THE LITTLE THINGS: Lee Harvey Oswald's Clipboard
After Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the killing of President John F. Kennedy, and ultimately killed himself a few days later, it became the job of the Dallas Police, and ultimately the FBI, to gather all the evidence they could on the case. But the focus was never on solving the case objectively, but rather finding what evidence they could to solidify Oswald as the assassin. The case was anything but bias and thus a great deal of the “evidence” they recovered are highly suspect for their validity. One of these pieces of evidence was a clipboard discovered on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. This was the floor where Oswald reportedly shot on the President from. After its discovery, other Depository employees saw the clipboard and identified it as being Oswald’s clipboard.
This was highly significant with the two facts that the clipboard was the one Oswald used while at work and that it was found on the sixth floor. The implications were clear. If Oswald fled the sixth floor immediately after the shooting and then left the Depository all together only a minute or two later, never to return, the presumption can be made that Oswald was on the sixth floor that day, if not during the assassination. While there is extensive evidence to the contrary, the Warren Commission argued that between 11:45 and 11:55 a.m. Oswald went up to the sixth floor and didn’t come down until after the shooting. The Commission furbished a witness, Depository employee Charles Givens, who said he went up to the sixth floor of the building to get his cigarettes where at approximately 11:55 a.m. he claimed to see Oswald up there on his own. With so much evidence showing that Oswald went down to the first floor between 11:45 and 12:00 p.m. and remained there until at least 12:15 the Commission obviously needed all the evidence they could find to prove that Oswald had been up on the sixth floor. The discover of this clipboard up on that floor did just that. Oswald was an order filler, and often had his clipboard on his person. Therefore, it is presumable that he had this clipboard in his possession either up until shortly before shooting the President (if you follow the official story) or until the time when he went downstairs for lunch (if you support Oswald’s innocence). Under the guidelines of the official story then, it would make total sense that the last place Oswald’s clipboard would be found would be somewhere on the sixth floor.
As with so many other elements of the case against Oswald, there is much more to this case. First of all, the clipboard was found wedged between some boxes down towards the southwest corner of the sixth floor, across the building from the so-called sniper’s next in the southeast corner of the floor. Once again, the inaccurate presumption must be made that Oswald was an ignorant, bungling loser. He was smart enough to wipe his prints from the rifle, but then he abandoned the rifle on the floor to ultimately be discovered. He was sneaky enough to sneak down four floors into the second floor lunchroom without being seen or heard but was foolish enough to leave the empty shells from the rifle on the floor in plain sight. Much like with James Earl Ray, the official assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr., who presumably shot King but then left all the evidence out in front of the rooming house to easily be recovered and put the blame at his feet. If Oswald had half a mind the last thing he would have done was to leave anything that could be attributed back to him up there on the sixth floor. It can be argued by his accusers that he was a disillusioned loser looking for some spotlight and killed the President to do it. The fact that he would ignorantly leave all this evidence to put the blame on him would make sense then if he intended to be captured and wanted the attention. But of course he tried to elude capture and at no time admitted to the killing. Hardly the actions of a man seeking out the spotlight. The simple truth is Oswald was a very smart and collected individual of which there is no credible evidence that, if he killed the President, he killed him to thrust himself into the spotlight. That being said, there is more than enough reasonable doubt in the case of the rifle and the three spent shells recovered on that floor. Equally there is reasonable doubt in the case of Oswald’s clipboard.
Beyond the unlikelihood of Oswald being ignorant enough to leave the clipboard up on the sixth floor, if he was the assassin up there it is blatantly clear that he must have made the effort to hide it, since it was found stuck between boxes. If Oswald had the foresight to hide the clipboard, why wouldn’t he have hid it somewhere else, or better yet, anywhere else? It’s nonsensical that he would have considered hiding that clipboard but then stashed it in a place within a few dozen feet of the killer’s lair.
What is also remarkable about this story is the fact that the clipboard wasn’t found until several days after the assassination. However, during this time several intensive searches were conducted on the floor. According to photographs depicting the clipboard’s location it was more than out in the open. One of the stacks of books it was wedged between stood upright but the stack of boxes on the other side of it was slightly crooked. This made for a large crack between the two that would have made it simple for anyone to see that board there. Photos taken of it in that location even from some twenty feet away show it as more than easy to see. While the police were able to find the rifle, which was so well hidden that they didn’t find it until their third time searching that particular location they couldn’t see this clipboard that was out in the open? Being a search for evidence in the case of the potential assassin of the President of the United States are we to honestly believe that they would have been sloppy enough to miss a clipboard out in the open? Or are we to presume that they would have ignored it had they seen it, assuming it to be unimportant? Absolutely not! Even if these searches were done in an effort to prove Oswald’s guilt more than just to recover any evidence they could, they still would have checked out every thing they found because anything might have been able to bolster the case against him.
It is absurd to presume that this clipboard wouldn’t have been found had it been there on November 22nd, the day the President died. The Warren Commission, of course did not address this as it would have cast doubt on this piece of evidence. If this clipboard was not there on the sixth floor on the day of the assassination then obviously it had been elsewhere. It is most intriguing that it was several days after the assassination before it was recovered. Where was it during that time? If it wasn’t legitimately on the sixth floor such is just further evidence of Oswald’s innocence. As the story goes, Oswald was on the fifth floor before he reportedly went down to the first floor. His last known time working was up on that fifth floor, which suggests perhaps the clipboard had been left there. None of the witnesses who saw him down on the first and/or second floors mentioned seeing him with this clipboard. This is important too because he was last seen only fifteen minutes or so before President Kennedy arrived in Dealey Plaza. Oswald would have been rushed to arrive on the sixth floor to prepare himself for the assassination. If Oswald did not have this clipboard with him when last seen before the killing, by Depository employee Carolyn Arnold, it is absurd that it would have been on his list of priorities to re-obtain his clipboard and to take it upstairs with him. His focus would have been the assassination and nothing more. There is nothing, evidence wise or logically, that makes sense of Oswald taking that clipboard up to the sixth floor with him. For what reason would he do that? All it would do would provide further evidence of his guilt or give him another item to deal with along with the rifle he already had to deal with.
Finally, in this case, if Oswald obtained his clipboard again and took it upstairs with him, for what reason would it end up on the southwest end of the building? The whole concept from beginning to end makes no sense. There is little than its discovery by itself to substantiate the validity of this clipboard as evidence in the case against Oswald. If anything, it’s just further evidence of the lengths his accusers would go to substantiate his guilt.
This was highly significant with the two facts that the clipboard was the one Oswald used while at work and that it was found on the sixth floor. The implications were clear. If Oswald fled the sixth floor immediately after the shooting and then left the Depository all together only a minute or two later, never to return, the presumption can be made that Oswald was on the sixth floor that day, if not during the assassination. While there is extensive evidence to the contrary, the Warren Commission argued that between 11:45 and 11:55 a.m. Oswald went up to the sixth floor and didn’t come down until after the shooting. The Commission furbished a witness, Depository employee Charles Givens, who said he went up to the sixth floor of the building to get his cigarettes where at approximately 11:55 a.m. he claimed to see Oswald up there on his own. With so much evidence showing that Oswald went down to the first floor between 11:45 and 12:00 p.m. and remained there until at least 12:15 the Commission obviously needed all the evidence they could find to prove that Oswald had been up on the sixth floor. The discover of this clipboard up on that floor did just that. Oswald was an order filler, and often had his clipboard on his person. Therefore, it is presumable that he had this clipboard in his possession either up until shortly before shooting the President (if you follow the official story) or until the time when he went downstairs for lunch (if you support Oswald’s innocence). Under the guidelines of the official story then, it would make total sense that the last place Oswald’s clipboard would be found would be somewhere on the sixth floor.
As with so many other elements of the case against Oswald, there is much more to this case. First of all, the clipboard was found wedged between some boxes down towards the southwest corner of the sixth floor, across the building from the so-called sniper’s next in the southeast corner of the floor. Once again, the inaccurate presumption must be made that Oswald was an ignorant, bungling loser. He was smart enough to wipe his prints from the rifle, but then he abandoned the rifle on the floor to ultimately be discovered. He was sneaky enough to sneak down four floors into the second floor lunchroom without being seen or heard but was foolish enough to leave the empty shells from the rifle on the floor in plain sight. Much like with James Earl Ray, the official assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr., who presumably shot King but then left all the evidence out in front of the rooming house to easily be recovered and put the blame at his feet. If Oswald had half a mind the last thing he would have done was to leave anything that could be attributed back to him up there on the sixth floor. It can be argued by his accusers that he was a disillusioned loser looking for some spotlight and killed the President to do it. The fact that he would ignorantly leave all this evidence to put the blame on him would make sense then if he intended to be captured and wanted the attention. But of course he tried to elude capture and at no time admitted to the killing. Hardly the actions of a man seeking out the spotlight. The simple truth is Oswald was a very smart and collected individual of which there is no credible evidence that, if he killed the President, he killed him to thrust himself into the spotlight. That being said, there is more than enough reasonable doubt in the case of the rifle and the three spent shells recovered on that floor. Equally there is reasonable doubt in the case of Oswald’s clipboard.
Beyond the unlikelihood of Oswald being ignorant enough to leave the clipboard up on the sixth floor, if he was the assassin up there it is blatantly clear that he must have made the effort to hide it, since it was found stuck between boxes. If Oswald had the foresight to hide the clipboard, why wouldn’t he have hid it somewhere else, or better yet, anywhere else? It’s nonsensical that he would have considered hiding that clipboard but then stashed it in a place within a few dozen feet of the killer’s lair.
What is also remarkable about this story is the fact that the clipboard wasn’t found until several days after the assassination. However, during this time several intensive searches were conducted on the floor. According to photographs depicting the clipboard’s location it was more than out in the open. One of the stacks of books it was wedged between stood upright but the stack of boxes on the other side of it was slightly crooked. This made for a large crack between the two that would have made it simple for anyone to see that board there. Photos taken of it in that location even from some twenty feet away show it as more than easy to see. While the police were able to find the rifle, which was so well hidden that they didn’t find it until their third time searching that particular location they couldn’t see this clipboard that was out in the open? Being a search for evidence in the case of the potential assassin of the President of the United States are we to honestly believe that they would have been sloppy enough to miss a clipboard out in the open? Or are we to presume that they would have ignored it had they seen it, assuming it to be unimportant? Absolutely not! Even if these searches were done in an effort to prove Oswald’s guilt more than just to recover any evidence they could, they still would have checked out every thing they found because anything might have been able to bolster the case against him.
It is absurd to presume that this clipboard wouldn’t have been found had it been there on November 22nd, the day the President died. The Warren Commission, of course did not address this as it would have cast doubt on this piece of evidence. If this clipboard was not there on the sixth floor on the day of the assassination then obviously it had been elsewhere. It is most intriguing that it was several days after the assassination before it was recovered. Where was it during that time? If it wasn’t legitimately on the sixth floor such is just further evidence of Oswald’s innocence. As the story goes, Oswald was on the fifth floor before he reportedly went down to the first floor. His last known time working was up on that fifth floor, which suggests perhaps the clipboard had been left there. None of the witnesses who saw him down on the first and/or second floors mentioned seeing him with this clipboard. This is important too because he was last seen only fifteen minutes or so before President Kennedy arrived in Dealey Plaza. Oswald would have been rushed to arrive on the sixth floor to prepare himself for the assassination. If Oswald did not have this clipboard with him when last seen before the killing, by Depository employee Carolyn Arnold, it is absurd that it would have been on his list of priorities to re-obtain his clipboard and to take it upstairs with him. His focus would have been the assassination and nothing more. There is nothing, evidence wise or logically, that makes sense of Oswald taking that clipboard up to the sixth floor with him. For what reason would he do that? All it would do would provide further evidence of his guilt or give him another item to deal with along with the rifle he already had to deal with.
Finally, in this case, if Oswald obtained his clipboard again and took it upstairs with him, for what reason would it end up on the southwest end of the building? The whole concept from beginning to end makes no sense. There is little than its discovery by itself to substantiate the validity of this clipboard as evidence in the case against Oswald. If anything, it’s just further evidence of the lengths his accusers would go to substantiate his guilt.
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