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

 

Just look at how well matched these two are: the shape of the face, the identical clothes, and even the same stare. It is absurd and insane to claim that that's Oswald and Lovelady. For Goodness sake, they weren't twins, and this wasn't like an Elvis contest where everyone dressed the same. This much likeness in the man and the clothes means that it was him, Oswald, standing in the doorway.

Poor Billy Lovelady. He didn't want the role thrust upon him. He had a somewhat criminal past, but he just wanted to live a normal life. He did NOT want to claim to be Doorman because it involved lying, and he was no good at lying, and he knew he was no good at it. And CBS found that out the hard way. When they produced their 4 hour JFK Special in 1967, they planned to do a big segment on Lovelady as the Man in the Doorway. They paid him to come down from Colorado, where he had moved, and they took photos of him in the doorway. And they interviewed him extensively. But, before it aired, somebody at CBS with sense chucked the whole segment. Do you know how much they said about Lovelady and the Man in the Doorway? Not a word. And the reason why was: his credibility was completely lacking.

And the same thing happened 9 years later with the HSCA. They examined the issue, and since Oswald was dead, you'd think they would have subpoened Lovelady and had him testify. But, the top HSCA lawyer Ken Brooten traveled to Colorado to meet Lovelady, and his reaction was not to depose him or put him on the witness stand. Again, Lovelady lacked credibility. He just wasn't convincing. And Brooten quit his job with the HSCA so that he could represent Lovelady. Can you imagine? I have never heard of anything stranger than that. Before he left, he did make a recording of an informal questioning of Lovelady- with wife Patricia's help- trying to get him to walk the walk and talk the talk. But, Lovelady was a nervous wreck, and even with Pat's help with Brooten's softball approach, he was still a basket case. And it was never entered into the record.

I had the good fortune to speak, at length, several times to lawyer and journalist Jones Harris. And he told me something that is both sad and funny. He said that when he went to Dallas to interview Lovelady, they wouldn't let him into the TSBD, but they did send Lovelady out. It was May 1964, so a month after Lovelady testified to the WC, in which he refused to claim to be Doorman. But, I'm sure he was visited by big men in dark suits and sunglasses who made it clear to him that if he valued his life, as he knew it, he better get with the program.

So, Lovelady started claiming to be Doorman. And they didn't just wave the stick; they gave him the carrot too, and I mean so much money that he was able to start his own shipping company in Colorado. He was a guy who worked for $1.11/ hr at the TSBD.

But, Jones Harris hit him with a tough question: "Look, the FBI put it in writing that you said you wore a short-sleeved, vertically striped, red and white shirt, and they photographed you in it, unbuttroned. But then, the story became that you wore a long-sleeved plaid shirt. So, which shirt did you wear?"

Jones told me that Lovelady just froze and looked petrified. He didn't know how to answer. But, finally, he said, "Both."

You see what I mean? Lovelady just couldn't lie. He was no damn good at it. And he couldn't act either.

But behold: this is Oswald, in the doorway and a little later after he was arrested. Same man/ same clothes/ same stare. Even the same hand clasp, in front of his body, left over right. That is Oswald in the doorway as sure as it is Jesus on the Cross.