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

This concerns the weird testimony of James Altgens. He said, repeatedly, that he took his famous photo at the time of the first shot, and he was sure of it. But, it didn't dawn on him or his interrogator that his photo shows JFK and Jackie reacting to his being shot, but the only one affected by the first shot was James Tague.  

Mr. LIEBELER - You testified previously, I believe, that the first shot that was fired had just been fired momentarily before you took the picture, is that right?

Mr. ALTGENS - Yes, sir; it was so close you could almost say it was simultaneous because it was coincidental but nevertheless that's just the way it happened.

Mr. LIEBELER - Now, you don't think that there could have been any other shots fired prior to that time that you wouldn't have heard, you were standing right there and you would have heard them, would you not?
Mr. ALTGENS - I'm sure I would have yes, sir.

It is agreed by everyone- Oswald accusers and Oswald defenders- that the first shot missed, which means that JFK was not yet hit at the time of the Altgens photo, which is what I have been saying.  

But, then James Altgens went rogue.

Mr. LIEBELER - Now, the thing that is troubling me, though, Mr. Altgens, is that you say the car was 30 feet away at the time you took C.E.203 (Altgens6) and that is the time at which the first shot was fired?
Mr. ALTGENS - Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER - And that it was 15 feet away at the time the third shot was fired.
Mr. ALTGENS - Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER - But during that period of time the car moved much more than 15 feet down Elm Street going down toward the triple underpass?
Mr. ALTGENS - Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER - I don't know how many feet it moved, but it moved quite a ways from the time the first shot was fired until the time the third shot was fired. I'm having trouble on this Exhibit No. 203 understanding how you could have been within 30 feet of the President's car when you took C.E. 203 and within 15 feet of the car when he was hit with the last shot in the head without having moved yourself. Now, you have previously indicated that you were right beside the President's car when he was hit in the head.
Mr. ALTGENS - Well, I was about 15 feet from it.
Mr. LIEBELER - But it was almost directly in front of you as it went down the street; isn't that right?
Mr. ALTGENS - Yes.

30 feet? How could he have been only 30 feet away when he took this picture when this is what we're talking about? (see plat)

Notice that the dot in the lower red circle is in the street, and there is absolutely no doubt that he went into the street. And I know that better than anybody. And that's because I stood there to recreate the Altgens photo, and the fact is that to make the doorway visible, you have to stand in the street. If you remain on the grass or on the curb, the angle is such that the tree blocks the doorway; it obstructs it. You have to move leftward to move the tree rightward (in your field of vision) in order to open up the doorway. So, he was definitely in the street. But, it was a crowded street because coming down it was the big limo plus 4 motorcycle cops who were astride. B J Martin wasn't all that far from the curb. So, who would step into the street if the limo and its escorts were just 30 feet away? The 30 feet would have been like the hypotenuse of the triangle. So, if his distance to Kennedy was 30 feet, his distance to Martin was like 25 feet. It's ridiculous. 30 feet is 10 yards. Think about 10 yards on a football field. Are you buying that? And Liebeler kept hammering about it being timed with the first shot, which missed, yet, in the Altgens photos, JFK and Jackie are in the throes of him being shot. Altgens was trying to cooperate, but he was trying too hard. And have you wondered why there is nothing between Altgens6 and Altgens7?

Why nothing between the two? He was a photojournalist. You know how frequently they snap the shutter at events. They shoot and shoot and shoot and shoot and then sort it out later.  Altgens addressed it, and he sacrificed himself. 

I was prepared to make a picture at the very instant the President was shot. I had refocused to 15 feet because I wanted a good closeup of the President and Mrs. Kennedy, and that's why I know that it would be right at 15 feet, because I had prefocused in that area, and I had my camera almost to my eye when it happened and that's as far as I got with my camera.


Because, you see, even up to that time I didn't know that the President had been shot previously. I still thought up until that time that all I heard was fireworks and that they were giving some sort of celebration to the President by popping these fireworks. It stunned me so at what I saw that I failed to do my duty and make the picture that I was hoping to make.

Are you buying that? We can see him in the Zapruder film, and he doesn't look stunned. He looks like he's taking a picture.

Look at him on the right. He's taking a picture. So, what happened to that picture? They didn't want us to see it. It showed too much. But, just think: he was willing to lie for them; to blame himself; to say he didn't do his duty. He fell on the knife for them. Yet, they killed him anyway. At least, I think they did. He just happened to get carbon monoxide leak from a faulty furnace at his posh Dallas home in 1995? I don't buy that either.