Browse Exhibits (2 total)
The Investigators
Who Were They?
Chief Jesse Curry was the Chief of Dallas Police. He was a main investigator in both President John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald's assassinations. As Chief of Dallas Police, Curry was a main liaison between the press, government agencies, and witnesses.
Lieutenant John Day was the Lieutenant of the Dallas Police Department. Day was one of the major investigators for the events that involved Lee Harvey Oswald. He mainly worked in the Texas School Book Depository, collecting evidence that would incriminate Oswald, such as fingerprints, and retrieving the rifle that was allegedly used to kill President Kennedy.
Captain John Fritz was the head of the Dallas Police Department’s Homicide and Robbery Bureau. He led the investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy by ex-Marine Lee Harvey Oswald, as well as the subsequent assassination of Oswald by local nightclub owner Jack Ruby.
Detective James Leavelle was a member of the Dallas Police Homicide Department. He was initially in charge of investigating the Tippit murder. After Oswald was arrested, Leavelle helped question him and was later handcuffed to Oswald when Jack Ruby assassinated him.
Special Agent in Charge Forrest Sorrels was in charge of the Dallas Secret Service office from 1941 to 1969. He was one of the main agents involved in planning the motorcade route for JFK through Dallas. Sorrels also rode in the motorcade's lead car, which drove in front of the Presidential Limo. Sorrels also accompanied eyewitness Abraham Zapruder to The Eastman Kodak Company where the infamous "Zapruder film" was to be developed. After the assassination, he questioned both Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby.
The Employees of the TSBD
The Employees of the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD) provide us the unique testimonies of individuals in the same building as Lee Harvey Oswald when he killed President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Included in this exhibit are employees of the TSBD, the first investigators on the scene, and the officers who found the crucial evidence that charged Oswald with the murder.
Leslie Dell (L. D.) Montgomery was a Dallas Police detective who was the first Dallas Police Officer stationed on the 6th floor of the TSBD. He and his partner, Marvin Johnson, were tasked with protecting the 6th floor between 12:50pm and 1:30pm on Nov. 22, 1963.
Robert Lee (R. L.) Studebaker was a detective for the Crime Scene Service of the Dallas Police Department at the time of the assassination of the president. He was tasked, along with Det. L. D. Montgomery, with documenting the crime scene.
William H. Shelley - Foreman of the Texas School Book Depository, was in charge of all of the employees and operations in the building.
Bonnie Ray Williams was a black employee of the TSBD, and a co-worker of Lee Harvey Oswald's. On Nov. 22, 1963, Williams was able to place Oswald in the building and on the 6th floor of the TSBD around the time of President Kennedy's assassination. He witnessed the assassination from the 5th floor - just one floor below the shooter.
Jack Dougherty was an employee of the TSBD since 1952. Dougherty was one of only six TSBD employees present in the building at the exact moment of the shooting.
To learn more about the TSBD witnesses, click here.