Warren Reynolds and Oswald’s Jacket

New Evidence Surrounding Oswald's Escape from the Tippit Murder Scene

(Graphic: © 2020 Dale K. Myers. All Rights Reserved)

By DALE K. MYERS

 

Seven years ago, I learned of a previously unknown witness to Lee Harvey Oswald’s flight from the J.D. Tippit murder scene.

 

Tippit, a 39-year-old father of three, was the Dallas patrolman gunned down on an Oak Cliff side street, forty-five minutes after the JFK assassination.

 

The witness confirmed something I had long suspected – that Oswald attempted to hide in one of the second-hand furniture stores on East Jefferson Boulevard as he made his escape from Tenth and Patton. When that failed, Oswald ditched his jacket and fled westward toward the Texas Theater.

 

It’s rare when new evidence surfaces in a 57-year-old murder case, but when it does, it’s important to take the time to scrutinize it, carefully.

 

Since first learning of this information in late 2013, I’ve invested hundreds of hours searching for evidence that would either corroborate or undermine this new account. Now, the results of what I found can be told.

 

In the original 1998 edition of my book, With Malice: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Murder of Officer J.D. Tippit, I suggested that Warren A. Reynolds, contrary to his official statements and testimony, did not see Oswald turn north and cut through the parking lot behind the Texaco service station where his discarded jacket was later recovered. Frankly, for me, the timing just didn’t add up. [1]

 

Warren A. Reynolds’ official account

 

Warren A. Reynolds and three other employees of the Johnnie Reynolds Motor Company – L.J. Lewis, Harold Russell, and B.M. “Pat” Patterson – witnessed Oswald as he ran south on Patton and turned west onto East Jefferson Boulevard as he fled the Tippit shooting scene. [2]

 

L.J. Lewis remained at the motor company and telephoned police. [3] Harold Russell ran down to Tenth and Patton and remained there until police arrived. [4]

 

Warren Reynolds, thinking that “possibly a marital argument had occurred and a shooting had taken place” decided to follow the individual. [5] Fellow employee B.M. Patterson, who also believed the shooting had resulted from “a marital problem”, accompanied him. [6]

 

Reynolds and Patterson reportedly followed Oswald down Jefferson Boulevard at a discreet distance until he “turned in a northerly direction and proceeded behind Ballew’s Texaco Service Station…” [7]

 

Reynolds told the FBI that after Oswald disappeared from sight Reynolds crossed the street and “made inquiry at Ballew’s Texaco service station, and they informed him the individual had gone through the parking lot.” [8]

 

However, Robert Brock, the mechanic at Ballew’s Texaco service station, and his wife, Mary, told the FBI that “approximately five minutes” passed between the time they saw Oswald cut through the Texaco parking lot and the time they were approached by Reynolds. They also stated that Reynolds informed them that the individual they saw had “in all probability shot a Dallas police officer” two blocks away. [9]

 

But, how did Reynolds and Patterson know that a police officer had been shot? By their own account, they hadn’t been to the shooting scene and only pursued Oswald because, as both Reynolds and Patterson said, they thought he had been involved in a “marital” dispute that had turned violent.

 

The FBI noted the discrepancy and asked Reynolds how he heard that a police officer had been shot? Reynolds advised them that “approximately five or ten minutes” after he crossed the street “he was informed by an unknown source that the individual whom he had been ‘tailing’ had shot and apparently killed a uniformed officer of the Dallas Police Department.” [10]

 

Reynolds’ FBI statements suggest that he crossed the street immediately after Oswald disappeared from view, talked to the Brocks, and remained in the area of the Texaco service station until police arrive. In fact, Reynolds told the same story to the Warren Commission in 1964:

Reynolds: “See, when he went behind the service station, I was right across the street, and when he ducked behind it, I ran across the street and asked this man [Robert Brock] which way he went, and they [Robert and Mary Brock] told me the man had gone to the back. And I ran back there and looked up and down the alley right then and didn’t see him, and I looked under the cars, and I assumed that he was still hiding there…Even to this day, I assume he was hiding there…and I didn’t know this man had shot a policeman. I wouldn’t probably be near as brave if I had known that. The next time, I guarantee, I won’t be as brave.” [11]

Despite his assurances, Reynolds’ claims did not ring true.

 

At 1:21:29 p.m. – seven minutes after Tippit was shot (1:14:30 p.m.) and about five-minutes after Oswald could have passed the Brocks at Ballew’s Texaco service station – the Dallas police radio dispatcher announced:

1:21:29 p.m. DISPATCHER: Suspect just passed 401 East Jefferson. [12]

This is the address of Ballew’s Texaco service station. It has always been assumed that the Brocks called police after being informed by Reynolds and Patterson of the significance of their observations, even though neither Robert or Mary Brock specifically reported calling police.

 

But if the police dispatcher’s radio broadcast at 1:21:29 p.m. was the result of the Reynolds “boys” informing the Brocks of Oswald’s likely connection to the Tippit shooting, what were Reynolds and Patterson doing during the five-minutes between the time they allegedly saw Oswald disappear behind the Texaco service station (at about 1:16:20 p.m.) and the time they informed the Brocks of Oswald’s connection to the Tippit shooting (shortly before the DPD radio broadcast at 1:21:29 p.m.)?

 

Most important, if Reynolds and Patterson remained on East Jefferson observing Oswald’s actions, as they told authorities, how did they know that the victim was a Dallas police officer? [13]

 

A new story emerges

 

Despite his official account, the evidence clearly shows that Warren Reynolds (and perhaps B.M. “Pat” Patterson as well) left Jefferson Boulevard and dashed to the Tippit shooting scene at Tenth and Patton during the five-minute interval described by the Brocks.

 

One minute after officers were notified by the police dispatcher that Tippit’s killer had passed the Texaco service station at 401 East Jefferson, Dallas Police Patrolman Roy W. Walker, [14] radioed in a description of the shooter from Tenth and Patton.

01:22:38.40 p.m. - 85 (WALKER): We have a description on this suspect over here on Jefferson, last seen about 300 block of East Jefferson. He’s a white male, about 30 (sirens heard approaching), 5, 8; black wavy hair, slender, wearing a white jacket, white shirt and dark slacks. [15]

Walker revealed to me in 1983 that the person who gave him the description at the Tippit shooting scene was Warren Reynolds. [16]

 

In addition to his interaction with Officer Walker at Tenth and Patton, Reynolds also made contact with WFAA-TV reporter and cameraman Ron Reiland – and told him something rather remarkable; something that he failed to mention in any of his subsequent statements about the events of November 22nd.

 

The second-hand furniture stores

 

Reiland had driven out to the Tippit shooting scene at a breakneck speed in a WFAA-TV station wagon in the company of WFAA radio reporter Vic Robertson and Dallas Morning News reporter Hugh Aynesworth. [17]

 

When Reiland pulled up at Tenth and Patton, Officer Walker was just finishing his broadcast description of the Tippit suspect. [18]

 

Reiland reported that an individual “ran up to us at this point and said, ‘He has run into an old building down the street’ – a building that was used to house antiques.” (emphasis added) [19] 

 

It soon became clear that the unidentified “individual” was Warren Reynolds.

 

While narrating the news film footage that he later shot in Oak Cliff, Reiland made the following comment:

REILAND: “This is the first building that he was reported in. It’s an old – ah – junk shop at one time or another. This is the jacket that the man was wearing. He discarded it as he ran down the street. An eyewitness here [Warren Reynolds is shown on camera] said that he had seen the man go into the building – and this is the rear of it – the officers converged on it once again.” (emphasis added) [20]

After being notified that the suspect was spotted going into one of the second-hand furniture stores on East Jefferson, WFAA-TV cameraman Reiland and police officers C.B. Owens, Gerald L. Hill, and assistant D.A. William F. "Bill" Alexander left Tenth and Patton and drove immediately to the area of two stores, located at 413 and 417 E. Jefferson Boulevard. Warren Reynolds followed.

 

Fig.1 - Composite view from WFAA-TV newsfilm showing police preparing to search two second-hand furnitures stores at 413 (left) and 417 (right) E. Jefferson Boulevard. (© 1997 WFAA-TV / Composite: © 2020 DKM)

WFAA-TV’s Ron Reiland leapt from his station wagon and began filming police arriving in front of the two second-hand furniture stores. Dallas police sergeants Owens and Hill, as well as Dallas Morning News reporter Hugh Aynesworth, can be seen on film. [21]

 

Three-minutes after arriving at the second-hand furniture stores, Sgt. Owens requested additional squads to flood the area:

01:27:53.28 p.m. 19 (OWENS): One of the men here at service station that saw him seems to think he is in this block of 400 block East Jefferson behind this service station. Would you get me some more squads over here? [22]

The “man” referred to by Owens is, in all probability, Reynolds, who insisted during his Warren Commission testimony that “I assumed that he (Oswald) was hiding there [in the parking lot]. Even to this day, I assume he was there.” [23]

 

Six-minutes later, Owens reported that police were still searching the two second-hand furniture stores at 413 and 417 E. Jefferson Boulevard:

01:33:58.32 p.m. 19 (OWENS): No, we’re shaking down these – ah – old houses arou – down over here in the 400 block of East Jefferson, right now. [24]

WFAA-TV cameraman Ron Reiland was still on the scene shooting news film. Reynolds himself mentioned Reiland’s presence during his Warren Commission testimony:

“Then the police got there, and they took my name. While they were taking my name, some television camera got me, and I was on television, I am sure nationwide.” [25]

Indeed, the news film was later broadcast over local WFAA-TV as well as the ABC television network.

 

On the one-year anniversary of the assassination, Reiland explained in an on-camera interview why he filmed what he did:

REILAND: “Officer Hill and several others ran into the front of the building with drawn pistols. I ran around the back of the building with my camera in hopes that if they flushed this man that we were looking for, he would come out the back-door right into the face of the camera.” (emphasis added) [26]

Fig.2 - Frame from news film showing the rear of the second-hand furniture store (© 1997 WFAA-TV).

The footage being described shows the rear of the second-hand furniture store at 413 E. Jefferson Boulevard and Warren Reynolds being interviewed by police there. [27]

 

There can be little doubt – given Reiland’s film and narration, and the police activities preserved in on-the-scene radio transmissions – that Warren Reynolds told police on November 22, 1963, that he had seen Oswald go into the second-hand furniture store located at 413 East Jefferson Boulevard.

 

Surprisingly, a previously unknown eyewitness account, supporting Reynolds’ contemporary assertion that Oswald attempted to hide in a second-hand furniture store, surfaced in 2013.

 

Dean’s Dairy Way

 

On Saturday, November 30, 2013, I received an unsolicited email from a member of the Dean family who had seen the 50th anniversary re-broadcast of the PBS Frontline program “Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald?”

 

Following the broadcast, a search of my name on the Internet led to a link to the 2013 edition of my book, With Malice: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Murder of Officer J.D. Tippit. After reading a Kindle version of the book, I was contacted and told that the family had information that filled in a gap in the story of Oswald’s escape from the Tippit shooting scene.

 

Doretha B. “Dodie” (pronounced "Dottie") Dean, then 39 (now deceased), was working at Dean’s Dairy Way, 409 E. Jefferson Boulevard in Oak Cliff on November 22, 1963. Dodie and her husband, Firman, had owned and operated the convenience store since 1961. [28]

 

Fig.3 - 1964 FBI photograph looking northwest at Dean's Dairy Way, 409 E. Jefferson Boulevard.

 According to family members, she was at the cash register near the two large open windows listening to the radio when she heard reports that President Kennedy had been shot. [29]

 

Later, she heard some loud sounds in the area but thought it was a backfire. She did not recognize the sound of gunfire at the time but it was loud enough to make an impression. [30]

 

A few minutes later, Mrs. Dean heard a loud banging on the door of the two-story house next door at 413 E. Jefferson Boulevard. She described it as someone “shaking and banging on the door as if they were ripping off the hinges of the screen door trying to get in.” [31] She stated that the efforts she heard were “hard, fierce, and determined.” [32] That caught her interest.

 

Immediately after hearing those sounds, she heard someone “running down the rickety stairs that led down from the second floor” of the second-hand store.

 

This caused her to look up and out the front window in an easterly direction toward the second-hand store. Just as she did, a young man rounded the corner walking briskly in a westerly direction. As he broke into a run, he was tugging at his jacket, as if to take it off. In those days, the Dairy Way had an overhead door so it made the store fully open rather than windowed, and the cashier’s counter was close to the sidewalk. Mrs. Dean got a good look at the man who passed her at less than ten feet and positively identified him as Lee Harvey Oswald. She stepped outside the store and peered around the corner at the area in-between the store and the Texaco service station next door. She saw Oswald continue behind the service station and into the parking lot. [33]

 

“It happened very quickly and was over fast,” according to Mrs. Dean. [34]

 

Apparently, Oswald had attempted to break into the second-hand furniture store at 413 E. Jefferson Boulevard, possibly to hide, then gave up and fled westward.

 

Mrs. Dean’s account supported what Reynolds told WFAA-TV cameraman Ron Reiland on the afternoon of the Tippit shooting – that he had seen Tippit’s killer go into the building.

 

It also further corroborated my suspicion that Reynolds did not remain on East Jefferson after he saw Oswald duck behind the second-hand furniture store, but that instead Reynolds went to the Tippit shooting scene, where he gave a detailed description of the gunman to Dallas patrolman Roy W. Walker and informed television cameraman and reporter Ron Reiland (and presumably police at the scene) that Oswald was hiding in an old building down the street.

 

After all, if Reynolds had remained on Jefferson Boulevard, keeping an eye on Oswald’s movements as he later claimed, wouldn’t he have seen what Mrs. Dean saw – Oswald fleeing the furniture store?

 

But Reynolds was clearly oblivious to the fact that Oswald had fled the confines of the second-hand furniture store when he spoke to police and reporters at Tenth and Patton at 1:22 p.m. Instead, he led police back to the store which they then promptly searched.

 

Reynolds’ absence from Jefferson Boulevard for several minutes (during which time Oswald fled the area of the second-hand furniture store and slipped behind the Texaco service station) would also explain the five-minute time discrepancy that later appeared in Reynolds’ 1964 account.

 

It’s worth noting that Reynolds never mentioned the second-hand furniture store in any of his 1964 statements to either the FBI or the Warren Commission, despite the fact that he told police and reporters on November 22, 1963, that he saw Tippit’s killer enter the building and later led police to search it.

 

Reynolds’ credibility was originally called into question in 1964 when Dallas Police Homicide Captain J.W. Fritz told the Warren Commission that he spoke to Reynolds about his observations of November 22, 1963:

FRITZ: “…I asked him, how far, how close was the closest you were ever to [Oswald], how far were you from him? He said, ‘Well from that car lot across the street there.’ Well, of course, if he had been at the car lot across the street it would be difficult to follow him on the sidewalk. It would be quite difficult, so I talked to him for just a short time and I didn’t bother with him anymore. I already had some history on him because the other bureau, the forgery bureau had been handling him and they had already told me a lot about him. They discounted anything that he told.” (Emphasis added) [35]

The discovery of the jacket

 

As with all eyewitness accounts – especially second-hand accounts offered fifty-years after the fact – there are discrepancies, and the one recalled by Mrs. Dean’s family members is no exception.

 

In addition to witnessing Oswald tugging at his jacket, as he passed Dean’s Dairy Way, Mrs. Dean reportedly claimed that she was the one who recovered Oswald’s jacket and turned it over to Dallas police when they arrived at the scene.

 

According to her surviving daughters, “My mother stepped out of the store and peeped around the corner. My sister says that he had flung the jacket onto a tire rack of the Texaco station next door. My mother picked it up and came back into the store. Later when the police arrived, my mother turned the jacket over to them telling them she had found it on the tire rack.” [36]

 

They added: “We joked that she should have kept the jacket as it was a collector’s item. [37] We told her, ‘You could’ve paid for our way through college with that [jacket]!’” [38]

 

Despite the belated claim, it is difficult to believe that Mrs. Dean retrieved the jacket and turned it over to police given the considerable contemporary record to the contrary.

 

The first mention of a “discarded jacket” occurred at about 1:23 p.m., when sergeants Calvin B. Owens, Gerald L. Hill, and assistant D.A. William F. “Bill” Alexander rolled up at Tenth and Patton. As they arrived, they were approached by an unidentified man who told them that Tippit’s killer had “thrown down his jacket” in the 400 block of East Jefferson – the area of the Texaco service station. [39] (More on this, later.)

 

Owens, Hill, and Alexander immediately left Tenth and Patton and drove to the area of two second-hand furniture stores, located next door to Dean’s Dairy Way.

 

Other officers were being directed there by the police radio dispatcher. One of those squads contained Dallas Police Captain of Personnel, W.R. Westbrook, Sergeant Henry H. Stringer, and Dallas Morning News reporter James Ewell. They had driven there directly from the Texas School Book Depository.

 

At about 1:25 p.m., Westbrook borrowed a shotgun from a patrolman and began walking through the parking lot located behind Dean’s Dairy Way and Ballew’s Texaco service station.

 

Westbrook told author Larry A. Sneed in 1988, “…I started walking up the alley, and I can’t even remember who the officers were at the time, one officer, whether he was with me or whether he was coming the other way, I can’t recall; but he said, ‘Look! There’s a jacket under the car.’ I think it was an old Pontiac sitting there if I remember right. So, I walked over and reached under and picked up the jacket, and this eventually turned out to be Oswald’s jacket.” [40]

 

Westbrook told the Warren Commission the same thing in 1964; and reiterated how the jacket was discovered to the HSCA in 1978: “…[Westbrook] was behind this location with [Sgt.] Stringer when they found the jacket under the parked car across the alley from the rear of the church. Doesn’t recall disposition of the jacket.” [41]

 

In 1964, Westbrook testified to the Warren Commission that he “told the officer to take the make and license number [of the car] …” [42] and that he “…turned this jacket over to one of the officers…” [43]

 

Indeed, the license plate number of the car was recorded and Dallas Police Crime Scene Sergeant W.E. “Pete” Barnes was later instructed to take two photographs of the area of the parking lot where Oswald’s discarded jacket was found. [44]

 

Fig.4 - Barnes photograph showing the location (red circle) where Oswald's jacket (insert) was found. (Graphic: © 2020 DKM)

Barnes’ second exposure behind the Texaco service station [45] was used as Plate No.38 in the “FBI Director’s Briefing Book: Killing of Dallas Patrolman J.D. Tippit,” and captioned: “Place where jacket was found behind Oldsmobile, License No. NL95.” [46] Subsequently, Plate No.38 became Westbrook Exhibit C. [47]

 

When shown Westbrook Exhibit C by the Warren Commission, Capt. Westbrook circled the area where the jacket was found, but could only guess as to the location where the jacket was found, stating “…it could have been under any of the other cars, but I think it was kind of along in the middle of the parking lot.” [48] Of course, it had already been recorded that the jacket was found “behind Oldsmobile, License NL 95.”

 

Westbrook’s account of the recovery of the discarded jacket is supported by a multitude of contemporary records:

 

On November 23, 1963, Robert Brock, the mechanic at Ballew’s Texaco Service Station, told NBC WBAP-TV reporter Robert MacNeil during a brief filmed interview: “I was working on a car when the Reynolds – the boys from Reynolds Motor Company came by and asked if we’d seen a man go through here and my wife said she’d seen a man walk between the car and the service station here [pointing at the area between the east side of the service station and Dean’s Dairy Way] and go out across the parking lot. Later, I was out on the parking lot with the police when they found a coat.” (emphasis added) [49]

 

Fig.5 - Mechanic Robert Brock (left) points at Oswald's escape route along a narrow pathway between the Texaco Service station and Dean's Dairy Way. A tire rack (red arrow) can be seen along the path. (Composite from WBAP-TV newsfilm / © 2020 DKM)

The filmed sequence shows Brock pointing into the parking lot behind the Texaco service station – a tire rack clearly visible along Oswald’s escape path on the east side of the service station.

 

If Oswald had tossed his jacket onto the tire rack, as allegedly claimed by Mrs. Dean, and that she retrieved it and took it into her store where she later turned it over to police, why would Robert Brock tell NBC’s Robert MacNeil the very next day, that the jacket was found by police in the parking lot behind the service station? Wouldn’t Brock have known that his statement could be easily disproven by Mrs. Dean? Furthermore, what would be the purpose is claiming the jacket was found in the parking lot behind the service station and not on the tire rack alongside the station?

 

According to her daughters, Mrs. Dean knew many Dallas policemen because they had come into her store in the past and they knew her. She never gave an affidavit because she felt they knew her and would know where to find her if they needed further information. [50]

 

Despite the insistence of her daughters (“My sister and I clearly remember her saying that she picked it up since we kidded her about it for years.” [51]), there is nothing in the contemporary record that even remotely hints that Mrs. Dean recovered the discarded jacket.

 

On the other hand, Robert Brock’s on-camera statement to NBC’s Robert MacNeil is supported by his own subsequent statements, those of other police officers on the scene, and the recorded Dallas police radio transmissions broadcast that day.

 

A 1964 FBI interview of Robert Brock, confirms what Brock told MacNeil on November 23rd: “…Brock advised he, Warren Reynolds and various police officers from the Dallas Police Department had searched the parking lot directly behind Ballew’s Texaco Service Station in efforts to locate the person responsible for the shooting, with negative results. Brock advised, however, a Dallas, Texas, police officer, name unknown, had located a jacket underneath a 1954 Oldsmobile which was parked in parking space # 17. This jacket apparently had belonged to the person who had shortly before shot a Dallas police officer.” [52]

 

As already pointed out, Dallas police Crime Lab Sergeant W.E. “Pete” Barnes took a photograph between 2:03 and 2:05 p.m. on the afternoon of November 22, 1963, that depicted the parking space described by Brock. [53]

 

A 1964 FBI memo to J. Lee Rankin also reported: “…Robert Brock, a service station mechanic witnessed the Dallas Police find Oswald’s jacket under a car along the escape route from Tippit killing…” [54]

 

Three-wheel motorcycle officer Thomas A. Hutson testified to the Warren Commission in 1964: “We were searching the rear of the house in the 400 block of East Jefferson Boulevard at the rear of the Texaco station. Behind cars parked on a lot at this location, a white jacket was picked up by another officer. I observed him as he picked it up, and it was stated that this was probably the suspect’s jacket. The original description was that he was wearing a white jacket…” “…It looked like a white cloth jacket to me…” “…I didn’t see it that close. I was approximately 25 yards away from the officer who picked it up…” [55] “…I heard something – someone make the statement that that looks like the suspect’s jacket. He has thrown it down. He is not wearing it now…” [56] “Captain Westbrook was there behind the house with us, and he was there at the time this was picked up by the man, but I don’t know who had it in their hands. The only time I saw it was when the officer had it.” [57]

 

In Gary Savage’s 1993 book, JFK First Day Evidence, an officer identified only as “K” told the story of finding the jacket. “We pulled up on Jefferson and started checking some cars parked behind a service station to see if the suspect was hiding in or under one of the cars. That’s when we found his jacket. I saw Captain [Westbrook] in his car on Jefferson so I turned the jacket over to him. It isn’t easy to handle a motorcycle and hang on to a jacket.” Officer “K” was described as a three-wheel motorcycle officer who was assigned to “work traffic and the crowd along Stemmons at Industrial.” A list of Dallas police motorcade assignments [58] shows three officers assigned to the Stemmons service road at Industrial: Three-wheel motorcycle officers John R. Mackey and W.E. Wilson; and Accident Prevention Bureau Officer R.J. Kosan. [59]

 

Fig.6 - Frame from news film showing police with Oswald's recovered jacket. (© 1997 WFAA-TV)

 A three-wheel motorcycle officer, J.T. Griffin, who was in the same squad as John R. Mackey and Thomas A. Hutson, reported the jacket’s discovery to dispatcher Murray Jackson:

01:25:51.60 p.m. 279 (J.T. GRIFFIN): We believe we’ve got this 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 – ah – he had a white jacket on, we believe this is it.

 

01:26:05.12 p.m. Dispatcher: 10-4. You do not have the suspect, is that correct?

 

01:26:08.24 p.m. 279 (GRIFFIN): No, just the jacket laying on the ground. [60]

There can be little question, given the voluminous contemporary record, that the discarded jacket was found by police in the parking lot behind the Texaco service station; and was not recovered by Mrs. Dean and turned over to police, as later claimed by Mrs. Dean’s daughters. All the contemporary accounts – both by police and reporters, who were on the scene on November 22, 1963 – supports this sequence of events.

 

The ambulance incident

 

One additional incident, that may be connected to the actions of Warren Reynolds or B.M. “Pat” Patterson on November 22, 1963, should be explored here.

 

In 1978, ambulance attendant William E. “Eddie” Kinsley told Dallas Morning News reporter Earl Golz that he and driver J. Clayton Butler nearly ran down a man that dashed in front of their ambulance as they were rushing to the Tippit shooting scene. [61] Kinsley later identified the man as Oswald, while Butler wasn’t sure.

 

Kinsley stated that the man was standing on the concrete median, and stepped off into the street, crossing from north to south in front of them – oblivious to their flashing red lights and blaring siren. According to Kinsley, the man was headed southeast and was coming from the general direction of Ballew’s Texaco service station, which led Kinsley to later claim that the man they had nearly run-down was in fact Oswald.

 

Fig.7 - Aerial photograph with diagram showing path of ambulance (red) and running man (blue). Oswald's jacket was found (yellow circle) behind the Texaco service station. (Graphic: © 2020 DKM)

The timing, however, suggests that the man was not Oswald, who witnesses saw escaping in a westward direction, but rather Warren Reynolds or B.M. Patterson heading eastward, back in the general direction of their used car lot and the Tippit shooting scene.

 

At 1:18 p.m., the Dudley M. Hughes Funeral Home, located across the street from Ballew’s Texaco service station, was informed of the Tippit shooting by police. [62]

 

Hughes operated an ambulance service and was the central dispatching point for southern Dallas. The ambulances were parked behind the funeral home and departed via a driveway that accessed Crawford, on the west side of the property.

 

Thirty-eight seconds after logging the call, the Hughes ambulance attendants (Unit 602) reported to the Dallas police radio dispatcher that they were en route to the Tippit shooting scene. [63]

 

Ambulance attendant William “Eddie” Kinsley told me in 1986, that they pulled out of the parking lot behind Dudley Hughes Funeral Home onto Crawford, drove up to Jefferson Boulevard, turned right onto Jefferson Boulevard (east), drove one block to Patton, turned left onto Patton (north), drove one block to Tenth Street, turned right onto Tenth Street (east), and drove to the Tippit shooting located “in the middle of the next block.” [64]

 

According to Kinsley, “We were just turning the corner and hadn’t picked up speed yet, but we had the lights and sirens on and it didn’t faze him. [65] He was in the median and coming across and he didn’t slow down for us or anything. He hurried on across the street and ‘course – right in front of [the ambulance] – [headed east].” [66] Asked if the man looked back at the ambulance drivers, Kinsley stated: “No, sir. And we never did look at him again.” [67]

 

Kinsley later claimed that he and Butler recognized the man as being Oswald after seeing films of Oswald’s arrest on television later that evening. [68]

 

However, Butler disagreed with his former partner, telling researcher J. Greg Lowery in 1981, “There was a man running in front of [the ambulance], but I couldn’t identify him. No, sir, I could not positively identify him. It very possibly could have been [Oswald] because I was watching traffic…” [69]

 

In fact, the timing of the incident fits the actions of Warren Reynolds (or possibly, B.M. “Pat” Patterson).

 

According to Kinsley and Butler, the incident occurred immediately after they left the Dudley M. Hughes parking lot – at 1:18:38 p.m.

 

As discussed previously, Oswald could have reached the area of the second-hand furniture store, located at 413 E. Jefferson Boulevard, by about 1:16:20 p.m.

 

According to the account that Warren Reynolds gave police that day, Oswald entered the second-hand furniture store but Reynolds did not see him exit. This suggests that Reynolds left the area before Mrs. Dean saw Oswald leave the area of the store.

 

If the man crossing in front of the ambulance at about 1:18:38 p.m. was Reynolds leaving the area, he might have been heading back to the Johnnie Reynolds Motor Company car lot, possibly to notify police of the suspect’s whereabouts.

 

Seeing the ambulance, however, could have caused Reynolds to follow it to the shooting scene at Tenth and Patton instead – where Reynolds is known to have gone. If so, he could have arrived on foot at about 1:20:38 p.m.

 

Ninety seconds later, Patrolman Roy W. Walker, who knew Reynolds personally, arrived at the shooting scene. He recognized Reynolds, who was present at the scene by then, and immediately obtained a description of the suspect from him.

 

At 1:22:38 p.m. – thirty-eight seconds after his arrival – Officer Walker was broadcasting the description obtained from Reynolds to his fellow officers.

 

Clearly, the timing of the incident between the unknown individual and the Dudley Hughes ambulance attendants fits the known actions of Warren Reynolds.

 

The available information regarding B.M. Patterson’s actions are relatively scant. Only two statements were ever given to investigators, and only one offered detail about what Oswald did as he reached the Texaco service station. [70]

 

Harold Russell remembered Patterson being at the Tippit shooting scene at some point, [71] and then there is the testimony of Sergeants Calvin B. Owens and Gerald L. Hill that an unidentified individual told him that Tippit’s killer had “thrown down his jacket” in the 400 block of East Jefferson. [72]

 

Neither of these reports are solid evidence of Patterson’s presence at Tenth and Patton, but it is important to remember that there are only two known individuals who trailed Oswald west on Jefferson Boulevard – Warren Reynolds and B.M. Patterson.

 

Since Reynolds left the area of the second-hand furniture store before Oswald escaped westward (as witnessed by Mrs. Dean), only Patterson, who presumably remained behind, was in a position to see Oswald discard his jacket behind the Texaco service station and report that information to police a few minutes later.

 

A new timeline

 

Given the revelations of Mrs. “Dodie” Dean, and what we now know about Oswald’s flight from the Tippit shooting scene, here’s how the new timeline of events shakes out:

 

1:16:20 p.m. Reynolds and Patterson trail Oswald and watch him duck behind the second-hand furniture store at 413 E. Jefferson. After a few minutes, they are convinced he has gone inside.

 

1:18:38 p.m. Reynolds leaves the area, crossing in front of the ambulance dispatched to the shooting scene. Reynolds follows them on foot. Patterson remains behind on Jefferson to make sure Oswald doesn’t leave the area.

 

1:19:00 p.m. Mrs. “Dodie” Dean, of Dean’s Dairy Way at 409 East Jefferson, hears a commotion next door – the sounds of someone trying to break-in – then sees Oswald walk passed her store heading west on Jefferson as he starts to take off his jacket.

 

1:19:15 p.m. Robert Brock, the mechanic at the Texaco station, and his wife Mary observed Oswald walk past them at a fast pace and head into the parking lot behind the service station.

 

1:19:30 p.m. Patterson leaves Jefferson Boulevard and heads toward Tenth and Patton to report that Oswald has fled the area, discarding his jacket.

 

1:20:29 p.m. An unidentified person telephones police to inform them that the suspect just passed Ballew’s Texaco service station at 401 East Jefferson Boulevard.

 

1:21:29 p.m. Channel One police radio dispatcher informs officers that the suspect “just passed 401 East Jefferson,” the address of Ballew’s Texaco service station.

 

1:22:38 p.m. At Tenth and Patton, Reynolds provides Officer Roy W. Walker with the first broadcast description of the Tippit gunman.

 

1:23:00 p.m. Officers C.B. Owens, Gerald L. Hill, and Assistant D.A. Bill Alexander arrive at the shooting scene. An individual (possibly Patterson) informs Owens and Hill that the suspect discarded his jacket in the parking lot in the 400 block of East Jefferson. WFAA-TV cameraman Ron Reiland, WFAA radio reporter Vic Robertson, and Dallas Morning News reporter Hugh Aynesworth arrive at the shooting scene. Reynolds tells Reiland that the suspect ran into an old building down the street.

 

1:24:30 p.m. Officers Owens, Hill, and Assistant D.A. Alexander converge on the two second-hand furniture stores at 413 and 417 East Jefferson and begin searching them. Reiland begins filming. Reynolds and Patterson approach the Brocks at the Texaco service station and ask if they saw a white male pass them. When the Brocks tell them that he was seen going into the parking lot behind the station, Reynolds and Patterson inform the Brocks that the white male probably shot a police officer two blocks away. Captain W.R. Westbrook, who has just arrived from the TSBD, leads a cabal of police into the parking lot behind the service station. Reynolds, Patterson and Robert Brock join them. A discarded jacket is discovered by police laying under a car in the parking lot behind the Texaco service station.

 

1:25:42 p.m. Officer J.T. Griffin radios the discovery of a jacket in the parking lot behind the Texaco station. Reynolds is convinced that the gunman is still in the area. Police intensify their search of the two second-hand furniture stores but turn up nothing.

You’ll note that the scenario in this timeline shows the Brocks being informed by Reynolds and Patterson of the suspect’s connection to the Tippit shooting at 1:24:30 p.m. – approximately “five minutes” after Oswald passed them at 1:19:15 p.m. – which I believe is a more plausible scenario than the one offered by Reynolds in 1964.

 

It also is more plausible that the Brocks, upon being informed of Oswald’s connection to the Tippit shooting, would have shown Reynolds and Patterson where they last saw Oswald which would have led to the discovery of the discarded jacket.

 

This scenario explains the “five-minute” time discrepancy and why Reynolds and Patterson knew that the victim was a Dallas police officer (i.e., they had both been to the shooting scene during the intervening time).

 

This scenario also explains why Reynolds didn’t know that Oswald had fled the second-hand furniture store at 413 East Jefferson when he talked to police and the news media at Tenth and Patton (i.e., he was not present on Jefferson Boulevard when Oswald fled).

 

Oswald’s attempted break-in at 413 East Jefferson and his subsequent flight from the area was witnessed by Mrs. “Dodie” Dean.

 

Fig.8 - Aerial photograph with diagram showing Oswald's escape route (blue) and Warren Reynolds and B.M. "Pat" Patterson's initial path. Oswald's jacket was found (yellow circle) behind the Texaco service station. (Graphic: © 2020 DKM)

There is a fair amount of uncertainty about the actions and knowledge of B.M. “Pat” Patterson – much of it surmised in this scenario. As presented, Patterson would have witnessed Oswald’s flight from 413 East Jefferson, Oswald’s disappearance behind the Texaco service station, and Oswald’s discarding of his jacket in the parking lot.

 

There is some evidence that Patterson did in fact witness Oswald discard his jacket.

 

In a January 23, 1964 report, the FBI noted that Patterson told them that Oswald “made a turn in a northerly direction and proceeded behind Ballew’s Texaco Service Station where the individual discarded a jacket which was later recovered by the Dallas Police Department. The aforementioned individual was not observed again…” [73]

 

In an FBI teletype from Director Hoover to SAC J. Gordon Shanklin, Dallas, on August 24, 1964, Shanklin was apprised that the Warren Commission requested that the Bureau verify with an affidavit that the statement given by B.M. Patterson on January 23, 1964, represented “a correct report” of what Patterson saw on November 22nd, since the Commission wanted to use Patterson statement in their report. At the bottom of the teletype was a note that included this: “Patterson did identify Oswald and also saw him discard his zipper jacket.” (emphasis added) [74]

 

In response to the request, an additional affidavit was taken from Patterson on August 26, 1964. In that affidavit, Patterson made two clarifications:

• While running south on Patton, Oswald, who was obviously trying to reload his gun, “stopped still, ejected the cartridges, reloaded the gun, and then placed the weapon inside his waistband.”
  
• Patterson also stated that he didn’t recall being shown a photograph of Oswald on January 23, 1964, and therefore “cannot at this time state that he had identified Lee Harvey Oswald at that time as the same person he had seen running south on Patton Avenue with a weapon in his hand.”

Patterson was then shown two different photographs of Oswald at which time Patterson advised “that this person (Oswald) is positively and unquestionably the same person he saw” on November 22, 1963. [75]

 

What is most interesting is that, when given the opportunity to change or clarify any part of the statement he gave on January 23, 1964, Patterson did not alter the portion in which he stated that Oswald “made a turn in a northerly direction and proceeded behind Ballew’s Texaco Service Station where the individual discarded a jacket which was later recovered by the Dallas Police Department. The aforementioned individual was not observed again…” (emphasis added) [76]

 

This sounds as if Patterson witnessed this event. Certainly, the Warren Commission construed his statement to mean exactly that. But, perhaps, most important, an individual – who could only have been Patterson – told the police at Tenth and Patton on November 22, 1963, at 1:23 p.m. about Oswald discarding his jacket.

 

If true, Patterson would have likely shared his newly acquired knowledge with Warren Reynolds at Tenth and Patton, or perhaps while the pair were en route back to the Texaco service station with police in tow.

 

At the Texaco station, Reynolds and Patterson made inquiries of the Brocks who then led them back into the parking lot where the jacket was recovered at 1:25 p.m.

 

What this scenario doesn’t explain is who telephoned police at about 1:20:29 p.m. to report that the Tippit shooting suspect had just passed 401 E. Jefferson – the address of Ballew’s Texaco service station. The information led to a police radio broadcast one minute later – at 1:21:29 p.m.

 

It could be that Mrs. Dean telephoned police with the information, and never told her daughters; or the call could have been placed by an unknown citizen who, like Mrs. Dean, never came forward.

 

To believe that the Brocks made the telephone call after being notified by Reynolds and Patterson – as I initially assumed – presents a host of insurmountable conflicts with Reynolds well-documented activities. The timing of the telephone call only makes sense if it originated from someone other than the Brocks.

 

The big picture

 

Obviously, it would have been better if Mrs. “Dodie” Dean had revealed her role, minor as it might have been, back in 1963 when the events were fresh and she could have been questioned directly about her experience.

 

After speaking with family members over an extended period of time, I have absolutely no doubt that the events unfolded just as Mrs. Dean described – minor caveats aside.

 

More important, Mrs. Dean’s recollections are a further testament to the fact that – surprising as it seems – there remain a handful of eyewitnesses to the events in Oak Cliff who harbor details about the Tippit crime and its aftermath – details that could help untangle the historic record.

 

I am grateful to the Dean family member who reached out to me in 2013, and I encourage others to do the same. Unfortunately, the time to do so is slipping away at an alarming rate.

 

While there will always be questions left unanswered by any eyewitness account, including the one offered by the Dean family, it’s important to step back and grasp the big picture.

 

The vast majority of the evidence surrounding Lee Harvey Oswald’s escape from the Tippit murder scene is contemporary, strong and convincing. Mrs. Dean’s account of seeing Oswald as he tugged at his jacket – the same discarded jacket later recovered by police – only adds to what we already know to be true about the Tippit killing and offers further evidence of Oswald’s guilt in that crime. [END]

 

 

Footnotes:

 

[1] Myers, Dale K., With Malice: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Murder of Officer J.D. Tippit (Oak Cliff Press, 1998), pp.105-106 [Note: With Malice (2013 Edition), pp.140-141]

 

[2] CD385, pp.86-90

 

[3] Ibid., p.89

 

[4] Ibid., p.87

 

[5] Ibid., p.86

 

[6] Harold Russell told the FBI that B.M. Patterson went with him to Tenth and Patton; while Patterson himself stated he accompanied Reynolds. (CD385, p.90)

 

[7] CD385, p.90; DMARC, Box 3, Folder 18, Item 6 (Affidavit of Warren Allen Reynolds, March 16, 1964, p.1)

 

[8] CD385, p.86

 

[9] Ibid., pp.92-93

 

[10] CD385, p.86

 

[11] 11H436 WCT Warren A. Reynolds, July 22, 1964

 

[12] DPD Tapes / Channel One, p.81, 1:21:29 p.m.

 

[13] CD385, pp.92-93

 

[14] Roy W. Walker was the third officer to arrive at Tenth and Patton. Kenneth H. Croy and Howell W. Summers were the first two.

 

[15] DPT/C-1, 01:22:38.40

 

[16] Author’s interview of Roy W. Walker, April 2, 1983, pp.1-3, 9 (NOTE: The sirens in the background of the transmission prove that Walker was speaking with Reynolds at Tenth and Patton and not at the Texaco service station, since Poe and Jez, as well as Owens, Hill, and Alexander, initially reported to 404 E. Tenth.)

 

[17] Author’s interview of Hugh Aynesworth, May 14, 1997, p.1; 15H348 (WCT of Victor F. Robertson, Jr., July 24, 1964)

 

[18] Sirens can be heard in the background of Walker’s transmission, signaling the arrival of DPD patrolmen Joe M. Poe and partner Leonard E. Jez, as well as the arrival of a squad car carrying Sergeant Calvin B. Owens, Sergeant Gerald L. Hill, and assistant district attorney William F. Alexander. (DPT/C-1, 01:23:02.32, 01:23:04.40)

 

[19] WFAA-TV broadcast, “A Year Ago Today”, November 22, 1964, Part IV, 3:42

 

[20] First of three broadcasts of Tippit footage on November 22, 1963 – WFAA-TV Log, PKT5, p.3; 55:53

 

[21] WFAA-TV, November 22, 1963, Tippit shooting scene footage

 

[22] DPT/C-1, 01:27:53.28

 

[23] 11H436 (WCT Warren A. Reynolds)

 

[24] DPT/C-1, 01:33:58.32

 

[25] 11H436 (WCT Warren A. Reynolds)

 

[26] WFAA-TV broadcast, “A Year Ago Today”, November 22, 1964, Part IV, 3:42

 

[27] News film footage of Tippit shooting scene, November 22, 1963, WFAA-TV, Dallas, Texas

 

[28] Telephone conversation, Dale K. Myers to Dean family member, December 1, 2013, 3:30 p.m., interview report, pp.1-4; handwritten notes (3 pages)

 

[29] Email, Dale K. Myers to Dean family member, December 1, 2013, 4:24 p.m., p.1

 

[30] Email, Dean family member to Dale K. Myers, October 28, 2019, 10:50 p.m., p.1

 

[31] Email, Dean family member to Dale K. Myers, November 4, 2019, 9:31 p.m., p.1

 

[32] Telephone conversation, Dale K. Myers to Dean family member, December 1, 2013, 3:30 p.m., interview report, pp.1-4; handwritten notes (3 pages)

 

[33] Email, Dean family member to Dale K. Myers, October 28, 2019, 10:50 p.m., p.1

 

[34] Telephone conversation, Dale K. Myers to Dean family member, December 1, 2013, 3:30 p.m., interview report, pp.1-4; handwritten notes (3 pages)

 

[35] 4H235 (WCT of J.W. Fritz, April 22, 1964)

 

[36] Email, Dean family member to Dale K. Myers, November 4, 2019, 9:31 p.m., p.1

 

[37] Email, Dean family member to Dale K. Myers, October 28, 2019, 10:50 p.m., p.1

 

[38] Telephone conversation, Dale K. Myers to Dean family member, December 1, 2013, 3:30 p.m., interview report, pp.1-4; handwritten notes (3 pages)

 

[39] Hill told the Commission that the man told them the suspect had run over into the funeral home parking lot (sic) in the 400 block of East Jefferson and taken off his jacket.” (7H48 WCT of Gerald L. Hill; 7H79 WCT Calvin B. Owens)

 

[40] Interview of W.R. Westbrook by Larry A. Sneed, June 21, 1988, p.2 – W.R. Westbrook File

 

[41] Warren Commission testimony 7H115-118; HSCA RIF 180-10084-10193, Interview of William R. Westbrook, June 8, 1978, p.2

 

[42] 7H117 WCT W.R. Westbrook

 

[43] H118 WCT W.R. Westbrook

 

[44] DMARC 91-001/024a and 024b; taken between 2:03 and 2:05 p.m. (See: Memorandum to file, James R. Leavelle: Questioning LHO, May 3, 2001, p.17 – James R. Leavelle File

 

[45] DMARC 91-001/024b

 

[46] National Archives (NARA), Record Group 272, Warren Commission Document (CD) 630a, FBI Director’s Briefing Book: Killing of Dallas Patrolman J.D. Tippit, Diagrams and Photographs of Immediate Area of Tippit Killing Site, No.38, captioned: “Place where jacket found behind Oldsmobile, License NL 95.”

 

[47] National Archives (NARA), Record Group 272, Warren Commission, Westbrook Exhibit C, 21H726

 

[48] 7H117 WCT W.R. Westbrook

 

[49] NBC News Special Report: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy, Broadcast: November 24, 1963, 9:00-10:00 PM, Media ID: S631124; TCR: 09:32:13

 

[50] Telephone conversation, Dale K. Myers to Dean family member, December 1, 2013, 3:30 p.m., interview report, pp.1-4; handwritten notes (3 pages)

 

[51] Email, Dean family member to Dale K. Myers, November 4, 2019, 9:31 p.m., p.1

 

[52] Report of FBI Interview of Robert Brock, dated: January 22, 1964, p.1 (WC, Brock (Robert) Exhibit A, p.1)

 

[53] National Archives (NARA), Record Group 272, Warren Commission Document (CD) 630a, FBI Director’s Briefing Book: Killing of Dallas Patrolman J.D. Tippit, Diagrams and Photographs of Immediate Area of Tippit Killing Site, No.38, captioned: “Place where jacket found behind Oldsmobile, License NL 95.”

 

[54] FBI Letter to J. Lee Rankin, August 14, 1964, p.1

 

[55] 7H30 WCT Thomas Alexander Hutson

 

[56] 7H33 WCT Thomas Alexander Hutson

 

[57] 7H33 WCT Thomas Alexander Hutson

 

[58] 20H494 Lawrence Exhibit 2

 

[59] 19H131-132 Batchelor Exhibit 5002, pp.14-15; Endnote No.567, With Malice, 2013 Edition, p.733 [NOTE: Sergeant Stringer, who arrived at the scene with Westbrook, did end up with possession of the jacket, radioing in to the dispatcher on Channel 2 at 1:45 p.m.: “This – ah – could you pass this to someone. The – ah – jacket the suspect was wearing over here on Jefferson in this shooting – bears the laundry tag with the letter B 9738. See if there is a way you can check this laundry tag.” (23H925 CE1974, p.188)

 

[60] DPT/C-1, 01:25:51.60, 01:26:05.12, 01:26:08.24

 

[61] Interview of William E. “Eddie” Kinsley by Earl Golz, 1978, pp.1, 3

 

[62] Nash, George and Patricia, “The Other Witnesses,” The New Leader, October 12, 1964, p.8

 

[63] DPD Tapes / Channel One, p.78, 1:18:38 p.m.

 

[64] Ambulance driver, Jasper Clayton BUTLER told HSCA investigators in 1977: “The route we took [to the Tippit scene] would be north on Crawford approximately one block, then east on 10th Street, approximately two blocks.” (HSCA RIF 180-10107-10180, Interview of Jasper Clayton Butler, Jr., Sunday, September 25, 1977, p.2); Interview of William E. “Eddie” Kinsley by Dale K. Myers, November 6, 1983, pp.5-6

 

[65] Interview of William E. “Eddie” Kinsley by Dale K. Myers, November 6, 1983, p.8

 

[66] Interview of William E. “Eddie” Kinsley by Dale K. Myers, November 6, 1983, p.7

 

[67] Interview of William E. “Eddie” Kinsley by Dale K. Myers, November 6, 1983, pp.8-9

 

[68] Interview of William E. “Eddie” Kinsley by Earl Golz, 1978, p.1; Interview of William E. “Eddie” Kinsley by J. Greg Lowery, November 30, 1981, p.3; Interview of William E. “Eddie” Kinsley by Dale K. Myers, November 6, 1983, p.5

 

[69] Interview of J. Clayton Butler by J. Greg Lowery, December 1, 1981, p.1

 

[70] CD385, p.90; CD1518, pp.69-70

 

[71] Harold Russell told the FBI that B.M. Patterson went with him to Tenth and Patton; while Patterson himself stated he accompanied Reynolds. (CD385, p.87)

 

[72] 7H48 WCT of Gerald L. Hill; 7H79 WCT Calvin B. Owens

 

[73] CD385, p.90

 

[74] FBI Teletype, Director to SAC, Dallas, August 24, 1964, p.1 (FBI 62-109090 Warren Commission HQ File, Section 18)

 

[75] CD1518, p.69

 

[76] CD385, p.90