Tippit
Part 3
Westbrook's
lies and
coverup
When Capt. Westbrook testified before the Warren Commission he tried to
conceal the actual time of his arrival at the Book Depository, which
was around 1:20 PM. Westbrook told the Warren Commission that after
walking to the Book Depository, "I contacted my sergeant, R. D.
Stringer, and he was standing in front and so then I went into the
building to help start the search and I was on the first floor and
I had walked down an aisle and opened a door onto an outside loading
dock, and when I came out on this dock, one of the men hollered and
said there had been an officer killed in Oak Cliff."
Westbrook was trying to make it appear that he was at the Book
Depository when Tippit was shot, around 1:16 PM. In reality,
Westbrook arrived at the Book Depository around 1:20 PM, 14 minutes
after Tippit was shot at 1:06 PM. The police had already sealed the
building, the rifle and empty shells had been located, the sniper's
nest identified, and building manager Roy Truly had already told Chief
Lumpkin that Lee Harvey Oswald was missing from the building. In Oak
Cliff, Officer Tippit had been put into an ambulance at 1:11 PM, taken
to the hospital, and pronounced dead at 1:15 PM. All of these things
happened while Westbrook and Croy were in Oak Cliff, before Westbrook
returned to the Book Depository in police car #207.
Later, Capt. Westbrook changed his story about learning of the Tippit
shooting on the dock of the first floor. This time Westbrook told the
Warren Commission that he heard about the shooting of a police officer
on "his radio." It is important to remember that Westbrook said "HIS
RADIO," which was the radio in Westbrook's dark blue, unmarked
police car parked near the book depository. This was the car that
Westbrook drove from police headquarters to the Book Depository with
Sgt. Croy at 12:35 PM. Westbrook told the Warren Commission that he
"ran to my radio (my radio!!) because I am the personnel
officer and that then became, of course, my greatest interest right at
that time, and so, Sergeant Stringer and I and some patrolman---I don't
recall his name---then drove to the immediate vicinity of where Officer
Tippit had been shot and killed."
Westbook was lying again. Westbrook lied when he told
the Warren Commission that he got into a police car and "an officer
drove him to the immediate vicinity of where Tippit had been shot and
killed. Westbrook lied when he said, "I don't know where this
officer went after he let us out at the scene." More lies. Westbrook
was not driven anywhere by a police officer and Westbrook did
not arrive at the scene of the Tippit murder. The truth about many
of Westbrook's activities and whereabouts during the early afternoon of
November 22 were reported by Dallas Morning News reporter Jim Ewell. At
1:20 PM, as Westbrook was preparing to leave the Book Depository and
drive to Oak Cliff, news reporter Jim Ewell was nearby, listening to
the police dispatcher's report about the shooting of a police officer.
Ewell asked Westbrook if he could ride along and said, “It happened
that quickly….I left the location at the School Book Depository and
jumped into a car driven by Captain Westbrook with Sergeant Stringer. I
rode in the back seat as we sped across into Oak Cliff by taking the
Houston Street Viaduct.”
Westbrook told the WC that he was driven to the immediate vicinity of
where Officer Tippit had been shot and killed, which was yet
another lie. Westbrook drove his dark blue, unmarked police car,
with Sgt. Stringer in the front seat and news reporter Jim Ewell in the
back seat. But Westbrook did not drive to where Tippit had been shot
and killed at 10th & Patton. Westbrook drove from the Book
Depository directly to McCandles Market on Jefferson Blvd. where Jim
Ewell got out of the car and walked into the market. Ewell placed a
telephone call to the "city desk" at the Dallas Morning News and told
his employer that he was in Oak Cliff.
Sgt. Stringer got out of the car and joined fellow officers in shaking
down adjacent buildings looking for the suspect. This was around 1:25
PM.
Capt. Westbrook was then alone in his dark blue, unmarked police car on
Jefferson Blvd. In the author's opinion, Westbrook drove 1/2 block west
on Jefferson Blvd, past the Texaco station, turned right on Crawford
St., and then drove about 150 feet to the alley between the parking lot
and the Abundant Life Church.
On the left side of the alley (north) was the back side of the Abundant
Life Church. On the right side of the alley (south) was the Texaco
parking lot.
In the Texaco parking lot a jacket was found under a 1954 Oldsmobile.
This jacket was most likely thrown under this car by Westbrook. In
other words the jacket was "planted" by Westbrook. It is no accident
that Westbrook drove from the Book Depository directly to the car lot
behind the Texaco station, and then just happened to be in the exact
place where the jacket was "found" a few minutes after he arrived. Was
there any reason, other than "finding the shooter's jacket," for
Westbrook to drive directly to the parking lot behind the Texaco
Station?
After placing the jacket underneath the Oldsmobile, Westbrook continued
driving east thru the alley to Patton Street, turned right to Jefferson
Blvd., and parked his dark blue unmarked police car near the Texaco
station. He then walked to a house on the east side of the parking lot
that police officers were searching.
It is important to remember that Westbrook told the Warren Commission,
"I am personnel officer. We conduct all background investigations of
applicants, both civilian and police, and then we make--we investigate
all personnel complaints--not all of them, but the major ones." Why
then does a personnel officer, wearing civilian clothes, and working at
a desk job in an office at police headquarters, involve himself in a
homicide investigation? How and why did Westbrook drive directly to the
parking lot behind the Texaco station, if not to "plant" the jacket
under the Oldsmobile? How was Westbrook able to find Oswald's jacket
only minutes after arriving in parking lot? How was Westbrook able to
acquire a wallet with identification for Lee Harvey Oswald and Alex
James Hidell, which he showed to fellow police officers at the Tippit
murder scene? Because Westbrook was a co-conspirator and he was
given both the light colored Eisenhower-type jacket and a wallet from
LEE Oswald.
Westbrook tried to explain his involvement to the Warren Commission, "I
am the personnel officer and that then became, of course, my greatest
interest right at that time." But Westbrook's actions and
whereabouts that afternoon show that the murder of officer Tippit was
not his greatest interest. Westbrook did not drive
directly to the scene of the Tippit murder at 10th & Patton. Westbrook
did not drive to the hospital where Tippit was taken by ambulance.
Westbrook did not visit or telephone Tippit's wife later in the day.
Westbrook's priority, and destination, was the parking lot behind the
Ballew Texaco Station on East Jefferson--where the light colored
jacket, given to him by LEE Oswald fifteen minutes earlier, was either
"planted" or thrown by Westbrook underneath a 1954 Oldsmobile. Was
there any reason, other than "finding the shooter's jacket," for
Westbrook to drive from the Book Depository directly to the parking lot
behind the Texaco Station?
There was, however, a problem with the jacket that soon became apparent
to Westbrook. Did anyone see the person who threw this jacket under the
car? Who did this jacket belong to? How long had the jacket been laying
under the car? Did anyone see the person who removed this jacket?
How can the police connect the jacket with the man who shot Tippit? How
to explain Capt. Westbrook quickly locating this jacket in this large
parking lot? And how to explain that nobody saw this jacket until after
Westbrook arrived in the parking lot?
Motorcycle officer John R. Mackey was in the parking lot behind the
Texaco station. Mackey said: "About the time we reached the area the
dispatcher was broadcasting information regarding the suspect & his
escape route. We pulled up on Jefferson & started checking some
cars parked behind a service station to see if the suspect was hiding
in or under one of the cars. That's when we found his jacket. We saw
Captain Westbrook in his car on Jefferson so I turned the jacket over
to him. "Mackey said that he turned the jacket over to Capt.
Westbrook. But when questioned by the Warren Commission Capt.
Westbrook said that he could not remember the name of the officer who
found the jacket. Westbrook told the WC, "…. I walked on towards the
parking lot behind the Texaco service station, & some
officer...said, 'Look! There's a jacket under the car.... So I walked
over & reached under & picked up the jacket." Westbrook
said that he picked up the jacket.
In 1978 JFK researcher Larry Ray Harris interviewed former police
officer John Mackey, who refused to discuss the jacket. Mackey told
Harris, "that information might be something they....senior Dallas
Police officials....don't want given out." I doubt that "senior Dallas
Police officials" would care whether it was Westbrook or Mackey who
"found" the jacket. However, "senior Dallas Police officials" would not
want to give out any information that suggested Capt. Westbrook was
somehow connected with finding the jacket.
While Westbrook's and Mackey's stories may differ, motorcycle patrolman
Thomas Hutson had another version of finding the jacket. Hutson, who
was about 25 yards away, told the HSCA that he saw Capt. Westbrook
standing in the alley holding the jacket. Officer Hutson was questioned
by the Warren Commission:
Mr. Belin. All right, now, prior to that time had
there been any recovery of any items of clothing?
Mr. Hutson. Yes, sir.
Mr. Belin. When did that occur?
Mr. Hutson. That occurred while we were searching the rear
of the house in the 400 block of East Jefferson Boulevard at the rear
of the Texaco station.... I was approximately 25 yards away from the
officer who picked it up.... Captain Westbrook was there behind the
house with us, and he was there at the time this was picked up with
the man, but I don't know who had it in their hands. The only time I
saw it was when the officer had it.
When Capt. Westbrook was interviewed by the Warren Commission he not
only repeatedly lied about his whereabouts and his activities on
November 22, he also intentionally tried to distance himself completely
from Oswald's jacket and from the Tippit shooting. Prior to his
testimony Westbrook wrote a "resume" of his activities which he
provided to the Warren Commission, but there was no reference to
finding the jacket, handling the jacket in the Texaco parking lot, or
of Westbrook entering the jacket into evidence. When Warren Commission
attorney Joseph Ball began to question Westbrook about finding and
handling the jacket he asked Westbrook, "When did this happen? You gave
me a sort of a resume of what you had done, but you omitted this
incident." Westbrook, clearly, was trying to distance himself from the
jacket.
Westbrook told Mr. Ball, "actually, I didn't find it--it was pointed
out to me by either some officer....someone pointed out a jacket to me
that was laying under a car and I got the jacket and told the officer
to take the license number." Once again, Westbrook, the head of
personnel, couldn't remember the name of the officer who supposedly
discovered the jacket. Westbrook then told the Commission that he
turned the jacket over to one of the officers, but once again he could
not remember the name of this officer. Westbrook, in charge of
personnel, could not remember the name of a single police officer with
whom he came in contact that afternoon. More lies from Westbrook,
trying to conceal his involvement with the jacket and with the
Tippit murder.
At 1:25 PM, only one minute after finding the jacket, the
police dispatcher received a call from police unit #279 who reported
"the suspect had dumped it, the jacket, on this parking lot behind this
service station at 400 block East Jefferson....he had a white jacket
on. We believe this is it." What made unit #279 believe the suspect had
dumped this jacket? Was there a witness who saw the shooter discard his
jacket? The police dispatch logs show that "unit #279" reported finding
the jacket, but the log does not identify this officer by name. Unit
#279 was used by two officers, J.T. Griffin and J.R. Mackey, but only
Mackey was in the parking lot next to the Texaco station. And why
would motorcycle patrolman John Mackey radio in such important
information when Capt. Westbrook was with him? I believe the
officer who identified himself to the dispatcher as unit #279 was not
Mackey, but was Capt. Westbrook, who used Mackey's unit number when he
called the dispatcher. Interested readers should listen to the DPD
police dispatch recording of unit #279. The voice is that of a
middle-age man (Westbrook?), not a young man (Mackey).
Why was Mackey never interviewed by the FBI, the Secret Service, the
Warren Commission, or by the HSCA and asked about finding and
identifying the suspects jacket? Because Mackey may have said that
it was Westbrook who found the jacket.
Finding the jacket was important, but there was a bigger problem. Whose
jacket was it? How to connect this jacket with the man who shot and
killed Tippit. Capt. Westbrook needed a witness to connect the jacket
to the shooter, so he invented one.
At 1:34 PM, Capt. Westbrook reported to the police dispatcher, "We've
got a witness that seen him go north….after….shed his jacket." But
Capt. Westbrook was once again lying. Westbrook never, ever had
such a witness, but Westbrook desperately needed a witness to say that
the jacket belonged to the man who matched the description of the
shooter. Without a witness, there was no way to connect the jacket to
the man who shot Tippit. Westbrook was the one and only police officer
who said there was a witness that saw the suspect shed his jacket, but
no such witness was ever identified or located. More lies from
Capt. Westbrook, while attempting to link the jacket to the shooter.
Capt. Westbrook quickly left the parking lot and drove a few blocks
east to the library, in response to a report that a suspicious man was
seen entering the building. After Sgt. Owens reported it was the wrong
man at the library Capt. Westbrook drove to the Tippit murder scene at
10th & Patton, arriving for the first time about 1:37-1:38 PM.
While at 10th & Patton Capt. Westbrook needed to be very
careful. If Westbrook was the man seen by Domingo Benavides, Mrs.
Holan, and other witnesses inspecting Tippit's body after he was shot
and killed, then Westbrook's return to 10th & Patton had to be very
brief. Otherwise, witnesses may have identified Westbrook as being at
the scene of Tippit's murder.
THE 2ND OSWALD WALLET
Capt. Westbrook had a very good reason for driving to 10th &
Patton, but it had nothing to do with officer Tippit. It was there, at
10th & Patton, that Westbrook showed fellow police officers
identification cards for Lee Harvey Oswald and Alek James Hidell from a
2nd Oswald wallet. I believe that LEE Oswald may have given this wallet
to Westbrook a half hour earlier when Westbrook drove him to the Texas
Theater. There were now many police and dozens of on-lookers at 10th
& Patton. Fortunately, for Westbrook, nobody recognized him as the
man who was with LEE Oswald when Tippit was shot and killed.
These ID cards were from the 2nd Oswald wallet. The Selective Service
Card had Oswald's photo and the name Alek James Hidell, which
identified HARVEY Oswald as the man who ordered the rifle from Klein's
Sporting Goods using the name Hidell. It is important to understand,
and remember, that when Westbrook and fellow police officers were
looking thru a wallet with Alex James Hidell and Lee Harvey Oswald ID
cards, HARVEY Oswald was sitting in the Texas theater with a wallet in
his rear pants pocket.
FBI Agent Bob Barrett arrived at the Tippit murder scene at 1:42 PM,
parked his car across the street from Scoggin's taxi, and walked toward
Tippit's patrol car. Barrett explained, "I went on over there and
Captain Westbrook was there with several of his officers.... It hadn't
been very long when Westbrook looked up and saw me and called me over.
He had this wallet in his hand. Now, I don't know where he found it,
but he had the wallet in his hand... the wallet was there. There's no
getting around that. Westbrook had the wallet in his hand and asked me
if I knew who these people were. I'm adamant that there was a wallet in
somebody's hand and Westbrook asked me if I knew who 'Lee Harvey
Oswald' was and who 'Hidell' were."
As Westbrook asked Barrett about Oswald and Hidell, WFAA-TV Channel 8
news photographer Ron Reiland filmed the wallet. Sgt. Bud Owens was
holding the wallet while Capt. Dhority looked at the wallet.
Westbrook's possession of a 2nd wallet at 10th & Patton shows that
he knew both LEE Oswald and Harvey Oswald. Westbrook was involved with
the pre-planned murder of Officer Tippit and was instrumental in
identifying HARVEY Oswald as the man who murdered Tippit and the man
who owned the rifle found in the Book Depository. HARVEY Oswald was now
the one and only suspect in the murder of both Officer Tippit and
President Kennedy. If for any reason HARVEY Oswald had not been found
and arrested in the Texas Theater, a nationwide manhunt would have
begun for the former "defector" to the Soviet Union, the "communist"
supporter of Castro, and the man who ordered the rifle found on the 6th
floor of the Book Depository.
The 2nd Oswald wallet produced and shown by Capt. Westbrook was taken
to police headquarters, but was never entered into evidence, never
photographed, never initialed by police officers, never turned over to
the identification bureau or homicide department, and never mentioned
in a police report or FBI report or discussed with the Warren
Commission. This wallet, shown to police officers and to FBI Agent
Barrett for only a few minutes, was last seen in Capt. Westbrook's
hands and then disappeared forever.
In March, 1996 FBI agent James Hosty published his book, Assignment:
Oswald. For the first time, Hosty described how Capt. Westbrook showed
a wallet to fellow police officers at 10th & Patton that contained
identification for Lee Harvey Oswald and for Alex James Hidell. Hosty's
book contains photos of the wallet and FBI agent Barrett's first hand
account of Westbrook asking him if he knew Lee Harvey Oswald or Alex
Hidell. Hosty, however, was unable to explain how or where Westbrook
acquired the wallet nor could he explain what Westbrook did with the
wallet after leaving 10th & Patton.
When JFK researchers first learned about the 2nd Oswald wallet, from
Hosty's book in early 1996, they were anxious to interview Westbrook.
They soon learned that only a few weeks before Hosty's book was
released, Capt. Westbrook died at age 78 of cancer on February 21,
1996. After learning of the death of Capt. Westbrook researcher Jones
Harris arranged for an interview with the first police officer at 10th
& Patton, Sgt. Kenneth Croy. For the first time Sgt. Croy was asked
what he knew about the 2nd wallet, and told Harris that an "unknown
witness" gave him the wallet. But reserve officer Croy never explained
why he didn't turn the wallet over to detectives or crime scene
investigators who arrived 10 minutes after the shooting. In my
opinion, Sgt. Croy never saw or touched this wallet or the Alek James
Hidell identification cards.
It should not surprise anyone to learn there never was and never has
been, any evidence to support or verify Croy's claim that an "unknown
witness" gave him the wallet. Not one witness, not one ambulance
driver, not one neighbor, and not one bystander nor anyone saw a wallet
lying on the street, in Tippit's patrol car, or anywhere. Ted
Calloway arrived at the murder scene before Tippit's body was loaded in
the ambulance. Calloway said, "I'll tell you one thing, there was no
billfold at that scene. If there was, there would have been too many
people who would have seen it."
Neither Westbrook, Croy, Capt. Fritz, nor any police officers from 10th
& Patton told the Warren Commission or the House Select Committee
on Assassinations anything about Westbrook showing a 2nd Oswald wallet
to police officers at the Tippit murder scene.
QUESTION: Where did Westbrook get a 2nd wallet,
with identification for Hidell and Oswald, if not directly from LEE
Oswald?
At 1:42 PM, crime lab officers George Dhority and W.E. Barnes arrived
and began checking for fingerprints on Tippit's car. JFK Researcher and
author Dale Myers sought to answer the question of whether or not the
fingerprints found by Sergeant Barnes belonged to Lee Harvey Oswald.
Myers obtained crime lab photos of the prints found by Barnes on
Tippit's car and Oswald's fingerprint card taken when he was arrested.
Myers then asked the senior crime scene technician for Wayne County,
Michigan, Herbert Lutz, to compare the two sets of prints. Myers wrote
in his book "With Malice" that Lutz reported the furrows of the
fingerprints taken from Tippit's car were wide, while Oswald's
fingerprint furrows were much narrower. In addition, the number of
ridges and the location of the bifurcations in the patterns were
different. Lutz concluded the fingerprints taken by the Dallas Police
from Tippit's patrol car were not those of Lee Harvey Oswald. These
fingerprints cards were never entered into evidence nor published in
the 26 volumes.
After showing the 2nd wallet and Hidell ID cards to fellow police
officers at 10th & Patton, Westbrook returned to the Texaco parking
lot with news photographer Ron Reiland, who took a brief film clip of a
police officer holding the Eisenhower-type jacket. News reporter Jim
Ewell said, "I was with Westbrook as we all went over to examine the
jacket because it was the only tangible thing we had at the moment that
belonged to the killer. In fact, I held the jacket in my hands."
Westbrook did not initial the jacket. Instead, he had crime lab
personnel Barnes and Dhority initial the jacket in order to conceal his
involvement with the jacket. Westbrook told the Warren Commission,
"when I left this scene, I turned this jacket over to one of the
officers and I went by that church, I think, and I think that would be
on 10th Street." But Capt. Westbrook was lying. He did not give
the jacket to one of the officers.
Westbrook held onto the jacket, took the jacket to police headquarters,
and wrote a police report about the jacket. Notice that the report on
the left side identifies Westbrook as the originator of this police
report. The same report on the right, given to the Warren Commission,
has a strip of paper that covers Westbrook's name. More Coverup by
Westbrook. Westbrook allegedly placed the jacket in evidence at
3:00 PM. However, the jacket was NOT placed into evidence. Westbrook
held onto the jacket for the next week, and made sure it was never
shown to HARVEY Oswald, who would deny this was his jacket. The jacket
was given to FBI agent Vincent Drain on November 28.
In 1978, when questioned about the disposition of the jacket, Capt.
Westbrook told the House Select Committee, "he didn't recall the
disposition of the jacket."
At 1:43 PM a police officer called the dispatcher and said, "The jacket
the suspect was wearing over here on Jefferson bears a laundry tag with
the letter B 9738. See if there is any way you can check this laundry
tag." The police logs identify the caller as Sgt. Stringer, who worked
for Westbrook in the personnel office. However, when interviewed in
1978 by researcher Larry Ray Harris, Stringer said, "I never did see
the jacket, and I didn't radio in on it." It appears that Capt.
Westbrook, using Sgt. Stringer's call sign, radioed the police
dispatcher and provided information about the laundry tag on the
jacket. Westbrook, once again, was using another policeman's call sign
in order to conceal his involvement with the jacket.
At 1:44 PM the police dispatcher, after receiving a half dozen calls
about a suspicious man sneaking into the Texas Theater reported, "Have
information a suspect just went in the Texas Theater on West
Jefferson.... supposed to be hiding in balcony." News reporter Jim
Ewell recalled, "They were discussing it [the jacket] when the report
came in that a suspect had just gone into the Texas Theater.
Immediately, Capt. Westbrook and Sergeant Stringer ran back to their
car, which was across the street, and I ran to jump in the backseat. By
that time, they were already turning out and accelerating. When I got
in the backseat with the door still hanging open, I came out of the car
hanging onto the door. They slowed down long enough for me to get back
in." Capt. Westbrook, however, said nothing about running to his car
and racing to the Texas Theater.
A suspicious man snuck in the Texas Theater
\Johnny Brewer, an employee of Hardy's Shoe Store on Jefferson Blvd,
claimed to have seen Oswald in the vestibule of his store about 1:30 PM
wearing a long sleeve dark brown shirt. Brewer said this man appeared
scared and claimed that he saw this man sneak into the Texas Theater at
1:35 PM.
But HARVEY Oswald, wearing a long sleeve dark brown shirt, arrived at
the Texas Theater at 1:06-07 PM, and purchased popcorn from Butch
Burroughs at 1:15 PM. Theater patron Jack Davis watched Oswald as he
entered the lower section of the theater and moved from seat to seat.
Davis said that Oswald was sitting next to him before the opening
credits to the movie began around 1:20 PM. LEE Oswald, wearing a white
t-shirt, entered the theater around 1:15 PM and went upstairs to the
balcony.
Johnny Brewer could not have seen either HARVEY or LEE in the vestibule
of his store at 1:30 PM, nor did he see either man sneak into the
theater at 1:35 PM. Yet Brewer's police affidavit and his Warren
Commission testimony was enough for the Commission to conclude that a
frightened and suspicious Oswald had snuck into the theater and was
hiding from the police.
Everything Brewer said in the above sworn statements to the police
makes no sense. Brewer's description of Oswald's clothing, a brown
sports shirt, did not match the police broadcast that reported the
suspect wearing a white shirt and a white jacket. Brewers description
of Oswald acting scared did not match police observations of HARVEY
Oswald after he was arrested. Police officers said Oswald was calm and
showed no signs of being scared. Brewer also said he heard on the radio
that a policeman had been shot in Oak Cliff. But the first radio
broadcasts of a policeman shot in Oak Cliff occurred at 1:51 PM by WFAA
and at 2:02 PM by KLIF radio. In other words, nothing Brewer said in
his police report made any sense.
Julia Postal, cashier at the Texas Theater, was listening to KLIF
radio. At 1:36 PM she heard the official announcement that President
Kennedy was dead. Julia said that Johnny Brewer appeared at her ticket
booth shortly after she heard the news of President Kennedy's death.
Brewer asked Julia if she had sold a ticket to a man who was wearing a
brown shirt and she replied, "What man?" Again, how would Johnny Brewer
know that HARVEY Oswald was wearing a long sleeve dark brown shirt at
1:36 PM, when HARVEY Oswald, wearing a long sleeve dark brown shirt,
had been sitting in the theater since 1:07 PM? Warren Commission
Attorney David Belin wondered why Brewer would ask Postal if she sold
the man a ticket, when Brewer supposedly just saw the man sneak into
the theater without buying a ticket.
Mr. Belin asked Brewer: Why did you ask Julia
Postal whether he had or hadn't?
Brewer answered. I don't know.
Mr. Belin. You just asked her? Why did you ask Julia Postal
whether he had or hadn't?
Brewer answered: I don't know.
Johnny Brewer told Julia Postal, "a man walked in there, and I am going
to go inside and ask the usher if he had seen him." Brewer then hurried
into the theater and asked Butch Burroughs if he had collected a ticket
from a man who he thought had just entered the theater and was acting
very "suspicious." How would Brewer know if this man was acting
"suspicious?"
Butch Burroughs indicated, correctly, that he had not collected a
ticket from a man who had just snuck into the theater..... At this
point there is no indication whatsoever that Johnny Brewer told Julia
Postal or Butch Burroughs that the man who snuck in the theater was
wearing a long sleeve dark brown shirt. If Brewer had described
Oswald's clothing to Butch Borroughs, then locating this person inside
of the theater would have been easy. But if Johnny Brewer had located
and pointed to HARVEY Oswald as the man who was wearing a dark brown
long sleeve shirt and had snuck into the theater, Burroughs would
likely have told Brewer that Oswald did purchase a ticket, arrived at
the theater at 1:07 PM, and purchased popcorn at 1:15 PM.
HARVEY Oswald, wearing the dark brown shirt, entered the theater at
1:07 PM. LEE Oswald, wearing a white t-shirt, entered the
theater around 1:16 PM. Brewer and Burroughs didn't find a man who
snuck into the theater at 1:35 PM, because nobody did.
QUESTION: If you saw someone enter a movie
theater, apparently without buying a ticket, how likely is it that you
would take any action at all? It's not like it was a violent crime, an
assault, where a victim needed help. It's not your theater. It's not
your business. Plus, there might be an exigent circumstance, such as
that he already bought a ticket but had to do something else
first...who knows? So, at most, you might tell a theater employee that
someone snuck into the theater, in this case Julia Postal. But, would
you take it on yourself to chase this person into the theater? I doubt
it...
The Warren Commission asked Butch Burroughs what he would do if a
person entered the theater without purchasing a ticket. Burroughs
replied, "I make it a point to stop them and ask them to go out and get
a ticket." So, neither Butch Burroughs nor Julia Postal would have
called the police, even if they had seen a man sneak into the theater.
And would the police have responded to a person sneaking into a movie
theater?
Police arrive at the theater
The Dallas police were overwhelmed with the shooting of President
Kennedy, the shooting of Texas Governor John Connelly, and the murder
of Officer Tippit. It is doubtful they would pay much attention to a
person who allegedly snuck into a movie theater instead of buying a
$.90 ticket. For a long time researchers wondered why 26 police
officers would respond "en mass" to a person sneaking into a movie
theater.
JFK researcher Leo Sauvage asked Dallas Assistant District Attorney Jim
Bowie if the one telephone call by Julia Postal to the police had
caused 26 police officers to converge on the movie theater and arrest
Oswald. Bowie told Sauvage there was a call from the cashier, but
there were a “half a dozen calls” to the police concerning a
suspicious man sneaking into the theater. A "HALF A DOZEN CALLS"
to the police, by a person or persons unknown, all identifying this man
as "suspicious." This is a clear indication of a concerted effort to
focus police attention on the Texas Theater. After a "HALF A DOZEN"
phone calls to the police, the dispatcher finally reported that a
suspicious man had gone into the Texas Theater. Twenty six police
officers, mostly from 10th & Patton, quickly arrived at the
theater, but it is very important to understand that Captain Westbrook
was the first to arrive at the theater, with news reporter Jim Ewell
sitting in the back seat.
According to the Warren Commission it was Johnny Brewer who raised such
a commotion that cashier Julia Postal finally called the police at 1:44
PM. But why did Johnny Brewer raise such a commotion? And why in
the world did Brewer think that HARVEY Oswald snuck into the theater at
1:35 PM, when Oswald had been in the theater since 1:07 PM?
The answer is simple....
Brewer was told by a fellow employee at Hardy's Shoe Store that a
suspicious man, wearing a brown shirt, snuck into the theater. Johnny
Brewer saw nothing.
Not long after the assassination one of Brewer's co-workers, Tommy
Rowe, was interviewed by Penn Jones, Jr., publisher of the Midlothian
Mirror. Rowe told Penn Jones and many of his relatives that it was he,
not Brewer, who pointed out Oswald to the police. But how did Tommy
Rowe know that Oswald was in the theater and wearing a brown shirt?
Tommy Rowe could only have known about HARVEY Oswald if Oswald's
arrival at the Texas Theater was pre-planned. The Tippit murder was
pre-planned. HARVEY Oswald's arrival at the Texas Theater was
pre-planned. In fact, I believe that Westbrook, Tippit, LEE Oswald,
Croy, and Jack Ruby all knew the pre-arranged plan for HARVEY Oswald
was to go to the Texas Theater. However, HARVEY Oswald first learned
that he was to go to the Texas Theater after President Kennedy was
shot. I believe the man who instructed Oswald to go to the Texas
theater was most likely Bill Shelley.
Tommy Rowe was a very close friend of Jack Ruby. I believe that Jack
Ruby knew about the pre-arranged plan to murder Tippit, knew that
HARVEY Oswald would go to the Texas Theater, and knew that Oswald would
be be blamed for Tippit's murder. After briefly showing up at Parkland
Hospital, Ruby drove to the Texas Theater and sat in a seat near the
concession area. After Ruby watched HARVEY Oswald move from seat to
seat, he got in touch with Tommy Rowe a the shoe store. Ruby then
waited patiently while Rowe prodded Johnny Brewer to go to the Theater
and try to locate a "suspicious" man wearing a brown sport shirt.
In late 1963 Tommy Rowe moved into Ruby's apartment after Ruby killed
Oswald. Four years later, when Garrison investigators interviewed Rowe
in 1967, he was still living in Ruby's old apartment at 223 S. Ewing
St. Rowe told the investigators that it was he who told store manager
Johnny Brewer that a man wearing a brown shirt had snuck into the Texas
Theater. It was Tommy Rowe who first knew about Oswald in the
theater--not Johnny Brewer. All Tommy Rowe had to do was to prod Johnny
Brewer into believing that a suspicious man had snuck into the Texas
Theater, which he did. Brewer closed the shoe store, hurried to the
theater, and eventually coerced Julia Postal into calling the police.
After the police received Julia Postal's call, and a half-dozen more
phone calls, the police dispatcher reported that a suspicious man had
snuck into the theater. I suspect that it was Capt. Westbrook, the
highest ranking police officer at 10th & Patton, who directed the
26 police officers to converge on the Texas Theater.
After Johnny Brewer closed the shoe store, he hurried to the alley
behind the theater. There were two exit doors into the alley and Brewer
entered the door on the west corner of the building. Tommy Rowe bought
a ticket, entered the theater, and took a seat near the stage and close
to the aisle. Johnny Brewer was standing behind the curtains, on the
western edge of the stage, with police officers. Brewer told the Warren
Commission "I and two or three other officers walked out on the stage
(movie screen) and I pointed him out."
But Nick McDonald, the police officer who confronted Oswald, told the
Dallas Morning News the Dallas Times Herald, and the Associated Press,
"I noticed about 10 to 15 people sitting in the treater and they were
spread out good. A man sitting near the front, and I still don't know
who it was, tipped me the man I wanted was sitting in the third row
from the rear on the ground floor and not in the balcony." The
tipster was Tommy Rowe, who worked with Brewer at Hardy's Shoe Store.
Someone told Rowe that Oswald was wearing a dark brown shirt, and
sitting in the 3rd row from the rear, but not sitting in the
balcony. That person was Jack Ruby.
Following HARVEY Oswald's arrest the police questioned 22 year old
theater patron George J. Applin, Jr. Applin was sitting in the 3rd or
4th row from the rear and the 3rd seat in from the first aisle, very
close to where Oswald was sitting. Applin said nothing to the Dallas
police, but told the FBI about talking with an unknown man at the rear
of the theater. Two days later, after Ruby shot Oswald, Ruby's face
became known to the world. Applin realized this was the man with whom
he talked in the theater, and now Applin was scared and told nobody
that he saw Ruby in the theater.
Five months later, in April, 1964, Applin told the Warren Commission,
"I don't even know if it has any bearing on the case, but there was one
guy sitting in the back row right there where I was standing at, and I
said to him, "Buddy you better move. There is a gun. And he says...just
sat there. Just like this. Just watching." Applin told the Warren
Commission that he didn't know this man, but for some unknown reason
Applin's testimony was marked "TOP SECRET."
Fifteen years later, in 1979, after the elapse of time made it safer
and more plausible to talk, Applin decided to talk with news reporter
Earl Golz. Applin told Golz, "At the time the Warren Commission had me
down there at the post office, I was afraid to give it. I a pretty
nervous guy anyway."
Portion of Dallas Morning News, March 11,
1979
After I saw that magazine where all those people they said were kind of
connected with some of this had come up dead, it just kind of made me
keep a low profile." Applin told Golz the man he talked to in the
theater, who was watching the police as they subdued and arrested
HARVEY Oswald, was definitely Jack Ruby. If Ruby was in the Texas
Theater then he could have easily telephoned Tommy Rowe at the shoe
store and said that Oswald was in the theater and described the clothes
Oswald was wearing.
While HARVEY Oswald was scuffling and being subdued by police, Officer
McDonald allegedly grabbed the .38 caliber revolver from Oswald's hand
and passed it to Officer Bob Carroll. I say "allegedly" because there
is a possibility that one of the police officers may have planted the
.38 revolver on Oswald.
Applin told the Warren Commission, "Well, the gun didn't come into view
until after about four or five officers were there." Applin also said
the man who had the gun, "had on a short sleeve shirt, and I seen a
man's arm that was connected to the gun." Oswald was wearing a long
sleeve shirt.
In 1978 Applin told the House Select Committee, "the revolver that
Oswald came up with came out of the officers holster."
In 1998 Det Gus Rose told D Magazine that during questioning Oswald
said, "I don't know what I'm doing here....I don't own a gun....I
didn't have that gun....they planted that gun on me when they arrested
me."
Several witnesses and police officers in the theater heard the revolver
"snap" and believed the gun had misfired. George Applin told the Warren
Commission, "one of the officers hollered out, 'Don't let nobody see
him.'" After HARVEY Oswald was handcuffed, Capt. Westbrook ordered his
officers to “cover his face” and “get him out of here."
“Cover his face” because Westbrook knew that LEE Oswald was also in the
theater, in the balcony. Westbrook was worried that someone might see
both HARVEY Oswald and LEE Oswald, who looked very much alike, in the
theater. It would be difficult to explain why two young men, with very
similar looks, were in the Texas Theater at the same time. That is why
Capt. Westbrook wanted HARVEY Oswald's face covered.
As HARVEY Oswald was taken out the front of the theater a Dallas police
officer told Julia Postal, "we have our man on both counts." Julia told
FBI agent Carter this was the first time she heard about Tippit's death
and the officers arresting HARVEY Oswald had identified him by calling
his name..."Oswald" (interview-2/28/64). Thanks to Captain Westbrook,
and his identification of Lee Harvey Oswald at 10th & Patton, most
of the police officers participating in Oswald's arrest already knew
his name before they entered the theater.
Capt. Westbrook told Lt. Cunningham and J. B. Tony to take the names
and addresses of each and every person in the theater. Cunningham and
Tony remained at the theater and took the names and addresses of the 24
theater patrons. However, there was one young man who had no
identification, and that was LEE Oswald who, in the author's opinion,
had previously given his wallet to Capt. Westbrook. Another man, Jack
Ruby, did have identification but his name had to remain secret. After
completing the list Lt. Cunningham and Tony should have given the list
of names to the officer in charge.... Capt. Westbrook. But Capt.
Westbrook told the Warren Commission that he didn't know what happened
to the list. Westbrook said the list was lost. With the names LEE
Oswald and JACK Ruby on the list of theater patrons, the list had to
disappear. More lies from Westbrook, and neither Lt. Cunningham nor
J.B. Tony testified before the Warren Commission.
The police escorted HARVEY Oswald out the front of the theater, and
placed him in the rear seat of Westbrook's unmarked police car. Stuart
Reed, the man who took photographs of both the front and back of the
Marsalis bus on Elm St. at 12:45 PM, and then took photos of the Book
Depository a few minutes later at 12:50 PM, somehow showed up at the
Texas Theater an hour later taking photographs of Oswald’s arrest. This
photograph shows HARVEY Oswald as he was taken out of the theater by
police and about to be placed in the back seat of Westbrook’s unmarked,
dark blue police car.
News reporter Jim Ewell watched as the police brought HARVEY Oswald out
the front of the theater. Ewell said, "The next thing I recall is that I
was out on the street with the car that I arrived in--Westbrook's
unmarked police car--between me and the officers bringing Oswald
out of the theater as they kind of separated the crowd and made an
aisle for him to come through to get to the car. I'd say that I was
about ten to twelve feet away from Oswald at the time." Jim Ewell said,
"Oswald then took my place in the backseat of the same car that I
arrived in--the car driven to the theater by Westbrook." Officer
Bob Carrol carried HARVEY Oswald's revolver to the police car, and
handed it to Sgt. Gerry Hill, who worked for Westbrook in the personnel
office. Officer Carrol drove, with officer K.E. Lyons sitting on the
right and officer Gerry Hill in the middle of the front seat. HARVEY
Oswald was in the backseat with officer Paul Bentley on his left and
C.T. Walker on his right.
After Westbrook returned to police headquarters he likely told the
officers who took Oswald to police headquarters not to identify his car
as the vehicle used to transport Oswald to police headquarters. As a
result, not one of the police officers who accompanied Oswald ever said
or mentioned that Oswald was driven to police headquarters in
Westbrook’s unmarked, dark blue police car. Every one of these officers
wrote reports to Dallas Police Chief Curry describing the arrest of
Oswald and transporting him to police headquarters. Officer Bob
Carroll, who was driving Westbrook’s car, identified the car in his
report as "police equipment #266." Sgt. Gerry Hill described
Westbrook’s car as "a car parked in front of the theater." Officer
Walker described Westbrook’s car as a "plain squad car." Officer
Bentley described Westbrook’s car as "a patrol car parked in front of
the theater." Officer Lyon said nothing about Westbrook’s car. These 5
police officers helped to conceal the fact that their supervisor, Capt.
Westbrook, had driven his unmarked, dark blue police car to the Texas
Theater. And when Westbrook and fellow police officers testified before
the Warren Commission they said nothing about Oswald taken to police
headquarters in his dark blue, unmarked police car. In fact, Westbrook
told the Warren Commission that he was driven to the Texas Theater by
an officer whose name he could not remember. Westbrook, once again,
was lying. Nearly everything Westbrook said to the Warren
Commission concerning his use of police car #207, LEE Oswald's white
jacket, his method of transportation to and from Oak Cliff, his
involvement with the Tippit shooting, and his efforts in searching the
Book Depository was a lie.
Between 1:30 PM and 2:00 PM
As HARVEY Oswald was driven to police headquarters, something very
unusual happened. Between 1:30 PM and 2:00 PM someone from the Dallas
Police Department contacted Army Intelligence Lt. Colonel Robert E.
Jones, who was the Operations Officer of the 112th INTC group in San
Antonio. The unidentified person from the Dallas Police Dept. told
Lt. Col. Jones that when LEE Harvey Oswald was arrested in Dallas
he was carrying a Selective Service card bearing the name Alek James
Hidell. Lt. Col. Jones then contacted the Department of Justice--the
FBI--and reported the information given to him from the phone call. At
4:25 PM the special agent in charge of the FBI office in San Antonio
sent a memo to FBI Director Hoover and to the special agent in charge
of the FBI office in Dallas, describing the information he had received
from Lt. Col. Jones. J.Edgar HOOVER NOW HAD INFORMATION THAT OSWALD WAS
ALSO USING THE NAME ALEX JAMES HIDELL. On April 20, 1978 Lt. Colonel
Robert E. Jones told the House Select Committee on Assassinations that
he got the information about ALEK JAMES HIDELL from someone inside the
Dallas Police Department between 1:30 PM and 2:00 PM. The only person
known to have this information at that time was Capt. Westbrook.
THERE WERE NO ALEX JAMES HIDELL ID CARDS IN
OSWALDS ARREST WALLET
Sgt. Gerry Hill told the Warren Commission that during the ride to
police headquarters Oswald "just sat there...said nothing." He did make
a statement and said, "The only crime I have committed was carrying a
pistol in a movie." Hill asked officer Paul Bentley to see if the
suspect had any identification. Bentley removed a wallet from Oswald's
left pants pocket and found a library card with the name Lee Harvey
Oswald.
From the police dispatch at 1:44 PM it had taken the Dallas police less
than eight minutes to drive from 10th & Patton to the Texas
Theater, arrest HARVEY Oswald, place him in Westbrook's unmarked police
car, and begin driving him to the police station (1:52 PM).
HARVEY Oswald arrived at police headquarters at 2:00 PM.
