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

This is Part 5 of John Armstrong's treatment of the Tippit murder scene. It is new material.

A LOT OF MISSING MINUTES

After shooting and killing Tippit, LEE Oswald' pre-arranged destination was the Texas Theater at 231 W. Jefferson. For many years I believed that LEE's main intention, after discarding his light colored jacket, was to lead police to the theater so they could locate and arrest HARVEY Oswald (alias Alec Hidell) based upon identification found in the Westbrook wallet. But two issues always bothered me.   

1) how could the conspirators be absolutely sure that theater employees and the police would respond immediately to a young man who simply snuck into a movie theater, when their focus of attention was on the assassination of President Kennedy, the shooting to Texas Governor John Connally, and the murder of a DPD officer. Why would the police care about a person who snuck into a theater without buying a $.90 ticket?

2) But the more important issue is that Tippit was shot at 1:10 PM, but the police were not called to the Texas Theater until 1:45 PM. What happened during those 35 minutes always bothered me, and has been on my mind for more than 20 years.

Tippit was shot around 1:08-1:09 PM, and it is only an 8-9 minute walk to the Texas Theater. So, LEE Oswald should have arrived at the theater by 1:20 PM. But theater cashier Julia Postal did not call the police until 1:45 PM. What was LEE Oswald doing during those 25 minutes? The following scenario is based upon what we know (factual) and what could account for those missing 25 minutes (speculation).

LEE Oswald, wearing a white t-shirt, should have arrived at the Texas Theater 8-9 minutes after shooting Tippit (around 1:20 PM). If Johnny Brewer had followed Oswald from his shoe store to the theater, as he claimed, then Julia Postal would have called the police and they would have arrived within a few minutes (as they did after being notified by Julia Postal at 1:45 PM). But I don't believe Johnny Brewer's story. I believe that LEE Oswald walked directly to the theater after killing Tippit, and arrived around 1:20 PM. LEE Oswald didn't want to attract attention by sneaking into the theater with a loaded weapon and live ammunition, so he bought a $.90 ticket from Julia Postal (as did HARVEY around 1:05 PM). The missing 25 minutes begins at 1:20 PM.

I have long doubted Johnny Brewer's story that while listening to the radio (circa 1:30 PM) he heard a description of Tippit's killer. At 1:33 PM the police dispatcher reported, "w/m/30 5'8", very slender build, black hair, a white jacket, white shirt and dark slacks." If a Dallas radio station broadcast the killer's description at 1:30 PM (which has never been proven), their only source of this information was from police radio broadcasts. The police reported that Tippit's killer was 5'8”, black hair, white shirt, white jacket, dark pants. But Johnny Brewer told Julia Postal and the WC that the man he saw at his shoe store was wearing a long-sleeved dark brown shirt--not a white shirt and light colored jacket as reported by the police. Brewer also said the this man was acting suspicious and appeared to be scared outside of his shoe store around 1:30 PM. Brewer's description of Oswald's clothing did not match the police broadcast and, after (HARVEY) Oswald was arrested, he was calm and showed no signs of being scared. 

5 radio stations covered the Dallas area on 11/22/63, and all routinely monitored the Dallas police radio. 4 of these stations did not broadcast the Tippit shooting nor its location until after Oswald's arrest at 1:51 PM. 

WBAP reported the Tippit shooting after Oswald's arrest at 1:51 PM.

KRLD reported the Tippit shooting after Oswald's arrest at 1:51 PM.

WFAA reported the Tippit shooting after Oswald's arrest at 1:51 PM (their archived recordings began at 1:47 PM, but did not cover the entire assassination period).

KLIF broadcast the Tippit shooting at 2:02 PM.      

KBOX was only radio station that may have reported the Tippit shooting prior Oswald's arrest, but this has never been proven. KBOX has archived radio broadcast recordings from 11/22/63 which begin at 1:35 PM, but information about the Tippit shooting begins only after Oswald's arrest at 1:51 PM. At 1:59 PM newsman Sam Pate repeated information that had supposedly been previously reported about the Tippit shooting. If true (there are no archived recordings), this information would have to have been broadcast prior to the beginning of the KBOX archived radio recording at 1:35 PM. 

HARVEY Oswald, wearing a dark brown shirt with no jacket, had been in the theater since 1:05 PM. He sat next to Jack Davis, changed seats a few times, purchased popcorn from Butch Burroughs at 1:15 PM, was then seen sitting next to a pregnant woman (by Burroughs). The only “Oswald” that Brewer could have seen at 1:30 PM, if he saw anyone, would have been LEE Oswald, wearing a short-sleeve white t-shirt as described by the police dispatch. But who does Brewer identify to the police in the theater? HARVEY Oswald, the man wearing the dark brown long sleeve shirt. I don't know if Johnny Brewer was a minor co-conspirator or a "wannabe." But I do know that when Brewer described the man he claimed to have seen in his store to Julia Postal and to the WC, his description was very different than the suspect described by the police dispatcher. Because of Brewer, and Brewer alone, the police were called to the theater and arrested HARVEY Oswald, the man wearing the long sleeve dark brown shirt. Brewer lied about hearing (HARVEY) Oswald's description on the radio broadcast. He lied about Oswald acting suspicious and being scared in front of his store. He lied to Julia Postal. He lied to Butch Burroughs. He lied to the police when he identified HARVEY Oswald as the “suspicious man” who snuck into the theater. He lied to the Warren Commission. Why so many lies?

Now I will speculate as to what could have happened inside the Texas Theater between 1:20 PM and 1:45 PM--the missing 25 minutes. Both HARVEY Oswald and LEE Oswald were at the theater because they were following orders. We may never know what HARVEY was told about the intended purpose of his assignment to the Texas Theater, but the end results show the purpose of LEE Oswald's assignment. Jack Davis watched HARVEY as he changed seats in the theater, again and again, and it seemed obvious to Davis that he (HARVEY) was looking for someone. But Burroughs saw HARVEY sitting next to one person--a pregnant lady (But, why would a pregnant woman watch a war movie at 1:15 PM on a Friday afternoon? How likely is that? And why and how did this pregnant woman know to leave the theater just before the police arrived?). Burroughs remembered that prior to the police arriving this pregnant lady went to the restroom in the balcony and he never saw her again. Could this woman have been both LEE and HARVEY's contact at the theater? Perhaps, but what was her purpose or assignment ?

LEE probably arrived at the theater 8-9 minutes after shooting Tippit, around 1:20 PM, with the murder weapon in hand. His assignment could have been to get the murder weapon into HARVEY's hands before the police were called to the theater. So, LEE could have met and passed the .38 pistol and ammunition to his contact (the pregnant lady?), who then passed the pistol and ammunition to HARVEY within the dark theater. When the police arrived, they already knew the name of their suspect from identification in the Westbrook wallet. And when they found the murder weapon on HARVEY, he would be shot and killed or arrested for murdering Tippit. Had HARVEY Oswald panicked when he saw the police, and ran out the rear exit, Captain Westbrook was waiting in the alley with a shotgun.

Getting the murder weapon into HARVEY's hands before the police were called to the theater was an essential prerequisite for a successful frame-up. The unidentified pregnant lady left the theater before the police arrived. If she was just an ordinary theater patron, why did she leave? The movie had just begun. Perhaps she then walked past Hardy's Shoe Store, and this was Johnny Brewer's signal to proceed with his role.

At 1:33 PM the police dispatcher reported, "w/m/30 5'8", very slender build, black hair, a white jacket, white shirt and dark slacks." At 1:35 PM Julia Postal was listening to KLIF radio and heard the official announcement that President Kennedy was dead. Julia said that Johnny Brewer appeared 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?"

Mr. Belin. Well, would you state then what happened? You said that you saw him walk into the Texas Theatre?

Mr. Brewer. He walked into the Texas Theatre and I walked up to the theatre, to the box office and asked Mrs. Postal if she sold a ticket to a man who was wearing a brown shirt, and she said no, she hadn't. She was listening to the radio herself. And I said that a man walked in there, and I was going to go inside and ask the usher if he had seen him.

I don't believe that Julia Postal saw anyone, precisely because there wasn't anyone—the entire story about a man sneaking into the theater was made up by Brewer. WC Attorney Belin wondered why Brewer would ask Postal if she sold a man a ticket, when Brewer had supposedly just seen the man sneak into the theater without buying a ticket.

Mr. Belin. Why did you ask Julia Postal whether he had or hadn't?

Mr. Brewer. I don't know.

Mr. Belin. You just asked her?

Mr. Brewer. Just asked her whether he had bought or she had seen him go in.

Brewer 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 (Burroughs indicated he had not collected a ticket).

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 single 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.

Mr. Ball. If anybody comes in there without a ticket, what do you do, run them off?

Mr. Burroughs. I make it a point to stop them and ask them to go out and get a ticket. I just failed to see him when he slipped in.

Mr. Ball. We will get to that in a minute I want to see what you usually do if somebody comes in without a ticket.

Mr. Burroughs. I stop them and have them go out to the box office and get an admission ticket.

So, neither Butch Burroughs nor Julia Postal would have called the police, even if they had seen a man sneak into the theater. It was Johnny Brewer, and Johnny Brewer alone, who was responsible for raising such a commotion that Julia finally called the police at 1:45 PM. And, within minutes, 26 officers arrived at the theater.

After passing the murder weapon to his contact, LEE Oswald may have tried to leave the theater. He could have walked down the rear stairway and out the exit door that opened into the alley. Behind the theater was a young man standing next to a pickup truck with the engine running. If LEE had left the building, HARVEY Oswald would be sitting in the theater with the murder weapon. But Burroughs, able to see the west exit door at the bottom of the stairs to the balcony from the concession stand, may have prevented his departure.

    

Capt. Westbrook was the highest ranking officer at 10th & Patton, and he likely knew that HARVEY Oswald was supposed to be at the Texas Theater. When Westbrook heard the police dispatch report that a suspicious man had entered the theater (1:45 PM), Westbrook and his police officers from 10th & Patton descended on the Texas Theater. If the plan was to kill (HARVEY) Oswald in the theater, with the Tippit murder weapon in his hands, the one thing the conspirators could not control was the number of potential witnesses, both civilian and police. Too many witnesses would make killing (HARVEY) Oswald inside the theater difficult, if not impossible.

Captain Westbrook told the WC that FBI agent Robert M. Barrett rode with him from 10th & Patton to the Texas Theater, and he then entered the rear of the theater. But later, in a 1977 interview for the HSCA, Westbrook said that Barrett drove his own vehicle to the theater. Barrett, in a 1996 interview, confirmed that he drove himself to the theater in his own car. Why would Westbrook lie about this?

When approaching the Texas Theater, Westbrook directed the driver of his vehicle to "turn down into the alley instead of going around to the front."   (Westbrook, once again, conveniently “forgot” the names of the officers who accompanied him to the theater). It is obvious that Westbrook knew in in advance the architecture of the Texas Theater which is angled sideways, parallel to Jefferson Blvd.  He knew right where to go to the rear exit of the theater. While many police officers entered the theater from the front, Westbook stood at the rear exit door, probably holding the same shotgun that he had at the library a few minutes earlier.

After the police arrived in the alley, behind the theater, Captain C.E. Talbert and some officers noticed a young man standing beside a pickup truck with the engine running. Officers questioned the young man and searched the pickup, but made no police reports about the incident. Talbert testified before the Warren Commission, but at no time in over 20 pages of testimony was he asked, nor did he volunteer, anything about the Texas Theater, Oswald's arrest, or the young man in the alley (24H242). We will probably never know the name of this man nor will we know what he was doing in the alley while LEE Oswald was hiding in the balcony. 

Other police officers began to enter the theater from the front and were told by a "young female" (probably Julia Postal) that the man they were looking for was in the balcony. Deputy Sheriff Bill Courson came face to face with a young man who was walking down the stairs to the lobby. Courson said, "that he was reasonably satisfied in his own mind" that this man was (LEE) Oswald. Dallas Police Lt. Cunningham and Detective John B. Toney may have questioned the same man. Cunningham said, "We were questioning a young man who was sitting on the stairs in the balcony when the manager told us the suspect was on the first floor." Toney said, "There was a young man sitting near the top of the stairs and we ascertained from the manager on duty that this subject had been in the theater since about 12:05 PM." But according to Julia Postal the manager/owner of the theater, John Callahan, left for the day around 1:30 PM, before the police arrived. The projectionist remained in the projection room while the only other employee (Burroughs) was normally at the concession in the lobby of the theater. This "manager on duty," who told the police that the suspect was on the first floor, was never identified.     

RUBY'S FRIEND, TOMMY ROWE, POINTED OUT HARVEY OSWALD TO THE POLICE

A very close friend of Jack Ruby's, Tommy Rowe, worked at Hardy's Shoe Store with Johnny Brewer. In 1964 Rowe said that it was he who told shoe store manager Johnny Brewer that he saw a man wear­ing a brown shirt enter the Texas Theater. Inside the darkened theater Rowe claims that is was he who directed the police to the man wearing the long sleeved brown shirt--HARVEY Oswald. Rowe was never interviewed by the DPD or FBI. For years after the assassination Rowe told friends, relatives, and JFK researchers that it was he, NOT Brewer, who pointed out (HARVEY) Oswald to the police in the dark of the Texas Theater. Rowe was so close to Jack Ruby that he moved into Ruby's apartment when Ruby went to jail for killing HARVEY Oswald (Click here to see Midlothian Mirror editorial about Tommy Rowe). In 1967 the New Orleans District Attorney's office interviewed Tommy Rowe, who lived in Apt. 206 at 223 S. Ewing (the same apartment occupied by Jack Ruby in 1963). If Rowe's statement is true then Johnny Brewer lied to Julia Postal and to the WC. He never followed the man in the brown shirt, or anyone else, to the theater. And Johnny Brewer appears to be a "wannabe" and not a co-conspirator. 

Continues:

http://oswaldinthedoorway.blogspot.com/2015/04/harvey-oswald-is-arrested-police-who.html