Interview With James Leavelle

http://stillwatergazette.com/2013/08/29/dallas-detective-still-answering-questions-about-jfk-assassination/

A quote from the article.




“Oswald didn’t kill John F. Kennedy; he killed the president of the United States. He went after the office and didn’t live long enough to enjoy it.”
• Jack Ruby, Oswald’s assassin, was a similar type of individual to Oswald, Leavelle said. “When we wrestled him to the ground after he shot Oswald, he said he did it to be a hero. He also said, ‘I guess I messed it up.’”
• Ruby was previously known by many Dallas Police officers, including Leavelle. Leavelle recalls meeting him 13 years earlier at a dance hall he ran in South Irving, Texas. Ruby told Leavelle then that he was always ready to protect police officers who came to his establishment and said that someday he might save an officer’s life.
• Leavelle personally doesn’t believe Oswald and Ruby knew one another and doesn’t think Oswald believed he might be shot when he was being transferred from the Dallas Police Department to the county jail.
• “Some people have said that they could tell by the expression on Oswald’s face that he knew Ruby when Ruby lunged forward at him with a gun. Oswald didn’t recognize Ruby, he recognized the sight of a gun and showed fear of that.”

I have read on other threads elsewhere accusations that Jim Leavelle was wearing a bullet proof vest during the Oswald transfer.

Looking at the Jack Beers photo and there does seem to be an outline under that famous white suit jacket he was wearing.  It would certainly be very interesting if he was, no?

Let us not forget what Ted Callaway had to say about good ole Leavelle, when he testified before the WC:
 
 
Mr. BALL.
 
And you say you identified a man. How did you do that?
 
Mr. CALLAWAY.
 
Well
 
Mr. BALL.
 
Tell us what happened.
 
Mr. CALLAWAY.
 
We first went into the room. There was Jim Leavelle, the detective, Sam Guinyard, and then this busdriver and myself. We waited down there for probably 20 or 30 minutes. And Jim told us, "When I show you these guys, be sure,. take your time, see if you can make a positive identification."
 
Mr. BALL.
 
Had you known him before?
 
Mr. CALLAWAY.
 
No. And he said, "We want to be sure, we want to try to wrap him up real tight on killing this officer. We think he is the same one that shot the President. But if we can wrap him up tight on killing this officer, we have got him." So they brought four men in. I stepped to the back of the room, so I could kind of see him from the same distance which I had seen him before. And when he came out, I knew him.
 
Clearly, Leavelle and the DPD didn't desperately want Oswald to be identified as Tippit's shooter.

JFK Student wrote:A quote from the article.




“Oswald didn’t kill John F. Kennedy; he killed the president of the United States. He went after the office and didn’t live long enough to enjoy it.”
• Jack Ruby, Oswald’s assassin, was a similar type of individual to Oswald, Leavelle said. “When we wrestled him to the ground after he shot Oswald, he said he did it to be a hero. He also said, ‘I guess I messed it up.’”
• Ruby was previously known by many Dallas Police officers, including Leavelle. Leavelle recalls meeting him 13 years earlier at a dance hall he ran in South Irving, Texas. Ruby told Leavelle then that he was always ready to protect police officers who came to his establishment and said that someday he might save an officer’s life.
• Leavelle personally doesn’t believe Oswald and Ruby knew one another and doesn’t think Oswald believed he might be shot when he was being transferred from the Dallas Police Department to the county jail.
• “Some people have said that they could tell by the expression on Oswald’s face that he knew Ruby when Ruby lunged forward at him with a gun. Oswald didn’t recognize Ruby, he recognized the sight of a gun and showed fear of that.”

I must admit that I don't comprehend that first comment...?

“Oswald didn’t kill John F. Kennedy; he killed the president of the United States. He went after the office and didn’t live long enough to enjoy it.”

Right, he has it completely backwards. There has been a president of the United States continuously since George Washington.  The office itself is more or less immortal. Its only the man serving in the post who can die but his office doesn't expire with him, the vice president is automatically bumped up to take over. The king is dead, long live the king and all that.

Also in the footage of Oswald shooting,Captain Fritz seems to have quite a slow reaction time. Did he have arthritis or something?

Hasan Yusuf wrote:Clearly, Leavelle and the DPD didn't desperately want Oswald to be identified as Tippit's shooter.

Of course Leavelle and the rest of the Dallas Police Department wanted Oswald to be identified as the cop-killer.  Oswald was the cop-killer.  Why wouldn't Leavelle and the rest of the Dallas Police Department want the man who killed the cop to be identified as such?

Bill Brown wrote:

Hasan Yusuf wrote:Clearly, Leavelle and the DPD didn't desperately want Oswald to be identified as Tippit's shooter.

Of course Leavelle and the rest of the Dallas Police Department wanted Oswald to be identified as the cop-killer.  Oswald was the cop-killer.  Why wouldn't Leavelle and the rest of the Dallas Police Department want the man who killed the cop to be identified as such?

Circular reasoning.

The DPD wanted the Tippit killer to be identified
They wanted Oswald identified as the Tippit killer 
Ergo Oswald WAS the cop killer because they wanted him identified as such

greg parker wrote:

Bill Brown wrote:

Hasan Yusuf wrote:Clearly, Leavelle and the DPD didn't desperately want Oswald to be identified as Tippit's shooter.

Of course Leavelle and the rest of the Dallas Police Department wanted Oswald to be identified as the cop-killer.  Oswald was the cop-killer.  Why wouldn't Leavelle and the rest of the Dallas Police Department want the man who killed the cop to be identified as such?

Circular reasoning.

The DPD wanted the Tippit killer to be identified
They wanted Oswald identified as the Tippit killer 
Ergo Oswald WAS the cop killer because they wanted him identified as such

"He can bitch and holler all he wants, but that is the man I saw running from the scene." - William Scoggins

Bill Brown wrote:

greg parker wrote:

Bill Brown wrote:

Hasan Yusuf wrote:Clearly, Leavelle and the DPD didn't desperately want Oswald to be identified as Tippit's shooter.

Of course Leavelle and the rest of the Dallas Police Department wanted Oswald to be identified as the cop-killer.  Oswald was the cop-killer.  Why wouldn't Leavelle and the rest of the Dallas Police Department want the man who killed the cop to be identified as such?

Circular reasoning.

The DPD wanted the Tippit killer to be identified
They wanted Oswald identified as the Tippit killer 
Ergo Oswald WAS the cop killer because they wanted him identified as such

"He can bitch and holler all he wants, but that is the man I saw running from the scene." - William Scoggins

Which has nothing to do whatsoever with your use of circular reasoning. Post it as a separate post and I'll address it. Meanwhile, how about addressing yourself to my comment?

greg parker wrote:

Bill Brown wrote:

greg parker wrote:

Bill Brown wrote:

Hasan Yusuf wrote:Clearly, Leavelle and the DPD didn't desperately want Oswald to be identified as Tippit's shooter.

Of course Leavelle and the rest of the Dallas Police Department wanted Oswald to be identified as the cop-killer.  Oswald was the cop-killer.  Why wouldn't Leavelle and the rest of the Dallas Police Department want the man who killed the cop to be identified as such?

Circular reasoning.

The DPD wanted the Tippit killer to be identified
They wanted Oswald identified as the Tippit killer 
Ergo Oswald WAS the cop killer because they wanted him identified as such

"He can bitch and holler all he wants, but that is the man I saw running from the scene." - William Scoggins

Which has nothing to do whatsoever with your use of circular reasoning. Post it as a separate post and I'll address it. Meanwhile, how about addressing yourself to my comment?

Every single piece of evidence in the Tippit case points to Lee Oswald as the culprit.  Therefore, Leavelle and the others (knowing that all of the evidence points to Oswald, in the Tippit case) certainly wanted to be sure that Oswald was identified as Tippit's shooter.  Pretty simple stuff, really.

Bill Brown wrote:Every single piece of evidence in the Tippit case points to Lee Oswald as the culprit.  Therefore, Leavelle and the others (knowing that all of the evidence points to Oswald, in the Tippit case) certainly wanted to be sure that Oswald was identified as Tippit's shooter.  Pretty simple stuff, really.

Bill, "every piece of evidence" must, by definition, include all eyewitness accounts.

Scoggins and Whaley viewed a lineup together at 2:15 pm Saturday, Nov 23 - a mere 24 hours after Oswald was arrested. Nowhere near all of the evidence was in by then - including - not surprisingly - the IDing of Scoggins and Whaley. 

But even if all the evidence was in (except Scoggins and Whaley) - your logic then goes something like this - "the cops had every single piece of evidence they needed to convict Oswald PRIOR to Scoggins viewing any line-up. So BECAUSE they didn't actually need Scoggins ID, they thought they should have it."

Bill, this is not a CT vs LN debating forum. You might try McRae's and McAdams forums for that.  Right now, you're welcome to post here, but you're going to have to bring more to the table than logic I'd chastise my 9 year old sons for displaying. I can't get away with making sweeping, unsubstantiated statements here without being called on it. You're going to be called on it too, and if you can't come up with the goods, there is no point being here.  This is above and beyond all else, a research forum formed around the idea of having the case reopened. Bear that in mind, please.

Sometime back I read an interesting theory on another site about Ruby shooting Oswald. It went like this.

Some Dallas police officers were angry with Oswald for having shot their fellow officer Tippit or at least they believed that he did shoot Tippit. They decided to take revenge and so they hired Ruby to murder Oswald. Sort of like Tit for tat.

greg parker wrote:

Bill Brown wrote:Every single piece of evidence in the Tippit case points to Lee Oswald as the culprit.  Therefore, Leavelle and the others (knowing that all of the evidence points to Oswald, in the Tippit case) certainly wanted to be sure that Oswald was identified as Tippit's shooter.  Pretty simple stuff, really.

Bill, "every piece of evidence" must, by definition, include all eyewitness accounts.

Scoggins and Whaley viewed a lineup together at 2:15 pm Saturday, Nov 23 - a mere 24 hours after Oswald was arrested. Nowhere near all of the evidence was in by then - including - not surprisingly - the IDing of Scoggins and Whaley. 

But even if all the evidence was in (except Scoggins and Whaley) - your logic then goes something like this - "the cops had every single piece of evidence they needed to convict Oswald PRIOR to Scoggins viewing any line-up. So BECAUSE they didn't actually need Scoggins ID, they thought they should have it."

Bill, this is not a CT vs LN debating forum. You might try McRae's and McAdams forums for that.  Right now, you're welcome to post here, but you're going to have to bring more to the table than logic I'd chastise my 9 year old sons for displaying. I can't get away with making sweeping, unsubstantiated statements here without being called on it. You're going to be called on it too, and if you can't come up with the goods, there is no point being here.  This is above and beyond all else, a research forum formed around the idea of having the case reopened. Bear that in mind, please.

I'm not making this LN versus CT.  You're the only one who has mentioned anything like that.

Whether you like it or not, Leavelle was convinced (and rightly so, in my opinion) that Oswald was guilty.

Jim Leavelle, when speaking with Oswald for the murder of J.D. Tippit (before Leavelle knew that Oswald would be a suspect in the murder of the President):

"Lee, you strike me as an individual who has a lot of sense, very intelligent.  You know that we can take the bullet that killed the officer and run tests on your pistol that you had on you when you was arrested in the theater and match it up and prove that it came from your gun.  You understand that, don't you?"

Leavelle said Oswald's reply was:  "Yea, I do.  But you just gotta do it."

Leavelle then went on to say that he took Oswald's reply to mean:  "In other words, you might convict me or you might send me to the electric chair or to the penitentiary for life, but I'm not going to help you do it."

Since Leavelle was convinced that Oswald was guilty for Tippit's murder, he obviously wanted Oswald to be identified as the killer.  There's nothing suspicious about that.  However, nothing has been presented to suggest that Leavelle did anything to influence the positive identifications by either Scoggins or Whaley... and make no mistake... Scoggins and Whaley both positively identified Oswald.  Of course, you know that.

Lee Farley wrote:

Hi Lee, how the hell are ya?  Are you really implying that Oswald was placed into lineups with men who were wearing suits?

Bump for Lee Farley...

"Are you really implying that Oswald was placed into lineups with men who were wearing suits?"

Mr. BALL - How were you dressed when you went in the showup room?
Mr. ABLES - I was wearing a white shirt and this sweater here [indicating].
Mr. BALL - You have a gray-knit sweater on?
Mr. ABLES - Yes.
Mr. BALL - And dark trousers?
Mr. ABLES - Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL - Have a tie on?
Mr. ABLES - No.
Mr. BALL - Then you were dressed about like you are dressed today, is that right?
Mr. ABLES - Yes.

Bill Brown wrote:Scoggins and Whaley both positively identified Oswald.  Of course, you know that.

Ever read the following smart arse?
 
http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=10406&relPageId=79
 
Next time you want to make a smart crack to Greg, make sure you mention things like that. You see, it kind of casts a doubt on Scoggins' credibility as a witness..... So much for your positive identification by Scoggins.

Bill Brown wrote:Bump for Lee Farley...

"Are you really implying that Oswald was placed into lineups with men who were wearing suits?"

Bill Brown: "I'm not making this LN versus CT.  You're the only one who has mentioned anything like that."

Bill Brown: "Every single piece of evidence in the Tippit case points to Lee Oswald as the culprit."

Bill Brown: "I'm not making this LN versus CT.  You're the only one who has mentioned anything like that."

Bill Brown: "...and make no mistake... Scoggins and Whaley both positively identified Oswald.  Of course, you know that."

Bill Brown: "I'm not making this LN versus CT.  You're the only one who has mentioned anything like that."

Bill Brown: "Whether you like it or not, Leavelle was convinced (and rightly so, in my opinion) that Oswald was guilty."