Author Dale Myers (With Malice - Lee Harvey Oswald and the Murder of Officer J.D. Tippit) puts forth the idea that Lee Oswald was walking east on Tenth Street toward the area of Marsalis and Jefferson. Oswald had a bus transfer in his pocket and the only bus stop in the entire Oak Cliff area which this transfer was good for was the bus stop at the intersection of Jefferson and Marsalis. The transfer was stamped for 1:00 making it good until 1:15 (or the next available bus).
Myers asks: "Had Oswald already been to the bus stop but was scared off?"
I have now come to believe that Oswald, when he left the rooming house on North Beckley (after grabbing his revolver and jacket), had the destination of the bus stop at Marsalis and Jefferson in his mind. From the rooming house on North Beckley, walking east on Tenth Street toward Marsalis, Oswald was walking the most direct line to the bus stop. Again, his transfer was good at that particular bus stop until 1:15, or the next available bus. In With Malice, Myers states that the Lancaster Road bus was scheduled to arrive at the stop at Jefferson and Marsalis at 1:30 and "would have taken Oswald to Greyhound bus connections through Laredo, TX and on to Mexico".
According to Myers, it was at 1:17:41 when passerby T.F. Bowley got on Tippit's patrol car radio to report to the police dispatcher that a police officer had been shot and killed. The Dallas County Sheriff's Department (no doubt monitoring the city police radio) put out the same information over their airwaves. Shortly after Bowley's report, a Sheriff's Deputy (unit 109) reported to his dispatcher that he was at the intersection of Tenth and Jefferson, just one block east of the bus stop located at Marsalis and Jefferson; the same stop which for Oswald's transfer was good.
Back to the question put forth by Myers. "Had Oswald already been to the bus stop but was scared off?"
Myers' point is that if a Deputy patrol car was near that bus stop shortly AFTER Tippit was shot, then maybe he was there BEFORE the shooting, as well.
Perhaps Oswald first arrived at Tenth and Patton (from the rooming house on his way to the bus stop at Marsalis and Jefferson) at 1:11.
The Secret Service and the FBI reconstructed Oswald's steps (with the help of bus driver Cecil McWatters and cab driver William Whaley) in an attempt to determine the absolute earliest that Oswald could have reached the rooming house.
Based on McWatters' statement of where it was that Oswald boarded the bus (we know Oswald boarded that bus because he had McWatters' specific bus transfer and McWatters said he issued that transfer to only one woman and only one man), Oswald walked about seven blocks east (into the downtown area) after he left the Depository within three minutes of the shooting.
"So I gave her a transfer and opened the door and as she was going out, the gentleman I had picked up about two blocks (back) asked for a transfer and got off at the same place in the middle of the block where the lady did. It was the intersection near Lamar Street, it was near Poydras and Lamar Street." -- Cecil McWatters
They concluded, based on what McWatters told them (along with the Secret Service agents and FBI agents walking the route in an average time of six and a half minutes), that Oswald boarded the bus around 12:40 near the intersection of Field St. and Elm St. and then, after being on the bus for no more than four minutes, Oswald got off the bus near Lamar St. and Elm St. (asking for the transfer as he got off the bus).
So now we have Oswald leaving the bus around 12:44.
Oswald then walked three to four short blocks to the Greyhound station where he boarded Whaley's cab. This has Oswald entering the cab around 12:48.
They then, with Whaley, reconstructed the cab ride from the Greyhound to the intersection of Beckley and Neely (Oswald got out of the cab on Beckley just north of the intersection with Neely). They concluded (using a stopwatch) that the cab ride took five minutes and thirty seconds.
So now we have Oswald exiting Whaley's cab on Beckley at 12:53-12:54.
Still using the stopwatch, they concluded that it was a five minute and forty-five second walk from the point Oswald exited the cab back to the rooming house.
I think Oswald got to the rooming house at 12:59 and was back in his room just long enough to grab a jacket (per housekeeper Earlene Roberts) before hurrying out the front door, zipping up the jacket as he went out the door.
In March of 2020, along with Frank Badalson, Fred Litwin, Scott Maudsley and FJ James, I walked from the bus stop outside the rooming house on North Beckley to the intersection of Tenth and Patton and did it in twelve minutes. Therefore, I believe Oswald first arrived at that intersection at 1:11.
About two blocks east of Tenth and Patton, Tenth Street curves drastically to the right before intersecting first with Marsalis and then with Jefferson. If one is walking east on Tenth Street from the spot where Tippit was gunned down, one cannot see any point east of Tenth Street's curve until one actually arrives at that curve. Point being, I believe Sheriff's Deputy unit 109 was near Tenth and Jefferson (remember, unit 109 did report from that location shortly after Tippit was shot) and Oswald, walking east along Tenth with the goal of reaching the bus stop at Marsalis and Jefferson, only notices this patrol car once he reaches the curve on Tenth Street. Before reaching the curve on Tenth Street, Oswald cold not have seen anything east of that curve. I believe Oswald's goal was to walk east on Tenth to Marsalis and then south on Marsalis to Jefferson where the bus stop was located. I believe he reached this curve on Tenth and once he was able to see several blocks to the east, he sees unit 109 in the area three short blocks down on Tenth.
Oswald has been on foot, bus and taxi for the past forty plus minutes. He has no idea if his face has been plastered all over television or if his name was put out over the police radio airwaves by this point (after all, he did leave his rifle behind and was missing from the building from where the President was shot). Oswald has now reached the curve along Tenth and sees unit 109 a few blocks down. Not wanting to chance walking any closer to this Deputy patrol car and having his face recognized, Oswald simply reverses direction, now walking west on Tenth and back to where he had just came from. Incidentally, Oswald being worried that his face and/or name has already been put out there for the world to see most likely had a lot to do with why he was so quick to gun down Tippit once Tippit got out of the patrol car.
The first intersection Oswald would then come to is Tenth and Denver. Bill Smith and Jimmy Burt were out in the front yard of the house on the northeast corner of that intersection. Burt said he saw a man walking west along Tenth, cross over Denver and continue along Tenth (Al Chapman interview with Jimmy Burt, 1968). Shortly after seeing this man walking, Burt said he and Smith noticed a police car pull alongside a man who was walking on the sidewalk almost down to the next intersection (Tenth and Patton). Burt said this was the same man he had seen moments earlier walking west on Tenth. Burt stated that they were about to go inside the house when they heard the gun shots. Smith testified to the Warren Commission that he saw Tippit fall.
On Saturday May 4, 2024, I was in Oak Cliff, TX with Frank Badalson and Dave Ledbetter. The purpose of this particular visit to Oak Cliff was to perform time trials of the movements of Lee Oswald (as well as Burt and Smith). We wanted to try to get into Oswald's head as to where he was heading both before encountering Patrolman J.D. Tippit and after murdering Tippit.
With a digital stopwatch, Frank Badalson timed me walking from the spot where Oswald stood as he shot Tippit, east along Tenth Street, crossing over Denver and stopping at the point where Tenth Street makes it's drastic curve. Walking at a pretty good clip (after all, I assume Oswald was walking with a purpose) but not running, I reached the curve in two minutes and eight seconds. Therefore, it would take four minutes and sixteen seconds to get from the spot where Oswald was standing when he fired the shots to the curve and then back to encounter Tippit. So, as noted earlier, if Oswald originally arrived at Tenth and Patton at 1:11:00, then he encounters Tippit at 1:15:16.
This explains how Oswald comes to be seen walking WEST on Tenth Street, being at the shooting scene in time to shoot Tippit without having to actually have come from Marsalis (coming from Marsalis would have made it nearly impossible to get to the shooting scene in time).
Allowing for a brief fifteen second conversation between Tippit and Oswald, I walked and then trotted (per Domingo Benavides' Warren Commission testimony) from the spot Oswald was standing when he fired the shots to the corner of Tenth and Patton. This took a fraction over nineteen seconds. So we have Oswald cutting through the front yard of the Davis house on the corner at 1:15:50.
From the corner, I then did a slow run down Patton (per Ted Callaway's 11/22/63 affidavit) to Jefferson. This took fifty-nine seconds (after also noting the spot where Oswald was when Callaway hollered out to him, which took me thirty seconds to reach). So we have Oswald reaching Patton and Jefferson at 1:16:49.
Next, I walked west along Jefferson (per Warren Reynolds' Warren Commission testimony) to the location of the Ballew's Texaco Station (now Santos Muffler). It took me one minute and eleven seconds from the corner of Patton and Jefferson to the Texaco. I went around to the back of the Texaco to the site where Oswald ditched his jacket. This took twenty-two seconds. So we have Oswald in the parking lot behind the Texaco ditching his jacket at 1:18:22.
Bowley has already reported the shooting on the patrol car radio to the police dispatcher (Murray Jackson) and the ambulance would be dispatched from the Dudley-Hughes Funeral Home directly across the street from the Texaco station in another thirty-seven seconds (1:18:59).
From the spot of the jacket dump, I walked west to where the alley meets Crawford. This took nine seconds. So Oswald is in the alley where it meets Crawford at 1:18:31.
Oswald is last seen in the alley behind the Texaco station by Burt and Smith. So Badalson, Ledbetter and myself decided to do a time trial for Burt and Smith. In the 1968 interview, Burt told Chapman that after the shooting, from the front yard of the house at Tenth and Denver, they went to the scene of the shooting, stayed momentarily (he never said just how long exactly) and then took off on foot in search of the killer. They had seen him go to the corner of Tenth and Patton and turn south down Patton. Burt told Chapman that they had it in their minds to go all the way down to Jefferson but when they got halfway down Patton, they looked west along the alley and noticed the man in the alley "almost down to the next street". This puts the killer in the alley behind the Texaco at the point where the alley meets Crawford.
I wanted to see how the Burt/Smith timeline (which has them going from their front yard almost one block east of the shooting scene to the shooting scene and then halfway down Patton to the alley where they would see the killer in the alley almost down to the next block) compares to the Oswald timeline at the point when Oswald is in the alley behind the Texaco.
Remember, our time trials have Oswald behind the Texaco where the alley meets Crawford at 1:18:31.
From the Burt/Smith front yard at Tenth and Denver, I did a fast walk/slow trot to the spot where Tippit fell on the street. Trying to get into the minds of Burt and Smith, I would definitely walk very fast, even trot, to the spot where the police officer was lying in the street (once I saw the killer disappear around the corner). I continued on the Burt/Smith route to the corner of Tenth and Patton and then halfway down Patton to the alley. Total time from the Burt/Smith front yard to where the alley meets Patton was two minutes and fourteen seconds. Recall, our timeline has Oswald disappearing around the corner after firing the shots at 1:15:50. If Burt and Smith left the front yard immediately, with no "hanging around time" near the shooting scene, they reach the point where the alley meets Patton at 1:18:04. Recall, we have Oswald in the alley behind the Texaco at 1:18:31. For this to fit, Burt and Smith hang around the shooting scene for about twenty-seven seconds before taking off after the killer. It makes sense that they wouldn't have hung around the shooting scene for long, for once you've hung around too long, there's no sense in taking off on foot in search of the killer.
Next, we wanted to get into the mind of Oswald and where he would go after ditching the jacket behind the Texaco station (and how long it would take him to get there). The point where the alley meets Crawford is halfway up Crawford between Jefferson and Tenth. To orient ourselves, Oswald is on the sidewalk where the alley meets Crawford and he can go in three directions; up Crawford to Tenth, down Crawford to Jefferson, or west through the alley on the other side of Crawford. We concluded that he certainly would not go back up to Tenth Street. He had just shot a police officer on Tenth Street less than one and a half blocks back to the east. We also decided that he wouldn't have went down to Jefferson. It was a very busy street (certainly one of the busiest in Oak Cliff) and both Robert Brock (a mechanic) and Mary Brock (Robert's wife) had seen him run past them in front of the Texaco station right there on Jefferson moments earlier. Also, Oswald was followed along Jefferson by both Warren Reynolds and Pat Patterson, who were at the Johnnie Reynolds Motor Co. at the corner of Jefferson and Patton. Was Oswald aware that the two men were following him from a safe distance? Why chance it? So we were left to conclude that Oswald fled west through the alley that runs parallel between Jefferson and Tenth.
Next, from the alley's entrance with Crawford (after ditching the jacket), going west in the alley (assuming Oswald was walking fast but not running so as to not draw attention to himself), it took us one minute and forty-two seconds through the alley to reach Storey Street. This has Oswald in the alley at Storey at 1:20:13.
We stayed in the alley walking west toward Cumberland Street. It took us one minute and thirty-five seconds to reach Cumberland. So Oswald has reached the alley's entrance with Cumberland at 1:21:48.
Proceeding further west along the alley for another block, we came to Beckley Avenue. It took us forty-eight seconds to reach Beckley from Cumberland. So we have Oswald at the alley's entrance with Beckley at 1:22:36.
Now, we know that at some point Oswald has to get down to Jefferson to be seen by Johnny Brewer out in front of Hardy's Shoes. Who knows when Oswald decided to hide inside the Texas Theater. My personal theory is that he didn't really know where he was going (more on this in a moment) as long as it was west, west and more west (further and further away from the Tippit shooting scene). You just shot a police officer. You headed west immediately after shooting him. Obviously then, you're going to keep going west. Right?
From the alley's entrance with Beckley, still walking west through the alley, we reached Zang Boulevard in one minute and fifty-seven seconds. This would have Oswald at the alley's entrance with Zang at 1:24:33.
I don't believe Oswald considered the theater until he reached Zang. My own personal opinion is that Oswald arrived at Zang and remembered that the theater is just a half block from Zang and Jefferson. From the alley's entrance with Zang, we turned left (south) onto Zang to Jefferson and then right (west) onto Jefferson and then to the recessed entrance of 213 West Jefferson Boulevard, what used to be Hardy's Shoe Store. This trek (from the alley's entrance on Zang to Hardy's Shoe Store) took us one minute and thirty-nine seconds. This has Oswald standing in the recessed area of Hardy's Shoe Store at 1:26:12.
Johnny Brewer testified that Oswald ducked into the shoe store's "lobby" when one of the police cars, sirens blaring, was on Jefferson coming from the east heading west (toward the shoe store). Brewer testified that the police car made a U-turn at Zang (before ever reaching the shoe store). This is when Oswald left the shoe store lobby and proceeded west along Jefferson toward the theater. Brewer said he could still hear the sirens as the police car was heading away.
We lingered in the shoe store "lobby" for what we considered a reasonable amount of time (to account for Oswald stepping inside to avoid the approaching police car) and then we walked from the lobby entrance of 213 West Jefferson (the shoe store, now a quinceañera/bridal dress shop) to the Texas Theater's entrance and turned off of the sidewalk into the theater's entrance. This took us one minute and fifty-one seconds. So, according to our time trials, Oswald enters the Texas Theater at 1:28:03.
Now....
Again, Brewer told the Warren Commission that once the police car made it's U-turn on Jefferson at Zang, that is when Oswald left the shoe store lobby to head toward the theater. The patrol car was now heading away from Oswald's location. So what would make the police car, with sirens blaring, make a sudden U-turn on Jefferson? You have to remember, the Dallas Police were frantically searching for the cop-killer. Many were about to enter the Abundant Life Temple (the backside of the building butted up against the alley located behind the Texaco Station where the killer was last seen headed; per Robert and Mary Brock). At 1:35, the police dispatcher puts out that the suspect is cornered at the Jefferson Branch Library. The law enforcement personnel who were about to enter the Abundant Life Temple made a beeline for the library. This certainly would cause a patrol car cruising west on Jefferson toward Zang (the opposite direction as the library) to make an immediate U-turn and head directly to the library located on Jefferson back to the east.
The patrol car, cruising at a normal clip west on Jefferson, was undoubtedly looking for the cop-killer walking the streets. This officer probably crossed the intersection with Beckley with the sirens off; he had no reason for the sirens to be blaring at this point. It is only after he crossed Beckley that the call comes through over the police radio that the suspect is cornered at the library. This is when the officer, having not yet reached Jefferson's intersection with Zang, turns on the sirens in order to make his U-turn at the next intersection (Zang). Oswald, about three-quarters of a block down, suddenly hears the loud sirens and steps into the nearest store entrance, which happened to be the shoe store that Brewer was working.
Also, the 1:35 dispatch call to the library synchronizes up with Julia Postal (the ticket lady at the Texas Theater) hearing the announcement of JFK's death made over KLIF radio at 1:35, stepping out from the ticket booth and seeing Oswald approaching from the east.
It's these TWO events (the library dispatch call and the KLIF radio announcement) that pin down the time Oswald leaves Hardy's Shoe Store.
Getting back to my opinion that Oswald really did not have any idea where he was going as he proceeded west through the alleys. I believe Oswald stopped at least once or twice (while in the alleys) to gather his thoughts, to think about where to go and what to do next, taking nine minutes total of "hiding out" time in the alleys. The reason I believe this to be true is because he was in no hurry; he was not heading straight to the theater. If Oswald headed straight for the theater (from the Tippit shooting scene) without stopping, then he would have arrived at the shoe store on Jefferson well before 1:35 when a police car, sirens blaring, had reason to make it's sudden U-turn on Jefferson just a half block from the shoe store.
I believe Oswald entered the Texas Theater at 1:37. Sergeant Gerald Hill reported to the dispatcher that Oswald was arrested and they were en route to the police station at 1:52.
Recall that our time trials have Oswald ducking into the lobby of the shoe store at 1:26:12. However, at 1:35/1:36, the police begin racing to the library on Jefferson. This discrepancy suggests (to me anyway) that Oswald hid out in the alleys for nine minutes total and in reality, arrived at the shoe store "lobby" at 1:35/1:36. Because of these time trials performed by myself, Frank Badalson and Dave Ledbetter, along with the information provided by Dale Myers regarding the 1:35 dispatch broadcast, I wholeheartedly believe that Oswald hid out in the alleys for nine minutes.
