Lee Harvey Oswald being searched

This article is derived from my up and coming update to the Anatomy of Lee Harvey Oswald’s Interrogations paper, which will be released in Q2 2022.

Since my work with the records of Malcolm Blunt’s archives beginning in Feb. 2019 I have come across many interesting documents which have enabled me to piece a few extraordinary things together. I had no intention of writing about Lee Harvey Oswald being searched until the find of some statements that cause a contradiction too significant to ignore.

Left to right: ? – Richard Sims – Lee Harvey Oswald – Marlin G Hall (partially obscured) – Elmer Boyd. Click pic to enlarge.

The so called official picture is described in a joint report from detectives Richard Sims and Elmer Boyd it states that “Boyd searched Oswald and found five live rounds of .38 caliber revolver pistol shells in his front left pocket. Sims found a bus transfer slip in Oswald’s shirt pocket”  The shirt Oswald allegedly changed into after arriving at his North beckley home. What would be the point of taking that ticket with him?

Joint report Elmer Boyd & Richard Sims. From: UNT. Click pic to enlarge.

In the Will Fritz report from Nov 22 1963 (page 7), Boyd and Sims are mentioned as well. As a side note I am amazed at the speed this DPD report apparently has been produced on the very same day of the assassination, as many reports were not produced days if not weeks after the fact.

Case Report on Lee Harvey Oswald by J. W. Fritz. From UNT. Click to enlarge.

The FBI has a statement from Richard Sims as well, on Nov 25th he states:

FBI – Richard Sims Nov 25 h1963. Click to enlarge.

Elmer Boyd’s Warren Commission testimony which contains two passages with regards to the matter at hand. I shall paste in below the relevant text of it. First of all from page 8.

Mr. BILL. Before you went into the showup, did you search Oswald?
Mr. BOYD. Yes; I did.
Mr. BALL. And what did you find?
Mr. BOYD. I found five .38 shells, I believe it was five.
Mr. BALL. Live? Live shells?
Mr. Born. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. What did you do with them?
Nr. BOYD. Well, I put them in an envelope and put them with the rest of the property up there to be turned in.
Mr. BALL. Did you put any mark on them?
Mr. BOYD. Let me see-1 can look and see.
Mr. BALL. I will show you Commission Exhibit 592 in an envelope, will you take a look at that-at the cartridges?
Mr. BOYD. Yes-1 got my mark on them.
Mr. BALL. You have your mark on all five of them?
Mr. BOYD. I have my mark on the first three-yes, sir-1 have my mark on all of them.
Mr. BALL. On all five of them?
Mr. BOYD. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. You put those marks on there, did you?
Mr. BOYD. Yes, I did.
Mr. BALL. Now, looking those cartridges over, can you tell me whether these five cartridges, which constitute Commission Exhibit 592, are the cartridges which you took from Oswald?
Mr. BOYD. Yes; they are.
Mr. BALL. And where were you when you put the mark on them?
Mr. BOYD. I was back up in my o5ce.
Mr. BAILL. When you first took them from Oswald, where did you put them?
Mr. BOYD. I put them in my pocket.
Mr. BALL. And after you were back in the office, you put a mark on them, did you ?
Mr. BOYD. Yes.
Mr. BALL. And turned them over to whom?
Mr. BOYD. Well, let me see-it seems like we had a drawer there where we had some more property, where we put it all in there-you know, where they had the other stuff-I have forgotten just exactly where it would be.
Mr. BALL. You turned them over to someone in the police department?
Mr. BOYD. Yes, sir.

Elmer Boyd with Lee harvey Oswald after his first interrogation. Oswald raised his cuffed hands by request of the photographers. Click to enlarge.

Then on page 18 of the same PDF document.

Mr. BALL. When you participated in the search of Oswald and found five pistol cartridges in his pants pocket, was there any discussion of these bullets with him; did he say anything, or did you say anything to him about it?
Mr. BOYD. I just asked him, “What were they doing in there,” and he said, “I just had them in my pocket.”
Mr. STERN. The memorandum mentions the cartridges-bus transfer, except that he had a ring on his finger which he took off and he gave it to Mr. Sims, Do you remember any other items that he had that you got from him during this search?
Mr. BOYD. No, sir; I know that Mr. Sims did get the bus transfer and took his ring. He took his ring off and give it to Mr. Sims, and I got those five shells, and that’s all that I recall being taken from him.

Then there is Detective Richard Sims, who during his WC testimony on pages 16 & 17 says:

Mr. BALL. When you participated in the search of Oswald and found five pistol cartridges in his pants pocket, was there any discussion of these bullets with him; did he say anything, or did you say anything to him about it?
Mr. BOYD. I just asked him, “What were they doing in there,” and he said, “I just had them in my pocket.”
Mr. STERN. The memorandum mentions the cartridges-bus transfer, except that he had a ring on his finger which he took off and he gave it to Mr. Sims, Do you remember any other ite,ms that he had that you got from him during this search?
Mr. BOYD. No, sir; I know that Mr. Sims did get the bus transfer and took his ring. He took his ring off and give it to Mr. Sims, and Mr. BALL. R’ow, during this time, or sometime during this period-sometime between these three showups, you searched Oswald, didn’t you?
Mr. SIMS The first one; yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. And that was what time?
Mr. SIMS. It was 4:05, I believe, but I will have to check my record here and see [checking his record referred to].
Mr. BALL. That was after the second showup?
Mr. SIMS. So, sir; the first one.
Mr. BALL. After the first showup?
Mr. SIMS. It was before the first showup.
Mr. BALL. It was before the first showup the 4:05?
Mr. SIMS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. And that was after the first interrogation?
Mr. SIMS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. And where were you when you first searched him?
Mr. SIMS We was in the holdover, in other words, the showup room.
Mr. BALL. When you took Oswald down for the first showup and waited in the room outside, the showup room, you searched him?
Mr. SIMS. Yes; Boyd and I.
Mr. BALL. What did you find?
Mr. SIMS. I found a bus transfer slip in his shirt pocket.
Mr. BALL. And what else?
Mr. SIMS Well, Boyd found some .38 cartridges in his pocket.
Mr. BALL. How many?
Mr. SIMS. I don’t know-1 have it here I believe it’s five rounds of .38 caliber pistol shells in his left front pocket.
Mr. BALL. Left-front shirt pocket?
Mr. SIXS. No, sir ; they were in his pants pocket.
Mr. BALL. Left front?
Mr. SIMS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Where was the transfer?
Mr. SIMS. The transfer was in his shirt pocket.
Mr. BALL. Would that be on the left side, I suppose?
Mr. SIMS. I don’t know if he’s got two pockets or not.
Mr. BALL. Let’s take a look at it.
Mr. SIMS. (Examined Exhibit hereinafter referred to).
Mr. BALL. Commission Exhibit 150 is being exhibited for the witness’ examination.
Mr. SIGHS. Well, he’s got two pockets in here and let’s see if I have it on herewhat pocket it was-1 didn’t say-1 don’t remember what pocket he had that in.
Mr. BALL. What did you do with the transfer?
Mr. SIMS. I went back up to the office and I believe initialed it and placed it in an envelope for identification.
Mr. BALL. Who did you turn it over to?
Mr. SIMS. I don’t remember.
Mr. BALL. You don’t remember?
Mr. SIMS. No, sir ; it was either in the lieutenant’s desk or Captain Fritz’ desk.
Mr. BALL. Lieutenant who?
Mr. SIMS. We have two in there-Lieutenant Wells and Lieutenant Bohart.
Mr. BALL. And what about the five rounds of live ammunition, what did you do with those?
Mr. SIGHS. It was also placed in the envelope.
Mr. BALL. And turned over to whom-Fritz?
Mr. SIMS. I don’t know who that was turned over to.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever talk to a busdriver named McWatters?
Mr. SIMS. No, sir ; I remember a busdriver coming up there but I don’t think I talked with him.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever examine the transfer for the punchmark date?
Mr. SIMS. The busdriver did. He identified that as coming from his punchcard.
Mr. BALL. I know, but I want to know about you–did you look at the transfer?
Mr. SIMS. Yes, sir ; I looked at it.
Mr. BALL. Did you look at the date and the time that it was punched on the transfer?
Mr. SIMS I don’t remember if I did or not. I’m sure I looked at it but I don’t remember.
Mr. BALL. You say it was shown to a busdriver and he made some remarks about it ; were you there when it was shown to the busdriver?
Mr. SIMS. No, sir.
Mr. BALL. So, you are just telling me what some other officer told you?
Mr. SINS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. All right.
Mr. SIMS. I didn’t see actually the busdriver, I don’t believe, identify his transfer.
Mr. BALL. Do you know the officer that showed the transfer to the busdriver?
Mr. SIMS. No, sir; I don’t.
Mr. BALL. Did you see any idI got those five shells, and that’s all that I recall being taken from him.

Richard Sims on the far left and Marlin G Hall (eyes closed) while escorting Lee Harvey Oswald. Click to enlarge.

Then later on page 23.

Mr. STERN. Now, the search in which you participated of Oswald at 4:05 on Friday, just before the first show up you have told us that either you or Mr. Boyd found five live rounds of .38 caliber pistol shells, and a bus transfer slip, and an identification bracelet, according to your memorandumOswald took his ring off and gave it to you?
Mr. SIMS. That’s right.
Mr. STERN. Do you recall that?
Mr. SIMS. Yes, sir.
Mr. STERN. Do you remember anything else that was found on Oswald at that time?
Mr. SIMS. No, sir ; I don’t remember anything else.
Mr. STERN. A wallet or identification card?
Mr. SIMS. No, sir ; that had been taken off of him.
Mr. STERN. That had been taken off of him upon his arrest at the time of his arrest?
Mr. SIMS. Well, I don’t know when, but he didn’t have it on.
Mr. STERN. Did you say anything to him at that time about the ownership of these things, about the ownership of the pistol shells-cartridges-did you comment on that ?
Mr. SIMS. No,sir.
Mr. STERN. Did he say anything about it?
Mr. SIMS. No, sir ; there was no comment at all.
Mr. STERN. Or on the bus transfer slip?
Mr. SIMS. No, sir; he was asked something about it, I don’t remember what I asked or what he said.

Besides Boyd and Sims, M.G. Hall was part of the escort of bringing Oswald down (he is spotted in the first three oictures in this article in the background) for the Helen Markham line-up. Hall makes no mention of this so called search that yielded the bus ticket and the five bullets. You would think that these finds would have been noticed or reported as such by Hall, but no…..

DPD statement by Marlin G Hall. From UNT. Click to enlarge.

During my investigations I became aware of a document from the HSCA where Charles Truman Walker is interviewed. And page five Walker states “Being alone in there with him made me think. He could still have a weapon, so I searched him good, but found nothing.” From the way Walker talks you can derive that the search inside the unmarked patrol car

HSCA interview Charles Truman Walker. Click to enlarge.

Charles Truman Walker can be seen in the Stuart Reed photograph below on the left wearing his white cap.

From left to right: DPD patrolman, Charles Truman Walker, Lee Harvey oswald, Paul Bentley and Gerald Hill. Pic: Stuart Reed. Click to enlarge.

That by itself is pretty interesting, but wait there is more.

Paul Bentley, in the photograph above chomping on a cigar and busy posing to secure himself a place in history without any crutches he himself appears with shortly after…

Paul Bentley (Will Fritz partially seen behind him) on crutches in the 3rd floor corridor of City Hall. Posted on Nov 24th in the Chicago Tribune. From Newspapers.com. Click to enlarge.

The FBI report from Feb 3rd 1964.

FBI statement Paul Bentley Feb 3 1964. Thanks to Malcolm Blunt. Click document to enlarge.

Then there is Lt. T.L. Baker who in his undated report on the period Nov 22nd – 24th makes mention of the search on Oswald again as well. Why “again?”

T.L. Baker undated report. From: UNT Click to enlarge.

It is perfect natural to assume that arresting officer(s) search the person they have placed under arrest since it is part of procedure. What is unnatural is to search him two hours after his arrest and the suspect has been interrogated and questioned by quite a few individuals (Gus Rose, Richard Stovall, Will Fritz, Jim Hosty, James Bookhout and Forrest Sorrels). Other researchers have pointed out years ago about the timing of the find of the bullets and the bus ticket. Rightly so, but not produced anything that would prove their case. The Walker HSCA statement did not surface until many years later and the Bentley statement “must have been kept in a drawer”.

This of course has serious consequences for the so called finds of the bus ticket and the actual truth of the bus ride ever happening! More so for the find of the bullets which were part of the revolver ‘found’ on Oswald, as per Gus Rose claims, that Oswald claimed it was tossed to him.