We’ve spent the last two episodes talking about the murder of Officer J.D. Tippit. So far, we looked at the witness statements, the circumstances around Oswald being identified, and allegations by Acquilla Clemmons and Frank Wright that two men were involved in killing Tippit.
We analyzed the drama surrounding witness, Warren Reynolds, who was shot in the head and then changed his testimony to positively identify Oswald. We also examined the argument that the timeline of the shooting precludes Oswald from being the shooter.
In this episode, we continue analyzing the murder of Officer Tippit, including the parking lot jacket that was found which supposedly belonged to Oswald, Oswald’s wallets, the ballistic evidence, Tippit’s movements right before the shooting, the honking police car in front of Oswald’s rooming house, and whether Oswald and J.D. Tippit knew each other.
INSERT THEME SONG
The Jacket
Another disputed area in this case is the discovery of the light gray zip up jacket that supposedly belonged to Oswald and was worn by him at the time of the Tippit shooting. This jacket is in evidence as Commission Exhibit 162.[1] The Warren Report says that the jacket was discovered under a car in a nearby gas station parking lot by Captain William Westbrook.[2]
But Captain Westbrook actually denied discovering the jacket when he spoke to the Commission. Then when he was asked if he found some clothing, Westbrook said, QUOTE “I didn’t find it. It was pointed out to me by some other officer….Some officer, I feel sure it was an officer, I still can’t be positive, pointed this jacket out to me. I don’t know the officer’s name.”[3] So Westbrook doesn’t know who actually first became aware of the jacket and told him about it. We don’t even know for sure if it was a police officer.
And while we don’t know anything about who discovered the jacket, we do know that the eyewitnesses described differently. The Warren Report acknowledges that QUOTE “the eyewitnesses vary in their identification of the jacket.”[4] Helen Markham said the jacket in evidence was too light to be the one worn by the killer.[5] Domingo Benavides said the killer wore a light beige jacket.[6] Similarly, William Scoggins, the cab driver, and Barbara Davis, the witness whose lawn the killer ran across, both said that the gray jacket the Warren Commission had was not the jacket they saw because it wasn’t dark enough.[7] And, Wesley Frazier, who gave Oswald rides to work, had never seen the gray jacket.[8]
On the other hand, eyewitness Sam Guinyard, confirmed the Commission’s position that CE 162 was the same jacket that the shooter was wearing.[9] More importantly, Marina Oswald said that Lee owned that jacket. Marina told the Commission that QUOTE “Lee owned two jackets, one blue and one gray.” The blue one was found at the book depository and the gray one in evidence Marina identified as belonging to Lee.[10]
But the gray jacket that was discovered by Captain Westbrook had a laundry dry cleaning tag on it - with number B9738. And Marina testified that Oswald had never sent a jacket to the dry cleaners because she washes them herself.[11] So, in the end, Marina’s testimony on the subject contradicted itself.
To further confuse matters, Earlene Roberts, the housekeeper at Oswald’s rooming house says that she saw him leave the house in a zip up jacket that was a dark color and confirmed that CE 162 was lighter than what she saw Oswald wearing.[12]
The Three Wallets
Another mystery in this case has to do with Oswald’s wallet. The problem is that we have three separate instances in the record of Oswald’s primary wallet being found.
First, the Warren Report says only the following about finding Oswald’s wallet - QUOTE “His wallet containing $170 dollars was left intact in a dresser drawer.”[13] It doesn’t say his “other wallet” was left in a drawer. That sounds like a reference to his primary wallet. At least, that’s what I thought at first.
But, according to Marina Oswald, the wallet that was found with $170 in it at Ruth Paine’s house was really more like a bank where Lee would leave cash for her.[14] And Lee would only leave money in it – he didn’t take money from it. So, it’s not surprising that there was a lot of money in the wallet.
The second instance of Oswald’s wallet is when Detective Paul Bentley took the wallet from Oswald in the police car after he was arrested at the Texas Theater.[15] Here’s Bentley talking about how he got the wallet in an interview on the Saturday after the assassination:
“I asked for his name. He refused to give me his name. I removed his wallet from his back pocket and obtained his identification. I also asked him if he was still living at the Ellsbury address. He says well you find out for yourself. The card that I got this information from was a Dallas public library card. He had other identification such as driver’s license, I believe, and credit cards and things like that.”[16]
When speaking under oath to the Warren Commission, Sergeant Gerald Hill echoed Detective Bentley’s story about finding Oswald’s wallet. Hill was with Oswald and Detective Bentley in the car as they drove from the Texas Theater to the police station. [17]
The third and final wallet comes from Captain Westbrook - the same man who found the jacket. Apparently, Officer Kenneth Croy had the wallet handed to him by an unknown person.[18] Croy gave the wallet to Westbrook, which conspiracy theorists say is strange because there were other officers on scene who would have been responsible for the evidence.[19] And it wasn’t Captain Westbrook’s job to handle evidence. So why would Office Croy hold on to the wallet and give it to Captain Westbrook?
Westbrook told FBI agent Bob Barett, who was on the scene, that he found a wallet that belonged to Oswald.[20] Here’s Barret in a local news interview talking about what Captain Westbrook told him:
He said, “Bob, you know all the crooks in town. You know all the hoodlums. Have you ever heard of a Lee Harvey Oswald? I said no, I never had. How about Alex Hidell? I said no, I’ve never heard of him either. How could he ask me a question about Oswald or Hidell if it wasn’t in that wallet?[21]
FBI agent Barret doesn’t believe that Detective Bentley told the truth about taking Oswald’s wallet in the car. But, if that is the case, then it isn’t just Detective Bentley who was lying because Sergeant Hill corroborated Bentley’s claim about the wallet in front of the Warren Commission.[22]
There were no witnesses who saw a wallet on the ground at the Tippit crime scene. Agent Barret filed an FBI report about that day, including what he saw at the scene, and Barret didn’t mention a wallet being found.[23]Of course, we know the wallet was found because there is original video.[24] It’s just weird that it wasn’t included in any of the police or FBI reports.
So, where was Oswald’s wallet found? Which was the original? Were there really two duplicate wallets found? Because only one is in evidence. Who is telling the truth about Oswald’s wallet? Is it Detective Bentley and Sargeant Hill or Captain Westbook and Agent Barret?
Ballistics
What about the ballistics evidence in the Tippit murder? Do the bullets match the revolver that Oswald had on him?
Most researchers believe that Officer Tippit was hit with four shots, which is consistent with the four shells that were found at the scene and the 4 bullets recovered from Officer Tippit’s body. There are two different conversations when it comes to the ballistics evidence: the bullets and the shells.
The four shells that were found at the crime scene matched the type needed for the .38 special revolver Oswald was arrested with.[25] But, those four shells don’t exactly match up with the bullets from Tippit’s body. Two Winchester and Two Remington shells were found. But three Winchester bullets and one Remington were recovered from Tippit’s body.
When FBI expert, Cortland Cunningham, analyzed those bullets, he wasn’t able to identify the bullets as coming from Oswald’s revolver because they were too mangled.[26] The FBI said that this wasn’t an indicationthat the bullet was not fired from the revolver, but was rather because some work had been done on this particular revolver to rechamber it.[27] At any rate, the bullets could not be traced to Oswald’s revolver according to Cunningham.
When it comes to the shells, the Warren Report’s firearms experts agreed that the ones recovered from the scene did match the test shells that were fired from the revolver Oswald had on him.[28] That’s a damning fact against Oswald.
But, there are questions about the chain of custody of the shells. Two of the shells were found by witness Domingo Benavides who then gave them to Officer James Poe. Officer Poe was told by Sargeant Hill to mark the shells with his initials, which Officer Poe did.
But the shells in evidence at the National Archives today don’t have Poe’s initials marked on them.[29] And, as Jim DiEugenio points out, the shells were not included in the original evidence summary and was sent to the FBI six days after the FBI concluded that the bullets couldn’t be matched to the revolver. According to DiEugenio this raises the possibility that the FBI did not examine the same shells that Benavides gave to the police.
One more thing about Oswald’s revolver: when Oswald was arrested at the Texas Theater, Officer McDonald struggled to take the gun from him. During their fight for the gun, McDonald pulled the gun toward him and heard the hammer click. But, according to McDonald, QUOTE, “The primer was dented and it didn’t fire.”[30]On the other hand, Cortland Cunningham told the Warren Commission that they found no evidence that the firing pin of the gun had struck any of the cartridges.[31] If McDonald really heard the hammer click and the gun didn’t fire, that’s a strong argument against the gun functioning. On the other hand, the FBI expert says that McDonald’s account is not possible and he must have been mistaken.
Tippit’s Movements Before the Shooting
Conspiracy theorists have long believed that J.D. Tippit’s positioning in Oak Cliff at the time of his shooting didn’t make any sense. So why was J.D. Tippit in Oak Cliff and what was he up to in the minutes immediately before his death?
The Warren Report says that at 12:45, the police dispatcher ordered No. 78 (which is Officer Tippit) to move into the Central Oak Cliff area.[32] The Report claimed that this instruction appeared on the police radio logs.[33] But critics, like Sylvia Meagher, doubt the veracity of the radio logs. Meagher points out that 3 different transcripts of police radio logs were received by the Warren Commission.
On December 3, the first police call log was sent to the Warren Commission. This call log did not include the 12:45 dispatcher order for Officer Tippit to leave his assigned area and move into Oak Cliff.[34] Then, in April 1964, when Dallas Police Chief Jesse Curry was interviewed, he said that the instruction for Tippit to move into Oak Cliff was omitted from the first set of logs because it was difficult to hear clearly.[35] But, Curry said that he could understand it well enough to know for sure that the 12:45 dispatch did send Tippit into Oak Cliff. Critics wonder how Chief Curry was able to vouch for the transcript with certainty if the recording was so unclear that they decided it wasn’t even worth providing to the Warren Commission.
After Curry’s testimony, the Dallas police department provided the Commission with a second call log transcript that included only the numbers (and not the names) of police officers.[36] That transcript showed that Tippit (Number 78) and Number 87 – Officer Nelson were told to enter Oak Cliff at 12:45. Finally, in August 1964, the FBI prepared a new written transcript for the Warren Commission based on the original tapes – this is the third call log. This time the transcript actually said Tippit’s name and showed the dispatcher asking him and Officer Nelson to move into Oak Cliff. The transcript even shows both Tippit and Nelson responding to the order by noting their locations.[37]
But if Officer Nelson really did hear the order to move in to Oak Cliff at 12:45, it’s hard to reconcile that order with his actions that day. Officer Nelson is next heard from on the police log at 1:30 at the Book Depository - as if he never received the 12:45 instruction. And the dispatcher doesn’t express surprise or confusion when hearing that Officer Nelson isn’t in Oak Cliff as instructed. Also, there’s an FBI report that discusses the whereabouts of Dallas police officers that day which says QUOTE: “R.C. Nelson…Dispatched to Texas Schoolbook Depository where stationed in front of building remainder of afternoon.”[38]
So, we have only two officers being asked to leave their normal patrol areas to go to Oak Cliff, while everyone else is told to go downtown. And one of those two officers didn’t go to Oak Cliff because the record tells us that he was at the Schoolbook Depository. The only evidence we have to prove that Tippit was told to go into Oak Cliff is the word of Chief Curry and the third call log put together by the FBI after the fact.
Back to the timeline, so the Warren Report says Tippit was called in to Oak Cliff at 12:45. And the police radio transcript says Tippit responds at 12:45 by saying QUOTE “I’m at Kiest and Bonnieview.”[39] But, Tippit’s whereabouts at the time were thrown into question by reports from five witnesses who said they saw Officer Tippit between the time of 12:45 and 1pm at the Gloco Gas Station at 1502 North Zang Boulevard. The witnesses were interviewed by investigative reporter William Turner with Ramparts magazine. These witnesses were not spoken to by the Warren Commission. Nevertheless, there are reasons to believe them.[40]
Two of the witnesses, were Al and Lou Volkland a married couple who personally knew Tippit. The other three were Gloco employees: Tom Mullins, Emmett Hollingshead, and J.B. Lewis, all of whom also knew Tippit. [41] The Volklands said Tippit waved at them. The Volklands and the employees all said that Tippit was sitting in his police car in the gas station parking lot watching the cars coming over the Houston Street Viaduct from downtown Dallas. They said Tippit stayed at the station for about 10 minutes, somewhere between 12:45 and 1:00pm, then he went tearing off down Lancaster at a high rate of speed.[42]
So what is going on here? The official record says that Tippit radioed in at 12:45 that he was at Kiest and Bonnieview, which is about 5 and a half miles southeast of the Gloco Station, or about 15 minutes away in normal driving conditions. Certainly Tippit couldn’t have been both at the Gloco Station for 10 minutes watching traffic and also have been at Kiest and Bonnieview. If Tippit really was at Kiest and Bonnieview at 12:45, he wouldn’t have arrived at the Gloco station until 1pm, which means he wouldn’t have had time to sit there for 10 minutes.
In other words, Tippit wouldn’t have been able to be at both places at the same time. And we have 5 witnesses who all say that Tippit was at the Gloco station. On the other hand, the only evidence we have that Tippit was at Kiest and Bonnieview is the third police log transcript.
Once you figure out which story you believe more, you still have to deal with the implications. Why would Tippit lie about his location, watch traffic for 10 minutes at a gas station and then dart off all of a sudden? Some conspiracy theorists believe that Tippit was waiting for Oswald to get off of the bus because there was a bus stop across from the Gloco station. That bus stop was the one that was closest to Oswald’s roominghouse on the same Marsalis bus that Oswald first boarded before he got off and took a taxi instead.[43] But, for Tippit to be looking for Oswald, that would have to mean that Tippit knew Oswald would be on that bus or that Oswald usually took that bus.
The next time we hear from Tippit on the radio call log is at 12:54. The dispatcher asked Officer Tippit his location and he radios that he is at the intersection of Lancaster and Eighth in Oak Cliff.[44] Eighth and Lancaster is just over a mile from the Gloco Station and only blocks away from where Tippit would be shot. Was Tippit really at Eighth and Lancaster at 12:54 or was he still at the Gloco Station? It is possible that Tippit was at Eighth and Lancaster if he left the Gloco Station on the early end of the range given by the five witnesses.
At 1pm, the dispatcher again asks Tippit for his location. But, this time, Tippit doesn’t respond.[45] Also, around 1pm, Tippit is seen placing a phone call at Top 10 Records music shop, located a block west of the Texas Theater on Jefferson Boulevard. According to a 1981 Dallas Morning News article, Louis Cortinas saw Officer J.D. Tippit park his car on Bishop Street and then come into the shop in a hurry. Cortinas knew Tippit from Tippit’s other job at Austin’s Barbecue and because he used to come in the record shop. Tippit asked if he could use the phone at the counter. When Cortinas gave Tippit the phone, he placed a call and stood there long enough for it to ring seven or eight times. Then, Cortinas says Tippit QUOTE “hung up the phone and walked off fast. He was upset or worried about something.”[46]
Shortly after 1pm, Officer Tippit leaves Top 10 Records. He is next spotted just a few blocks north of Top 10 Records by insurance agent James Andrews. Andrews was driving west on 10th street, when suddenly a police car came from behind his car and cut in front of him forcing him to stop. Andrews then saw the officer get out of the car and motion for him to remain stopped. The Officer then ran back to Andrews’ car and looked in the space between the front and back seat. After finding nothing, the policeman then drove off quickly without saying anything. Andrews said that the Officer seemed very upset and was acting wild. The Officer’s name plate said “Tippit.”[47]
To recap, at 12:45 either Officer Tippit lies about his location by saying he is 5 miles southeast of where he really was OR the FBI fabricated Tippit’s call at 12:45. Since there is no clear reason for the FBI to alter the record in this instance, the most plausible explanation is that Tippit was lying. But for what reason?
Tippit appears to be waiting for a specific car to cross the Houston Street viaduct. Then, when he doesn’t find what he is looking for, he takes off at a high rate of speed and is next seen a few minutes later at Top 10 Records, where he makes a phone call and looks worried. Then, just after 1pm, Tippit erratically pulls over James Andrews and inspects his back seat just a few blocks away from where Tippit would be shot.
All of these peculiar actions on the part of Officer Tippit point to him frantically looking for someone. Could he have been looking for Oswald? We know from the police logs that a description of the shooter as a “slender white male, about 30 years old, 5 feet 10 inches, weighing about 165 pounds” was broadcast at 12:45. If Tippit was looking for the shooter and waiting for the shooter to cross over the Houston Street viaduct, how could he possibly have enough information to know what he was looking for? Was he planning to stop all white men who were close to thirty years old with average height and weight? And why did he specifically pull over James Andrews car? Why didn’t he put on the sirens and follow normal procedure when he pulled Andrews over? It’s all very strange.
The Honking Police Car
There’s another part of JFK Assassination lore that must be mentioned here: The honking police car. Earlene Roberts, the housekeeper at Oswald’s rooming house, told the Warren Commission that just after Oswald entered the house while he was in his room, a police car stopped directly in front of 1026 N. Beckley and honked the horn twice.[48]
Roberts said that occasionally another police car would drive by the house and honk the horn to speak to her. Roberts was friends with the wives of officers Alexander and Burnely. So sometimes they would stop by the house and say hello or relay a message from their wives. When she heard the honking and saw that it was a police car, Roberts expected it to be Alexander and Burnely, whose car number is 170. She was surprised when she saw two police officers that she did not know. She also noticed that the car number was either 106 or 107, but it wasn’t 170. She said it was not a regular police car. It was a black car.[49]
Some people think that the police car that came by was J.D. Tippit’s. They think, maybe Earlene Roberts got the number off by one because Tippit was car number 10. Maybe she just imagined another digit that wasn’t there. The problem with this idea is that Roberts is sure that there were two officers in the car and Tippit was alone. Also, we have eyewitness testimony from Top 10 Records that puts Tippit a 5 minute drive to the south at the same time.
So Who was in the honking police car? Why did they stop and honk? Were they signaling Oswald? Is this just a total red herring?
DID OSWALD KNOW TIPPIT?
One allegation that the Warren Commission claims is officially debunked is that Officer Tippit knew Lee Harvey Oswald. The Warren Report says QUOTE “Investigation has revealed no evidence that Oswald and Tippit were acquainted, had ever seen each other, or had any mutual acquaintances.”[50] Hmm. Okay Warren Report. I wasn’t even thinking that, but apparently you were. So, what evidence exists to make the Warren Commission feel the need to say that Oswald and Tippit did not know one another?
Commission Exhibit 3001 is the FBI report about whether Tippit and Oswald knew each other from Dobbs House restaurant, which was located at 1221 N. Beckley, two tenths of a mile from Oswald’s rooming house. The FBI report says that former waitress Mary Dowling QUOTE “last saw Oswald in the restaurant at 10am on Wednesday Nov 20, at which time he was nasty and used curse words in connection with his order. JD Tippit was in the restaurant, as was his habit at the time each morning, and shot a glance at Oswald. But, there was no indication they knew each other.”[51]
When looking at the FBI report that is CE 3001, there is one very tenous link from Oswald to Tippit based on what one waitress says, that Tippit shot Oswald a look. But, let’s assume that really did happen. Absent that look having some specific ascertainable meaning, it could really just be a coincidence. Yes, it’s interesting. But, there is not enough to credibly pursue the “Oswald and Tippit knew each other” link based on CE 3001 alone. There would have to be something else, which I just don’t have right now.
Fingerprint Evidence
Helen Markham told the police that Tippit’s killer leaned on to the ledge of the car window on the passenger’s side door. And the Dallas Police were aware that there may be evidence there on the door as they had the car dusted for fingerprints. Shockingly, these prints were never examined by the Warren Commission.
Warren Report defenders like Vincent Bugliosi have alleged that the prints couldn’t be examined because they were too smudged. But, according to the House Select Committee on Assassinations, there were clear prints taken from Tippit’s car window. Detective Paul Bentley told the HSCA that Officer Doughty lifted good prints from the “exterior section of that door immediately below the rolled down window.”[52] Both the good prints and the smudged prints are in the Dallas Municipal Archives today.[53]
And get this, Warren Report defender and author Dale Myers took the good prints to a fingerprint expert named Herbert Lutz. Lutz determined that those fingerprints that were left on the window ledge of Officer Tippit’s car did not match Lee Harvey Oswald’s prints. This is potentially huge exonerating evidence for Oswald!
But, an important counterpoint to this apparent indication of Oswald’s innocence is that witness Jack Tatum, said the killer had both of his hands in his jacket when he was leaning in to the police car.[54] If that’s true, then we wouldn’t expect to find Oswald’s prints anyway, even if he was the real killer.
Harry Olsen
So far, we’ve heard a lot of strong incriminating evidence against Oswald, some bizarre facts that have debatable meaning (like the honking police car in front of Oswald’s rooming house and Officer Tippit’s behavior before the shooting). We’ve also learned about the timing evidence that tends to exonerate Oswald. It’s a confusing mess of a case, especially if you are approaching it objectively and haven’t already decided whether you’re on either team conspiracy theory or team lone nutter.
One very important question for conspiracy theorists is “if Lee Harvey Oswald didn’t kill Tippit, then who did?”
While we’re not going to go deep down this particular rabbit hole right now, there are three Dallas cops who are most typically noted as being involved in the Tippit murder by conspiracy theorists: Harry Olsen, William Westbrook, andKenneth Croy. Let’s talk about Olsen first.
Harry Olsen was a friend of Jack Ruby’s who quit the Dallas police department and moved to California in December 1963. At the time of the assassination, Olsen’s girlfriend was Kay Coleman, a dancer who worked at Jack Ruby’s Carousel Club.[55] Olsen knew Ruby extremely well. He saw him at the Carousel Club about once a week for three years – or about 150 times.[56]
Olsen told the Warren Commission that around midnight on the Friday of the assassination, he and Kay spent 2 or 3 hours talking to Jack Ruby in his car in a parking lot. Olsen said they talked about the assassination and Ruby seemed very upset about it. So, Olsen is close enough with Jack Ruby that Ruby is talking to him in his car from midnight until around 3am, on the night of November 22nd.[57]
Where Olsen raises suspicion among some regarding the Tippit murder, is that at the time of the shooting, he was off duty working private security at a property just a few blocks away from the Tippit crime scene. And while it’s true that Olsen was physically close to the crime scene when it happened, Olsen had a broken leg that was in a cast at the time.[58] And, other than his mere proximity, there is no other evidence that points to Olsen’s involvement in the Tippit killing.
Westbrook and Croy
The more credible claim that there were some police officers involved in the Tippit murder comes from Doris Holan, who witnessed it from across the street. She told author Michael Brownlow that she saw a second police car in the same alley that Officer Tippit stopped his car in front of. Her house was across the street from the alley and the car was in the alley between the houses and back from the street. She said one man got out of the police car, looked at Tippit’s body, then left the scene in the police car. She says she saw another man flee the scene on foot in a different direction. This is similar to what Acqullia Clemons and Frank Wright said, but with the added element of a second police car.[59]
Captain William Westbrook and Officer Kenneth Croy are often noted by conspiracy theorists as persons of interest in the Tippit shooting. This is because their alibis for what they were doing at the time don’t seem to make sense and because Captain Westbrook appears in so many important places where it is not his job to be.
Let’s start with what Westbrook and Croy told the Warren Commission they were doing between the time of the shooting in Dealey Plaza and the time of the Tippit murder. Westbrook says he walked 22 minutes by himself to the book depository only to arrive there and then commandeer a car to drive to Tippit’s murder scene after he heard that an officer had been shot.
Officer Croy said that he asked if was needed to help in Dealey Plaza, but unnamed officers in there told him he was not needed (even though other officers who were off were called in to work). Then, Officer Croy met up with his estranged ex-wife for lunch and then went home to his parents house to change clothes.[60] At some point, Croy and Westbrook connected and ended up at the Tippit murder scene together, where Croy gave Westbrook the wallet that he says some unknown person handed him.
What’s really interesting is the fact that Officer Croy was the first officer on the scene of the Tippit murder. Croy told the Warren Commission that he watched Tippit as he was loaded in to the ambulance. Croy was not assigned to the area that day. He did not file any police reports about his activities that day and was never interviewed by the police about the incident after the fact.[61]
The suspicion around Westbrook is partially based on how central his role was that day, given his position. Westbrook was the head of personnel, which is like internal affairs. He had a desk job. This makes people wonder how Westbrook was in position to do all the things he did that day. First, Westbrook was the person credited with discovering the jacket (even though he denied it to the Warren Commission and said an unknown person pointed it out to him). Second, Westbrook is the person who is given Oswald’s wallet at the Tippit crime scene by Croy (even though Croy could have given it to other officers at the scene who are actually responsible for the case). And, the third interesting fact about Westbrook is that, according to Dallas Morning News reporter Jim Ewell, who was with Westbrook, Captain Westbrook was one of the first police officers to arrive at the Texas Theater.[62]
Oh, and people also point to the fact that within a year of the publication of the Warren Report, Captain Westbrook resigned from the Dallas police department and went to work as a police advisor in South Vietnam where he was employed by USAID.[63] USAID has at times served as a CIA cutout, which means it effectively acted as an extension of the CIA.[64] That doesn’t mean Westbrook went to work for the CIA. It means Westbrook might have gone to work for the CIA.
Different conspiracy leaning researchers have different theories on exactly what happened. Some people think it was Croy that did the shooting. I didn’t find any reliable evidence for that. But, one of the most well-researched theories is that an Oswald look alike was the real shooter and that person may have been assisted by some Dallas police officers. At this stage of the podcast, we are trying to determine if the Warren Report got it right. If we find that they didn’t, we may revisit the “who really killed Tippit” theories. In the meantime you can learn more about those theories in the books Harvey and Lee by John Armstrong or Into the Nightmare by Joseph McBride. If you want to read the seminal Warren Report defender book about the Tippit murder, check out With Malice: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Murder of Officer J.D. Tippit by Dale Myers.
CONCLUSION
We’ve covered the facts in the J.D. Tippit case. But, before we break everything down to make a decision about what most likely happened, we need to get the full picture and learn about Oswald’s apprehension at the Texas Theater.
NEXT TIME ON SOLVING JFK: When did Oswald arrive? What did Oswald do once he got there? What did the moment of his capture look like? Was Jack Ruby there? And were there any signs of a second Oswald?
[1] Warren Report at 175-76. [2] Id.. [3] Westbrook Testimony - https://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh7/pdf/WH7_Westbrook.pdf [4] Warren Report at 175-76. [5] Helen Markham at 3H12 [6] Benavides Testimony at 6H 453. (Also stating “and responded during his Warren Commission testimony that the Navy jacket he was shown was the one he saw the killer wear. BUT, David Bellin, the commission attorney, had accidentally shown Benavides the wrong jacket and grabbed CE 163 which was the Navy jacket that was said to belong to Oswald and was found at the book depository”) [7] Scoggins Testimony at 3H 328; Barbara Davis Testimony at 3H 47 [8] Wesley Frazier Testimony at 2H 328 [9] Testimony of Sam Guinyard. 7H 401. [10] Warren Report at 175. [11] CE 1843. [12] https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh7/pdf/WH7_Roberts_aff.pdf; Roberts WC Testimony - https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=35#relPageId=449&tab=page [13] Warren Report at 15. [14] https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=37&relPageId=81&search=oswald_wallet [15] https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1140&relPageId=439&search=oswald_wallet [16] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DSFKhaNqqU at 8:30 [17] http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/hill_gl.htm [18] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n64fFUCSv0 at 3:00. [19] https://www.wfaa.com/jfk/Wallet-mystery-from-Tippit-murder-scene-settled-50-years-later-232765681.html [20] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n64fFUCSv0 [21] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n64fFUCSv0 [22] http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/hill_gl.htm [23] https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=10406&search=%22200_block+of+west+jefferson%22#relPageId=87&tab=page [24] Bill Simpich. https://educationforum.ipbhost.com/topic/26874-the-wallet-at-the-tippit-scene-a-simpler-solution/ [25] Meagher at 258. [26] Meagher at 258. [27] Warren Report at 559. [28] Warren Report at 559. [29] DiEugenio at 101. [30] Meagher at 259. [31] Cortland Cunningham Testimony, 3H 463. [32] Warren Report at 165. [33] Warren Report at 651. [34] Sylvia Meagher, Accessories After the Fact, at 260; Sawyer Exhibits No A and No. B. [35] Testimony of Jesse Curry at 4H 192 - http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/curry1.htm; Meagher at 261. [36] CE 705 - https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/pdf/WH17_CE_705.pdf [37] CE 1974 at 26 - https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh23/pdf/WH23_CE_1974.pdf [38] CE 2645 - https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh25/pdf/WH25_CE_2645.pdf [39] https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh23/pdf/WH23_CE_1974.pdf At 26. [40] https://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/car10.htm [41] https://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/car10.htm [42] https://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/car10.htm. This story was confirmed again in 1987 when Oak Cliff Tribune reporter Greg Lowery located two of the five witnesses who again confirmed the Ramparts story. [43] https://books.google.com/books?id=SC-wBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA266&lpg=PA266&dq=jd+tippit+gloco+station+oswald+bus+stop&source=bl&ots=egVL6uODQz&sig=ACfU3U3hGmBUCM1LiIcmqYje_8Ud2_7tPg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjz6ZjP2PvuAhX8GFkFHb-BBHc4ChDoATAGegQICBAD#v=onepage&q=jd%20tippit%20gloco%20station%20oswald%20bus%20stop&f=false [44] https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh23/pdf/WH23_CE_1974.pdf at 36-37. [45] https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh23/pdf/WH23_CE_1974.pdf, at 43. [46] https://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/car10.htm [47] https://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/car10.htm [48] Earlene Roberts Testimony at 453 - https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=35#relPageId=453&tab=page [49] https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=35#relPageId=453&tab=page [50] Warren Report at 651. [51] CE 3001 - https://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh26/pdf/WH26_CE_3001.pdf [52] HSCA Interview of former Dallas Police Officer Paul Bentley, June 15, 1978. [53] James DiEugenio, Reclaiming Parkland, at 102. [54] https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=84#relPageId=45 [55] https://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/olsen_h.htm [56] https://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/olsen_h.htm [57] https://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/olsen_h.htm [58] https://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/olsen_h.htm [59] https://kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-articles/the-tippit-case-in-the-new-millennium [60] https://harveyandlee.net/Tippit/Tippit.html [61] https://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/croy.htm [62] http://www.kenrahn.com/JFK/History/The_deed/Sneed/Ewell.html [63] https://kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-articles/the-tippit-case-in-the-new-millennium [64] https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/04/15/when-is-foreign-aid-meddling/secret-programs-hurt-foreign-aid-efforts