Who Killed J.D. Tippit?

[Bill Brown]

And the wallet is in fact open when the plain clothes man puts his finger on in. Are you blind or just a liar?

...the plain clothes man puts his finger on in.

Capt. George Doughty.

[Bill Brown]

There are reasons from that clip to support the conclusion that this is Tippit's notebook or citation book.  Look at how they are holding it.  Vertically as though reading from a note page.  In fact a page from the object appears to blow up at the very end from the wind.  That suggests it has paper pages like a notebook or citation book rather than a wallet.  In addition, they appear to be reading something from the object even tracing it with a finger.  If they were taking down a witness ID, they would be writing that information down.  But there is no indication that they are writing anything down from the object.  I've never seen anyone asked by the police for an ID to hand their entire wallet to the policeman.  Typically, they would remove the requested item (e.g. license) and hand it to them.  I'm not saying this is conclusive of the issue, but it lends itself in that direction.  What it is not, however, is a wallet left at the scene.

Great post, Richard.  I agree.

I've always felt it kind of odd the way Doughty traces a line of something with his finger.  While it still could be something one does to a particular item inside a wallet, it seems (in my opinion) that this "finger tracing" is an act one would more likely perform if it were some sort of note pad/citation booklet.

[Bill Brown]

For years LNs claimed it was Tippit's wallet, until Marie Tippit proved them wrong by confirming that she has her husband's wallet, which was given to her at the hospital. So, now it's the next best thing; "it's Tippit's citation book or some bystander's wallet. In other words, I'm just guessing what it could be!

For years LNs claimed it was Tippit's wallet...

I don't believe this is true at all.  Most didn't even know about Reiland's footage until very late in the game.

Can you cite for anyone ever claiming the wallet belonged to Tippit?

[Martin Weidmann]

I don't believe this is true at all.  Most didn't even know about Reiland's footage until very late in the game.

Can you cite for anyone ever claiming the wallet belonged to Tippit?

Can you cite for anyone ever claiming the wallet belonged to Tippit?

Not from memory. If you don't mind waiting, I'll gladly go through my files as soon as I have the time.

[Martin Weidmann]

Great post, Richard.  I agree.

I've always felt it kind of odd the way Doughty traces a line of something with his finger.  While it still could be something one does to a particular item inside a wallet, it seems (in my opinion) that this "finger tracing" is an act one would more likely perform if it were some sort of note pad/citation booklet.

And how do you explain FBI Bob Barrett saying that it was a wallet?

[Bill Brown]

"I'll tell you one thing, there was no billfold at the scene.  If there was, there would have been too many people who would have seen it." -- Ted Callaway (interview with Dale Myers)

Callaway, Jez, Poe, Kinsley and Butler.... all tended to the body of Tippit and none of them saw a wallet.

[Bill Brown]

What would interest me is who is the officer in uniform holding the wallet? Could that be Croy?

Bud Owens.

Thanks.

Do you know if Owens was ever asked about the wallet?

To the best of my knowledge, Owens never said a thing about any wallet.  There's no record of him talking about a wallet.

[Bill Brown]

And how do you explain FBI Bob Barrett saying that it was a wallet?

My opinion is that Barrett (who went to the Texas Theater and then straight to headquarters after Oswald's arrest) saw Oswald's arrest wallet while inside Westbrook's office back at headquarters.  This is where the arrest wallet was for a while.  Barrett said he went there to assist with the arrest report.  I believe this is when Westbrook approached Barrett with the Oswald/Hidell names; back at headquarters.

I believe this for two reasons.

First, there are no reports filed by Westbrook or Barrett of any wallet being discussed at the scene at Tenth and Patton.  Barrett filed a report that weekend, but never mentioned any wallet.  My opinion is that if a wallet had been discussed at the scene with Oswald/Hidell identifications inside, it would have been mentioned in such a report.

Second, my opinion is that if a wallet was found near Tippit's body (or the patrol car), then the name(s) of the wallet's owner would have put out over the police radio to the dispatcher for the purposes of placing an APB on this person.  Just like no wallet mentioned in any of the reports of those "involved", no APB was ever put out over the police air waves.