Mr. WEITZMAN. That would be the south side of the street.
Mr. BALL. It was on the south side of the street. Was it in the street?
Mr. WEITZMAN. It was in the street itself.
Mr. BALL. On the pavement?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Anywhere near the curb?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Approximately, oh, I would say 8 to 12 inches from the
curb, something like that.
Mr. BALL. Off the record.
(Off record discussion.)
Mr. BALL. What did you do after that?
Mr. WEITZMAN. After that, we entered the building and started to search
floor to floor and we started on the first floor, second floor, third
floor and on up, when we got up to the fifth or sixth floor, I forget,
I believe it was the sixth floor, the chief deputy or whoever was in
charge of the floor, I forget the officer's name, from the sheriff's
office, said he wanted that floor torn apart. He wanted that gun and it
was there somewhere, so myself and another officer from the sheriff's
department, I can't remember his name, he and I proceeded until we----
Mr. BALL. Was his name Boone?
Mr. WEITZMAN. That is correct, Boone and I, and as he was looking over
the rear section of the building, I would say the northwest corner, I
was on the floor looking under the flat at the same time he was looking
on the top side and we saw the gun, I would say, simultaneously and
I said, "There it is" and he started hollering, "We got it." It was
covered with boxes. It was well protected as far as the naked eye
because I would venture to say eight or nine of us stumbled over that
gun a couple times before we thoroughly searched the building.
Mr. BALL. Did you touch it?
Mr. WEITZMAN. No, sir; we made a man-tight barricade until the crime
lab came up and removed the gun itself.
Mr. BALL. The crime lab from the Dallas Police Department?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Lieutenant Day and Captain Fritz?
Mr. WEITZMAN. I'm not sure what the lieutenant's name was, but I
remember Captain Fritz.
Mr. BALL. Did you see Captain Fritz remove anything from the gun?
Mr. WEITZMAN. No, sir; I did not.
Mr. BALL. What did you do after that?
Mr. WEITZMAN. After that, I returned to my office and I was called down
to the city that afternoon later to make a statement on what I had
seen.
Mr. BALL. I have three pictures here which I have marked, respectively,
D, E, F. I show you D first. Does that look anything like the location
where you found the gun?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Yes, sir; this is taken the opposite side the flat I was
looking under.
Mr. BALL. Looking from the top side of this picture?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Well, I would be looking over--Boone was looking the top
side; I was looking under the flat. We were looking over everything. I
was behind this section of books. I believe there were more books in
here [indicating].
Mr. BALL. What do you mean "in here"?
Mr. WEITZMAN. In this area [indicating] because at the time we found
the gun there were no boxes protruding over the gun.
Mr. BALL. In this area, you mean protruding over the gun?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Yes, sir; it was more hidden than there.
Mr. BALL. I show you the picture marked E. Does that look anything like
the area where the gun was found?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Yes, sir; it does.
Mr. BALL. I show you the picture marked F. Is that another picture of
the same area?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Yes, sir; as well as I remember, the gun was right in
here [indicating].
Mr. BALL. Would you mind making a mark there with a pen? That is on
F. Draw on Exhibit F, draw an arrow. The arrow in ink on F shows the
location?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Down on the floor.
Mr. BALL. Shows the location of the gun on the floor?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Yes.
Mr. BALL. Was there anything between the place the gun was found; were
there any boxes between where the gun was found and the stairway?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Yes, sir; there was a row of boxes between the stairway
and the gun because we came up the stairway and we couldn't help but
see it if it was in the open.
Mr. BALL. Take E here and make a mark on E as to the location of the
place where the gun was found.
Mr. WEITZMAN. Same area.
Mr. BALL. The same area and the arrow marks the place where the gun was
found?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Off the record.
(Off record discussion.)
Mr. BALL. In the statement that you made to the Dallas Police
Department that afternoon, you referred to the rifle as a 7.65 Mauser
bolt action?
Mr. WEITZMAN. In a glance, that's what it looked like.
Mr. BALL. That's what it looked like--did you say that or someone else
say that?
Mr. WEITZMAN. No; I said that. I thought it was one.
Mr. BALL. Are you fairly familiar with rifles?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Fairly familiar because I was in the sporting goods
business awhile.
Mr. BALL. What branch of service were you in?
Mr. WEITZMAN. U.S. Air Force.
Mr. BALL. Did you handle rifles?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Mostly Thompson machine guns and pistols.
Mr. BALL. In the Air Force, what were you?
Mr. WEITZMAN. I started out as a flying sergeant.
Mr. BALL. You flew the plane?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. How did you end up?
Mr. WEITZMAN. I ended up flying them; ended up in a prison camp.
Mr. BALL. Where?
Mr. WEITZMAN. I was overseas in Japan.
Mr. BALL. You also said at the time the rifle was found at 1:22 p.m.,
is that correct?
Mr. WEITZMAN. I believe that is correct. I wouldn't commit myself there
because I am not sure; I'm not positive that was it.
Mr. BALL. In this statement, it says Captain Fritz took charge of the
rifle and ejected one live round from the chamber.
Mr. WEITZMAN. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. He did eject one live round?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Yes, sir; he did eject one live round, one live
round, yes, sir. You said remove anything from the rifle; I was not
considering that a shell.
Mr. BALL. I understand that. Now, in your statement to the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, you gave a description of the rifle, how it
looked.
Mr. WEITZMAN. I said it was a Mauser-type action, didn't I?
Mr. BALL. Mauser bolt action.
Mr. WEITZMAN. And at the time I looked at it, I believe I said it was
2.5 scope on it and I believe I said it was a Weaver but it wasn't; it
turned out to be anything but a Weaver, but that was at a glance.
Mr. BALL. You also said it was a gun metal color?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Yes.
Mr. BALL. Gray or blue?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Blue metal.
Mr. BALL. And the rear portion of the bolt was visibly worn, is that
worn?
Mr. WEITZMAN. That's right.
Mr. BALL. And the wooden portion of the rifle was what color?
Mr. WEITZMAN. It was a brown, or I would say not a mahogany brown but
dark oak brown.
Mr. BALL. Rough wood, was it?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Yes, sir; rough wood.
Mr. BALL. And it was equipped with a scope?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Was it of Japanese manufacture?
Mr. WEITZMAN. I believe it was a 2.5 Weaver at the time I looked at it.
I didn't look that close at it; it just looked like a 2.5 but it turned
out to be a Japanese scope, I believe.
Mr. BALL. Didn't you, when you went over to the railroad yard, talk to
some yardman?
Mr. WEITZMAN. I asked a yardman if he had seen or heard anything during
the passing of the President. He said he thought he saw somebody throw
something through a bush and that's when I went back over the fence
and that's when I found the portion of the skull. I thought it was a
firecracker portion; that's what we first were looking for. This was
before we knew the President was dead.
Mr. BALL. Did the yardman tell you where he thought the noise came from?
Mr. WEITZMAN. Yes, sir; he pointed out the wall section where there was
a bunch of shrubbery and I believe that's to the right where I went
over the wall where the steampipe was; that would be going north back
toward the jail.
Mr. BALL. I think that's all. Do you have any desire to read this over
and sign it or will you waive signature?
Mr. WEITZMAN. I will waive my signature. I don't think the Government
is going to alter my statement any.