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

I heard from an FBI agent. He emailed me. He told me his name, but I'm not going to repeat it here. I presume he is retired because he said he worked with James Bookhout at the FBI throughout his tenure at the FBI, from 1953 to 1977. Now, he specified those years to me, specifically, that he worked with James Bookhout from 1953 to 1977. That's 24 years. It's almost a quarter of a century. And that would mean of course, that he worked with him at the time of the JFK assassination.

Incidentally, he was nice; very polite. At least, at first.

I was reminded of the movie The Odessa File starring Jon Voigt who played Peter Miller, a German investigative reporter.  He was searching for a Nazi war criminal, Edwaurd Roschmann, the sadistic commander of the Riga concentration camp. Peter had reasons to believe that Roschmann was still alive and living in Germany. It happened to be the time of the JFK assassination. While he was in Hamburg, pursuing some lead, a very polite and respectable Dr. Schmidt approached him and said that he heard that he was making inquiries about Edwaurd Roschmann, and he wanted him to know that Roschmann had died some years before. And, he provided some details to substantiate it. But, Peter knew he was lying, and he cited something that proved otherwise. And he finished by really getting into the guy's face: 

"Roschmann was spotted in Berlin five days ago. YOU just confirmed it."

That's great dialogue, and it's a great movie; riveting and fast-moving from beginning to end.  I highly recommend it. 

But, the point is that I rather felt like I was in a similar situation with this FBI agent. And, as I said, he was being polite to me, and I responded in kind. And what he wanted to tell me was that James Bookhout was "no less than six feet tall." Now, I put that in quotes because that is exactly how he put it. 


Jim Bookhout was no less than 6 feet tall during the time of my contacts with him at the FBI during the period 1953 until he retired in 1977. 

So, I responded by saying that I appreciate getting that information, and now if he would just send me one or more photographs of 6 foot tall James Bookhout, that I would compare his face to the known images of him, and if it checks out, then it's all over. 

Well, that's when he got a bit testy.

"It sounds as though you doubt that I worked with Jim?  I stated he was no less than six feet tall.  I do not need to provide any photographs to you."

Of course, he's not the one who needs it. I'm the one who needs it. So, I pressed him about it again, and this is what came back:

"Whatever made you think I had a photograph?  How can I send you a picture 

when I don’t have one?"

Hmm.  Then, why didn't he say so in the first place? His first 

statement sounded like he was arrogantly not going to send me a 

photo. But, if he knew all along that he didn't have one, then the 

question was moot, and he should have said so.

But, is it really likely that he can't get his hand on a photo? After

all those years at the FBI? Gathering photos of people and 

putting them in files is what they do. I don't doubt that they have 

photos of me. 

And why wouldn't it be to his advantage to get me a photo? He

wants me to cease and desist, right? So, if he actually proved to me

that James Bookhout was tall, and I could see for myself that it was 

same person as in the SMU photos, then that would settle it. Right?

I persisted but from there, it just deteriorated. 

But, it has occurred to me that the one I really need to talk to is 

Jim Bookhout, and I would gladly travel to Dallas to do it.

That's because Jim surely knows how tall his father was. And Jim surely has albums of family pictures that include his father. I'm assuming that, but isn't it reasonable? You can't tell me that HE doesn't have a picture of his father. Furthermore, Jim could surely tell at one glance whether this is his father or not:

So, there can be no doubt that Jim Bookhout has all the answers. He's got the key to all the locks. But, I couldn't take his word for it either. He would have provide me images of his father that I could compare to the SMU photos. And, if it all checked out, then I would certainly owe him an apology, and he would get it. But, I don't think I am wrong. I think I am right. And that's why I am eager to talk to him.