Lee Bowers

Lee Edward Bowers, Jr. (January 12, 1925, Dallas, Texas – August 9, 1966, Dallas, Texas) [Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 6, p. 284, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh6/html/WC_Vol6_0147b.htm Testimony of Lee E. Bowers, Jr.] , April 2, 1964.] [Ancestry.com. "Texas Death Index, 1903-2000" [database on-line] . Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006.] was a key witness to the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas in 1963. [Warren Commission Report, p. 71–72, [http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0048a.htm The Witnesses: At the Triple Underpass] .] At the moment of the assassination he was operating the Union Terminal Company's two-story interlocking tower, overlooking the parking lot just north of the grassy knoll and west of the Texas School Book Depository. He had an unobstructed view of the rear of the concrete pergola and the stockade fence atop the knoll. [Warren Commission Report, p. 74, Commission Exhibit 2118, [http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0049a.htm View From North Tower of Union Terminal Company, Dallas, Texas] .] He described hearing three shots that came from either the Depository on his left or near the mouth of the Triple Underpass railroad bridge on his right; he was unsure because of the reverberation from the shots.

When asked by the Warren Commission, "Now, were there any people standing on the high side — high ground between your tower and where Elm Street goes down under the underpass toward the mouth of the underpass?" Bowers testified that at the time the motorcade went by on Elm Street, four men were in the area: one or two uniformed parking lot attendants, one of whom Bowers knew; and two men standing 10 to 15 feet (3 to 5 m) apart near the Triple Underpass, who did not appear to know each other. One was "middle-aged, or slightly older, fairly heavy-set, in a white shirt, fairly dark trousers" and the other was "younger man, about midtwenties, in either a plaid shirt or plaid coat or jacket." One or both were still there when the first police officer arrived "immediately" after the shooting. [Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 7, p. 287–288, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh6/html/WC_Vol6_0149a.htm Testimony of Lee E. Bowers, Jr.] , April 2, 1964.] Many assumed that Bowers meant that these men were standing behind the stockade fence at the top of the grassy knoll. [Mark Lane, "Rush to Judgment", Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1966, p. 31–32: :"His [Bowers'] description of the two men behind the fence was not unlike Miss Mercer's…"Jim Marrs, "Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy", Carroll & Graf, 1993, ISBN 978-0881846485, p. 75::"Bowers told a fascinating story of suspicious cars moving in the sealed-off railroad yards minutes before the assassination, and of seeing strange men behind the picket fence."Harrison Edward Livingstone, "High Treason", Carrroll & Graf, 1998, ISBN 978-0786705788, p. 116::"Lee Bowers Jr. … was in the railroad control behind the grassy knoll and saw two men behind the fence, a puff of smoke during the shooting, and a lot of activity."Anthony Summers, "Not in Your Lifetime", Marlowe & Co., 1998, ISBN 978-1569247396, p. 36: :"Lee Bowers, the railway towerman who had seen two strangers behind the fence just before the assassination, had partially lost sight of them in the foliage."]

However, two years later when Bowers was interviewed by assassination researchers Mark Lane and Emile de Antonio for their documentary film "Rush to Judgment", he clarified that these two men were standing in the opening between the pergola on the grassy knoll, and the stockade fence, and that "no one" was behind the fence when the shots were fired. ["Rush to Judgment", which advocated a multi-shooter conspiracy, did not use that portion of Bowers' interview. The redacted portions of the Bowers interview were first published by Dale K. Myers in 2004. Dale K. Myers, "Secrets of a Homicide: Badge Man" — [http://www.jfkfiles.com/jfk/html/badgeman_4.htm The Testimony of Lee Bowers, Jr.] ] Bowers said,

These two men were standing back from the street somewhat at the top of the incline and were very near two trees which were in the area. And one of them, from time to time as he walked back and forth, disappeared behind a wooden fence which is also slightly to the west of that. These two men to the best of my knowledge were standing there at the time of the shooting.

Photographs of the grassy knoll during the assassination show heavy-set, middle-aged Dealey Plaza groundskeeper Emmett Hudson and a younger man, whom Hudson estimated was in his late twenties, [Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 7, p. 559, [http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/hudson.htm Testimony of Emmett J. Hudson] , July 22, 1964.] standing on the stairway leading from Elm Street up to the stockade fence (a third man stands a few steps below them). [ [http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/moorman.jpgMoorman photograph of the grassy knoll during the assassination] . Emmett Hudson is the middle of the three men on the stairs.] Bowers was not sure if he could see the older man after the shootings, and a photograph show Hudson sitting down on the steps at that time. [ [http://216.122.129.112/dc/user_files/273.jpgTowner photograph of Emmett Hudson sitting on the stairway on the grassy knoll after the shootings] .]

Bowers served in the U.S. Navy from ages 17 to 21. He attended Hardin-Simmons University for two years then Southern Methodist University for two years, majoring in religion. He worked for the Union Terminal Co. railyard for 15 years, also working as a self-employed builder. In 1964 he began working as business manager for a hospital and convalescent home. [Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 6, p. 284, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh6/html/WC_Vol6_0147b.htm Testimony of Lee E. Bowers, Jr.] , April 2, 1964.]

He was killed in 1966 when his car left an empty road and struck a concrete abutment. ["Executive Dies After Car Wreck", "The Dallas Morning News", August 10, 1966, p. D4.] It has often been claimed that his death was a murder, but investigator David Perry concludes that there is no basis for this belief. [David Perry, [http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/bowers.txt Now It Can Be Told: The Lee Bowers Story] .]

Bowers was played by Pruitt Taylor Vince in the 1991 film "JFK".

References

External links

* [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKbowers.htm Biography of Lee Bowers]
* [http://www.jfk-online.com/jfk100bowers.html Bowers' testimony and Oliver Stone's Film]
* [http://www.kenrahn.com/Photo_shows/Dallas_Nov_01/TU1.html Up by the Triple Underpass]