Hello again Martin,
As you no doubt already know, it's my opinion that absolutely none of the evidence in the JFK and Tippit murder cases has been faked or manufactured or planted, and as such it is fairly obvious that Lee Harvey Oswald was guilty of the two murders he was charged with committing on 11/22/63.
I also fully realize, of course, that most (if not all) people who lean toward believing in a conspiracy in the Kennedy and Tippit cases think that it is highly likely that at least some (and probably most) of the physical evidence that points toward Oswald was in some way tainted by the police and/or FBI following the two murders. So that's a disagreement that is always going to exist and will likely never be reconciled to please both sides of the debate.
But in addition to the physical evidence itself, a good deal of attention also needs to be focused on Oswald's own actions and movements on both November 21st and 22nd---which are things that I don't think even the most imaginative conspiracy theorist on the planet could possibly believe were "manufactured" by the authorities).
And when those actions and movements are examined, it becomes quite clear that Mr. Oswald did several unusual things on each of those days, such as:
.... Going out to Ruth Paine's house in Irving, Texas, with Buell Frazier on a Thursday (instead of his normal Friday).
.... Telling a lie about why he wanted a ride to Irving on Thursday, Nov. 21st. (And it's fairly clear that Oswald's "curtain rods" story was, indeed, nothing but a lie.)
.... Bringing a large-ish paper package with him to work on 11/22 (and telling a lie to Frazier about the contents of that package).
.... Walking ahead of Frazier into the TSBD Building on the morning of 11/22.
.... Asking for an elevator to be sent back up to him on an upper floor of the TSBD at about 11:45 AM on 11/22. (Now, why do you suppose Oswald wanted that to be done?)
.... Leaving the TSBD Building within about three minutes of the Presidential shooting and then proceeding to walk several blocks east on Elm Street in order to get on a bus that he only stayed on for a matter of a few minutes before getting off and catching a cab at the Greyhound bus terminal (which was likely the only time in his life that Lee Oswald paid for a taxicab ride while in the United States of America).
.... And after getting into William Whaley's cab on 11/22, where does Oswald tell the driver to drop him off? Not at the front doorstep of 1026 N. Beckley (which Whaley could have easily done), but instead Oswald tells Whaley to drop him off three whole blocks beyond his Beckley roominghouse.
.... Oswald then backtracks to his rented room, grabs his revolver and a jacket, and quickly leaves the roominghouse.
... Oswald then shoots and kills police officer J.D. Tippit on Tenth Street.
(Continual reminder for conspiracy theorists ----> Click Here.)
.... Oswald is next seen acting "funny" and "scared" while he has his back turned to the wailing police cars on Jefferson Boulevard in front of Johnny Brewer's shoe store.
.... Then it's on to the Texas Theater for LHO, as he sneaks in without bothering to pay for the cheap ticket.
.... Oswald then pulls his gun on police officer McDonald inside the theater.
.... And the comments made by Oswald at the time of his arrest in the theater certainly don't conjure up visions of an "innocent patsy" either.
So, as we can see, Oswald's movements certainly can't be ignored or swept under the rug---because, in my opinion, Lee Oswald's own movements and actions on Nov. 21 and Nov. 22 add up to the actions of a guilty person.
And when we add the physical evidence (plus the Tippit eyewitnesses) to Oswald's own guilty-like actions, then the only conceivable way to exonerate Mr. Oswald for the murders of John F. Kennedy and J.D. Tippit would be to do what most conspiracy theorists do, and that is to make the following bold claim (sans any proof at all):
All of that evidence against Lee Harvey Oswald was fake!
Also....
The chain of possession/custody for Bullet CE399 is, in my opinion, a lot stronger than most conspiracists believe it is. And it got even stronger in June 2022 when researcher Steve Roe discovered Elmer Todd's initials on the bullet:
http://jfk-archives.blogspot.com/2022/06/the-initials-of-elmer-todd-are-on-ce399.html
More discussion on CE399's chain of custody HERE and HERE.
Lots more proof of Lee Harvey Oswald's guilt at the link below:
http://Oswald-Is-Guilty.blogspot.com
Hi David,
Some of Oswald's actions and movements are indeed not easily understood or explained. Having said that, they are most certainly open to several interpretations depending on a person's (biased) point of view.
.... Going out to Ruth Paine's house in Irving, Texas, with Buell Frazier on a Thursday (instead of his normal Friday).
.... Telling a lie about why he wanted a ride to Irving on Thursday, Nov. 21st. (And it's fairly clear that Oswald's "curtain rods" story was, indeed, nothing but a lie.)
I know that the LN explanation is that he went to Irving to collect his rifle, but IMO there are several things questionable about that narrative. First of all, we don't even know for sure that there was a rifle there. The only person who allegedly saw a rifle wrapped in a blanket in Ruth Paine's garage is Marina, and that was about a week after her return from New Orleans, which puts it in late September. After that people have seen the blanket, but nobody has seen the rifle. I personally find it hard to believe that Oswald would surrender the rifle he allegedly used in the attempted murder of General Walker to a third party like Ruth Paine and have it placed at a location he would have difficulty to get access to it. Secondly, Oswald only visited Marina in Irving a few occassions after he returned to Dallas, which means that if he went every Friday after he started working at the TSBD (on October 16th) and could drive down with Frazier, there were only four visits, because we know that he didn't go on Friday 11/15/63. That, IMO, can not really be seen as a pattern, but be that as it may, we know that Marina and Ruth Paine both believed that he came to Irving to make up with Marina and ask her to live with him again. Could he have done that on the following Friday? Sure, but it could also be that he went on Thursday so that he could have the Friday to look for an appartment, if Marina would say yes.
And then there is this to consider; If Oswald did indeed go to Irving to pick up the rifle, he must have done so because he had already made up his mind to try and kill Kennedy, right? But if that's the case, then why would he try so desperately to convince Marina to start living with him again? I know that some LNs claim that Oswald didn't decide to kill Kennedy until after Marina had turned him down and that him leaving money and his wedding ring would prove that, but that also doesn't make any sense, because those same LNs also claim that he made the paper bag at the TSBD, no later than Thursday, especially to conceal the weapon in. None of it makes much sense, if you ask me.
As for the curtain rods story, that can easily be taken out of context. Oswald wasn't the most talkative person and I don't think he would have told the then 19 year Frazier about his marital problems with Marina, and risk that Frazier would tell somebody else at work. So, although strange, it can be he told the curtain rods story to avoid having to tell Frazier the real reason for his visit on Thursday instead the "normal" Friday.
.... Bringing a large-ish paper package with him to work on 11/22 (and telling a lie to Frazier about the contents of that package).
.... Walking ahead of Frazier into the TSBD Building on the morning of 11/22.
Again, it depends in which context you place this. Although the LNs assume that Oswald carried the bag that was later found at the TSBD, it is in no way sure that is actually the case. Frazier (and to some extent Randle) described a bag that was smaller and Frazier has, to this day, always been adamant that he saw Oswald carry a different type of bag, between the cup of his hand and under his armpit. IMO, we can only speculate about what was in the bag and it totally depends on the content of the bag whether it is in fact significant in this case or not. In any event, I see really nothing suspicious in Oswald walking ahead of Frazier, who stayed behind briefly to charge the battery of his car.
.... Asking for an elevator to be sent back up to him on an upper floor of the TSBD at about 11:45 AM on 11/22. (Now, why do you suppose Oswald wanted that to be done?)
I have no idea why it is significant that Oswald asked the elevator to be sent back up some 45 minutes prior to the shooting. You really have to explain to me why you have included this in your list.
.... Leaving the TSBD Building within about three minutes of the Presidential shooting and then proceeding to walk several blocks east on Elm Street in order to get on a bus that he only stayed on for a matter of a few minutes before getting off and catching a cab at the Greyhound bus terminal (which was likely the only time in his life that Lee Oswald paid for a taxicab ride while in the United States of America).
.... And after getting into William Whaley's cab on 11/22, where does Oswald tell the driver to drop him off? Not at the front doorstep of 1026 N. Beckley (which Whaley could have easily done), but instead Oswald tells Whaley to drop him off three whole blocks beyond his Beckley roominghouse.
.... Oswald then backtracks to his rented room, grabs his revolver and a jacket, and quickly leaves the roominghouse.
The fact that Oswald left the TSBD within about 3 minutes is indeed a head scratcher. It seems an unlikely thing to do if he was a completely innocent man. However, I have never believed that Oswald was completely innocent, for the simple reason that it is near impossible (IMO) to frame somebody who is not somehow involved in what was going on. Some CTs claim that Oswald was indeed involved in some sort of scheme, but at a low level, and that, after Kennedy was shot, he realized that he had been set up as the patsy and that this was the real reason for him to try to get to the roominghouse as quickly as possible.
All this is of course highly speculative, because we will never know what actually was on Oswald's mind after his encounter with Baker, which btw I don't understand why it happened in the first place. If you accept that he came down the stairs from the 6th, then he was already through the door at the 2nd floor before Truly (and Baker) came up. So, why would he wait in the lunchroom (where Baker saw him looking calm and collected), when he simply could have turned right and walk through the office space to the front entrance? It doesn't make sense!
Having said that, the possibility of an alternative patsy scenario means that you can't just say he left so quickly because he was guilty of firing the shots at Kennedy. The patsy scenario also could explain why he asked Whaley to drop him off three blocks beyond the roominghouse. What I do not understand about the Whaley encounter is the fact that Oswald actually offered his cab to a lady. Now why would he do that, if he was indeed on the run?
... Oswald then shoots and kills police officer J.D. Tippit on Tenth Street.
(Continual reminder for conspiracy theorists ----> Click Here.)
This is where we part ways. On the page you linked to, you claim that it is impossible that somebody else, using Oswald's revolver and looking like Oswald, could have killed Tippit and then somehow handed the revolver to the real Oswald. Playing devil's advocate again, I would say there is a major flaw in your narrative. Although the revolver that Oswald allegedly ordered from Seaport Traders is apparently indeed the revolver that was used to kill Tippit, that doesn't automatically make it Oswald's revolver. When placed in a conspiratorial setting, the story could well be that Oswald was manipulated in some way to order the revolver and the rifle for some person using the Hidell name, who was only known to Oswald and thus always stayed deep in the background. Admittedly there is no evidence for such a person existing, but that's because it was never investigated and absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence. During interrogation [if the reports are to be believed] Oswald apparently did admit that he carried a revolver when he was arrested, but he said he had bought it months earlier in Fort Worth. This was also - as far as I know - never investigated.
Far fetched? Maybe, but not impossible. The biggest problem I have with the revolver now in evidence is that there is no persuasive chain of custody for it. Hill was given the revolver and was told it was Oswald's, just like Gus Rose was given a wallet (containing the fake Hidell ID) by a never identified officer at the police station. Hill did not instantly present the weapon to the evidence room, but instead allegedly carried it around for some considerable time, before asking some officers in the police lunchroom (iirc) to initial it. Remarkably, a similar thing happened with the gray jacket as well. In both cases the officers initialed the revolver and jacket well after Oswald's arrest.
And let's not forget that shortly after the assassination police officers arrested a man who looked similar to Oswald. If there was one, that fooled the officers, there can also be another who looked enough to fool the witnesses who later identified Oswald, but of which most only saw the killer for a few seconds, and I know from personal experience, it's not so easy to be absolutely sure of an identification. I was once witness to a robbery and when police asked me, only a half hour later, if I could identify the man I had to say that I didn't think so because it all happened extremely fast.
I am also not convinced that Oswald had enough time to get from the roominghouse to 10th street in the first place. And there is, of course, of the splice in the DPD radio recording at the exact moment when Tippit is supposed to have been killed.
So, things may not be so straight forward and conclusive as you make them out to be.
.... Oswald is next seen acting "funny" and "scared" while he has his back turned to the wailing police cars on Jefferson Boulevard in front of Johnny Brewer's shoe store.
.... Then it's on to the Texas Theater for LHO, as he sneaks in without bothering to pay for the cheap ticket.
The question that needs to be asked here is why would Oswald act in a way that draws attention to him? This is the same man who Baker described as being calm and collected after Kennedy was killed.
.... Oswald then pulls his gun on police officer McDonald inside the theater.
According to McDonalds, but nobody else saw Oswald raise his revolver.
.... And the comments made by Oswald at the time of his arrest in the theater certainly don't conjure up visions of an "innocent patsy" either.
I'm not sure what comments you mean.
So, as we can see, Oswald's movements certainly can't be ignored or swept under the rug---because, in my opinion, Lee Oswald's own movements and actions on Nov. 21 and Nov. 22 add up to the actions of a guilty person.
Nobody, at least not me, is ignoring Oswald's movements or sweeping them under the rug. You are of course entitled to your opinion, but in my view there is enough reason for doubting that conclusion.
Also....
The chain of possession/custody for Bullet CE399 is, in my opinion, a lot stronger than most conspiracists believe it is. And it got even stronger in June 2022 when researcher Steve Roe discovered Elmer Todd's initials on the bullet:
Which means that the chain of custody from CE399 actually started in the FBI lab in Washington, when it should have started by the person who found it or the first officer the item was handed to. SS agent Johnson had studied Criminal Justice and thus was aware how to correctly handle evidence. Just putting it in a pocket of his jacket is most certainly not part of such a procedure.
Todd's initials on the bullet only mean that it was the bullet he received in a closed envelope from Secret Service chief Rowley. It does not mean it was the same bullet that Tomlinson found.