Posts
Sources
WCR pages 159 - 160 -
Warren Commission Testimony
Cecil McWatters - 2H262 -
Mary Bledsoe - 6H400; her affidavit CE2003
CE 381-A - It’s in Volume 16 p. 974. The bus tansfer ticket.
CE 1119-A - Volume 22 p. 86 - Map tracing the movements of Lee Harvey Oswald between 12:33 p.m. and 1:50 p.m. November 22, 1963
CE 2003 - Starts in Volume 24 on page 195. It's The Dallas Police Department file on their investigation of the assassination of the President. This is also CD81b
CE2170 - Was this the first time the Dallas Public Transport system was used as a getaway car?
CE 2168 - D.A. Henry Wade says, the next we hear of him he is on a bus. Tells the story of “The Laughing Incident.”
CE 2641 - FBI affidavit of Roy Milton Jones
Internet and website articles
1.) My 1998 article: Oswald and McWatters' Bus and John Armstrong's "new look" at the Tippit Shooting.
Notes
The Elm Street cross streets
1. Record
2. Market
3. Austin
4. Lamar
5. Poydras - (this street is now only from Commerce to Jackson)
6. Griffin (1 (double wide parkway, intersection))
7. Griffin (2)
Debbie Currie, a researcher living in Dallas who provided information, explains: "There is only one Griffin Street crossing Elm. Griffin "turns into" Field Street a few blocks north of Elm and then picks up as Griffin Street again farther out and a few streets over, which is not uncommon in Dallas."
8. Murphy
Now it no longer hits Elm and only one block is left between Commerce and Main. Debbie Currie told me, "No more Murphy Street -- It is now Murphy Crosswalk and is two blocks long, between the Federal Building on Commerce Street and One Main Place on Main Street. It is between Griffin and Field Streets. Murphy Crosswalk is between Griffin and Field. It's not a street at all -- just a crosswalk, but it has a street sign that says Murphy Crosswalk and is two blocks long."
9. Field
10. Exchange (Is now gone)
11. Akard
12. Stone Place (I know, it's not really a street. This caused some confusion as it appears to be an intersection on several maps yet does not appear to really be a street for vehicular traffic. Mary Ferrell informed me, "That was an alley running from Elm to Main. A number of years ago (I'm not certain that it was done before 1963/1964) they widened the alley and made it almost like a small park with Mexican tile and benches, little trees and fountains. People use it as a short-cut between Elm and Main but also to sit and eat lunch or just enjoy the sun and open air." Mike Parks, another researcher agrees, "This is just a walkway and not a street.")
13. Ervay
14. St. Paul
15. Harwood
16. Olive
17. Pearl
18. Central Expresway
19. Hawkins
20. Good Latimer Expressway
McWatters Route - He starts at the Lakewood Shopping Center. As he leaves he is on Gaston Avenue. Gaston Avenue becomes Pacific Avenue. And then turns left onto North Hawkins St. taking that to Elm Street. Take Elm to Houston Street turning left onto Houston St. Stays on Houston and goes over the Houston Street viaduct and onto North Marsalis St. He continues on North Marsalis which will become South Marsalis. Then there is another small shopping center near Ann Arbor. He turns around there and goes back the way he came.
McWatters does not go near North Beckley. He stays on Marsalis which is seven blocks east of Beckley.
The Beckley Bus - Mentioned by McWatters (2H276) this bus has a similar starting point on St. Paul cross street on Elm. It goes down Elm. But, where McWatters' Marsalis bus goes left onto Houston St. the Beckley bus would go straight on Elm and through the Triple underpass. This bus does stop right in front of the TSBD.
The Romana Bus - Another bus route that also goes down Elm St - (2H284)
The Capri Theater - referenced in Roy Milton Jones FBI affadavit as to where he got on the Cecil McWatters Bus. According to this website Cinematreasures.org, http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/7012 it was originally called The Hope Theatre and opened in 1921. It was designed by W. Scott Dunne and Alfred Charles Finn. At one time it had a 3/11 Wurlitzer organ. At some time it was taken over by the Interstate Theatre Circuit. I believe it was then renamed The Melba. In 1953 it showed the first 3-D movie “Bwana Devil,” and in 1954 it began showing Cinearama movies. I believe it was last known as The Capri. It was located near the corner of Elm and North St. Paul Street.
Walt Cakebread letter
March 22, 1995
Dear Editor,
I just finished reading William Weston's story, Marsalis Bus #1213, in the March issue of The Fourth Decade. Officially the Bus transfer was found in Oswald's shirt pocket during a body search at about 4:00 PM on the day of the assassination, about 2 1/2 hours after his arrest. ( While Detective Sims was searching Oswald in Dallas, J. Edgar Hoover in Washington, was announcing that the DPD had arrested the assassin who was a "Communist and a mean spirited individual" ) There is definitely something not right with the bus transfer story. There are a host of questions, I have had for a long time concerning the bus transfer. Mr. Weston's article provides me with a needed format for broaching the subject, and I thank him for that.
There are many people living today who have never ridden a public transit bus and therefore are unfamiliar with the paper that transfers were printed on. They were printed on a thin poor grade of paper, very similar to news print. A reasonable facsimile can be made by cutting a inch and a half by four inch strip from a newspaper. With this simple device, I think we can demonstrate one of the major problems with the bus trasfer story.
Officially Oswald had the transfer in his shirt pocket when he was arrested, (even though it wasn't discovered until two and a half hours later.) A photo of the transfer (CE 381A) is printed on page 974 of volume XVI of Hearings. I would like to point out some of the improbabilities with the bus story and present an alternate hypothesis to the official version of the story. The first and most obvious anomaly is the conditioncof the transfer. It is like the "magic bullet" in that it is in pristine condition. It just doesn't look like a piece of newsprint paper that has been in someones pocket, and especially someone who has been running, on a warm, humid Texas afternoon and wrestling with the police. It isn't even slightly wrinkled, not even a dog earred corner?? For the transfer to be in this conditioncit would have to have been encased in some sort of folder or purse, but there is no evidence that this was the case. Detective Sims states that he found the transfer by itself in Oswald's pocket. I defy anyone to hastily place a public transit transfer in their shirt pocket not just once, but at least twice and not even dog ear a corner!
Oswald supposedly boarded the Marsalis bus at 12:39 PM rode on it for a couple of blocks, asked for a transfertgot off the bus at about 12:45 PM, walked three blocks to the Greyhound bus depot, caught a cab that transported him to nearly a half mile past his room at 1026 N. Beckley. He hurried back to his room, ran in, and hastily changed his clothes, (he would have had to transfer the transfer from the shirt he had been wearing to his fresh shirt) and then run out the door while pulling on a jacket. He was last seen by Mrs. Roberts at about 1:05 calmly standing at the bus stop across the street from the boarding house. The next time he is seen is about ten minutes later and a mile away near the shooting of officer Tippit. A couple of minutes later he is seen running up Jefferson Blvd where he slips into a parking lot and sheds his jacket. ( He's probably sweating pretty heavily by this time, and the transfer in his pocket is probably getting a little damp ) After eluding pursuers he slips into the Texas theater where he is arrested after a wrestling match with the Police. During the scuffle and the removal from the theater his clothes are used as grips and leverages to subdue and control him. He is shoved with his hands cuffed behind him into the rear seat of a police car and squeazed between between two Dectives who remove his wallet from his pocket and further wrinkle his clothes. Then at four o'clock Detective Sims searches him and finds the bus transfer still in pristine condition! Incredible!
So where did this transfer come from to be in such pristine condition? I believe when the Detectives stopped McWatters bus as it passed through down town Dallas at about 6:15 PM one of the first things they would have asked him was what one of his transfers that would have been issued at 1: 00 would look like. ( They may have asked him for one for comparison purposes ) McWatters simply got out his **Marsalis route transfer booklet set the tear off bar at 1:00 o'clock and tore off one of his transfers and gave it to the detectives, He very likely wouldn't have taken any notice of the transfer number at that time. In his affidavit which he gave on the evening of the assassination he simple says that the transfer #004459 "is a transfer from my bus with my punch mark" this statement doesn't even hint that this transfer was the one that had been in Oswald's pocket. **( McWatters testified that when he was South bound on the Marsalis run he would punch the Lakewood slot on any transfer that he issued, he explained that this practice was to prevent a passenger from "riding the transfer" back to near the point of origin)
The Warren Report refers to the bus as the Lakewood/ Marsalis bus. This designation indicates that the bus plied a route from the Lakewood area to the Marsalis area. The route started in the Northeastern section of Dallas at Anita & Ellsworth streets. On the southbound run the bus destination marker read "Marsalis 23". The route ran S.E. following Gaston Ave into down town Dallas where it followed Elm street through down town Dallas turned left on Houston and crossed the Trinity river on the Houston street viaduct onto Zangs Blvd, where it turned left onto Marsalis and then south on Marsalis Ave to its termination point at Ann Arbor street. The route took one hour to traverse. At Ann Arbor the driver would turn the bus around, change his destination marker to read "Lakewood 30" and reverse the route he had just traveled. Any transfers issued on the south bound Marsalis run would be punched in the Lakewood slot while the transfers issued on the North bound Lakewood leg would be punched in the Marsalis slot.
Detective Sims found a transfer in Oswald's pocket that was punched "Marsalis 23" that had been issued at 1:00 o'clock. He was unaware that this transfer was proof that Oswald had not killed officer J.D. Tippet. When he saw the Marsalis 23 slot punched and the time of 1:00 o'clock he assumed that he had proof that Oswald had left the scene of the assassination on the Marsalis bus. ( It's quite likely that Oswald himself told the detectives about the bus transfer in his pocket thinking that it would establish his where abouts at the time of Tippits murder.)
In reading his testimony before the Warren Commission it is very clear that Cecil McWatters was a simple bus driver who wanted to help the authorities as much as possible in clearing up any questions about Oswald's involvement in the assassination. It is also very clear that the passenger that he thought the police had in custody was a young man named Milton Jones and not Lee Oswald. He made it abundantly clear that he never identified Oswald as the grinning man ( Milton Jones) who left his bus at the intersection of Marsalis and Brownlee about 45 minutes after the assassination. He said that the #2 man in the line up (Oswald) most closely resembled the grinning man ( Jones) who was on his bus. (The other three men did not even come close to resembling Jones )
The second problem with the transfer, is that it was issued at one o'clock and it was valid only until 1:15. Transfers were issued at fifteen minute intervals. (Cecil Mc Watters the bus driver said that the main transfertpoint was the intersection of Elm and Lamar, which he crossed at 12:40) Since there was a supervisor at that intersection checking the times of the buses and examining transfers issued by the bus drivers. (The supervisor would occasionally ask to examine a transfer that had been received by a connecting bus driver, he could readily tell by the distinctive punch mark of each driver when a transfer had been issued ) It is not likely that Mc Watters would issue a transfer that would be good for 30 minutes and risk being fired by doing so. (30 minutes would allow a assenger about a half hour to shop and then continue on his journey without having to pay another fare. A practice that was frowned upon by a company making their revenue by passengers paying the twenty three cent fare) The next 15 minute interval after 12:30 would of course be 12:45 so any passenger disembarking from a bus at 12:44 and transfering to a connecting bus should have a transfer cut no later than 12:45, which would make it valid until 1:00. The transfer that was "found in Oswald's pocket" was cut for one o'clock which would indicate that Oswald disembarked from the bus between 1:00 and 1 :15. (If he had this transfer in his pocket it would be good evidence that he fled the scene of the shooting by a bus that passed through the area shortly afterwards.)
Since there is no transcript available that recorded any of Oswald's interrogation sessions, we are left to speculate on what Oswald actually told the authorities during questioning. There are memos that were written by many members of the, DPD, The FBI, The SS, a Federal Marshall, a Federal Postal Inspector and et al. who witnessed and participated in the interrogations. (Some of these memos make it quite obvious that there were elements within the law enforcement community that were framing Oswald, the most obvious of these elements is Captain Fritz) From these memos it seems clear that Oswald did have a bus transfertin his possession at the time of his arrest. The 64 dollar question is; Is the transfert# 004459 the same one that was in his pocket ? Judging by it's pristine condition, it doesn't appear that it is the same transfer.
Oswald was doing exactly as he had been trained to do in the event an operation he was involved in went sour, when he boarded the Beckley Ave bus. His training as an agent had taught him to "Cover-His-Ass" in the event the ship hit the sand. He had been taught ways to create an irrefutable alibi when he needed one. Some of the sure fire ways he had been taught ( Standard training for operatives) to generate a plausible alibi were: Enter any public place that required a ticket. ( Movie Theaters, Sporting Events street cars, busses and taxis, and get a transfer or a receipt for fare when disembarking) or create a public disturbance that would attract attention to yourself ( loud arguing over the hamburger you've just been served, or the watered beer being served) as a desperate measure when you felt you were in deep S---, do something to get youself arrested, (Jail is the best alibi of all, but you risk taking yourself out of action by being in jail) You might refuse to pay for the watered beer, and then slug the guy sitting on the next stool when he remarks on your loud mouth, or slug the cop when he shows up to try to get you to pay for your beer. (minor offenses but sure fired ways of ending up in either jail or the hospital) Other ways of generating an alibi were; if you were driving a car create a minor "accident" or double park in front of the police station, in short anything that would establish your whereabouts at a given time.
I believe Oswald had been well trained in undercover work. For example, assume as an undercover agent he had infiltrated an extremist organization and had learned that they were planning an attempt on the life of the Liberal, Catholic, Commie Loving, President. When he reported the plot to the FBI, he had been led to believe that the attempt by the extremists could be used to his government's advantage of infiltrating Castro's Cuba, because they would make it appear that he was one of the extremists who had got away. (Not to worry, the President would be well protected and the attempt would fail, but the extremist's would be arrested ) He could then slip into Mexico and on to Cuba where he would be welcomed as a friend by Castro. He had participated in a similar operation the previous April when he staged an attempt on General Walkers life. (That plan failed when Marina failed to react as anticipated to a note he had left for her )
He knew there was an element of danger in playing this game but he had been taught ways to cover his ass if the ship hit the sand. When he heard the crowds outside the TSBD start screaming that the President had been shot he knew he had better create an alibi in a hurry. His first attempt at creating an alibi was by having a police officer notice him in an innocuous setting within seconds after the shooting. (Officer Baker) He called his handler immediately after Officer Baker had confronted him in the lunch room, and his handler had told him to head for the prearranged meeting place. (the Texas Theater) his next attempt at creating an alibi was when he directed a "Secret Service" to the phone he had just used. He next attempted to cover his ass by boarding a bus and obtaining a transfer. ( He knew Kennedy had been hit but he didn't know he had been killed, so possibly they would still want to continue with the plan of having him "escape".) Since he lived on at 1026 N. beckley he probably caught the Beckley Ave bus and not the Marsalis bus.
If he did enter and exit the bus as described by the Warren Commission, he most certainly did not ride in Whaley's cab. (He would have had to be in two places at the same time, because both Whaley and McWatters said that the man was in their vehicle at the time that the sirens started screaming at 12:37 PM )
The bus transfer that was found in Oswald's pocket was issued from the south bound Marsalis Route (Route 23) bus, but was punched Lakewood to prevent a passenger from using the transfertto return to Lakewood. The transfer is printed with the following statement : Good within 15 minutes of the time indicated (emphasis mine) on the date issued only, at first point of intersection or transfer point, on connecting lines except to vicinity of starting point. The transfer is stamped FRI. NOV. 22, '63 and punched in two places with a crescent shaped punch. The places it is punched indicate it was issued in the P.M. and on the Lakewood route. The TIME of issue is indicated by two widely separated numbers (1 and 0 ) printed across the bottom of the transfer. The transfer was issued on the one o'clock run on the afternoon of November 22nd 1963.
During the first 24 hours of Oswald's questioning he maintained he had rode a bus to his Rooming House. On Saturday afternoon a taxi driver, (Whaley) told the cab company officials that he had transported Oswald on the previous day, they notified the DPD who told Oswald that they had a witness that would testify that Oswald had taken a taxi home at lunchtime the previous day. I doubt that Oswald took a taxi home that Friday, and I can only speculate why he would tell the cops that he had. There is very little doubt that Oswald was NOT the man that Whaley transported to Oak Cliff at 12:30 on Friday! If Oswald took a cab home it was most definitely not Whaley's cab. We can know that for absolute certainty because of the time that Sirens started screaming (12:37)
The bus driver Cecil Mc Watters said Just as "Oswald" was getting on his bus he heard the sirens start screaming. William Whaley said just after "Oswald" entered his cab he noticed the sirens started screaming. Obviously Oswald can't be on McWatters bus and in Whaley's cab at the same time. So we must sort out which account has the greatest plausibilty. The big plus for McWatters story is the fact that Oswald had a bus transfertfrom the Marsalis bus when they searched him. The big minus for Whaley's story is his trip manifest which shows he arrived at the Greyhound bus depot at 12:30, he testified he immediately (He didn't even have time to get a package of cigarettes) picked up a male passenger wearing a T-shirt, a brown shirt, and TWO jackets. He also described his passenger as "wino" who had been sleeping in his clothes. (sounds like a man who had just got off the bus after a long journey) since we can be sure that Whaley left the bus depot not later than 12:35 and the sirens started screaming a minute or two later it is highly unlikely that his passenger was Oswald. Another aspect of Whaleys story that renders it implausible is that Oswald was encountered by Officer Baker in the TSBD at 12:32, he could not have gone from the TSBD to the Greyhound Bus depot (7 blocks) in three minutes, and then sauntered up to Whaley's cab. For all of these reasons and more, I think it is safe to assume that Oswald was not in Whaley's Cab.
Next let's examine McWatters story; he said that a man wearing a jacket boarded his bus at about 12:37 (just about the time the sirens started screaming) after pounding on the door. This man was about 25 to 30 years old wearing work clothes with a Cloth jacket. He sat down near the front of the bus, rode the bus for about 4 or 5 minutes and then departed. Mrs. Bledsoe ( who knew Oswald) said she saw him board the bus but said she did not notice him pounding on the door (a behavior she would probably have noticed and frowned on) he was not wearing a jacket. She said he had on a brown long sleeved shirt with a large hole in the right elbow. She said he took a seat near the rear of the bus. Now since Mrs. Bledsoe knew Oswald by sight it would seem that her testimony is strong evidence that oswald was on the bus, but is he the man that got off when the bus was stuck in slow moving traffic ? Mrs Bledsoe said he had departed the bus before they got to Lamar street, and when Attorney Ball asked her how she knew where he had left the bus she replied ," well that's what the papers said" she also said she didn't know where he got of " I didn't pay no attention to him"
Since it seems that Oswald was on the bus, the question becomes where did he get on and where did he get off? Since Oswald was on his way to meet his handler it would seem that Oswald probably walked south on Houston and caught the Marsalis bus at about 12:50 on Houston street before it crossed the Houston Street Viaduct. He was headed for the meeting in the Texas theater but he thought if he hurried he could get off the Marsalis bus, run to his room, change his clothes, and be back on the corner in time to catch the Beckley Ave bus which would take him within one block of the Texas theater. The Beckley Ave Bus ran South on Beckley approximately ten minutes after the Marsalis bus. Oswald probably hurried to his room changed his clothes grabbed his pistol and dashed out and crossed the street and stood there for a minute to see if a bus was in sight to the north. It was across the street from his rooming house where Mrs. Roberts said she last saw him. When he realized he had missed the Beckley bus he started walking south on Beckley toward Jefferson and the Texas Theater.......
When he was being questioned on Friday afternoon about the murder of officer Tippet and it became apparent to him that the killing must have occurred just a few blocks off his route to the theater at about the time he had entered the theater he told them to check his shirt pocket ( his hands were hand cuffed behind him) and they would find a transfer that had been issued between 1:00 and 1:15 that afternoon,
Oswald suspected he was being set up to be hung for the attack on Kennedy when within minutes of the shooting the cops dropped all pretense of looking elsewhere for evidence, and focused their undivided attention on the TSBD. Though they had no way of knowing how many people might have been involved in the shooting they stopped looking any other place.
My guess is that the Texas Theater was a prearranged meeting spot between Oswald and his handler. ( the "pregnant woman") He would simply go to the prearranged meeting spot upon receiving a signal. (an innocuous phone call )
In my opinion Oswald did just as he had been told to do; He caught the first bus available to obtain the transfer he needed for his alibi, when the police started questioning him as to his whereabouts at the time of Tippitt murder he produced the transfertas proof that he had got off the bus at Colorado and Zangs (approximately one mile from the scene of the Tippit shooting) at one o'clock .
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