Donald Willis
2023-12-17 05:12:37 UTC
How "Braden"/Florer got on the police airwaves
It all started with Insp. Sawyer, Sgt. Gerald Hill, Patrolman James Valentine, and Officer Ira Trantham, at the front of the TSBD. "Jerry Hill and [Trantham] went inside. Hill continued upstairs and an officer ap[proached him with a prisoner. Advised this subject had been observed 'acting suspiciously' on the third floor without a reasonable explanantion for being up there... At the front doorway, Sawyer was apprised of this development" and had Trantham take the suspect to the sheriff's.--Trantham's HSCA interview.
"Shortly after, a DPD officer brought a boy in a sport coat up and said, 'Here is the man that had done the shooting'... Insp. Sawyer was informed of this..."--Chief Criminal Deputy Allan Sweatt, Investigation Report 11/23/63.
Quite a jump--from "acting suspiciously" to "the man that had done the shooting". Why was the "prisoner" thought to be the man who shot Kennedy? The man, as far as we know, had no weapon or bullets on him. Did he try to run? Did he confess? The "Braden"/Florer end of this puzzle will remain a puzzle. But, at the other end...
The Trantham interview corrects Sgt. Hill, who testified he went into the building with Sawyer. The latter apparently went in a little later. How do I know that he didn't go in earlier? Because, at 1pm, DPD Captain Talbert radios, "I think that 5 and 9 (Lumpkin & Sawyer) both are still in the building." (CE 1974 p43) By 1:08, Sawyer seems to be out front again--Sgt. Harkness radios that information & persons should be brought to Sawyer. (CE 1974 p50) And at 1:12, Sawyer radios that hulls were found on the "3rd floor".
The Braden/Florer puzzle helps clear up the 1:12 puzzle. Sawyer has heard that a man has been arrested, on the 3rd floor, for shooting. About 1:10, Sgt. Hill brings Sawyer up-to-date. He says that shells and scraps of chicken have been found. Whether or not Hill indicated the number of a floor for this find, we don't know. But Sawyer ties Hill's information to the earlier 3rd-floor information and radios that the shells were found on the "3rd floor". The old mystery solved...
But there was a secondary mystery. Sawyer told reporters that day that shells and remains of fried chicken were found on the *fifth* floor. Where did he get *that*? Educated guess: Chief Deputy Sheriff Allan Sweatt reported that weekend that fellow deputy Luke Mooney yelled out the "5th floor window" that "spent cartridge cases" had been found there. Sawyer was apparently inside when Mooney cried out and did not hear him. But I think that Sweatt must have heard Sawyer's broadcast and went over to tell him about the "fifth floor window". Hence, the adjusted story told to reporters... Another mystery solved?
dcw
It all started with Insp. Sawyer, Sgt. Gerald Hill, Patrolman James Valentine, and Officer Ira Trantham, at the front of the TSBD. "Jerry Hill and [Trantham] went inside. Hill continued upstairs and an officer ap[proached him with a prisoner. Advised this subject had been observed 'acting suspiciously' on the third floor without a reasonable explanantion for being up there... At the front doorway, Sawyer was apprised of this development" and had Trantham take the suspect to the sheriff's.--Trantham's HSCA interview.
"Shortly after, a DPD officer brought a boy in a sport coat up and said, 'Here is the man that had done the shooting'... Insp. Sawyer was informed of this..."--Chief Criminal Deputy Allan Sweatt, Investigation Report 11/23/63.
Quite a jump--from "acting suspiciously" to "the man that had done the shooting". Why was the "prisoner" thought to be the man who shot Kennedy? The man, as far as we know, had no weapon or bullets on him. Did he try to run? Did he confess? The "Braden"/Florer end of this puzzle will remain a puzzle. But, at the other end...
The Trantham interview corrects Sgt. Hill, who testified he went into the building with Sawyer. The latter apparently went in a little later. How do I know that he didn't go in earlier? Because, at 1pm, DPD Captain Talbert radios, "I think that 5 and 9 (Lumpkin & Sawyer) both are still in the building." (CE 1974 p43) By 1:08, Sawyer seems to be out front again--Sgt. Harkness radios that information & persons should be brought to Sawyer. (CE 1974 p50) And at 1:12, Sawyer radios that hulls were found on the "3rd floor".
The Braden/Florer puzzle helps clear up the 1:12 puzzle. Sawyer has heard that a man has been arrested, on the 3rd floor, for shooting. About 1:10, Sgt. Hill brings Sawyer up-to-date. He says that shells and scraps of chicken have been found. Whether or not Hill indicated the number of a floor for this find, we don't know. But Sawyer ties Hill's information to the earlier 3rd-floor information and radios that the shells were found on the "3rd floor". The old mystery solved...
But there was a secondary mystery. Sawyer told reporters that day that shells and remains of fried chicken were found on the *fifth* floor. Where did he get *that*? Educated guess: Chief Deputy Sheriff Allan Sweatt reported that weekend that fellow deputy Luke Mooney yelled out the "5th floor window" that "spent cartridge cases" had been found there. Sawyer was apparently inside when Mooney cried out and did not hear him. But I think that Sweatt must have heard Sawyer's broadcast and went over to tell him about the "fifth floor window". Hence, the adjusted story told to reporters... Another mystery solved?
dcw