiracy against the Government; that Abt would
understand what this case was all about and that he would give him an
excellent defense" (66).
While Oswald was sitting in Homicide Captain Will Fritz' office, Deputy
Sheriff Roger Craig had told of a man who fled the scene in a Nash
Rambler with a luggage rack on top. Craig was informed a suspect had been
apprehended, and told the Warren Commission he was escorted into Captain
Fritz' office to see if he could ID him. When Craig saw Oswald, he
immediately identified him as the man he saw leave the scene (67).
"What's this about a station wagon?" Fritz asked the prisoner (68).
Oswald snapped, "That station wagon belongs to Mrs. Paine. Don't try to
tie her into this. She had nothing to do with it" (69).
According to Craig, Fritz told Oswald to calm down, that they were just
investigating about how he left Dealey Plaza (70).
"I told you people I did," Oswald said (71).
Then, according to Deputy Sheriff Roger Craig, Oswald slumped in his seat
and griped, "Everybody will know who I am now" (72).
Captain Fritz later denied that Oswald ever made such a statement, and
the Warren Report supports Fritz. Fritz denied that Craig was ever in the
interrogation room with Oswald, but he DID recall a Sheriff's Deputy
inquiring about whether Oswald left in a car or not (73). Craig could not
have known on the day of the assassination that the Paines owned a '55
Chevy station wagon similar in appearance to the Nash Rambler he saw in
Dealey Plaza.
While Oswald was being questioned, members of the DPD arrived at the
Paine home. Mrs. Paine directed the police to the garage where Oswald had
some possessions stored in a sea bag. These possessions included: one
Minox camera with film (an expensive miniature camera frequently called a
"spy camera" because of the sort of work for which it was intended), one
pedometer, one compass, one Hansa self-timer, one lens in a hood, one
fifteen-power telescope, one Wollensak camera, one stereoscopic viewer,
and several rolls of film (74). Don't look for any of these items in the
Warren Report or the 26 volumes: they aren't there. They, along with all
of Oswald's possessions, were confiscated from the DPD by the FBI that
very night. The above items all vanished, and were replaced in the
inventory by the item that can be found there today as item #375: one
Minox light meter. The House Committee asked Detective Gus Rose if he was
sure that it was a Minox camera he found in Oswald's belongs. Rose said,
"[It had] a roll of film in it. And there's no question absolutely that
it was a Minox miniature camera" (75).
What did Oswald need all this equipment for? Why would he conceivably
need a stereoscopic viewer? How could he afford ANY of it? Minox cameras
are expensive. Stereoscopic viewers are expensive. Lenses, telescopes,
film, Wollensak cameras -- none of these are cheap. There is one
statement we should be able to make categorically, however: Whatever
Oswald we doing with all these items, he did not need them during October
and November 1963.
When Oswald was taken out for line-ups, his behavior underwent a change
from his usual calm demeanor. On the way to one line-up, Oswald yelled,
"I didn't shoot anyone. I want to get in touch with a lawyer, Mr. Abt, in
New York City. . . . I never killed anybody." Oswald complained
persistently about the line-ups he'd been taken to, saying, "I insist
upon my constitutional rights." "The way you are treating me, I might as
well be in Russia," he declared -- and, granted, he should know (76).
At a later line-up for cabdrivers William Scoggins and William Whaley,
Oswald was at it again:
Mr. WHALEY. [Y]ou could have picked him out without identifying him by
just listening to him because he was bawling out the policemen, telling
them it wasn't right to put him in line with these teenagers and all of
that and they asked me which one and I told them. It was him all right,
the same man. . . . He showed no respect for the policemen; he told them
what he thought about them. They knew what they were doing and they were
trying to railroad him and he wanted his lawyer" (77).
At a 7:50 pm line-up he complained, "I have been dressed differently than
the other three. . . . Don't you know the difference? I still have on the
same clothes I was arrested in." On the way back to Captain Fritz'
office, Oswald yelled out for the first recorded time, "I am only a
patsy." Reporter Seth Kantor wrote the statement in his notebook (78).
The next day Oswald repeated the statement: "No, sir; I didn't shoot
anyone. I'm just a patsy!" (79)
In a November 21, 1996, interview with researcher Steve Bochan, FBI Agent
Jim Hosty made a rather cogent and potentially important observation:
"And he did not, at any time during interrogation by the police and FBI,
state that he was a "patsy." That was to the press only. "His 'public
persona,' so to speak?" Bochan asked. "Right," said Hosty. "Now, he took
that persona as he was led out of the movie theater. People were yelling
to lynch him, and he was yelling, 'Police brutality, police brutality!'
He was trying to turn the people against the police." Bochan added,
"Right, so he seemed to know how he was coming across to an audience . .
." "Right," said Hosty (80).
Oswald's primary goal in custody would seem to this author to be to
maintain his cover; part of this process involved the construction and
maintenance of a public persona at every opportunity. He was not about to
pass up this very public chance to present this face to the world. His
public remarks were calculated to portray him as a malcontent, a
trouble-maker; a man with Leftist leanings. He was rebellious but quite
helpless; he pleaded for legal assistance, but privately made cryptic
remarks about a New York lawyer with alleged Communist and ACLU
connections, and would ask -- almost as an afterthought -- if he could
contact him. He punched a policeman then charged "police brutality" to
the crowd; he later assured his family that the police were treating him
just fine. He tried to shoot Officer McDonald, then repeatedly asked his
captors what he had done wrong; he answered virtually every question put
to him that weekend, but occasionally demanded his "constitutional
rights." He cried out that he was a "patsy," but assured his family that
everything was all right, and not to worry. Something is very wrong here
unless we accept that there were two personas at work, one public and one
private. This should indeed have come easily; he had been acting the role
of Lee Harvey Oswald for over ten years.
Oswald used the DPD pay phone to try to contact Marina at Ruth Paine's
home, but Marina had already left in the custody of the Secret Service.
Later he called Mrs. Paine back and asked her if she could try to locate
a lawyer named John Abt in New York. (She made one cursory attempt.) He
also "failed to complete" one other call (81).
According to one of the DPD switchboard operators, he also tried to make
a call later the night of November 22. The operator, Mrs. Alveeta A.
Treon, remembers the incident because of the unusual circumstances. She
says that her colleague, Mrs. Louise Swinney, had been forewarned that
law-enforcement officers would be coming to listen in on an Oswald call.
The two men soon arrived, showed identification -- she believes they were
Secret Service agents -- and were shown into a room next to the
switchboard. At about 10:45 pm a red light blinked on the panel, showing
that someone was placing a call from the jail telephone booth. Both
telephone operators rushed to plug in, and in the event Mrs. Swinney
handled the call, with Mrs. Treon listening in avidly (82).
Oswald asked to place a collect call to someone named John Hurt, and he
gave two North Carolina numbers: (919) 834-7430 and (919) 833-1253. Mrs.
Swinney wrote the numbers down, alerted the two officers eavesdropping in
the next room, and began to put the call through to the first number
(83).
"I was dumbfounded at what happened next," Mrs. Treon says. "Mrs. Swinney
opened the key to Oswald and told him, 'I'm sorry, the number doesn't
answer.' She then unplugged and disconnected Oswald without ever really
trying to put the call through. A few moments later Mrs. Swinney tore the
page off her notation pad and threw it into the wastepaper basket" (84).
Mrs. Swinney left work at 11 pm. Mrs. Treon retrieved the note referring
to the Oswald call, and copied the information onto a standard telephone
operator's slip, to keep as a souvenir. The slip, which is reproduced on
page 287 of Canfield and Weberman's Coup d'Etat in America, has the name
"John Hurt," and the two numbers. The House Select Committee determined
that the numbers were for two different Raleigh, North Carolina men named
John Hurt -- John D. Hurt and John W. Hurt -- both of whom deny any
knowledge of Lee Harvey Oswald or the phone call. There has been concern,
however, because one of the two -- John David Hurt -- served in US
military intelligence during World War II (85).
Anthony Summers spoke to HSCA Chief Counsel Professor Blakey in 1979,
skeptically inquiring if the slip couldn't have reflected an incoming
call. Blakey, who hardly went out of his way to uncover government
complicity in the assassination, assured Summers, "It was an outgoing
call, and therefore I consider it very troublesome material. The
direction in which it went was deeply disturbing" (86).
In sworn testimony, Secret Service Agent Abraham Bolden -- the agent
persecuted for going public with information about possible dereliction
of duty within the Secret Service -- claims that on November 23, 1963,
someone with the Secret Service called him at the Chicago office and
asked if Chicago had any information on someone named "Hurt" or "Heard"
(87).
Researcher Grover Proctor asked Robert Blakey about the call. Blakey
said, "I think the call occurred. Now whether it occurred to [John David]
Hurt or not, I'm not sure. . . . I was not able to come up with anything
sinister about Hurt" (88)
Researcher Michael Canfield was the first to investigate the story. He
couldn't locate John W. Hurt, but contacted John David Hurt in the summer
of 1974 (89).
HURT. I never heard of Lee Harvey Oswald 'til the tragedy occurred.
CANFIELD. But there's this document . . .
HURT. Never heard of him 'til the tragedy occurred. . . . Had some
conversations with Kennedy's assistants, though. I'd never talked to
President or Mrs. Kennedy but I was greatly interested in them and a real
Kennedyphile. . . . I was in the counterintelligence corps in the Army
during World War II for about three years . . .
CANFIELD. I wonder why they had this record down at the Dallas jail?
HURT. I can't tell you to save my life . . . (90).
Proctor spoke with Hurt recently and was told exactly the same thing.
Summers and Proctor both connect this incident with the possibility of
John David Hurt being a "cut-out" in military intelligence. They theorize
that Oswald had been given Hurt's name without the officer's knowledge.
Oswald would have asked Hurt to relay a message to one of Oswald's true
contacts. Hurt would be able to relay the message without having any
knowledge of its meaning, and therefore would not be a witting accomplice
to any criminal act that might result. Meanwhile, Oswald's true contact
is insulated by one degree (91).
"In the early morning hours of November 23, some twelve hours after the
assassination -- while Lee Harvey Oswald was in jail at DPD headquarters
-- Mary Lawrence was working at the B & B Restaurant, two doors from Jack
Ruby's Vegas Club. She was the head waitress and had known Jack Ruby for
the past eight years. She and the night cashier saw Jack Ruby and a
person identical with Lee Harvey Oswald in the restaurant shortly after
midnight. She reported this to the Dallas Police, and received a phone
call on December 3, from an unknown male who stated, 'If you don't want
to die, you better get out of town.' When subsequently questioned by the
DPD, Lawrence stuck to her story. She didn't care if Lee Harvey Oswald
was in jail on November 23rd -- the man she and her co-worker saw with
Ruby was 'positively Lee Harvey Oswald.'" Mary Lawrence's co-worker was
never interviewed by the FBI; neither she nor her co-worker were called
by the Warren Commission. John Armstrong believes this was Lee Oswald.
What became of him is a matter of pure conjecture (92).
And thanks to the most public murder in history, broadcast live on NBC
and filmed and photographed by numerous others, there would be no one
after November 24, 1963, who would ever be able to credibly claim that
Lee Harvey Oswald was still alive.
Frame-Up, Cover-Up
"Because two Oswalds and their connections to the intelligence community
had to be contained, the Stripling Junior High School records disappeared
within hours. Employment and wage records from the Dolly Shoe Co.,
Tujague's and Pfisterer's vanished the following week -- replaced with
forged W-2 forms. Oswald and Marguerite's tax returns were classified.
Oswald's driver's license and file disappeared. People who were with Lee
Oswald in one location and Harvey Oswald in another location at the same
time were ignored or intimidated (93).
"Even while the case was still 'officially' in the hands of the Dallas
Police, FBI officials were already working on plans to deal with the
assassination. Alan Belmont advised William Sullivan that 'Division 6
(criminal) will handle the portion of the report dealing with the
assassination attempt and the evidence gathered to show that Oswald is
responsible. This means that we will have to carefully check the evidence
and Oswald's possessions.' They knew a legend had to be created for
Oswald's background, and they understood the need to manipulate or
destroy any physical evidence that connected Oswald to the intelligence
community or showed evidence of two Oswalds. The Dallas Police had filmed
every one of Oswald's possessions including the Minox spy camera and
case. But when the FBI developed the film and produced this print, the
Minox camera was blurry and unrecognizable. The FBI then rephotographed
those items and produced a print, which showed a Minox light meter in
place of a Minox camera. They next coerced the Dallas Police Department
into changing their property invoice form listing from a camera to a
light meter. They did not want to have to explain what a poor laborer
like Oswald was doing with an expensive Minox spy camera. But with a
Minox camera case and Minox film also listed in the Dallas Police
inventory, there had to be a camera. Two months later (January 31, 1964),
Michael Paine conveniently provided his Minox spy camera, serial number
27259, to the FBI. This camera was returned to the Paines in June 1964.
In a television interview on the PBS show Frontline, Michael Paine
confirmed the return of his Minox camera by the FBI. . . . But the
National Archives still has a Minox camera, allegedly Oswald's, available
for inspection. It was photographed in October 1997 by researcher Malcolm
Blunt. But this camera does not have the initials of Dallas Police
officers Rose or Stovall, who found the camera and marked it as per
routine police procedure. This suggests that the Minox at the Archives
isn't the one found in Oswald's sea bag and turned over to the FBI" (94).
Oswald's autopsy report specifies that the deceased showed no tattoos or
visible scars, when he should have had several scars. Mortician Paul
Groody has denied seeing a mastoid scar on the left side of Oswald's
neck, or scars near his left elbow. In 1945, Lee Oswald had a
mastoidectomy operation at Harris Hospital in Fort Worth. A three-inch
mastoid scar was noted on his Marine medical records. In 1957, Private
Oswald had shot himself in the arm when an unauthorized .22 Derringer in
his possession allegedly went off accidentally. Neither the three-inch
mastoid scar nor scars from the bullet wounds were observed by mortician
Groody nor noted on his 1963 autopsy report (95).
There are several gruesome autopsy photographs that have found their way
into print, and one clearly shows the area behind Oswald's left ear;
there doesn't seem to be a scar visible in the photo (96). This is in
accordance with several well-lit photographs taken from behind during
Oswald's captivity which show no trace of a scar (97). Yet the
examination following his 1981 exhumation disclosed a hole in the skull
behind Oswald's ear, clear indication of his mastoid operation. Perhaps
the scar had eventually faded. The autopsy report also omits mention of a
vaccination scar noted in his Marine Corps records (98).
"A Warren Commission document declassified only in 1975 revealed that CIA
officials were suspicious of Oswald's true identity as early as 1964. In
a Commission memorandum dated March 14, 1964, staff member W. David
Slawson wrote about a letter from FBI director J. Edgar Hoover on
February 26, 1964. In this memo, Slawson quoted Hoover as writing, 'The
CIA is interested in the scar on Oswald's left wrist . . . The FBI is
reluctant to exhume Oswald's body AS REQUESTED BY THE CIA'" [emphasis
added] (99).
Funeral director Paul Groody -- who buried Oswald in 1963 -- told Jim
Marrs "that Secret Service agents came to him three weeks after Oswald's
burial asking questions about marks on his body. Groody said: 'They told
me, "We don't know who we have in that grave"'" (100).
John Armstrong surmises that a few people "in the FBI and on the Warren
Commission staff knew about the problem and how to handle it. The task of
acquiring background information on Marguerite and Lee Oswald was
assigned to Warren Commission staff attorney John Hart Ely. His report
was given to Warren Commission attorney Albert Jenner. Jenner then wrote
to General Counsel J. Lee Rankin, informing him that the background data
would require material alteration and, in some cases, omission before it
could be placed on the record. Mr. Ely's original memoranda and notes on
his investigation are missing from Archival records. Other background
information on Marguerite and Lee is missing as well. The New York
school, court records and documents relating to Oswald's family history
from 1953 are marked, 'FBI -- missing: Liebeler has,' indicating that the
missing documents were last known to be in Commission counsel Wesley J.
Liebeler's possession. This document shows the 'biographical information
on Mrs. Oswald and her relatives' has been withheld by the CIA (101).
"[T]he FBI could have provided the school and court records for Lee and
Harvey in New York City in 1952 and '53. They could have provided the
1954 Stripling and Beauregard Junior High School records to the
Commission. They could have provided the original 1958 W-2 forms from the
Pfisterer Dental Laboratory in New Orleans to compare with Oswald's 1958
Marine records. They could have provided the dozens of reports of Lee
Oswald in the US while Harvey was in Russia. Without this information . .
. Warren Commission members were kept in the dark, and left to speculate
when they encountered problems with Oswald's background (102).
"When grammatical errors were noticed in Oswald's letters and
manuscripts, the Commission had no reason to suspect these were written
by a foreign-born person. They explained these shortcomings by first
citing the lack of schooling, and later suggested he had dyslexia. But
Professor Vladimar Petrov, head of the Slavic Language Department of Yale
University, had a different opinion. Petrov, a native Russian, studied a
letter Oswald wrote to Senator John Tower. Petrov then wrote to Tower and
stated, 'The person who wrote this letter was a native-speaking Russian
with an imperfect knowledge of the English language.' Petrov's opinion
would explain Oswald's grammatically incorrect English as well as his
exceptional command of the Russian language. It might also explain a
curious error on Oswald's handwritten visa application for departure from
Russia. Oswald listed his birthplace as New Orleans, Texas (103). Would a
young adult native of New Orleans, Louisiana make such a mistake?" (104)
"Researcher Gary Mack has reported that three language experts at
Southern Methodist University in Dallas studied tape recordings made of
Oswald. They were not told the identity of the man whose voice they
heard. All agreed that the English words spoken seemed acquired later in
life -- that English was not the native tongue of the man on the tape"
(105).
In his unpublished manuscript George De Mohrenschildt writes, "It's
difficult to know two languages to perfection [and De Mohrenschildt spoke
more than half a dozen languages himself] and Lee's English was perfect,
refined, rather literary, deprived of any Southern accent. He sounded
like a very educated American of undeterminate [sic] background. But to
know Russian as he did was remarkable -- to appreciate serious [Russian]
literature -- was something out of the ordinary. He had affinity to the
Russian ways of life, customs, music and food" (106).
"The Warren Commission was provided with altered and misleading
biographical information from the lives of the two men we call Lee Oswald
and Harvey Oswald, from which they created the legend of 'Lee Harvey
Oswald.' Whenever rumors emerged that cast a shadow on Oswald, no attempt
was made to confirm or deny them. They were simply added to the Oswald
legend and presented to the public as fact by either paid or
irresponsible journalists. Authors such as Priscilla Johnson McMillan,
Edward Epstein, Gerald Ford and Robert Oswald have all promoted the
Oswald myth through their books. The legend of Lee Harvey Oswald was so
etched in the public's mind that the stage was set for Warren Commission
critics to investigate everything but Oswald" (107).
What about Robert Oswald? If the returning defector was not Robert's
brother, then Robert is not the uncle of June and Rachel Oswald. This
could explain why neither June nor Rachel have ever met, spoken to, or
received a single piece of correspondence from Robert Oswald (108).
Robert Oswald has, in recent years, begun granting interviews and making
the occasional media appearance in recent years, for the first time since
he co-authored a book about Oswald in 1970. Why now? Meanwhile, John
Edward Pic remains as silent as ever; Pic has never written a book, never
turned up on the daytime television talk show circuit, never spoken a
word about his youngest (half) brother except to the Warren Commission.
Neither does he speak to Robert; this was true even in 1964, when
Marguerite's sister Lillian Murret mentioned to the Warren Commission
that John and Robert did not even seem to acknowledge each other as
brothers (109).
Granted, the Oswalds don't seem to have ever been a close family. When
Pic was asked the full name of his first step-father, Robert E. Lee
Oswald, he didn't know the answer (110). He refers to his mother as "Mrs.
Oswald" (111). Attorney Albert Jenner inquired about the incident where
Pic threw Marguerite and Lee out of his Bronx apartment after Lee
threatened Pic's Hungarian wife with a pocket knife; Pic's reply was
succinct: "I put my wife before my mother anyday" (112). Later Marguerite
returned the favor when the Pics came to visit her in Fort Worth. At that
point, Pic says, ". . . I let her know that our relationship ends right
then and there, and since that time, sir, I have not written her, talked
to her, anything" (113). As for Lee, except for a brief, somewhat tense
reunion on Thanksgiving night, 1962, following Lee's return from Russia,
he said Lee wouldn't speak to him after the "pocket knife" incident:
"Sir, the last time he talked to me [excluding the one reunion], I think
he was only 12, 13 years old" (114).
And what to make of Marguerite Claverie Oswald? Nearly from the moment
Oswald left for Russia, Marguerite began loudly proclaiming to anyone
who'd listen that her son was a "secret agent." As the members of the
Warren Commission were loathe to appear callous towards her, they allowed
her to commandeer her testimonial appearance, which she stretched into
hour after grueling hour of her tales of woe that add little to our
understanding of Lee Harvey Oswald except what a trauma might have been
inflicted by this most tiresome woman.
Granted, a few interesting tidbits unexpectedly arise in *A Mother in
History,* Jean Stafford's book about Marguerite. It's intriguing to hear
Oswald's mother declare, "I'm researching Lee's life" (115) or make an
unusual statement like, "it looks like this boy's life has been
supervised" (116).
This author's favorite item from Stafford's book is Marguerite's stated
intention to write a book, and call it either *One and One Make Two* or
*This and That* (117). The following day, she brings up the book again,
this time proclaiming the possible titles: *This and That* and -- don't
blink -- *One and One Don't Make Two* (118). ("One and one make two to
me," she'd said before. "That boy was being trained") (119).
When Oswald was gunned down by Ruby, both Marina and Marguerite refused
to accept it until she viewed the body. "I just wanted to see that it was
my son," she said. Warren Commission General Counsel asked her, "You were
satisfied it was your son?" "Yes, sir," she replied. "That is why I
wanted to see the body. I wanted to make sure it was my son" (120). But
was it?
She told the Commission, "I have tried to contact Robert for important
matters, and Robert will not talk" (121). Not even to his own mother?
"There are nearly as many classified documents in our government's files
on Marguerite Oswald as there are on Clay Shaw, George De Mohrenschildt,
Michael and Ruth Paine and David Ferrie -- people with suspected ties to
our government intelligence agencies. There was much more to Marguerite
than simply the mother of the alleged assassin (122).
"In 1967 a woman named Marguerite Oswald was working for Joseph
Erhlicher, an official of the Louisiana Civil Air Patrol the same Civil
Air Patrol that Oswald had joined in July of 55. This Mrs. Oswald was
born in 1918 and was extremely concerned about the Garrison
investigation. She wrote, My life story as I have lived it is detailed
strange. I plead with you most admirably to arrange for a passport and
visa for political protection to Argentina or possibly to England. She
closes her letter with a memo to Erhlicher in shorthand at the bottom
left that read, 'would you rather be a dead hero or a live outcast'
(123).
Marina Oswald can be just as cryptic. She once told a journalist, "I had
two husbands: Lee, the father of my children, an affectionate and kind
man; and Harvey Oswald, the assassin of President Kennedy" (124).
Jack Ruby's tax returns were published in the Warren Commission volumes
while Marguerite and Lee Oswald's remain classified. When the
Assassination Records Review Board was created in 1992 to facilitate the
release of assassination-related documents, tax returns were specifically
exempted from public disclosure. Why? (125)
"Both Marguerite and Lee Oswald's income tax returns for the years 1956
through 1962 are listed in the National Archives master list of JFK
documents. They are marked 'classified,' and are unavailable to the
public (footnote re: Marina). Curiously, the JFK master list shows that a
John Smith and Minnie Smith also have tax returns for the years 1957
through 1962 listed and marked 'classified.' Certainly, the names of John
and Minnie Smith can be found nowhere else in the entire expansive world
of Kennedy assassination research -- not in the National Archives files,
the Warren Commission documents, the HSCA files, or anywhere else. The
only documents at all indicating the mere existence of John and Minnie
Smith are the 'classified' tax returns listed in the National Archives
master list of JFK documents (126).
"One has to wonder if John and Minnie Smith might be pseudonyms for
another couple, more mysterious than any we know. Could they be for
Harvey Oswald's real mother and father? Or, if not a husband and wife,
could they in fact be for the other Lee and Marguerite? If not, who are
these people, and what possible relevance do they or their tax returns
have to the assassination? (127)
"The release of tax returns could expose Oswald's dual identity created
by an element of the intelligence community, and thereby indict elements
of the government in the assassination and its cover-up. We already know
beyond a shadow of a doubt that government agencies destroyed, withheld,
and manipulated evidence in a criminal case on November 22, 1963, and
shortly thereafter. Is there any reason to believe that some aren't
continuing to employ such tactics today? The full extent of this cover-up
may still remain hidden with classified documents at the National
Archives (128).
"Much of the manipulation and alteration of evidence, the changing or
ignoring of statements, and the withholding and forging of documents had
to do with protecting the identity of Oswald. He was not created by the
Mafia, the Cubans, the Russians or the Dallas Police. He was a creation
of the CIA -- years before the assassination (129).
"Exposing and understanding the two 'Oswalds' will not definitively solve
the Kennedy assassination. It does, however, give us insight into the
capabilities of intelligence operations. It allows us to understand why
our government agencies concealed their knowledge and involvement with
Oswald. It helps us understand why witness testimony was ignored,
altered, and in some cases omitted. It helps to understand why evidence
was altered, fabricated and destroyed. We finally know why Harvey Oswald
was not allowed to stand trial and had to be eliminated" (130).
After thirty-five years, "many pieces to this puzzle are still missing --
but if you understand who Harvey and Lee Oswald really were, who created
them and who directed them, then you will know who was responsible for
the assassination of John Kennedy" (131).
So concludes John Armstrong's "Harvey and Lee." This author believes
there is more to the story of the assassination than the people who put
Oswald together. For my theory of who was ultimately behind the
assassination of President John F. Kennedy, please click here for my
article, "Yellow Roses."
Thanks to John Armstrong, Jerry Robertson, Jim Hargrove, Jack White, Jean
Davison, and Deanie Richards for their support, feedback, and plain hard
work.
"Constructing the Assassin" is dedicated to the memory of John F.Kennedy:
"I ask you to look into your hearts . . . for the one plain, proud, and
priceless quality that unites us all as Americans: a sense of justice. In
this year of the Emancipation Centennial, justice requires us to insure
the blessings of liberty for all Americans and their posterity - not
merely for reasons of economic efficiency, world diplomacy, and domestic
tranquillity - but, above all, because it is right."
-- JFK proposing the Civil Rights Act of 1963, June 19, 1963
Notes of Constructing the Assassin Part 4
SOURCES FOR JOHN ARMSTRONG'S PUBLISHED WORK:
Sources for John Armstrong's Work
John Armstrong, "Lee Harvey Oswalds: Dual Identity Cover-Up," *Fair Play*
#7, available on-line at: LINK 17
John Armstrong, "Marguerite's Addresses," *PROBE,* Vol. 3, No. 5,
July-August 1996
John Armstrong, "Harvey and Lee: The Case for Two Oswalds, Part 1,"
*PROBE,* Vol. 4, No. 6, September-October 1997
John Armstrong, "Harvey and Lee: The Case for Two Oswalds, Part 2,"
*PROBE,* Vol. 5, No. 1, November-December 1997
As of January 1, 1999, these last two issues are available from Citizens
for Truth about the Kennedy Assassination (CTKA) for $6.00 each including
postage. *PROBE's* mailing address is CTKA, PO Box 3317, Culver City, CA
90231. (Vol. 3, No. 5 is out of print.) An order form can be printed out
on-line at: http://www.webcom.com/~ctka/orderform.html [LINK 18]
John Armstrong, "Harvey, Lee, and Tippit," *PROBE,* Vol. 5, No. 2,
January-February 1998, available on-line at:
http://www.webcom.com/~ctka/pr198-jfk.html [LINK 19]
John Armstrong, "The FBI and the Framing of Oswald," *PROBE,* Vol. 4, No.
3, March-April 1997; ordering information as JA 1 & 2
John Armstrong, "Harvey and Lee: Just the Facts, Please," *Fair Play,*
No. 25, November-December 1998, available at:LINK 20
John Kelin, "Harvey and Lee: A Capsule Version," *Fair Play,* No. 25,
November-December 1998, available at: LINK 21
SOURCES FOR JOHN ARMSTRONG'S CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS:
John Armstrong, "Lee Harvey Oswalds: Dual Identity Cover-Up," abstract
from the 1995 COPA conference; *Fair Play* No. 7; available on-line at:
LINK 22
John Armstrong, 1996 Fourth Decade presentation; reported by Joe Backes,
"The Fourth Decade Conference, Part 2," *Fair Play,* No. 12, available
on-line at:LINK 23
This researcher possesses a copy of this manuscript with numerous
corrections made personally by John Armstrong. We regret that this
corrected version cannot be posted on-line without the author's
permission.
John Armstrong, 1997 Lancer presentation, available on video with printed
script from JFK/Lancer. For on-line ordering information, see:
[LINK 24]
Jerry Robertson's transcription of the 1997 presentation is available
on-line at:LINK 25
See also: Tom DeVries, Review of John Armstrong's presentation, "Harvey
and Lee," *Assassination Chronicles,* Vol. 3, No. 4, Winter 1997,available at:
LINK 26
Jim's Hargrove transcription of John Armstrong's 1998 JFK/Lancer November
in Dallas presentation is available on-line at:
LINK 27
OTHER SOURCES RELATED TO JOHN ARMSTRONG'S WORK:
Jerry Robertson's document scans related to John Armstrong's work:
LINK 28
Jim Hargrove's series on John Armstrong's research is available at:
Link 29
Jack White's "Evolution of Lee Harvey Oswald" poster was created at the
suggestion of John Armstrong. It contains 77 images of Lee Harvey Oswald
from the cradle to the grave, and is the single most valuable visual
resource to seeing for oneself evidence that more than one person was
using the name "Lee Harvey Oswald," as well as evidence that someone went
to a lot of trouble in a few cases to blur the distinction. It can be
ordered at Mr. White's Web site: www.flash.net/~jwjfk [LINK 30 of 30]
A miniature version of the poster is reproduced in Robert Groden, *The
Search for Lee Harvey Oswald.*
Also available from Jack White: his videotape presentation, "The Many
Faces of Lee Harvey Oswald," which inspired John Armstrong's Oswald
research.