Feb
14
All pix by Jim Murray / BlackStar. Scans made by ROKC from the Richard E. Sprague collection at the National Archives.
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
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- Trade Mart Nov 22 1963. Pic.: Jim Murray
Feb
03
Updated June 30th 2018.
Added Harold Norman’s HSCA testimony.
Updated December 4th 2019
Added a snippet of Buell Wesley Frazier’s W.C.testimony
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Let’s begin with Roy Truly’s testimony where he sheds light on what was done about this just after the shooting.
He tells a scenario that Fritz was notified of Oswald being missing around 1 PM. Had that been the case the APB going out would have been a lot more specific than the generic message of
Attention all squads, the suspect in the shooting at Elm and Houston is supposed to be an unknown white male, approximately 30, 165 pounds, slender build, armed with what is thought to be a 30-30 rifle, – repeat, unknown white male, approximately 30, 165 pounds, slender build. No further description at this time or information, 12:45 p.m.
Had Truly known about this at 1 PM then it would have been broadcast as such.
MR. TRULY. So I picked up the telephone and called Mr. Aiken down at the other warehouse who keeps our application blanks. Back up there. First I mentioned to Mr. Campbell–I asked Bill Shelley if he had seen him, he looked around and said no.
Mr. BELIN. When you asked Bill Shelley if he had seen whom?
Mr. TRULY. Lee Oswald. I said, “Have you seen him around lately,” and he said no.
So Mr. Campbell is standing there, and I said, “I have a boy over here missing. I don’t know whether to report it or not.” Because I had another one or two out then. I didn’t know whether they were all there or not. He said, “What do you think”? And I got to thinking. He said, “Well, we better do it anyway.” It was so quick after that.
So I picked the phone up then and called Mr. Aiken, at the warehouse, and got the boy’s name and general description and telephone number and address at Irving.
Mr. BELIN. Did you have any address for him in Dallas, or did you just have an address in Irving?
Mr. TRULY. Just the address in Irving. I knew nothing of this Dallas address. I didn’t know he was living away from his family.
Mr. BELIN. Now, would that be the address and the description as shown on this application, Exhibit 496?
Mr. TRULY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Did you ask for the name and addresses of any other employees who might have been missing?
Mr. TRULY. No, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Why didn’t you ask for any other employees?
Mr. TRULY. That is the only one that I could be certain right then was missing.
Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do after you got that information?
Mr. TRULY. Chief Lumpkin of the Dallas Police Department was standing a few feet from me. I told Chief Lumpkin that I had a boy missing over here “I don’t know whether it amounts to anything or not.” And I gave him his description. And he says, “Just a moment. We will go tell Captain Fritz.”
Mr. BELIN. All right. And then what happened?
Mr. TRULY. So Chief Lumpkin had several officers there that he was talking to, and I assumed that he gave him some instructions of some nature I didn’t hear it. And then he turned to me and says, “Now we will go upstairs”.
So we got on one of the elevators, I don’t know which, and rode up to the sixth floor. I didn’t know Captain Fritz was on the sixth floor. And he was over in the northwest corner of the building.
Mr. BELIN. By the stairs there?
Mr. TRULY. Yes; by the stairs.
Mr. BELIN. All right.
Mr. TRULY. And there were other officers with him. Chief Lumpkin stepped over and told Captain Fritz that I had something that I wanted to tell him.
Mr. BELIN. All right. And then what happened
Mr. TRULY. So Captain Fritz left the men he was with and walked over about 8 or 10 feet and said, “What is it, Mr. Truly,” or words to that effect.
And I told him about this boy missing and gave him his address and telephone number and general description. And he says, “Thank you, Mr. Truly. We will take care of it.
And I went back downstairs in a few minutes.
There was a reporter followed me away from that spot, and asked me who Oswald was. I told the reporter, “You must have ears like a bird, or something. I don’t want to say anything about a boy I don’t know anything about. This is a terrible thing.” Or words to that effect.
I said, “Don’t bother me. Don’t mention the name. Let’s find something out.”
So I went back downstairs with Chief Lumpkin.
Mr. BELIN. When you got on the sixth floor, did you happen to go over to the southeast corner of the sixth floor at about that time or not?
Mr. TRULY. No, sir; I sure didn’t.
Mr. BELIN. When did you get over to the southeast corner of the sixth floor?
Mr. TRULY. That I can’t answer. I don’t remember when I went over there. It was sometime before I learned that they had found either the rifle or the spent shell cases. It could have been at the time I went up and told them about Lee Harvey Oswald being missing. I cannot remember. But I didn’t know it. I didn’t see them find them, and I didn’t know at the time I don’t know how long they had the things.
Mr. BELIN. When you asked Bill Shelley if he had seen whom?
Mr. TRULY. Lee Oswald. I said, “Have you seen him around lately,” and he said no.
So Mr. Campbell is standing there, and I said, “I have a boy over here missing. I don’t know whether to report it or not.” Because I had another one or two out then. I didn’t know whether they were all there or not. He said, “What do you think”? And I got to thinking. He said, “Well, we better do it anyway.” It was so quick after that.
So I picked the phone up then and called Mr. Aiken, at the warehouse, and got the boy’s name and general description and telephone number and address at Irving.
Mr. BELIN. Did you have any address for him in Dallas, or did you just have an address in Irving?
Mr. TRULY. Just the address in Irving. I knew nothing of this Dallas address. I didn’t know he was living away from his family.
Mr. BELIN. Now, would that be the address and the description as shown on this application, Exhibit 496?
Mr. TRULY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Did you ask for the name and addresses of any other employees who might have been missing?
Mr. TRULY. No, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Why didn’t you ask for any other employees?
Mr. TRULY. That is the only one that I could be certain right then was missing.
Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do after you got that information?
Mr. TRULY. Chief Lumpkin of the Dallas Police Department was standing a few feet from me. I told Chief Lumpkin that I had a boy missing over here “I don’t know whether it amounts to anything or not.” And I gave him his description. And he says, “Just a moment. We will go tell Captain Fritz.”
Mr. BELIN. All right. And then what happened?
Mr. TRULY. So Chief Lumpkin had several officers there that he was talking to, and I assumed that he gave him some instructions of some nature I didn’t hear it. And then he turned to me and says, “Now we will go upstairs”.
So we got on one of the elevators, I don’t know which, and rode up to the sixth floor. I didn’t know Captain Fritz was on the sixth floor. And he was over in the northwest corner of the building.
Mr. BELIN. By the stairs there?
Mr. TRULY. Yes; by the stairs.
Mr. BELIN. All right.
Mr. TRULY. And there were other officers with him. Chief Lumpkin stepped over and told Captain Fritz that I had something that I wanted to tell him.
Mr. BELIN. All right. And then what happened
Mr. TRULY. So Captain Fritz left the men he was with and walked over about 8 or 10 feet and said, “What is it, Mr. Truly,” or words to that effect.
And I told him about this boy missing and gave him his address and telephone number and general description. And he says, “Thank you, Mr. Truly. We will take care of it.
And I went back downstairs in a few minutes.
There was a reporter followed me away from that spot, and asked me who Oswald was. I told the reporter, “You must have ears like a bird, or something. I don’t want to say anything about a boy I don’t know anything about. This is a terrible thing.” Or words to that effect.
I said, “Don’t bother me. Don’t mention the name. Let’s find something out.”
So I went back downstairs with Chief Lumpkin.
Mr. BELIN. When you got on the sixth floor, did you happen to go over to the southeast corner of the sixth floor at about that time or not?
Mr. TRULY. No, sir; I sure didn’t.
Mr. BELIN. When did you get over to the southeast corner of the sixth floor?
Mr. TRULY. That I can’t answer. I don’t remember when I went over there. It was sometime before I learned that they had found either the rifle or the spent shell cases. It could have been at the time I went up and told them about Lee Harvey Oswald being missing. I cannot remember. But I didn’t know it. I didn’t see them find them, and I didn’t know at the time I don’t know how long they had the things.
And what the hell was Truly doing in the sniper’s next before they found the shells and the rifle??? Alan Ford already made mention of this at The Deep Politics Forum
Shelley is gone to City Hall and he is there for a good few hours and I reckon he left with some of the 6th floor workers. Garcia and Williams, get treated right by the cops.
He sees Oswald being paraded in by the DPD and remarks that ‘he’ works at the TSBD and he is his mgr. Shelley’s statements are taken by Det. C.W. Brown who makes mention of this in his report.
C.W. Brown on the third floor corridor just outside the Robbery and Homicide office where Oswald has just been transferred to and can be overheard demanding “Hygienic Rights” Nov 23 1963. Screen grab B.K.
Report on officer’s duties in regards the President’s Murder- C.W. Brown.
In the video below Billy Lovelady is sitting while Oswald is being led past him into another room
What he does not do is point him out as the man missing at 1 PM before he left. Now why not as that would have sealed the deal. Same as Marrion Baker’s supposedly IDing Oswald as the man he stopped when nothing can be produced to confirm this, not even Marvin Johnson BS report can. Baker would have been inside Fritz’s office there and then confirming him as the man he apprehended.
Shelley confers with Truly upon his return and brings back the news that Oswald is brought in for killing a cop.
Add on that that same afternoon Oswald’s commie credentials were broadcast all over.
Then there is the whole matter of the missing employees. Most people who are researching this will name Charles Douglas Givens who was absent for a while and Shelley said that they were going to send out an APB, but he just happened to return in time.
This does not rhyme with the Revill List at at all. There are many more employees missing.
What we can see from this list is that:
- Oswald is mentioned on the top of it. Which lends more credence to the slighting by Roger Craig and other witnesses seeing a person resembling Oswald running down the grassy slope and getting into a Nash Rambler.
- Shelley’s name is nowhere to be seen. His departure and return are not recorded at all.
And here comes the hammer the following people all left at 12:15. But this list shows that:
- Lloyd Viles arrived back at 3:10 PM.
- Virgie Rackley, Dolores Kounas and Mrs William Parker all returning at 2:55 PM.
Virgie Rackley returning at just before 3 PM and seen here talking to Kent Biffle inside the TSBD. Had Biffle known then his questioning and reporting would have been different.
Virgie Rachley being interviewed by Kent Biffle
But Biffle did say something about all this in 1982 in the Dallas Morning News.
. . . only two of us [reporters] had arrived at the ambush building [ the Depository] by this point. . . . Getting in was no problem. I just hid my press badge . . . and went in with the first wave of cops. . . . Hours dragged by. The building superintendent showed up with some papers in his hand. I listened as he told detectives about Lee Oswald failing to show up at a roll call. My impression is that there was an earlier roll call that had been inconclusive because several employees were missing. This time, however all were accounted for except Oswald. I jotted down the Oswald information. . . . Neither the police in the building nor the superintendent knew that Oswald already was under arrest. Oswald’s name was not called out until after 3 PM!
Then there is Buell Wesley Frazier who during his W.C. testimony mentions the following:
Mr. BALL – What time did they tell you to go home?
Mr. FRAZIER – It was between 1 and 2 there sometime, roughly, I don’t know what time it was.
Mr. BALL – Had the police officers come in there and talked to you?
Mr. FRAZIER – Yes, sir; they come in and talked to all of us. They asked us to show our proper identification, and then they had us to write our name down and who to get in touch with if they wanted to see us.
Mr. BALL – Did they ask you where you had been at the time the President passed?
Mr. FRAZIER – Yes, sir; they had. I told them I was out on the steps there.
Mr. BALL – Asked you who you were with?
Mr. FRAZIER – Yes, sir; I told them and naturally Mr. Shelley and Billy vouched for me and so they didn’t think anything about it.
Mr. BALL – Did you hear anybody around there asking for Lee Oswald?
Mr. FRAZIER – No, sir; I didn’t.
Mr. BALL – At any time before you went home, did you hear anybody ask for Lee?
Mr. FRAZIER – No, sir; I don’t believe they did, because they, you know, like one man showed us, we had to give proper identification and after we passed him he told us to walk on then to the next man, and we, you know, put down proper information where he could be found if they wanted to see you and talk to you any more, and then we went on up to a little bit more to the front entrance more toward Mr. Shelley’s office there with another man and stood there for a little while and told us all that was there could go ahead and go home.
Mr. BALL – Then you went on home?
Mr. FRAZIER – Right.
Mr. FRAZIER – It was between 1 and 2 there sometime, roughly, I don’t know what time it was.
Mr. BALL – Had the police officers come in there and talked to you?
Mr. FRAZIER – Yes, sir; they come in and talked to all of us. They asked us to show our proper identification, and then they had us to write our name down and who to get in touch with if they wanted to see us.
Mr. BALL – Did they ask you where you had been at the time the President passed?
Mr. FRAZIER – Yes, sir; they had. I told them I was out on the steps there.
Mr. BALL – Asked you who you were with?
Mr. FRAZIER – Yes, sir; I told them and naturally Mr. Shelley and Billy vouched for me and so they didn’t think anything about it.
Mr. BALL – Did you hear anybody around there asking for Lee Oswald?
Mr. FRAZIER – No, sir; I didn’t.
Mr. BALL – At any time before you went home, did you hear anybody ask for Lee?
Mr. FRAZIER – No, sir; I don’t believe they did, because they, you know, like one man showed us, we had to give proper identification and after we passed him he told us to walk on then to the next man, and we, you know, put down proper information where he could be found if they wanted to see you and talk to you any more, and then we went on up to a little bit more to the front entrance more toward Mr. Shelley’s office there with another man and stood there for a little while and told us all that was there could go ahead and go home.
Mr. BALL – Then you went on home?
Mr. FRAZIER – Right.
Add on Harold Norman’s HSCA interview. In it at roughly 21 mins in.
Q: Prior to the time they let you go for the day, was everybody looking for Oswald?
Norman. I don’t think so.
Q: There was no speculation about Oswald being the shooter?
Norman: Not that I recall.
About 7 minutes later.
Q: You gave as I understand it, you gave your name and address and identified yourself just like everyone else was doing.
Norman: Right.
Q: …that worked there, they was making some kind of head count?
Norman: Right.
Q: Was that right?
Norman: Yes.
Q: Did you know who was missing at the time of that headcount?
Norman: No, I just can’t recall who was missing.
Q: All right did they tell you anyone was missing?
Norman: I don’t recall if they did that either.
Q: Did you know Oswald was missing?
Norman: No.
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- Harold Norman HSCA interview
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- Harold Norman HSCA interview
In CE 1381 (the FBI 6 questions for all TSBD employees in one file) Norman’s statement says he left the T.S.B.D. at 2 PM.
Then you can add the Martin film as evidence as well. This film was supposedly shot between 12:50 and 13:00. This film shows Lovelady, Williams and Garcia outside waiting on the steps to get in.
Now then if the roll call is bogus then Will Fritz went to City Hall to check upon a suspect brought in for the Tippit Killing, nothing more. The rest is pure fairy tales made up after the fact. Plus Truly and Shelley were covering their rears for letting him go 15 minutes after the assassination.
Any questions?
Additional research by Ed Ledoux, Greg Parker and Donald Willis.
Dec
28
Fellow ROKC member Vinny brought me up to date with Jimmy Darnell’s death. It happened late Sept and was unnoticed until now.
See a brief video HERE
There’s a brief shot of Jimmy Darnell along the east side of the TSBD.
I managed to get hold of him on the telephone last year, but he was not up for talking about that day.
R.I.P. Jimmy Darnell
Dec
25
Merry X-Mas everyone, hope you are all having a joyful time with your closest ones.
I was going to release an update to The Interrogations of Lee Harvey Oswald, but that is a bit on the back burner for about a month or so. I hope to be able to do it by end of Jan. 2018. At this stage there are already 45 pages extra, but I need to work more on a few chapters and I am awaiting some more stuff which I’d like to include once I get my hands on it. It’ll be worth the wait ;)
There is also another update to the Anatomy Of The Second Floor Lunch Room Encounter coming early next year. Only about thirteen extra pages this time.
Dec
03
Yesterday two years ago I uploaded The Prayer Man movie, it has managed to be seen just under 108,000 times. That averages roughly just over 1,000 views per week! An amazing result for which I have to thank everyone who took the effort to go through it all. It is a lot of info to digest in 100 minutes.
I have said that there will be a follow up and there is still none, but I will start working on it over the next few weeks and then it will be released in shorter instalments as 2 years later there is even more information to divulge.
Thanks again for watching and sharing!!!
Nov
04
Dealey Plaza UK had one of its meets at The Flying Horse again, and we had a jolly good time beers flowed and the subject was Tippit.
Funny how things go. Joseph McBride’s book Into The Nightmare is the best book on this subject and I read it 3-4 years ago, but what I had forgotten about is that McBride had interviewed Jim Leavelle and what he said is most interesting and naturally I will add these quotes to the 2nd paper Anatomy Of Oswald’s Interrogations. Leavelle is sinking deeper and deeper if you read what is below and in my paper.
When asked by McBride why Oswald was not arraigned for the killing of J.F.K. Leavelle replied:
“Now the thing was, the Captain (Will Fritz, the Head of Homicide, who was running the interrogation of Oswald) asked me if I had enough to make a case on him for the Tippit killing. And I said, ”Oh yeah. I got plenty on that.” I had him identified by about three or four people. And so Cap said, “Well go ahead and make a tight case on him in case we have trouble making this one on the presidential shooting.” “So that was one reason he was arraigned early on the Tippit shooting. But I was thinking that we also arraigned him somewhere down the line on the shooting of the president. But I wouldn’t swear to that offhand.” (P.235/236).
When asked how his department had reacted to the shooting of the president Leavelle said: “As the old saying goes back then, “it was no different than a South Dallas nigger killin’” When you get right down to it – because it was just another murder inside the city lines of Dallas that we could handle. It was just another murder to me. And I have handled hundreds of ‘em. So it wasn’t no big deal.” (P 240).
Nov
01
Final set for now, thanks again to Gary Murr for these.
These are drawings of the 3rd to the 7th floor, there is a page with measurements of the front steps and the pavement and a page with notes on the TSBD building’s height in comparison to the DalTex building and The Records Building.
All these drawings shed more light about the TSBD dimensions, way more than the WR versions.
Oct
31
Once again thanks to Gary Murr I can present another set of drawings of the 1st floor of the Texas School Book Depository.
These are made in March 1964, the majority of it by SA Eugene Paul Arey, classified by the FBI as a “visual exhibits specialist.”
Gary spends an entire chapter on the FBI model and its construction in the first volume of his Connally trilogy, a chapter titled “Model Behaviour.” “I get the impression, indeed memoranda states as such, that the intent of the model was for the benefit of individuals who were to be called to testify to the WC regarding various aspects of the assassination event, in particular members of the DPD and witnesses/employees of the TSBD. However, I believe the display of the model became too cumbersome and so as a trade off the WC asked the FBI to produce detailed diagrams of the TSBD again for use during testimony sessions, such as Baker and Truly – mark where you were etc. etc. The model was moved to the “exhibits room”, a singular room in the VFW Building, access to which was controlled by J. Lee Rankin’s personal secretary, Julia T. Eide. She generated a “log book” in which anyone who visited the room – and she had the only key – had to sign the key in and out, note the times, identify themselves and anyone who was with them, etc. To me it is one of the more important documents that survives and I suspect very few people are aware of it’s existence. Indeed, I argue that a lot of what occurred as far as planning out the eventual SBT and in particular the eventual WC staff reconstruction in Dallas in May of 1964 took place in this room with the model over the weekend of March 14 – 16, 1964. FWIW
Thank you Gary, once again.
And there’s more to come ;)
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- TSBD 1st floor – rough sketch nw corner stairway up- Mar 7 1964
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- TSBD 1st floor – rough sketch nw corner stairway up- Mar 7 1964
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- TSBD 1st floor – detail rough sketch northeast corner Mar 7 1964
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- TSBD 1st floor – detail rough sketch- Mar 3 1964
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- TSBD 1st floor – detail rough sketch lobby area Mar 7 1964
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- TSBD 1st floor – detail rough sketch down stairwell- Mar 7 1964
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- TSBD 1st floor – detail rear entrance loading dock area- Dec 1963
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- TSBD front entrance detail Dec. 5, 1963
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- TSBD front entrance detail Dec. 5, 1963
