Any truth to the claim that Tippit shot a burglar in the back in 1962?
No. Penn Jones, Jr., the legendary conspiracy theorist and former Midlothian, Texas, newspaper editor, wrote in his earliest self-published tome Forgive My Grief, “…Tippit knew how to kill. He is alleged to have killed a seventeen year old Negro burglar suspect about a year before he himself was killed. The burglar was running from the scene when hit in the back by a bullet alleged to be from Tippit’s gun…” (pp.1-2) Despite the charge, however, Tippit was never involved in this or any other similar event. Did Tippit make a cryptic remark to his son Allan the morning of the assassination? No. This is a well-worn rumor that first began circulating in the mid-seventies. Conspiracy theorists claim that on the morning of the assassination, J.D. hugged his oldest son Allan and said, “No matter what happens today, I want you to know that I love you.” Theorists claim that such overt signs of affection toward his son were uncharacteristic of Tippit and that the alleged statement was some so
