Debating The John F. Kennedy Assassination (Part 10)
David Von Pein
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SUBJECT -- The JFK Assassination: The Ongoing "Lone Assassin vs.
Conspiracy" Debate.
FEATURED TEXT -- Archived JFK Forum Messages From February 2005,
October 2006, and November 2006.
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CTer (A CONSPIRACY THEORIST) -- Circumstantial evidence is never
sufficient in and of itself to give anything other than a likelihood.
It's an indication, but it's not proof.
DVP (DAVID VON PEIN) -- Circumstantial evidence is, many times, the
ONLY type of evidence a prosecutor has to work with in a murder case
(or any type of case). And convictions are often achieved via just
circumstantial evidence and nothing else.
If you've got a mountain of this type of "non-direct" evidence, you've
got a guilty person, beyond a reasonable doubt. And that's what we've
got in the JFK and J.D. Tippit murder cases. Lee Harvey Oswald was
guilty, and the totality of the evidence proves this to be so.
Or, to use the words of my favorite writer and lawyer, Vincent T.
Bugliosi (who was 105-1 in the L.A. courtroom in his lifetime) -- "A
wealth of only circumstantial evidence is like a thick rope with many,
many strands to it. If one or two, or even three, of those strands are
broken, the strength of the rope is still just barely diminished....and
there are still plenty of strands left to prove the defendant's guilt
beyond a reasonable doubt". (Paraphrased Vince B. quotation.)
And I wouldn't bet against VB's adamant position when he says the
following (a verbatim quote this time):
"Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of President
Kennedy. The evidence is absolutely overwhelming that he carried out
the tragic shooting all by himself. In fact, you could throw 80 percent
of the evidence against him out the window and there would still be
more than enough left to convince any reasonable person of his sole
role in the crime." -- V.B.; 1986
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CTer -- The fact that people who should have seen him {Oswald} if he
ran between the 6th-floor sniper's nest and the 2nd-floor lunchroom saw
no such thing.
DVP -- Now it sounds like you've been taking Oliver Stone's film too
much to heart. The "re-creation" of Oswald/Oldman running down the
stairs past the two women (Sandra Styles and Vickie Adams) was a pure
fabrication and distorts the true facts....or, should I say, the LIKELY
facts, since, yes, it's true that nobody can know exactly what the
"timeline" was after the shooting right down to the second.
But the "best evidence" (if you'll pardon the David Lifton pun) is that
Miss Styles and Miss Adams did not descend that staircase from their
4th-Floor office until AFTER Lee Oswald had already gone down those
same stairs.
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CTer -- The only evidence as to his {Oswald's} location suggests he
wasn't on the 6th floor at the time of the shooting.
DVP -- Incorrect. Howard Brennan's testimony is damning to Oswald
(whether the conspiracy kooks want to believe it or not). Plus the
testimony of witnesses named Fischer and Edwards, who described a man
who generally fit LHO's description in the window just seconds before
the motorcade arrived in Dealey Plaza.
Mr. Brennan has been abused and kicked around by the conspiracists for
years. And he's been dealt a rotten hand by CTers too, IMO. Given the
overall evidence that came to light after Brennan saw the 6th-Floor
gunman in the sniper's window, the odds that Brennan saw anyone OTHER
than Lee Harvey Oswald in that window during the assassination of JFK
are extremely low to virtually non-existent.
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CTer -- There's documentation to suggest that only two bullets were
fired from that location {the SN in the TSBD} -- or at least, only two
bullet casings were found, not three as was later claimed.
DVP -- That's nothing but CTer-created bunk. Pure and simple. The
evidence in the record (including the police photographs of the Nest)
indicates that THREE shells were found there and marked as evidence.
And all of them fit Oswald's gun "to the exclusion".
Plus: There's Harold Norman. Norman HEARD three shells hit the floor
directly above him, and he heard exactly THREE shots as well. Harold
told Vince Bugliosi in 1986 that he heard "three shells" hitting the
floor...forever debunking the CTer claims that one shell was
conveniently planted after the fact by plotters.
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CTer -- James Tague said he wasn't stung with the first shot.
DVP -- That's not what he said in Larry Sneed's 1998 book ("No More
Silence"). In it, Tague doesn't seem to have the slightest idea which
shot stung him. He said he didn't even recall being stung on the cheek
until several minutes after the shooting, when Deputy Sheriff Buddy
Walthers pointed out the blood on his face. Per Sneed's book, only then
did Tague remember being peppered by something during the shooting.
Tague's 1964 testimony in front of the Warren Commission contains a
slightly-different chronology however, with Tague saying he recalled
being stung on the face BEFORE having Walthers point out the blood on
his cheek.
Trying to figure out exactly when (during the short 8-second timeframe
of the shooting) James Tague was struck by something is a difficult
task (at best).
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CTer -- I don't think the things you list tell anyone that Oswald
murdered Tippit.
DVP -- Oh, for heaven sakes! Step out of the CT clouds for once! How
much stuff is required to prove Oswald guilty of Tippit's slaying? The
bum's guilt couldn't be any clearer, even if he had shouted "I did it!"
to the world on national TV.
There were gobs of witnesses....his bullet shells were found just yards
from the murder victim (in a place where HE himself was seen dumping
them!)....the murder weapon was on him half-an-hour later....he tried
to kill a cop inside the theater....plus there were Lee's
nicely-incriminating comments in the theater and then in the police car
-- "It's all over now"; "This is it", and "Well, they say it just takes
a second to die".
He might as well have been drenched with Officer Tippit's blood when he
was caught. It's that obvious.
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CTer -- But isn't it true that those people who did identify Oswald as
Tippit's murderer all initially claimed it wasn't him?
DVP -- No. And I have no idea why you'd even say that. There was no
ambiguity at all re. the witnesses who IDed Oswald as Tippit's killer
(or as the LONE MAN who was running from the scene of the crime, with a
gun, depositing shells as he ran). It's as ironclad as can be.
To quote witness Ted Callaway, who thoroughly messed up defense
attorney Gerry Spence at the 1986 Oswald Mock Trial when Ted said this
after Spence asked if Callaway was absolutely certain he could I.D.
Oswald in the police line-up if Oswald had been dressed exactly like
the other men in the line-up:
"I could have identified him if he'd been nekkid."
I think you've been reading too many CTer accounts of this crime. Read
Dale Myers' book ("With Malice") instead; it's not filled with
distortions and murky CT junk.
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CTer -- There seems to be plenty of reliable evidence that it wasn't
Oswald who killed Tippit.
DVP -- You must be kidding! There's almost NO exculpatory evidence in
Oswald's favor with respect to the J.D. Tippit murder (which is
incredible if LHO had actually been innocent of the murder). About the
only thing in Oswald's favor is witness Acquilla Clemmons, who said she
saw two men running in opposite directions from the murder scene. But,
remember, she did NOT see the actual shooting.
I'm fairly convinced she saw Ted Callaway running off with Tippit's gun
after the shooting occurred. Callaway then ran off with fellow witness
William Scoggins in Scoggins' cab as they went to search for Tippit's
killer.
I'm surprised more people haven't made a big deal out of Callaway's
story...which is an amazing tale to say the least. Ted was a real hero,
of sorts, in my book. First, he gets a really good look at Oswald as
Lee escaped the scene of the crime, with his gun in "the raised pistol
position" (he even talks to Oswald briefly).
Callaway then dashes to Tippit's side and contacts the police on
Tippit's car radio; and then Mr. Callaway takes the gun off of Officer
Tippit's dead body (after he rolled the murdered policeman over to one
side to get to the gun, which Tippit was lying on) and gets Scoggins to
drive him around the area hunting the killer. Incredible take-charge
action.
It's just too bad Ted didn't find Oswald lurking in an alley somewhere,
and then brought him back to 10th Street at gunpoint (using the gun
belonging to the man Oswald had just killed; THAT would have been ideal
justice, huh?) and into the waiting arms of the Dallas Police. Mr.
Callaway would really have been crowned a hero if that had occurred.
Anyway, the evidence of Oswald's guilt in J.D. Tippit's murder is
irrevocable and undeniable. And that's a "Mark VII".
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CTer -- When JFK is shot in the head, why does his wife suddenly move
to the back of the car like she's trying to get out? I never understood
why she did that.
DVP -- My spouse's head just exploded two inches in front of my face
and his bloody body is now falling toward me. What would be the natural
reflex action that most people would take at that very moment?
1.) Stay calm, cool, and firmly rooted in my seat and catch the bloody
head?
Or:
2.) Get the heck out of the way of the bloody mess?
Is there anybody on Earth who thinks they'd really have the wherewithal
to choose #1? If so, you're made out of solid steel.
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Re.: "The Umbrella Man".....
DVP -- And don't forget the THIRD thing that Mr. Umbrella Man was
apparently being used for (in the fertile minds of certain
conspiracists anyway) -- he was giving JFK a "signal" or "sign" that he
was about to fall victim to a shooting. "TUM" had "DCM" next to him
(aka: "Dark Complected Man" for those who aren't familiar with all of
the Conspiracy Acronyms)....and DCM was waving at JFK as can be seen in
the films and photos.
Some kooks think TUM and DCM were working together as part of a covert
assassination team of Dealey Plaza plotters....and, right out there in
plain view of hundreds of people and multiple active cameras, these two
brain-dead plotters evidently were waving umbrellas and waving at JFK
in order to let Kennedy know just WHO it was that was about to kill him
(Cuban refugees who were upset at JFK over the lack of air cover at the
1961 Bay Of Pigs fiasco).
So, as can be seen, the CT-Kooks will simply run from one theory re.
Umbrella Man to the next. If they don't like the "Poisoned Dart"
theory, they've always got multiple other TUM scenarios they can fall
back on.
But, by God, the CTers somehow KNOW that Mr. Umbrella Dude was part of
the plot in some fashion, so they'll MAKE him part of the plot, even if
it means having to look like a total moron to get that job accomplished
-- such as the "poisoned dart" stuff. That one, I'll admit, is one of
my all-time favorites!
Imagine the logic (or illogic) of it, if you will -- The plotters place
one of their assassins on Elm Street in plain sight of hundreds of
witnesses, including the heavily-armed Secret Service agents (who are
FACING "TUM" as he fires his dart). And remember, TUM is there not
really to KILL the slow-moving target of John Kennedy. No. He's only
there to "wound" and "paralyze" Mr. Kennedy.
But TUM's task is greatly hindered by a clumsy umbrella weapon and the
fact that he's got to shoot through a crowded limo and make sure his
aim is perfect, or else maybe he'll "paralyze" Jackie or Nellie
instead....and that wouldn't be a good thing for the plotters to have
happen....unless you live in CT-Land, where the after-the-fact cover-up
agents can smooth over ANY amount of evidence to make sure your "Lone
Patsy" plot succeeds as planned.
And, naturally, Mr. Umbrella's flechette shot could easily WARN the SS
men that something's amiss, thereby making the "Kill Shot" from "Badge
Man" more difficult, because perhaps the SS will get JFK out of there
faster. Or Jackie might pull him completely out of sight even.
I guess the assassins just wanted to play fair and give the President a
fighting chance to escape the kill shot by firing needless "darts" at
the target, when they could have just as easily fired the fatal blow
from the get-go. (I had no idea that professional contract killers for
the Mob were so obliging. Go figure.)
Badge Man, by the way, has to wait until JFK emerges from behind that
retaining wall on the Grassy Knoll, because the stupid pre-planners of
this inane plot evidently never bothered to check to see whether or not
this Knoll position would even be a good one for doing the job at
hand....not to mention Mr. BM having to fire through multiple witnesses
who might hinder his high-powered blast.
But no worries here, because they've got HUNDREDS of cover-up
operatives waiting in the wings to "control the ensuing investigation".
Comedian Don Rickles could probably make millions by taking some of
this conspiracy-flavored junk on the road as part of his nightclub act.
:)