The testimony of Gerald Dalton Henslee was taken at 4 p.m., on April
8, 1964, in the office of the U.S. attorney, 301 Post Office Building,
Bryan and Ervay Streets, Dallas, Tex., by Mr. David W. Belin, assistant
counsel of the President's Commission.
Mr. BELIN. Sergeant, do you want to stand and raise your right hand,
please, to be sworn.
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give is the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. HENSLEE. I do.
Mr. BELIN. Will you please state your name.
Mr. HENSLEE. Gerald Dalton Henslee.
Mr. BELIN. Your occupation?
Mr. HENSLEE. A police officer.
Mr. BELIN. For what police department?
Mr. HENSLEE. City of Dallas.
Mr. BELIN. How long have you been a police officer?
Mr. HENSLEE. 16 years.
Mr. BELIN. You are a sergeant now?
Mr. HENSLEE. Sergeant.
Mr. BELIN. What did you do before you became a police officer?
Mr. HENSLEE. I was a student in SMU.
Mr. BELIN. At SMU?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Prior to that time?
Mr. HENSLEE. I was a dance instructor at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio.
Mr. BELIN. And prior to that?
Mr. HENSLEE. I was in the United States Army.
Mr. BELIN. Honorable discharge, sir?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. How old are you?
Mr. HENSLEE. 40.
Mr. BELIN. Married?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Sergeant, what were your duties on November 22, 1963?
Mr. HENSLEE. I was supervising the radio dispatcher's office at the
Dallas Police Department.
Mr. BELIN. Could you just describe your duties there as to what they
included?
Mr. HENSLEE. Well, in this instance, I was not only supervising the
channel 1 radio and the incoming radio calls, but was the police
dispatcher for channel 2, covering the special event of the arrival of
the President of the United States, President Kennedy.
Mr. BELIN. What were your hours of work that day?
Mr. HENSLEE. My assigned hours?
Mr. BELIN. Yes.
Mr. HENSLEE. 6:30 until 2 p.m. 6:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.
Mr. BELIN. Did you stay on after that?
Mr. HENSLEE. I stayed until about 5:30, as I recall, approximately.
Mr. BELIN. You mentioned channel 2. How many channels do you have?
Mr. HENSLEE. Two channels.
Mr. BELIN. Was channel 2 being used for the motorcade that day?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. I am going to hand you what has been marked Sawyer
Deposition Exhibit A, and ask you to state if you know what this is?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes. This is a transcript of the radio log of that date.
Mr. BELIN. For what channel?
Mr. HENSLEE. Channel 2.
Mr. BELIN. Covering from?
Mr. HENSLEE. From 10:25 a.m., until 1:53 p.m.
Mr. BELIN. Now I notice on the covering page it says that: "The
following was recorded on channel 2, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This report
includes information prior to the arrival of the President's plane,
progress of the motorcade, the shooting, and the escort to Parkland
Hospital. Also included are events concerning the shooting of Officer
Tippit."
Mr. HENSLEE. That is correct.
Mr. BELIN. Have you attempted to cover all calls that occurred that day
or just the calls pertaining to the subject matter that is included in
the covering paragraph.
Mr. HENSLEE. Pertaining to the subject matter, to the covering
paragraph only.
Mr. BELIN. All right, I hand you what has been marked Sawyer Deposition
Exhibit B, and ask you to state if you know what this is?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. What is Sawyer Deposition Exhibit B?
Mr. HENSLEE. That is a transmission pertaining to the shooting of
President Kennedy and Officer Tippit on channel 1.
Mr. BELIN. All right, I notice times on Sawyer Deposition Exhibits A
and B. Does this mean a time according to your police clock there when
an event happened?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. For instance, on Sawyer Deposition Exhibit A, I see until
12:40 p.m., a number of conversations. Then the next one is 12:43 p.m.
Does that mean that all the conversations took place between 12:40 and
12:43 p.m.?
Mr. HENSLEE. That's correct.
Mr. BELIN. They took place in the order in which they are listed here?
Mr. HENSLEE. Right. There were so many, we couldn't get the time in
after each transmission.
Mr. BELIN. Who prepared Sawyer Deposition Exhibits A and B, if you know?
Mr. HENSLEE. Well, I am pretty sure these are the ones I prepared. They
are copies of them.
Mr. BELIN. Do you know from what source they were prepared?
Mr. HENSLEE. They were prepared from the tapes on the channel 1. We
have a tape on channel 1, and we have a record on channel 2. Two
separate tape records, but they are prepared from those records and
tapes.
Mr. BELIN. Under your supervision?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. I notice numbers here. For instance, I see on Sawyer
Deposition Exhibit A, the No. 531 often appears. Would that be your
call number?
Mr. HENSLEE. This designates the radio dispatcher.
Mr. BELIN. Then I see the number here, No. 1 sometimes appears. Who is
that?
Mr. HENSLEE. That is the number assigned to Chief J. E. Curry.
Mr. BELIN. I see a No. 9. Who is No. 9?
Mr. HENSLEE. That is the number assigned to Inspector J. H. Sawyer.
Mr. BELIN. Different numbers are assigned to different people?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. If an officer is patrolling a district, does he have the
number assigned to a district if he is not a high officer in the
Department?
Mr. HENSLEE. That's correct.
Mr. BELIN. For instance, I see the No. 78 here. Does that appear to be
the number of J. D. Tippit?
Mr. HENSLEE. On that particular day it was.
Mr. BELIN. All right, anything else you can think of, Sergeant, that
might be relevant to the investigation into the assassination of the
President or the shooting of Officer Tippit?
Mr. HENSLEE. No. The only thing I have is what I observed over the
police radio that day. That is all the knowledge I have at all.
Mr. BELIN. All right, sir; we thank you very much for your cooperation.
One other thing, you have the right to read this deposition and sign it
before it goes into Washington, or else you can waive the reading and
have it go directly to Washington.
Do you have any preference?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes, I would like to read it before I sign it.
Mr. BELIN. That is all right. It makes no difference to us. And again,
we thank you.
Mr. HENSLEE. What else can I do for you?