Lee Oswald The Cop Killer

[John Iacoletti]

Much like it was reasonable to assume that the phone company kept their time closely synchronized with the official time, it is reasonable to assume that the DPD kept their time  synchronized with the official time also. (Otherwise, Bowles wouldn’t have known that one clock was generally reliable).

That's a lot of assuming based on a rather vague statement.  We have no idea if, or when, or how, any of these clocks were set.  Regardless, the spoken time checks at any given time "had no faithful validity".

[Charles Collins]

That's a lot of assuming based on a rather vague statement.  We have no idea if, or when, or how, any of these clocks were set.  Regardless, the spoken time checks at any given time "had no faithful validity".

Yes, “no faithful validity” would be due to the fact that the dispatcher had two different clocks within sight. And Bowles had no way of knowing which one he used for the voice time stamp. Not necessarily that the time was more out of sync than their normal tolerances.

[John Iacoletti]

Yes, “no faithful validity” would be due to the fact that the dispatcher had two different clocks within sight. And Bowles had no way of knowing which one he used for the voice time stamp. Not necessarily that the time was more out of sync than their normal tolerances.

Right.  And also no way of knowing how close either clock was to any time standard.

[Charles Collins]

Right.  And also no way of knowing how close either clock was to any time standard.

This quote from the same interview by Larry Sneed might give you a clue:

And somebody else said, “All right.” Just after that, at about 12: 30: 55 is when the first shot was fired.

I don’t have the information as to how Bowles arrived at that conclusion. But it doesn’t appear to me that their clocks were more than a minute or two off.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

This quote from the same interview by Larry Sneed might give you a clue:

And somebody else said, “All right.” Just after that, at about 12: 30: 55 is when the first shot was fired.

I don’t have the information as to how Bowles arrived at that conclusion. But it doesn’t appear to me that their clocks were more than a minute or two off.

Charles; I'm not sure if you read this or not but Bowles goes into some detail as to how he determined that and other times: http://www.jfk-online.com/bowles.html

See chapter/section 3 in particular.

[Charles Collins]

Charles; I'm not sure if you read this or not but Bowles goes into some detail as to how he determined that and other times: http://www.jfk-online.com/bowles.html

See chapter/section 3 in particular.

Thanks Steve!

[John Iacoletti]

This quote from the same interview by Larry Sneed might give you a clue:

And somebody else said, “All right.” Just after that, at about 12: 30: 55 is when the first shot was fired.

I don’t have the information as to how Bowles arrived at that conclusion.

Obviously out of thin air, since even the admittedly inaccurate dispatcher clocks didn't show seconds.

But it doesn’t appear to me that their clocks were more than a minute or two off.

How would you know?

[John Iacoletti]

Charles; I'm not sure if you read this or not but Bowles goes into some detail as to how he determined that and other times: http://www.jfk-online.com/bowles.html

See chapter/section 3 in particular.

Thanks for the pointer.  So Bowles derives his "approximate to the second" timestamps only during the period of time that the motorcycle radio mic was stuck on (thus causing the sound-activated channel 1 recorder to record continuously) by arbitrarily assigning the exact time of 12:29:10 p.m. (Channel 1 time) to the beginning of the stuck-mic episode.  Unfortunately this doesn't help us determine anything about the time period surrounding Tippit's shooting.

Bowles also gives a number of caveats:

     "It is, however, important to remember that

     1. No exact record of "time" exists;
     2. The several clocks were not synchronized;
     3. The radio operators were not exact with regard to "time statements" on either radio;
     4. The recordings were continuous only on Channel 1, and only while the mike was stuck open;
     5. For an accurate, although derived, time reference point, 12:29:10 (Channel 1), the time the mike stuck open, will be developed and used in this text."