Mr. BENAVIDES. The parts house sets on Marsalis and 10th.
Mr. BELIN. Marsalis and 10th?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Yes; so I got almost up to the parts house and I thought
about the number, so I was going to go back and get the number off the
carburetor. I turned in a drive and turned around and started back.
Mr. BELIN. On what street?
Mr. BENAVIDES. On 10th Street.
Mr. BELIN. On East 10th?
Mr. BENAVIDES. I was going west on 10th Street.
Mr. BELIN. All right.
Mr. BENAVIDES. Then I got almost up to the corner when I seen the
policeman. I first seen the car stop up there.
Mr. BELIN. Now, you say you got almost to a corner. What corner was
that?
Mr. BENAVIDES. At Denver and 10th.
Mr. BELIN. You almost got up to Denver and 10th heading west on 10th
Street when you saw something?
Mr. BENAVIDES. I saw this police car.
Mr. BELIN. You saw a police car?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Where was the police car?
Mr. BENAVIDES. It was sitting about 4 or 5 feet from the curb and down
about 2 houses from the corner of Patton Street.
Mr. BELIN. All right. Was it between Patton and Denver?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. On what side of East 10th, north or south?
Mr. BENAVIDES. On the south side.
Mr. BELIN. What direction was it headed?
Mr. BENAVIDES. It was headed east.
Mr. BELIN. What did you see then?
Mr. BENAVIDES. I then pulled on up and I seen this officer standing by
the door. The door was open to the car, and I was pretty close to him,
and I seen Oswald, or the man that shot him, standing on the other side
of the car.
Mr. BELIN. All right. Did you see the officer as he was getting out of
the car?
Mr. BENAVIDES. No; I seen as he was, well, he had his hand on the door
and kind of in a hurry to get out, it seemed like.
Mr. BELIN. Had he already gotten out of the car?
Mr. BENAVIDES. He had already gotten around.
Mr. BELIN. Where did you see the other man?
Mr. BENAVIDES. The other man was standing to the right side of the
car, riders side of the car, and was standing right in front of the
windshield on the right front fender. And then I heard the shot.
Actually I wasn't looking for anything like that, so I heard the shot,
and I just turned into the curb. Looked around to miss a car, I think.
And then I pulled up to the curb, hitting the curb, and I ducked down,
and then I heard two more shots.
Mr. BELIN. How many shots did you hear all told?
Mr. BENAVIDES. I heard three shots.
Mr. BELIN. You heard three shots?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Where were you when your vehicle stopped?
Mr. BENAVIDES. About 15 foot, just directly across the street and maybe
a car length away from the police car.
Mr. BELIN. Would you have been a car length to the east or a car length
to the west of the police car?
Mr. BENAVIDES. East of the front side of it.
Mr. BELIN. So your vehicle wouldn't have quite gotten up to where the
police car was?
Mr. BENAVIDES. No; it didn't.
Mr. BELIN. How fast were you going when you watched the policeman
getting out of his car?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Oh, I imagine not maybe 25 miles an hour. I never did
pay much attention to it.
Mr. BELIN. You say you stopped the car right away? Your vehicle, I mean?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Yes, sir. I just didn't exactly stop because--I just
pulled it into the curb.
Mr. BELIN. Then you say you heard a shot and you then ducked?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Yes. No; I heard the shot before I pulled in.
Mr. BELIN. Oh, I see. You heard the shot and pulled in and then what?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Then I ducked down.
Mr. BELIN. Then what happened?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Then I heard the other two shots and I looked up and the
policeman was in, he seemed like he kind of stumbled and fell.
Mr. BELIN. Did you see the policeman as he fell?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. What else did you see?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Then I seen the man turn and walk back to the sidewalk
and go on the sidewalk and he walked maybe 5 foot and then kind of
stalled. He didn't exactly stop. And he threw one shell and must have
took five or six more steps and threw the other shell up, and then he
kind of stepped up to a pretty good trot going around the corner.
Mr. BELIN. You saw the man going around the corner headed in what
direction on what street?
Mr. BENAVIDES. On Patton Street. He was going south.
Mr. BELIN. He was going south on Patton Street?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Yes; do you know Dootch Motors?
Mr. BELIN. Do I know Dootch Motors?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Was he on the east or the west side of Patton as he was
going?
Mr. BENAVIDES. On the east side.
Mr. BELIN. You saw him going on the east?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. How far did you see him go down Patton?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Just as far as the house would let the view go. In other
words, as soon as he went past the house, I couldn't see him any more.
Mr. BELIN. Now, the first time that you saw him, what was his position?
Mr. BENAVIDES. He was standing, the first time I saw him. The man that
shot him?
Mr. BELIN. Yes.
Mr. BENAVIDES. He was standing like I say, on the center in front of
the windshield, right directly on the right front fender of the car.
Mr. BELIN. He was not moving when you saw him?
Mr. BENAVIDES. No; he wasn't moving then.
Mr. BELIN. All right, after you saw him turn around the corner, what
did you do?
Mr. BENAVIDES. After that, I set there for just a few minutes to kind
of, I thought he went in back of the house or something. At the time, I
thought maybe he might have lived in there and I didn't want to get out
and rush right up. He might start shooting again.
That is when I got out of the truck and walked over to the policeman,
and he was lying there and he had, looked like a big clot of blood
coming out of his head, and his eyes were sunk back in his head, and
just kind of made me feel real funny. I guess I was really scared.
Mr. BELIN. Did the policeman say anything?
Mr. BENAVIDES. The policeman, I believe was dead when he hit the
ground, because he didn't put his hand out or nothing.
Mr. BELIN. Where was the policeman as he fell, as you saw him?
Mr. BENAVIDES. I saw him as he was falling. The door was about half
way open, and he was right in front of the door, and just about in
front of the fender. I would say he was between the door and the front
headlight, about middleway when he started to fall.
Mr. BELIN. Did you notice where the gun of the policeman was?
Mr. BENAVIDES. The gun was in his hand and he was partially lying on
his gun in his right hand. He was partially lying on his gun and on his
hand, too.
Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Then I don't know if I opened the car door back further
than what it was or not, but anyway, I went in and pulled the radio
and I mashed the button and told them that an officer had been shot,
and I didn't get an answer, so I said it again, and this guy asked me
whereabouts all of a sudden, and I said, on 10th Street. I couldn't
remember where it was at at the time.
So I looked up and I seen this number and I said 410 East 10th Street.
Mr. BELIN. You saw a number on the house then?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. All right.
Mr. BENAVIDES. Then he started to--then I don't know what he said; but
I put the radio back. I mean, the microphone back up, and this other
guy was standing there, so I got up out of the car, and I don't know, I
wasn't sure if he heard me, and the other guy sat down in the car.
Mr. BELIN. There was another passerby that stopped?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Who was he, do you know?
Mr. BENAVIDES. I couldn't tell you. I don't know who he was.
Mr. BELIN. Was he driving a car or walking?
Mr. BENAVIDES. I don't know. He was just standing there whenever I
looked up. He was standing at the door of the car, and I don't know
what he said to the officer or the phone, but the officer told him to
keep the line clear, or something, and stay off the phone, or something
like that. That he already knew about it.
So then I turned and walked off. I never did assist him after that at
all.
Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do?
Mr. BENAVIDES. At the time I walked out, I guess I was scared, so I
started across the street--alley between the two houses to my mother's
house, and I got in the yard and I said I'd better go back, or just
caught myself until I got over there, I guess, so I went back around
there.
Mr. BELIN. When you went back, what did you do?
First of all, was there anything up to that time that you saw there or
that you did that you haven't related here that you can think of right
now?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Well. I started--I seen him throw the shells and I
started to stop and pick them up, and I thought I'd better not so when
I came back, after I had gotten back, I picked up the shells.
Mr. BELIN. All right. Now, you said you saw the man with the gun throw
the shells?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Well, did you see the man empty his gun?
Mr. BENAVIDES. That is what he was doing. He took one out and threw it.
Mr. BELIN. Do you remember in which hand he was holding his gun?
Mr. BENAVIDES. No; I sure don't.
Mr. BELIN. Do you remember if he was trying to put anything in the gun
also?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Yes. As he turned the corner he was putting another
shell in his gun.
Mr. BELIN. You saw him?
Mr. BENAVIDES. I mean, he was acting like. I didn't see him actually
put a shell in his gun, but he acted like he was trying to reload it.
Maybe he was trying to take out another shell, but he could have been
reloading it or something.
Mr. BELIN. Let me ask you now, I would like to have you relate again
the action of the man with the gun as you saw him now.
Mr. BENAVIDES. As I saw him, I really--I mean really got a good view of
the man after the bullets were fired, he had just turned. He was just
turning away.
In other words, he was pointing toward the officer, and he had just
turned away to his left, and then he started. There was a big tree, and
it seemed like he started back going to the curb of the street and into
the sidewalk, and then he turned and went down the sidewalk to, well,
until he got in front of the corner house, and then he turned to the
left there and went on down Patton Street.
Mr. BELIN. When he got in front of the corner, when you say he turned
to his left, did he cut across the yard of the house, or did he go
clear to the corner and turn off?
Mr. BENAVIDES. There is a big bush and he catty-cornered across the
yard.
Mr. BELIN. He kitty-cornered across the yard?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Yes. In other words, he didn't go all the way on the
sidewalk. He just cut across the yard.
Mr. BELIN. Where was he when you saw him throwing shells? Had he
already started across the yard?
Mr. BENAVIDES. No, sir. He had just got back to the sidewalk when he
threw the first one and when he threw the second one, he had already
cut back into the yard. He just sort of cut across.
Mr. BELIN. Now you saw him throw two shells?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. You saw where he threw the shells?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Did you later go back in that area and try and find the
shells?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Yes. Well, right after that I went back and I knew
exactly where they was at, and I went over and picked up one in my
hand, not thinking and I dropped it, that maybe they want fingerprints
off it, so I took out an empty pack of cigarettes I had and picked them
up with a little stick and put them in this cigarette package; a chrome
looking shell.
Mr. BELIN. A chrome looking shell?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. About how long did it take you to locate the shells once you
started looking for them?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Just a minute. I mean not very long at all. Just walked
directly to them.
Mr. BELIN. You saw where he had thrown them?
Mr. BENAVIDES. One of them went down inside of a bush, and the other
one was by the bush.
Mr. BELIN. Did you see him after he turned the corner of the house?
Mr. BENAVIDES. No, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Do you know whether or not he threw any--you said you heard
three shots. Do you know whether or not he threw other shells there?
Mr. BENAVIDES. No, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Did you look at all there?
Mr. BENAVIDES. No; I didn't bother to look there.
Mr. BELIN. Did you see him when he cut across the yard? Did he go
between the bushes to get to the sidewalk on Patton Street, or do you
know?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Between the house and the bush; yes, sir. He had to cut
across the yard, because there was a big bush on the corner there.
Mr. BELIN. Anything else you can think of about the man after you saw
him? What was he wearing? What did he look like?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Well, he was kind of, well, just about your size.
Mr. BELIN. About my size? I am standing up.
Mr. BENAVIDES. You are about 5' 10"?
Mr. BELIN. I am between 5' 10" and 5' 11". Closer to 5' 11", I believe.
Mr. BENAVIDES. I would say he was about your size, and he had a
light-beige jacket, and was lightweight.
Mr. BELIN. Did it have buttons or a zipper, or do you remember?
Mr. BENAVIDES. It seemed like it was a zipper-type jacket.
Mr. BELIN. What color was the trousers?
Mr. BENAVIDES. They were dark.
Mr. BELIN. Do you remember what kind of shirt he had on?
Mr. BENAVIDES. It was dark in color, but I don't remember exactly what
color.
Mr. BELIN. Was he average weight, slender, or heavy?
Mr. BENAVIDES. I would say he was average weight.
Mr. BELIN. What color hair did he have?
Mr. BENAVIDES. Oh, dark. I mean not dark.
Mr. BELIN. Black hair?