Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Witnesses to the Murder of Tippit

The Commission identified multiple witnesses to Tippit’s killing beyond Mrs. Markham, including Domingo Benavides (who called police at 1:16 p.m.), cabdriver William Scoggins parked nearby, and Barbara Jeanette Davis and Virginia Davis, who saw a man with a pistol crossing their lawn. All witnesses except Benavides subsequently identified Oswald in a lineup as the slayer.

CAPÍTULO II. With the assistance of Agent in Charge Sorrels of the

This chapter addresses various speculations and Commission findings regarding Lee Harvey Oswald’s activities after the assassination of President Kennedy, particularly relating to the murder of Patrolman J. D. Tippit, Oswald’s arrest, and his connections to the Soviet Union. The Commission examines allegations about eyewitness testimony, Oswald’s clothing, the discovery of weapons, his treatment by Dallas police, and his background in the Soviet Union, concluding that there is no credible evidence supporting claims that Oswald was a Soviet agent or received unusual treatment from Soviet authorities.

Helen Markham’s Tippit Killer Testimony

Mrs. Markham described the Tippit killer as about 30, short, with bushy hair, and wearing a white coat—a description that does not fit Oswald. The Commission reviewed allegations that she described the killer as short, stocky, and bushy-haired, but noted that during the lineup, Oswald was not wearing the jacket he wore at the time of the shooting, and Mrs. Markham testified that her identification was based “mostly from his face.” She has denied ever describing the killer with those specific characteristics, and in a transcribed telephone conversation, she reaffirmed her positive identification of Oswald while denying the alleged description.

Unidentified Female Tippit Shooting Witness

Speculation suggested that an unidentified woman interviewed by the FBI witnessed the Tippit shooting and claimed to have seen two men involved who ran off in opposite directions. The Commission found that the only female witness known to them was Helen Markham, and the FBI never interviewed any other woman claiming to have seen the shooting. Two other women, Barbara Jeanette Davis and Virginia Davis, saw the killer immediately after the shooting as he crossed a lawn but did not witness the shooting itself, and both were interviewed by the FBI and appeared before the Commission.

Oswald’s Whereabouts Post-Tippit Shooting

Speculation claimed that no witness saw Oswald between the time he was supposed to have reloaded his gun near the Tippit shooting scene and his appearance at the shoe store on Jefferson Boulevard. The Commission identified six witnesses who saw Oswald in flight after the Tippit murder: Ted Callaway and Sam Guinyard saw him, gun in hand, in the block of Patton Avenue between 10th Street and Jefferson Boulevard, and later identified him in a police lineup; Warren Reynolds and Pat Patterson saw a man with a pistol running south on Patton Avenue and subsequently identified Oswald’s picture; Harold Russell also saw a man with a gun running south on Patton Avenue and identified him as Oswald; and Mrs. Mary Brock saw a man she later identified as Oswald walk quickly into a parking lot behind a service station where Oswald’s jacket was found.

Oswald’s Jacket During Tippit Murder

Speculation suggested that Oswald left his roominghouse at about 1 p.m. on November 22 wearing a zipper-type tan plaid jacket. The Commission found that the jacket Oswald wore during the Tippit slaying was light gray, and according to Marina Oswald, her husband owned only two jackets—one blue and the other light gray. The housekeeper at 1026 North Beckley Avenue, Mrs. Earlene Roberts, was not certain about the color of the jacket Oswald wore when he left the house.

Oswald’s Post-Arrest Jacket

Speculation claimed Oswald wore an olive-brown plain jacket visible in all pictures of him after his arrest. The Commission found that Oswald was not wearing a jacket at the time of his arrest, and the jacket subsequently recovered in a parking lot and identified as his was light gray. No witnesses stated that Oswald wore an olive-brown jacket immediately before or after his arrest, and the Commission saw no pictures of Oswald after arrest showing such a jacket, with pictures showing him in the shirt Mrs. Bledsoe described him wearing on the bus at approximately 1:40 p.m.