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

Amy Joyce: 

Turner's statement given to the DPD on December 18th, 1963 was mostly about where he and his co-workers were standing in the basement and about how they had set up the cameras.  Regarding the actual shooting all that it had to say was:

"Mr. Turner stated he saw Jack Ruby just a split second before the shot was fired.  He did not know Ruby prior to the shooting and - DOES NOT RECALL SEEING THIS MAN IN THE BASEMENT".  

If the witness had actually been in the basement, their reports included whether they had seen Ruby or the shooter in the basement beforehand and included how he might have got in.  That was key to their investigation.   

That's it, nothing more about shooting or shooter was in Turner's report.

On March 25, 1964 his WC testimony changed to that he saw a distinctive looking man actually walk down the Main Street ramp before the shooting.  He gave long and detailed testimony about how he didn't keep his eye on that man because a colleague asked him a question.  But some 15-30 seconds he recalls seeing him again standing in a line of cops and a few reporters.  He said the man was only there for 4-5 seconds before LHO was escorted out and shot.

I am seeing this repeatedly in the police reports; that the original claim doesn't match what they testify to.  It's insane!  

Ralph Cinque:

I am reminded of what Tip O'Neill wrote in his memoir, Man of the House. He said that Ken O'Donnell, who rode in the Secret Service car right behind JFK, and who was a personal aide of JFK, one of his Harvard buddies, one of the so-called "Irish Mafia",  told him confidentially that what he told the Warren Commission was a lie. He told them that he thought the shots came from the Depository, when actually, he thought they came from the Grassy Knoll. And, he said that the FBI told him to say that, saying that it would be helpful, and would ultimately ease the strain on the Kennedy family if everything got wrapped up as quickly as possible. This is exact excerpt from the book.  Even though he remembered O'Donnell saying that "he" didn't want to stir up more pain for the family, you can be damn sure the FBI planted that idea in his head. 

I was never one of the use people who had doubts or suspicions about the Warren Commission's report on

the president's death. But five years after Jack died, I was having dinner with Kenny O'Donnell and a few 

other people at Jimmy's Harborside Restaurant in Boston, and we got to talking about the assassination.

I was surprised to hear O'Donnell say that he was sure he had heard two shots that came from behind the

 fence.

"That's not what you told the Warren Commission," I said.

"You're right," he replied. "I told the FBI what I had heard, but they said it couldn't have happened that way 

and that I must have been imagining things. So I testified the way they wanted me to. I just didn't want to 

stir up any more pain and trouble for the family."

"I can't believe it," I said. "I wouldn't have done that in a million years. I would have told the truth."

"Tip, you have to understand. The family-everybody wanted this thing behind them."

Dave Powers was with us at dinner that night, and his recollection of the shots was the same as O'Donnell's 

Kenny O'Donnell is no longer alive, but during the writing of this book I checked with Dave Powers. As they 

say in the news business, he stands by his story.

And so there will always be some skepticism in my mind about the cause of Jack's death. I used to think 

that the only people who doubted the conclusions of the Warren Commission were crackpots. Now, 

however, I'm not so sure.