Oswald, Depository To Rooming House

[Bill Brown]

The Secret Service and the FBI reconstructed Oswald's steps (with the help of Cecil McWatters and William Whaley) in an attempt the 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 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 between 12:58 and 1:00 and was back in his room just long enough to grab a jacket before hurrying out the door, zipping up the jacket as he went out the door.

[Gerry Down]

12:58 for arriving back at the rooming house is entirely possible. This would make it easier for Oswald to get to 10th and Patton in time for the Tippit shooting. It may even, at a stretch, enable Oswald to go the long way around and reach the Tippit shooting sight from the east side of 10th street rather than the west as the WC went by.

[Martin Weidmann]

12:58 for arriving back at the rooming house is entirely possible. This would make it easier for Oswald to get to 10th and Patton in time for the Tippit shooting. It may even, at a stretch, enable Oswald to go the long way around and reach the Tippit shooting sight from the east side of 10th street rather than the west as the WC went by.

Except Earlene Roberts said he arrived just afer 1 PM

At 5.03 minutes in this timeline special Roberts tells us Oswald entered the rooming house after 1 PM

[Steve M. Galbraith]

The Secret Service and the FBI reconstructed Oswald's steps (with the help of Cecil McWatters and William Whaley) in an attempt the 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 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 between 12:58 and 1:00 and was back in his room just long enough to grab a jacket before hurrying out the door, zipping up the jacket as he went out the door.

Bill: Do you know where Oswald's "usual" bus stop was located when he left work or arrived by bus each morning? I read (I believe in Bugliosi) that it was on Houston Street just around the corner from the TSBD?

Also: Were there any bus stops between the route he took from the TSBD to the bus he boarded? In other words, couldn't he have walked several blocks to a bus stop and simply waited for one? No need to keep walking and then pound on the door to get onto one.

[Bill Brown]

12:58 for arriving back at the rooming house is entirely possible. This would make it easier for Oswald to get to 10th and Patton in time for the Tippit shooting. It may even, at a stretch, enable Oswald to go the long way around and reach the Tippit shooting sight from the east side of 10th street rather than the west as the WC went by.

Absolutely.

[Martin Weidmann]

Absolutely.

It's always handy when you have a unreliable witness to manipulate time estimates to fit your narrative, isn't it?

[John Mytton]

Except Earlene Roberts said he arrived just afer 1 PM

At 5.03 minutes in this timeline special Roberts tells us Oswald entered the rooming house after 1 PM

"I had the television on listening to...trying to find out what happened to President Kennedy when he came in, it must have been after 1 o'clock because..." - Earlene Roberts

JohnM

[John Mytton]

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 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

Before a CT claims the Bus Transfer was pristine, it wasn't, it's been obviously folded and creased.



Mr. BALL - Did your punch mark have a distinctive mark?
Mr. McWATTERS - It had a distinctive mark and it is registered, in other words, all the drivers, every driver has a different punch mark.
Mr. BALL - What makes it different?
Mr. McWATTERS - Well, it is, it would be, the symbol of it or angle, in other words, every one; it is different, in other words.
Mr. BALL - You have a punch there?
Mr. McWATTERS - Yes, sir; I have the punch right here.
Mr. BALL - Is that the punch that you used?
Mr. McWATTERS - That is the punch I used.
Mr. BALL - Will you punch a piece of paper and show us?
Mr. McWATTERS - In other words, that is the type of punch that this one makes right here, in other words.
Mr. BALL - That is a different type of punch than any other driver has?
Mr. McWATTERS - Any driver, in other words.
Mr. BALL - On any bus in Dallas?
Mr. McWATTERS - In other words, the superintendent has a list, in other words, it would be just like this and every man has a punch and he has his name, and everything. In other words, if anyone calls in about a transfer or anything, I mean brings one in he can look right down the list by the punch mark and tell whose punch it is, and who it is registered to.
Mr. BALL - Now, the sample of your punch there has been on a piece of paper and we would like to have it marked as 372 at this time.
(The paper referred to was marked Commission Exhibit No. 372 and received in evidence.)



JohnM