Harold Norman 1991 6th floor Oral History interview

greg_parker wrote:

JFK_FNG wrote:How much do we know about the Smith Detective Agency? The CIA OS was collaborating with at least one detective firm in New Orleans for cover purposes, etc. You’d think they’d have an operational need for the same type of arrangement in Dallas, for screening potential assets, etc.

I'm more inclined to believe MI or FBI ties. They had internal capacity for their "work". The CIA may have operated in places like NO because it is a port city, which kinda sorta makes sense. Dallas is not coastal. 

Andrew Smith founded Truth Verification and Smith Protective Services in the 1950's.  
https://web.archive.org/web/20010303091016/http://smithprotective.com/history.html

Some interesting links to be found by googling "Truth Verification Services". I think you'll find they specialized in polygraphs and hypnotism. And probably more, but "unofficially".

Vinny wrote:From the book The Men On The Sixth Floor.

In 1964, Norman testified in Washington as a Warren Commission witness to the assassination. Mr. Norman had watched the presidential motorcade with two workmates, from the fifth floor, directly under the “sniper’s perch.” This following transcript is from a portion of my interview with him.
“Now, you ate your lunch on the fifth floor, right?” I asked.
“Yeah, we got up there a little before twelve.”
“Why the fifth floor? Why not the sixth floor, or the seventh floor?”
“Well, at first, we were going to do it on the sixth floor, but they were working, they were putting down some flooring, some 3/8” plywood, so there was quite a bit of noise, and they were painting up there too.”
“Was there anyone else up there besides you three?”
“No, just the three of us.”
“Did you see Oswald?”
“I saw him that morning, about ten o’clock, on the first floor. He asked Jarman (James Jarman) and I what we was talking and laughing about. We told him we
were talking about the president, and the motorcade, and he just laughed and walked away.”
“He laughed and walked away?”
“Yeah (laughing) like he didn’t even know what was going on.”
“Did you work with him?”
“Yeah, I worked with him every day. He worked there for about a month, but he pretty much kept to himself.”
“How many people worked with you in the building?”
“I’d say about thirty-five or forty.”
“Were most of them out in front during the passing of the president’s motorcade?”
“Yeah, there were a lot of them down there.”
“But you were by yourselves on the fifth floor.”
“Yeah, just James, (James Jarman) Bonnie Ray, (Bonnie Ray Williams) and me.”
“That was the best place to watch from, wasn’t it?”
“That’s why we went up there.”
“Now you were telling about the construction that was going on up on the sixth floor. Why were they laying down plywood?”
“They were putting it over the hardwood flooring. You see, some of the hardwood was rotting in places; it was in really bad shape.”
“I see. So it was noisy up there you said. What was it that was so noisy? Were there any kind of saws, or machinery, or anything like that?”
“Yeah, they had one of those saws, you know, one of those table saws, but there wasn’t any noise going on during the motorcade, everything was quiet.”
“But you remember seeing a table saw up there? Where was it located?”
“It think it might have been over in the area of the windows by the east end of the building, but I’m not sure.”
“That would be the corner that Oswald shot from?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Did you help lay down the new flooring?”
“No, we went up there sometimes to move stuff around for the floor construction guys. They didn’t work for the Book Depository, but if our work got slow, we would give them a hand.”
“So there was an outside contractor doing the work on the floors, right?”
“Right. There was a crew of about five or six, maybe up to eight men.”
“Were they only doing work on the sixth floor?”
“At that particular time, I think they were. They were planning on doing something up on the seventh floor after they were finished with the sixth floor.”
“Was the seventh floor empty?”
“Yeah, we just threw junk up there.”
“What did the rear of the building look like?”
“There used to be a loading dock out there. The eighteen wheelers would pull up and we would unload them there.”
“Did the loading dock extend the whole length of the building?”
“I think it did go all the way, they tore that all down a long time ago, when they remodeled the place.”
“Were there steps leading up to the dock?”
“Yeah there were. I think at both ends, but for sure at the Houston Street end.”
“So, to enter the building from the rear, you would have to walk up the stairs to the loading dock first?”
“Right.”
“The loading dock was later removed?”
“Yes, when the building was changed to a museum.”
“Would it have been possible for three strangers, in addition to Oswald, to have gotten up to the sixth floor?”
“Oh sure! All they would have to do is walk up the stairs, or use one of the freight elevators.