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

The Bizarre Testimony of Troy West

Troy West was the "mail wrapper" for the TSBD.  He was the one and only full-time mail wrapper that we know of. It's hard to imagine that he could wrap enough books to generate enough profit to support all the salaries being paid there. There were 75 employees. The only source of revenue was from shipping books. So, how could one guy do all that? This is from Troy West's WC testimony: 

David Belin: I have a map of the 1st floor. Where would you wrap mail there?

Troy West: Well, my place was in the west side of the other building.

What???????? Now, that seems like plain English to me, that his work station was in the other building. But, after he said that, it was like he never said it. Belin just continued as though he meant the building on Elm St. 

Mr. WEST - Well, my place was in the west side of the other building.
Mr. BELIN - Was it near the stairway?
Mr. WEST - No; it wasn't close to the stairway.
Mr. BELIN - Was it closer to the Elm Street side of the building?
Mr. WEST - No, sir.
Mr. BELIN - What was it close to? The west side is the side near the railroad tracks and the triple underpass. Is that what you think is the west side?
Mr. WEST - Yes, sir; that is what I would call the west side.
Mr. BELIN - When did you quit for lunch that day?
Mr. WEST - Well, we always quit at 12 o'clock in the day.
Mr. BELIN - Is that when you quit on November 22nd?
Mr. WEST - Yes, sir. 

So, Troy West tells Belin that he works in another building, and Belin just completely ignores it and presumes that he works in the famous building.  And after not resolving anything about where Troy West works, Belin moves on to the time he quit for lunch. But, to me, words have meaning, and Troy West said that he worked in the other building. 

Now, if you would, decipher this:

Mr. BELIN - Are you the only one that wraps the books for mailing, or wraps them up for mailing?
Mr. WEST - Well, no, sir; I am not the only one, but mine is that way just every day.
Mr. BELIN - You do it all the time?
Mr. WEST - Yes; I do that.
Mr. BELIN - Are you the only one who does it all the time?
Mr. WEST - I am the only one that is steady, wraps mail all the time, although I have help, you know, when it gets stacked. 

OK, so to my ears, that means that Troy West was the only one who permanently and regularly wrapped books. But, he got help when the work stacked up. But, I have to assume that that was the exception because if stacked up all the time, then someone would be helping him all the time, and then he wouldn't be the only permanent wrapper. 

The implication is that Troy didn't have a room in which to work, but rather, he just had an open area on the west of the first floor. And keep in mind that we are supposed to ignore the fact that he said he worked in another building. That statement just disappeared like a fart in a high wind. 

Now consider this incoherent exchange:

Mr. BELIN - Did you put tape on the wrapping paper when it was being shipped? When you wrap the books up with paper, did you have any gum tape that you put on it?
Mr. WEST - No, sir; I had a machine that I placed it on the machine and tied it with, and the machine tied it with a string. 
Mr. BELIN - Did you have any kind of tape, sticky tape that you would put on the paper to keep it together, or was that somewhere else? 
Mr. WEST - Oh, yes, sir; I used some of that wide tape.
Mr. BELIN - Is that sticky tape?
Mr. WEST - Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN - To seal the package with?
Mr. WEST - Yes, sir; that's right. And then I tie it; put it on the machine and tie it. 

So, the tape had to be applied by hand, unlike the string, but when you pulled it out of the container it was in, it would slide by a tray with water, which would wet the tape, so that it was ready to use. It was the kind of tape which had to be wet to activate the glue. 

Then, they talked about what happened on November 22, but strangely, Belin never asked Troy West why he didn't go outside to watch the motorcade. Wasn't he interested in seeing the President and First Lady? If not, why not? And why didn't Belin ask? Was it because Troy West was black? But, there were plenty of African-Americans outside watching the President.

Troy West made it sound like he was alone on the first floor, eating his lunch and drinking his coffee, until the police and FBI rushed in. He said he didn't hear any shots. 

Mr. BELIN - Who was the first person you saw on the first floor after you - while you were eating your lunch? Someone came in the building? 

Mr. WEST - Yes; before I got through. The officers and things were coming in the front door.
Mr. BELIN - Who was the first person or persons that you saw coming through there while you were eating your lunch?
Mr. WEST - Well, that was the police.
Mr. BELIN - A police officer?
Mr. WEST - Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN - Anyone else?
Mr. WEST - I guess it was a bunch of them, I guess, FBI men, and just a crowd of them coming in there.
Mr. BELIN - Did you see Roy Truly coming in at all that time? Do you know Mr. Truly?
Mr. WEST - Yes, sir; that is the boss, the superintendent.
Mr. BELIN - Did you see him, do you remember, while you were eating your lunch, come in the building?
Mr. WEST - Yes, sir; I think he came in with the police.
Mr. BELIN - Was he one of the first people in, or did other people come in ahead of him, if you remember?
Mr. WEST - Really, I just don't know. 

That was what you call leading the witness. Troy was trying to say that a swarm of police and FBI suddenly entered, but Belin wanted him to say that just one police officer (Marrion Baker) and Mr. Truly entered. And Troy went along. He was trying his best to be helpful- to deliver- but in the end he just said he didn't know. 

So, my question is: WAS TROY WEST EVEN THERE? Maybe he was in the other building, like he first said. You can tell he was very uncomfortable and wanted it to be over. 

Mr. BELIN - Do you know anything else about what happened on November 22, that might be helpful or relevant here?
Mr. WEST - No, sir; I don't really. 

Mr. BELIN - Anything else that you can think of, whether I asked it or not?
Mr. WEST - Well, I don't know anything else. I know of nothing else. 

Then, Belin asked him if he wanted to read and sign his statement, and Troy said no, he didn't, that he would waive. He just wanted to get out of there, and who can blame him.

Here is the map of the first floor that Belin was working off:

So, what was implied was that somewhere on the west side, which is our left, there was an open area in which Troy had his tying machine, which actually tied string around packages. And there were rolls of paper, and there was tape that would be made wet when you pulled it out of its container. 

So, supposedly, according to the official story, sometime on Thursday, November 21, Lee Harvey Oswald went and took some paper and some tape and made it into a bag, which no one saw him do. And Troy didn't leave that spot except to go to the bathroom. He even made his coffee and ate his lunch right there. 

Why did Troy West say that his place (presumably, of work) was on the west side of the other building? And why did David Belin ignore it? And why did Troy West say they had a machine that tied string around packages? 

Today, nobody ties up packages with string. The Post Office tells you not to. They don't want string involved.  At the TSBD, books arrived in cardboard boxes that were not tied in string. Yet, we are supposed to believe  that books went out wrapped in paper and tied in string? To schools? SCHOOLS? 

And why did Troy West say that the police and FBI stormed in when reportedly just one policeman and Roy Truly stormed in?

Isn't it obvious that Troy West was just winging it? Just making it up as he went?  

There is nothing credible about any of this. I really think Troy West was telling the truth when he said he worked in another building.