If Oswald Was The Assassin, Did He Plan His Escape From The TSBD Very Well?

[Colin Crow]

First of all, if Oswald had been the lone assassin and had possessed half the rifle skills that the WC attributed to him, he would have fired at JFK when the limousine was coming toward the TSBD on Houston Street. He would have had no tree obstructing his view for nearly 2 seconds, and the limo would have been moving in a straight line toward him, instead of curving away from him on Elm Street. This would have been a much easier shooting feat.

When the WC asked J. Edgar Hoover about this when he testified, Hoover said the oak tree would have obstructed the lone gunman's view from the sixth-floor window! No, I am not kidding. And nobody at the hearing dared to point out to him that this was erroneous, that the view from the sixth-floor window would have been unobstructed.

Michael these are the facts. The lunch was deemed to be associated with the assassin for days. Why were the items not sent to the FBI for analysis that evening?

[Dan O'meara]

I wonder why Williams did not just tell the cops this the afternoon he was making his statement when he saw Oswald brought into custody. Would have saved us much anguish. Oswald, the guy who was gunned down in police protection less than two days later....that guy.

I agree, Williams did see the assassin. If it was Oswald as the Lone Assassin who had just been arrested, Williams would have no fear of telling the authorities, he would have the authorities on his side and would have been hailed a hero.
So that leaves us with two possibilities as far as I can see:
Williams was totally innocent, maybe saw the assassin and was told to leave.
or
Williams saw the assassin because he was an accomplice.

For me, the weight of evidence available leans heavily towards the latter possibility. Rowland spots the man with the rifle around 12:15pm but I think it has been adequately demonstrated that Williams didn't go down to the fifth floor until the last minute so he's up there for the best part of 15 minutes. If spotted he would have been shifted immediately. The only real problem with Rowland's description of the black male in the SN is his age. Willams' lunch is found on top of a stack of boxes that form the SN indicating he was either in or right next to the SN as he had lunch.
The big problem with Williams' lunch evidence is that it reveals the conspiracy. It reveals Oswald could not have been alone if he was the Lone Assassin.
The mystery I'd like to solve is why the evidence was taken by the FBI, returned, then taken again. Something v. fishy going on there.

[Colin Crow]

I agree, Williams did see the assassin. If it was Oswald as the Lone Assassin who had just been arrested, Williams would have no fear of telling the authorities, he would have the authorities on his side and would have been hailed a hero.
So that leaves us with two possibilities as far as I can see:
Williams was totally innocent, maybe saw the assassin and was told to leave.
or
Williams saw the assassin because he was an accomplice.

For me, the weight of evidence available leans heavily towards the latter possibility. Rowland spots the man with the rifle around 12:15pm but I think it has been adequately demonstrated that Williams didn't go down to the fifth floor until the last minute so he's up there for the best part of 15 minutes. If spotted he would have been shifted immediately. The only real problem with Rowland's description of the black male in the SN is his age. Willams' lunch is found on top of a stack of boxes that form the SN indicating he was either in or right next to the SN as he had lunch.
The big problem with Williams' lunch evidence is that it reveals the conspiracy. It reveals Oswald could not have been alone if he was the Lone Assassin.
The mystery I'd like to solve is why the evidence was taken by the FBI, returned, then taken again. Something v. fishy going on there.

Dan, if Williams was part of a conspiracy would he have left his lunch behind? If he wasn’t part of a conspiracy and didn’t see anything why try to hide his presence on the sixth floor. The chicken lunch and pop bottle were part of the narrative for days. Surely Hoover would be keen to check them for Oswald's prints as soon as possible along with the rifle. What if the bottle or bag were the only items that had his prints?

[Dan O'meara]

Dan, if Williams was part of a conspiracy would he have left his lunch behind? If he wasn’t part of a conspiracy and didn’t see anything why try to hide his presence on the sixth floor. The chicken lunch and pop bottle were part of the narrative for days. Surely Hoover would be keen to check them for Oswald's prints as soon as possible along with the rifle. What if the bottle or bag were the only items that had his prints?

Why leave his lunch behind if he wasn't part of the conspiracy?
Why, after a hard morning laying floor would he leave behind a half eaten chicken piece? Why didn't he finish his lunch?
IMO he was interrupted while he was having his lunch and abandoned it immediately and never had a chance to go back for it.
What caused him to abandon his lunch?
If it was something he wasn't supposed to see or he was told to leave I think he would have took his chicken piece with him.
If he was told to leave why would he go down to the 5th floor instead? Why not flee the scene? Why not warn Norman and Jarman? Why not warn Baker on his way up towards the assassin?

Norman and Jarman weren't supposed to be there. They arrive on the 5th floor minutes before the motorcade arrives. Up to this point Williams and the man with the rifle (Dougherty?) have been on the 6th floor, undisturbed for almost 15 minutes at least. Suddenly there's a noise from the floor below, it has to be checked out and the situation controlled. Williams, stood in or at the SN drops his half eaten chicken on the stack of boxes and races down to the 5th floor. He arrives just as the Presidential limo turns onto Houston. The subsequently strange behaviour of Williams, Norman and Jarman after the shooting seems more explicable in this light, Williams is there to contain the situation.
Or not 

[Alan Ford]

I wonder why Williams did not just tell the cops this the afternoon he was making his statement when he saw Oswald brought into custody. Would have saved us much anguish. Oswald, the guy who was gunned down in police protection less than two days later....that guy.

Mr Crow, it's obvious to any fairminded analyst of the case that the reason why Mr Williams did not just tell the cops this the afternoon he was making his statement was that Mr Mytton needs Mr Oswald up there, logic be damned! 

[Alan Ford]

Prob not deemed relevant. Just like the clipboard.

(Not wishing to take this excellent thread off-topic, but...) I suspect the clipboard was made relevant (months later) because of the discovery around that time of two curtain rods in the Depository.

 

[Alan Ford]

Michael these are the facts. The lunch was deemed to be associated with the assassin for days. Why were the items not sent to the FBI for analysis that evening?

It seems obvious, doesn't it?--------------Lt Day did here what he would do several months later with the curtain rods: check them for Mr Oswald's prints. When a negative result was given, the bones/bottle were deemed suddenly irrelevant and so not sent on to the FBI. It's not like the 'investigating' authorities had the slightest desire to discover that someone other than Mr Oswald had been at the SN! I mean, just imagine if the prints turned out not to belong to any Depository employee... Why, it would only confuse the already traumatized public terribly, and who would want that?