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

It's very strange that Jim Leavelle got chummy with Oswald. After all, Oswald, supposedly, killed the President of the United States and a police officer. He also, supposedly, tried to kill another police officer. And Leavelle, presumably, knew both of those officers.  

So, why would he address Oswald as "Lee" which is personable?

Anybody in law enforcement ever address Manson as Charlie? 

And why would he joke with Oswald? Joke with a double murderer?

But, let's look at the joke he told. Leavelle told Oswald that if someone shoots at him, he hopes that he is as good a shot as Oswald is. 

Now, when telling that joke, Leavelle always explains it: "meaning that I hoped that the shooter hits him and doesn't hit me by mistake." And I have to wonder if Leavelle felt the need to explain it to Oswald too:

'You see, Lee, what I mean is that if he's a good shot, he'll hit you, as he intends to do, and he won't hit me by mistake, since I'll be right next to you, and handcuffed to you. Get it?"

But, the weirdest thing of all is the response he claims Oswald gave, which is: "Nobody is going to try to shoot me."

It's weird because it's not natural, and it's not normal. For over 45 hours, Oswald was in custody, accused of killing two men, which he denied emphatically. And I use the word "emphatically" because Oswald used it. We can hear him say it, ourselves. You can watch the video in which you can see and hear him say, "I emphatically deny these charges." He said it very emphatically. 

So, when Jim Leavelle lightheartedly- and that really is the most disturbing thing about it, how lighthearted it was- accused Oswald of fatally shooting two men, why didn't Oswald respond with outrage: 

"Hey! I haven't shot anybody. I've been telling you for two days that I haven't shot anybody. And, it is the truth. So, you are mistaken if you think I did those shootings. However good or bad a shot I am has nothing to do with it because I haven't shot. Period."

You saw how adamantly Oswald denied the shootings in the hall to the reporters. So, why wouldn't he be just as adamant with Leavelle? In fact, why wouldn't he be more adamant? Because: he'd been saying it over and over for two days. We can hear him say it repeatedly in the hall, "I didn't shoot anybody" but, undoubtedly, he must have said it even more times during the interrogations. According to Hosty, Oswald "frantically" denied the charges. That's the word he used: frantically. And Leavelle even attended some of the interrogations. He attended the very last one, which was the longest one.

So, after all that, for Leavelle to make a joke to Oswald about being a good shot in the commission of two murders, imagine how irritating and frustrating and exasperating it was to Oswald. 

"Hey! God damn it! Have you not been listening to me???? I said I didn't shoot anybody!! How many times do I have to say it to get through to you????

OK, maybe that's more me than Oswald because people are different. But, Oswald wasn't a stupid man. I'm sure he would have picked up Leavelle's implication, without having it explained. And, I think he would have been outraged, and rightfully so. 

Who wouldn't he be outraged at being accused of committing two murders which he knew he didn't commit? Wouldn't you be? Just imagine if you were falsely accused of murder. Wouldn't you be outraged? Wouldn't you set the record straight? Who would just brush it off, as if it was nothing, no big deal, and just make a glib remark, "Well, nobody is going to shoot at me." To do that would be a tacit admission that Leavelle was right, that Oswald had no problem with what he said. But, that contradicts the Oswald in the hallway that we all heard; he did not like being called a double murderer. 

So, I suggest this: that that folksy story, which always brings a chuckle to audiences at JFK gatherings, is a lie. We know for certain that Jim Leavlle is a liar. He said that he jerked on Oswald trying to pull him behind him as "Ruby" approached. And he said that when Ruby got there, he shoved him on his left shoulder with his right hand, and he even demonstrated it. Utter despicable lies; none of it happened. Leavelle said that he made a surgeon excise the bullet under Oswald's skin and give it to him BEFORE the operation began, while Dr. Tom Shires said that they did not remove the bullet from Oswald's body until AFTER Oswald was pronounced dead. Now, who are you going to believe? Dr. Tom Shires or Jim Leavelle?

Another lie of Leavelle is that "Ruby" tried to shoot again after he shot Oswald, and this time the gun was aimed at him. And it was only because his partner, LC Graves, got his hand on the gun and kept the barrel from turning that Leavelle wasn't shot and probably killed. The films do NOT support this. There is no indication that "Ruby" tried to fire a second time.

Lies, lies, lies. So, what reason is there to believe Leavelle's folksy, friendly story about chatting it up with Lee Harvey Oswald and trying to get him to laugh and look at the lighter side? 

And he never did explain why he would wear an Easter suit to work in late November two days after two men were brutally gunned down, one of whom he knew and worked with. Don't people in mourning usually wear black? We have images of Leavelle before Sunday and after Sunday, and he was always dressed in a dark suit.

And finally, let's talk about him handcuffing himself to Oswald. Why did he do that? Was he afraid that Oswald was going to make a run for it? To escape? Of course not. That is preposterous. For two whole days Oswald was led around without being handcuffed to anyone except himself. Why couldn't they just leave it at that? If Oswald had his hands cuffed, and Leavelle and Graves each had one of his arms, wasn't that secure enough? And, they were just going to walk him 20 feet to a waiting car. So why would he handcuff himself to Oswald? 

Leavelle claimed to see Ruby in advance and to see the gun in advance. So, I should think the first thing he would have done is STOP. Stop walking. Why keep moving? And the second thing I should think he would have done is yelled "GUN!" and pointed at "Ruby". That would have alerted the others. Maybe Blackie could have grabbed him. And then I should think he would have pushed Oswald down and tried to get in front of him. You might think that that's asking a lot, but he was assigned to protect him. 

Instead, Leavelle claimed to remain silent- not to alert anyone. He claimed to try to jerk Oswald behind him, but, according to him, he only succeeded in turning him. And then he told his ridiculous shoving lie. Don't you think that if he had shoved "Ruby" we would have seen it. This is the moment of the shot.

Leavelle was nowhere near "Ruby" when he shot Oswald. Leavelle hadn't even looked at "Ruby" when he shot Oswald. And the only way he could have shoved "Ruby" is if he had a hockey stick in his hand with which to do it. Look at that. Not Leavelle, not Oswald, and not Graves are showing the slightest awareness of "Ruby." They are oblivious to him. They don't begin to react until AFTER the shot is fired. 

Lies, lies, lies. The whole story, and the whole system, are held together by lies. But, the lies can't hold up forever. They are already collapsing.