Oswald in the doorway: the blog of the Oswald Innocence Campaign, by Ralph Cinque

I think Zapruder frame 254 is the one that corresponds best to the Altgens photo. I have seen frame 255 cited most often, but I think Connally's turning angle makes a better match to 254. 255 takes him just a little bit too far, in my opinion. But, we are only talking about a 1/18 of a second difference between the two, so I am not going to fight over this. 

So, how many seconds before the fatal head shot was it? 313 minus 254 equals 59 divided by 18 equals 3.28 seconds. So, Oswald was photographed in the doorway 3.28 seconds before the last shot, which was the fatal head shot. I maintain that he must have departed very soon after that in order to beat Marrion Baker to the 2nd floor lunch room without running. And we know that Oswald, like Baker, took the stairs because the elevators were turned off. So, Lee must have been walking at a very easy pace in order to not get the least bit winded. It means he must have had a very substantial head-start over Baker.  

Yet, Baker reacted immediately after the fatal head shot. He ditched his motorcycle and started running. And he looked like quite a fit fellow. I've seen it cited that he reached the steps just 10 seconds after the last shot. I also found a reference to 15 seconds. But either way, Oswald had to get a significant head-start. 

So, when did Oswald leave the doorway and head for the lunch room? I think we have to assume that it happened very soon after the Altgens photo was taken- pretty close to immediately. 

But, returning to the Altgens photo, I think it's true to say that not one spectator shows any sign of being aware of the tragedy. Many are beaming and smiling- even though JFK has already got 2 bullets pumped into him. And that includes people who were a lot closer to the action than those in the doorway. A few look more subdued, but none of them look alarmed.  

When he walked out onto the landing, what did Oswald know about what was going to happen to JFK?  I can't claim to know, but, my strong conviction is: not much, and no explicit knowledge. I suppose he could have had in inkling, a suspicion, a bad feeling, but nothing concrete. He wasn't in the loop. They didn't tell him, "we're killing Kennedy today." You don't do that with the patsy, not when you know he may spend some time in police custody being interrogated. Sure, they hoped he'd get killed at the theater, but they knew there were no guarantees.

What if Oswald left the doorway immediately after the Altgens photo was taken? Since at that split-second people were NOT reacting as if they knew Kennedy had been shot, we can presume Oswald didn't know. And if he left immediately, then he didn't know what had happened as he made his way into the building. That would mean that Oswald re-entered the building not knowing that JFK had been assassinated. It would mean he didn't know it when Baker called to him and approached him in the lunch room. Then afterwards, he may have assumed that Kennedy had been killed while he was in on his way to the lunch room. And in that case, according to his understanding, he really WAS inside the building at the time Kennedy was killed. Hence, his affirmative response to the reporter when asked if he was in the building at the time.