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Warren Commission Report: Page 149« Previous | Next »

(CHAPTER IV - The Assassin)

In the background of this picture were several employees watching the parade from the steps of the Depository Building. One of these employees was alleged to resemble Lee Harvey Oswald. 315 The Commission has determined that the employee was in fact Billy Lovelady, who identified himself in the picture.316 Standing alongside him were Buell Wesley Frazier 317 and William Shelley,318 who also identified Lovelady. The Commission is satisfied that Oswald does not appear in this photograph. (See Commission Exhibit. No. 900, p. 113.)

Oswald's Actions in Building After Assassination

In considering whether Oswald was at the southeast corner window at the time the shots were fired, the Commission has reviewed the testimony of witnesses who saw Oswald in the building within minutes after the assassination. The Commission has found that Oswald's movements, as described by these witnesses, are consistent with his having been at the window at 12:30 p.m.


The encounter in the lunchroom.--The first person to see Oswald after the assassination was Patrolman M. L. Baker of the Dallas Police Department. Baker was riding a two-wheeled motorcycle behind the last press car of the motorcade.319 As he turned the corner from Main onto Houston .at a speed of about 5 to 10 miles per hour,320 a strong wind blowing from the north almost unseated him.321 At about this time he heard the first shot.322 Having recently Heard the sounds of rifles while on a hunting trip, Baker recognized the shots as that of a high-powered rifle; "it sounded high and I immediately kind of looked up, and I had a feeling that it came from the building, either right in front of me [the Depository Building] or of the one across to the right of it." 323 He saw pigeons flutter upward. He was not certain, "but I am pretty sure they came from the building right on the northwest corner." 324 He heard two more shots spaced "pretty well even to me." 325 After the third shot, he "revved that motorcycle up," drove to the northwest corner of Elm and Houston, and parked approximately 10 feet from the traffic signal.326 As he was parking he noted that people were "falling, and they were rolling around down there * * * grabbing their children" and rushing about.327 A woman screamed, "Oh, they have shot that man, they have shot that man." 328 Baker "had it in mind that the shots came from the top of this building here," so he ran straight to the entrance of the Depository Building.329


Baker testified that he entered the lobby of the building and "spoke out and asked where the stairs or elevator was * * * and this man, ,Mr. Truly, spoke up and says, it seems to me like he says, 'I am a building manager. Follow me, officer, and I will show you.' "330 Baker and building superintendent Roy Truly went through a second set of doors 331 and stopped at a swinging door where Baker bumped into Truly's back.332 They went through the swinging door and continued at "a good trot" to the northwest corner of the floor where Truly hoped to find one of the two freight elevators.

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