"Overthinking" (or maybe not?) the Walker attempt

[Lance Payette]

I realize it’s tiresome to see the same people posting over and over and over, so I will return to the cave for a while after sharing this thought. The problem is, when I dive back into the JFKA the thoughts that always nag at the back of my mind keep popping to the forefront.

The Walker attempt is one of the Rosetta stones of the JFKA. It shows Oswald was a violent SOB who would risk his life and abandon his family to carry out a politically motivated assassination. That’s the LN party line – nothing to see here, move along.

I do not suggest Oswald didn’t make the Walker attempt or did so as part of a conspiracy. If you think along those lines, the irrepressible Greg Doudna has summarized his 140,000-word manuscript in an active thread at the Ed Forum. The Walker shooting was a “staged” event, a “prank.” There were three participants including Oswald. Oswald had infiltrated Walker’s circle, possibly at the suggestion of de Mohrenschildt, as part of an undercover government operation to infiltrate right-wing groups. Oswald may or may not have been the shooter (probably not), but it was his rifle and his role was pretty much as he described it to Marina. OK, whatever, I just skimmed it and you can read if for yourself if you’re so inclined. It hasn’t generated much interest.

As with Oswald’s revolver, I’m talking about things that nag at me with the standard LN narrative.

1. On March 9-10, Oswald took photos of the Walker house and alley and assembled a detailed game plan with maps, bus schedules and whatnot. He, of course, did nothing like this with JFK. Granted, he didn’t have as much time – but if he seriously wanted to shoot JFK and get away with it, no law said he had to shoot from the 6th floor of the TSBD or even on 11-22. In comparison to the Walker effort, what he actually did on 11-22 was rather a stupid "plan."

2. He ordered the rifle on March 12, so it’s a virtual certainty he had the Walker attempt in mind. Yet he ordered it by mail using a money order and his own post office box, albeit with a fake name. This made the rifle completely traceable and, as Zeon has pointed out, seems foolhardy. He could have easily bought a better rifle for cash right there in Dallas and it would have been completely untraceable. Does this seem rational for the guy who did all the planning described in paragraph 1 two days previously?

3. He clearly had some awareness of Walker as a right-wing “fascist” (his term), but Walker was pretty small potatoes. Despite being the polar opposite of JFK politically, Walker did share an intense antipathy for Castro, so the two had that in common. But was Walker really worth Oswald throwing away his life and family for? Would being known as the “assassin of General Walker” really satisfy Oswald’s thirst for a place in history?

4. The attempt was made on April 10. On April 2, Michael Paine had raised the topic of Walker at a party and got no meaningful response from Oswald that he could recall.

5. On April 10, Marina was pregnant with Rachel, and June was an infant. Yet Oswald’s note clearly contemplated that he might be arrested or die in the attempt. Does this seem plausible? To throw away his life and family to kill … Walker? And, of course, he left no similar note and gave no indication of anything brewing before the JFKA.

6. Marina said he carried the rifle fully assembled under a raincoat both coming and going from the Walker attempt and that this was what he always did when he took the rifle to practice. He carried it this way on public buses. And yet, with the JFKA he took the risks of making a paper bag and asking Frazier for a ride and carried the rifle disassembled with a curious curtain rods excuse.

7. Marina said he arrived home pale and agitated – very different from the Oswald of 11-21, the morning of 11-22 and the encounter with Baker.

8. Despite being angry that he had missed (according to Marina), he made no further attempt on Walker. In fact, on October 23 (after beginning work at the TSBD) he attended a right-wing rally at which Walker was a speaker. On October 25, he attended an ACLU meeting with Michael Paine and spoke about the rally.

9. Despite her husband attempting to murder Walker and making clear he was prepared to leave his wife, infant daughter and unborn child high and dry, Marina didn’t confide in anyone who might have helped with the situation – not Robert, not the de Mohrenschildts, not any of the Russian expatriate community who had been so helpful to her.

I don’t claim to be any great student of the Walker matter. I don’t know what, if anything, the above adds up to. But as with so much of the JFKA and particularly with Oswald, I have a sense that “something is wrong with this picture.” It’s hard for me to just keep chalking things up to Oswald (supposedly) being mentally ill and erratic.

Is this “overthinking” or just “thinking”?

(Yes, that is a new avatar. I decided to use an actual photo because it's more honest.)

[Gerry Down]

6. Marina said he carried the rifle fully assembled under a raincoat both coming and going from the Walker attempt and that this was what he always did when he took the rifle to practice. He carried it this way on public buses.

---

I have never heard of Marina saying he carried the rifle fully assembled on the bus. Do you have a source for this?

[Benjamin Cole]

LP-

Given that the slug found at the Walker house was a "steel jacketed" bullet---attested to by two DPD patrolman and two DPD detectives in written contemporary statements---I doubt LHO used his own rifle for the Walker shooting attempt.

Who knows what happened April 10 1963, but my guess is LHO took a potshot at Walker, and was given a ride by confederates, and was loaned a rifle. Given the Walker house photographs and "Walker letter," almost certainly LHO was involved.

As for LHO's mysterious behavior, who knows? I am a layman, but I read there are bipolar people, who act one way one day and another the next. Maybe LHO had a variation of that.

An LHO with confederates on 4.10 suggests an LHO with confederates on 11.22.

[Charles Collins]

I realize it’s tiresome to see the same people posting over and over and over, so I will return to the cave for a while after sharing this thought. The problem is, when I dive back into the JFKA the thoughts that always nag at the back of my mind keep popping to the forefront.

The Walker attempt is one of the Rosetta stones of the JFKA. It shows Oswald was a violent SOB who would risk his life and abandon his family to carry out a politically motivated assassination. That’s the LN party line – nothing to see here, move along.

I do not suggest Oswald didn’t make the Walker attempt or did so as part of a conspiracy. If you think along those lines, the irrepressible Greg Doudna has summarized his 140,000-word manuscript in an active thread at the Ed Forum. The Walker shooting was a “staged” event, a “prank.” There were three participants including Oswald. Oswald had infiltrated Walker’s circle, possibly at the suggestion of de Mohrenschildt, as part of an undercover government operation to infiltrate right-wing groups. Oswald may or may not have been the shooter (probably not), but it was his rifle and his role was pretty much as he described it to Marina. OK, whatever, I just skimmed it and you can read if for yourself if you’re so inclined. It hasn’t generated much interest.

As with Oswald’s revolver, I’m talking about things that nag at me with the standard LN narrative.

1. On March 9-10, Oswald took photos of the Walker house and alley and assembled a detailed game plan with maps, bus schedules and whatnot. He, of course, did nothing like this with JFK. Granted, he didn’t have as much time – but if he seriously wanted to shoot JFK and get away with it, no law said he had to shoot from the 6th floor of the TSBD or even on 11-22. In comparison to the Walker effort, what he actually did on 11-22 was rather a stupid "plan."

2. He ordered the rifle on March 12, so it’s a virtual certainty he had the Walker attempt in mind. Yet he ordered it by mail using a money order and his own post office box, albeit with a fake name. This made the rifle completely traceable and, as Zeon has pointed out, seems foolhardy. He could have easily bought a better rifle for cash right there in Dallas and it would have been completely untraceable. Does this seem rational for the guy who did all the planning described in paragraph 1 two days previously?

3. He clearly had some awareness of Walker as a right-wing “fascist” (his term), but Walker was pretty small potatoes. Despite being the polar opposite of JFK politically, Walker did share an intense antipathy for Castro, so the two had that in common. But was Walker really worth Oswald throwing away his life and family for? Would being known as the “assassin of General Walker” really satisfy Oswald’s thirst for a place in history?

4. The attempt was made on April 10. On April 2, Michael Paine had raised the topic of Walker at a party and got no meaningful response from Oswald that he could recall.

5. On April 10, Marina was pregnant with Rachel, and June was an infant. Yet Oswald’s note clearly contemplated that he might be arrested or die in the attempt. Does this seem plausible? To throw away his life and family to kill … Walker? And, of course, he left no similar note and gave no indication of anything brewing before the JFKA.

6. Marina said he carried the rifle fully assembled under a raincoat both coming and going from the Walker attempt and that this was what he always did when he took the rifle to practice. He carried it this way on public buses. And yet, with the JFKA he took the risks of making a paper bag and asking Frazier for a ride and carried the rifle disassembled with a curious curtain rods excuse.

7. Marina said he arrived home pale and agitated – very different from the Oswald of 11-21, the morning of 11-22 and the encounter with Baker.

8. Despite being angry that he had missed (according to Marina), he made no further attempt on Walker. In fact, on October 23 (after beginning work at the TSBD) he attended a right-wing rally at which Walker was a speaker. On October 25, he attended an ACLU meeting with Michael Paine and spoke about the rally.

9. Despite her husband attempting to murder Walker and making clear he was prepared to leave his wife, infant daughter and unborn child high and dry, Marina didn’t confide in anyone who might have helped with the situation – not Robert, not the de Mohrenschildts, not any of the Russian expatriate community who had been so helpful to her.

I don’t claim to be any great student of the Walker matter. I don’t know what, if anything, the above adds up to. But as with so much of the JFKA and particularly with Oswald, I have a sense that “something is wrong with this picture.” It’s hard for me to just keep chalking things up to Oswald (supposedly) being mentally ill and erratic.

Is this “overthinking” or just “thinking”?

(Yes, that is a new avatar. I decided to use an actual photo because it's more honest.)

1. On March 9-10, Oswald took photos of the Walker house and alley and assembled a detailed game plan with maps, bus schedules and whatnot. He, of course, did nothing like this with JFK. Granted, he didn’t have as much time – but if he seriously wanted to shoot JFK and get away with it, no law said he had to shoot from the 6th floor of the TSBD or even on 11-22. In comparison to the Walker effort, what he actually did on 11-22 was rather a stupid "plan."


LHO had limited means and the necessarily relatively quick planning stage was apparently just kept in his head instead of LHO documenting it the way he did with the Walker attempt. My understanding of the documentation of the Walker attempt is that LHO wanted to leave a “historical record” in case he was killed.  I don’t understand why you would classify his JFKA plan as stupid. I think it was a brilliantly planned military-style ambush from behind and above. The fact that he didn’t document it the same way that he did with the Walker attempt doesn’t make it stupid; it only shows that the limited time he had available for planning didn’t allow documentation, etc. And he just might not have wanted to document the plan anyway for whatever reasons.


2. He ordered the rifle on March 12, so it’s a virtual certainty he had the Walker attempt in mind. Yet he ordered it by mail using a money order and his own post office box, albeit with a fake name. This made the rifle completely traceable and, as Zeon has pointed out, seems foolhardy. He could have easily bought a better rifle for cash right there in Dallas and it would have been completely untraceable. Does this seem rational for the guy who did all the planning described in paragraph 1 two days previously?

I don’t agree with “completely untraceable”. I believe guns had serial numbers and the investigators could have found and interviewed the original owner who could have identified LHO as the one who purchased the gun from him. I do agree that LHO made a big mistake by using his own P.O. Box. The only explanation I might have is LHO’s extreme frugality and very limited money available at that point in time.


3. He clearly had some awareness of Walker as a right-wing “fascist” (his term), but Walker was pretty small potatoes. Despite being the polar opposite of JFK politically, Walker did share an intense antipathy for Castro, so the two had that in common. But was Walker really worth Oswald throwing away his life and family for? Would being known as the “assassin of General Walker” really satisfy Oswald’s thirst for a place in history?

Some people are more prone to act based on their emotions. LHO seems to me to be one of those. Walker was all over the news at that point in time, so was Cuba. LHO had already shown his affinity for throwing away his life, country, and family when he attempted to defect to Russia. LHO repeatedly showed that he apparently enjoyed shocking other people, even at his own expense. The JFKA was his “dream come true” opportunity that just fell into his lap. I believe that he couldn’t have resisted it if he had tried.


4. The attempt was made on April 10. On April 2, Michael Paine had raised the topic of Walker at a party and got no meaningful response from Oswald that he could recall.


If I were planning the Walker attempt I wouldn’t advertise my contempt beforehand either.



5. On April 10, Marina was pregnant with Rachel, and June was an infant. Yet Oswald’s note clearly contemplated that he might be arrested or die in the attempt. Does this seem plausible? To throw away his life and family to kill … Walker? And, of course, he left no similar note and gave no indication of anything brewing before the JFKA.

See reply to #3 above.



6. Marina said he carried the rifle fully assembled under a raincoat both coming and going from the Walker attempt and that this was what he always did when he took the rifle to practice. He carried it this way on public buses. And yet, with the JFKA he took the risks of making a paper bag and asking Frazier for a ride and carried the rifle disassembled with a curious curtain rods excuse.

I am not convinced the rifle was disassembled, that’s just an assumption based on the length of the bag. If he wanted to carry it assembled, all he would have to do is place a lunch-sized bag over the short muzzle end of the barrel that would have been exposed otherwise. The Thursday night visit and curtain rods idea was just LHO’s improvisation based on his available means of transportation, etc. It apparently worked well enough for him to sneak the rifle into the TSBD the morning of 11/22/63.


7. Marina said he arrived home pale and agitated – very different from the Oswald of 11-21, the morning of 11-22 and the encounter with Baker.

LHO could apparently control his appearance when he needed to. But what about his former landlady who described LHO looking awful on the bus just after the JFKA.


8. Despite being angry that he had missed (according to Marina), he made no further attempt on Walker. In fact, on October 23 (after beginning work at the TSBD) he attended a right-wing rally at which Walker was a speaker. On October 25, he attended an ACLU meeting with Michael Paine and spoke about the rally.


LHO might have been stalking Walker while looking for weaknesses in Walker’s protective and security procedures. Who knows, maybe that’s why LHO retrieved his revolver on 11/22/63. Perhaps he was heading towards Walker’s home.



9. Despite her husband attempting to murder Walker and making clear he was prepared to leave his wife, infant daughter and unborn child high and dry, Marina didn’t confide in anyone who might have helped with the situation – not Robert, not the de Mohrenschildts, not any of the Russian expatriate community who had been so helpful to her.


She was apparently afraid to let anyone know this. It was only after the Walker attempt letter to her was found that she explained things to the investigators.



I don’t claim to be any great student of the Walker matter. I don’t know what, if anything, the above adds up to. But as with so much of the JFKA and particularly with Oswald, I have a sense that “something is wrong with this picture.” It’s hard for me to just keep chalking things up to Oswald (supposedly) being mentally ill and erratic.

Some people are naturally unpredictable. I think that LHO was one of those and he also tried to be even more unpredictable and shocking to people.

[John Corbett]

Just to shed some light on the tracing process. The federal government is barred from maintaining a registry of guns. Some states do, but not the federal government. In order to trace a weapon, the investigators have to have the weapon in their possession. Assuming they are able to link the weapon to a particular crime, the first step would be to contact the manufacturer with the make and serial number of the weapon in question. Since Oswald's rifle was foreign made, they probably would go first to the importer which would have records for each firearm imported. The manufacturer or importer would be able to tell them which retailer the weapon was sold to. The retailer is required by law to maintain a log of every weapon they sell, identifying the name of that person. In this case, the retailer would have told the investigators that the weapon was sold to A. Heidel and the shipping address of the buyer. If a retailer goes out of business, they are required to turn over their log of weapons sold to BATFE.

Has Oswald chosen to buy a rifle from a local retailer, they would have recorded his name and the make and serial number of the weapon sold. Oswald could have given them an alias as he did with Klein's, but there would be a record of the sale. The only thing that made the purchase of the rifle more traceable was that Klein's had an address that the rifle was shipped to and that PO Box was traceable to Oswald. Oswald's fake ID was just one more piece of the puzzle the investigator's had to link Oswald too the rifle.

If Oswald had succeeded in killing Walker, the DPD would not have had the murder weapon in their possession so there would have been no way to trace it to Oswald. In the JFKA, Oswald was forced to leave his weapon behind since trying to flee with a rifle would not have been practical. Even if he had taken the time to disassemble the rifle and put it back in the bag, it certainly would have drawn attention to himself if he tried to take the weapon with him. The decisions Oswald made in buying a mail order rifle do not need to be viewed in context of the JFKA because he couldn't possibly have known 8 months prior to that act that he would one day be able to use that rifle to kill JFK. I think he bought that rifle for one simple reason. It was dirt cheap. The fact he also purchased a scope indicates he likely had nefarious intentions.

[Lance Payette]

6. Marina said he carried the rifle fully assembled under a raincoat both coming and going from the Walker attempt and that this was what he always did when he took the rifle to practice. He carried it this way on public buses.

---

I have never heard of Marina saying he carried the rifle fully assembled on the bus. Do you have a source for this?

That's what I understood from her WC testimony, and I don't have the time or energy at the moment to go back through it. She said that he always carried the rifle that way when he took it to practice. I may have assumed a bus. It would be kind of hard to ride a motorcycle in a raincoat with a rifle tucked under it, but the bus may be an assumption on my part. All the authorities seem to say he took a bus to the Walker house.

See pages 231-232 of her WC testimony. She said he told her he took the bus to practice and she found it rather odd that he would do that with a rifle under his raincoat.

Whew, my infallibility remains intact. I was worried there for a moment.

[Lance Payette]

2. He ordered the rifle on March 12, so it’s a virtual certainty he had the Walker attempt in mind. Yet he ordered it by mail using a money order and his own post office box, albeit with a fake name. This made the rifle completely traceable and, as Zeon has pointed out, seems foolhardy. He could have easily bought a better rifle for cash right there in Dallas and it would have been completely untraceable. Does this seem rational for the guy who did all the planning described in paragraph 1 two days previously?

I don’t agree with “completely untraceable”. I believe guns had serial numbers and the investigators could have found and interviewed the original owner who could have identified LHO as the one who purchased the gun from him. I do agree that LHO made a big mistake by using his own P.O. Box. The only explanation I might have is LHO’s extreme frugality and very limited money available at that point in time.

As I stated on another thread, when I bought my 30-06 in Phoenix in 1976 out of the classified ads in the Arizona Republic, the seller and I met in the parking lot of Park Central Mall as a mutually convenient spot. I simply gave him the cash and he gave me the rifle. Possibly we introduced ourselves as Lance and Vladimir, but I don't recall even that. People who didn't live in a state like Arizona or Texas in the 1960's and 1970's perhaps have no idea the extent to which buying and selling guns was no more complex than buying and selling golf clubs or baby strollers. Yes, the gun would be identifiable by serial number, but tracing it would be a hell of a project.