Warren Commission (13 of 26): Hearings Vol. XIII (of 15) — John Shaqi
Warren Commission (13 of 26): Hearings Vol. XIII (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (13 of 26): Hearings Vol. XIII (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Mr. LEAVELLE. Yes.
Mr. HUBERT. And Ruby came in later?
Mr. LEAVELLE. He came in just about closing time, and she probably had
called him, because he already knew that we were out here. Of course,
I just am assuming she had probably already called him. He didn’t seem
particular perturbed about it at that time.
Mr. HUBERT. Did you recognize Ruby right away when he came out of the
crowd?
Mr. LEAVELLE. I recognized him as someone that I knew, but I was unable
to call his name.
Mr. HUBERT. Just describe in your own words how the whole thing
happened, what you saw from the time you left the jail door?
Mr. LEAVELLE. From the time we left the jail door?
Mr. HUBERT. Yes; push it back a little further. From the time you left
the jail cell.
Mr. LEAVELLE. All right, when we left the jail cell, we proceeded
down to the booking desk there, up to the door leading out into the
basement, and I purposely told Mr. Graves to hold it a minute while
Captain Fritz checked the area outside. I don’t know why I did that,
because we had not made any plans to do so, but I said, “Let’s hold it
a minute and let him see if everything is in order.” Because we had
been given to understand that the car would be across the passageway.
Mr. HUBERT. Of the jail corridor?
Mr. LEAVELLE. And that--and we would have nothing to do but walk
straight from the door, approximately 13 or 14 feet to the car and then
Captain Fritz--when we asked him to give us the high sign on it he
said, “Everything is all set.”
Mr. HUBERT. Did you notice what time it was?
Mr. LEAVELLE. No; I did not. That is the only error that I can see.
The captain should have known that the car was not in the position it
should be, and I was surprised when I walked to the door and the car
was not in the spot it should have been, but I could see it was in
back, and backing into position, but had it been in position where we
were told it would be, that would have eliminated a lot of the area
in which anyone would have access to him, because it would have been
blocked by the car. In fact, if the car had been sitting where we were
told it was going to be, see--it would have been sitting directly upon
the spot where Ruby was standing when he fired the shot.
Mr. HUBERT. Of course, in that case the television cameras would have
been blocked out?
Mr. LEAVELLE. That’s true.
Mr. HUBERT. The car was not pulled back because pulling it back would
block the----
Mr. LEAVELLE. That, I don’t know. Of course, you are--according to
one of my previous reports I earlier suggested to Captain Fritz that
we make the suggestion to the chief that we take him out to the first
floor and put him out at Main Street to a car and proceed to the county
jail that way and leave them waiting in the basement and on Commerce
Street, and we could be to the county jail before anyone knew what was
taking place.
Mr. HUBERT. What time did you make that suggestion, sir?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account