THOMAS THISTLEWOOD
2014-10-15 01:28:21 UTC
NOW IT CAN BE TOLD
THE LEE BOWERS STORY
by David Perry
------------------------------------------------------------------
On May 6, 1992, "Now It Can Be Told" aired a program with the
intriguing title "The Curse of JFK."* During that show Geraldo
Rivera and his staff of reporters discussed the death of Lee Bowers
Jr. Bowers died August 9, 1966 about four hours after the car he
was driving drifted off a north Texas road and struck a concrete
abutment.
At the time of the Kennedy assassination Bowers worked in a
railroad switch tower behind Dealey Plaza. As tower operator he had
an unobstructed view of the area in back of the picket fence. The
House Select Committee identified that location as the probable
position of a second gunman. The Warren Commission felt Bowers'
observations were important enough to depose him.
Over the years investigators have related conflicting accounts
of how Bowers died. Some individuals claim the auto accident was a
murder. The account usually follows the line that someone killed
Bowers because he saw too much, never told The Warren Commission
all he knew and could have identified participants in the
assassination.
To me, Geraldo Rivera is a sensationalist. His staff does not
take time to confirm witnesses' stories. His research consultants'
veracity is usually unquestioned. The search for documentation is
superficial. Opinions pass as facts. With "The Curse of JFK" this
led to inaccurate reporting.
My investigation of Bowers' death began about a year ago. I
spoke with family members, friends and checked public records.
During Geraldo's show a guest mentioned Lee's brother Monty. Monty
died a few years after Lee. I first contacted Monty's widow in
August 1991 and now because of this program called again to ask for
her help. She and her family provided leads and background
information concerning events of that period.
After speaking with Monty's widow, I decided to reopen my
probe into Bowers' death. I would retrace the steps taken by
Rivera's staff. Maybe I could come up with some names, conduct
interviews and find what parts of "The Curse of JFK" were fact and
what was fiction.
Geraldo opened the segment with the first of many inaccurate
statements. He claimed Lee Bowers wanted to know who killed JFK. "
. . . (He) was looking for the answer to that question until his
untimely death." There is no evidence that Bowers ever attempted to
learn who shot Kennedy.
Next assassination researcher Robert Groden appeared. He
remarked, "Lee Bowers was heading west here on highway sixty-seven
heading from Midlothian down to Cleburne and according to an
eyewitness he was driven off the road by a black car. Drove him
into this bridge abutment. He didn't die immediately, he held on
for four hours and during that time he was talking to the ambulance
people and told them that he felt he had been drugged when he
stopped for coffee back there a few miles in Midlothian."
Author, researcher Penn Jones Jr. in his book "Forgive My
Grief II" said, ". . . his car drifted, according to two
eyewitnesses, into a concrete bridge abutment at 9:30 a.m. going at
a speed of fifty miles per hour. The doctor from Midlothian who
attended Bowers stated that he did not have a heart attack and that
he thought Bowers was in some sort of 'strange shock'."
Since Groden and Jones appeared on the same show, I thought
Geraldo's staff would have talked to both men. They gave
conflicting versions of the same story!
Were there three witnesses? Groden found one, Jones two.
Groden discovered some ambulance attendants who claimed Bowers said
someone drugged him. Jones found a doctor who maintained Bowers was
in a strange shock? Did the car drift or was it forced into the
abutment? Who observed the mysterious black car?
I started my inquiry by examining a description of the
accident. The summary appeared in Penn Jones' own newspaper, The
Midlothian Mirror.
"Lee E. Bowers Jr., 41, of Dallas, died
from injuries received in a one car accident,
Tuesday, August 9.
Bowers traveling alone in a late model
Pontiac, hit a bridge two miles southwest of
Midlothian on highway 67 about 9:30 a.m. He
was taken to W.C. Tenery Community Hospital in
Waxahachie, by a Pat Martin ambulance, and
later transferred to Methodist Hospital in
Dallas where he died at 1:30 p.m.
He was vice-president of Lockwood
Meadows, Inc. in Dallas."
I called the Pat Martin Funeral Home. The Martin Funeral Home
is now the Coward Funeral Home. Mr. Noel Coward purchased the
Martin Funeral Home in 1964 retaining the Martin name for
advertising purposes. Coward suffered a stroke recently and is
confined to a nursing home. However, because of the notoriety
surrounding Bowers' accident, he remembers the episode well. He was
the ambulance driver.
If the police requested the ambulance Coward might respond
alone as the police officers would help load the victim(s). If
Coward had an attendant with him, it would be "Skeet" Meadows.
Meadows died in 1991. Coward, through his wife, told me that
stories about the ambulance attendants talking to Bowers are
"bull." When Coward arrived "the man's head was pretty bad." Coward
thought he was dead. He loaded Bowers into the ambulance and headed
for Tenery Community Hospital. There was no doctor at th
e scene as Penn Jones implied.
It would have been better if Jones provided the name of the
alleged physician but "Forgive My Grief II" has no footnotes. I
found it bizarre a doctor would use the term "strange shock."
Wouldn't anyone that struck a concrete abutment ". . . at fifty
miles per hour" be in shock? I started my search for the doctor.
When the ambulance arrived at the hospital, Dr. R.E. Bohl met
it. Bohl still works at Tenery, now Baylor Medical of Waxahachie.
Over the phone Bohl stated, "I was never at the scene. The patient
was in shock but not a strange shock. He had severe head injuries
and was unconscious. He was unconscious all the time I was with
him. I was trying to save his life. He was transferred to Methodist
(Hospital) in Dallas where he died."
I asked Bohl why he remembered the details. Bohl remarked he
received some unusual phone calls several years after the episode.
"One was from a national magazine and another from a newspaper.
The reporters wanted to know what clothes the patient was wearing
and if he had a finger missing. I told them I was too busy trying
to save the patient and I didn't notice."
In 1991 I interviewed Charles Good. Good was not only a friend
of Bowers but a member of the Texas Highway Patrol. He claims to
have investigated the accident. Good suggested Bowers was returning
to Dallas from Mansfield, Texas where Lee had been showing some
real estate. Good arrived at the scene hours later:
"I spoke with an old boy who was repairing fences at
the time of the accident. He said he saw two cars coming
down the road one behind the other. He turned away for a
moment, heard a crash and looked back. One car had hit a
bridge abutment and the other kept going."
From his interview with the witness Good formed the opinion
that another car forced the Bowers' vehicle off the road. I
discussed the possibility that Bowers drove the car in the rear. If
the driver in front wasn't looking in the rear view mirror he would
not know the accident occurred. Good conceded the point a valid
one.
Midlothian is a small town. After some research there, I
concluded R.V. Edwards was one, if not the only witness. Roy Virgil
Edwards died on January 26, 1986. Dr. Bohl verified that Edwards
witnessed the accident. Bohl's medical office is in Midlothian.
Edwards was one of his patients. Additional corroboration came from
Mrs. Coward (both she and her husband knew him) and Barham
Alderdice, publisher of "The Midlothian Mirror." Bohl and Alderdice
acknowledge Edwards maintained he was driving a tractor in a nearby
field at the time of the accident.
Dr. Bohl claims Edwards said, "The car simply drove into the
abutment." Mrs. Coward only knew Edwards was a witness. Mr.
Alderdice related Edwards told him the car hit the abutment so hard
it was ". . . like it was pulled into it (the abutment)." Good is
the only one I can find who mentions a second car.
What about the spiked coffee story? I understand Bowers often
stopped for coffee, but not in Midlothian. He would drop by the
Lockwood Pharmacy in Dallas before his trips. He met with Doris H.
Burns, Dr. Alfred Cinnamon and Charles Good. Doris Burns moved to
Mississippi or Florida. I am unable to locate her. Dr. Cinnamon
died in 1989. Good maintains Bowers told his three friends he saw
more than he told The Warren Commission. Good cannot document his
claim.
Then, there is Robert Groden's story about the mysterious
black car. I can't find a legitimate reference to it anywhere.
Good never mentioned the color of either car to me. I discovered
Fort Worth, Texas researcher Gary Mack interviewed Good several
years ago. He indicates Good did tell him the story of a black car
forcing Bowers off the road. Mack also suggested he (Mack) related
the story to Groden. Based upon my interviews with Dr. Bohl, Mrs.
Coward and Mr. Alderdice, I question the authenticity of this
account.
The next stop for the show is Dealey Plaza. Walter Rishel
appears with a reporter (Morey Terry [phonetic]). Rishel confides
that Bowers told him all about what he saw from the railroad switch
tower. He explains that Lee saw two men fire shots from the picket
fence. The reporter asks Rishel why he thinks Bowers was afraid to
speak out.
"Lee had disappeared for about two days, one night
I know for sure. It was very uncharacteristic of him and
when he came back one of the . . . his fingers was
missing on one of his hands. So Lee gave Monty some
excuse for what had happened which Monty didn't accept.
So he called the local hospitals, the clinics and some
doctor's offices and there was no record of anyone
certainly not Lee going in and having that taken care
of."
Does this mean a sinister group hacked Lee's finger off to
shut him up? Here is what my research shows about the incident.
Rishel is a self proclaimed close friend of Monty and Lee
Bowers. Monty's widow and her brothers don't recall him. I cannot
prove Rishel's friendship with Lee through Lee's mother and father.
Both died earlier. At any rate, the family finds Rishel's story
inaccurate. They assert Lee lost only the tip of a finger, if that.
Bowers injured the finger at a swimming pool party sponsored by the
Green Clinic of Oak Cliff. He had his hand draped over the edge of
the pool. Someone jumped into the water feet first crushing the
finger against the side of the pool.
At the time of the injury Lee was the Green Clinic's
bookkeeper. Family members gather Lee had his finger treated at the
clinic by Doctor Tim Richard Green. Green graduated from the
University of Texas, Baylor College of Medicine. He practiced
general surgery and treated this type of injury previously. The
damage appears minor as no one including Rishel remembers which
finger Lee injured.
All the conflicting stories confused me. I decided to contact
Charles Good again and telephoned him on the evening of June 17,
1992. I will paraphrase our conversation.
Perry: When we spoke the last time you said you investigated
the accident, is that correct?
Good: Yes
Perry: Were you acting officially as a member of the Texas
Highway Patrol?
Good: No, in fact I don't think I went to the scene until the
next day.
Perry: Did you interview anyone?
Good: Yes, there was a man working in a field near the scene.
Perry: Do you know the man's name?
Good: No, but he was either repairing fences or working on a
fence in a field near the scene.
Perry: Was he riding a tractor?
Good: No, but this was the next day, he may have been driving
a tractor when the accident happened.
Perry: Can you tell me what the man said?
Good: He said he, "Saw two cars coming down the road. Then he
turned away, heard a crash and looked back. One car
had run into a concrete abutment and the other kept on
going."
Perry: Did the man interpret this as suspicious?
Good: No
Perry: Did the man describe the color of either car to you?
Good: No, I never asked about the color of either car.
Perry: Did you ever hear of Roy Edwards?
Good: No
Perry: I believe that was the man you spoke to.
Good: Ok, but I don't remember his name.
Perry: Did you ever hear of Walter Rishel?
Good: No
Perry: Do you remember if Lee ever lost a finger?
Good: I don't remember Lee losing a finger but I think he
cut a finger on a table saw. He came into the Lockwood
Pharmacy one time with a finger bandaged. I don't think
Dr. Cinnamon was there at the time. Doris Burns and I
asked him about it.
Perry: Just before Lee injured his finger, did he disappear
for a couple of days?
Good: Absolutely not.
Perry: Do you recall how long before Lee's death he injured
his finger?
Good: I can't remember exactly.
Back to the program.
Since the reporter had discovered in Rishel a friend of both
Lee and Monty, why not get an "expert" opinion on Lee's death?
Rishel quickly obliged. He contends that shortly after Lee died he
". . . was in Monty's office. He (Monty) was very upset because the
insurance company had refused to pay the claim. I can't recall too
vividly but I believe that Monty felt that the insurance company
did not believe that the death was accidental."
Walter Rishel is correct on this point. The insurance company
did not want to make good on the claim immediately. Monty Bower's
widow tells me Monty had to deal with the insurance adjuster's
belief that it was no accident. The company thought it was a
suicide. Lee obtained an accident/health/life policy within a year
of his death. The insurance company was investigating under the
"suicide clause" contained in the policy.
"Permissible provisions. State laws permit insurers to
include policy restrictions for suicide, aviation and
war. A suicide restriction is included in nearly every
ordinary life policy. An aviation exclusion seldom is
found and the war clause is contained in policies issued
during war or threat of war."
"Suicide. If the insured commits suicide
within two years (one year, in some policies)
from the inception of the policy, the
liability of the insurer is limited to a
return of premiums. Insurers, in the absence
of this clause, would be subject to severe
adverse selection."
At this point, Geraldo's brother Craig declares, "Bowers also
told his minister that he had seen more than he told publicly." To
learn the name of this individual, I checked the Bowers' obituary.
The item appeared in the "Dallas Times Herald," August 10, 1966 on
page 12C.
"Funeral services . . . were to be held at 3 p.m.
Wednesday at the Casa View Methodist Church. The Rev.
Willfred Bailey was to officiate at the services."
Local researcher Dr. David Murph interviewed Reverend Will
Bailey. Coincidentally, David Murph is a minister who has known
Rev. Bailey for several years. The two talked June 11, 1992.
Rev. Bailey commented, "Lee did discuss that day with me. He
said he saw movement behind the fence. He believed something was
going on, but he never got more specific than that. He did not
share with me any more than he shared with the Warren Commission."
We return to the studio where Geraldo is questioning Craig.
Geraldo asks, "If Lee Bowers' death was not accidental what was it?
Joining me now . . . Craig Rivera. What was it?"
Craig Rivera responds, "We don't really know because the death
certificate is missing!"
Craig is guilty of inaccurate reporting. The death certificate
is not missing. Anyone can obtain a copy as I did by visiting
Dallas City Hall, filling out an application and paying a fee of
nine dollars.
Geraldo continues, "What about the official autopsy?"
Craig answers, "There is no autopsy either!"
He managed to get that right but for the wrong reason. If he
read the death certificate he would discover an autopsy never took
place. "Multiple head and internal injuries" caused Lee's death.
The statue requires an autopsy for deaths by violent or unnatural
means (i.e. gunshot). The Justice of the Peace reviewed the
evidence and felt an autopsy was unnecessary.
Remember how Rishel claimed Bowers said he noticed two men
shooting at Kennedy? There is yet another version of this story! In
1967 another friend and fellow employee of Bowers, James R.
Sterling gave a statement to Gary Sanders of Jim Garrison's staff.
Sterling said Bowers ". . . observed two men running from behind
the fence. They ran up to a car parked behind the Pergola, opened
the trunk and placed something in it and then closed the trunk. The
two men then drove the car away in somewhat of a peculiar method."
In this rendition, no mention is made that Bowers witnessed the
actual shooting.
Mark Lane asserted Warren Commission counsel Joseph Ball
interrupted Bowers ". . . as he was about to give that (additional)
information" about what he saw. Many individuals forget Mark Lane
interviewed Lee Bowers on March 31, 1966. What additional
important detail did Lane get from Lee that the Commission did not?
" He was not sure as to what it was (that caught his
attention), but he believed it was a puff of smoke or
flash of light."
I find it incredible that some people profess Bowers told them
more than he told Lane. It would appear researchers and Bowers'
"friends" have developed and sought corroboration for their own
unsubstantiated stories. They lose sight of the truth as they twist
and embellish the facts.
In the end, Monty Bowers concluded Lee's allergies contributed
to his death. Both Monty and Lee had severe allergies and were
prone to fits of sneezing. They took antihistamines that provided
little relief. Monty told representatives of the insurance company
his allergies bothered him that day. He assumed Lee experienced
similar symptoms. Could it be, Lee took antihistamines, dozed off
and struck the abutment? Is it possible a sneezing fit caused him
to loose control of the vehicle? In my view the answer is YES. I
will modify my opinion when someone comes forward with verifiable
facts to the contrary.
THE LEE BOWERS STORY
by David Perry
------------------------------------------------------------------
On May 6, 1992, "Now It Can Be Told" aired a program with the
intriguing title "The Curse of JFK."* During that show Geraldo
Rivera and his staff of reporters discussed the death of Lee Bowers
Jr. Bowers died August 9, 1966 about four hours after the car he
was driving drifted off a north Texas road and struck a concrete
abutment.
At the time of the Kennedy assassination Bowers worked in a
railroad switch tower behind Dealey Plaza. As tower operator he had
an unobstructed view of the area in back of the picket fence. The
House Select Committee identified that location as the probable
position of a second gunman. The Warren Commission felt Bowers'
observations were important enough to depose him.
Over the years investigators have related conflicting accounts
of how Bowers died. Some individuals claim the auto accident was a
murder. The account usually follows the line that someone killed
Bowers because he saw too much, never told The Warren Commission
all he knew and could have identified participants in the
assassination.
To me, Geraldo Rivera is a sensationalist. His staff does not
take time to confirm witnesses' stories. His research consultants'
veracity is usually unquestioned. The search for documentation is
superficial. Opinions pass as facts. With "The Curse of JFK" this
led to inaccurate reporting.
My investigation of Bowers' death began about a year ago. I
spoke with family members, friends and checked public records.
During Geraldo's show a guest mentioned Lee's brother Monty. Monty
died a few years after Lee. I first contacted Monty's widow in
August 1991 and now because of this program called again to ask for
her help. She and her family provided leads and background
information concerning events of that period.
After speaking with Monty's widow, I decided to reopen my
probe into Bowers' death. I would retrace the steps taken by
Rivera's staff. Maybe I could come up with some names, conduct
interviews and find what parts of "The Curse of JFK" were fact and
what was fiction.
Geraldo opened the segment with the first of many inaccurate
statements. He claimed Lee Bowers wanted to know who killed JFK. "
. . . (He) was looking for the answer to that question until his
untimely death." There is no evidence that Bowers ever attempted to
learn who shot Kennedy.
Next assassination researcher Robert Groden appeared. He
remarked, "Lee Bowers was heading west here on highway sixty-seven
heading from Midlothian down to Cleburne and according to an
eyewitness he was driven off the road by a black car. Drove him
into this bridge abutment. He didn't die immediately, he held on
for four hours and during that time he was talking to the ambulance
people and told them that he felt he had been drugged when he
stopped for coffee back there a few miles in Midlothian."
Author, researcher Penn Jones Jr. in his book "Forgive My
Grief II" said, ". . . his car drifted, according to two
eyewitnesses, into a concrete bridge abutment at 9:30 a.m. going at
a speed of fifty miles per hour. The doctor from Midlothian who
attended Bowers stated that he did not have a heart attack and that
he thought Bowers was in some sort of 'strange shock'."
Since Groden and Jones appeared on the same show, I thought
Geraldo's staff would have talked to both men. They gave
conflicting versions of the same story!
Were there three witnesses? Groden found one, Jones two.
Groden discovered some ambulance attendants who claimed Bowers said
someone drugged him. Jones found a doctor who maintained Bowers was
in a strange shock? Did the car drift or was it forced into the
abutment? Who observed the mysterious black car?
I started my inquiry by examining a description of the
accident. The summary appeared in Penn Jones' own newspaper, The
Midlothian Mirror.
"Lee E. Bowers Jr., 41, of Dallas, died
from injuries received in a one car accident,
Tuesday, August 9.
Bowers traveling alone in a late model
Pontiac, hit a bridge two miles southwest of
Midlothian on highway 67 about 9:30 a.m. He
was taken to W.C. Tenery Community Hospital in
Waxahachie, by a Pat Martin ambulance, and
later transferred to Methodist Hospital in
Dallas where he died at 1:30 p.m.
He was vice-president of Lockwood
Meadows, Inc. in Dallas."
I called the Pat Martin Funeral Home. The Martin Funeral Home
is now the Coward Funeral Home. Mr. Noel Coward purchased the
Martin Funeral Home in 1964 retaining the Martin name for
advertising purposes. Coward suffered a stroke recently and is
confined to a nursing home. However, because of the notoriety
surrounding Bowers' accident, he remembers the episode well. He was
the ambulance driver.
If the police requested the ambulance Coward might respond
alone as the police officers would help load the victim(s). If
Coward had an attendant with him, it would be "Skeet" Meadows.
Meadows died in 1991. Coward, through his wife, told me that
stories about the ambulance attendants talking to Bowers are
"bull." When Coward arrived "the man's head was pretty bad." Coward
thought he was dead. He loaded Bowers into the ambulance and headed
for Tenery Community Hospital. There was no doctor at th
e scene as Penn Jones implied.
It would have been better if Jones provided the name of the
alleged physician but "Forgive My Grief II" has no footnotes. I
found it bizarre a doctor would use the term "strange shock."
Wouldn't anyone that struck a concrete abutment ". . . at fifty
miles per hour" be in shock? I started my search for the doctor.
When the ambulance arrived at the hospital, Dr. R.E. Bohl met
it. Bohl still works at Tenery, now Baylor Medical of Waxahachie.
Over the phone Bohl stated, "I was never at the scene. The patient
was in shock but not a strange shock. He had severe head injuries
and was unconscious. He was unconscious all the time I was with
him. I was trying to save his life. He was transferred to Methodist
(Hospital) in Dallas where he died."
I asked Bohl why he remembered the details. Bohl remarked he
received some unusual phone calls several years after the episode.
"One was from a national magazine and another from a newspaper.
The reporters wanted to know what clothes the patient was wearing
and if he had a finger missing. I told them I was too busy trying
to save the patient and I didn't notice."
In 1991 I interviewed Charles Good. Good was not only a friend
of Bowers but a member of the Texas Highway Patrol. He claims to
have investigated the accident. Good suggested Bowers was returning
to Dallas from Mansfield, Texas where Lee had been showing some
real estate. Good arrived at the scene hours later:
"I spoke with an old boy who was repairing fences at
the time of the accident. He said he saw two cars coming
down the road one behind the other. He turned away for a
moment, heard a crash and looked back. One car had hit a
bridge abutment and the other kept going."
From his interview with the witness Good formed the opinion
that another car forced the Bowers' vehicle off the road. I
discussed the possibility that Bowers drove the car in the rear. If
the driver in front wasn't looking in the rear view mirror he would
not know the accident occurred. Good conceded the point a valid
one.
Midlothian is a small town. After some research there, I
concluded R.V. Edwards was one, if not the only witness. Roy Virgil
Edwards died on January 26, 1986. Dr. Bohl verified that Edwards
witnessed the accident. Bohl's medical office is in Midlothian.
Edwards was one of his patients. Additional corroboration came from
Mrs. Coward (both she and her husband knew him) and Barham
Alderdice, publisher of "The Midlothian Mirror." Bohl and Alderdice
acknowledge Edwards maintained he was driving a tractor in a nearby
field at the time of the accident.
Dr. Bohl claims Edwards said, "The car simply drove into the
abutment." Mrs. Coward only knew Edwards was a witness. Mr.
Alderdice related Edwards told him the car hit the abutment so hard
it was ". . . like it was pulled into it (the abutment)." Good is
the only one I can find who mentions a second car.
What about the spiked coffee story? I understand Bowers often
stopped for coffee, but not in Midlothian. He would drop by the
Lockwood Pharmacy in Dallas before his trips. He met with Doris H.
Burns, Dr. Alfred Cinnamon and Charles Good. Doris Burns moved to
Mississippi or Florida. I am unable to locate her. Dr. Cinnamon
died in 1989. Good maintains Bowers told his three friends he saw
more than he told The Warren Commission. Good cannot document his
claim.
Then, there is Robert Groden's story about the mysterious
black car. I can't find a legitimate reference to it anywhere.
Good never mentioned the color of either car to me. I discovered
Fort Worth, Texas researcher Gary Mack interviewed Good several
years ago. He indicates Good did tell him the story of a black car
forcing Bowers off the road. Mack also suggested he (Mack) related
the story to Groden. Based upon my interviews with Dr. Bohl, Mrs.
Coward and Mr. Alderdice, I question the authenticity of this
account.
The next stop for the show is Dealey Plaza. Walter Rishel
appears with a reporter (Morey Terry [phonetic]). Rishel confides
that Bowers told him all about what he saw from the railroad switch
tower. He explains that Lee saw two men fire shots from the picket
fence. The reporter asks Rishel why he thinks Bowers was afraid to
speak out.
"Lee had disappeared for about two days, one night
I know for sure. It was very uncharacteristic of him and
when he came back one of the . . . his fingers was
missing on one of his hands. So Lee gave Monty some
excuse for what had happened which Monty didn't accept.
So he called the local hospitals, the clinics and some
doctor's offices and there was no record of anyone
certainly not Lee going in and having that taken care
of."
Does this mean a sinister group hacked Lee's finger off to
shut him up? Here is what my research shows about the incident.
Rishel is a self proclaimed close friend of Monty and Lee
Bowers. Monty's widow and her brothers don't recall him. I cannot
prove Rishel's friendship with Lee through Lee's mother and father.
Both died earlier. At any rate, the family finds Rishel's story
inaccurate. They assert Lee lost only the tip of a finger, if that.
Bowers injured the finger at a swimming pool party sponsored by the
Green Clinic of Oak Cliff. He had his hand draped over the edge of
the pool. Someone jumped into the water feet first crushing the
finger against the side of the pool.
At the time of the injury Lee was the Green Clinic's
bookkeeper. Family members gather Lee had his finger treated at the
clinic by Doctor Tim Richard Green. Green graduated from the
University of Texas, Baylor College of Medicine. He practiced
general surgery and treated this type of injury previously. The
damage appears minor as no one including Rishel remembers which
finger Lee injured.
All the conflicting stories confused me. I decided to contact
Charles Good again and telephoned him on the evening of June 17,
1992. I will paraphrase our conversation.
Perry: When we spoke the last time you said you investigated
the accident, is that correct?
Good: Yes
Perry: Were you acting officially as a member of the Texas
Highway Patrol?
Good: No, in fact I don't think I went to the scene until the
next day.
Perry: Did you interview anyone?
Good: Yes, there was a man working in a field near the scene.
Perry: Do you know the man's name?
Good: No, but he was either repairing fences or working on a
fence in a field near the scene.
Perry: Was he riding a tractor?
Good: No, but this was the next day, he may have been driving
a tractor when the accident happened.
Perry: Can you tell me what the man said?
Good: He said he, "Saw two cars coming down the road. Then he
turned away, heard a crash and looked back. One car
had run into a concrete abutment and the other kept on
going."
Perry: Did the man interpret this as suspicious?
Good: No
Perry: Did the man describe the color of either car to you?
Good: No, I never asked about the color of either car.
Perry: Did you ever hear of Roy Edwards?
Good: No
Perry: I believe that was the man you spoke to.
Good: Ok, but I don't remember his name.
Perry: Did you ever hear of Walter Rishel?
Good: No
Perry: Do you remember if Lee ever lost a finger?
Good: I don't remember Lee losing a finger but I think he
cut a finger on a table saw. He came into the Lockwood
Pharmacy one time with a finger bandaged. I don't think
Dr. Cinnamon was there at the time. Doris Burns and I
asked him about it.
Perry: Just before Lee injured his finger, did he disappear
for a couple of days?
Good: Absolutely not.
Perry: Do you recall how long before Lee's death he injured
his finger?
Good: I can't remember exactly.
Back to the program.
Since the reporter had discovered in Rishel a friend of both
Lee and Monty, why not get an "expert" opinion on Lee's death?
Rishel quickly obliged. He contends that shortly after Lee died he
". . . was in Monty's office. He (Monty) was very upset because the
insurance company had refused to pay the claim. I can't recall too
vividly but I believe that Monty felt that the insurance company
did not believe that the death was accidental."
Walter Rishel is correct on this point. The insurance company
did not want to make good on the claim immediately. Monty Bower's
widow tells me Monty had to deal with the insurance adjuster's
belief that it was no accident. The company thought it was a
suicide. Lee obtained an accident/health/life policy within a year
of his death. The insurance company was investigating under the
"suicide clause" contained in the policy.
"Permissible provisions. State laws permit insurers to
include policy restrictions for suicide, aviation and
war. A suicide restriction is included in nearly every
ordinary life policy. An aviation exclusion seldom is
found and the war clause is contained in policies issued
during war or threat of war."
"Suicide. If the insured commits suicide
within two years (one year, in some policies)
from the inception of the policy, the
liability of the insurer is limited to a
return of premiums. Insurers, in the absence
of this clause, would be subject to severe
adverse selection."
At this point, Geraldo's brother Craig declares, "Bowers also
told his minister that he had seen more than he told publicly." To
learn the name of this individual, I checked the Bowers' obituary.
The item appeared in the "Dallas Times Herald," August 10, 1966 on
page 12C.
"Funeral services . . . were to be held at 3 p.m.
Wednesday at the Casa View Methodist Church. The Rev.
Willfred Bailey was to officiate at the services."
Local researcher Dr. David Murph interviewed Reverend Will
Bailey. Coincidentally, David Murph is a minister who has known
Rev. Bailey for several years. The two talked June 11, 1992.
Rev. Bailey commented, "Lee did discuss that day with me. He
said he saw movement behind the fence. He believed something was
going on, but he never got more specific than that. He did not
share with me any more than he shared with the Warren Commission."
We return to the studio where Geraldo is questioning Craig.
Geraldo asks, "If Lee Bowers' death was not accidental what was it?
Joining me now . . . Craig Rivera. What was it?"
Craig Rivera responds, "We don't really know because the death
certificate is missing!"
Craig is guilty of inaccurate reporting. The death certificate
is not missing. Anyone can obtain a copy as I did by visiting
Dallas City Hall, filling out an application and paying a fee of
nine dollars.
Geraldo continues, "What about the official autopsy?"
Craig answers, "There is no autopsy either!"
He managed to get that right but for the wrong reason. If he
read the death certificate he would discover an autopsy never took
place. "Multiple head and internal injuries" caused Lee's death.
The statue requires an autopsy for deaths by violent or unnatural
means (i.e. gunshot). The Justice of the Peace reviewed the
evidence and felt an autopsy was unnecessary.
Remember how Rishel claimed Bowers said he noticed two men
shooting at Kennedy? There is yet another version of this story! In
1967 another friend and fellow employee of Bowers, James R.
Sterling gave a statement to Gary Sanders of Jim Garrison's staff.
Sterling said Bowers ". . . observed two men running from behind
the fence. They ran up to a car parked behind the Pergola, opened
the trunk and placed something in it and then closed the trunk. The
two men then drove the car away in somewhat of a peculiar method."
In this rendition, no mention is made that Bowers witnessed the
actual shooting.
Mark Lane asserted Warren Commission counsel Joseph Ball
interrupted Bowers ". . . as he was about to give that (additional)
information" about what he saw. Many individuals forget Mark Lane
interviewed Lee Bowers on March 31, 1966. What additional
important detail did Lane get from Lee that the Commission did not?
" He was not sure as to what it was (that caught his
attention), but he believed it was a puff of smoke or
flash of light."
I find it incredible that some people profess Bowers told them
more than he told Lane. It would appear researchers and Bowers'
"friends" have developed and sought corroboration for their own
unsubstantiated stories. They lose sight of the truth as they twist
and embellish the facts.
In the end, Monty Bowers concluded Lee's allergies contributed
to his death. Both Monty and Lee had severe allergies and were
prone to fits of sneezing. They took antihistamines that provided
little relief. Monty told representatives of the insurance company
his allergies bothered him that day. He assumed Lee experienced
similar symptoms. Could it be, Lee took antihistamines, dozed off
and struck the abutment? Is it possible a sneezing fit caused him
to loose control of the vehicle? In my view the answer is YES. I
will modify my opinion when someone comes forward with verifiable
facts to the contrary.
