Did Oswald Shoot Officer Tippit?

There are many books and websites that cast doubts over whether Oswald could have killed Officer Tippit including excellent research by Michael T. Griffith

The Warren Report needed to prove that Oswald killed Tippit to support their claim that Oswald killed Kennedy. So the 'change-of-direction' theory was created. This theory states that when Oswald was walking down the street he noticed Tippit's police car coming in his direction and suddenly spun around and proceeded to walk in the opposite direction. This allegedly is what alerted Tippit who became suspicious and stopped him and was subsequently shot dead. But all initial sworn statements from the eyewitnesses failed to mention this change of direction.

All initial sworn statements to police and secret service suggest that Oswald was walking along in a normal manner towards the police car, and since there was only vague descriptions on Kennedy's assassin circulating at that time, and tens of thousands of people would have fitted that description in Dallas, Tippit had no reason to stop Oswald. Oswald did not change direction and was not acting suspiciously. So why stop him? There is evidence to suggest that Officer Tippit was looking for Oswald before anyone could have known Oswald was a suspect!

Three of the main eyewitnesses, William Scoggins, Mrs. Markham and Jack Tatum leave their statements open to challenge. Scoggins and Markham changed their statements for the Warren Commission to include a change-in-direction. Tatum gave his statement around 1977 and included an incident (the killer walked over to Tippit as he lay on the ground and shot him in the head) that no other witness had seen! So can any of these statements be trusted? In fact Mrs. Markham described the killer as being short and somewhat on the heavy side. Oswald is neither.

And other witnesses have stated amongst other things that two men were involved in the Tippit murder, that one gunman made his getaway in a car, that neither gunmen resembled Oswald, that the gunman's jacket was light coloured and that it was dark coloured.

According to Dallas Police, Oswald's wallet was found on his person after he was arrested at the theatre. And yet at the Tippit murder scene FBI agent Robert Barrett insisted that he was shown Oswald's wallet with both Oswald ID and Hidell ID cards, found at the scene by a policeman. He was asked if he knew either of these two men. And FBI agent James Hosty confirms that Barrett told him about finding Oswald's ID at the Tippit crime scene. So who planted 'Oswald's wallet' at this crime scene and why?

In fact it looks like Oswald could not even be at the Tippit crime scene at the time of the murder if he was at his lodgings at 1pm (which everyone agrees with). Oswald had about 12 minutes to walk from his lodgings to the Tippit crime scene - this posed a problem, since it was nine-tenths of a mile to that location, 10th and Patton. The Warren Commission concluded that it would take Oswald over 17 minutes to make this journey. No witness has ever come forward stating that they identified Oswald on this route at that time. Could Oswald have got a lift? Again nobody ever came forward with this information.

Tippit's actions that day were strange. He reported that he was at the (Good Luck Oil Company) Gloco gas station at 12:45pm. Why did it take the Dallas Police four months to find the instruction to Officer Tippit (and Officer Nelson) to go to the Central Oak Cliff area. There was no instruction in the first Dallas Police transcript of the police dispatch tape. There is evidence that the tape was altered! Tippit was sitting in his police car watching cars coming over Houston Street Viaduct. He was there for about 10 minutes according to at least five witnesses and then sped up the street for no apparent reason, police radio logs showed no instruction to move, or reason for him to speed away.

He proceeded to the Top Ten Record Store in West Jefferson Boulevard, where at 1pm he parked his police car and entered the shop in a hurry, asked people to step aside, and asked the shop worker Louis Cortinas if he could use the phone at the counter. He dialled a number, which rang 7-8 times but no one answered. He seemed upset. He hung up and drove away at high speed. He then stopped James Andrews by passing him out and cutting in front of him. He gets out of his police car, runs back to Andrew's car and looks between the front and back seats of Andrew's car. No words were spoken. Tippit then returns to his car and sped away. Andrews stated Tippit appeared very upset and agitated.

Conclusion

• There are certainly doubts over why Tippit stopped Oswald (his killer?) initially
• Could Oswald even be at the scene of Tippit's murder at the time of the shooting?
• Why was a fake wallet planted?
• Tippit's actions and behaviour that day were very unusual and never properly investigated by the Warren Commission. See Tippit's timeline for that day.

But then again, if Oswald didn't kill Tippit, why did he pull a gun and try to use it as the Dallas Police moved in to arrest him in the Dallas Theatre? Why did he say 'It's all over now' and/or 'this is it'. Is this not incriminating himself. If he was innocent surely he would react differently. Do we know for sure if these statements he made are accurate quotes?