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

The Taxicab Ride

Taxicab driver William Whaley informed his employer on the morning of November 23 that he recognized Oswald from a newspaper photograph as a man he had driven to Oak Cliff the previous day. Brought to the police station, Whaley viewed a lineup and picked out Oswald, later testifying that Oswald “showed no respect for the policemen” and was “bawling out the policeman.” Whaley’s memory of the lineup was inaccurate: he remembered six men including five teenagers, but there were actually four men with Oswald—John T. Horn (age 18, No. 1), David Knapp (age 18, No. 2), Lee Oswald (No. 3), and Daniel Lujan (age 26, No. 4). When Whaley first testified before the Commission, he displayed a trip manifest showing a pickup from the Greyhound bus station at 12:30 p.m. with unloading at 500 North Beckley at 12:45 p.m., though he acknowledged his time records were recorded only by the quarter hour and were not always accurate. While unloading a passenger from the Continental bus station at Greyhound, Whaley saw a man dressed in faded blue khaki work clothes, a brown shirt, and a matching work jacket walking south on Lamar from Commerce. The man asked, “May I have the cab?” and entered the front seat, at which point an elderly woman asked Whaley to call her a cab from the doorway.

CAPÍTULO III. [C4-305] Euins, who was on the southwest corner of Elm and

This chapter traces Lee Harvey Oswald’s movements after the assassination of President Kennedy—from his cab ride to the roominghouse at 1026 North Beckley, through his brief stop there, to the scene at 10th Street and Patton Avenue where Patrolman J.D. Tippit was killed. It examines taxi driver Whaley’s testimony, reconstructed travel times, Oswald’s clothing and admissions to Captain Fritz, and detailed accounts from multiple eyewitnesses who identified Oswald as Tippit’s killer.

Cab Ride to North Beckley

Taxi driver Whaley testified that he picked up Oswald at the cabstand near the Greyhound Bus Station, who requested to go to “500 North Beckley.” With police sirens blaring through the area, the ride was largely quiet. Approaching the 500 block near Neches and North Beckley, Oswald said “This will do fine,” paid a dollar bill for a 95-cent fare, exited without speaking, and walked around the front of the cab to the east side of the street.

Whaley’s Imprecise Testimony

Whaley marked what he believed was the intersection of Neches and Beckley on a Dallas map with a large “X,” asserting this was the 500 block of North Beckley. However, Neches and Beckley do not actually intersect. Neches is within one-half block of the roominghouse at 1026 North Beckley, and the 500 block of North Beckley is five blocks south of that address.

Reconstructed Taxicab Route

After reviewing inconsistencies in Whaley’s testimony, Commission staff retraced the taxicab route under his direction. Whaley directed the driver to a point 20 feet north of the northwest corner of Beckley and Neely—the 700 block of North Beckley. The reconstructed run from the Greyhound Bus Station took 5 minutes and 30 seconds, and the walk from Beckley and Neely to 1026 North Beckley took 5 minutes and 45 seconds.

Oswald’s Clothing

Whaley testified that Oswald was wearing either the gray zippered jacket or the heavy blue jacket, but he was in error—the blue jacket was found in the “domino” room of the Depository in late November. Mrs. Bledsoe saw Oswald on the bus without a jacket, wearing a shirt with a hole at the elbow. Whaley correctly identified Commission Exhibit No. 150 as the shirt Oswald was wearing and noted a silver identification bracelet on his passenger’s left wrist, which Oswald was wearing at arrest.

Oswald’s Admission to Captain Fritz

On November 22, Oswald told Captain Fritz that he rode a bus to a stop near his home and then walked to his roominghouse. The following morning, when questioned about a bus transfer found in his possession at arrest, he admitted receiving it. He also admitted to leaving the slow-moving bus and taking a cab to his roominghouse.