Who Were the Two Men Heading *Down* the Stairs at NLT 12:50?

[Michael T. Griffith]

    The main thing I do not like about the 2 men in suits is that Officer Mooney did not describe either of them wearing a hat. I do not recall seeing images of anyone connected to DPD wearing a suit and Not wearing a hat of some kind. Deputy Roger Craig was Not wearing a hat in the Darnell Film, but he was Off Duty that day. To me, both of these guys wearing No Hat is a serious concern.

I think the fact that he assumed they were plain clothes deputy sheriffs implies they were dressed in accordance with the sheriff department's dress code. He never got a chance to give any description of their clothing or to explain why he assumed they were plain clothes deputy sheriffs because Ball, incredibly enough, ignored his startling statement and did not ask any questions about the two men.

[Royell Storing]

I think the fact that he assumed they were plain clothes deputy sheriffs implies they were dressed in accordance with the sheriff department's dress code. He never got a chance to give any description of their clothing or to explain why he assumed they were plain clothes deputy sheriffs because Ball, incredibly enough, ignored his startling statement and did not ask any questions about the two men.

   The key here is knowing exactly when did the TSBD power go out and prevent Mooney from using the freight elevator beyond the 2nd floor? Knowing this would timeline Mooney and those 2 "plain clothes" guys that he encountered coming DOWN the stairwell. It is hard to believe these 2 possible Sheriffs could have entered and gone up into the TSBD and actually investigated anything within roughly 10 minutes after the Kill Shot.   

[Michael T. Griffith]

   The key here is knowing exactly when did the TSBD power go out and prevent Mooney from using the freight elevator beyond the 2nd floor? Knowing this would timeline Mooney and those 2 "plain clothes" guys that he encountered coming DOWN the stairwell. It is hard to believe these 2 possible Sheriffs could have entered and gone up into the TSBD and actually investigated anything within roughly 10 minutes after the Kill Shot.

And that's the rub: There just doesn't seem to be a plausible innocent explanation for two well-dressed men coming down the stairs at 12:40-12:50. They obviously were not common laborers or else Mooney would not have assumed they were plain clothes law officers. The WC went of its way to establish that Mooney was the first law officer on the sixth floor. Yet, Ball simply ignored Mooney's account of two law officers on the stairs at a time when none were there and when none should have been there, and the Commission showed no interest in Harkness's encounter at the rear of the TSBD with men who claimed they were Secret Service agents.

[Royell Storing]

And that's the rub: There just doesn't seem to be a plausible innocent explanation for two well-dressed men coming down the stairs at 12:40-12:50. They obviously were not common laborers or else Mooney would not have assumed they were plain clothes law officers. The WC went of its way to establish that Mooney was the first law officer on the sixth floor. Yet, Ball simply ignored Mooney's account of two law officers on the stairs at a time when none were there and when none should have been there, and the Commission showed no interest in Harkness's encounter at the rear of the TSBD with men who claimed they were Secret Service agents.

   Don't forget that Mooney entered the TSBD with 2 other deputies. And they were ahead of Mooney as he helped those 2 women safely get to their 2nd Floor office due to the power being out. So there is at least Mooney and his 2 deputy buddies + Officer Baker inside the TSBD.  The fact the 2 guys in question were heading DOWN is a reason for concern. I do wonder how Mooney SAW these 2 Men on the stairwell if the power was still out.  And I am assuming the power was still out or Mooney would have used the freight elevator as he originally did. With the power out, that stairwell should have been as dark as a hole.   

[Gary Hemod]

Didn't Vicky Adams say that she passed two men sitting down between the freight elevators and the door out onto the North loading Dock?
Her and Sandra Styles had come down to the north loading Dock to look around the rail yard but were sent back in by a cop. She had never seen the men before.
And wasn't the electrical distribution board there?

[Royell Storing]

I think the fact that he assumed they were plain clothes deputy sheriffs implies they were dressed in accordance with the sheriff department's dress code. He never got a chance to give any description of their clothing or to explain why he assumed they were plain clothes deputy sheriffs because Ball, incredibly enough, ignored his startling statement and did not ask any questions about the two men.

   "Plain clothes" can mean a lot of different things. Anybody not wearing a cop uniform might be considered to be wearing "plain clothes". "Plain clothes" could be a suit, or a sports shirt, etc. Officer Mooney was Not wearing a uniform that day. This is probably why Mooney thought these guys were "deputy sheriffs". Their attire was similar to what he was wearing.

[Benjamin Cole]

MTG--

You make an excellent post, and yet by your own narrative Deputy Sheriff Luke Mooney was ascending the stairs in the TSBD ~12:50 pm, about 20 minutes after the JFKA.

Mooney says he passed by "two men in plain clothes," somewhere between the 2nd and 6th floor.

There were publisher's offices on TSBD floors 2 through 4 with execs and sales-men. They would typically wear office business attire of the day, which was suit and tie.

I find it hard to fathom that JFKA perps would hang around the TSBD 20 minutes after the JFKA.

Also, are we 100% sure that no Sheriffs or DPD'ers, unrecorded, went to the upper floor of the TSBD about 12:50pm?

While Mooney would have possibly recognized fellow sheriffs, what about a non-fellow DPD'er?

I dunno about this one. In the hub-bub after the JFKA, outright pandemonium, a couple of guys in suits on the TSBD stairs 20 minutes after the JFKA...means there was a conspiracy?

Could have been anybody.

This does not excuse the WC, which essentially conducted a posthumous LN prosecution of LHO...and also suffocated leads to G2 in the process.