Was Lee Harvey OswaldĀ āPrayer Man?ā
Yesterday I saw that someone had requested me to cover this theory. I didnāt know much about it but found it extremely interesting. Hope I did it justice for you guys.Ā
On November 22, 1963, the President at the time, JFK, was assassinated in Dallas, Texas by a man named Lee Harvey Oswald. Thereās many people who believe that Lee Harvey Oswald was not actually the man responsible for the Presidentās death, while many other popular theories suspect that he wasnāt alone and had others help him.Ā
The JFK assassination has so many theories, and most of them, such as the magic bullet and the umbrella man have been discussed in depth. However, I have not heard much about this particular theory on who theĀ āPrayer Manā is and if you have not heard of this theory, youāre in for a treat, as many believe this man was Oswald, making it impossible that he could have assassinated JFK from the location the shots came from.
When JFK was shot he was travelling through a motorcade in downtown Dallas and the assassination was filmed. Two of the news cameramen, Dave Wiegman and Jimmy Darnell, had just begun filming when they heard gunshots. Most of where they were filming was believed to be of those who were standing along Elm Street, however in the film it shows the doorway of the Texas School Book Depository, where a figure stands and many believe this figure is Lee Harvey Oswald himself.Ā
In the films, there is a figure in the western corner of the TSBD doorway, standing on the left side of a man who has been identified as Billy Lovelady. The figureās right arm seems to be raised across their chest, which is why they are referred to asĀ āPrayer Man.ā Some think the figure had an object held up to their chest.Ā
It is hard to tell with accuracy what the person really looks like, however many believe the figure is a white man, dressed in a loose dark shirt with an open neck, with either short or rolled up sleeves. The figure has short hair and a lighter skin tone, narrowing down the possibilities that it is unlikely they are a woman or black.Ā
When JFK was shot, Oswald said he had been on the first floor, but the official doctrine states he was on the sixth floor of the TSBD. A witness named Howard Brennan, though considered unreliable, claimed that the gunman looked like Oswald, and many others came forward also claiming this.Ā
Many of these witnesses including Howard Brennan claimed the gunmanās clothing did not match what Oswald was wearing at the time. Oswald was seen on a lower floor around 15 minutes before the shooting, at the same time a witness saw the gunman on the sixth floor, and there were reports in the papers the next day that claimed the vice-president of the TSBD company and a policeman both saw Oswald shortly after the shooting in a storage room on the first floor.Ā
Going back to the films of the Prayer Man, many note the clothing. The man in the footage was wearing a shirt that was a darker tone, despite the film being in black and white. This would be consistent with the brown shirt Oswald was wearing at the time he was arrested, and theĀ āreddishā shirt he supposedly changed out of about 30 minutes after the shooting.Ā
Many believe this reddish coloured shirt could be the shirt that was shown in a black and white photo. Police later said they had a tan sportshirt and one brown shirt with button-down collar that were Oswaldās. Each of these shirts mentioned are consistent with the shirt the Prayer Man was wearing.Ā
Prayer Manās location was also worth noting, as he was at or close to the top of the steps with his back to the glass door, lots of people believe this was likely someone who worked in the TSBD building, as all of the witnesses who were standing there at the time were employees.Ā
There were multiple people who had been standing on the steps during the assassination. Two of those denied seeing Oswald after they had stopped working about half an hour before the assassination.Ā
A man named William Shelley last saw Oswald 10 or 15 minutes before 12pm on the first floor near the telephone. Shelley claimed he did not see Oswald again until he was at the Dallas police department, claiming,Ā āI did not see Lee Harvey Oswald at the time Pres. Kennedy was shot.āĀ
Because no one is able to positively identify Prayer Man, it was suggested that this figure arrived late on the scene, and was most likely an employee of TSBD. The other people on the steps all worked in the building, and most likely would have recognized the man as looking out of place if he did not work there with them.Ā
In March 1964, the Warren Commission asked the FBI to interview all of the TSBD employees at Elm Street on the day JFK was shot. There were 73 people interviewed in total, and all of them were asked if they had noticed a stranger in the building. All of them said they had not, further giving evidence that Prayer Man worked at TSBD.Ā
There were several other men working at TSBD who may have worn a shirt similar to Prayer Manās, but all of these men claimed to have been somewhere other than the steps during the shooting, some on the fifth floor, some on the first floor, one in particular was blocks away.Ā
Some theories believe that Prayer Man was not a man at all, but rather a woman who worked in the TSBD. There are only two possible women that it could be, Pauline Sanders and Saran Stanton, which most believe they were probably standing at the opposite end of Prayer Man.Ā
Some also think Prayer Man was black, which would mean that Oswald definitely could not have been the figure. The film shows either Carl Jones or Roy Lewis, standing steps below Prayer Man. Jones was supposedly wearing a light shirt, while Lewis was wearing a darker shirt, like Prayer Man. Whichever man this is in the film, they are standing alone just like Lewis claimed. The location of the other man is unknown, but there is no real evidence to suggest that either of these men were Prayer Man.Ā
Assuming that Prayer Man is a man and is white, like most of the film and photographs show, if he is not Oswald then he either did not work at the TSBD, which is unlikely as weāve discussed, or he is one of the five TSBD men who claimed to have been standing on the steps. However, all of these men can most likely be eliminated as the films identify all of them or at least the same look and stature of them, standing close to Prayer Man or their location was corroborated by someone else.Ā
Three of these men, Billy Lovelady, Buell Frazier and William Shelley can be eliminated as being Prayer Man with almost certainty. Lovelady was identified in the film as the man standing next to Prayer Man. Frazier was most likely to be the man standing near Prayer Man, and Shelley was wearing a white shirt, not dark coloured, and from his movements it was determined that he had probably already left the steps by the time Prayer Man was filmed.Ā
Two men, Joe Molina and Otis Williams are not entirely ruled out, however it is most likely that neither of them were dressed like Prayer Man on that day.Ā
Another part of the Prayer Man theory is known as the second floor encounter. It has been accepted that Oswald had actually encountered two men, named Roy Truly and Marrion Baker in the TSBDās second floor canteen less than a minute and a half after the shooting occurred. Due to the Prayer Man theories, many people believe that this encounter may not have happened, and instead it was much more likely that the encounter between the three men occurred close to the main entrance on the first floor.Ā
Many believe that if Oswald is the Prayer Man, it makes more sense that the encounter would have occurred close to the main entrance, though it would not be impossible for Oswald to have gotten to the second floor canteen if he had taken the staircase just inside the main entrance.Ā
Whether Oswald was the lone gunman or whether he had help from others has been highly debated and one of the most popular theories when it comes to the assassination of JFK. Lots of people believe that Oswald was involved, but did not do it alone. If Oswald is the Prayer Man watching the assassination from the first floor, of course he couldnāt be the person who shot JFK from the sixth floor.Ā
That being said, just because Oswald wasnāt on the sixth floor during the shooting, does not mean he was not involved in the crime. The rifle that was found on the sixth floor was apparently owned by Oswald, so despite theories he didnāt actually pull the trigger himself doesnāt mean he wasnāt involved in a plot to kill the president.Ā
Certainly there have been many different theories on what happened to JFK that day in Dallas, Texas. There have always been lots of people who believe that Lee Harvey Oswald was framed, either not having shot the gun himself, or was never involved to begin with. Most of the theories conclude that he was most likely involved, just not on the sixth floor when the assassination happened, involved but not the actual gunman. If Oswald wasnāt the gunman then who was?
The theory that Oswald is Prayer Man is compelling, however like most conspiracy theories, that is all it is; a theory. Was Oswald framed and really the Prayer Man standing there, but how did no one recognize him if numerous people mentioned seeing him around that day? Or if the Prayer Man wasnāt Oswald and just a random TSBD employee how did none of the other employees standing around him come forward and identify him? How has one manās identity never been uncovered despite several people standing around him?Ā
Maybe Prayer Man was involved in the assassination of JFK, but was able to remain unidentified letting Oswald be framed, or perhaps he really was just a random man watching the president drive through the motorcade that day.Ā
Unless someone comes forward with new information, profound proof, or a deathbed confession, it is unlikely that the identity of the Prayer Man will ever be known.Ā
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