JFK Assassination Forum

Other people in DP thought the shots came from the direction of the TSBD, including JBC and two of the agents in the follow up car who can be seen looking  to the rear in the direction of the TSBD. Some of the people in DP were right and some of them were wrong about where they shots came from. Which group is corroborated by the finding of spent shells and a rifle found where they thought the shots came from. Which group is corroborated by an eyewitness who saw a gunman where they thought the shots came from. Which group has no corroboration for their impression of where the shots came from.

   "The DIRECTION of the TSBD...." takes in a lot of territory. This description would include: (1) in front of, (2) to the sides, and (3) behind the TSBD. You guys continually treat this very general description like it pinpoints the TSBD. It does Not. 

There were three spent shells and only two recovered bullets. Prima fascia evidence of a missed shot.

The HSCA conclusions were FUBAR. They allowed themselves to be duped by junk science which was never peer reviewed and thoroughly debunked after they published their findings.

Up until now, I hadn't claimed Oswald stood up. However, the first shot would have been fired at more vertical downward trajectory than the first two shots. That would have forced Oswald to raise himself somewhat in order elevate the butt end of the rifle and fire downward at a target moving across his line of fire. This made the first the most difficult of the three since the subsequent shots were fired with his target moving almost directly away from him. The first shot, while being the shortest, was by far the most difficult of the three for the reasons stated. I doubt Oswald stood completely up for that first shot but he probably rose up part way to fire that first shot.

PS. Do you have any credible evidence of anyone other than Oswald taking part in the assassination. Don't feel bad if you don't. After 62 years, nobody else has either.

 
   Are you Now running away from a shot striking the traffic signal support beam? In order to hit that traffic signal, a shooter has to be standing up. Not merely "rose up" as you claim. Standing erect was part of that razzle dazzle/visual aid that Max Holland provided on "The Lost Bullet". Your fudging with the firing stance of the shooter shows your awareness of the weak hand you are attempting to play.
   "Junk Science"? Says the man that likes to proffer "Hunting Shows" as evidence. Pot meet kettle.

Zapruder didn't resume filming until Z-133 (after a 17-second pause), so he missed Oswald's first shot half-a-second earlier.

Mark Lane buys into Penn Jones' theory about Warren Reynolds, but then fails to ask Reynolds if Oswald was the man he saw fleeing from the Tippit murder. But, in fact, he did ask him, and then cut it out of his film. Another case study in intellectual dishonesty.

Still from Rush to Judgment with Warren Reynolds and Mark Lane.


There is a segment in Rush to Judgment in which Penn Jones tells the story of Warren Reynolds.


Here is an excerpt from a transcript: (1:52:59)

Mark Lane: Can you give us one instance of a witness who died a strange death?


Penn Jones: Well, let's take the case of Betty Mooney MacDonald, one of Jack Ruby's strippers, A fellow named Warren Reynolds saw a man running from the scene of the Tippit slaying. Shortly thereafter, Reynolds was shot through the head. Now, before Reynolds was shot, he could not identify the man running from the scene as Oswald. Then he was shot through the head, and a fellow named Garner was arrested. Then MacDonald was the alibi for Garner. She said Garner could not have shot Reynolds because he was with me at the time, Two days after her alibi, Betty Mooney MacDonald was arrested for fighting with a roommate. Although the roommate was not arrested, MacDonald was put in jail that night, and an hour later, she was found hanged in her cell. And of course, the Dallas Police said she hung herself.


Mark Lane: Did Reynolds finally testify before the [Warren] Commission?


Penn Jones:  After Reynolds recovered from his wound, he testified and was able to identify Oswald.


Mark Lane: Mr. Reynolds, where are you employed?


Warren Reynolds: At the Johnnie Reynolds Motor Company.


Mark Lane: And were you working there on November 22, 1963?


Warren Reynolds: Yes, sir.


Mark Lane: How close is the used car lot, which you work, to the scene of the Tippit killing?


Warren Reynolds: One block.


Mark Lane: Were you there at about one o'clock on the 22nd?


Warren Reynolds: Yes, sir.


Mark Lane: And then what happened? What did you see? What did you hear?


Warren Reynolds: We were listening to the radio about the assassination, and we heard these shots, and we ran out on this porch, and we saw this gunman running up the street, and I followed him for a block until I lost him, and then I was going back to the used car lot, and this policeman stopped me and asked me what had happened. And I told him that I had seen this man with a gun, and I had followed him, and I lost him. So, he took the description, my name and stuff like that. And while I was talking to him, some television camera was taking the pictures. And after that, I went on back to the used car lot.


Mark Lane: Were you questioned by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the United States Secret Service during November, 1963


Warren Reynolds: No, I sure wasn't.


Mark Lane: Were you questioned by FBI agents or Secret Service agents during December, 1963?


Warren Reynolds: No, sir.


Mark Lane: Were you questioned by FBI agents or Secret Service agents during January, '64?


Warren Reynolds: Yes, sir, I was.


Mark Lane: When was that, sir?


Warren Reynolds: That was on January the 21st. Two agents come out, and they talked to me and asked me what I had seen. And I told them, and they showed me three pictures.


Mark Lane: You were questioned by agents of the FBI on January 21, '64. Then what happened?


Warren Reynolds: Two days after that, as I was closing up the used car lot one night, when I went downstairs to turn off the lights, some gunman was hidden down there and he shot me. He shot me through the glasses, right here ... and the bullet lodged right over here,


Mark Lane: Mr. Reynolds, who knew about your questioning by the FBI between the time that you were actually questioned by them, and the time that you were shot two days later?


Warren Reynolds: Just friends, and of course, my family,


Mark Lane: The Commission concluded on page 663 of its Report that it was wild speculation for anyone to think that there might have been a connection between the fact that you were shot in January and the fact that you observed the gunman flee from the Tippit scene. What is your comment, sir?


Warren Reynolds: If they would catch the man, and prove that he that he did do it, we could figure out from there whether he was connected or not. And until then, I don't believe anybody is smart enough to say whether there is connection or not.


Isn't strange that Mark Lane does not ask Warren Reynolds if the man he saw fleeing the Tippit shooting was, in fact, Lee Harvey Oswald. The whole crux of the story is his supposed non-identification of Oswald and his changed testimony. Why wouldn't you straighten this out with Reynolds sitting right there?


In fact, Mark Lane DID ask Reynolds about the man fleeing the shooting.



Lane leaves out "and I identified the pictures as the man I knew then as Lee Harvey Oswald. And I identified 'em and they left."


And then Lane asked Reynolds about the statement in the Warren Report that "Reynolds did not make a positive identification when interview by the FBI. What is your comment upon that?"



This was also left out of Rush to Judgment.


My point here is not to use Warren Reynolds as a witness who identified Oswald but to show Mark Lane's intellectual dishonesty.


Now, let's go back and set the record straight.


In the six weeks prior to Betty MacDonald's suicide, she had tried twice to kill herself. Here is what Dale Myer's says about her in his book, Beyond Malice: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Murder of Officer J. D. Tippit: (page 606 in the Kindle edition)


On February 13, 1964, Nancy Jane Mooney got into a brawl with her roommate Patsy Moore over the affections of a man. Mooney, also known as Betty MacDonald, was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace. After being placed in a cell at the Dallas City Jail, Mooney took off her toreador slacks and hanged herself. Police learned that Mooney had attempted suicide twice during the past six weeks. The first attempt was by gas in her bathroom, the second by slashing her wrists. Mooney had exhibited numerous scars on her wrists and stomach to a friend stating, “she had done that to herself.”
Patsy Moore told police that Nancy Jane Mooney had four children who were being cared for by Nancy’s mother in Paris, Texas. The children had been taken away from Nancy, which caused her to be very despondent at times. Moore also stated that Nancy claimed to have been a former striptease girl working at various bars in Dallas, including Jack Ruby’s Carousel Club. Mooney had told police the same thing herself during an earlier interview. However, police interviews with George Senator, Ruby’s former roommate, and with employees of the Carousel Club failed to support Mooney’s claim.
So, it doesn't appear that MacDonald was a stripper at Ruby's club The Carousel.


Here is what Warren Reynolds told the FBI on January 21, 1964:



Reynolds' tentative identification of Oswald got firmer when he testified before the Warren Commission in July of 1964:



Clearly, Mr. Reynolds memory could not have improved and so that is why some assassination researchers don't include them in their list of people who identified Lee Harvey Oswald in the Tippit killing.


Reynolds initially thought there might have been a connection between the assassination of JFK and the attempt on his life. But, no evidence has ever surfaced to link the two. Vincent Bugliosi, in Reclaiming History, says this is all nonsense: (page 4029 in the Kindle edition)

A shot in the temple can only be calculated to kill. What group of conspirators would have any reason to kill someone who, at that time, hadn’t made a positive identification of Oswald? And even if we assume that a positive identification was, indeed, the standard that qualified someone to be murdered by the conspirators, and the conspirators thought Reynolds had positively identified Oswald, out of the many people who did, why was Reynolds the only one whom they tried to kill? Further, I thought the conspirators were trying to frame Oswald. Why would they want to harm anyone who would only be helping them in that endeavor?

Every jiggle is not proof of a gunshot but every gunshot will be followed by a jiggle. This was established back in the 1960s during the filming of hunting shows. Even thought the cameramen knew shots were going to be fired, they couldn't hold their camera steady immediately following the shots.

We have solid evidence of when the two shots were fired that struck JFK and we can see camera jiggles about 1/3 second after those shots were fired.  I have not claimed that the Z158 jiggle is proof positive of a gunshot 1/3 second before, but given that it preceded Connally's visible reaction at Z164 when he began to turn to look over his right shoulder, it is a strong indication. It is possible the shot was fired earlier but that would have us believe Connally reacted very slowly to the first shot. So did Rosemary Willis. I find it far more likely that the shot was fired at or about Z152. It's the best fit for the reactions of Connally and Willis.