Biography
1. Navy veteran, 4
years.
2. Attended
Hardin-Simmons University, 2 years.
3. Attended Southern
Methodist University, 2 years, majoring in religion.
4. Employed by the Union
Terminal Co. for 15 years.
5. Self-employed
builder.
6. Business manager for
Dr. Tim Green.
7. Working hours for
Union Terminal were 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., M-F.
The Switching
Tower
The tower he worked in
was 14 feet in height with windows on all sides. (VI p. 284)
The tower was “within 50
yards of the back of the School Depository Building, or less.” (VI p.
285)
Railroad Yard and
Parking Lot Restricted by Police
The parking lot and
railroad yards “had been covered by police for some 2 hours. Since approximately
10 o’clock in the morning traffic had been cut off into the area so that anyone
moving around could actually be observed.” (VI p. 284)
Automobiles
“There were three cars
that came in during the time from around noon until the time of the shooting …
they came into the vicinity of the tower, which was at the extension of Elm
Street, which runs in front of the School Depository, and which there is no way
out. It is not a through street to anywhere.” (VI p. 284)
“The first car was a 1959 Oldsmobile, blue and white station
wagon with out-of-state license. (VI p. 286) The car proceeded in front of the
Depository Building down across 2 or 3 tracks and circled the area in front of
the tower, and to the west of the tower, and, as if he was searching for a way
out, or was checking the area, and then proceeded back through the only way he
could, the same outlet he came into. (VI p. 285) “[It] had a bumper sticker, one
of which was a Goldwater sticker, and the other of which was of some scenic
location, I think.” (VI p. 286)
Note: When Joseph Ball asked
Mr. Bowers if he knew what out-of-state license was on the Oldsmobile, Bowers
replied, “No; I do not. I would know it, I could identify it, I think, if I looked at a list.” Mr. Bowers thought he could
identify the State which issued the license, but Mr. Ball was not interested in
pursuing this. (VI p. 286)
“… some 15 minutes or so
after this [spotting the 1959 Oldsmobile], at approximately … I guess 12:20 …
there was another car which was a 1957
black Ford, with one male in it that seemed to have a mike or telephone or
something that gave the appearance of that at least. He was holding something up
to his mouth with one hand and he was driving with the other, and gave that
appearance. He was very close to the tower. I could see him as he proceeded
around the area. [The car] had a Texas license. [It] came in from the extension
of Elm Street in front of the School Depository. “… after 3 or 4 minutes cruising the area it departed the same
way. He did probe a little further into the area than the first car.” (VI p.
286)
“Third car, which
entered the area, which was some seven or nine minutes before the
shooting. I believe was a 1961 or 1962 Chevrolet, four-door
Impala, white, showed signs of being on the road. It was muddy up to the
windows, bore similar out-of-state license to the first car I observed, occupied
also by one while male. 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 and
was forced to back out some considerable distance, and slowly cruised down back
towards the front of the School Depository Building. The last I saw of him he
was pausing just about in – just above the assassination site.” Asked whether it
parked or continued, Bowers stated, “Whether it continued on at that very moment
or whether it pulled up only a short distance, I couldn’t tell. I was busy.”
When asked how long this was before the President’s car passed there, Bowers
stated, “about 8 minutes.” (VI p. 286)
Line of Sight from the
Tower
When asked if he could
see the corner of Elm and Houston from his location in the tower, Bowers stated,
“No; I could not see the corner of Elm and Houston. I could see the corner of
Main and Houston as they came down and turned on, then I couldn’t see it for
about half a block, and after they passed the corner of Elm and Houston the car
came in sight again … It [the Presidential limousine] came in sight after it had
turned the corner of Elm and Houston. (VI p. 286)
Number of
Shots
“I heard three shots.
One, then a slight pause, then two very close together. Also,
reverberation from the shots.” (VI p. 287)
Source of
Shots
“The sounds came from
either from up against the School Depository Building or near the mouth of the
triple underpass.” When asked if he could tell if the shots came from the
Depository or the triple underpass, he stated, “No; I could not.” (VI p.
287)
Men on the
Knoll
Joseph Ball asked if
there any people “standing on the high side – high ground between your tower and
where Elm Street goes down and the underpass toward the mouth of the
underpass.”
Note: This would be on the
WEST end of the wooden fence.
Bowers replied,
“Directly in line, towards the mouth of the underpass, there were two men. One
man, middle-aged, or slightly older, fairly heavy set, in a white shirt, fairly
dark trousers. Another younger man about mid-twenties, in
either a plaid shirt or plaid coat or jacket. They were standing within
10 or 15 feet of each other, and gave no appearance of being together, as far as
I knew. They were facing and looking up towards Main and Houston, following the
caravan as it came down. (VI p. 287)
Men on the Triple
Underpass
“On the triple
underpass, there were two policemen. One facing each
direction, both east and west. There was one railroad employee, a signal
man there with the Union Terminal Co., and two welders that worked for the Fort
Worth Welding firm, and there was also a laborer’s assistant furnished by the
railroad to these welders. They were standing on top of it [triple underpass]
facing towards Houston Street, all except … the one policeman on the west side.”
(VI p. 287)
Other Men in the
Area
“There were one or two
people in the [high ground] area. Not in this same vicinity. One of them was a
parking lot attendant that operates a parking lot there. One
or two. Each had uniforms similar to those custodians at the courthouse.
But they were some distance back, just a light distance back.” (VI p.
287)
Direction of Bowers
Attention During the Shots
“At the moment I heard
the sound, I was looking directly towards that area – at the moment of the first
shot, as close as my recollection serves, the car was out of sight behind this
decorative masonry wall in the area.” Ball asked if Bowers could see the car
during the second and third shots. “No; at the moment of the shots, I could – I
do not think that it was in sight. It came in sight immediately following the
last shot.” (VI p. 288)
The Motorcycle
Policeman
“Immediately following
[the shooting] there was a motorcycle policeman who shot nearly all of the way
to the top of the incline. He was part of the motorcade and had left it for some
reason, which I do not know. He came almost to the top and I believe abandoned
his motorcycle for a moment and then got on it and proceeded, I don’t know. He
just shot up over the curb and up … he left the motorcade and came up the
incline on the motorcycle. He came up into the area where there are some trees,
and where I had described the two men were in the general vicinity of this.”
Asked if the two men were there during this time, Bowers stated, “I – as far as
I know, one of them was. The other I could not say. The darker dressed man was
too hard to distinguish from the trees. The one in the white shirt, yea; I think
he was. (VI p. 288)
Commotion on the
Knoll
“At the time of the
shooting there seemed to be some commotion …I am unable to describe rather than
it was something out of the ordinary, a sort of milling around, but something
occurred in this particular spot which was out of the ordinary, which attracted
my eye for some reason, which I could not identify … nothing that I could
pinpoint as having happened that …”
Note: At this point Joseph
Ball cut off Bowers’ description of the “commotion” he had witnessed and asked
about the “good many people com[ing] up there on this
high ground at the tower.” It’s more than obvious that Mr. Ball knew which areas
of the inquiry to avoid. (VI p. 288)
People Rushing Toward
the Knoll
“A large number of
people came, more than one direction. One group converged from the corner of Elm
and Houston, and came down the extension of Elm and came into the high ground,
and another large group went across the triangular area between Houston and Elm
then across Elm and then up the incline. Some of them all the way up.
Area Sealed Off by
Police
“[There were] between 50
and a hundred policemen within a maximum of 5 minutes. [They] sealed off the area.” (VI p. 288)
Trains and
Transients
“I held off the trains
until they could be examined, and there was some transients taken on at least
one train.” (VI p. 288)
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