Some facts worth injecting into this discussion:
1. Mr. Bonnie Ray Williams does not match the description of the 'elderly Negro' seen by Mr. Arnold Rowland at the SN window
2. Mr. Tom Alyea said that the lunch sack was found on the fifth floor and brought up to the sixth floor
3. There is no compelling evidence tying the chicken lunch remains (or the Dr. Pepper bottle) to Mr. Williams
4. There is no compelling evidence that the chicken lunch remains (or the Dr. Pepper) were even consumed on 11/22
5. Mr. Rowland recalled that, at or about the time he noticed the 'elderly Negro' in the SN window and the man with the weapon at the sixth-floor southwest window, he noticed either two or three people in the pair of windows directly below the SN window: either two-black-people-and-one-white-man, or just two black people. Messrs. Norman & Jarman were still down on the street ca. 12:15, so Mr. Rowland's recollection puts two black people other than them (and possibly a white man too) on the fifth floor some 15 minutes prior to the assassination
Rowland testifies that at around 12:15pm he sees a white male holding a rifle at the far west side of the 6th floor and a black male at the far east side of the same floor. He is specific both men are on the same floor, he circles the SN windows and marks it with an "A" and even goes so far as to describe the "configuration" of the SN windows [each set of windows consists of a pair of windows and each floor has seven sets/pairs of windows]. He describes the west window as being closed and the east window as being partially opened. No other set of windows had this configuration at the time of the assassination other than the SN windows.
So there can be little doubt the black male Rowland is describing is at the SN windows.
At this same time we know Bonnie Ray Williams is having his lunch on the 6th floor. He testifies he has his lunch by the third set of windows from the east side, but, as we have seen, there is copious amounts of evidence [from at least seven of the first officers on the scene] his lunch remains were initially found on top of the stacks of boxes that formed the SN.
So we have this situation - the lunch remains of Bonnie Ray are found by the SN window [these are the only lunch remains found on the 6th floor - to suggest otherwise displays a profound ignorance of the case], Bonnie Ray is having his lunch on the 6th floor around 12:15pm and Arnold Rowland sees the man with the rifle and the man at the SN window around this time.
There are two main scenarios possible:
There is a man with a rifle by the east window, BRW is having his lunch by the third set of windows and there is an unknown black male by the SN window at the same time.
OR
There is a man with a rifle by the east window and it is BRW sat by the SN window.
The fact that BRW's lunch remains are initially discovered by the SN window suggest the latter scenario.
But there is a problem with Rowland's description of the black male at the SN window.
Rowland has the impression the man is quite elderly, certainly more elderly than Bonnie Ray. But this should hardly dissuade us from the facts established by the testimonial and physical presented above.
What factors might have led Rowland to believe the man in the SN window appeared older?
The first is that Rowland wasn't really paying close attention to the man in the SN window, he was more interested in trying to find the man with the rifle to show his wife:
Mr. Specter: Will you describe with as much particularity as you can what that man looked like?
Mr. Rowland: It seemed to me an elderly Negro, that is about all. I didn't pay very much attention to him.The second factor is related to Rowland's distance from the TSBD and how this may have affected his judgement of the man's age. Rowland makes this comment when trying to estmate the age of the man with the rifle:
Mr. Specter: Were you able to form any opinion as to the age of that man?
Mr. Rowland: This is again just my estimation. He was--I think I remember telling my wife that he appeared in his early thirties. This could be obscured because of the distance, I mean.There is also the appearance of BRW that may have led to the over-estimation of his age.
Bonnie Ray has a very high forehead and a slightly receding hairline. He has very short, black hair which would've disappeared in front of a black background and when viewed from a position below he would have appeared balding. I believe this greatly contributed to Rowland's over-estimation of his age. The notion of someone balding is naturally associated with an older person. In the pic below it is easy to see how Rowland would have mistaken BRW for a balding, older man:
There is one last factor that may have influenced Rowland's opinion of the age of the man in the SN window. Rowland makes the following comment about the man:
Mr. Specter: Can you give us a more definite description as to complexion?
Mr. Rowland: Very dark or fairly dark, not real dark compared to some Negroes, but fairly dark. Seemed like his face was either--I can't recall detail but it was either very wrinkled or marked in some way.What is this feature of the man's face that Rowland is trying to remember?
I believe Rowland is referring to the fact BRW has a mustache. Although not unheard of for a young man to have a mustache, I imagine it would be another contributing factor to Rowland's over-estimation of BRW's age.
Rowland wasn't really paying attention to the man in the SN window, who was quite a distance away.
BRW has features that would certainly make him appear older from a distance, particularly to someone just getting a quick impression of him.
In no way should Rowland's explicable over-estimation of BRW's age detract from the evidence we have that BRW was having his lunch on the 6th floor at that time and that his lunch remains were initially discovered by the SN window.
LATER EDIT: It must also be noted that Rowland described features that accurately describe BRW.
Rowland describes the man as being very slender and that he was lighter skinned that other black men, two features clearly true of BRW.
