Who Killed J.D. Tippit?

[Mitch Todd]

Which witness was this, Walt, and exactly where did they say it?

The witnesses who reported seeing the man pointing the barrel up and shaking the pistol, and discarding the shells were the Davis girls.  Domingo Benavides described the man that he saw shoot Tippit as walking away and tossing a shell ( ONE SHELL)in the bush as he walked away.  The spent shells that were recovered at he scene Were found scattered about, and not in a cluster as would be expected if they had been extracted from a S&W.

So it's not one witness, as advertised, but a combination of the testimony of three different ones. Good to know.

Anyway, Benavides saw the gunman remove and throw two cases, not one. Then again, he remembered that he heard three shots, when there must have been at least four, so his counting may be off.

The shaking described by the Davis girls doesn't solve your problem. Their description implies two different possibilities to me:

First is that the Davises saw the guy doing what might be called the 'combat crane close.' This maneuver involves closing the cylinder by abruptly rotating the wrist of the hand holding the pistol. If you remember old-school cop and detective shows, you've seen some actor do it at least once. Sometimes, the cylinder doesn't engage the frame and bounces back, requiring a second or even a third shake to get the thing closed.

Second is where the rim of one or more cases slips past the ejector star and fall back into their chamber. If that happens, one easy way to get them out is to shake them out. In any case, if you are having to shake the cases out of a revolver, the ejector isn't doing the job and the cases aren't coming out normally. Oswald's pistol was originally chambered in .38 S&W, but the chamber was rebored to fire .38 Special. .38 S&W is slightly larger diameter than .38 special. The modification of the LHO pistol can cause .38SPL cases to permanently swell or even split during firing, which would definitely make it harder to unload normally. And it's a situation liable to cause someone to pick out cases onesey-twosey.

BTW, I don't see either of the Davis girls saying that the shooter was pointing the barrel upwards when he shook the gun. 

[Walt Cakebread]

So it's not one witness, as advertised, but a combination of the testimony of three different ones. Good to know.

Anyway, Benavides saw the gunman remove and throw two cases, not one. Then again, he remembered that he heard three shots, when there must have been at least four, so his counting may be off.

The shaking described by the Davis girls doesn't solve your problem. Their description implies two different possibilities to me:

First is that the Davises saw the guy doing what might be called the 'combat crane close.' This maneuver involves closing the cylinder by abruptly rotating the wrist of the hand holding the pistol. If you remember old-school cop and detective shows, you've seen some actor do it at least once. Sometimes, the cylinder doesn't engage the frame and bounces back, requiring a second or even a third shake to get the thing closed.

Second is where the rim of one or more cases slips past the ejector star and fall back into their chamber. If that happens, one easy way to get them out is to shake them out. In any case, if you are having to shake the cases out of a revolver, the ejector isn't doing the job and the cases aren't coming out normally. Oswald's pistol was originally chambered in .38 S&W, but the chamber was rebored to fire .38 Special. .38 S&W is slightly larger diameter than .38 special. The modification of the LHO pistol can cause .38SPL cases to permanently swell or even split during firing, which would definitely make it harder to unload normally. And it's a situation liable to cause someone to pick out cases onesey-twosey.

BTW, I don't see either of the Davis girls saying that the shooter was pointing the barrel upwards when he shook the gun.

You are the epitome LNer who will refuse to drink...... even after he's been lead to water......

[Mitch Todd]

You are the epitome LNer who will refuse to drink...... even after he's been lead to water......

You have to have the water to begin with, Walt.

[Walt Cakebread]

You have to have the water to begin with, Walt.

Do you actually believe hat Tippit's killer was using an old worn out 38 caliber S&W with a 2 inch barrel and he could hit Tippit in the chest area?    Think about it??    .   

[Richard Smith]

Do you actually believe hat Tippit's killer was using an old worn out 38 caliber S&W with a 2 inch barrel and he could hit Tippit in the chest area?    Think about it??    .

Is there some reason to believe the gun carried by Oswald was not operational?   Subjective characterizations like it was "worn out" doesn't mean it was not functional as you suggest.  The shots were fired at point blank range.  It's unreal that anyone would apply this kind of analysis to rebut the mountain of actual evidence and multiple eyewitnesses that link Oswald to this crime.  Oswald was identified as the gunman who committed this crime in broad daylight in front of multiple witnesses while still carrying the literal smoking gun.  He still had that gun in his possession upon arrest.  He also had the same two brands of ammo that were used to kill Tippit.  Absent a time machine, it is difficult to imagine how there could be more evidence than exists.  It is a slam dunk of guilt.

Imagine the counternarrative where LHO is blundering by accident across the scene of multiple murders that day.  And he looks just like the killer according to multiple witnesses.  He is carrying a gun for some unknown reason to go to the movies.  He is acting so suspiciously that a random person follows him and has the police called.  He has the same two brands of ammo as Tippit's killer.  Just so much bad luck.

[Dan O'meara]

Why dump the shells at all.
Why not get the F out of Dodge and then dump them.
I never quite understood that.
It doesn't have any bearing on who the shooter was, it just seems weird (to me, at least).

[Richard Smith]

Why dump the shells at all.
Why not get the F out of Dodge and then dump them.
I never quite understood that.
It doesn't have any bearing on who the shooter was, it just seems weird (to me, at least).

I'm not sure that you are raising this to indicate any doubt of Oswald's guilt but many CTers go down these kinds of rabbit holes for that purpose.  Would it be any weirder for Oswald to have done this than some other person?  What is important is that Oswald is the person identified at the scene with the gun.  He is arrested with the gun a short distance away and has the same two brands of ammo used to kill Tippit.  One heck of a coincidence if he wasn't involved.  What is "weird" to me is leaving his place of employment at midday without permission after a police officer has pointed a gun at him and having no apparent curiosity about what is going on.  And then going out of his way to get his gun and sneak into the movies.  Acting so suspiciously that he draws the attention of a random person.  Now that is weird behavior unless Oswald was in flight from the assassination.