DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
It's April 28, 2017, and I'd like to take this opportunity to say "Hello" to Mary Ann Moorman Krahmer (on Facebook). It's a pleasure to talk to you. I have saved several of your original interviews from 11/22/63 on my websites, plus the in-depth interview you did in May 2011 as well. They are valuable portions of my archives.
Question for Mary Moorman ----
Could you inform us as to the circumstances that brought you and Jean Hill to Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963? I realize you went there to see the Presidential motorcade (naturally), but I'm wondering if you and Jean went downtown on the spur of the moment that day, or did the two of you pre-plan the trip a day or two ahead of time? Just curious.
Thank you.
MARY MOORMAN SAID:
David,
Jean and I had planned several days before the President came to Dallas. We were enthused to get to see Jackie. My son was in school that day and I did tell him I would take a picture of the President for him, and in order to do that I had to take the camera which I wasn't even used to using. Jean Hill had wanted me to take a picture of her friend who was following the limo, but after the tragedy that didn't happen.
I lost my friendship with Jean Hill for many years due to the fact that she told what she thought was "sensational" and would put her in the limelight. She did like to be the center of attention! I am thankful that I was able to renew our friendship shortly before she passed away.
I truly believe my God had a plan for me as to where we stood and the instant I snapped the photo. At 84 years of age now, He still has a purpose for me being here!
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
Thank you very much for your reply, Mary.
Also, Mary, what is your own opinion as to the precise timing of your famous Polaroid photograph? That is, do you think you snapped your shutter just BEFORE or just AFTER the President was struck in the head by the fatal bullet? Or do you think it was literally at the exact same instant when you heard the head shot being fired?
I know that most people seem to think you took the picture an instant AFTER the head shot, but it looks to me like you snapped your shutter just an instant PRIOR to the fatal shot.
If it had been taken after the fatal blow, I would think we'd see at least a little bit of the head spray in the picture. (Even though I fully realize that a Polaroid image isn't exactly "hi def" when it comes to clarity and photo perfection.)
MARY MOORMAN SAID:
The shot was as I snapped the photo. On the second and third sounds, I did see what I thought at first, his hair "jump" and like "smoke" or "mist" at the same time. It wasn't his hair, it was his head!
I certainly wasn't into taking pictures and hearing the noise which I thought was firecrackers, I sensed people crouching on the ground I realized something terrible was happening. I did tell Jean to get down and we both crouched down for a few seconds before the limo sped away.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
Thank you, Mary.
Another question for Mary (I hope you don't mind) ---
Do you have any idea who it was who messed up your original Polaroid print (the one I posted above) with that ugly fingerprint? I heard it was an FBI man. Do you know if that's true?
MARY MOORMAN SAID:
David,
It was a week or so that the FBI, and who knows what other agency, used it and at one point the fingerprint was on the original. I'm sure it has been known, as those agencies would have all workers fingerprinted before hiring. No one ever owned up to what happened and I was ready to put the photo away.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
Have you ever been back to Dealey Plaza to look around since that tragic day (other than the one time I know you and Jean went back there to film an on-site interview with CBS News in 1964 [see the video below])? But since '64, have you stood on the spot on Elm Street where you took your picture?
MARY MOORMAN SAID:
Several times for interviews. The last was on the 50th Anniversary and that's more than likely my last.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
OK, Mary.
Thanks for answering my questions so thoroughly. I appreciate it. It's been a pleasure to chat with you.
David Von Pein
April 28, 2017
April 30, 2017
ADDENDUM....
ON MAY 2, 2017, DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
I wanted to ask Mary more questions. But the ones I did ask her on 4/28/17 were ones I rattled off in very short order that evening, and I didn't want her to think I was "pumping" or "grilling" her with one question right after another. So I begged off after a few questions.
ON MAY 10, 2017, DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
FYI / FWIW....
Listed below are a few additional questions I asked Mary Moorman via Facebook's Private Message service on May 4, 2017. It's been almost a week now, and I haven't received any reply from Mary. So, either she doesn't check her Facebook account very often, or she's sick and tired of my questions already. :-)
Anyway, listed below are my extra inquiries, most of which, btw, have already been answered by Mary during this long interview she did in May of 2011.
The only question on my list below that Mary did not address in that 2011 interview is my last question. But when I asked Mary these things at Facebook on May 4, I had not listened to her 2011 interview for a few years, and I couldn't remember if she had specifically addressed all these things or not.
I should have re-listened to the 2011 program before bothering Mary with this stuff, most of which she's already answered in the past. That was stupid of me. But....nobody's perfect. Not even a silly LNer like DVP. :-) ....
[DVP Quote On:]
Hi again, Mary.
I hope I'm not being a pest, but would you mind if I asked you just a few more questions about the things you observed in Dealey Plaza on 11/22/63? (After all, it isn't every day of the week that I have the opportunity to speak to a witness who was just 10 to 15 feet away from President Kennedy when he was shot.)
.... How many gunshots did you hear? And how were the shots spaced? Were some of them close together (in a "bang-bang" fashion)? Or were all the shots rather evenly spaced? (If you can recall.)
.... Where do you think the shots came from? Did they all seem to come from the exact same place? Or could they have originated from more than just one location?
.... Did you notice the President's limousine slow down significantly right around the time of the head shot? And do you think the car came to a complete STOP or not?
.... Based on everything you saw and heard that day in Dealey Plaza, do you think that Lee Harvey Oswald (firing from the sixth floor of the Book Depository Building) could have possibly been the lone assassin of President Kennedy?
Thank you very much for your time.
Best Regards,
David Von Pein
May 4, 2017
TELEVISION & RADIO INTERVIEWS WITH
MARY MOORMAN ON NOVEMBER 22, 1963:
