Post by Rob Caprio on Sept 13, 2021 20:52:51 GMT -5
All portions ©️ Robert Caprio 2006-2024
The Warren Commission (WC) claimed that Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO) assassinated President John F. Kennedy (JFK), shot and killed Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippit (JDT), wounded Texas Governor John B. Connally (JBC) and attempted to kill retired General Edwin Walker. The evidence supporting these claims is absent from the WC’s twenty-six volumes of exhibits and testimony however, therefore, this has left many questions for us today. I have asked so many questions already, and now it is time for another.
***************************************
Whatever happened to the Ralph Simpson films?
Mr. Ralph Simpson was a Canadian citizen who was visiting the city of Dallas, Texas, while on vacation. He was there on November 22, 1963, when JFK visited so he decided to go see him. He was in Dealey Plaza (DP) when the presidential motorcade passed through it.
Mr. Simpson stood on the southwest side of the plaza and he had a movie camera with a wide-angle lens in his possession. He filmed the events of that day with this camera. He was not called as a witness by the WC. Nor was his film requested, received or viewed by the WC according to the WC.
This is a classic example of how convoluted this “investigation” was. The only way we know about this man and his films is through the testimony of Sergeant Patrick Dean. Only researchers with substantial time would find this and that is what the WC was counting on. Luckily for us there were some of these dedicated researchers out there.
Here is the first mention of this issue in Dean’s testimony.
Mr. GRIFFIN - Sergeant, you and I have been talking here off the record for--I don't have a watch, but I would guess for 15 or 20 minutes, with respect to other matters, and you indicated to me just before we brought the court reporter in, that you had obtained some information that apparently had not-been previously made available to the Commission, and I wonder if you could tell us what that is?
Mr. DEAN – It was relative to a telephone call that I received last night at about 2 o'clock in the morning. I didn't mark the time.
Mr. GRIFFIN - Where were you?
Mr. DEAN - At city hall. In the office there. The city hall operator had called me and told me that she had a man, or an operator on the line from Victoria, British Columbia, in Canada, and that she had been--this operator had told her she had been talking to a man in Victoria about some films that he had of the assassination, and asked me did I want to take the call...but she did tell me she heard this man talk enough that she believed he was serious and had something that possibly could be used by the Warren Commission. And, of course, I heard some of the conversation, and the man sounded rational…And so I accepted the call. This man's name was Ralph Simpson. He was calling from 384-3780, and he told me that he had been standing on the southern part of the plaza when the assassination took place, and he had a wide scope movie camera that he believed 'would have taken in the building and the motorcade at the time the shots were fired; that he had talked it over with his attorney…and that Batter advised him to call someone here, but not the Warren Commission…He recognized my name, that I had been testifying, and I said, "Yes; and I am scheduled to go back tomorrow night." And he said, "Well, I will send the films to you. They haven't been--". Well, he said they hadn't been developed, and he wasn't going to have them developed, that he would send them to me airmail.This was about 2 o'clock in the night--on the morning of the 24th, this morning [indicating].
Mr. GRIFFIN - All right. You have in front of you, Sergeant, a piece of paper?
Mr. DEAN - Yes, sir; what I took notes.
Mr. GRIFFIN - Are those your original notes?
Mr. DEAN - Yes, sir.
Mr. GRIFFIN - I am going to mark this, "Dallas, Tex., Sergeant Dean, March 24, 1964, Exhibit 5012." Now, let me see if I understand you correctly- This was a collect call placed from Canada to the police department?
Mr. DEAN - Yes, sir.
Mr. GRIFFIN - By a man by the name of Simpson, Ralph Simpson?
Mr. DEAN - Yes, sir.
Mr. GRIFFIN – Did you actually talk with Simpson?
Mr. DEAN – Yes, sir.
This testimony shows that Ralph Simpson had made several films with his camera. It further shows that the wide-angle lens captured the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD) in those films. This means that these films would have been very valuable to anyone trying to learn the truth. Is this why Mr. Simpson’s lawyer suggested that he not send it to the WC?
Later on in his testimony Dean mentions this subject again.
Mr. HUBERT - Now, will you identify what these two documents were? Perhaps we'd better do it again, in the light of their identification numbers, so, let me ask you what are the documents that have now been marked for identification as 5136 and 5136-A?
Mr. DEAN - A record of the city hall's operator receiving a call from Victoria, Canada, on that date of March 24, about 4 o'clock in the morning and at that time I talked to--I believe it is Jack Simpson, or it is Ralph Simpson, and he stated that he had a reel of movie film that he had taken of the assassination and the trajectory of the line of fire which was on the far side of the plaza, which would be on the south side of Commerce Street. Mr. Simpson told me on the phone that he believed he had gotten not only the assassination, but also the building from where the bullet was fired... He then asked me could he send them to me and I told him that he could. I checked with my office then just before coming over here today and the film hadn't come in.
Mr. HUBERT - Did he say he was going to send them by mail?
Mr. DEAN - Yes; he said he would airmail them the next day?
Mr. HUBERT - Did he indicate why he had called you, or just that you were on duty?
Mr. DEAN - Just on the advice of his attorney.
So whatever happened to these films? Could it be once they were developed that Mr. Simpson realized that they did not agree with the single assassin theory so he never sent them? Or did he send them and once they were reviewed the WC decided that it was best to just act like they had never received them? It just doesn’t seem likely to me that the WC could not secure the films IF they really wanted to.
What is also odd is that of all the people that he could have contacted in this case, why did Mr. Simpson choose Patrick Dean? Even the WC had said that he had lied about some things. Unfortunately, we will never get an answer to this question.
Can any WC defender explain why the WC did not secure these films once they were made aware of them? These sound like key evidence to me.
The Warren Commission (WC) claimed that Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO) assassinated President John F. Kennedy (JFK), shot and killed Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippit (JDT), wounded Texas Governor John B. Connally (JBC) and attempted to kill retired General Edwin Walker. The evidence supporting these claims is absent from the WC’s twenty-six volumes of exhibits and testimony however, therefore, this has left many questions for us today. I have asked so many questions already, and now it is time for another.
***************************************
Whatever happened to the Ralph Simpson films?
Mr. Ralph Simpson was a Canadian citizen who was visiting the city of Dallas, Texas, while on vacation. He was there on November 22, 1963, when JFK visited so he decided to go see him. He was in Dealey Plaza (DP) when the presidential motorcade passed through it.
Mr. Simpson stood on the southwest side of the plaza and he had a movie camera with a wide-angle lens in his possession. He filmed the events of that day with this camera. He was not called as a witness by the WC. Nor was his film requested, received or viewed by the WC according to the WC.
This is a classic example of how convoluted this “investigation” was. The only way we know about this man and his films is through the testimony of Sergeant Patrick Dean. Only researchers with substantial time would find this and that is what the WC was counting on. Luckily for us there were some of these dedicated researchers out there.
Here is the first mention of this issue in Dean’s testimony.
Mr. GRIFFIN - Sergeant, you and I have been talking here off the record for--I don't have a watch, but I would guess for 15 or 20 minutes, with respect to other matters, and you indicated to me just before we brought the court reporter in, that you had obtained some information that apparently had not-been previously made available to the Commission, and I wonder if you could tell us what that is?
Mr. DEAN – It was relative to a telephone call that I received last night at about 2 o'clock in the morning. I didn't mark the time.
Mr. GRIFFIN - Where were you?
Mr. DEAN - At city hall. In the office there. The city hall operator had called me and told me that she had a man, or an operator on the line from Victoria, British Columbia, in Canada, and that she had been--this operator had told her she had been talking to a man in Victoria about some films that he had of the assassination, and asked me did I want to take the call...but she did tell me she heard this man talk enough that she believed he was serious and had something that possibly could be used by the Warren Commission. And, of course, I heard some of the conversation, and the man sounded rational…And so I accepted the call. This man's name was Ralph Simpson. He was calling from 384-3780, and he told me that he had been standing on the southern part of the plaza when the assassination took place, and he had a wide scope movie camera that he believed 'would have taken in the building and the motorcade at the time the shots were fired; that he had talked it over with his attorney…and that Batter advised him to call someone here, but not the Warren Commission…He recognized my name, that I had been testifying, and I said, "Yes; and I am scheduled to go back tomorrow night." And he said, "Well, I will send the films to you. They haven't been--". Well, he said they hadn't been developed, and he wasn't going to have them developed, that he would send them to me airmail.This was about 2 o'clock in the night--on the morning of the 24th, this morning [indicating].
Mr. GRIFFIN - All right. You have in front of you, Sergeant, a piece of paper?
Mr. DEAN - Yes, sir; what I took notes.
Mr. GRIFFIN - Are those your original notes?
Mr. DEAN - Yes, sir.
Mr. GRIFFIN - I am going to mark this, "Dallas, Tex., Sergeant Dean, March 24, 1964, Exhibit 5012." Now, let me see if I understand you correctly- This was a collect call placed from Canada to the police department?
Mr. DEAN - Yes, sir.
Mr. GRIFFIN - By a man by the name of Simpson, Ralph Simpson?
Mr. DEAN - Yes, sir.
Mr. GRIFFIN – Did you actually talk with Simpson?
Mr. DEAN – Yes, sir.
This testimony shows that Ralph Simpson had made several films with his camera. It further shows that the wide-angle lens captured the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD) in those films. This means that these films would have been very valuable to anyone trying to learn the truth. Is this why Mr. Simpson’s lawyer suggested that he not send it to the WC?
Later on in his testimony Dean mentions this subject again.
Mr. HUBERT - Now, will you identify what these two documents were? Perhaps we'd better do it again, in the light of their identification numbers, so, let me ask you what are the documents that have now been marked for identification as 5136 and 5136-A?
Mr. DEAN - A record of the city hall's operator receiving a call from Victoria, Canada, on that date of March 24, about 4 o'clock in the morning and at that time I talked to--I believe it is Jack Simpson, or it is Ralph Simpson, and he stated that he had a reel of movie film that he had taken of the assassination and the trajectory of the line of fire which was on the far side of the plaza, which would be on the south side of Commerce Street. Mr. Simpson told me on the phone that he believed he had gotten not only the assassination, but also the building from where the bullet was fired... He then asked me could he send them to me and I told him that he could. I checked with my office then just before coming over here today and the film hadn't come in.
Mr. HUBERT - Did he say he was going to send them by mail?
Mr. DEAN - Yes; he said he would airmail them the next day?
Mr. HUBERT - Did he indicate why he had called you, or just that you were on duty?
Mr. DEAN - Just on the advice of his attorney.
So whatever happened to these films? Could it be once they were developed that Mr. Simpson realized that they did not agree with the single assassin theory so he never sent them? Or did he send them and once they were reviewed the WC decided that it was best to just act like they had never received them? It just doesn’t seem likely to me that the WC could not secure the films IF they really wanted to.
What is also odd is that of all the people that he could have contacted in this case, why did Mr. Simpson choose Patrick Dean? Even the WC had said that he had lied about some things. Unfortunately, we will never get an answer to this question.
Can any WC defender explain why the WC did not secure these films once they were made aware of them? These sound like key evidence to me.