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

Eyewitness Identification of Assassin

This section compiles eyewitness accounts from individuals who observed a man in the sixth-floor southeast corner window before and during the assassination, including Howard Brennan, Ronald Fischer, Robert Edwards, and Amos Euins.

Howard Brennan’s Identification Testimony

Howard Brennan, an eyewitness seated on a concrete wall at the southwest corner of Elm and Houston Streets with an unobstructed view of the Depository sixth-floor window roughly 120 feet away, testified he saw a man in the window before and during the shooting. He observed the man leave and return to the window multiple times in the 6 to 8 minutes before the motorcade arrived, and watched him fire the final shot before disappearing from the window. Brennan provided a physical description of the man to police shortly after the assassination that matched Oswald’s profile, though he initially declined to make a positive identification in the November 22 police lineup out of fear for his and his family’s safety. He later confirmed to the Commission he could positively identify the man as Oswald, though the Commission did not base its conclusion about the assassin’s identity solely on his later positive identification, as his initial description of a man resembling Oswald was sufficient. Brennan explained his initial belief that the man was standing when firing was likely incorrect, as the low Depository window ledges made a squatting or kneeling person appear standing, a position consistent with the physical evidence of the scene. Brennan also identified two employees he saw leaving the building immediately after the shooting who had been in the fifth-floor window below the sniper’s nest, confirming his observations of the post-shooting scene.

Fischer and Edwards’ Partial Sighting Description

Ronald Fischer and Robert Edwards, standing on the curb at the southwest corner of Elm and Houston Streets, observed a man in the southeast corner sixth-floor window roughly 10 to 15 seconds before the motorcade turned onto Houston Street, though neither witness saw the shots being fired. Fischer watched the man for 10 to 15 seconds, noting he appeared uncomfortable, did not watch the approaching motorcade, and stared fixedly toward the Triple Underpass. He described the man as a white, slender person with brown hair, light complexion, 22 to 24 years old, wearing a light-colored open-neck shirt, sitting slightly forward in the lower right portion of the window with boxes stacked behind him. Edwards observed a white, average-sized possibly thin man with light-brown hair in the sixth-floor corner room crowded with boxes. Neither witness could make a positive identification of the man, but their partial descriptions align with Oswald’s physical profile, giving their testimony probative value.

Amos Euins’ Eyewitness Account

Amos L. Euins, age 15, was one of the first witnesses to alert police that the assassination shots originated from the Texas School Book Depository, and he observed the assassin as the shots were fired.

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

Chapter III examines witness testimony placing individuals at the southwest corner of Elm Street during the assassination and tracks Lee Harvey Oswald’s movements through the Texas School Book Depository Building in the immediate aftermath. The chapter evaluates Euins’ eyewitness account of the shooter in the sixth-floor window, assesses the Altgens photograph that allegedly captured Oswald in front of the building, and reconstructs Oswald’s path from the sixth floor to his departure from the building through detailed witness testimony and timing reconstructions. This chapter continues the investigation of Lee Harvey Oswald’s actions surrounding the assassination of President Kennedy. It reconstructs the timeline of Oswald’s movements immediately after the shooting, examines when and how the Texas School Book Depository Building was sealed by police, and traces Oswald’s journey from the Depository through Oak Cliff to his eventual arrest. The chapter also presents the Commission’s conclusion that Oswald fired the shots from the sixth floor window, and introduces the killing of Patrolman J.D. Tippit and the evidence connecting Oswald to that crime. 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. Chapter III[C4-305] details the investigation into the murder of Dallas Police Patrolman J.D. Tippit, presenting eyewitness testimony, lineup procedures, ballistic evidence linking the murder weapon to Oswald, the trace of the revolver’s ownership to Oswald, the recovery of Oswald’s jacket along the flight path, and the sequence of events leading to Oswald’s arrest at the Texas Theatre. This chapter documents the identification, arrest, and initial detention of Lee Harvey Oswald following the assassination of President Kennedy. It traces the sequence from Oswald’s entry into the Texas Theatre, through the police response and physical struggle during arrest, to witness testimony regarding the altercation, his transport to Dallas Police Headquarters, and the beginning of his interrogation during an approximately 12-hour detention in which he denied involvement in both the assassination and the murder of Patrolman J. D. Tippit.