Post by Rob Caprio on Oct 20, 2023 20:34:37 GMT -5
All portions are ©️ Robert Caprio 2006-2025
An example of a Lincoln-Mercury dealership circa 1963:
farm7.staticflickr.com/6220/6301332932_8bcd9ab721_z.jpg
images.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2022/83/175320284_cb511fdb-fdd1-4a32-80b0-8f635c0eae58.png
Another episode the Warren Commission (WC) had to look into involved an automobile dealership. This was an important piece as the person who came to the dealership gave the name “Oswald” and took a car for a wild test ride, however, the Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO) who was gunned down in the custody of the Dallas Police Department (DPD) could NOT drive an automobile. Something does NOT add up here. Let’s take a closer look at this incident.
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The automobile salesman that would show the man claiming to be LHO around was Albert Bogard. At the time of the incident, Bogard was working at the Downtown Lincoln-Mercury dealership.
Mr. BALL. Who did you work for last fall, 1963?
Mr. BOGARD. Downtown Lincoln Mercury, 118 East Commerce, Dallas, Tex.
Here is what he said in his WC testimony about when this occurred.
Mr. BALL. About what date? Do you remember?
Mr. BOGARD. Ninth day of November, I think it was, to be exact.
Mr. BALL. 1963?
Mr. BOGARD. 1963.
Mr. BALL. What day of the week was that?
Mr. BOGARD. That was on a Saturday.
Mr. BALL. When was it? In the morning, or afternoon?
Mr. BOGARD. Afternoon.
Mr. BALL. About what time?
Mr. BOGARD. I think it was around 1:30 or 2 o'clock, as I was leaving town shortly after I gave the demonstration in the automobile and I was in a hurry.
Since this occurred on a Saturday it could have been the man we all know as LHO since he would have been off on that day from his job at the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD). Here are the details of the incident.
Mr. BALL. Tell me just what happened there? Tell me the incident that you remember and that you related to the Federal----
Mr. BOGARD. A gentleman walked in the door and walked up and introduced himself to me, and tells me he wants to look at a car. I show him a car on the showroom floor, and take him for a ride out Stemmons Expressway and back, and he was driving at 60 to 70 miles an hour and came back to the showroom. And I made some figures, and he told me that he wasn't ready to buy, that he would be in a couple or 3 weeks, that he had some money coming in. And when he finally started to leave I got his name and wrote it on the back of one of my business cards, and never heard from the man any more. And the day that the President was shot, when I heard that--they had the radio on in the showroom, and when I heard the name, that he had shot a policeman over in Oak Cliff, I pulled out some business cards that I had wrote his name on the back on, and said, "He won't be a prospect any more because he is going to jail," and ripped the card up.
Mr. BALL. Threw it away?
Mr. BOGARD. Threw it away.
This last statement by him confirms his claim that the man used the name “Oswald” since NO other person was accused of shooting JDT, thus, NO other name would cause him to rip the card up and throw it away.
The test drive took place on November 9, 1963, and the assassination took place on November 22, 1963, (13 days later) so the comment about being ready to buy in a couple or 3 weeks because “he had some money coming in” is certainly a reference to this event. This comment is NOT good for the WC in anyway as either someone was either trying to tie LHO to this incident to frame him after the assassination OR someone (or some group) was paying him to kill John F. Kennedy (JFK). Neither scenario spelled LONE NUT as the WC would claim.
It simply could NOT have been the real LHO since he could NOT drive an automobile let alone tear up a highway at “60 to 70 m.p.h.” as Bogard said.
Surprisingly, even the WC said in its Report that Bogard’s story had corroboration. On page 321 of the Report, we will find this statement.
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historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wr/pages/WCReport_0173a.gif
Bogard’s testimony has received corroboration. The assistant sales manager at the time, Frank Pizzo, and a second salesman, Eugene M. Wilson, stated that they recall an instance when the customer described by Bogard was in the showroom. Another salesman, Oran Brown, recalled that Bogard asked him to assist the customer if he appeared during certain evenings when Bogard was away from the showroom. Brown stated that he too wrote down the customer’s name and both he and his wife remember the name “Oswald” as being on a paper in his possession before the assassination. (WCR, p. 321)
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0173a.htm
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Bogard had three people corroborating parts of his story, meanwhile, the star witnesses for the WC NEVER had any corroboration. Guess which witnesses the WC would believe? You got it—their “star witnesses” with NO corroboration! In fact, the WC seemed to favor things that had NO SUPPORTING EVIDENCE OR CORROBORATION OVER THINGS THAT DID CONSTANTLY.
Let’s see how Bogard described the man who came into his showroom.
Mr. BALL. Now, what kind of a looking man was he, or could you describe him?
Mr. BOGARD. I can tell you the truth, I have already forgotten what he actually looked like. I identified him as in pictures, but just to tell you what he looked like that day, I don't remember.
Mr. BALL. You don't have a memory of it?
Mr. BOGARD. No, sir.
Mr. BALL. Was he tall, or short?
Mr. BOGARD. About medium build, I'd say.
Mr. BALL. Do you remember what name he gave you?
Mr. BOGARD. Gave me Lee Oswald.
Mr. BALL. Did he give you that when he first introduced----
Mr. BOGARD. He give me that when he started to leave.
Mr. BALL. Oh, gave you that when he started to leave?
Mr. BOGARD. Yes.
Mr. BALL. And didn't give you any name when he first introduced himself?
Mr. BOGARD. No, sir.
Notice how the WC lawyer acts like giving his name when he was ready to leave was suspicious! Of course today you would NOT get that far without giving a ton of information up front, but times were very different in 1963. I don’t see how getting the name at the end rather than the beginning or middle would change what he heard which was “Lee Oswald.”
Even the car the man wanted screamed “I’m outta here” as NO married man with two children would get this type of car.
Mr. BALL. Did he tell you what kind of a car he wanted?
Mr. BOGARD. Yes, sir; wanted a Caliente, two-door hardtop.
A two-door hardtop? It would be tough getting the little girl and baby in and out of that one, huh? Now for the key part about who drove the car on the test drive.
Mr. BALL. You took a ride with him?
Mr. BOGARD. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Did he drive, or did you drive it?
Mr. BOGARD. He drove it.
Mr. BALL. Drive it right out of the shop, or did you drive it first and then----
Mr. BOGARD. No; he drove it right offhand. He got in driving it.
Mr. BALL. Did he appear to know how to drive the car?
Mr. BOGARD. Well, he had drove before, I'm sure, because he took off.
Mr. BALL. Did he----
Mr. BOGARD. He might have drove a little reckless, but other than that, he knew how to drive.
Mr. BALL. What do you mean, "He might have drove it a little reckless"?
Mr. BOGARD. Well, going 60 and 70 miles an hour right up a Freeway and took curves kind of fast.
Mr. BALL. Did it appear to you that he knew how to handle the car?
Mr. BOGARD. Yes.
The few lessons Ruth Paine allegedly gave LHO could NOT teach him to drive like this. This simply had to be someone else, but who?
Remember this part about how he wanted to pay as the WC would use this to cast doubt on his story.
Mr. BALL. Now, when you got back to the showroom you say you did some figuring. What kind of figuring?
Mr. BOGARD. Just took out some papers and going to write up how much the car would cost and, just like with anybody else, just trying to close the deal, and he said he would have the money in 2 or 3 weeks and would come in and----
Mr. BALL. Did you tell him you needed a down payment?
Mr. BOGARD. He said he would have it.
Mr. BALL. Did you tell him how much?
Mr. BOGARD. Yes.
Mr. BALL. How much?
Mr. BOGARD. Three hundred dollars, I think. And he said he didn't have the money then and would just pay cash for it at a later date.
He wanted to pay cash per Bogard, but the WC would say others said he was okay with credit. Bogard introduced the man calling himself “Lee Oswald” to his sales manager Frank Pizzo.
Mr. BALL. Did you tell anybody about it at that time?
Mr. BOGARD. Now, at that time I don't know whether--Now, Mr. Pizzo, I think I introduced him to him. I introduced him to Mr. Pizzo. He asked what was wrong with him and I said he hasn't got the money right now. Will be back in a couple or 3 weeks.
Mr. BALL. You introduced him to Pizzo?
Mr. BOGARD. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. And you said this in front of Pizzo that he didn't have the money?
Mr. BOGARD. Yes, sir; he was expecting some money--to have the money in 2 or 3 weeks.
Seeing pictures of the man did NOT change Bogard’s mind about him really being LHO either.
Mr. BALL. Now, what was your impression when you saw the man on television?
Mr. BOGARD. All my impression was that he had been in and tried to buy a car, that he wasn't a prospect any more.
Mr. BALL. What about his picture in the paper? Did it appear to be--did you recognize him from the picture?
Mr. BOGARD. Yes; I recognized him as being the same fellow that had been in.
So whomever this was playing LHO seemed to look a lot like LHO as Bogard never said he looked different from the man on television and in the papers. He would have corroboration for this recognition too from Pizzo.
Mr. BALL. And did you tell anybody out there that you thought it was the same person?
Mr. BOGARD. They began asking me then, and I said, "Yes," and this Pizzo recognized him, too.
Mr. BALL. What did Pizzo say?
Mr. BOGARD. Said, "Yes; that is the same man." And Pizzo also has been questioned by the FBI.
Let’s see what Pizzo has to say about this incident.
Mr. JENNER. In May of 1963? Was there an incident that occurred sometime in 1963, but prior to November 22, 1963, involving somebody who might have been Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. PIZZO. Yes; there was an incident.
Mr. JENNER. Would you tell us about the incident, first, and then we will become oriented?
Mr. PIZZO. All right--of course, at the time nothing was thought of the incident because it was just a natural sales setup we had. Our salesmen, when they can't sell a customer a car, they run to the manager and tell him, they'll say, "He's going to leave."
Mr. JENNER. And that manager in this instance was you?
Mr. PIZZO. It was me.
Mr. JENNER. All right.
Mr. PIZZO. And, I asked to see the man--no, I didn't ask to see him personally--no, I didn't.
Mr. JENNER. Who was the salesman?
Mr. PIZZO. Albert G. Bogard.
Pizzo would say the time of day and which day were different from what Bogard said, but he seemed to be all over the place with this.
Mr. JENNER. The man we have identified here?
Mr. PIZZO. That's right, sir. He brought the man to me it was quite late in the evening--it wasn't evening, because it was dark.
Mr. JENNER. Do you remember what day of the week it was?
Mr. PIZZO. I really don't--really don't.
Mr. JENNER. It was a weekday?
Mr. PIZZO. It was a weekday.
Mr. JENNER. It could have been any day in the week?
Mr. PIZZO. It could have been--it seems to me like it was the middle of the week, towards the weekend, but I couldn't swear to that.
Since Bogard went on a test drive with him it is safe to say the he would know the time better than the manager stuck in a office all day. Since it is unlikely this man spent three hours or more there the comment about it being “dark” just doesn’t seem accurate to me. Also, his last comment about it being “middle of the week, towards the weekend” leaves a lot to be desired too.
Mr. JENNER. What month was it?
Mr. PIZZO. It was November--now.
Mr. JENNER. November 1963?
Mr. PIZZO. November 1963--yes; I'm pretty sure it was November. Now, that I can recollect--it was November. When he brought the man to me, he said, "This man will have some money. He doesn't have the down payment," because when we were trying to sell the man a car, he asked me how much money he needed to buy this car and I said, "That man needs around $200 or $300."
Mr. JENNER. This is Bogard asking you?
Mr. PIZZO. Yes; the salesman asking me. He asked me that and I said it was around $200 or $300, and so he went back to his booth to work on the customer.
This part is consistent with what Bogard said.
Mr. JENNER. By Bogard.
Mr. PIZZO. By Bogard, Mr. Bogard brought the man to my office and I'm sitting like you are and he brought him to the door.
Mr. JENNER. Was this the same day?
Mr. PIZZO. Yes; this was within 2 hours, within a period of 2 hours.
Mr. JENNER. This all occurred within a period of 2 hours.
Mr. PIZZO. This all occurred within a period of 2 hours and he brought the man to the door.
Mr. PIZZO. My office door, and I get up from behind my desk and walk the door, and he says, "He doesn't have the down payment, but he will have $200 or $300 in a couple or 3 weeks."
Mr. JENNER. And this conversation you are now relating occurred after Bogard had demonstrated the car?
Mr. PIZZO. Had demonstrated the car.
Mr. JENNER. And had come to you and asked for the minimum?
Mr. PIZZO. Yes; for the minimum.
Mr. JENNER. And then he had gone back to the customer?
Again, this is consistent with what Bogard said. Also, note all this happened within two hours per Pizzo so the comment about it being “dark” out seems odd since Bogard said the man came in at about “1:30 or 2:00 p.m.” I doubt it got dark at 3:30 or 4:00 in the afternoon.
He will corroborate the kind of car Bogard mentioned and test drove too.
Mr. JENNER. And your recollection at the moment is that Bogard was seeking to interest him in a Comet?
Mr. PIZZO. I think so.
Mr. JENNER. That's the Ford compact, is it not?
Mr. PIZZO. Yes; that's the Mercury compact. The Caliente we had a red. Caliente, I believe, and I believe it was a red Caliente he went for a ride not that he was selling that particular car, but we had just gotten the new line of the hot compact, which was the Caliente, and we bought them all red and that's what he went for a ride in.
Of course the WC makes it seem like Bogard could lie about something this simple with this exchange.
Mr. JENNER. Now, you volunteered there a second that the man had taken a ride in the Comet Caliente?
Mr. PIZZO. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. On what do you base that statement?
Mr. PIZZO. On what Al Bogard told me, that that was the car he had taken him for a ride in.
Mr. JENNER. You had not seen this man in the car?
Mr. PIZZO. In the car or drive off either. May I tell you the normal procedure that every salesman follows? He talks to the customer, gets him interested in a car, takes him out for a ride and pure him in a booth to see if he can sell him a car, and that's the routine he followed.
The comment “On what do you base that statement” is a clear indication they were trying to make it sound like Bogard was lying about what the man test drove as they too probably realized a married man with a small child and a baby would NOT be looking at this kind of car.
He would corroborate the story of them hearing about LHO shooting a cop and the ripping up of the card. Then they got to the ID of the man.
Mr. PIZZO. …Now, I'll tell you how I think I recognized the man--this was after they had him on television and they showed him on television which was Monday or Tuesday or something like that--it was a few days after.
Mr. JENNER. You mean a rerun?
Mr. PIZZO. No; of the Oswalds--when they showed him on television--the first pictures of him on television, I saw that.
Mr. JENNER. And do you recall what day that was?
Mr. PIZZO. It was past a weekend. It was not Saturday--it might have been Sunday and probably it was Monday, but it wasn't Friday or Saturday, and I'm not sure it was Sunday, but I think it was on a Monday, and of course the seed planted--I got to thinking about it and I looked at him and he looked familiar to me, and at that time I could have sworn it was him, because I remember a man in a T-shirt. I don't mean the open T-shirt but a full T-shirt.
Of course the WC lawyer was more interested in the type of T-shirt than the man, but Pizzo cut him off and said this.
Mr. PIZZO. Yes; and his face. And he just looked the type. He just looked like the type of guy that I was talking to that day, and when I came back to work the next day, of course we were all in there talking about it, and we talked about different incidences that reminded me of him. I only had a few seconds look at the man. He never said a word. I never heard him tall.
The WC would say this in its report about his description of the man he saw that day at the door of his office.
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The assistant sales manager, Mr. Pizzo, who saw Bogard’s prospect on November 9 and shortly after the assassination felt that Oswald may have been this man, later examined pictures of Oswald and expressed serious doubts that the person with Bogard was in fact Oswald. While noting a resemblance, he did not believe Oswald’s hairline matched that of the person who had been in the showroom on November 9. (WCR, p. 321)
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As we have seen so far in his testimony he did NOT express “serious doubts” about the man being LHO as the WC claims in its Report. Let’s look at the photos Pizzo was shown of LHO by the WC to see what he was looking at.
CE-453 A & B
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pages/WH_Vol21_0082a.jpg
CE-453 C
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pages/WH_Vol21_0082b.jpg
As you can see only 453 C gave a good full on view of LHO and of course this photo shows him in CUSTODY of the DPD! Talk about influencing the witness, huh? Let’s see what he said about the hairline.
Mr. JENNER. Now, the other man has the cross over his head--you wanted to say something about that?
Mr. PIZZO. You said it exactly--that resembles--the face resembles him more than the hairline it's sort of a "V" hairline.
Mr. JENNER. So, your problem has been that the hairline and the man with the single stripe above his head more resembles him than the man you saw at the door of your office, but the physiognomy or the facial features of the man over whose head you have placed the cross more resembles the man you saw?
Mr. PIZZO. Yes. I had just wondered if the pictures that I have seen of Oswald might have----
This stuff is priceless, isn’t it? The WC CONFIRMS he is NOT sure about the hairline, but is REALLY SURE ABOUT THE FACE and still they conclude he had “serious doubts” about the man with Bogard being LHO! Isn’t the FACE more important than a hairline? I would think so, but NOT to the WC. Of course the whole point NOT being discussed here is that SOMEONE PROBABLY WAS IMPERSONATING LHO AND HE LOOKED VERY MUCH LIKE HIM SAVE FOR THE HAIRLINE!
Look at this GEM!
Mr. JENNER. Might have colored your judgment now?
Mr. PIZZO. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. It's always possible, you know.
Then why didn’t the WC CONSIDER THIS WHEN THEY had LHO identified by people who had seen pictures of him on television and in the newspaper? LOL! The WC is really a classic in the left side NOT knowing what the right side is doing.
Mr. PIZZO. But that hairline is a thing--that's the thing that hit me first when I saw his picture on television.
Mr. JENNER. When you saw Oswald's picture on television?
Mr. PIZZO. Yes; and in the paper. It was the hairline and the physical features of it--a clean face with the high forehead and the "V" shaped hairline, and it's easy to remember that because of the T-shirt, the bare look he had because of the tight T-shirt.
This statement confirms for me that someone was impersonating LHO, but their hairline was different. IT had to be this scenario since the real LHO could NOT drive a car.
In the WCR on page 321 they said the following: “Whereas Bogard stated that the customer said he did not wish credit and wanted to purchase a car for cash, Pizzo and Wilson both indicated that the man did attempt to purchase on credit.” However, if you peruse the testimony of Pizzo you won’t even see this topic come up! All that is discussed is the amount the man would have needed for a down payment ($200-300)! Again, we see the statement in the WCR is a out and out lie! This is why one can’t just read the WCR and hope to get anywhere near the truth in this case.
Another player in this story was the salesman Eugene M. Wilson. He was NOT called before the WC, nor did he give testimony to the WC’s lawyers. All we have is a FBI summary of an interview they did with him. This is found in CE 3078.
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historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh26/pages/WH_Vol26_0361a.gif
Wilson related that another salesman at Downtown Lincoln-Mercury, known as Al Bogard, on some day about the first part of November, 1963, believed to be a Saturday, but exact date not recalled, came to him with a customer.
On this occasion, Bogard brought this customer to him and introduced the customer, but Wilson does not recall the customer’s name. Bogard told Wilson that the customer had no cash, no credit, and had been employed on his job for only a short period of time, and Bogard had NOT been able to sell him a car. Wilson said he had only talked to this customer for a minute or so, and told him that if he did not have a credit rating, or a substantial amount of cash, and had not been employed on his job for some time, they would be unable to sell him a car. This customer then said, rather sarcastically, “Maybe I’m going to have to go back to Russia to buy a car.”
After this customer left, Bogard mentioned to Wilson that he had used the red demonstrator car, that Wilson had been using, and the car did not have much gasoline in it when he let the customer drive it.
Wilson described this customer as a white male, between 28 and 30 years old, weighed about a 135 pounds, and was only about 5 feet tall.[/b][/color] (Wilson was five feet eight inches and said he “looked down on the customer”.) (CE 3078, p. 685; p. 1 in original)
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh26/html/WH_Vol26_0361a.htm
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Due to poor vision and cataracts, and the number of prospects and customers he spoke with over a 2–3-week period, Wilson would NOT say it was LHO. That is immaterial though as the man was OBVIOUSLY NOT LHO to begin with based on his description of him! We know that the LHO who was gunned down was either 5’9” or 5’11”, depending on what official source you used, and NOT 5’0”! This man was making a scene though with his “crazy” driving and comments about having to buy a car in Russia! Remember too, that the man seen in Mexico City claiming to be "Oswald" was around 5'0" or 5'1" tall. Was it the same man?
Finally, we come to Oran Brown. He too was NOT called before the WC but was interviewed by the FBI. In CE 3091 we will see this summary.
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historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh26/pages/WH_Vol26_0369b.gif
While working for Downtown Lincoln Mercury, one night a week or two before President Kennedy was assassinated, Brown was scheduled to be on duty that night. Another salesman, Albert Bogard, came by and told him that he had a prospect for a sale of a car, by the name of Lee Oswald. Bogard said that Oswald had been in looking at cars, but didn’t have enough money for a down payment, and was supposed to come back when he got some money. Bogard asked Brown to take care of Oswald, if he came in, and they would split the commission if car was sold. Brown then wrote the name “LEE OSWALD” down on something, and thought he wrote the name down on the back of one of Brown’s cards. No one named Oswald came in, and he forgot about the matter. (CE 3091, p. 1)
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh26/html/WH_Vol26_0369b.htm
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Brown could NOT ID LHO as the man he saw briefly at the dealership, but he did remember the name of “Lee Oswald” given to him by Bogard. The ID of LHO is irrelevant since we know it was NOT the real LHO anyway. Brown would say his wife asked him what he knew about Oswald since she had seen this name written down on a piece of paper among his effects.
In CE 3092 you will see Mrs. Brown’s brief statement regarding this issue and it matches perfectly with what Oran Brown said.
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh26/pages/WH_Vol26_0370a.gif
This leaves us with just two questions and both SINK THE WC CONCLUSION.
Who was this person impersonating LHO and why did they make these types of comments and drive like a lunatic?
IF it was the real LHO, and that is doubtful, who was going to be paying him for something that was going to be happening in 2 or 3 weeks?
An example of a Lincoln-Mercury dealership circa 1963:
farm7.staticflickr.com/6220/6301332932_8bcd9ab721_z.jpg
images.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2022/83/175320284_cb511fdb-fdd1-4a32-80b0-8f635c0eae58.png
Another episode the Warren Commission (WC) had to look into involved an automobile dealership. This was an important piece as the person who came to the dealership gave the name “Oswald” and took a car for a wild test ride, however, the Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO) who was gunned down in the custody of the Dallas Police Department (DPD) could NOT drive an automobile. Something does NOT add up here. Let’s take a closer look at this incident.
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The automobile salesman that would show the man claiming to be LHO around was Albert Bogard. At the time of the incident, Bogard was working at the Downtown Lincoln-Mercury dealership.
Mr. BALL. Who did you work for last fall, 1963?
Mr. BOGARD. Downtown Lincoln Mercury, 118 East Commerce, Dallas, Tex.
Here is what he said in his WC testimony about when this occurred.
Mr. BALL. About what date? Do you remember?
Mr. BOGARD. Ninth day of November, I think it was, to be exact.
Mr. BALL. 1963?
Mr. BOGARD. 1963.
Mr. BALL. What day of the week was that?
Mr. BOGARD. That was on a Saturday.
Mr. BALL. When was it? In the morning, or afternoon?
Mr. BOGARD. Afternoon.
Mr. BALL. About what time?
Mr. BOGARD. I think it was around 1:30 or 2 o'clock, as I was leaving town shortly after I gave the demonstration in the automobile and I was in a hurry.
Since this occurred on a Saturday it could have been the man we all know as LHO since he would have been off on that day from his job at the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD). Here are the details of the incident.
Mr. BALL. Tell me just what happened there? Tell me the incident that you remember and that you related to the Federal----
Mr. BOGARD. A gentleman walked in the door and walked up and introduced himself to me, and tells me he wants to look at a car. I show him a car on the showroom floor, and take him for a ride out Stemmons Expressway and back, and he was driving at 60 to 70 miles an hour and came back to the showroom. And I made some figures, and he told me that he wasn't ready to buy, that he would be in a couple or 3 weeks, that he had some money coming in. And when he finally started to leave I got his name and wrote it on the back of one of my business cards, and never heard from the man any more. And the day that the President was shot, when I heard that--they had the radio on in the showroom, and when I heard the name, that he had shot a policeman over in Oak Cliff, I pulled out some business cards that I had wrote his name on the back on, and said, "He won't be a prospect any more because he is going to jail," and ripped the card up.
Mr. BALL. Threw it away?
Mr. BOGARD. Threw it away.
This last statement by him confirms his claim that the man used the name “Oswald” since NO other person was accused of shooting JDT, thus, NO other name would cause him to rip the card up and throw it away.
The test drive took place on November 9, 1963, and the assassination took place on November 22, 1963, (13 days later) so the comment about being ready to buy in a couple or 3 weeks because “he had some money coming in” is certainly a reference to this event. This comment is NOT good for the WC in anyway as either someone was either trying to tie LHO to this incident to frame him after the assassination OR someone (or some group) was paying him to kill John F. Kennedy (JFK). Neither scenario spelled LONE NUT as the WC would claim.
It simply could NOT have been the real LHO since he could NOT drive an automobile let alone tear up a highway at “60 to 70 m.p.h.” as Bogard said.
Surprisingly, even the WC said in its Report that Bogard’s story had corroboration. On page 321 of the Report, we will find this statement.
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Bogard’s testimony has received corroboration. The assistant sales manager at the time, Frank Pizzo, and a second salesman, Eugene M. Wilson, stated that they recall an instance when the customer described by Bogard was in the showroom. Another salesman, Oran Brown, recalled that Bogard asked him to assist the customer if he appeared during certain evenings when Bogard was away from the showroom. Brown stated that he too wrote down the customer’s name and both he and his wife remember the name “Oswald” as being on a paper in his possession before the assassination. (WCR, p. 321)
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Bogard had three people corroborating parts of his story, meanwhile, the star witnesses for the WC NEVER had any corroboration. Guess which witnesses the WC would believe? You got it—their “star witnesses” with NO corroboration! In fact, the WC seemed to favor things that had NO SUPPORTING EVIDENCE OR CORROBORATION OVER THINGS THAT DID CONSTANTLY.
Let’s see how Bogard described the man who came into his showroom.
Mr. BALL. Now, what kind of a looking man was he, or could you describe him?
Mr. BOGARD. I can tell you the truth, I have already forgotten what he actually looked like. I identified him as in pictures, but just to tell you what he looked like that day, I don't remember.
Mr. BALL. You don't have a memory of it?
Mr. BOGARD. No, sir.
Mr. BALL. Was he tall, or short?
Mr. BOGARD. About medium build, I'd say.
Mr. BALL. Do you remember what name he gave you?
Mr. BOGARD. Gave me Lee Oswald.
Mr. BALL. Did he give you that when he first introduced----
Mr. BOGARD. He give me that when he started to leave.
Mr. BALL. Oh, gave you that when he started to leave?
Mr. BOGARD. Yes.
Mr. BALL. And didn't give you any name when he first introduced himself?
Mr. BOGARD. No, sir.
Notice how the WC lawyer acts like giving his name when he was ready to leave was suspicious! Of course today you would NOT get that far without giving a ton of information up front, but times were very different in 1963. I don’t see how getting the name at the end rather than the beginning or middle would change what he heard which was “Lee Oswald.”
Even the car the man wanted screamed “I’m outta here” as NO married man with two children would get this type of car.
Mr. BALL. Did he tell you what kind of a car he wanted?
Mr. BOGARD. Yes, sir; wanted a Caliente, two-door hardtop.
A two-door hardtop? It would be tough getting the little girl and baby in and out of that one, huh? Now for the key part about who drove the car on the test drive.
Mr. BALL. You took a ride with him?
Mr. BOGARD. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Did he drive, or did you drive it?
Mr. BOGARD. He drove it.
Mr. BALL. Drive it right out of the shop, or did you drive it first and then----
Mr. BOGARD. No; he drove it right offhand. He got in driving it.
Mr. BALL. Did he appear to know how to drive the car?
Mr. BOGARD. Well, he had drove before, I'm sure, because he took off.
Mr. BALL. Did he----
Mr. BOGARD. He might have drove a little reckless, but other than that, he knew how to drive.
Mr. BALL. What do you mean, "He might have drove it a little reckless"?
Mr. BOGARD. Well, going 60 and 70 miles an hour right up a Freeway and took curves kind of fast.
Mr. BALL. Did it appear to you that he knew how to handle the car?
Mr. BOGARD. Yes.
The few lessons Ruth Paine allegedly gave LHO could NOT teach him to drive like this. This simply had to be someone else, but who?
Remember this part about how he wanted to pay as the WC would use this to cast doubt on his story.
Mr. BALL. Now, when you got back to the showroom you say you did some figuring. What kind of figuring?
Mr. BOGARD. Just took out some papers and going to write up how much the car would cost and, just like with anybody else, just trying to close the deal, and he said he would have the money in 2 or 3 weeks and would come in and----
Mr. BALL. Did you tell him you needed a down payment?
Mr. BOGARD. He said he would have it.
Mr. BALL. Did you tell him how much?
Mr. BOGARD. Yes.
Mr. BALL. How much?
Mr. BOGARD. Three hundred dollars, I think. And he said he didn't have the money then and would just pay cash for it at a later date.
He wanted to pay cash per Bogard, but the WC would say others said he was okay with credit. Bogard introduced the man calling himself “Lee Oswald” to his sales manager Frank Pizzo.
Mr. BALL. Did you tell anybody about it at that time?
Mr. BOGARD. Now, at that time I don't know whether--Now, Mr. Pizzo, I think I introduced him to him. I introduced him to Mr. Pizzo. He asked what was wrong with him and I said he hasn't got the money right now. Will be back in a couple or 3 weeks.
Mr. BALL. You introduced him to Pizzo?
Mr. BOGARD. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. And you said this in front of Pizzo that he didn't have the money?
Mr. BOGARD. Yes, sir; he was expecting some money--to have the money in 2 or 3 weeks.
Seeing pictures of the man did NOT change Bogard’s mind about him really being LHO either.
Mr. BALL. Now, what was your impression when you saw the man on television?
Mr. BOGARD. All my impression was that he had been in and tried to buy a car, that he wasn't a prospect any more.
Mr. BALL. What about his picture in the paper? Did it appear to be--did you recognize him from the picture?
Mr. BOGARD. Yes; I recognized him as being the same fellow that had been in.
So whomever this was playing LHO seemed to look a lot like LHO as Bogard never said he looked different from the man on television and in the papers. He would have corroboration for this recognition too from Pizzo.
Mr. BALL. And did you tell anybody out there that you thought it was the same person?
Mr. BOGARD. They began asking me then, and I said, "Yes," and this Pizzo recognized him, too.
Mr. BALL. What did Pizzo say?
Mr. BOGARD. Said, "Yes; that is the same man." And Pizzo also has been questioned by the FBI.
Let’s see what Pizzo has to say about this incident.
Mr. JENNER. In May of 1963? Was there an incident that occurred sometime in 1963, but prior to November 22, 1963, involving somebody who might have been Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. PIZZO. Yes; there was an incident.
Mr. JENNER. Would you tell us about the incident, first, and then we will become oriented?
Mr. PIZZO. All right--of course, at the time nothing was thought of the incident because it was just a natural sales setup we had. Our salesmen, when they can't sell a customer a car, they run to the manager and tell him, they'll say, "He's going to leave."
Mr. JENNER. And that manager in this instance was you?
Mr. PIZZO. It was me.
Mr. JENNER. All right.
Mr. PIZZO. And, I asked to see the man--no, I didn't ask to see him personally--no, I didn't.
Mr. JENNER. Who was the salesman?
Mr. PIZZO. Albert G. Bogard.
Pizzo would say the time of day and which day were different from what Bogard said, but he seemed to be all over the place with this.
Mr. JENNER. The man we have identified here?
Mr. PIZZO. That's right, sir. He brought the man to me it was quite late in the evening--it wasn't evening, because it was dark.
Mr. JENNER. Do you remember what day of the week it was?
Mr. PIZZO. I really don't--really don't.
Mr. JENNER. It was a weekday?
Mr. PIZZO. It was a weekday.
Mr. JENNER. It could have been any day in the week?
Mr. PIZZO. It could have been--it seems to me like it was the middle of the week, towards the weekend, but I couldn't swear to that.
Since Bogard went on a test drive with him it is safe to say the he would know the time better than the manager stuck in a office all day. Since it is unlikely this man spent three hours or more there the comment about it being “dark” just doesn’t seem accurate to me. Also, his last comment about it being “middle of the week, towards the weekend” leaves a lot to be desired too.
Mr. JENNER. What month was it?
Mr. PIZZO. It was November--now.
Mr. JENNER. November 1963?
Mr. PIZZO. November 1963--yes; I'm pretty sure it was November. Now, that I can recollect--it was November. When he brought the man to me, he said, "This man will have some money. He doesn't have the down payment," because when we were trying to sell the man a car, he asked me how much money he needed to buy this car and I said, "That man needs around $200 or $300."
Mr. JENNER. This is Bogard asking you?
Mr. PIZZO. Yes; the salesman asking me. He asked me that and I said it was around $200 or $300, and so he went back to his booth to work on the customer.
This part is consistent with what Bogard said.
Mr. JENNER. By Bogard.
Mr. PIZZO. By Bogard, Mr. Bogard brought the man to my office and I'm sitting like you are and he brought him to the door.
Mr. JENNER. Was this the same day?
Mr. PIZZO. Yes; this was within 2 hours, within a period of 2 hours.
Mr. JENNER. This all occurred within a period of 2 hours.
Mr. PIZZO. This all occurred within a period of 2 hours and he brought the man to the door.
Mr. PIZZO. My office door, and I get up from behind my desk and walk the door, and he says, "He doesn't have the down payment, but he will have $200 or $300 in a couple or 3 weeks."
Mr. JENNER. And this conversation you are now relating occurred after Bogard had demonstrated the car?
Mr. PIZZO. Had demonstrated the car.
Mr. JENNER. And had come to you and asked for the minimum?
Mr. PIZZO. Yes; for the minimum.
Mr. JENNER. And then he had gone back to the customer?
Again, this is consistent with what Bogard said. Also, note all this happened within two hours per Pizzo so the comment about it being “dark” out seems odd since Bogard said the man came in at about “1:30 or 2:00 p.m.” I doubt it got dark at 3:30 or 4:00 in the afternoon.
He will corroborate the kind of car Bogard mentioned and test drove too.
Mr. JENNER. And your recollection at the moment is that Bogard was seeking to interest him in a Comet?
Mr. PIZZO. I think so.
Mr. JENNER. That's the Ford compact, is it not?
Mr. PIZZO. Yes; that's the Mercury compact. The Caliente we had a red. Caliente, I believe, and I believe it was a red Caliente he went for a ride not that he was selling that particular car, but we had just gotten the new line of the hot compact, which was the Caliente, and we bought them all red and that's what he went for a ride in.
Of course the WC makes it seem like Bogard could lie about something this simple with this exchange.
Mr. JENNER. Now, you volunteered there a second that the man had taken a ride in the Comet Caliente?
Mr. PIZZO. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. On what do you base that statement?
Mr. PIZZO. On what Al Bogard told me, that that was the car he had taken him for a ride in.
Mr. JENNER. You had not seen this man in the car?
Mr. PIZZO. In the car or drive off either. May I tell you the normal procedure that every salesman follows? He talks to the customer, gets him interested in a car, takes him out for a ride and pure him in a booth to see if he can sell him a car, and that's the routine he followed.
The comment “On what do you base that statement” is a clear indication they were trying to make it sound like Bogard was lying about what the man test drove as they too probably realized a married man with a small child and a baby would NOT be looking at this kind of car.
He would corroborate the story of them hearing about LHO shooting a cop and the ripping up of the card. Then they got to the ID of the man.
Mr. PIZZO. …Now, I'll tell you how I think I recognized the man--this was after they had him on television and they showed him on television which was Monday or Tuesday or something like that--it was a few days after.
Mr. JENNER. You mean a rerun?
Mr. PIZZO. No; of the Oswalds--when they showed him on television--the first pictures of him on television, I saw that.
Mr. JENNER. And do you recall what day that was?
Mr. PIZZO. It was past a weekend. It was not Saturday--it might have been Sunday and probably it was Monday, but it wasn't Friday or Saturday, and I'm not sure it was Sunday, but I think it was on a Monday, and of course the seed planted--I got to thinking about it and I looked at him and he looked familiar to me, and at that time I could have sworn it was him, because I remember a man in a T-shirt. I don't mean the open T-shirt but a full T-shirt.
Of course the WC lawyer was more interested in the type of T-shirt than the man, but Pizzo cut him off and said this.
Mr. PIZZO. Yes; and his face. And he just looked the type. He just looked like the type of guy that I was talking to that day, and when I came back to work the next day, of course we were all in there talking about it, and we talked about different incidences that reminded me of him. I only had a few seconds look at the man. He never said a word. I never heard him tall.
The WC would say this in its report about his description of the man he saw that day at the door of his office.
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The assistant sales manager, Mr. Pizzo, who saw Bogard’s prospect on November 9 and shortly after the assassination felt that Oswald may have been this man, later examined pictures of Oswald and expressed serious doubts that the person with Bogard was in fact Oswald. While noting a resemblance, he did not believe Oswald’s hairline matched that of the person who had been in the showroom on November 9. (WCR, p. 321)
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As we have seen so far in his testimony he did NOT express “serious doubts” about the man being LHO as the WC claims in its Report. Let’s look at the photos Pizzo was shown of LHO by the WC to see what he was looking at.
CE-453 A & B
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CE-453 C
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As you can see only 453 C gave a good full on view of LHO and of course this photo shows him in CUSTODY of the DPD! Talk about influencing the witness, huh? Let’s see what he said about the hairline.
Mr. JENNER. Now, the other man has the cross over his head--you wanted to say something about that?
Mr. PIZZO. You said it exactly--that resembles--the face resembles him more than the hairline it's sort of a "V" hairline.
Mr. JENNER. So, your problem has been that the hairline and the man with the single stripe above his head more resembles him than the man you saw at the door of your office, but the physiognomy or the facial features of the man over whose head you have placed the cross more resembles the man you saw?
Mr. PIZZO. Yes. I had just wondered if the pictures that I have seen of Oswald might have----
This stuff is priceless, isn’t it? The WC CONFIRMS he is NOT sure about the hairline, but is REALLY SURE ABOUT THE FACE and still they conclude he had “serious doubts” about the man with Bogard being LHO! Isn’t the FACE more important than a hairline? I would think so, but NOT to the WC. Of course the whole point NOT being discussed here is that SOMEONE PROBABLY WAS IMPERSONATING LHO AND HE LOOKED VERY MUCH LIKE HIM SAVE FOR THE HAIRLINE!
Look at this GEM!
Mr. JENNER. Might have colored your judgment now?
Mr. PIZZO. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. It's always possible, you know.
Then why didn’t the WC CONSIDER THIS WHEN THEY had LHO identified by people who had seen pictures of him on television and in the newspaper? LOL! The WC is really a classic in the left side NOT knowing what the right side is doing.
Mr. PIZZO. But that hairline is a thing--that's the thing that hit me first when I saw his picture on television.
Mr. JENNER. When you saw Oswald's picture on television?
Mr. PIZZO. Yes; and in the paper. It was the hairline and the physical features of it--a clean face with the high forehead and the "V" shaped hairline, and it's easy to remember that because of the T-shirt, the bare look he had because of the tight T-shirt.
This statement confirms for me that someone was impersonating LHO, but their hairline was different. IT had to be this scenario since the real LHO could NOT drive a car.
In the WCR on page 321 they said the following: “Whereas Bogard stated that the customer said he did not wish credit and wanted to purchase a car for cash, Pizzo and Wilson both indicated that the man did attempt to purchase on credit.” However, if you peruse the testimony of Pizzo you won’t even see this topic come up! All that is discussed is the amount the man would have needed for a down payment ($200-300)! Again, we see the statement in the WCR is a out and out lie! This is why one can’t just read the WCR and hope to get anywhere near the truth in this case.
Another player in this story was the salesman Eugene M. Wilson. He was NOT called before the WC, nor did he give testimony to the WC’s lawyers. All we have is a FBI summary of an interview they did with him. This is found in CE 3078.
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Wilson related that another salesman at Downtown Lincoln-Mercury, known as Al Bogard, on some day about the first part of November, 1963, believed to be a Saturday, but exact date not recalled, came to him with a customer.
On this occasion, Bogard brought this customer to him and introduced the customer, but Wilson does not recall the customer’s name. Bogard told Wilson that the customer had no cash, no credit, and had been employed on his job for only a short period of time, and Bogard had NOT been able to sell him a car. Wilson said he had only talked to this customer for a minute or so, and told him that if he did not have a credit rating, or a substantial amount of cash, and had not been employed on his job for some time, they would be unable to sell him a car. This customer then said, rather sarcastically, “Maybe I’m going to have to go back to Russia to buy a car.”
After this customer left, Bogard mentioned to Wilson that he had used the red demonstrator car, that Wilson had been using, and the car did not have much gasoline in it when he let the customer drive it.
Wilson described this customer as a white male, between 28 and 30 years old, weighed about a 135 pounds, and was only about 5 feet tall.[/b][/color] (Wilson was five feet eight inches and said he “looked down on the customer”.) (CE 3078, p. 685; p. 1 in original)
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Due to poor vision and cataracts, and the number of prospects and customers he spoke with over a 2–3-week period, Wilson would NOT say it was LHO. That is immaterial though as the man was OBVIOUSLY NOT LHO to begin with based on his description of him! We know that the LHO who was gunned down was either 5’9” or 5’11”, depending on what official source you used, and NOT 5’0”! This man was making a scene though with his “crazy” driving and comments about having to buy a car in Russia! Remember too, that the man seen in Mexico City claiming to be "Oswald" was around 5'0" or 5'1" tall. Was it the same man?
Finally, we come to Oran Brown. He too was NOT called before the WC but was interviewed by the FBI. In CE 3091 we will see this summary.
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While working for Downtown Lincoln Mercury, one night a week or two before President Kennedy was assassinated, Brown was scheduled to be on duty that night. Another salesman, Albert Bogard, came by and told him that he had a prospect for a sale of a car, by the name of Lee Oswald. Bogard said that Oswald had been in looking at cars, but didn’t have enough money for a down payment, and was supposed to come back when he got some money. Bogard asked Brown to take care of Oswald, if he came in, and they would split the commission if car was sold. Brown then wrote the name “LEE OSWALD” down on something, and thought he wrote the name down on the back of one of Brown’s cards. No one named Oswald came in, and he forgot about the matter. (CE 3091, p. 1)
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Brown could NOT ID LHO as the man he saw briefly at the dealership, but he did remember the name of “Lee Oswald” given to him by Bogard. The ID of LHO is irrelevant since we know it was NOT the real LHO anyway. Brown would say his wife asked him what he knew about Oswald since she had seen this name written down on a piece of paper among his effects.
In CE 3092 you will see Mrs. Brown’s brief statement regarding this issue and it matches perfectly with what Oran Brown said.
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This leaves us with just two questions and both SINK THE WC CONCLUSION.
Who was this person impersonating LHO and why did they make these types of comments and drive like a lunatic?
IF it was the real LHO, and that is doubtful, who was going to be paying him for something that was going to be happening in 2 or 3 weeks?