Mrs.Davis. We saw him cut across after he had shot the policeman. We saw him cut across our yard, and that is the last we saw of him.
Mr.Belin. Well, now, you actually didn't see him shoot the policeman, did you?
Mrs.Davis. No, sir.
Mr.Belin. You saw——just saw the man with the gun?
Mrs.Davis. I just saw the man with the gun cutting across the yard.
Mr.Belin. After you heard some shots?
Mrs.Davis. After I heard the two shots.
Mr.Belin. Now, about how soon after you heard the two shots did you get to the door?
Mrs.Davis. Well, we didn't even put on our shoes. We just run to the front door.
Mr.Belin. Was it a matter of seconds or a matter of minutes?
Mrs.Davis. A matter of seconds.
Mr.Belin. When you got there, you opened the door, and what did you see?
Mrs.Davis. We saw this boy or man cut across the yard.
Mr.Belin. All right, and he had a revolver in his hand?
Mrs.Davis. That is right.
Mr.Belin. In his right hand or left hand?
Mrs.Davis. In his right.
Mr.Belin. This statement goes on to say that "The man had a revolver in his left hand and was shaking the shells out of it into his right hand." Is that right or wrong?
Mrs.Davis. Wrong.
Mr.Belin. It was the other way around?
Mrs.Davis. It was the other way around.
Mr.Belin. You got to the door and you opened the door, and what did you see now?
Mrs.Davis. We saw this boy cut across our yard unloading the shells out of his gun.
Mr.Belin. Then what did you do?
Mrs.Davis. Mrs. Markham, this woman, was standing across the street hollering to us to call the police. So we went back in there and called the police.
Mr.Belin. All right. Now, this statement says, goes on to say, "This man was coming across the yard and was almost to the walk which leads directly to the porch and is in a direct line with the front door."
Is that where the man was when you first saw him?
Mrs.Davis. That's right.
Mr.Belin. "The man had a revolver in his left hand and was shaking the shells out of it into his right hand."
Mrs.Davis. It was the other way, sir.
Mr.Belin. But you say "The man had a revolver in his left hand and was shaking the shells out of it into his right hand. As the man passed directly in front of us, he looked up for a second or so and then continued on across the yard to Patton Street in a normal walk." Was he walking or running when you saw him?
Mrs.Davis. He was walking.
Mr.Belin. Did he look up at you?
Mrs.Davis. No.
Mr.Davis. Pardon?
Mrs.Davis. No, sir; not that I remember.
Mr.Belin. All right, you just remember kind of seeing him from a side view?
Mrs.Davis. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. "At about this time, a woman directly across the intersection from our house yelled out, 'He's dead, he's dead, he shot him.'"
Mrs.Davis. That's right.
Mr.Belin. "The man glanced up at the woman and kept on walking." Did you see the man glance up at Mrs. Markham when she was yelling?
Mrs.Davis. Yes; we saw when he looked over at Mrs. Markham.
Mr.Belin. Did you see Mrs. Markham do anything when he looked at her?
Mrs.Davis. No; she was over there just hollering and screaming.
Mr.Belin. Did you see her raise her hand to her face in any way?
Mrs.Davis. Yes, sir. She raised both her hands to her face.
Mr.Belin. You saw her do that?
Mrs.Davis. Yes.
Mr.Belin. Did you see her do anything else?
Mrs.Davis. No.
Mr.Belin. You say, "He walked around the corner of the house that faces Patton Street and out of sight." Is that right?
Mrs.Davis. That's right.
Mr.Belin. "Barbara Davis and I returned to the house where she called the police." Is that right?
Mrs.Davis. That's right.
Mr.Belin. According to the statement then, it says that your sister Barbara Jeanette called the police after you saw the man, is that right?
Mrs.Davis. That's right.
Mr.Belin. "After she called the police, we went back out on the porch but by then the man we had seen with the gun was no longer in sight."
Is that right?
Mrs.Davis. That's right.
Mr.Belin. Then it says, "When the police arrived we searched the area on the side of the house that faces Patton Street, and Barbara found a gunshell that had been fired." It that right?
Mrs.Davis. That's right.
Mr.Belin. "After the police left we again searched the area and I again found a gunshell that had been fired. I later turned this shell over to the Dallas Police Department." Is that right?
Mrs.Davis. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. Then it says, "I have been given an opportunity to make additions and corrections on this statement, and it is true to the best of my knowledge and belief."
Did they give you an opportunity to make additions and corrections on the statement?
Mrs.Davis. No.
Mr.Belin. They did not?
Mrs.Davis. No.
Mr.Belin. Did they read the statement back to you?
Mrs.Davis. Not that I remember.
Mr.Belin. They may have but you don't remember.
Mrs.Davis. May have but I don't remember.
Mr.Belin. Now, Mrs. Davis, you and I never talked about this matter until the court reporter started taking your testimony, have we?
Mrs.Davis. No, sir.
Mr.Belin. I never met you before, is that correct?
Mrs.Davis. No, sir.
Mr.Belin. Have you ever talked with any person in connection with the President's Commission before we started taking your testimony here?
Mrs.Davis. No, sir.
Mr.Belin. I want to be certain that we get this time sequence correct as to when you saw the man with the gun and when the police were called, so I am just going to ask you to sit for about 30 seconds and just think as to just what did happen, and then just tell the court reporter in your own words just what did happen there.
(Three minutes of silence.)
Mr.Belin. Now, Mrs. Davis, you may not be able to remember just what exactly the time sequence was. You have been sitting here about 3 minutes, and if you don't remember what the time sequence was, why I would like to have you so state. But if you do remember—or do you want more time to think about it?
Mrs.Davis. Well, the best I can remember, it was before that we saw the boy cut across the yard that we called the police, the best that I can remember.
Mr.Belin. In other words, it is your testimony, as I understand it now, that you heard the shot, and then what did you do?
Mrs.Davis. We heard the second shot and we ran to the front door.
Mr.Belin. What did you see?
Mrs.Davis. We saw this boy cut across the yard, and we had seen this woman was coming home from work, she had on a uniform, that was Mrs. Markham—we didn't know it was at the time, but she saw all that happen.
Mr.Belin. What did you do when you got to the door?
Mrs.Davis. We saw the boy cut across our yard.
Mr.Belin. At the time you got to the door, did you also see Mrs. Markham?
Mrs.Davis. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. Did you see both at approximately the same time? I will ask you whom did you see first, Mrs. Markham, or the boy cutting across the yard?
Mrs.Davis. The boy.
Mr.Belin. You saw the boy first?
Mrs.Davis. That is who we saw first.
Mr.Belin. Then you saw Mrs. Markham second?
Mrs.Davis. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. Did the boy say anything?
Mr.Belin. No, sir.
Mr.Belin. Did Mrs. Markham say anything?
Mrs.Davis. Well, when she got across the other street, 10th, she hollered, "He's dead, he's dead, he shot him."
Mr.Belin. Then what did she say?
Mrs.Davis. She was screaming. I don't know.
Mr.Belin. Then what did you do?
Mrs.Davis. Well, we called the police. Notified them.
Mr.Belin. So you called the police after you saw the boy?
Mrs.Davis. After we saw the boy.
Mr.Belin. And Mrs. Markham?
Mrs.Davis. Yes.
Mr.Belin. You are nodding your head yes. Is that your testimony, to the best of your recollection?
Mrs.Davis. That is my testimony.
Mr.Belin. I want to ask you again, did you call the police before or after you saw the boy?
Mrs.Davis. It was after.
Mr.Belin. It was after?
Mrs.Davis. Yes, sir; after, the best that I can remember.
Mr.Belin. The best you can remember, you called the police before or after you saw the boy?
Mrs.Davis. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. Before or after?
Mrs.Davis. After.
Mr.Belin. After you saw the boy, you went back in the house and called the police?
Mrs.Davis. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. Is there anything else that you can think of that we haven't talked about that might be helpful in this investigation?
Mrs.Davis. No.
Mr.Belin. Did you see any ambulance come up to where Officer Tippit was?
Mrs.Davis. Yes; I saw the ambulance.
Mr.Belin. You got there before the ambulance, did you not?
Mrs.Davis. Yes; we got there before.
Mr.Belin. Did the ambulance get there first or the police get there first?
Mrs.Davis. The ambulance got there first.
Mr.Belin. Did you see anyone making any calls over Tippit's radio?
Mrs.Davis. No, sir.
Mr.Belin. When you got to Tippit's car, did you take a look at that police car?
Mrs.Davis. We didn't touch it.
Mr.Belin. Did you look at it? Did you notice whether its windows were rolled up or rolled down?
Mrs.Davis. The one on his side was rolled down.
Mr.Belin. What about the one on the passenger side of the front seat, did you notice that?
Mrs.Davis. Rolled up.
Mr.Belin. Was that rolled up?
Mrs.Davis. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. When you got there?
Mrs.Davis. Yes.
Mr.Belin. You are nodding your head yes.
Mrs.Davis. Yes.
Mr.Belin. Now the front window has kind of a little window in it. Do you know that little tiny part of the front window that opens and closes?
Mrs.Davis. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. Do you remember whether that one on the front seat by the right side of the front seat was open or not?
Mrs.Davis. No, sir.
Mr.Belin. It was not open? Or youdon't——
Mrs.Davis. I don't remember.
Mr.Belin. Did you hear anyone make any statements that they had seen anything other than Mrs. Markham?
Mrs.Davis. No, sir.
Mr.Belin. Did you see a taxicab parked anywhere in the vicinity?
Mrs.Davis. No.
Mr.Belin. You are nodding your head no.
Mrs.Davis. No.
Mr.Belin. Anything else you can think of?
Mrs.Davis. No, sir; I think I have told it all.
Mr.Belin. All right, Mrs. Davis, we want to thank you very much for taking the time and the effort to come here. I know that this whole episode has taken time on your part, and we certainly appreciate your cooperation with the President's Commission.
Transcriber's NotesPunctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.Misspellings in quoted evidence not changed; misspellings that could be due to mispronunciations were not changed.Some simple typographical errors were corrected.Inconsistent hyphenation of compound words retained.Ambiguous end-of-line hyphens retained.Occasional uses of "Mr." for "Mrs." and of "Mrs." for "Mr." corrected.Dubious repeated words, (e.g., "What took place by way of of conversation?") retained.Several unbalanced quotation marks not remedied.Occasional periods that should be question marks not changed.Occasional periods that should be commas, and commas that should be periods, were changed only when they clearly had been misprinted (at the end of a paragraph or following a speaker's name in small-caps at the beginning of a line). Some commas and semi-colons were printed so faintly that they appear to be periods or colons: some were found and corrected, but some almost certainly remain.The Index and illustrated Exhibits volumes of this series may not be available at Project Gutenberg.Text in quotations is not indented unless it was indented in the source.Page4: "lactated renger solution" should be "lactated Ringer's solution".Page6: "larynzo scope" should be "laryngoscope".Page248: "1:30 a.m." probably is a misprint.Page254: "Van Alstyne" is also printed as "Van Alystyne"; the first one is correct.Page286: "an attempt to get and was" may have omitted a word after "get".Page321: "assume sometime 12:40 and 12:43" may have omitted a word after "sometime".Page321: "suppose to" may be a misprint for "supposed to".Page322: "out of this man" probably should be "out on this man".Page323: "window of Texas School Book" probably missing "the" after "of".Page334: "sometimes around" probably should be "sometime".
Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.
Misspellings in quoted evidence not changed; misspellings that could be due to mispronunciations were not changed.
Some simple typographical errors were corrected.
Inconsistent hyphenation of compound words retained.
Ambiguous end-of-line hyphens retained.
Occasional uses of "Mr." for "Mrs." and of "Mrs." for "Mr." corrected.
Dubious repeated words, (e.g., "What took place by way of of conversation?") retained.
Several unbalanced quotation marks not remedied.
Occasional periods that should be question marks not changed.
Occasional periods that should be commas, and commas that should be periods, were changed only when they clearly had been misprinted (at the end of a paragraph or following a speaker's name in small-caps at the beginning of a line). Some commas and semi-colons were printed so faintly that they appear to be periods or colons: some were found and corrected, but some almost certainly remain.
The Index and illustrated Exhibits volumes of this series may not be available at Project Gutenberg.
Text in quotations is not indented unless it was indented in the source.
Page4: "lactated renger solution" should be "lactated Ringer's solution".
Page6: "larynzo scope" should be "laryngoscope".
Page248: "1:30 a.m." probably is a misprint.
Page254: "Van Alstyne" is also printed as "Van Alystyne"; the first one is correct.
Page286: "an attempt to get and was" may have omitted a word after "get".
Page321: "assume sometime 12:40 and 12:43" may have omitted a word after "sometime".
Page321: "suppose to" may be a misprint for "supposed to".
Page322: "out of this man" probably should be "out on this man".
Page323: "window of Texas School Book" probably missing "the" after "of".
Page334: "sometimes around" probably should be "sometime".