JIM HESS SAID:
STEVE ROE SAID:
I believe the Whaley cab ride happened. Although it may seem out of character for Oswald to offer the lady the cab, he also was playing cool not to draw attention to himself.
The 500 North Beckley ride is documented on the log sheet and Oswald admitted to taking it later when Whaley came forward. Whaley also stated Oswald was looking at the 1026 Beckley house as they passed by.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
In the second of the two re-creations in the video below, cab driver William Whaley specifically says that Oswald was NOT looking at the roominghouse when they passed it in the cab on 11/22/63. (And Whaley gets the house number wrong.)
STEVE ROE SAID:
David, are you sure? I'm hearing Whaley say "and he was looking at it".
JIM HESS SAID:
Does Whaley say "was" or "wasn't" looking at it as we passed?
[...]
Does anyone here believe Lee would have passed his residence without so much as a glance in that direction?
NICOLAS CHRISTIAN SAID:
He knew perfectly well the place. He didn't have to obviously look at it. Maybe the driver didn't see him looking at it.
DAMIAN JACKSON SAID:
How many cab drivers watch their passenger for the whole journey?
STEVE ROE SAID:
Wow, I guess I'm the only one thinking Whaley says he was looking at it.
GAYLE NIX JACKSON SAID:
I agree with Steve Roe.
JIM HESS SAID:
Just a thought ..... the complete statement is: "NO and he...["...."]...lookin' at it as we passed".
The word NO seems to support "Wasn't".
Would he say "No and he WAS lookin'.."..?
I just cannot decide.
STEVE ROE SAID:
Yes, Eddie Barker says "but he didn't say anything about getting out?"
Whaley says "No sir, but he wuzzzz looking at it as we passed."
Texas dialect is sometimes hard to understand. Poor "Chief" Whaley died later in 1965 in a head-on car crash on the Houston viaduct.
JIM HESS SAID:
Correction...listen again! Not "But". The word is "AND". "No sir AND he..."
Hear how that tends to affect it?
Based on that, I am leaning towards agreement with David Von Pein.
STEVE ROE SAID:
Yep, you are right about "And". But it's clear as a bell to my Texas ears that he said "Wuzzzz looking at it as we passed".
I guess we will just have to disagree on it. I'll shoot your video over to Pat Hall who owns the Beckley rooming house for another opinion.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
I've looped the clip several times (and boosted the volume). He's definitely saying "Wasn't". ....
JIM HESS SAID:
Thanks, David. I hear "WAS".
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
No way, Jim. Whaley is saying "Wasn't". TWO distinct syllables. Listen again.
Plus, as already mentioned, the prefacing remark by Eddie Barker (the CBS interviewer in the cab with Whaley) and the following "No sir..." by Whaley most certainly indicate Whaley was saying "Wasn't".
JIM HESS SAID:
LOL. I am vacillating back to "Wasn't". Geeeze, I cannot be sure.
STEVE ROE SAID:
lol.....well, David says "wasn't", and he's usually very precise.
Now he's got me looping it again.
JIM HESS SAID:
Just goes to show how "ear witness" testimony is unreliable. If it was text, we wouldn't even question it.
Wonder how many WC transcribers may have had a similar experience as we are having here?
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
Keep in mind also that Oswald (for some reason) was riding with Whaley in the FRONT seat, not the back seat. So Whaley's peripheral vision out of his right eye might very well have been able to detect whether or not Oswald had his head turned to his left to look in the direction of the roominghouse as they passed it.
Of course, to be fair, I can't see WHY Whaley would have even REMEMBERED such a tiny detail later on. At the time they passed 1026 Beckley, Whaley would not have had any reason under the moon to say this to himself --- "Well, we're passing that 1026 Beckley address now, so I'd better make a mental note if my passenger is looking toward that house."
Whaley did, however, seem to later remember (in his CBS-TV re-enactment) that Oswald was NOT looking toward the house. But, as we know, hindsight is almost always 20/20.
CHRIS EDDY SAID:
I'm British, and I hear "was" in my uneducated opinion.
I hear no second 'nt' syllable.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
I hear a second syllable, Chris.
And, for the record, I've watched that '64 CBS special featuring Whaley several times and I never once had the impression Whaley was saying "WAS". He is definitely saying "WASN'T".
STEVE ROE SAID:
[This "Was vs. Wasn't" topic is] Not earthshaking by any means, but an interesting side argument.
Thanks for the loop. I'm still standing by my "was".
JIM HESS SAID:
It could indeed be "earth shattering" if it lends us another insight to Whaley's credibility. Ok, maybe not earth shattering, but at least a small earthquake. Above and beyond the question "Was or Wasn't" is the point raised by David Von Pein about if and why Whaley would even recall such a detail.
[...]
Who would pass his house in a cab and NOT look?
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
Well, I will add this about Mr. William Wayne Whaley ---
He did, indeed, seem to be a person who just might notice small and subtle details relating to the passengers who rode with him in his cab. He specifically took notice of the bracelet on Oswald's left wrist. Whaley told the Warren Commission this:
"He had on a bracelet of some type on his left arm. It looked like an identification bracelet. Just shiny, you know, how you see anything shiny, an unusual watchband or something shiny, you notice things like that."
And look what Oswald was wearing on his LEFT wrist that day:
But on the debit side, we can pretty much know that Whaley's powers of perception were not perfect, because he said Oswald was wearing a jacket when he was riding in his cab on November 22nd. But it's very likely Oswald was not wearing any jacket at all during the cab ride (per the testimony of other witnesses, like Mary Bledsoe and Earlene Roberts).
Another thing I've always thought was kind of interesting about William Whaley (but not real important at all) is his extremely neat handwriting. Just look at how clear and legible and pristine Whaley's writing is on the trip sheet he filled out on 11/22/63 [CE382]. I wish I could write and print this neatly....
To look at Bill Whaley, he doesn't look like a man who would possess such perfect penmanship. (Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned Whaley's excellent handwriting though. It might give rise to yet another crackpot conspiracy theory --- the "WHALEY'S TRIP SHEET IS A FAKE; IT WAS WRITTEN BY SOMEBODY ELSE, BECAUSE THERE'S NO WAY THAT A GRUFF AND CRUSTY-LOOKING CAB DRIVER COULD POSSIBLY HAVE SUCH IMPECCABLY PERFECT HANDWRITING!" theory.)
:-)
BTW, the same excellent penmanship can also be found in Whaley's signed 11/23/63 affidavit.
David Von Pein
September 3, 2015
September 4, 2015
