And I started talking to him and I asked him, I said, "Why did you kill
the officer?"
And he just looked at me. And I said, "Did you kill the officer because
you were scared of being arrested for something?"
And he said, "I am not ascared of anything. Do I look like I am scared
now?"
Mr. BELIN. Did he look like he was scared?
Mr. WALKER. No; he didn't look like he was scared. He was calm. Not a
bit nervous.
Mr. BELIN. Any other thing that you can remember that took place during
that time that he was with you?
Mr. WALKER. No; I can't recall.
Mr. BELIN. Were you asked ever to make a report of any conversation you
had with him?
Mr. WALKER. No; they called me on the phone a couple of days after, and
some supervisor asked me, there had been a rumor got out that Oswald
had said, "Well, I got me a President and a cop. I should have got me
two more." Or something like that.
But that conversation was never said, because I was with him from the
time that he was arrested until the time the detectives took him over.
I made a written report on the arrest about a week after it happened,
and that is the only conversation I had with anyone.
Mr. BELIN. In that report you didn't put any conversation that Oswald
had, did you?
Mr. WALKER. No; I didn't put any conversation. I just put the details
of the arrest.
Mr. BELIN. Were you asked just to make a report on your arrest of
Oswald?
Mr. WALKER. That is normal procedure, just what we call a "Dear Chief"
letter.
Just describe the arrest and other officers involved, and we never did
put what conversation we had.
Mr. BELIN. Anything else that Oswald said in your presence, or that you
said to him?
Mr. WALKER. Not that I recall.
Mr. BELIN. At any time prior to the time you left him, did you find out
he was a suspect in the assassination?
Mr. WALKER. When I got to the jail office and talk was going there that
he was the suspect.
Mr. BELIN. Did you ask him any questions about the assassination?
Mr. WALKER. No; I didn't tie him in at that time with the actual
killing of the President.
Mr. BELIN. Is there anything else you can think of now that might be
relevant?
Mr. WALKER. No.
Mr. BELIN. Now we chatted a little bit at the beginning prior to this
deposition, and you said that you knew Officer Tippit, is that correct?
Mr. WALKER. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. How long had you known Officer Tippit?
Mr. WALKER. Ever since I have been on the police department. When I
first came to work, I was assigned to the Oak Cliff substation and
worked there until I went to traffic investigation, and he was there
all the time.
I am sure I worked with him when I first started out and was training
and stuff like that. But I had worked with him prior to his death for,
I know, maybe 2 or 3 years.
Mr. BELIN. Now at the time of the Tippit shooting, there had been no
call for Lee Harvey Oswald as an individual, although there was a call
for--I mean there was an announcement of a general description of the
suspect in the assassination?
Mr. WALKER. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Just from your knowledge of the way Tippit operated, do you
have any reason to think whether that general call might have affected
his perhaps stopping this man on the street at the time of the shooting?
Mr. WALKER. I believe the type of officer Tippit was, that he was
suspicious of him as a suspect.
Mr. BELIN. Why do you believe that?
Mr. WALKER. Well, Officer Tippit was an exceptional officer. He made
good arrests. It was known around the station that he was exceptionally
good with investigative work and just general police work. He was above
normal.
Mr. BELIN. Why do you think he stopped this man?
Mr. WALKER. I believe that the description given on the radio, that he
probably stopped just to check him out as a general procedure, as we do.
Mr. BELIN. Well, if he stopped him for that reason, this man, he
would have stopped him because the man was a suspect for perhaps the
assassination, why wouldn't he have had his gun out when he stopped him?
Mr. WALKER. Well, there are a lot of people of that description, and
it is just not police practice to pull your gun on a person because he
fits the description of someone, unless you are positive almost that it
is the suspect. You just don't do it.
Mr. BELIN. Let me ask you, did you have anything to do on November 22,
or anything more to do on November 22, with either the Tippit shooting
or investigation or apprehension of Oswald or the assassination of the
President's investigation?
Mr. WALKER. No. I stayed down in Captain Westbrook's office for a while
until I got off.
Mr. BELIN. How about November 23, did you have anything to do that day?
Mr. WALKER. That would have been Saturday.
Mr. BELIN. Or did you work on Saturday?
Mr. WALKER. Yes, I worked on Saturday. I didn't follow up on any
investigation of any kind.
Mr. BELIN. Were you going back to accident investigation?
Mr. WALKER. Yes, I went back to the accident investigation.
Mr. BELIN. You didn't have anything to do with anything connected with
the assassination after November 22?
Mr. WALKER. No.
Mr. BELIN. Is there anything that we haven't covered here that you can
think of at this time, Officer Walker?
Mr. WALKER. Not that I can think of. It's been a long time, and I just
don't recall. I think there was more conversation with Oswald, but I
can't recall all of it. I just remember what I considered the high
points of it.
Mr. BELIN. Did he ever ask for a lawyer in your presence?
Mr. WALKER. I don't recall. I think he said--I know he was repeating,
"I know my rights." I don't recall him actually asking for a lawyer.
Mr. BELIN. Did he say where he got the gun?
Mr. WALKER. No, he didn't say where he got the gun.
Mr. BELIN. Did he admit that it was his gun?
Mr. WALKER. Never did ask him actually whether it was his gun. He said
he knew he was carrying a gun and he wasn't supposed to, so I assumed
it was his gun.
Mr. BELIN. Well, we certainly appreciate your taking the time to come
down here to testify before us, and we want to thank you very much for
your cooperation.
Mr. WALKER. Okay. I know you've got a problem here.
Mr. BELIN. Have I asked you whether or not you care to read the
deposition? I don't believe I have. You have an opportunity here to
either read the deposition and then sign it, or else waive the signing
of it and have the court reporter, Helen Laidrich, send it directly to
us in Washington?
Mr. WALKER. I will go ahead and sign it.
Mr. BELIN. All right, Miss Laidrich will get in touch with you at the
Dallas Police Department, I assume.
Mr. WALKER. Yes. Do you want me to sign it now?
Mr. BELIN. I am talking about when she gets it typed up. Do you want to
read it or have her send it to us directly?
Mr. WALKER. Do I have to come, down here to read it here?
Mr. BELIN. Yes, you have to come down and read it here.
Mr. WALKER. I will come down and read it and sign it.
Mr. BELIN. All right, fine. Thank you, sir.