Justification For Killing

by Larry Edward Hunt

  Directly underneath the overpass, where Michael and his children crouched, stood James Teague. Earlier Teague had been traveling east on Commerce and passed underneath the triple overpass heading into downtown Dallas to pickup his wife for lunch. His car had come to a standstill when all noonday traffic had come to an abrupt halt to await the passing of the presidential parade.

  Sitting idly in his car had proved to be too much for James, he was beginning to get uncomfortably warm and starting to perspire.

  The local AM radio station WDAL, finished the last notes of the latest top twenty country hit as James turned off his radio, opened his door and stepped out of his car. He stood on the curbside of Commerce Street wanting to see if he could get a glimpse of the President and his entourage. Besides, it was much cooler standing in the shade close to the concrete column supporting the overpass. Might as well see him since I’m already here, he thought.

  Standing on the west side of Commerce only Main Street and a narrow strip of grass separated him from Elm Street and the planned presidential route. Looking east directly up Main Street, he could see the parade procession had made its ninety-degree right turn onto Houston. Another 120 degree left on Elm, and in a few seconds President Kennedy would be right across the street from him.

  “What was that noise,” he said out loud? “That sounded like rifle fire.” Teague, a decorated Army veteran of the Korean War, and currently a member of the Texas National Guard later described the events at the Warren Commission hearings saying, “It certainly didn't sound like a rifle shot. It was a loud cannon-type sound.” Teague gave his account, “that it was more of a "flat sound,” whereas the others were sharp "cracks" which sounded more like a rifle shot.” Later he would tell his friends, or anyone who would listen, “If I had to guess I would say the first shot was from a military 30-06, an M-1. I have heard that rifle fired many, many times, and it sounded exactly the same.”

  Almost at the same time he heard the M-1 fire, something struck the curb to his front, and he quickly jumped behind the concrete abutment of the triple overpass. Cautiously sticking his head out he could see folks running in all directions... one police officer had jumped off his motorcycle and was running up the grassy slope toward the railroad parking lot... James had heard shots, how many? He wasn’t certain... for sure three... but was it four?

  Everything was spinning and seemed to be moving at slow-motion speed, and his cheek hurt. Did he think his cheek hurt? It must have, his right cheek was bleeding. He had not noticed the blood during all the excitement. It must have been a bullet that hit the curb at his front, he thought. Was that truly a bullet strike? He wondered.

  At that moment, Teague saw the man with the umbrella too. At first he didn’t think much of it, but watching the other folks running, hiding, ducking, screaming and trying to protect themselves, Mr. Teague thought it strange that this diminutive sized man would not be more concerned for his own safety. And an umbrella! And an overcoat! Was that a silver medallion around his neck? Surely not! Thomas and Teague both saw this pint-sized, man, and he also appears in a number of pictures taken that fateful day. His back is plainly seen in the Zapruder film raising the umbrella at frame 225 and quickly lowering it. Was this some type of signal - to whom? The shooter? The shooters? This unknown ‘umbrella’ man has never been officially identified, and he never gave a statement to the FBI or the Dallas Police. He was a totally unknown eyewitness to the John F. Kennedy assassination attempt. The report from the press of that day cannot identify him... we alone know whom this little man was... Anhur, you little devil.

  Little ten-year-old Rosemary Willis was standing with her mother and fourteen year old sister Linda on the southwest corner of Houston and Elm, directly across the street from the Texas School Book Depository. Later she would recount some of what she saw on this fateful day, “Them people in the parade turned off Houston onto the street where the President got shot, they'd just gone a few feet when I heard the first shot, when I heard the noise, I looked up and tried to see if I could see where the sound came from. I didn't know it was a gun. I just saw the pigeons start to fly from the roof of the schoolbook building. I looked for the noise I heard, and I seen the pigeons, you know, they were scared to death, and took off flying. Next thing I heard was another gun. And after that, there's another shot and another shot. We have argued and argued about how many shots I heard. I think I heard four. Mommy and June, my sister don’t agree. If you ask me how many shots I think there were, I really think there were at least six, but I believe I heard four.” Later she added a few details that were not told earlier: “I turned as the President’s car passed by us and I started to run to try to keep up with it when all of a sudden a pigeon fell on the grass right next to me. Well the bird wasn’t RIGHT next to me. It was in the grass. It didn’t just fly in and light it just fell out of the sky! I thought it was hurt, and I could see it wasn’t dead, so I ran over and picked it up. It was beautiful, gray and white it was. It had been hurt but not bad, so I was going to sit it back down on the grass but it flew off before I could do it.”

  Most witnesses testifying to the Warren Commission about that day also agree the first shot occurred just as President Kennedy was raising his right hand and waving.

  Special Agent Roy Kellerman who rode in the front passenger seat of the presidential limousine described the shots he heard to the Warren Commission: “If I recall correctly the first two shots were very sharp shots, sir."

  “Did they sound different from the third shot,” asked one of the Commission members?

  "Yes. It sure did. Very much so." Kellerman added, "Let me purpose an example ... have you ever heard the noise of a plane breaking the sound barrier, bang, bang? That’s how it was. It was like two bangs --- bang, bang."

  Special Agent Hickey seated in the right rear seat of the presidential follow car described, "... two loud explosions, which I thought at first, were backfires ... then I realized they were gun shots... there seemed to be practically no time between them."

  William Green, the Special Agent driving the limousine stated, under oath to the Warren Commission, "the two shots occurred one following the other. Both in rapid succession."

  S. M. Holland’s testimony said he had been watching the motorcade from the railroad overpass just a few feet from where Michael Thomas and his kids were standing when he heard, what he thought was four shots. The third and fourth sounding like two shots remarkably close together. He thought some of the shots came from the trees close to the fence on the Grassy Knoll. "Well it would be like you're firing a small caliber pistol right beside a shotgun, or a bigger pistol right beside a shotgun... the third shot was louder than the first two ... If I had to guess I’d say the third or the fourth shot was the one that hit the President."

  Roger Craig, a Deputy Sheriff stated, "I believe that the first shot ... sounded like it echoed or bounced off the buildings, so to speak ... well, it wasn’t much of a pause between the first and second shots ... It could have been a bit longer, I’d say less than a second or two...” Between the second and third shots there was, "Surely no more than maybe two seconds. It was -- they were fairly quick."

  Joe R. Molina, "... I heard the first shot fired then there was a short space between the first and second, a lot shorter than between the second and third. I would say it sounded like an echo if I had to guess I think it came from the west side; that was all I got from the experience.”

  From the spot where Joe Molina watched the motorcade, on the steps of the Texas School Book Depository, the west side would have been down toward the triple overpass.

  Seymour Weitzman, a Dallas Police Officer said in his report to the FBI on Nov 24, 1963: "First one, then the second two seemed to be simultaneous. A total of three shots rang out, and I immediately ran to the point where Elm Street turns to go under the overpass and up the grassy slope located on the opposite side of Elm Street to a fence.” He stated they located no one, and after talking to the yardman, Weitzman said
he was told the noise had to come from the end of the fence closest to the Texas School Book Depository, and a search was immediately made of that area.

  While still on the other side of the fence, someone, believed to have been Deputy Boone of the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, mentioned having seen or having heard about something red rolling on Elm Street. When found it appeared to be a portion of a bone or bone structure, which bore fresh bloodstains. This was taken to the Dallas Police Laboratory... This bone fragment was later determined to be part of Special Agent Hill’s shoulder wound.

  Eugene Boone, Dallas county Deputy was one of those who later found the sniper rifle stuck between some boxes or crates on the sixth floor of the building.”

  WHO COULD DO SUCH A DEED?

  On the 22nd of November, 1963 President John F. Kennedy, his wife Jacqueline, and their entourage left the Fort Worth Texas Hotel and traveled to the Strategic Air Command’s Carswell Air Force Base located adjacent to the city of White Settlement on Ft. Worth’s west side. At the front gate, the motorcade passed by the Air Policemen who stood at attention and saluted. It proceeded down the long row of B-52 long-range bombers known as the Stratofortress, to Air Force One where the party boarded for the thirteen-minute flight to Dallas.

  The time of departure was 11:26.

  The Presidential party arrived at Love Field at 11:39 A.M. President and Mrs. Kennedy stepped down from their aircraft and immediately walked toward a fence where an immense crowd of well-wishers had assembled. Very cordially the President moved down the line from the right to left extending his hand to as many as he could touch. He and the First Lady spent several minutes shaking hands.

  The invitations that had been sent out indicated a noon start time to the luncheon with the Presidential speech around 12:15 p.m. Meanwhile, SS Agent Lawson was beginning to get worried. He told Chief Curry, due to arriving at Love Field late, they would not make it to the Trade Mart on time. Lawson was hoping the President and the First Lady would end the pressing of the flesh, so-to-speak, and get the show on the road.

  The first lady received a bouquet of red roses from the Dallas mayor’s wife, which she brought with her when they finally entered the waiting black limousine. Texas Governor John Connally and his wife, Nellie had already seated themselves in the open convertible’s jump seats. The Kennedys entered and sat in the seat behind them. Since the rain had stopped, the plastic bubble top had been removed. Vice President and Mrs. Johnson occupied another car in the motorcade.

  The motorcade consisted of the lead car, an unmarked Ford driven by Dallas Police Chief Jesse Curry. Next was the black 1961 Cadillac limousine containing the Kennedys; behind the President was the Secret Service follow-car codenamed ‘Halfback’; next the Vice President’s limousine and following it another Secret Service hardtop automobile codenamed ‘Varsity’. After those vehicles were a couple of cars carrying members of the press.

  The procession left the airport, through a hole cut in the airport fence, and traveled along a ten-mile route winding through downtown Dallas on the way to the Trade Mart where the President was scheduled to speak at the assembled group of Dallas dignitaries.

  The route was to make a left turn from the south end of Love Field to West Mockingbird Lane, then turn right on Lemmon Ave. Next a right, at the "Y" on Turtle Creek Blvd. Go straight on Cedar Springs Rd, turn left on North Harwood St, make a right on Main St, another right on Houston St, a sharp left on Elm St, drop down through the triple overpass. Take a right turn up the ramp to North Stemmons Freeway, to Dallas Trade Mart located at 2100 North Stemmons.

  Originally the motorcade was to continue straight down Main instead of turning right onto Houston, toward the Texas School Book Depository, but the Secret Service noticed Elm Street provided the only direct route from Dealey Plaza to the Stemmons Freeway, so the original route had to be changed.

  As the motorcade drove into downtown Dallas the President, twice, ordered his car to stop while he got out and shook a few hands. The throngs of people crowding the sidewalks loved him. He seemed to be getting as large a charge out of them as they were from him.

  At one point a group of Catholic girls and their Nuns held up a sign reading, “Please Mr. President shake our hands.” As on cue, the car stopped, and Mr. Kennedy gave the Nuns, and their students the thrill of their lives - he shook all their outstretched hands. Please Mr. President, thought one of the Secret Agents, get back in the car!

  Little did these young girls and the Sisters realize they would be the last of President Kennedy’s adoring public to have the privilege of touching him. Tragedy was quickly approaching.

  The left turn off of Main Street onto Houston occurred at 12:28:30.

  The Secret Service agents that had dismounted to control the crowd at the corner of Main and Houston were now jumping back onto their follow car. One of them thought, By God, I hope all of these open windows in those buildings have been checked. All along the right side of the motorcade route and directly to their front were tall buildings with people leaning out screaming, taking pictures and waving. One of these buildings immediately in front of the Dallas Police Chief’s white Ford lead car was the Texas School Book Depository. The entire building was full of people including some hanging out windows. An immense crowd had also gathered around the front entrance.

  Did anyone in the security force look up toward the TSBD sixth floor? If they did, would they have seen something unusual? Maybe they would have, some did.

  Approximately ten to fifteen minutes before the motorcade made the turn into Dealey Plaza, Arnold Rutland along with his wife saw a man, with something resembling a rifle, on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. "I noticed on the top floor of the building on the corner of Elm and Houston. I saw a man standing back from the end; he was not at a window. He was standing up, I could see him from the waist up and I saw, what we thought was a rifle. This appeared to me to be a fairly high-powered rifle because of the scope and the relative proportion of the scope to the rifle, you can tell about what type of rifle it is. The man was holding the rifle in a "port arms" military position, with the barrel at a 45-degree angle downward across his body.”

  On the Tenth of December 1963, Mr. Rutland had made a report to the FBI: “At about 12:25 p.m., I saw a man with, what looked like, a rifle with a scope, on the roof of the Texas State Book Depository Building. He was crouching at the southwest corner of the building. I am certain this was right since the southwest corner was the corner nearest the triple overpass. I just assumed this person was a security guard or a Secret Service agent, and tried to show him to my wife, but it was too far for her to see because she had left her glasses laying on the car seat.”

  At approximately the same time, Mr. Rudy Herderson reported to the FBI: “I know I saw two different men with rifles on the School Building, one with a rifle on the top floor and the other was on the roof. Down close to end closer to the overpass. He had dark skin, not a Negro, maybe a Mexican or such.”

  Just a couple of seconds before the motorcade entered the plaza, Mrs. Susan Wallace, standing on the west side of Houston Street, about fifty or sixty feet south of the Depository building on Elm Street, “noticed two men on an upper floor of the Depository, one of the men was holding a rifle in his hands.” She described the rifle as having a long barrel, but she was never asked if both men had been on the same floor of the Texas School Book Depository, or if one might have been on the roof. Neither Mr. Herderson nor Mrs. Wallace was called to testify before the Warren Commission.

  Two additional witnesses, a Robert Townsend and William Belue said they saw a man in a tan coat on the roof of the Depository just seconds before the shooting. A man matching the one Townsend and Belue witnessed, also wearing a tan raincoat, was seen, by two other witnesses. Their sworn statements indicated the ‘raincoat man’ quickly walking around the side of the Depository just after the shooting. He walked around the west end of the building and got into a grey Nash Rambler station wagon on E
lm and sped away. Belue further said this unknown man seemed to signaling with his arm as he drove off, to someone in the vicinity of the Grassy Knoll.

  Chapter Eleven

  PEGASUS IS ABOUT TO RIDE

  Captain Scarburg was, “locked and loaded.” The safety harness had been securely strapped into place; his helmet was snug and fastened. The internal headset was working perfectly. Mr. Rousseau had been relaying all the ‘flight’ countdown information and all steps seem to be progressing on schedule.

  A few seconds before ‘launch’ Mr. Watkins via the intercom quickly warned the Captain about the setting on the internal flight computers. In addition to his job as Chief, Flight Prep Crew, he was the man who prepared and input the GPS coordinates to the on board computers. He told the Captain he was to land at 12:29:30 p.m. Friday November 22, 1963. Thirty seconds before the Kennedy assassination, but, it was critical, under no circumstances could he miss the 12:29:30 p.m. Saturday November 23, 1963 departure window. “It is impossible to re-set your computers on site - they have to be synchronized with our master computer here within our lab to the exact micro-second - miss the date, and the exit window shuts and I mean, for good. Not only does the window shut, but also Pegasus will disappear and may be gone forever. Where will it go? Your guess is as good as mine.” He further said, “If, for some reason, you are not in Pegasus and miss the return flight, you will live in a world forty-nine years earlier than the present, but your age will still be the same as your age is today. Your age clock does not get turned back. If you get back to the present, you will be over a hundred years old!! Don’t miss that departure Captain Scarburg!”