Tippit Shooting 1:15-1:16

[Michael Capasse]

A .38 automatic casing is marked “.38 AUTO”
A .38 Special is marked “.38 SPL”
A standard .38 round is marked “.38 CAL”

These markings are unambiguous.

If Sgt. Hill had been guessing, one would expect him to assume the casings were the more commonly used .38 Specials — not the relatively rare .38 automatics. That he identified the shells as automatics from the outset seems highly questionable.

Frankly, it's hard to believe this was an honest mistake.

[Tim Nickerson]

A .38 automatic casing is marked “.38 AUTO”
A .38 Special is marked “.38 SPL”
A standard .38 round is marked “.38 CAL”

These markings are unambiguous.

If Sgt. Hill had been guessing, one would expect him to assume the casings were the more commonly used .38 Specials — not the relatively rare .38 automatics. That he identified the shells as automatics from the outset seems highly questionable.

Frankly, it's hard to believe this was an honest mistake.

Hill did not look at the butt end of either of the shells. He called out the gun as being a .38 automatic based on a false assumption. The shells looked like .38s.  It was an honest mistake. The actual shells recovered do not lie. They are .38 Specials, non-automatic. Oswald would have had no need to manually remove shells from an automatic.

[Michael Capasse]

  A veteran officer knows that shells have markings and would look without assuming.
“the shells at the scene indicate the suspect is armed with an automatic 38 rather than a pistol.”

[Tim Nickerson]

A veteran officer knows that shells have markings and would look without assuming.
“the shells at the scene indicate the suspect is armed with an automatic 38 rather than a pistol.”

Again, Hill never looked at the butt end of either shell. They looked like they were .38s. They were not. They were .38 Specials.

Mr. BENAVIDES - Well, I started--I seen him throw the shells and I started to stop and pick them up, and I thought I'd better not so when I came back, after I had gotten back, I picked up the shells.
Mr. BELIN - All right. Now, you said you saw the man with the gun throw the shells?
Mr. BENAVIDES - Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN - Well, did you see the man empty his gun?
Mr. BENAVIDES - That is what he was doing. He took one out and threw it.
Mr. BELIN - Do you remember in which hand he was holding his gun?
Mr. BENAVIDES - No; I sure don't.
Mr. BELIN - Do you remember if he was trying to put anything in the gun also?
Mr. BENAVIDES - Yes. As he turned the corner he was putting another shell in his gun.
Mr. BELIN - You saw him?
Mr. BENAVIDES - I mean, he was acting like. I didn't see him actually put a shell in his gun, but he acted like he was trying to reload it.
Maybe he was trying to take out another shell, but he could have been reloading it or something.
======================

Mrs. Charlie Virginia Davis - Well, we saw Oswald. We didn't know it was Oswald at the time. We saw that boy cut across the lawn emptying the shells out of the gun.
.......
Mrs. Charlie Virginia Davis - We watched him unload the shells out of his gun.
=================

Representative FORD - You saw him take the shells out of the gun?
BARBARA DAVIS -  No, sir; he was shaking them.
Representative FORD -  He was shaking them?
BARBARA DAVIS -  He was shaking them. I didn't see him actually use his hand to take them out. I mean he was sort of shaking them out.

[Michael Capasse]

Again, Hill never looked at the butt end of either shell. They looked like they were .38s. They were not. They were .38 Specials.

  lame - both Davis sisters and Benevides shells are a mess
Why would Hill guess at the caliber if it is written on the shell?

Mr. BENAVIDES - Well, I started--I seen him throw the shells and I started to stop and pick them up, and I thought I'd better not so when I came back, after I had gotten back, I picked up the shells.
Mr. BELIN - All right. Now, you said you saw the man with the gun throw the shells?
Mr. BENAVIDES - Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN - Well, did you see the man empty his gun?
Mr. BENAVIDES - That is what he was doing. He took one out and threw it.
Mr. BELIN - Do you remember in which hand he was holding his gun?
Mr. BENAVIDES - No; I sure don't.
Mr. BELIN - Do you remember if he was trying to put anything in the gun also?
Mr. BENAVIDES - Yes. As he turned the corner he was putting another shell in his gun.
Mr. BELIN - You saw him?
Mr. BENAVIDES - I mean, he was acting like. I didn't see him actually put a shell in his gun, but he acted like he was trying to reload it.
Maybe he was trying to take out another shell, but he could have been reloading it or something.

Gerald Hill | DPD
Mr. HILL. Right. And Poe showed me a Winston cigarette package that contained three spent jackets from shells that
he said a citizen had pointed out to him where the suspect had reloaded his gun and dropped these in the
grass, and that the citizen had picked them up and put them in the Winston package.

Domingo Benavides | CBS Special
"...They were looking all over the place for evidence and everything...and taking fingerprints and what have you...
So--I guess they were gonna just walk off and leave them...not knowing they was there..
and seeing I knew where they was at I walked over and picked up a stick..and picked them up and put them in a Winston package...
I think I picked up 2 and put them in the Winston package and as I was walking back I picked the other one up by hand I believe..."

======================

Mrs. Charlie Virginia Davis - Well, we saw Oswald. We didn't know it was Oswald at the time. We saw that boy cut across the lawn emptying the shells out of the gun.
.......
Mrs. Charlie Virginia Davis - We watched him unload the shells out of his gun.
=================

Representative FORD - You saw him take the shells out of the gun?
BARBARA DAVIS -  No, sir; he was shaking them.
Representative FORD -  He was shaking them?
BARBARA DAVIS -  He was shaking them. I didn't see him actually use his hand to take them out. I mean he was sort of shaking them out.

There were 4 shells found at the Tippit scene.
According to the Report, two were found by one witness, the remaining were found by two other witnesses.
Virginia and Barbara (aka Jeanette), found two shells, one by each sister, in the bushes of the house they rented.
This is where the line of custody and the sequence of events get murky regarding the gathering of this evidence.

Domingo Benavides was closest to the scene as it happened, he got a good look at where the man discarded the shells.
The Homicide report, Police Report and Official Autopsy report, ALL say the officer was hit three times.
Yet, 4 shells were found. The first two picked up by Domingo, go in to evidence and are accounted for.

The fourth shell was found by Virginia Davis a few hours after the police had left.
There was a diligent search by several people around the house as it happened, and then again two more times that day.
As she and Jeanette continued to look, they luckily found the 4th shell in the bushes around 5;30p, and called police.
DPD Officer C.N. Dhority went out and searched some more before bringing that last shell back around 7pm.

The first two shells and the fourth can be reasonably accounted for. Q74, 75 and 77 have a somewhat uninterrupted chain.
Although a detour to the Texas Theater by the "sergeant in the crime scene search section", doesn't endorse a clean line of handling.
It is the 3rd shell that has the conflicts and doubts in it's line of custody and validity.
These statements bring cause to insinuate re: Capt. Doughty (dif. than Dhority) never actually handled Q76.