I feel it's important to have a thread highlighting how deceitful and untrustworthy the Warren Commission was in it's approach “to evaluate all the facts and circumstances surrounding the assassination”. Feel free to add your own examples. As the examples mount up a pattern of omission, manipulation and outright lying will emerge as the evidence is shaped to reflect a predetermined conclusion - that Oswald was the lone assassin.
I'm going to kick off with the fact that the lunch remains discovered on the 6th floor, which were attributed to Bonnie Ray Williams, were initially discovered on top of a stack of boxes that formed part of the 'back wall' of the Sniper's Nest and not 25-30 feet away, where they were photographed by Studebaker. At least six of the first officers on the scene in the southeast corner of the 6th floor describe seeing the lunch remains there, with at least three of them specifying that the remains were on top of the Sniper's Nest. The testimonies and various statements of these officers regarding this issue were simply ignored in the Warren Commission Report, as if they had never been made.
LUKE MOONEY (first officer on the scene)
I then went on back to the 6th floor and went direct to the far corner and then discovered a cubby hole which had been constructed out of cartons which protected it from sight and found where someone had been in an area of perhaps 2 feet surrounded by cardboard cartons of books. Inside this cubby hole affair was three more boxes so arranged as to provide what appeared to be a rest for a rifle. On one of these cartons was a half-eaten piece of chicken.
In his report, made on the 23rd, Mooney describes seeing a half eaten piece of chicken on one of the boxes that form part of the"cubby hole" (SN) in the southeast corner. Mooney expands on this in his WC testimony.
Mr. Mooney.
No, sir; I didn't see anything over in the corner. I did see this one partially eaten piece of fried chicken laying over to the right. It looked like he was facing–
Mr. Ball.
Tell us where you found it?
Mr. Mooney.
It would be laying over on the top of these other boxes.
...
Mr. Mooney.
If I recall correctly, the chicken bone could have been laying on this box or it might have been laying on this box right here.
Mr. Ball.
Make a couple of marks there to indicate where possibly the chicken bone was lying.
Mr. Mooney.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Ball.
Make two "X's". You think there was a chicken bone on the top of either one of those two?
Mr. Mooney.
There was one of them partially eaten. And there was a little small paper poke.
Mr. Ball.
By poke, you mean a paper sack?
Mr. Mooney.
Right.
Mr. Ball.
Where was that?
Mr. Mooney.
Saw the chicken bone was laying here. The poke was laying about a foot away from it.
Mr. Ball.
On the same carton?
Mr. Mooney.
Yes, sir. In close relation to each other. But as to what was in the sack--it was kind of together, and I didn't open it. I didn't put my hands on it to open it. I only saw one piece of chicken.
...
Senator Cooper.
How far was the chicken, the piece of chicken you saw, and the paper bag from the boxes near the window, and particularly the box that had the crease in it?
Mr. Mooney.
I would say they might have been 5 feet or something like that. He wouldn't have had to leave the location. He could just maybe take one step and lay it over there, if he was the one that put it there.
Senator Cooper.
You mean if someone had been standing near the box with the crease in it?
Mr. Mooney.
Yes, sir.
This is from the WC testimony of Sargeant Jerry Hill:
“There was the boxes. The boxes were stacked in sort of a three-sided shield.
That would have concealed from general view, unless somebody specifically walked up and looked over them, anyone who was in a sitting or crouched position between them and the window. In front of this window and to the left or east corner of the window, there were two boxes, cardboard boxes that had the words "Roller books," on them.
On top of the larger stack of boxes that would have been used for concealment. there was a chicken leg bone and a paper sack which appeared to have been about the size normally used for a lunch sack.”
Hill is clearly describing the same structure that Mooney describes as a "cubby hole" - a shield constructed of boxes designed to conceal the sniper's position from general view. He describes seeing a piece of chicken and a lunch sack on top of a stack of boxes, exactly as Mooney had. Hill clarifies that the lunch remains were on one of the stacks “used for concealment”, that is to say, one of the stacks used to create the back wall of the Sniper’s Nest.
Another officer who sees the piece of chicken on top of the boxes that form the back wall is Deputy Sheriff Harry Weatherford, except this time he describes the back wall as a "barricade":
"I came down to the 6th floor and while searching this floor, Deputy Luke Mooney said, "Here are some shells". I went over to where he was and saw three expended rifle shells, a sack on the floor and a partially eaten piece of chicken on top of one of the cartons which was used as a sort of barricade..."
Deputy Sheriff A D McCurley notices the same thing:
"We were searching the 6th floor when Deputy Sheriff Mooney...hollered that he had found the place where the assassin had fired from. I went over and saw three expended shells laying by the window that faced onto Elm Street, along with a half-eaten piece of chicken that was laying on a cardboard carton. It appeared as if the assassin had piled up a bunch of boxes to hide him from anyone who happened to come up on that floor…
All four men describe a partially eaten or half eaten piece of chicken on top of one of the boxes. Three of them describe seeing a small paper sack alongside it. Note that the half eaten piece of chicken is not inside the paper sack. The piece of chicken and lunch sack are on top of one of the stacks of boxes that form the back wall of the SN. Two other officers describe seeing these lunch remains but in more general terms. Although they see them in the southeast corner they don't specify that the remains were on top of the SN
During his WC testimony, motorcycle cop E D Brewer describes what he saw when he went over to the southeast corner to see where the shells had been discovered:
Mr. Belin
What window?
Mr. Brewer.
In the southeast corner of the building, facing south.
Mr. Belin.
See anything else there at the time by the window?
Mr. Brewer.
Paper lunch sack and some chicken bones or partially eaten piece of chicken, or a piece of chicken.
Mr. Belin.
Anything else?
Mr. Brewer.
A drink bottle.
Mr. Belin.
What bottle?
Mr. Brewer.
A cold drink bottle, soda pop bottle.
Motorcycle cop Clyde A Haygood describes seeing a lunch sack and a Dr Pepper bottle in the southeast corner, where the shells were located:
Mr. Belin.
Which window?
Mr. Haygood.
On the southeast corner.
Mr. Belin.
South side or east side?
Mr. Haygood.
On the southeast corner facing south.
Mr. Belin.
See any paper bags or anything around there?
Mr. Haygood.
Yes; there was a lunch bag there. You could call it a lunch bag.
Mr. Belin
Where was that?
Mr. Haygood.
There at the same location where the shells were.
Mr. Belin.
Was there a coke bottle or anything with it?
Mr. Haygood.
Dr. Pepper bottle.
What do all these officers have in common?
Hill, Weatherford, McCurley, Brewer and Haygood were all on the 6th floor when Mooney shouted out that he had discovered the location from where the shots had been taken.
These are the first responders, the first officers on the scene. When they go over to the southeast corner, they see the barricade/shield made out of boxes that would hide anyone taking a shot from this position [the back wall of the Sniper’s nest]. They also discover a partially eaten piece of chicken on the bone, a lunch sack and an empty bottle of Dr. Pepper.
If we take the collective statements of these first responders at face value then the piece of partially eaten chicken and lunch sack are on one of the stacks forming the back wall of the Sniper’s Nest. Somewhere in the same vicinity, presumably on the floor, was an empty Dr. Pepper bottle. Yet, by the time the crime scene detectives show up to take their pictures, the partially eaten piece of chicken is now inside the lunch sack and the lunch sack (along with the empty Dr. Pepper bottle) are now 25 ft away near the two-wheeler trolley.
All of these testimonies/statements leave zero doubt that the lunch remains were initially discovered on top of the SN.
This was in stark contrast to the testimonies of Crime Lab Detective Robert Studebaker and Bonnie Ray Williams who both testified that the lunch remains in question were 25 - 30 ft away by the two-wheeler trolley. Indeed, the remains were photographed in this location.
So, how did the Commission deal with this contradiction?
Unbelievably, they decided to ignore the various testimonies of the first responders. It was as if these officers had never made any kind of statement about finding the lunch remains on the Sniper’s Nest. It wasn’t as if the Commission weighed up the pros and cons of each side, they simply accepted Bonnie Ray’s testimony and completely ignored the contradictory testimonies/statements of Mooney, Hill, Weatherford, McCurley, Haygood and Brewer.
The whereabouts of the lunch remains were dealt with in great detail during the WC hearings, when Haygood, Brewer, Hill and, in particular, Mooney testified before the Warren Commission. The attorneys questioning these men were well aware of the contradiction between their testimonies and that of Bonnie Ray concerning the lunch remains. Joseph Ball, the attorney who questioned Luke Mooney, actually brought up Mooney’s testimony to Robert Studebaker, the crime scene detective:
Mr. Ball.
Now, did you see a chicken bone over near the boxes in the southeast corner, over near where you found the cartridges and the paper sack?
Mr. Studebaker.
I don't believe there was one there.
Mr. Ball.
You didn't see any. One witness, a deputy sheriff named Luke Looney said he found a piece of chicken partly eaten up on top of one of the boxes; did you see anything like that?
Mr. Studebaker.
No.
Mr. Ball.
Was anything like that called to your attention?
Mr. Studebaker.
I can't recall anything like that. It ought to be in one of these pictures, if it is.
And that was it! That was the extent to which this contradiction was acknowledged. Ball took Bonnie Ray’s testimony on the 24th March and the lunch remains were covered in detail. The very next day, 25th March, Ball questioned Mooney and once again the lunch remains were covered in detail only this time Mooney was saying they were on the back wall of the Sniper’s Nest and not 25 ft away by the two-wheeler, as Bonnie Ray had testified. Ball never said a word. The only time he brought it up was weeks later, when questioning Studebaker.
The Commission knew that Bonnie Ray’s lunch remains were found on top of the Sniper’s Nest but chose to ignore it because it was only going to lead to unwanted “inconsistencies”.
