Hoffman couldn't hear, White didn't hear, Murphy heard.

[Marjan Rynkiewicz]

Here is an aerial from Freeway Man  by M. Duke Lane. http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/FreeWayman.htm
I drew a fat yellow line showing my estimates of the pozzy of the Falcon & of Bell where Bell first films it.
And a fat yellow line to a few yards further along where the Falcon appears in the pix in Reply#1 & Reply#5.
And a fat yellow line showing the pozzy of the Falcon where we last see it, almost stopped.
The Falcon stopped i reckon 1 car length past its pozzy in the pix in my initial posting & Reply#3.
The Falcon traveled 59 yd.  I usually scale distances based on the TSBD being 98 ft by 98 ft.
Hoffman (if he is the gawker)(or if he is sitting at Hoffman's Lookout)(or if he is in the Falcon) had a good view of the paling fence carpark, but couldn't see the rear of the TSBD.

I drew a thin green line to Murphy's 2 locations.
And to the gawker.
And to Hoffman's Lookout (not vizible from Bell's location koz of a tree in Elm St near the picket fence).
Duke has drawn Hoffman's Lookout in a wrong location in the photo. Duke called it Ed standing (see blue lines)(& Duke drew it between Gawker & Hoffman's Lookout).

[Marjan Rynkiewicz]

Here we can see Officer Murphy again in Robin Unger's Bell 109/208 freeze frame of Bell's footage.
This time Murphy is at the western barrier of the overpass.
He was at the eastern barrier, saw JFK & Co pass underneath, & he dashed over to the western barrier for another look.
He probly took say 7 sec to cross 3 wide lanes plus 2 wide breakdown lanes  (today it is 7 narrow lanes with no breakdown lanes).
So, at the time of the footage JFK has passed the railroad overpass & is entering Stemmons Freeway.
Thats why Murphy looks thin, he is standing facing to our right, looking towards JFK & Co a long ways away north, & we see him side-on.
Hoffman in his Falcon is a few seconds short of stopping & getting out to join the gawker at the western barrier. 
Hoffman didn see no hole in JFK's head. 
Hoffman didn see 2 guys playing toss the rifle.
Its elementary.

[Marjan Rynkiewicz]

The red arrow is where Officer Murphy crossed Stemmons from east to west, in Bell's footage.
The distance tween Hoffman's Lookout & Murphy when on the western side is now only 33 yd.
But Hoffman says that Hoffman ran north (from Hoffman's Lookout) towards Officer Brown on duty high up on the railroad overpass 100 yd away.
Why didnt he run to the 6 or so Officers below the railroad overpass at road level blocking traffic.
And what about Officer Murphy now only 33 yd south of Hoffman's Lookout & now on the same (western) side of Stemmons.
Hoffman was definitely on the Stemmons overpass on that day, & he must have been aware of all of the police present, yet in later years he forgets & comes up with a silly story.
Hoffman was definitely soft in the head. Its elementary.



As can be seen Officer Murphy while at the eastern barrier had a good view of the paling fence & carpark.
And he was a little closer to the carpark than Hoffman Lookout (which is on the western side of 5 lanes)(now 7).
Murphy was 196 yd from the fence, Hoffman's Lookout 217 yd, ie 21 yd further.
And the large overhead signage that partly blocked Murphy's view of the triple overpass didn't affect Murphy's view of the fence & carpark.
I didn't draw Murphy's sight-line to the paling fence on the aerial, but it passes well clear north of the large concrete pillar at the north west end of the triple underpass.
So, if Hoffman saw 2 guys playing toss the rifle then Murphy would have seen them too.

And the 3 guys that we see in some of the pix in this thread standing against the
north eastern concrete splayed retaining wall of the triple overpass would have seen too, the wall meets
the paling fence at about 45 deg, hence the 3 could see well into the carpark, & the 3 were only 12 yd from the fence.
And when the tossee walked out to the cabinet & disassembled the rifle everybody on the triple underpass would have seen.

[Marjan Rynkiewicz]

Here we see Officer Murphy at the eastern barrier.
He dashed to the western barrier after JFK passed under him (view of barrier is blocked by that slowly moving van/truck).
Murphy at the time of this freeze frame is standing on his 3-wheeler (did he have a 3-wheeler), hence he is visible above the signage.

The gawker sitting on the western barrier can be seen waiting.
If Hoffman is to be believed then that gawker might be Hoffman (but it aint). Anyhow, that gawker is about 20 yd south of Hoffman's Lookout (the Lookout is where Hoffman says that Hoffman was sitting).
Hoffman & a passenger are i reckon approaching in that Falcon.
In a couple of seconds we know that Mr Passenger will see JFK exit the triple overpass, that is why he jumped out before the Falcon stopped rolling.
And, Hoffman pulled up a long way short of the end of the queue (the queue is somewhere ahead)(hidden by trees), because his passenger yelled out asking him to stop.
Koz his passenger could see that when JFK & Co were exiting the triple overpass, lights were flashing, sirens were blaring.
I mean in effect yelled out, koz Hoffman was deaf (but he twernt dumb or mute)(according to one of his workmates).
Its all elementary.

[Marjan Rynkiewicz]

After JFK & Co had passed, we can see that a number of queuers walked up to learn about what happened.
The walking queuers are shown by arrows. Some would have heard the shots.   
Did Hoffman ever mention that he was surrounded by fellow gawkians.  I recall that he said he was alone. 
He said that he was puzzled that no-one else had chosen his ideal vantage point.

Hoffman is i reckon driving that Falcon (see arrow), & it is still slowly rolling, & will stop in a car length,
& then Hoffman will join the gawker at the western barrier (see arrow),  & JFK & Co will by then be on Stemmons 200 yd north.

[Marjan Rynkiewicz]

A nice view. There were 3 car lanes northbound, & 2 breakdown lanes, so the left lane was a breakdown lane just like Hoffman said.

[Marjan Rynkiewicz]

Mr. BALL. You are a patrolman, are you?
Mr. MURPHY. That's right
Mr. BALL. Do you have a three-wheeler?
Mr. MURPHY. A three-wheeler - yes.
Mr. BALL. On November 22, 1963, did they assign you to some post?
Mr. MURPHY. Yes, I was assigned to the overpass - the Stemmons Freeway overpass northbound at Elm Street - over Elm.
Mr. BALL. What instructions did you have?
Mr. MURPHY. It was to keep anyone and everyone off of the overpass and to keep traffic moving until the motorcade arrived.
Mr. BALL. Now, you have a map here which you have drawn for us to show your position, Is that right? (Reporter marked instrument - Murphy Exhibit A, for identification)
Mr. MURPHY. Yes; that's right.
Mr. BALL. And you have drawn a position there as to where you were standing, is that right?
Mr. MURPHY. That's right.
Mr. BALL. And where you parked your three-wheeler?
Mr. MURPHY. Yes.
Mr. BALL. All right, mark the place where you were standing as Position 1, using an "X".
Mr. MURPHY. All right. (Witness Murphy marked the diagram as requested by Counsel Ball.)
Mr. BALL. And your three-wheeler was beside you?
Mr. MURPHY. Yes; right on the shoulder.