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In History's Shadow: Lee Harvey Oswald, Kerry Thornley

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Mr. Biles has written an incredibly well thought-out book that I would recommend to anyone studying the Kennedy assassination. His extensive research into the case is evident from the very beginning. The book sorts fact from fiction and brings to light a compelling side to the Kennedy assassination that you have never seen before. A definite must-read!

For someone of such a young age to write and publish a book of this caliber is just amazing. Moreover, the book examines the conspiracies of the JFK asassination in a very in-depth perspective. Bravo, Mr. Biles, Bravo!

I bought this book with the hope that after 40 years of lies and deception about the JFK assassination somebody finally connected the dots between Kerry Thornleys experiences and the doings of Lee Harvey Oswald as the title of this book suggests. Sadly nothing of this comes to pass. It seems as though the author hasn't read the books of Kerry Thornley since they are not listed in his bibliography. How can you write about somebody whose books you haven't read? All the author does is restate the absurd and officially disproven charges of Jim Garrison of the late 1960s. He even misinterprets the information Thornley gave to the FBI & the Secret Service right after the assassination of JFK, because he didn't care to check Thornleys own accounts on the matter. Anybody really interested in these issues may find Kerry Thornleys book 'Confession to Conspiracy to Assassinate JFK' for free on the internet by typing the title of the book in any of the internet search engines. More true research, please, because Thornleys real story still leaves many interesting questions open.

Any person who continues to place any stock or faith whatsoever in the screwball and proven-wrong JFK conspiracy theories that were spouted by the late Jim Garrison is an individual who is probably pretty close to needing a padded cell.

Here are some of my miscellaneous thoughts concerning assassin Lee Harvey Oswald's "Lone Killer" status in association with the murders of both President John F. Kennedy and Dallas policeman J.D. Tippit in Dallas, Texas, on November 22nd, 1963.......

Regarding Oswald's quick descent from the 6th Floor to the 2nd Floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building just after the gunshots were fired; and Oswald's "breathing" status at 12:32 PM; and the reasons why two Depository employees didn't bump into or hear LHO on the stairs:

No one was on the stairs at the exact same time as Oswald. Via the overall weight of the witness testimony given to the Warren Commission in 1964, it's very probable that the two employees in question (Victoria Adams and Sandra Styles) didn't even start down the stairs until a few minutes AFTER the shooting. Those two ladies did not encounter anyone (or hear anyone) on the stairs, including Marrion Baker and Roy Truly, who were positively running up those same stairs within approx. 60 to 70 seconds of the last shot being fired.

Given these facts -- Oswald, Baker, and Truly must certainly have been on those stairs PRIOR to the time that Adams and Styles descended that same staircase. But the conspiracy advocates, incorrectly, insist that Oswald and the two women HAD to be on the stairs at the exact same time (and such an unsupportable scenario was also re-created by Oliver Stone in his 1991 motion picture, "JFK"). But that "Everybody's Using The Stairs At Once" version of the event simply cannot be accurate, and is not at all necessary to accommodate the available evidence re. this issue.

As for being out of breath -- Short of being 5-foot-1 and 299 pounds, I'm guessing that just about anybody could quickly travel down four flights of stairs and NOT be "out of breath". It must be remembered that Oswald was going DOWN the stairs, not UP. Gliding down stairs certainly wouldn't necessarily make somebody winded at all. I've never felt the need to go on oxygen after going DOWN just a few steps. Plus: Oswald was NOT physically unfit either (5-foot-9; slender build; 150-160 pounds).

Also: The Warren Commission re-enacted Oswald's trip to the second floor -- and it was easily accomplished multiple times in less than 80 seconds (Oswald was seen by policeman Baker approx. 90 seconds after the shooting). The re-enactments also included taking the time to hide the rifle near the stairwell.

A Secret Service agent, John J. Howlett, performed two separate "re-creations" of Oswald's probable post-shooting movements, taking 78 seconds on his first try and 74 seconds on the second. And he was not out of breath upon reaching the second-floor lunch room on either occasion. ....

"Howlett was not short-winded at the end of either test run." -- Quote from Warren Report (Page 152)

Conspiracists who continue to believe that Oswald's 90-second, 4-flight trip to the 2nd Floor was a virtual impossibility are simply 100% wrong. It was easily a doable trek for Oswald, or anybody else with two legs who wasn't in a wheelchair.

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Regarding the subject of why Oswald was left "hung out to dry" (via the less-popular conspiracy-flavored scenario which has Oswald actively involved in the assassination plot in some fashion, but NOT being set up as a "Patsy" by a group of unknown conspirators):

In such a case, why in the world would Oswald's other "teammates" who are "in" on the plan just leave Oswald hanging out to dry after the shots were fired?

In such a large plot involving Oswald (or in just a smaller two- or three-man plot), it would seem logical that one of the other plotters would have provided their co-conspirator (Oswald) with some transportation away from the murder scene.

But, instead, Oswald is left to hoof it on his own -- then take a city bus, then a taxi to his roominghouse -- running the risk of being spotted by other bus passengers (which, in fact, he was; a former landlady of Oswald's, Mary Bledsoe, incredibly, was on the very same Marsalis Street bus that Oswald boarded minutes after the assassination; she later positively identified Oswald as having been on the bus).

Then Oswald is left completely alone to fend for himself yet again -- travelling on foot from his Beckley Avenue residence to the scene of the J.D. Tippit killing (and if the Tippit murder isn't an indication that Oswald was involved in the JFK shooting, then nothing is, IMO). Then he walks to a movie theater, a perfect place to "lay low" without running a huge risk of being spotted in the nearly-empty and dark theater.

ALL of the above signifies one thing for sure --- Oswald had NO ACCOMPLICES on November 22, 1963. For if he had, all of these walking and public-transportation methods of locomotion would certainly have been avoided.

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But, in a total "Lone Nut" scenario, every single thing Lee H. Oswald did after the President was shot makes perfect sense. Such as the following laundry list of things telling us the President's murder was the act of one lone killer, firing from his 6th-Floor perch:

1.) Lee Oswald couldn't drive (not very well at any rate; he had a few lessons from Ruth Paine, and was not impressive behind the wheel according to Mrs. Paine). Therefore, he's left to his own resources after shooting the President, and forced to rely on other modes of transportation for his getaway.

2.) Even if he COULD drive, Oswald had no vehicle to take him from Point A (Dealey Plaza) to Point B (anyplace else) after the shooting. And in an "LN" scenario, it's highly doubtful that he's going to go up to Wesley Frazier (who gave him a lift that morning) and ask: "Hey Wes, can you give me a ride home Friday? I'm gonna plug the Chief Executive around lunchtime and need a getaway driver. OK with you?"

3.) LHO is not the least bit surprised when having Marrion Baker's gun pointed at him just minutes after the assassination. Lee is quite calm and cool. This calm reaction is an odd one if he were completely innocent of the shooting and had no idea of what just happened out on Elm Street.

IMO, Lee Oswald wasn't surprised by Baker's confronting him for one simple reason -- he expected the police to be entering the building quickly; and he had no reason to say to the officer, "What the heck is going on here?! Why am I being stopped?!" -- because he KNEW what was going on, because HE, himself caused it. Any innocent bystander in that same situation is going to get scared, and at the very least ask "What's going on? What did I do?"; but not Oswald; he never uttered a word.

4.) He departs work quickly (within 3 minutes of the shooting), not caring in the least about all the turmoil and police activity going on outside the building.

5.) Oswald takes the only transportation available to him, in his flight from the scene -- a public bus. When the bus gets clogged in traffic, he changes to a taxi cab (highly unusual for the penny-pinching Mr. Oswald; in fact, a researcher might be searching forever if he were to try and verify a single other occasion when Lee Oswald spent money on a cab ride).

6.) Lee has the taxi driver take him NOT to the front door of 1026 N. Beckley (his residence) -- but instead to a point three blocks BEYOND his home. He actually passes his house first in the cab, which, IMO, is an obvious attempt to see if any cops are waiting for him there yet, and so that the cab driver (William Whaley) won't know exactly where his passenger lives.

7.) Oswald then grabs a handgun at his home, puts on a jacket (to conceal the weapon more easily), and hustles out of the roominghouse, not saying a word to housekeeper Earlene Roberts (who noted his hurried behavior).

8.) Upon encountering Officer J.D. Tippit on 10th Street within 15 minutes of leaving his roominghouse, Oswald shoots and kills the officer almost immediately (after very little conversation), plugging him one extra time (in the head at point-blank range).

9.) Oswald knows he's got really big troubles now (as if killing JFK weren't enough already). He knows multiple witnesses saw him kill Tippit, but he's only got so much ammunition with him (he cannot eliminate ALL these witnesses). So he'll save his last bullets for when it really counts -- on more cops. Which is EXACTLY what he attempted to do once he was cornered in the Texas Theater at approx. 1:50 PM on 11/22.

10.) In the theater, Oswald tries to kill police officer Nick McDonald with the same gun he used on Tippit a half-hour earlier. But, luckily, McDonald and other officers are able to wrest the gun away from their suspect before it can be successfully fired, saving Oswald from yet another possible murder charge that day.

11.) Oswald's first words when cornered are also indicative of guilt -- "It's all over now!" and/or "This is it!" are the quotes that have been attributed to LHO within the movie theater.

12.) When questioned by the police, Lee Harvey tells one lie after another regarding crucial information -- such as lying after being asked each of the following questions: "Do you own a rifle?", "Who is A.J. Hidell?", and "Did you bring a package to work this morning?".

If Oswald had really been the "Patsy" (as he shouted out to the press in the DPD hallways), then WHY didn't he reveal some names for the police to check out? Don't tell me Oswald was involved in this massive plan to assassinate the President and yet he had not one shred of an idea as to what any of his co-conspirators looked like or what any of their names (even fake names) might have been?!

In a word -- Hogwash!

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What do all of the above points add up to (in their totality)? -- In a certain sector of the "It Was A Conspiracy" world, these points (somehow) add up to a "Patsy" who not only didn't murder the President, but is also innocent of the even-more-provably-committed-by-Oswald murder of Officer Tippit.

In that same portion of the "CT" world, the above items also add up to a man (Oswald) who is apparently totally oblivious to the fact that he is being "used" by hired, professional assassins, and who hadn't the slightest idea that he would be used in this manner right up to the time of the actual shooting itself. Otherwise, Mr. Oswald would never have even shown up for work at the Depository on Friday morning (if he had possessed even the slightest notion, that is, of the covert "plot" that would be implicating HIM, and him alone, after 12:30 PM on November 22nd, 1963).

And only AFTER the assassination itself does Oswald "get smart" (evidently) and put the pieces together, and realize he's just been "used" as the "Patsy" in this thing.

His "Patsy" remark has launched a mile-high pile of additional conspiracy theories -- and I do think it was smart of Oswald to announce to the TV cameras "I'm just a patsy!" for the world to hear. A very smart move indeed. Because it accomplished exactly what he had probably intended for it to accomplish -- i.e., it diverted some attention away from Oswald himself.

That ONE single word out of Oswald's mouth ("Patsy!") has sent CTers scrambling in all directions looking for "connections" to a plot -- any plot. None of which has been verified to this day to have the slightest bit of truth in them (among the theories placed on the table to date). Zero pieces of credible, verifiable, provable information have been unearthed to date that tie Lee Harvey Oswald to any of the various proposed conspiracy theories.

The above "points", every single one, IMO, add up to the actions of one lone killer of President Kennedy and Officer Tippit. A man, on foot, who tries desperately to flee the scenes of his two crimes and avoid capture, even attempting to kill yet another person along the way (but failing in that attempt before being handcuffed).

In a nutshell.........

No conspiracy theorist can possibly deny the fact that each of the points I've stressed above could certainly (at the very least) be easily reconciled within an "Oswald Did It And Did It By Himself" point-of-view.

If conspiracy promoters do choose to deny the fact that Lee Harvey Oswald's post-12:30 actions on November the 22nd could possibly be looked upon as the actions of ONE LONE KILLER, then I feel they are not being honest about what Oswald's actions truly reveal.

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"While opinion polls can reveal cultural trends, they don't change facts. In the final analysis, the truth doesn't require anyone's belief." -- Dale K. Myers

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"There was no plot, no conspiracy. JFK wasn't murdered by anti-Castro Cubans, the mob, or rogue CIA agents. There has not been one scintilla of proof tying the assassination to anyone but Oswald. There have been theories, but no evidence. Oswald had the motive, the opportunity, and the skill to kill President Kennedy." -- Vincent T. Bugliosi