Post by Rob Caprio on Apr 13, 2021 12:16:50 GMT -5
All portions are ©️ Robert Caprio 2006-2024
The Warren Commission (WC) said that the jacket found near the shooting of Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippit (JDT) belonged to Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO). In their minds this cemented the fact that he had shot JDT and left the jacket while fleeing the scene.
As we will see however, things are never what they seem to be or claimed to be in this case. Let’s look at the jacket issue closer.
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throughtheoswaldwindow.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/CE-162-Oswald-Jacket.jpg
content.invisioncic.com/r16296/post-3674-043737100%201315564429_thumb.jpg
This issue has been touched on in other posts, but this post will take a deeper look at the question of whether the jacket found under a car close to the murder scene was in fact LHO’s or not.
The first issue is who found it? As we saw in an earlier post the man credited with finding it, Captain Westbrook, said he did NOT find it.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever find some clothing?
Mr. WESTBROOK. That was before, Mr. Ball.
Mr. BALL. When was that?
Mr. WESTBROOK. Actually, I didn't find it--it was pointed out to me by either some officer that--that was while we were going over the scene in the close area where the shooting was concerned, someone pointed out a jacket to me that was laying under a car and I got the jacket and told the officer to take the license number.
So who did find it? Again, the ONLY help we get is from the Dallas Police Department’s (DPD) dispatch log. In Commission Exhibit (CE) 1974 we will find the following on page 862.
Quote on
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh23/pages/WH_Vol23_0447b.gif
279 (unknown) We believe we’ve got that suspect on shooting this officer out here. Got his white jacket. Believe he dumped it on this parking lot behind this service station at 400 block East Jefferson across from Dudley-Hughes and he had a white jacket on. We believe this is it.
Dispatcher 10-4, you do have the suspect, is that correct.
279 (unknown) No, just the jacket laying on the ground. (CE 1974, p. 862; p. 62 in original)
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh23/html/WH_Vol23_0447b.htm
Quote off
We see the man who transmitted this is assigned number 279, but we will NEVER be told who this was. It remained a mystery. Why? Wouldn’t it seem logical to find out who sent this message out? We do know the basis of this transmission however, and that came from a witness at the scene of the murder. This was said by Officer J.M. Poe before the WC.
Mr. BALL. Do you know what the description was?
Mr. POE. White male, about 25, about 5 feet 8, brown hair, medium, and I believe she said had on a white jacket at the time.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever put that description on the radio?
Mr. POE. I believe we did. But I couldn't swear to it.
As was the case in the identity of 279 we have NO idea who gave the DPD this description, but we do know Mrs. Helen Markham told Poe the man she saw had on a WHITE jacket.
Mr. BALL. Who told you he had on a white jacket?
Mr. POE. Mrs. Markham told me first.
This is an issue because the WC said, via Marina Oswald, that LHO ONLY owned TWO jackets and neither one was WHITE. The first one up was labeled CE 162, and it was a gray zipper jacket. Here it is.
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh16/pages/WH_Vol16_0272b.jpg
And the other one was designated CE 163 and it was a blue zipper jacket.
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh16/pages/WH_Vol16_0273a.jpg
This was confirmed for us in CE 1843 as Marina was quoted as follows by the FBI.
Quote on
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh23/pages/WH_Vol23_0277a.gif
She said to the best of her recollection Lee Harvey Oswald had only two jackets, one a heavy jacket, blue in color, and another light jacket, grey in color…She said she CANNOT recall that Oswald ever sent either of these jackets to any laundry or cleaners anywhere…She said she can recall washing them HERSELF. (Emphasis mine) (CE 1843, p. 521; p. 1 in original)
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh23/html/WH_Vol23_0277a.htm
Quote off
Thus, a white jacket was NOT an option if you were going to say it was LHO’s. Also, CE 163 was NOT an option either as that would be found sometime later in the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD) as LHO supposedly left it there, despite Marina NOT being able to say he wore it to work that day. Finally, as we will shortly see the jacket found near the Texaco Station had been professionally laundered and Marina said LHO never did this.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you recall whether the jacket, Exhibit 163, is something that he put on in your presence at any time that day?
Mrs. OSWALD. Not in my presence.
Mr. RANKIN. And you didn't observe it on him at any time, then?
Mrs. OSWALD. No.
As we saw in "Statements That Sink The WC's Conclusions #10" post, a number of witnesses described a jacket of different color from the gray one LHO was wearing and the white one the DPD was broadcasting and finding. IF we go back to CE 1974, we will get some more information on page 925.
Quote on
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh23/pages/WH_Vol23_0479a.gif
551 (Sergeant H.H. Stringer) The jacket the suspect was wearing over here on Jefferson bears a laundry tag with the letter B 9738. See if there is anyway you can check this laundry tag. (CE 1974, p. 925; p. 188 in original)
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh23/html/WH_Vol23_0479a.htm
Quote off
There is no other mention of this in the log as other things took over. In fact, he was NOT even acknowledged for this request. We do see something was done about it as we have CE 2003 showing us this. On page 253 of this document, the list of evidence given to the FBI by the DPD, we see the following for the jacket.
Quote on
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh24/pages/WH_Vol24_0136a.gif
Grey mans jacket with “M” size in collar, laundry mark 30 and 650 in collar…laundry tag B-9738 on bottom of jacket. (CE 2003, p. 253; p. 117 in original)
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh24/html/WH_Vol24_0136a.htm
Quote off
The FBI checked every dry cleaner in the Dallas area (over 400) and every dry cleaner in New Orleans (250 plus) and could NOT match the laundry tag to LHO. Also, based on the practice of a limited number of laundries in the JDT murder area it was determined that the letter indicated THE LAST NAME of the person leaving the item for cleaning. Thus, the letter “B” on the tag could NOT correlate to Oswald at all! Heck, it did NOT correlate to “Hidell” either!
The person that dropped that jacket off had a last name beginning with a “B” in all likelihood. Who could that have been? The only viable answers are Banister, or an alias used by someone else.
Furthermore, LHO did NOT wear a medium size based on his other clothing, it was found he wore a small. The jacket found was a medium. The claim that CE 162 was a medium (see above) is incorrect based on his other clothing. LHO wore a size 14-1/2 collar and all his clothes found among his personal belongings were in the 14.5-inch range. This is small.
The Warren Commission (WC) said that the jacket found near the shooting of Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippit (JDT) belonged to Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO). In their minds this cemented the fact that he had shot JDT and left the jacket while fleeing the scene.
As we will see however, things are never what they seem to be or claimed to be in this case. Let’s look at the jacket issue closer.
************************************
throughtheoswaldwindow.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/CE-162-Oswald-Jacket.jpg
content.invisioncic.com/r16296/post-3674-043737100%201315564429_thumb.jpg
This issue has been touched on in other posts, but this post will take a deeper look at the question of whether the jacket found under a car close to the murder scene was in fact LHO’s or not.
The first issue is who found it? As we saw in an earlier post the man credited with finding it, Captain Westbrook, said he did NOT find it.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever find some clothing?
Mr. WESTBROOK. That was before, Mr. Ball.
Mr. BALL. When was that?
Mr. WESTBROOK. Actually, I didn't find it--it was pointed out to me by either some officer that--that was while we were going over the scene in the close area where the shooting was concerned, someone pointed out a jacket to me that was laying under a car and I got the jacket and told the officer to take the license number.
So who did find it? Again, the ONLY help we get is from the Dallas Police Department’s (DPD) dispatch log. In Commission Exhibit (CE) 1974 we will find the following on page 862.
Quote on
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh23/pages/WH_Vol23_0447b.gif
279 (unknown) We believe we’ve got that suspect on shooting this officer out here. Got his white jacket. Believe he dumped it on this parking lot behind this service station at 400 block East Jefferson across from Dudley-Hughes and he had a white jacket on. We believe this is it.
Dispatcher 10-4, you do have the suspect, is that correct.
279 (unknown) No, just the jacket laying on the ground. (CE 1974, p. 862; p. 62 in original)
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh23/html/WH_Vol23_0447b.htm
Quote off
We see the man who transmitted this is assigned number 279, but we will NEVER be told who this was. It remained a mystery. Why? Wouldn’t it seem logical to find out who sent this message out? We do know the basis of this transmission however, and that came from a witness at the scene of the murder. This was said by Officer J.M. Poe before the WC.
Mr. BALL. Do you know what the description was?
Mr. POE. White male, about 25, about 5 feet 8, brown hair, medium, and I believe she said had on a white jacket at the time.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever put that description on the radio?
Mr. POE. I believe we did. But I couldn't swear to it.
As was the case in the identity of 279 we have NO idea who gave the DPD this description, but we do know Mrs. Helen Markham told Poe the man she saw had on a WHITE jacket.
Mr. BALL. Who told you he had on a white jacket?
Mr. POE. Mrs. Markham told me first.
This is an issue because the WC said, via Marina Oswald, that LHO ONLY owned TWO jackets and neither one was WHITE. The first one up was labeled CE 162, and it was a gray zipper jacket. Here it is.
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh16/pages/WH_Vol16_0272b.jpg
And the other one was designated CE 163 and it was a blue zipper jacket.
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh16/pages/WH_Vol16_0273a.jpg
This was confirmed for us in CE 1843 as Marina was quoted as follows by the FBI.
Quote on
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh23/pages/WH_Vol23_0277a.gif
She said to the best of her recollection Lee Harvey Oswald had only two jackets, one a heavy jacket, blue in color, and another light jacket, grey in color…She said she CANNOT recall that Oswald ever sent either of these jackets to any laundry or cleaners anywhere…She said she can recall washing them HERSELF. (Emphasis mine) (CE 1843, p. 521; p. 1 in original)
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh23/html/WH_Vol23_0277a.htm
Quote off
Thus, a white jacket was NOT an option if you were going to say it was LHO’s. Also, CE 163 was NOT an option either as that would be found sometime later in the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD) as LHO supposedly left it there, despite Marina NOT being able to say he wore it to work that day. Finally, as we will shortly see the jacket found near the Texaco Station had been professionally laundered and Marina said LHO never did this.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you recall whether the jacket, Exhibit 163, is something that he put on in your presence at any time that day?
Mrs. OSWALD. Not in my presence.
Mr. RANKIN. And you didn't observe it on him at any time, then?
Mrs. OSWALD. No.
As we saw in "Statements That Sink The WC's Conclusions #10" post, a number of witnesses described a jacket of different color from the gray one LHO was wearing and the white one the DPD was broadcasting and finding. IF we go back to CE 1974, we will get some more information on page 925.
Quote on
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh23/pages/WH_Vol23_0479a.gif
551 (Sergeant H.H. Stringer) The jacket the suspect was wearing over here on Jefferson bears a laundry tag with the letter B 9738. See if there is anyway you can check this laundry tag. (CE 1974, p. 925; p. 188 in original)
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh23/html/WH_Vol23_0479a.htm
Quote off
There is no other mention of this in the log as other things took over. In fact, he was NOT even acknowledged for this request. We do see something was done about it as we have CE 2003 showing us this. On page 253 of this document, the list of evidence given to the FBI by the DPD, we see the following for the jacket.
Quote on
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh24/pages/WH_Vol24_0136a.gif
Grey mans jacket with “M” size in collar, laundry mark 30 and 650 in collar…laundry tag B-9738 on bottom of jacket. (CE 2003, p. 253; p. 117 in original)
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh24/html/WH_Vol24_0136a.htm
Quote off
The FBI checked every dry cleaner in the Dallas area (over 400) and every dry cleaner in New Orleans (250 plus) and could NOT match the laundry tag to LHO. Also, based on the practice of a limited number of laundries in the JDT murder area it was determined that the letter indicated THE LAST NAME of the person leaving the item for cleaning. Thus, the letter “B” on the tag could NOT correlate to Oswald at all! Heck, it did NOT correlate to “Hidell” either!
The person that dropped that jacket off had a last name beginning with a “B” in all likelihood. Who could that have been? The only viable answers are Banister, or an alias used by someone else.
Furthermore, LHO did NOT wear a medium size based on his other clothing, it was found he wore a small. The jacket found was a medium. The claim that CE 162 was a medium (see above) is incorrect based on his other clothing. LHO wore a size 14-1/2 collar and all his clothes found among his personal belongings were in the 14.5-inch range. This is small.