May
10
Some Shel Hershorn shots, quite rare (not any more :) ) and show a possible sniper position, which has a way better view than the so called sniper’s nest on the 6th floor of the Texas School Book Depository.
I have no idea when and why they went into the DalTex building to take these pix of a possible sniper’s position.
ROKC Exclusive scans from the Richard E. Sprague collection at NARA.
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- Pic: Shel Hershorn
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- Pic: Shel Hershorn
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- Pic: Shel Hershorn
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- Pic: Shel Hershorn
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- Pic: Shel Hershorn
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- Pic: Shel Hershorn
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- Pic: Shel Hershorn
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- Pic: Shel Hershorn
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- Pic: Shel Hershorn
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- Pic: Shel Hershorn
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- Pic: Shel Hershorn
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- Pic: Shel Hershorn
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- Pic: Shel Hershorn
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- Pic: Shel Hershorn
I asked Bob Prudhomme what rifle was being used in these shots and he replied the following:
“This is a sporterised 6.5mm Carcano, but not the short rifle model that Oswald allegedly used. This is a sporterized 6.5mm Carcano M91 (or M91/41) long rifle. Three things give it away.
1. The distinctive protruding Carcano magazine.
2. The very obvious split bridge on the receiver, requiring the bolt handle to be almost vertical when extracting a cartridge.
3. The M91 and M91/41 were made with straight bolt handles. If you look closely, you can actually see where a gunsmith has heated this handle up with a torch, and bent it downward, giving it a more sporty look.
I might also point out that, if this is a Carcano rife (and I believe it is one), there is no way a scope could be mounted directly above the receiver, as shown here. It would have to be offset to the left of the receiver, as can be seen on C2766.
There are two reasons for having to offset the scope to the left on a Carcano.
1. As I pointed out, the bolt handle stands straight up when extracting an empty cartridge, and would hit a scope directly above the receiver. Even the bent down handles will interfere with a scope.
2. As the Carcano must be loaded with a clip, there is no way a clip can be inserted into the magazine with a scope directly above the receiver.
Then there is the issue as to when these were taken, well….at the education forum the discussion pointed to an old thread started by Don Roberdeau about Mack White who was in Dealey Plaza as an eleven year old.
I quote: “At one point, my father pointed out the so-called “sniper” window to me. As I was looking up, my eye wandered away from the window to the fire escape on the building across the street–the Dal-Tex building-where I saw two men taking turns looking through the scope of a rifle mounted on a tripod.
I was alarmed. “What are they doing?” I asked.
“It’s part of the investigation,” said my father.
So the police were checking out an alternative sniper perch. Evidently, that morning, there was still something resembling a real investigation. The investigation, of course, would end the next day with Oswald’s death.”
May
01
I went through some of the contact sheets ROKC managed to snag from Richard E Sprague’s NARA collection.
Here is another batch.
All photos: Jim Murray.
Apr
30
What are the odds that both of Truly’s secretaries have the same conversation with the TSBD’s vice president just after the shooting?
Pauline Sanders who stood on top of the steps of the Texas School Book Depository, and Mrs Robert Reid who stood with Truly and Campbell near Elm St. both discussed the trajectory of where the shots came from just after the shooting, but with a few neat little twists.
Reid makes mention of it in her handwritten statement of Nov 23rd 1963, but there is one important fact that seems to be overlooked by many:
In it she says “I remarked to Mr. Campbell who was standing near by that I thought that the shots had come from our building. But I heard someone else say no, I think it was further down the street“
In the FBI affidavit of Nov. 26th 1963 there is no mention of this conversation at all. Nor is there any mention of this in the Secret Service Report of Dec 4th.
And when it is time for her testimony in front of the Warren Commission that ‘someone else’ who replied to her on Nov. 22nd has become O.V. Campbell instead!
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Pauline Sanders makes mention of the O.V. Campbell conversation on Nov. 24th in her FBI statement, and she does not repeat it anywhere else nor does she get called up to testify so that’s that.
But Sanders does have a telephone conversation with Reid and a truckload of hearsay is being relayed (with regards Oswald’s so called encounter with Reid in the 2nd floor office). And the whole thing is jotted down in support of Reid’s and Sander’s testimony.
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- Handwritten affidavit Mrs R Reid
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- Pauline Sanders FBI affidavit FBI Nov 24 1963
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- Pauline Sanders FBI affidavit FBI Nov 24 1963
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- FBI Statement R Reid Nov 26 1963
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- Mrs R Reid Secret Service Report Dec 4 1963
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- Mrs R. Reid WC Testimony
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- Mrs R. Reid WC Testimony
Apr
27
DPUK Canterbury Seminar 2016 Videos.
DPUK Canterbury Seminar 2016 cake.
Here are the videos of the Dealey Plaza UK Canterbury 2016 Talks.
I have kept my 2 hour talk offline, as in about a month there will be a set of movies that will be very similar to this talk, you will have to do with my moderated talk with Malcolm Blunt.
This interview will also be screened at next week’s LoneGunmanPodcast where I will be talking about the Dealey Plaza UK seminar and a few bits about Prayer Man and the up and coming movies.
Saturday April 23rd.
Alaric Rosman – Confusion Over The Rifle.
Larry Hancock – National Security Response on Nov . 22nd v Other Major Events.
Paul Brown – Fingerprints Of Intelligence Part 2.
Sunday April 24th.
Barry Keane – Address in Memory of JFK.
Malcolm Blunt Q&A with Bart Kamp.
Greg Parker – Lee Harvey Oswald’s Cold War.
Bill Beadle – Presidential Assassinations
Jean Shields – Friends & Family.
Apr
25
April 23rd and 24th the Dealey Plaza UK research group held their annual seminar in Canterbury. This was the 14th edition!
Location for its attendees to present their findings was Christchurch University right next to the center. Canterbury itself is a beacon of historic monuments, some of it is a feast for the human eye.
After Stuart Galloway bid everyone welcome it was up to Alaric Rosman to talk about the confusion regarding the rifle. The large projected screen proved to be a major asset for power point presentations.
I followed Alaric with the first half of my Prayer Man talk. In this one hour slot I discussed the films and the ongoing search to obtain better copies of them and also discussed some of the TSBD employees. One hour is not enough to discuss all the details of Lovelady, Shelley, Frazier and some of the others. I could easily fill two hours on them alone!
After that most of us headed for the pub nearby to scoff on fast food and plenty of beers for us to return and for me to discuss part 2 of my talk. This segment dealt with Lee Oswald’s interrogations and the second floor lunch room encounter which went from that to there was no 2nd floor lunchroom encounter to there never was a 2nd floor at the TSBD in the first place! This last remark is a joke obviously but the collection of statements and screw ups by all involved parties destroy this particular fairy tale of nailing Oswald for the assassination.
Straight after that Larry Hancock gave an excellent presentation on National Security Response on Nov 22nd vs other major events. Great talk but staring at just a few pages with text is demanding, a few pix alongside this would make it even more interesting. Sadly Ian Griggs did not feel well enough to hold his talk about the Dallas Police Department, a real shame and I hope he will be able to do this soon at one of the mini seminars this year, I for one look very much forward to this. The man is an authority on this subject and needs to be heard
Closing off was Paul Brown’s talk Fingerprints of Intelligence part 2 (the first installment being shown in 2015). Part 3 to follow next year, I very much look forward to that.
After that we all retreated to our rooms only for us to get together again at Pilgrim’s Hotel for a lush dinner. I had the pleasure to discuss things with Malcolm Blunt who is just a vault of information regarding this case. Everyone was quite tired and most of us went back to our rooms for a well needed sleep (I got up at 5 and by 11 I was beat…).
The next day started with Barry Keane giving an excellent opening address in memory of JFK, accompanied with a nice set of slides. This was followed by the auction of various JFK related coins, books and films all handled by Mike Dworetsky and Allan Johnson.
Then Greg Parker came on, first with the movie he had prepared for us all to discuss his vols 1 & 2 of Lee Harvey Oswald’s Cold War, after which we got him on the telephone to ask him a few questions regarding Ferrie, CAP, Oswald etc.
Then we had a quick lunch thanks to a delivery of M&S and after that Malcolm Blunt and I sat down for an hour’s long Q&A. To me this was the highlight of the weekend to be confronted with such a wealth of knowledge.
Bill Beadle followed with his talk of presidential assassinations, barely a word about JFK, but no less interesting. Without visuals a bit hard to stay focused on the info being thrown at you but a very good talk nevertheless. Jean Shields ended the seminar with her talk about Friends and Family, a subject that proved to be a welcome distraction.
Overall a really impressive line -up and above all a very amicable atmosphere among attendees and such a ton of information made available regarding this case. I cannot wait for next year’s because I am definitely there!
Thanks to Stuart Galloway who did an amazing job in setting all this up!
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- Opening by Stuart Galloway
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- Confusion Over The Rifle by Alaric Rosman
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- Prayer Man by Bart Kamp
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- National Security Response by Larry Hancock
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- Fingerprints of Intelligence part 2 by Paul Brown
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- Address in memory of JFK by Barry Keane
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- The DPUK Auction by Mike Dworetsky and Allan Johnson
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- Lee Harvey Oswald’s Cold War by Greg Parker
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- DPUKers at the Canterbury seminar.
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- Bart Kamp talks with Malcolm Blunt
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- DPUKers at the Canterbury seminar.
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- Presidential Assassinations by Bill Beadle
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- DPUKers at the Canterbury seminar.
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- Friends and Family by Jean Shields
Apr
22
This coming weekend, as mentioned before I will be giving a talk at the Dealey Plaza UK conference in Canterbury, and the next day I will moderate a Q&A with Malcolm Blunt.
I have worked on the software that I used for the movie and there will be more sources to show for the fakery of the 2nd floor lunchroom encounter.
It is my intention to show more media on Lovelady, Shelley, Molina, the 4th floor ladies, the 5th floor African Americans and Roy Truly.
And the interrogations of Oswald and the main players involved with that , this will be discussed in more detail.
The Camera section will be more concise, but one cool revelation is to be added about the history of the discovery of Prayer Man. This has not been shared publicly yet.
Finally the search for the images gets a bit of an update.
I am partly going to use this talk to see where to improve before I start making new movie clips which I hope to make a beginning with in May and release these over this Summer they shall be released in approx. 25 minute segments.
In the mean time I am looking forward to two days of JFK nattering and downing a few jars! I shall be reporting about this event next week. I also hope to publish the talk with Malcolm Blunt as well.
Apr
15
Next weekend on April 23rd and 24th there will be another seminar run by Dealey Plaza UK, yours truly shall be there and will give 2 one hour talks.
I shall be extensively reporting about this after the event on this website.
Programme
Saturday 23rd April
09.45m – 10.00am Introduction to the Seminar by Stuart Galloway
10.00am – 11.00am Confusion over the Rifle by Alaric Rosman
11.00am – 11.15am BREAK
11.15am – 12.15pm Prayer Man & Texas School Book Depository by Bart Kamp
12.15pm – 1.45pm LUNCH
1.45pm – 2.45pm 2nd Floor Lunch Room Encounter and Oswald’s Interrogation by Bart Kamp
2.45pm – 3.45pm National Security Response on Nov 22nd v other major events Larry Hancock (telephone)
3.45pm – 4.00pm BREAK:
4.00pm – 4.45pm Fingerprints of Intelligence Part 2 – Back in the US of A by Paul Brown
4.45pm – 5.30pm The Cuban Underground by Jean Shields
Sunday 24th April
09.30am – 09.45am Address in Memory of JFK by Barry Keane
09.45am – 11.00am The DPUK Auction by Mike Dworetsky
11.00am – 11.10am BREAK
11.10am – 12.00pm CIA and Oswald – Question & Answer Session with Malcolm Blunt & Bart Kamp
12.00am – 12.45pm Lee Harvey Oswald’s Cold War (film or possibly a Q & A session) with Greg Parker
12.45pm – 1.45pm LUNCH
1.45pm – 2.45pm Presidential Assassinations by Bill Beadle
2.45pm – 3.30pm The Dallas Police Force by Ian Griggs
3:30pm – 3.45pm Closure of the Seminar
