Put Faith In The Witnesses Who Were Absolutely Certain

[Bill Brown]

Regarding the lineup:

Spence:  Before they let you identify, do you think they were being totally fair and open about it?

Callaway:  They sure were.

Spence:  I mean, they didn't give you any hints of any kind.  Did they?

Callaway:  No sir.

Spence:  I mean, they didn't say anything to you that would lead you to believe that the man that you saw was the man that supposedly killed the President.  Did they?

Callaway:  No sir.  I can tell you exactly what they said.

Spence:  They didn't say to you, "We want to be sure.  We want to try to wrap him up real tight on killing this officer.  We think he is the same one that shot the President.  And if we can wrap him up tight on killing this officer, we have got him."  Did they say that to you?

Callaway:  That is almost word to word what chief of detectives Will Fritz told me.  But he preceeded his remark with "be sure", "take your time", "get a good look at him", "do not make an identification unless you are absolutely positive".

[Martin Weidmann]

Regarding the lineup:

Spence:  Before they let you identify, do you think they were being totally fair and open about it?

Callaway:  They sure were.

Spence:  I mean, they didn't give you any hints of any kind.  Did they?

Callaway:  No sir.

Spence:  I mean, they didn't say anything to you that would lead you to believe that the man that you saw was the man that supposedly killed the President.  Did they?

Callaway:  No sir.  I can tell you exactly what they said.

Spence:  They didn't say to you, "We want to be sure.  We want to try to wrap him up real tight on killing this officer.  We think he is the same one that shot the President.  And if we can wrap him up tight on killing this officer, we have got him."  Did they say that to you?

Callaway:  That is almost word to word what chief of detectives Will Fritz told me.  But he preceeded his remark with "be sure", "take your time", "get a good look at him", "do not make an identification unless you are absolutely positive".

Hypocrite.

Callaway was "absolutely certain" about this, only because you want him to be.

When you don't want him to be certain, he was "slightly off"

By the time Callaway testified in 1964, he was slightly off in the order of events, regarding loading the body into the ambulance and reporting the shooting to the police dispatcher.

And btw Buell Frazier was certain that the paper bag he saw Oswald carry was not the paper bag that was later found at the TSBD, so perhaps you should practice what you preach.

[John Iacoletti]

Wait 

"We think he is the same one that shot the President" is not saying anything to you that would lead you to believe this was the man that supposedly killed the President?

And this is Bill's "absolutely certain" witness?

[Zeon Mason]

Was thinking about Linnie Mae Randles  description of observing Oswald gripping the package at the top with one hand while swinging it just a few inches above the ground as he walked.

It occurred to me to question that if package was 35 inches long, then one must bend the arm at the elbow to about 90 degree perpendicular to the body if gripping the bag at the top, otherwise bag drags on the ground

But I don’t quite see the “swinging” action happening since when U hold an 8 lb 34” length metal pipe at the top with bent forearm horizontal so the pipe clears the ground a few inches the pipe tends to stays vertical without any swing induced by your body walking forward.

On the other hand, gripping a 24” length pipe of lesser weight at the top of the pipe such that your forearm is naturally down and hand grips in reverse way , thumb pointed down, the pipe is also just a few inches off the ground and more importantly, it’s MUCH easier to swing the pipe as you walk along.

[Bill Chapman]

Was thinking about Linnie Mae Randles  description of observing Oswald gripping the package at the top with one hand while swinging it just a few inches above the ground as he walked.

It occurred to me to question that if package was 35 inches long, then one must bend the arm at the elbow to about 90 degree perpendicular to the body if gripping the bag at the top, otherwise bag drags on the ground

But I don’t quite see the “swinging” action happening since when U hold an 8 lb 34” length metal pipe at the top with bent forearm horizontal so the pipe clears the ground a few inches the pipe tends to stays vertical without any swing induced by your body walking forward.

On the other hand, gripping a 24” length pipe of lesser weight at the top of the pipe such that your forearm is naturally down and hand grips in reverse way , thumb pointed down, the pipe is also just a few inches off the ground and more importantly, it’s MUCH easier to swing the pipe as you walk along.

Did she actually say 'swinging'? I thought she said straight down at his side, which makes sense if one wants to reduce the profile of the curtain rods/pipe/lunch/anything but a rifle

[Martin Weidmann]

Did she actually say 'swinging'? I thought she said straight down at his side, which makes sense if one wants to reduce the profile of the curtain rods/pipe/lunch/anything but a rifle

The master of stupidity strikes again.

If Oswald held the package "straight down at his side" it could not have contained a broken down rifle. The distance between Oswald's hand hanging straight down at his side (as shown in the line up photo you frequently use) and the bottom of his feet is approx 31 inches. The wooden stock of the MC rifle measured 34.8 inches.