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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. XV - Page 578« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Richard L. Saunders)

Mr. Saunders.
In general substance, that is a correct statement. There are some minor clarification points which I would like to bring out.
Mr. Hubert.
I notice that there is a question mark, apparently, next to the last sentence of the second paragraph on page 1, which sentence reads as follows: "He estimated that it took him a total of 10 minutes to arrive at his office after the president's car passed him and said that this would make his arrival time at approximately 12:40 p.m." Do you have any comment to make about that, sir?
Mr. Saunders.
The travel time of 10 minutes is correct. The arrival time of 12:40 would be dependent upon the time of the assassination, which I am not aware of at this moment. In other words, if the President was shot at 12:30, I would have arrived at approximately 12:40.
Mr. Hubert.
Where were you when the President himself passed you?
Mr. Saunders.
I was approximately 100 yards west of the triple underpass, at the railroad overpass at Stemmons.
Mr. Hubert.
And you walked back ?
Mr. Saunders.
No; I was in my automobile. My car was parked at that
underpass and I was outside of the car at a police motorcycle barricade.
Mr. Hubert.
Did you in fact witness the shooting?
Mr. Saunders.
No; we could not see the actual site. We could see the building the Texas School Book Depository Building, but you could not see the area of the assassination from the area where I was positioned.
Mr. Hubert.
When you left the position from which you walked, were you then aware that there had been some shots fired?
Mr. Saunders.
Yes. There was one of our reporters, Mr. Larry Grove, was at that point with me and I asked Larry what had happened and he said both Connally and Kennedy had been shot. At that moment a directive came over the police radio on one of the motorcycles that the shooting came from--and they directed the personnel--whoever they were talking to over the radio to the given window, which has now been purported that from which the shots of the assassin came.
Mr. Hubert.
But you heard about it over the police radio of a motorcycle standing nearby where you were?
Mr. Saunders.
Right.
Mr. Hubert.
Was there a police announcement that the shots had come from

a particular window in the Texas Depository Building?
Mr. Saunders.
That's correct.
Mr. Hubert.
Do you remember if they described the window on the radio?
Mr. Saunders.
They said--I believe---it was the next to the top floor, an open window at the far right-hand side, and then there was evidently some communication there which I missed, and they clarified, "No; as you are standing facing the building it would be on the sixth floor."
Mr. Hubert.
Now, at the time you heard that, had the Presidential car carrying the President to the hospital passed by ?
Mr. Saunders.
Yes; it was just moments before that they had passed by.
Mr. Hubert.
Could you see the President or the Presidential party?
Mr. Saunders.
We could see the party. You could not define anyone specifically in the car. There was what I now assume was an agent perched on top of the convertible in the rear, hanging on for dear life, and everybody else except the driver was crouched down in a pile, so to speak, in the car.
Mr. Hubert.
What about Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy?
Mr. Saunders.
You could see no one. It was just a mass of people. The
only two people you could possibly distinguish were the rider on the back seat of the convertible, with his feet in the seat sitting up in the back hanging on, and the driver in the car. The car went by at a very high rate of speed.
Mr. Hubert.
How long after that--after the shots--did you observe what you have just described ?
Mr. Saunders.
Well, I heard no shots. From my point there was enough traffic noise and general commotion that you couldn't hear shots.
Mr. Hubert.
When did you become aware that the President had been shot?
Mr. Saunders.
Oh, not more than 1 minute after the car had passed.
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