The Floor-Laying Crew

[Steve M. Galbraith]

LOL.  Why would this take any great planning?  He wrapped the gun in some paper.  Carried it to the TSBD and hid it.  The SN is already constructed and just waiting for him.  He didn't "build" it.  At most he moved a couple of smaller boxes. Oswald knows that he will quickly become a suspect in the crime once the FBI finds out that he works in the building and that he is gone.  The least of his problems are the shells.  There is no possible plan to get away with this crime.  Oswald doesn't expect to come to work on Monday.  Arrest or death is part of his equation in deciding to commit the crime.  He is boogieing in the short timeframe before he becomes the suspect.  Playing out his hand.  Tippit puts an end to that with heroic police work.

Oswald taking his rifle and admittedly getting tragically lucky, e.g., Norman, Jarman, Williams decided to watch from the 5th and not the 6th, takes great planning but the conspiracy argument, the alternative explanation, is considered what exactly? Easy to pull off? The conspiracy advocates never seem to realize the difficulty their theories are to have been carried out. To plan this in advance in secret, execute it in broad daylight with hundreds of people watching, then cover it up with the help of several generations of people - for decades - is simply impossible. Again: it is not possible. Oswald pulled off a two car funeral compared to what the conspiracy explanation entails. Even more easy, Oswald just had to have one car not two.

[Charles Collins]

Sure, sure. Lee was a great planner. Had it all planned out. Put together the gun after sneaking it in. But not having a chance to test fire it after putting it back together. Building an elaborate sniper's nest, goes through all of the effort of hiding the gun, yet leaves the three shells in the nest. And the best planning of all is when Kennedy is coming toward the building on Houston, there's a golden opportunity to have a clear shot. Yet, he waits, and waits some more with a tree obscuring his view on Elm. Nerves maybe? Nope. He's a great planner, right? No matter. The great planner pulls it off with one shot hitting way down the street. Oops! Two out of the three ain't too bad.

Sure, sure. Lee was a great planner. Had it all planned out.

In my opinion, LHO’s decisions appear to be quite good. It appears that he only had a couple of days to figure out the details. The motorcade route wasn’t even decided upon until a few days before it actually happened.



Put together the gun after sneaking it in. But not having a chance to test fire it after putting it back together.


If the rifle barrel had to be reassembled to the wooden stock, test firing it was not necessary. This is because the scope didn’t need to be removed from or remounted to the barrel in order for the length to fit the paper bag.



Building an elaborate sniper's nest, goes through all of the effort of hiding the gun, yet leaves the three shells in the nest.


Truly’s testimony appears to confirm that most of the boxes surrounding the sniper’s nest were already moved there, due to the flooring work, prior to 11/22/63. So, relatively few of them needed to be repositioned by LHO. So it doesn’t appear that it would have been a major undertaking by LHO. Neither was dropping the rifle between stacks of boxes and sliding a couple of boxes over the opening. Picking up the empty hulls doesn’t appear to me to be something he would want to spend time doing. He would have to spend some time to find them first. All of the hulls might not have been easily found if some of them had ended up in between some boxes. And he would have to expose himself for that extra time to whoever might be looking his way. This might include armed law enforcement officers, secret service agents, etc.


And the best planning of all is when Kennedy is coming toward the building on Houston, there's a golden opportunity to have a clear shot. Yet, he waits, and waits some more with a tree obscuring his view on Elm. Nerves maybe? Nope. He's a great planner, right? No matter. The great planner pulls it off with one shot hitting way down the street. Oops! Two out of the three ain't too bad.



I know you are being sarcastic, but I think that the decision to wait to ambush from behind the limo and the secret service agents was probably the best decision he made. If he had fired his rifle at JFK when the limo was approaching on Houston Street, the likelihood of him being seen by the secret service and receiving return fire from them was much greater. And his chances of escaping the TSBD would have been zero. Also, the downhill slope of Elm Street made for an easier shot because the target was moving in a direction that was close to being inline with the rifle barrel.

I think that an early first shot could have been errant (and perhaps inadvertent) due to interference by either the boxes in the way of the rifle barrel or the vertical conduit closest to the sniper’s window being in the way of his left elbow. (Or maybe he wanted to give them a warning shot….     ) It appears to me that the last two shots hit JFK, so, sadly, the plan appears to have worked out well. And after all, the results are what count in the end.   

[Richard Smith]

I know you are being sarcastic, but I think that the decision to wait to ambush from behind the limo and the secret service agents was probably the best decision he made. If he had fired his rifle at JFK when the limo was approaching on Houston Street, the likelihood of him being seen by the secret service and receiving return fire from them was much greater. And his chances of escaping the TSBD would have been zero. Also, the downhill slope of Elm Street made for an easier shot because the target was moving in a direction that was close to being inline with the rifle barrel.

I think that an early first shot could have been errant (and perhaps inadvertent) due to interference by either the boxes in the way of the rifle barrel or the vertical conduit closest to the sniper’s window being in the way of his left elbow. (Or maybe he wanted to give them a warning shot….     ) It appears to me that the last two shots hit JFK, so, sadly, the plan appears to have worked out well. And after all, the results are what count in the end.   

If Oswald had fired the shots as the motorcade came toward him on Houston, CTers would be here arguing that he should have waited until it passed.  If he had picked up the bullet casings, CTers would be here arguing that he wouldn't have paused in front of the window to do so, and he had to leave the rifle anyway.  So why bother?  I think Oswald made an assessment of the location that provided the best combination of shooting location and seclusion.  He had plenty of time to do that in the days leading up to the assassination and he was already familiar with the building and the employee patterns at lunchtime.  The 6th floor window fit that need perfectly.  Most of the boxes were there.  Oswald knew that at lunchtime with the motorcade passing that day that it was unlikely that anyone would be there.  But he still had the rifle if he had encountered anyone on that floor after the assassination.   It's fortunate for BRW and his friends that they were not on the floor.  The biggest decision Oswald had to make was whether he was willing to die or spend the rest of his life in jail to commit this crime as there was no realistic possibility of escape.  By leaving most of his money and wedding ring at home that morning, we know he accepted that outcome.

[Charles Collins]

If Oswald had fired the shots as the motorcade came toward him on Houston, CTers would be here arguing that he should have waited until it passed.  If he had picked up the bullet casings, CTers would be here arguing that he wouldn't have paused in front of the window to do so, and he had to leave the rifle anyway.  So why bother?  I think Oswald made an assessment of the location that provided the best combination of shooting location and seclusion.  He had plenty of time to do that in the days leading up to the assassination and he was already familiar with the building and the employee patterns at lunchtime.  The 6th floor window fit that need perfectly.  Most of the boxes were there.  Oswald knew that at lunchtime with the motorcade passing that day that it was unlikely that anyone would be there.  But he still had the rifle if he had encountered anyone on that floor after the assassination.   It's fortunate for BRW and his friends that they were not on the floor.  The biggest decision Oswald had to make was whether he was willing to die or spend the rest of his life in jail to commit this crime as there was no realistic possibility of escape.  By leaving most of his money and wedding ring at home that morning, we know he accepted that outcome.

The biggest decision Oswald had to make was whether he was willing to die or spend the rest of his life in jail to commit this crime as there was no realistic possibility of escape.


Yes, it does appear that he was willing to die. It also appears to me that he intentionally made decisions that would maximize his chances of escaping the TSBD. After he did escape, his first action was to get his revolver. And it appears to me that, once he was stopped by Tippit, he wanted to “go down fighting”. Jack Ruby was wrong to take justice into his own hands. In one respect LHO got what he deserved (an ambush). However, I think that the electric chair, and LHO’s agony of having to wait for the inevitable switch to be activated, would have been alright with me…

[Richard Smith]

The biggest decision Oswald had to make was whether he was willing to die or spend the rest of his life in jail to commit this crime as there was no realistic possibility of escape.


Yes, it does appear that he was willing to die. It also appears to me that he intentionally made decisions that would maximize his chances of escaping the TSBD. After he did escape, his first action was to get his revolver. And it appears to me that, once he was stopped by Tippit, he wanted to “go down fighting”. Jack Ruby was wrong to take justice into his own hands. In one respect LHO got what he deserved (an ambush). However, I think that the electric chair, and LHO’s agony of having to wait for the inevitable switch to be activated, would have been alright with me…

Oswald might have plead guilty to avoid the chair.  His confession would have been helpful to the authorities, and Oswald could have filled in some of the historical details like the motive.  He probably would have eventually gone the James Earl Ray route, however, and forever teased a conspiracy to stay relevant and play the CTers like rubes.  I don't think anyone has lost any sleep over Ruby's actions, though. 

[Charles Collins]

Oswald might have plead guilty to avoid the chair.  His confession would have been helpful to the authorities, and Oswald could have filled in some of the historical details like the motive.  He probably would have eventually gone the James Earl Ray route, however, and forever teased a conspiracy to stay relevant and play the CTers like rubes.  I don't think anyone has lost any sleep over Ruby's actions, though.

The plea bargaining concept is usually only available to defendants in order to avoid the costs of a trial, or when the case isn’t a slam dunk. And I don’t believe that either one of those would have been in play for LHO.

[John Iacoletti]

LOL.  Why would this take any great planning?  He wrapped the gun in some paper.  Carried it to the TSBD and hid it.  The SN is already constructed and just waiting for him.  He didn't "build" it.  At most he moved a couple of smaller boxes. Oswald knows that he will quickly become a suspect in the crime once the FBI finds out that he works in the building and that he is gone.  The least of his problems are the shells.  There is no possible plan to get away with this crime.  Oswald doesn't expect to come to work on Monday.  Arrest or death is part of his equation in deciding to commit the crime.  He is boogieing in the short timeframe before he becomes the suspect.  Playing out his hand.  Tippit puts an end to that with heroic police work.

Cool story, bro. Did you see all that in the crystal ball in your mom’s basement?

[Richard Smith]

The plea bargaining concept is usually only available to defendants in order to avoid the costs of a trial, or when the case isn’t a slam dunk. And I don’t believe that either one of those would have been in play for LHO.

In an ordinary situation where someone had committed a double murder in Dallas including a police officer in 1963, they would have fried faster than one of Colonel Sander's chickens.  But this was no ordinary situation.  I think the authorities would want answers from Oswald and a full confession due to the historical context and implications.   And avoiding the death penalty could have been the deal.  The James Earl Ray situation is as close as we can get for an insight on how it might have played out.