Did a key JFK assassination witness unwittingly overhear conspirators' radio transmissions during those crucial minutes before and after the murder? Was this interception of radio transmission the catalyst behind why the infamous Dealey Plaza "Tramps" were apprehended? Was this information suppressed from the Commission's records?
There are indications that Lee Bowers' recorded testimony is incomplete. Furthermore, there is tantalizing evidence that Bowers might have picked something up on his railroad communications equipment that made him stop the train running through the Union Terminal railroad yards--a train that may have figured into the conspirators' plans.
Those familiar with the JFK case will remember Bowers as the highly-astute Union Terminal Company employee who was stationed in what was probably one of the most prime locations to perceive the events that took place in Dealey Plaza.
In his switching tower perched 14 feet above the ground and about 50 yards north and to the rear of the Texas School Book Depository, Bowers was a trained and perceptive observer of the railroad switching yard that was his dominion for 15 years. His bailiwick was the 13 tracks running through his yard; tracks over which he exercised complete and unilateral control and upon which no train entered or left his yard without his explicit approval.
Readers familiar with Bower's Warren Commission testimony know that he described three mysterious cars entering the parking lot adjacent to the TSBD minutes before the fatal shooting. Two of the cars slowly cruised the lot and then left. The last car--which appeared no more than ten minutes before the shooting--appeared to pause at the rear of the famous stockade fence, and according to Bowers, may not have left the scene before the shooting began. The following is taken from the few officially recorded pages of testimony found in Volume VI, page 284:
Mr. Bowers. Third car which entered the area, which was some seven or nine before the shooting, I believe was a 1961 or 1962 Chevrolet, four door Impala, white, [which] showed signs of being on the road. It was muddy up to the windows, [and] bore a similar out-of-state license to the first car I observed, occupied also by one white male.Students of the assassination may recall that, according to Bowers' testimony, the second of these three cars which he observed contained a single white male who appeared "...to have a mike or telephone or something that gave the appearance of that at least"
Mr. Ball. What did it do?
Mr. Bowers. He spent a little more time in the area. He tried--he circled the area and probed one spot right at the tower in an attempt to get [his car into the stall] and was forced to back out some considerable distance, and slowly cruised down back towards the front of the School Depository Building.
Mr. Ball. Then did he leave?
Mr. Bowers. The last I saw of him he was pausing just about in--just above the assassination site.
When asked to clarify his statement by Warren Commission lawyer Joseph Ball, Bowers amplified by saying, "He was holding something up to his mouth with one hand and he was driving with the other, and gave that appearance."
Bowers goes on to say that after the shooting, a mob of policemen converged on the spot where he saw two strange characters milling about before the assassination. At this point, he decided to "[hold] off the trains until they could be examined, and there was (sic) some transients taken on at least one train."
At this point in the testimony, Ball seems to cut off Bowers' elucidation of the so-called "Tramps" by implying that this material was covered in a previous deposition:
Mr. Ball. I believe you have talked this over with me before your deposition was taken, haven't we?Here the reader is confused as to whether the "anything" being alluded to here is in the previous recorded testimony or the mysterious "deposition" of which there appears to be no record. Could this deposition contain allusions to more detailed events that Bowers--the eagle-eyed observer--may have described? Allusions about which the Warren Commission lawyers would have rather "forgotten"? Allusions to radio transmissions or interference?
Mr. Bowers. Yes.
Mr. Ball. Is there anything that you told me that I haven't asked you about that you think of?
Mr. Bowers. Nothing that I can recall.
Furthermore, at the end of the sworn statement, Bowers waived Ball's request to sign the written form of his testimony, stating, "I have no reason to sign it unless you want me to." This gives the reader the feeling that perhaps Bowers' recorded statements might be incomplete or inaccurate, since he waived his right to double-check everything.
Former CIA contract agent Robert D. Morrow, In his frightening and detailed narrative, First Hand Knowledge--How I participated in the CIA-Mafia Murder of President Kennedy (1992, Shapolsky), may provide some insight. Morrow, an electronics expert, claims that in the summer of 1963, CIA head of Domestic Operations Officer Tracy Barnes, ordered him to procure four Mannlicher 7.35 rifles and four small radio transceivers.
My involvement with the plans to assassinate John F. Kennedy commenced at the end of June, 1963. On July 1, I was contacted by [CIA head of Domestic Operations Officer] Tracy Barnes. He requested that I purchase four Mannlicher 7.35 mm surplus rifles. According to Barnes, the rifles were available in the Baltimore area from Sunny's Supply Stores. Upon my agreement to make the purchase, Barnes requested that I alter the forepiece of each rifle so that the rifles could be dismantled, hidden and reassembled quickly. I thought this last request odd until I was informed that the rifles were to be used for a clandestine operation.Astute readers will remember that Cuban exile Eladio del Valle and CIA contract employee David Ferrie were both found dead on the same day in 1967 during the preliminary stages of Jim Garrison's investigation of Clay Shaw's culpability in the death of JFK. At that point in time, Garrison was nearly ready to have Ferrie appear before a grand jury investigating Shaw.One day later I received a second phone call. It was [Eladio] del Valle calling from, I assumed, Miami. He asked me to supply him with four transceivers which were not detectable by any communications equipment then available on the market. Although his request seemed impossible, I told him that I had an idea which might fulfill his requirement. I could provide him with sub-miniaturized units whose operation would be confined to a range of fifty or one hundred kilohertz. To operate any sizable distance, the units would require an antenna at least several feet in length. A wire taped to the user's leg would easily suffice for this purpose. The set-up would not be pretty, but I could assure him that no one would be monitoring these low frequencies.
Del Valle then requested that I deliver the transceivers and the rifles to David Ferrie. I was surprised by Ferrie's involvement in the transaction. Barnes, in our previous conversation, had neither informed me that the rifles were being made for Clay Shaw in New Orleans nor that David Ferrie would be the person responsible for picking them up once I had completed the required alterations. Del Valle explained to me that the rifles and communications equipment were for his Free Cuba Committee, and that Clay and Ferrie were assisting him in the operation. I assured him that the equipment would be ready on time as I would immediately order the Motorola-made special transceiver units. Motorola was manufacturing the units for railroad communications equipment; they were relatively easy to secure. [emphasis added]
The radio transceivers for del Valle were more difficult to create than I had originally thought they'd be. An unusual amount of power was required for them to transmit over any significant distance. To solve this dilemma, I included an extra pack of four "D" type battery cells to be used for transmitting purposes only. The pack was plugged into the transceiver unit and could easily be carried in the user's pocket. Ironically, I later learned from del Valle that the transmission time was to be limited to five minutes, which meant my additional adjustments had been unnecessary.[1]
Later Morrow details how del Valle and his crew have some difficulty with the radios and also, in no uncertain terms, learns the true nature of the CIA operation in which the radios and modified rifles will be used.
Initially, del Valle queried me about the operation of the transceivers. His people had been experimenting with them and not getting clear reception. I explained how to tune them once they had been attached to the individual. Because of the low frequency, body capacitance had a tendency to detune them; this was particularly the case when the antennas were taped to the leg.So here we have a CIA contract employee procuring materiel that he claims would later be used in the plot to kill JFK. And furthermore the radio equipment he chooses just happens to operate in the ultra-low frequency range that is shared with railroad communications equipment--the same sort of equipment Lee Bowers would have been familiar with in his job in the railroad switching tower.Then he dropped the bomb. Del Valle exclaimed, "They had better be perfect, compadre. They are for Texas! ...Kennedy is going to get it in Dallas!"[2]
Technically savvy readers will note that the frequency band of 50 - 100 kilohertz is extremely low in terms of conventional radio transmissions. A simple investigation has revealed that the only entities which are authorized by the FCC to use this range--other than railroad employees--are military submarines, who exploit the long-wave characteristics of the energy for long-range underwater communications.
Films taken that day show that as the limousine carrying JFK passes in front of the Umbrella Man/Dark Complected Man team, the umbrella--the only such device seen in the entire Dealey Plaza scene--is observed to be pumped high into the air, further indicating some sort of signal. The fatal shot to JFK's head takes place moments after this umbrella action is observed.
The walkie-talkie device that The Dark Complected Man appears to be using matches the description given by Morrow. Pictures taken seconds after the motorcade passes show the man calmly walking over to the Umbrella Man and sitting next to him on the curb. Moments later the men split apart walking in opposite directions along Elm street. Walking west, the Dark Complected Man appears to tuck the radio into his back pocket and disappears.
And what of Lee H. Bowers the keenly-observant switching supervisor? Bowers died mysteriously in August, 1966--some six months before the deaths of Ferrie and del Valle--in a one-car accident that took place in Midlothian, Texas. Bowers physician told independent researcher Penn Jones that he "never saw a case like this--that man was in some sort of strange shock." Bowers was dead in three hours and cremated the next day. No autopsy was performed.
* * *