{"id":33319,"date":"2013-07-25T16:13:08","date_gmt":"2013-07-25T16:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alternativejonestown.com\/?page_id=33319"},"modified":"2014-08-21T22:00:38","modified_gmt":"2014-08-21T22:00:38","slug":"eyewitnessjonestown","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=33319","title":{"rendered":"EYEWITNESS IDENTIFICATIONS?: THE VIEW FROM JONESTOWN THERE WAS NO BOB KICE"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nWhy Single Out Bob Kice?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why is this one accused assassin so important?\u00a0 The FBI eyewitness report cited twelve names of potential<\/em> accused.\u00a0 Everyone had a different \u201cversion.\u201d\u00a0 So why single out Bob Kice?\u00a0 This is why:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There were two locales, the Port Kaituma airstrip and the community at Jonestown, 5-7 miles apart.\u00a0 The survivors of the airstrip massacre lined up with \u201cThey<\/em> did it!\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0 Yet their \u201ceyewitness identifications\u201d corresponded to men seen prior to<\/em> the attack or possibly after,<\/em> not during.<\/strong>\u00a0 We know that because of the glaring mismatches cited in panels 8-11 of \u201cEyewitness Identifications?:\u00a0 The FBI Report Versus the On-Site NBC Film Footage.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All the FBI had to do was to show the on-site assassination footage to the survivors of the airstrip massacre (like in any \u201creal\u201d investigation) and ask, \u201cDo you recognize these men?\u201d\u00a0 Instead they suppressed the film and showed it to no one.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s how come they wound up with twelve \u201ccandidates\u201d for just three actual assassins and never verified <\/span>ANY<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong> of the accused against the on-site NBC film footage.\u00a0\u00a0 There was never<\/span><\/strong> any conclusion of \u201cthese are the three men who committed the airstrip massacre.\u201d\u00a0 (See<\/em> panel 12 of \u201cEyewitness Identifications?:\u00a0 The FBI Report Versus the On-Site NBC Film Footage\u201d for the FBI list of the accused twelve; see<\/em> panel 1-2 herein to locate the three assassins visually.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Which three of the twelve accused were the real assassins?\u00a0 Well, there was no reason to \u201cconvict\u201d any<\/em> of the twelve based on the FBI report!\u00a0 In fact, \u201cEyewitness Identifications?:\u00a0 The FBI Report Versus the On-Site NBC Film Footage\u201d discounts them all<\/strong>.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Since nothing was investigated, just a hodge-podge of conflicting testimonies called<\/em> \u201can investigation,\u201c we wind up with little more than a subscript of \u201cIt must have been them.\u00a0 Who did you see?\u00a0 That\u2019s who did it.\u201c\u00a0 Never mind that twelve isn\u2019t three and that there is no finding re who killed the Congressman, much less anyone else.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s not an \u201cinvestigation.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s a disgrace.\u00a0 I repeat:\u00a0 They had the primary evidence right in their hands, the on-site NBC film footage.\u00a0 All the FBI had to do was to show it to the survivors of the airstrip massacre and ask, \u201cDo you recognize these men?\u201d\u00a0 Instead they suppressed the film footage and showed it to no one.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yet more is required here, beyond dissembling the so-called \u201cofficial investigation\u201d and this is why:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There was not just \u201cThey<\/em> did it!\u201c from Port Kaituma, but at least one \u201cconfession\u201d from out of Jonestown<\/em>:\u00a0 \u201cWe<\/em> did it!\u201d <\/strong>\u00a0Namely from one Bob Kice.<\/strong>\u00a0 No, we don\u2019t have an audiotape.\u00a0 No, it was not put into writing by the \u201cconfessor.\u201d\u00a0 We have only the sketchiest account of what might have been said or claimed.\u00a0 Yet the tragic reality is that he was believed<\/em><\/strong> and that that belief was conveyed to Jim Jones as \u201ca certainty,\u201d with the ensuing cataclysmic consequences.\u00a0 As per the final tape:\u00a0 \u201cThey won\u2019t let us get away with this [namely, the assassination.]\u00a0 There is no way we can survive.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nevertheless, this is puzzling — seemingly counterintuitive on its face.\u00a0 Namely, why would someone confess to something he may well not have done? <\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Notwithstanding, the role of that \u201cconfession\u201d in the lead-up to the deaths at Jonestown was so key, that we need to confirm or discount that one lone \u201cconfession\u201d as much as to discount the twelve accused on the FBI list.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Again, the primary eyewitness remains the on-site NBC film footage, not what anyone<\/span><\/em><\/strong> said or claimed.\u00a0 But we are also into more thorny territory here — not just physical logistics now, but also psychology.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But Wasn\u2019t This an \u201cOrder\u201d?\u00a0 \u201cDo It!\u201d and then \u201cYes Sir, It\u2019s Done\u201d?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There was always a tacit assumption<\/em> that Jim Jones \u201cordered\u201d the killing of the Congressman and then the men who followed his order (tacit assumption:<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cdirect order\u201d) reported back to him.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yet to this day we have no idea what Jim Jones did or did not \u201corder.\u201d\u00a0 He was terminally ill (a visiting doctor from the States, Carlton Goodlett, had told him, \u201cJim, you\u2018ll die if you don\u2018t get to hospital\u201d), on heavy medication, raving paranoid, furious that the Congressman had come, furious that followers were about to leave.\u00a0 So let\u2019s say (speculative — I have no first-hand knowledge) that he said something mega-inflammatory like, let\u2018s say, \u201cSomeone needs to take care of the Congressman\u201d; and after all, he was surrounded by fanatics.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But that does not tell us what happened.<\/em>\u00a0 Peoples Temple was historically non<\/span><\/strong>-violent for a quarter century.\u00a0 So it\u2019s not like there was any history of you, go pick up a gun and shoot someone.\u00a0 There wasn\u2019t.\u00a0 We just know that the community had reached a boiling point when a handful of long-time members opted to leave and that one of the tiniest handful who were entranced with guns, Bob Kice, was the one who \u201cconfessed.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kice was also not<\/span><\/strong>, never<\/span><\/strong> \u201cinner circle.\u201d\u00a0 In fact in the States, both he and his cousin Tom Kice were considered suspect for the likes of NRA membership, way outside the Temple norm.\u00a0 So if Kice picked up a gun with intent to kill the Congressman and then went to the airstrip and in fact did it himself, it wasn\u2019t like Jim Jones said, \u201cBring me our enforcer Bob Kice,\u201d some direct \u201corder\u201d is given to Kice, Kice goes and kills the Congressman, then arrives back at Jim Jones\u2019 side saluting with \u201cYes sir, I followed your order.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Most unlikely it happened that way.\u00a0 Nor did anyone claim it did.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We don\u2019t even know who told Kice what, if anything, or what he interpreted or mis<\/span><\/em>-interpreted it to mean.\u00a0 Or what the person who told him whatever, had heard from whomever, who had said whatever, what that earlier person interpreted or mis<\/span><\/em>-interpreted it to mean, what the later person interpreted or mis<\/span><\/em>-interpreted it to mean, or if any \u201corder\u201c came from them either.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We do know that said \u201cconfession\u201d was conveyed privately, not publicly and that it was apparently taken at face value with no probing, no questioning, no doubt.\u00a0 It also took an indirect route<\/em> to Jim Jones.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is the actual route taken by said \u201cconfession\u201d:\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There are two ways we know that Jonestown \u201cclaimed credit for\u201d the assassination:\u00a0 1) the final tape with Jim Jones saying \u201cour people\u201d did it; which was 2) preceded by a private briefing conducted by Temple member Harriet Tropp who died at Jonestown, as recalled by a survivor who left the community at the last.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The briefing came first, upon return of Temple men to the community.\u00a0 Jim Jones did not conduct the briefing himself; he was told the conclusions of Tropp, one of said \u201cfanatics surrounding Jim Jones\u201d and took them as fact.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The confessor at that briefing named by a survivor was Bob Kice,<\/strong> one of the tiniest handful who were entranced with guns.\u00a0 Quote from the survivor:\u00a0 \u201cHe did it.\u00a0 This is a FACT.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is not to dispute the survivor\u2019s recollection, notwithstanding that we have no audiotape nor written confession nor has the survivor provided details or responded to questions.\u00a0 It is not even to dispute that the community believed it.\u00a0 They did.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 With the most terrible ramifications.\u00a0 Jim Jones put the mass death pact into motion upon confirming that \u201cour people\u201d killed the Congressman — no one disputes that — that this was the<\/em> trigger.<\/em>\u00a0 And Jones was 100% responsible for the mass death pact and its implementation, however <\/em>it happened.\u00a0 But that is not what is at issue here.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What is at issue is that if we are relying on a second-hand rendition to a third party about what might have been committed by a fourth party at a removed locale as \u201ca fact,\u201d then should we not at least see if that \u201cfact\u201d matches the on-site film footage from NBC?\u00a0 After all, this was a filmed crime scene!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And we have just one allegedly \u201ccertain\u201d assassin in the hodge-podge mix of \u201cI saw this one, I saw that one\u2026\u201d which is the FBI eyewitness report.\u00a0 Indeed, the FBI report names twelve \u201cassassins\u201d barreling in on the attack vehicle when the NBC film footage shows only six<\/em>, and only three<\/em> of them shooting in a forward charge, obviously the blast that killed the Congressman.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So (as the schematics to come will demonstrate) out of twelve accused, there were only three actual assassins.\u00a0 And shy of examining the NBC footage, we do not even know which three of the twelve were the assassins, if any<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Moreover, just one of those twelve was alleged to be \u201ccertain.\u201d\u00a0 Namely, BOB KICE.<\/strong>\u00a0 The dead man whom no one ever got to question.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So should we prove that THERE WAS NO BOB KICE, <\/strong>then whatever the recall of \u201cthe confession,\u201c or that it was believed, isn\u2019t it fair to say that the so-called \u201cconfession\u201d may fall apart?\u00a0 And how would that impact the story as a whole?<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What Was the Nature of the \u201cConfession\u201d?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The fact is that we don\u2019t even have<\/em> all the facts.\u00a0 We do not know who else was at that briefing, if anyone, what they claimed to have done or seen, if they also \u201cconfessed\u201d or if they implicated others.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nor have I been able to ascertain whether Kice said \u201cI<\/span><\/em><\/strong> did it\u201d or \u201cWe<\/span><\/em><\/strong> did it.\u201d\u00a0 That can be like night and day.\u00a0 \u201cI<\/em> did it\u201d is a confession, claiming the person did it himself.\u00a0 \u201cWe<\/em> did it\u201d can be a presumption: <\/em>\u00a0likethe \u201ceyewitnesses\u201d at the airstrip saying Peoples Temple must have done it even though the film belies their testimony!\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For all we know, \u201cWe did it!\u201d was like a fanatical Yankees fan pumped with adrenalin from a World Series win running through the streets with \u201cWe did it!!\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 After all, this was a remote locale, tempers flaring, and with no outsiders known to be there.\u00a0 \u201cWe did it!\u201d must have seemed like a certainty.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWho else could have done it?\u201d was not even posed.\u00a0 Just \u201cwe did it\u201d and \u201cthis is what we did.\u201d\u00a0 Because (as demonstrated in panel 7 of \u201cEyewitness Identifications?:\u00a0 The FBI Report Versus the On-Site NBC Film Footage\u201d), the men on the Temple vehicles had no line of vision to any shooter\u2019s face. <\/strong>\u00a0The attack was so sudden, brutal and swift (to be blunt, so professional<\/em>), that even the victims, every last one, with their attackers charging head-on, missed (as detailed in panel 11 of same), a seven foot tall giant dressed in solid military green!\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So what of Temple men in a tractor-trailer parked at a distance and at right angles to the attacking assassins, not able to see their faces at all?\u00a0 (See<\/em> panels 2, 3 & 7 of \u201cEyewitness Identifications?:\u00a0 The FBI Report Versus the On-Site NBC Film Footage.\u201d)\u00a0 If someone other than Peoples Temple had done it, how would they have even known?\u00a0 Conversely, if all twelve of the accused were at the airstrip , why would any of the Temple men (like Bob Kice for instance) not<\/span><\/strong> assume that \u201cWe did it!\u201d? \u00a0After all, no one was looking for strangers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (Ironically, as detailed on panel 14 of \u201cEyewitness Identifications?:\u00a0 The FBI Report Versus the On-Site NBC Film Footage,\u201d one of the newsmen did<\/span><\/strong> see strangers coming off an unidentified<\/em> tractor-trailer \u201ccovered with canvas,\u201d but his testimony was buried and ignored.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Moreover, whatever a long-since-dead gunhappy wannabe (Bob Kice) told a long-since-dead fanatic (Harriet Tropp) who then conveyed it to a long-since-dead madman (Jim Jones) is not \u201cevidence.\u201d \u00a0It\u2019s a story to be investigated.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But what if it was \u201cI<\/span><\/em><\/strong> did it!\u201c?\u00a0 Why would anyone want to take credit for some bad thing unless they did it?\u00a0 Lots of possible reasons:\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maybe he didn\u2019t think it was a bad thing.\u00a0 Maybe he thought it was heroic.\u00a0 Maybe he thought it was expected of him.\u00a0 Maybe someone said something to someone who said something to someone else that he took as an \u201corder.\u201c\u00a0 Maybe it was wrong-headed bravado.\u00a0 Maybe it was mob mentality.\u00a0 Maybe with all the panic, pandemonium and mixed signals, a psychotic adrenalin rush served as some kind of substitute<\/em> for \u201cI didn\u2018t actually see<\/em> who did it.\u00a0 Maybe it wasn\u2018t<\/em> us.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And why did the fanatic believe the gunhappy wannabe without challenge and then pass that \u201ccertainty\u201d on to the madman? \u00a0Well, maybe she<\/em> thought killing was good too.\u00a0 This was a woman who wanted to go fight violent revolutions in Africa.\u00a0 This was someone who thought that mass suicide was a great and glorious end.\u00a0 After all, she was the one chosen to deliver the speech ending with \u201c\u201cWe would rather die than be harassed from continent to continent.\u00a0 We are confident that people of principle will understand our position\u201d to the press regarding a previous mass suicide threat.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And why did the madman believe it without question?\u00a0 Maybe he wrongly trusted his fanatical deputy.\u00a0 Maybe he was too medically ill to think straight.\u00a0 Maybe he was paranoid out of his mind.\u00a0 Maybe he thought an imminent invasion forced their hand.\u00a0 Maybe he was so certain that they had to die, that he embraced any push over the cliff.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But it\u2019s not like the gunhappy wannabe \u201cconfessing\u201d to the pro-violence, pro-suicide fanatic who in turn informed the deranged madman with \u201ccertainty\u201c that \u201cWe did it!\u201d adds up to \u201cevidence.\u201d\u00a0 It may have just added up to a dangerously bad chain of command, in reverse and gone amok!\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We must also consider that \u201cconfession\u201d carries an onus that may not apply here.\u00a0 One may be forced to confess; or confess with shame and guilt, expecting disapproval, even punishment.\u00a0 We don\u2019t know that that was the case here.\u00a0 It might have rather been a \u201cclaim of credit.\u201d\u00a0 That would be done willingly, not reluctantly, and perhaps in expectation of approval, even adulation.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This brings us to a third possibility:\u00a0 that of collusion<\/em>.\u00a0 In other words, \u201cWe did it\u201c or even \u201cI did it\u201d whether I personally did it or not because we are all in this together; or it had to have been us, who else could it have been?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If we were not there at said \u201cconfession,\u201c have no audiotape or even exact quotes of what was said, we just plain don\u2019t know.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So shy of examining real, available, physical evidence, maybe that was all just a\u2026 presumption<\/em>.\u00a0 Yes, something horrendous, explosive, irreversible had already happened:\u00a0 the killing of the Congressman and others in his party.\u00a0 But why would we think that the wannabe, the fanatic and the madman, all panicked, facing death, branding the Congressman as \u201cthe enemy,\u201d were people with the time, the opportunity, the clarity to investigate, not presume<\/em>?\u00a0 Maybe they presumed everything in sight.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

IT REMAINS THE ON-SITE FILM THAT IS THE EVIDENCE.\u00a0 AND THAT REVEALS <\/span><\/strong>NO BOB KICE:<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Squad Diamond<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If Kice was indeed a shooter, we know where to find him on the NBC film footage.\u00a0 Kice would have been one of the group of three shooters emerging from the back of the trailer (position 1-3 on panel 2<\/a> .)\u00a0 This is why:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This was a standard military formation called a squad diamond, executed in perfect sequence, precision and speed.\u00a0 (The reader is referred to \u201cLogistics: Military Execution\u201d for frame-by frame demonstration of the footwork using the NBC on-site film footage.)\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Look at the schematic (panel 1<\/a> ) to see what the completed formation looks like.\u00a0 See panel 2<\/a> )for the actual placement of the soldiers on the field — here \u201cthe field\u201d being the attack vehicle at its staging point on the airstrip.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When a New York network showed the entirety<\/em> of the assassination film on November 17, 1979, well, aside from the horror of it, all that registered in terms of a schematic was a symmetry and a fanning out.\u00a0 I have no military training and didn\u2019t know what I was looking at.\u00a0 But I had an Army veteran by my side saying, \u201cI know what that is.\u00a0 It\u2019s a squad diamond.\u00a0 You learn that in basic training.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well, upon viewing the scant first seconds of the attack so many years later on, my first thought was that the footage is probably lopped off too soon.\u00a0 How can you see a formation?\u00a0 <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But a closer look revealed the exact footwork, even just the right number of men (namely, 6.)\u00a0 The front triangle of the formation is already<\/em> completed in those first few seconds.\u00a0 It\u2019s just that no one slowed it down.\u00a0 No one looked.\u00a0 It\u2019s right there in plain sight. <\/strong>\u00a0(See \u201cLogistics:\u00a0 Military Execution.\u201c)\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And we know the direction in which they will charge because we know where they were positioned in relation to the plane — opposite the NBC cameraman who was filming the scene from the left side of the plane.\u00a0 There was only one direction to head and the triangle of shooters had already fallen into position.\u00a0 It\u2019s like when a baseball player hits the ball into the outfield, you know what direction it\u2019s going as soon as the bat makes contact; and you know that with a home run, he will be running around bases 1, 2, 3, and home.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Indeed, there is one rendition of the NBC footage (it\u2019s shown up in many documentaries), Stanley Nelson\u2019s \u201cJonestown:\u00a0 The Life and Death of Peoples Temple\u201d where the first shot, fired by the lead assassin, is clearly heard and seen before<\/em> the NBC film footage is lopped off.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Those few seconds of film are like an instruction manual on how this formation is done.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Again, it is soldiers 1-3 that are the shooting part of the formation, with soldiers 4-6 folding in as the rear guard (see<\/em> panels 1<\/a>–2<\/a> .<\/span>)\u00a0 The film footage aired in the Nelson film goes up to the first shot fired straight ahead by the lead assassin (position 2) as the soldiers in positions 1 and 3 are folding into his left and right flanks, respectively.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And what of soldiers 4-6?\u00a0 With this horrifying ambush, the formation had to advance at warp drive speed before the victims could scatter, so any soldier filmed holding back those first few seconds had a different function.\u00a0 But that is precisely how this formation works:\u00a0 The lead three soldiers forward charge, the back three soldiers protect the rear guard (see<\/em> panel 1<\/a> .)\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As broken down in \u201cLogistics:\u00a0 Military Execution,\u201d the gunman who has emerged in front of<\/em> the vehicle (position 4) is not shooting at the victims at all but rather into the air.\u00a0 He has stationed himself up front to divert the victims\u2019 attention away from the attackers disembarking from the back of the vehicle, as well as to mark their disembarkation and forward charge, respectively, with his two carefully-spaced gunshots.\u00a0 His shots up into the air are in the direction of the back of the vehicle, not just randomly into space.\u00a0 He is pacing the movements of soldiers 1-3, is facing in their direction and will be headed that way himself once they have disembarked and begun their forward charge.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Meanwhile, the two soldiers in positions 5 and 6, respectively, are just sitting there waiting in the trailer (panel 2<\/a> .)\u00a0 As they would be.<\/em>\u00a0 They are not shooters; they are the rear guard.\u00a0 They can hop over the trailer rim when the shooting is underway.\u00a0 The front triangle of shooters had to advance before the back triangle, the rear guard, could fall into place.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For confirmation, look at the schematic of the squad diamond<\/strong> on panel 1<\/a> .)\u00a0 You can see visually why only positions 1-3 were labeled \u201cassassins.\u201d\u00a0 If positions 4-6 also had guns blazing, they would be shooting into the three assassins\u2019 backs!!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Panel 2<\/a> is the actual NBC on-site film footage.\u00a0 This shows part of the disembarkation of the assassins, just one frame.\u00a0 We do not get to see the formation advance because the film was lopped off at the first shot fired by the lead assassin, but when I first viewed this film in its entirety on November 17, 1979, the formation was so clear that that\u2019s when my Army veteran friend sitting next to me (one Al Morrison, now deceased) immediately said, \u201cOh, I know what that is.\u00a0 It\u2019s a squad diamond.\u00a0 You learn that in basic training.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Note that a formation is not just a schematic.\u00a0 The schematic is what the formation will look like once all the soldiers are in place.\u00a0 Panel 2, however, shows where all the participants were located on the attack vehicle, positions 1-6.\u00a0 The participants are numbered as such so they can be patched against the schematic.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cLogistics\u201d Military Execution\u201d demonstrates the disembarkation into formation step-by-step visually, using the actual film footage.<\/em>\u00a0 All we need to grasp now regarding whether Bob Kice<\/strong> was an assassin or not, is that we need to locate him amongst the three gunmen disembarking in the back, positions 1-3.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 O.k., as a backdrop, we have first spelled out the military formation that was used by the assassins:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1.<\/a>\u00a0 The squad diamond schematic.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2.<\/a><\/span>\u00a0 Using the on-site NBC film footage, where the assassins were placed in relation to the squad diamond.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now let\u2019s look for Kice.\u00a0 We need to determine for each gunman yes, maybe, unlikely or impossible that it was Bob Kice.<\/strong>\u00a0 If we are claiming that he was not there<\/em> (as this researcher is doing unequivocally),<\/em><\/strong> then let\u2019s prove it:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 3.<\/a>\u00a0\u201cOk.\u00a0 Let\u2019s See If We Can Spot Bob Kice\u201d:\u00a0 Photo of Robert Edward (Bob) Kice.\u00a0 Physical descriptions and background of both Bob and Tom Kice.\u00a0 (Tom was a somewhat older relative, an uncle or cousin.)\u00a0 Emphasis on posture and height, key factors in assessing the photos of the assassins from the NBC film footage<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 4.<\/a> Beginning a questionnaire as to whether any<\/em><\/strong> of the assassins could have been Bob Kice.\u00a0 \u201cAssassin 1:\u00a0 Was this man Bob Kice?\u00a0 Answer:\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Why:\u00a0 \u00a0explanation)<\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 5.<\/a> \u201cAssassin 2:\u00a0 Was this man Bob Kice?\u00a0 Answer:\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Why:\u00a0 \u00a0(explanation) <\/span>.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cAssassin 3:\u00a0 Was this man Bob Kice?\u00a0 Answer:\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Why:\u00a0 \u00a0(explanation) <\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 6.<\/a> Follow-Up Questions:\u00a0 Did no one at Jonestown equal the height of assassin 2?\u00a0 But weren\u2019t there other Temple men that survivors were \u201csure\u201d were assassins?\u00a0 What of the other three on the scene, rear guard 4, 5 & 6?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 7.<\/a> What Can We Conclude?:\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 None of the assassins were Bob Kice.\u00a0 Physical characteristics of the assassins rule him out.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 None of the assassins were anyone from Jonestown.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was impossible that the lead assassin was from Jonestown due to excessive height as well as inexplicable height discrepancy<\/em><\/strong> between the assassins.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The lead assassin was a giant-sized brute dressed in solid green military camouflage that no eyewitness even mentioned seeing!\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The so-called \u201cconfession\u201d from Bob Kice heard second-hand at another locale must be discounted as macho bravado; the only primary evidence, the film footage itself, definitively rules him out.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Again, the entire 417-page FBI eyewitness report is discredited.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why Single Out Bob Kice? \u00a0 Why is this one accused assassin so important?\u00a0 The FBI eyewitness report cited twelve names of potential accused.\u00a0 Everyone had a different \u201cversion.\u201d\u00a0 So why single out Bob Kice?\u00a0 This is why: \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There were two locales, the Port Kaituma airstrip and the community at Jonestown, 5-7 miles […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":33311,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-33319","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33319"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51146,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33319\/revisions\/51146"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}