The First Shot

[Zeon Mason]

This simple and common sense point is somehow overlooked by those trying to push an early missed shot.
The Sniper's Perch is the arrangement of boxes supposedly used by the shooter to rest his rifle on during the shooting.
This means the boxes were arranged BEFORE the shooting.
This means the shooter had already planned out what he was going to do BEFORE the motorcade arrived.
The arrangement of boxes tell us the shooter had decided that the 'kill zone' was going to be towards the triple underpass.



This is confirmed by the testimony of Ronald Fischer.
Fischer and his work colleague, Bob Edwards, were stood directly across from the TSBD building on Elm Street waiting for the motorcade. Edwards noticed a man on the 6th floor who seemed to be in a cramped, uncomfortable position, he pointed the man out to Fischer and made a joke about him. Something about the man made an impression on Fischer:

"And I looked up and I watched the man for, oh, I'd say, 10 or 15 seconds. It was until the first car came around the corner of Houston and Main. And, then, when that car did come around the corner, I took my attention off of the man in the window and started watching the parade. The man held my attention for 10 or 15 seconds, because he appeared uncomfortable for one, and, secondly, he wasn't watching-uh---he didn't look like he was watching for the parade. He looked like he was looking down toward the Trinity River and the triple underpass down at the end-toward the end of Ell Street. And--uh--all the time I watched him, he never moved his head, he never-he never moved anything. Just was there transfixed."

This is pretty much what the shooter was staring "transfixed" at:



The shooter knew exactly what he was going to do before the motorcade entered Dealey Plaza.
The area circled in the pic above is where the limo is moving almost directly away from his position. There would have been minimal lateral movement of the target.
He would have been aware of the oak tree and would have taken his first shot once the limo had moved into the open space as shown above. Once the limo had cleared the oak tree he would have had more than enough time to get multiple shots off while the target was in the 'kill zone'.
The idea that he was on his feet trying to shoot through an impossible gap in the half-closed window in an area where he had nowhere to stand is plain stupid.
He knew when he was going to take the first shot before the motorcade reached Dealey Plaza.
That he was going to wait until the limo was in the kill zone circled above is yet even more evidence that the first shot was taken at z222/z223.

Question is did the shooter  test out his  angled box platform by actually placing his rifle atop these boxes in the prelude time he has. I’ve got the shooter not getting to window any earlier that 12:23 because of Jarman WC referring to he and Norman having not started to return to TSBD  until after they heard a radio on a DPD motorcycle reporting the limo about the reach Dealey Plaza. That time was supposedly 12:22. And if Norman and Jarman therefore do not get to their 5 th floor windows till 12:23, then BRW joined them, then BRW had be out of the SN for sure by 12:23.

If BRW left at 12:20 ( not seen again by Rowland after looked up again about 5 minutes after the 12:15 sighting) then where did BRW go between 12:20 and 12:25? Was he just walking around on the 6th floor for 5 minutes?)

If BRW left at 12:16 completely from the 6th floor , there is more time for the shooter to have positioned the boxes and possibly read out his platform by resting the rifle on without being caught in Hughes or Bronx film ( started approx 12:25)

BRW time is the big variable here and it was at the least a mistake by WC to nail down WHERE he was between 12:16 and 12:23.

[John Corbett]

Question is did the shooter  test out his  angled box platform by actually placing his rifle atop these boxes in the prelude time he has. I’ve got the shooter not getting to window any earlier that 12:23 because of Jarman WC referring to he and Norman having not started to return to TSBD  until after they heard a radio on a DPD motorcycle reporting the limo about the reach Dealey Plaza. That time was supposedly 12:22. And if Norman and Jarman therefore do not get to their 5 th floor windows till 12:23, then BRW joined them, then BRW had be out of the SN for sure by 12:23.

If BRW left at 12:20 ( not seen again by Rowland after looked up again about 5 minutes after the 12:15 sighting) then where did BRW go between 12:20 and 12:25? Was he just walking around on the 6th floor for 5 minutes?)

If BRW left at 12:16 completely from the 6th floor , there is more time for the shooter to have positioned the boxes and possibly read out his platform by resting the rifle on without being caught in Hughes or Bronx film ( started approx 12:25)

BRW time is the big variable here and it was at the least a mistake by WC to nail down WHERE he was between 12:16 and 12:23.

Your last observation is that most astute. BRW is a variable which makes it impossible to establish these time frames with any precision.

I don't think the WC tried to nail down where BRW was other than to say he joined Norman and Jarman at APPROXIMATELY 12:20. This was on page 68. Is there another passage where they wrote of BRW's whereabouts?

[Dan O'meara]

Your last observation is that most astute. BRW is a variable which makes it impossible to establish these time frames with any precision.

I don't think the WC tried to nail down where BRW was other than to say he joined Norman and Jarman at APPROXIMATELY 12:20. This was on page 68. Is there another passage where they wrote of BRW's whereabouts?

The WC Sham had the testimonies of Junior Jarman and Hank Norman to nail down when BRW went down to join them.
And wouldn't you believe it, they omitted this testimony from the report. What a shock.

[John Corbett]

The WC Sham had the testimonies of Junior Jarman and Hank Norman to nail down when BRW went down to join them.
And wouldn't you believe it, they omitted this testimony from the report. What a shock.

If they put everything in the report that was in the 26 volumes of testimony, the report would have been 26 volumes long and been pretty tedious for anyone wanting to read it. The 888-page report contained the WC's findings and specified the evidence that led them to those conclusions. They provided the 26 volumes of evidence for those who wanted to dive deeper.

[Zeon Mason]

If they put everything in the report that was in the 26 volumes of testimony, the report would have been 26 volumes long and been pretty tedious for anyone wanting to read it. The 888-page report contained the WC's findings and specified the evidence that led them to those conclusions. They provided the 26 volumes of evidence for those who wanted to dive deeper.

But it IS in the WC testimony of James Jarman estimating that he and Norman were out front of TSBD as late as 12:25. Now I think they both left about 12:22 when they heard a radio on a motorcycle parked nearby ( not sure which cop though) and they both started their return to the back of TSBD rear door and then took an elevator up to 5th floor . That would be only take maybe 1 min total time and then there is about 180 ft of floor to travel so by 12:23:30 they both are at their windows . Only THEN did BRW join them.

Then from Arnold Rowland WC there is bit more specific timing which I overlooked. Rowland actually is suggesting that he had seen the black man up to about 30 secs before the motorcade was 5 minutes away. Rowland was looking back every 30 secs approx right up till 12:23 when he looked and no longer saw anyone in the window.

So this why I was trying to work it out with all these 3 persons which if not until 12:23 the TSBD shooter only had 2 minutes max to move from whatever hiding place he was on the 6th floor to get to the SN , stack and orient the 3 boxes , if he was not to be captured in the Bronson film beginning at 12:25.

Now John C. May  think this all irrelevant but Imo if the shooter did not make a test run of placing his rifle on the boxes ,  then that could be the reason to have missed a 1st shot . The shooter basically  “slipped” a bit as he positioning the rifle and took aim, resulting in a miss farther off to right ( or even left side of limo  (that hit the manhole cover and or caused the grass uprooted)

Unfortunately those 75% witness pattern of 1….2.3 is too much % of a grouping to dismiss their recollections by saying they were simply wrong.

And as Dan has repeatedly posted on this thread the statements describing JFK reacting and slumping left when they had heard only 1 shot fired but not before they heard  a second shot , then how can this be concluded  as simply a wrong impression by these witnesses?

[John Corbett]

The WC Sham had the testimonies of Junior Jarman and Hank Norman to nail down when BRW went down to join them.
And wouldn't you believe it, they omitted this testimony from the report. What a shock.

You still don't get it and you never will. Witness estimates regarding time frames don't establish anything because they are nothing more than guesses. You are so pitifully stupid that you think every word of testimony the WC heard over the course of the investigation should have been included in the report whether it had any relevance or not in establishing who killed JFK. What the hell difference does it make what time BRW joined Norman and Jarman. The only thing that mattered was that all three were directly below Oswald as he was firing the shots that killed JFK. That provided further evidence that the 6th floor sniper's nest was the location of the assassin.

The testimony of all the witnesses was made available the 26 volumes for those who wanted to take a deeper dive, but it wasn't necessary to put verbatim testimony in the report to explain how the WC arrived at their conclusions.

[John Corbett]

But it IS in the WC testimony of James Jarman estimating that he and Norman were out front of TSBD as late as 12:25. Now I think they both left about 12:22 when they heard a radio on a motorcycle parked nearby ( not sure which cop though) and they both started their return to the back of TSBD rear door and then took an elevator up to 5th floor . That would be only take maybe 1 min total time and then there is about 180 ft of floor to travel so by 12:23:30 they both are at their windows . Only THEN did BRW join them.

Then from Arnold Rowland WC there is bit more specific timing which I overlooked. Rowland actually is suggesting that he had seen the black man up to about 30 secs before the motorcade was 5 minutes away. Rowland was looking back every 30 secs approx right up till 12:23 when he looked and no longer saw anyone in the window.

So this why I was trying to work it out with all these 3 persons which if not until 12:23 the TSBD shooter only had 2 minutes max to move from whatever hiding place he was on the 6th floor to get to the SN , stack and orient the 3 boxes , if he was not to be captured in the Bronson film beginning at 12:25.

Now John C. May  think this all irrelevant but Imo if the shooter did not make a test run of placing his rifle on the boxes ,  then that could be the reason to have missed a 1st shot . The shooter basically  “slipped” a bit as he positioning the rifle and took aim, resulting in a miss farther off to right ( or even left side of limo  (that hit the manhole cover and or caused the grass uprooted)

Unfortunately those 75% witness pattern of 1….2.3 is too much % of a grouping to dismiss their recollections by saying they were simply wrong.

And as Dan has repeatedly posted on this thread the statements describing JFK reacting and slumping left when they had heard only 1 shot fired but not before they heard  a second shot , then how can this be concluded  as simply a wrong impression by these witnesses?

It is not unreasonable to dismiss the 75% (if that is the actual number) when they are demonstrably wrong. Many of that 75% thought the last two shots came right on top of each other which is not possible with a bolt action rifle and all the physical evidence indicates all three shots were fired by Oswald's bolt action rifle. Large numbers of people can be fooled by the same phenomenon. We can only speculate why a large number of people got the spacing wrong because we don't know what they actually heard. I suspect many of those people heard two sounds from the final shot, which is a recognized phenomenon. There were many earwitnesses who did not seem no recognize the sound of the first shot. If those same people heard a double sound from the final shot, they could easily be fooled into believing the last two shots were close together. JBC's visible reaction at Z164, the simultaneous raising of the arms of JFK and JBC at Z226, and the obvious head explosion at Z313 give us a good idea as to the spacing of the shots. What we don't know is how quickly JBC reacted to the first shot by looking over his right shoulder. Dale Myers has hypothesized a shot as late as Z160. My own belief is the first shot was fired at Z147-148 followed by a noticeable camera jiggle at Z155. Tom Graves believes it was fired about a half second before Zapruder resumed filming. Without definitive proof, there is no way to say who is right, but under two of those scenarios, the first two shots would have been closer together while under the Graves scenario, they would have been almost evenly spaced, with the last two shots coming only marginally closer together than the first two.