Mr. BELIN. You have now had an opportunity to read over Virginia Davis
Deposition Exhibit 3, is that correct?
Mrs. DAVIS. That's right.
Mr. BELIN. Is there anything on that statement that is not accurate?
Mrs. DAVIS. As I recall, this is all right on that statement.
Mr. BELIN. Pardon?
Mrs. DAVIS. I recall that is all right on that statement.
Mr. BELIN. Is there anything on that statement that is not accurate, to
the best of your knowledge?
Mrs. DAVIS. No.
Mr. BELIN. You are nodding your head no?
Mrs. DAVIS. Not that I recall.
Mr. BELIN. Now, in this statement it says that you and your
sister-in-law were lying on the bed with the two children when you
heard a loud bang, and immediately following the first report there was
another loud bang and you jumped up and ran to the front door? Is that
correct?
Mrs. DAVIS. That's right.
Mr. BELIN. Then it says, "When we got to the door and went out on the
porch, I saw a man who I later that day identified at the Dallas Police
Department." Is that correct?
Mrs. DAVIS. That's right.
Mr. BELIN. Now, according to this statement, you saw the man when you
first got to the door and went out on the porch? Now, did you see him
then, or did you see him----
Mrs. DAVIS. We saw him cut across after he had shot the policeman. We
saw him cut across our yard, and that is the last we saw of him.
Mr. BELIN. Well, now, you actually didn't see him shoot the policeman,
did you?
Mrs. DAVIS. No, sir.
Mr. BELIN. You saw----just saw the man with the gun?
Mrs. DAVIS. I just saw the man with the gun cutting across the yard.
Mr. BELIN. After you heard some shots?
Mrs. DAVIS. After I heard the two shots.
Mr. BELIN. Now, about how soon after you heard the two shots did you
get to the door?
Mrs. DAVIS. Well, we didn't even put on our shoes. We just run to the
front door.
Mr. BELIN. Was it a matter of seconds or a matter of minutes?
Mrs. DAVIS. A matter of seconds.
Mr. BELIN. When you got there, you opened the door, and what did you
see?
Mrs. DAVIS. We saw this boy or man cut across the yard.
Mr. BELIN. All right, and he had a revolver in his hand?
Mrs. DAVIS. That is right.
Mr. BELIN. In his right hand or left hand?
Mrs. DAVIS. In his right.
Mr. BELIN. This statement goes on to say that "The man had a revolver
in his left hand and was shaking the shells out of it into his right
hand." Is that right or wrong?
Mrs. DAVIS. Wrong.
Mr. BELIN. It was the other way around?
Mrs. DAVIS. It was the other way around.
Mr. BELIN. You got to the door and you opened the door, and what did
you see now?
Mrs. DAVIS. We saw this boy cut across our yard unloading the shells
out of his gun.
Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do?
Mrs. DAVIS. Mrs. Markham, this woman, was standing across the street
hollering to us to call the police. So we went back in there and called
the police.
Mr. BELIN. All right. Now, this statement says, goes on to say, "This
man was coming across the yard and was almost to the walk which leads
directly to the porch and is in a direct line with the front door."
Is that where the man was when you first saw him?
Mrs. DAVIS. That's right.
Mr. BELIN. "The man had a revolver in his left hand and was shaking the
shells out of it into his right hand."
Mrs. DAVIS. It was the other way, sir.
Mr. BELIN. But you say "The man had a revolver in his left hand and was
shaking the shells out of it into his right hand. As the man passed
directly in front of us, he looked up for a second or so and then
continued on across the yard to Patton Street in a normal walk." Was he
walking or running when you saw him?
Mrs. DAVIS. He was walking.
Mr. BELIN. Did he look up at you?
Mrs. DAVIS. No.
Mr. DAVIS. Pardon?
Mrs. DAVIS. No, sir; not that I remember.
Mr. BELIN. All right, you just remember kind of seeing him from a side
view?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. "At about this time, a woman directly across the
intersection from our house yelled out, 'He's dead, he's dead, he shot
him.'"
Mrs. DAVIS. That's right.
Mr. BELIN. "The man glanced up at the woman and kept on walking." Did
you see the man glance up at Mrs. Markham when she was yelling?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes; we saw when he looked over at Mrs. Markham.
Mr. BELIN. Did you see Mrs. Markham do anything when he looked at her?
Mrs. DAVIS. No; she was over there just hollering and screaming.
Mr. BELIN. Did you see her raise her hand to her face in any way?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes, sir. She raised both her hands to her face.
Mr. BELIN. You saw her do that?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Did you see her do anything else?
Mrs. DAVIS. No.
Mr. BELIN. You say, "He walked around the corner of the house that
faces Patton Street and out of sight." Is that right?
Mrs. DAVIS. That's right.
Mr. BELIN. "Barbara Davis and I returned to the house where she called
the police." Is that right?
Mrs. DAVIS. That's right.
Mr. BELIN. According to the statement then, it says that your sister
Barbara Jeanette called the police after you saw the man, is that right?
Mrs. DAVIS. That's right.
Mr. BELIN. "After she called the police, we went back out on the porch
but by then the man we had seen with the gun was no longer in sight."
Is that right?
Mrs. DAVIS. That's right.
Mr. BELIN. Then it says, "When the police arrived we searched the area
on the side of the house that faces Patton Street, and Barbara found a
gunshell that had been fired." It that right?
Mrs. DAVIS. That's right.
Mr. BELIN. "After the police left we again searched the area and I
again found a gunshell that had been fired. I later turned this shell
over to the Dallas Police Department." Is that right?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Then it says, "I have been given an opportunity to make
additions and corrections on this statement, and it is true to the best
of my knowledge and belief."
Did they give you an opportunity to make additions and corrections on
the statement?
Mrs. DAVIS. No.
Mr. BELIN. They did not?
Mrs. DAVIS. No.
Mr. BELIN. Did they read the statement back to you?
Mrs. DAVIS. Not that I remember.
Mr. BELIN. They may have but you don't remember.
Mrs. DAVIS. May have but I don't remember.
Mr. BELIN. Now, Mrs. Davis, you and I never talked about this matter
until the court reporter started taking your testimony, have we?
Mrs. DAVIS. No, sir.
Mr. BELIN. I never met you before, is that correct?
Mrs. DAVIS. No, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Have you ever talked with any person in connection with the
President's Commission before we started taking your testimony here?
Mrs. DAVIS. No, sir.
Mr. BELIN. I want to be certain that we get this time sequence correct
as to when you saw the man with the gun and when the police were
called, so I am just going to ask you to sit for about 30 seconds and
just think as to just what did happen, and then just tell the court
reporter in your own words just what did happen there.
(Three minutes of silence.)
Mr. BELIN. Now, Mrs. Davis, you may not be able to remember just what
exactly the time sequence was. You have been sitting here about 3
minutes, and if you don't remember what the time sequence was, why I
would like to have you so state. But if you do remember--or do you want
more time to think about it?
Mrs. DAVIS. Well, the best I can remember, it was before that we saw
the boy cut across the yard that we called the police, the best that I
can remember.
Mr. BELIN. In other words, it is your testimony, as I understand it
now, that you heard the shot, and then what did you do?
Mrs. DAVIS. We heard the second shot and we ran to the front door.
Mr. BELIN. What did you see?
Mrs. DAVIS. We saw this boy cut across the yard, and we had seen this
woman was coming home from work, she had on a uniform, that was Mrs.
Markham--we didn't know it was at the time, but she saw all that happen.
Mr. BELIN. What did you do when you got to the door?
Mrs. DAVIS. We saw the boy cut across our yard.
Mr. BELIN. At the time you got to the door, did you also see Mrs.
Markham?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Did you see both at approximately the same time? I will ask
you whom did you see first, Mrs. Markham, or the boy cutting across the
yard?
Mrs. DAVIS. The boy.
Mr. BELIN. You saw the boy first?
Mrs. DAVIS. That is who we saw first.
Mr. BELIN. Then you saw Mrs. Markham second?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Did the boy say anything?
Mr. BELIN. No, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Did Mrs. Markham say anything?
Mrs. DAVIS. Well, when she got across the other street, 10th, she
hollered, "He's dead, he's dead, he shot him."
Mr. BELIN. Then what did she say?
Mrs. DAVIS. She was screaming. I don't know.
Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do?
Mrs. DAVIS. Well, we called the police. Notified them.
Mr. BELIN. So you called the police after you saw the boy?
Mrs. DAVIS. After we saw the boy.
Mr. BELIN. And Mrs. Markham?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. You are nodding your head yes. Is that your testimony, to
the best of your recollection?
Mrs. DAVIS. That is my testimony.
Mr. BELIN. I want to ask you again, did you call the police before or
after you saw the boy?
Mrs. DAVIS. It was after.
Mr. BELIN. It was after?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes, sir; after, the best that I can remember.
Mr. BELIN. The best you can remember, you called the police before or
after you saw the boy?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Before or after?
Mrs. DAVIS. After.
Mr. BELIN. After you saw the boy, you went back in the house and called
the police?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Is there anything else that you can think of that we haven't
talked about that might be helpful in this investigation?
Mrs. DAVIS. No.
Mr. BELIN. Did you see any ambulance come up to where Officer Tippit
was?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes; I saw the ambulance.
Mr. BELIN. You got there before the ambulance, did you not?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes; we got there before.
Mr. BELIN. Did the ambulance get there first or the police get there
first?
Mrs. DAVIS. The ambulance got there first.
Mr. BELIN. Did you see anyone making any calls over Tippit's radio?
Mrs. DAVIS. No, sir.
Mr. BELIN. When you got to Tippit's car, did you take a look at that
police car?
Mrs. DAVIS. We didn't touch it.
Mr. BELIN. Did you look at it? Did you notice whether its windows were
rolled up or rolled down?
Mrs. DAVIS. The one on his side was rolled down.
Mr. BELIN. What about the one on the passenger side of the front seat,
did you notice that?
Mrs. DAVIS. Rolled up.
Mr. BELIN. Was that rolled up?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. When you got there?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. You are nodding your head yes.
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Now the front window has kind of a little window in it.
Do you know that little tiny part of the front window that opens and
closes?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Do you remember whether that one on the front seat by the
right side of the front seat was open or not?
Mrs. DAVIS. No, sir.