The testimony of Floyd Guy Davis was taken at 9:30 a.m., on April 1,
1964, in the office of the U.S. attorney, 301 Post Office Building,
Bryan and Ervay Streets, Dallas, Tex., by Mr. Wesley J. Liebeler,
assistant counsel of the President's Commission.
Mr. LIEBELER. Mr. Davis, would you please rise and raise your right
hand. Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give is
the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. DAVIS. I do.
Mr. LIEBELER. Please sit down. Mr. Davis, my name is Wesley J.
Liebeler. I am a member of the legal staff of the President's
Commission investigating the assassination of President Kennedy. I have
been authorized by the Commission to take testimony from you and from
other witnesses pursuant to authority granted to the Commission by
Executive Order 11130, dated November 29, 1963, and joint resolution of
Congress No. 137.
I understand that Mr. Rankin wrote to you, Mr. Davis, last week and
indicated--in point of fact, the letter was returned to Washington and
it was on my desk when I left. It was addressed to the Sports Drome
Rifle Range and could not be delivered at that address. With the letter
that Mr. Rankin originally sent to you, he enclosed a copy of the
Executive order and joint resolution to which I just referred as well
as a copy of the Commission's rules of procedure relating to the taking
of testimony.
Since you didn't get copies of those documents nor the letter, I now
hand you copies of those documents which you may keep for your own
reference. It is my understanding that you were contacted by the Secret
Service and requested to come here and give testimony. Technically, you
are entitled to 3-days' notice. I don't expect you did get it, but you
are now here and I assume you have no objection to going ahead with
your testimony at this point, is that correct?
Mr. DAVIS. That's right, yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. I want to inquire concerning the possibility that Lee
Harvey Oswald engaged in rifle practice at a rifle range which would
be, I am informed, one which you operated at 8000 West Davis, Dallas,
Tex.
Before we get into the details of that, would you state your full name?
Mr. DAVIS. Floyd Guy Davis.
Mr. LIEBELER. What is your address?
Mr. DAVIS. 2824 Byway.
Mr. LIEBELER. How old are you, sir?
Mr. DAVIS. Thirty-two.
Mr. LIEBELER. Where were you born?
Mr. DAVIS. In Louisville, Ky.
Mr. LIEBELER. When did you move to Dallas?
Mr. DAVIS. It was approximately 8 years ago.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you move here from Louisville?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. You have lived all your life in Louisville and Dallas, is
that correct?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Am I correct in understanding that during the period
October and November of 1963, you were the operator of the Sports Dome
Rifle Range at 8000 West Davis?
Mr. DAVIS. That is D-r-o-m-e. It is Sports Drome.
Mr. LIEBELER. I was pronouncing it Dome.
Mr. DAVIS. I thought you were.
Mr. LIEBELER. Are you still operating that rifle range?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes, we are.
Mr. LIEBELER. When did you commence operating it?
Mr. DAVIS. The exact date, I don't have, sir. It was about the first of
October of last year.
Mr. LIEBELER. We are informed that the FBI has interviewed you and
taken from you certain shell cases?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. For analysis in the FBI laboratory?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Could you tell us briefly the circumstances that led up
to that, as far as you know.
Mr. DAVIS. Well, the only thing that I know that happened, there was
some people that said that they had seen Oswald out at the range on
three different occasions. I believe that it was on the 9th, the 10th,
and the 17th of November. And they informed the FBI that he was out
there. The two I am sure that contacted me was Mr. Malcolm Price or
Howard Price and Garland Slack, and the FBI in turn came out and talked
to us.
Mr. LIEBELER. Malcolm Price?
Mr. DAVIS. That is Malcolm Howard Price, is his full name.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you know his name yourself?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes; he worked with me.
Mr. LIEBELER. He worked with you?
Mr. DAVIS. He does now. At that time he was helping us out there trying
to get the range started, and he has a heart ailment where he don't
hold a regular job, so he helps us out there a little bit on the range.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did he tell you that he had seen an individual who he
thought was Oswald at the range?
Mr. DAVIS. He sure did.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did he tell you what date he thought he saw this man?
Mr. DAVIS. He said on the 9th and the 10th and the 17th.
Mr. LIEBELER. Three different occasions?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Were you there at the range on those days?
Mr. DAVIS. I was there, but not at the time that he was talking about
on the 9th and the 10th. Now on the 17th, I was there, and the two
individuals that he brought up in their testimony, I remember them
being there, but I don't remember the faces.
Mr. LIEBELER. How do you mean you remember them being there?
Mr. DAVIS. Well, Mr. Slack, there was this booth No. 9 on the rifle
range----
Mr. LIEBELER. On what date?
Mr. DAVIS. On the 17th; and I was holding the turkey shoot at the same
time. Mr. Slack come to me and was complaining about someone shooting
his target.
So there was two young fellows, I can remember the approximate height
of them but I don't remember what their faces looked like, that were in
booth No. 8. I do remember the person that was in booth No. 7, though,
because I don't know whether you have talked to Mr. Charlie Brown in
the last 2 weeks or not on this----
Mr. LIEBELER. Mr. Brown, the FBI agent, yes.
Mr. DAVIS. There was a fellow with a black beard in that booth No. 7,
at the same time. I remember him because he was outstanding, you know,
and I went to these fellows in booth No. 8, and was giving them heck
about shooting at the wrong target. And this other fellow, I remember
him because he wouldn't say anything to me. I tried to speak to him
two or three different occasions, because he had a lot of guns, and I
thought he would be a good customer.
Mr. LIEBELER. The fellow with the beard?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. He was how tall, approximately?
Mr. DAVIS. He was over 6 feet and he weighed a good 250 pounds. A big
bruiser.
Mr. LIEBELER. I think we can assume that was not Lee Harvey Oswald.
Mr. DAVIS. They were trying to find him. Charlie Brown was trying to
find this person, and 2 weeks ago on a Sunday morning I saw him in an
automobile out on Davis, I believe it was.
Mr. LIEBELER. The big fellow with the beard?
Mr. DAVIS. The big fellow there with the beard. And I got the license
number on the car and the type of car it was and called it into the
office.
I haven't heard anything from Mr. Brown since then, whether he got the
information, but I am sure he did when I turned it into the office.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now let's review this. Mr. Slack was in booth No. 9, is
that correct?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. This big fellow was in booth No. 7?
Mr. DAVIS. Right. And there was the two young fellows in booth No. 8.
One of them was 5 foot 6 or 5 foot 7, somewhere in that vicinity, and
the other one was about 6 foot, and he was blackheaded.
I can remember that, but as far as remembering their faces, with that
turkey shoot we had 225 people that day, I can't remember what they
looked like.
Mr. LIEBELER. You say that these two fellows, one was approximately 6
feet tall or over, is that correct?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Was heavy-set or slender?
Mr. DAVIS. No; he wasn't particularly heavy-set, he was just a medium
build.
Mr. LIEBELER. He was not of a light build, however?
Mr. DAVIS. No; he wasn't. He was just about my size. I would say 160 to
170 pounds.
Mr. LIEBELER. How tall are you?
Mr. DAVIS. Six-one.
Mr. LIEBELER. And you weigh?
Mr. DAVIS. I weigh about 160, but I was a little bit heavier about that
time.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you determine which of the fellows was shooting at
Mr. Slack's target?
Mr. DAVIS. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you speak to both of them or all three of them?
Mr. DAVIS. Not as an individual. I spoke to the group to be sure they
were firing at the right target and to watch where they were facing
because they were shooting at the wrong target.
Mr. LIEBELER. This Mr. Slack, now then, believes that one of the two of
these fellows could have been Lee Harvey Oswald, is that right?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes; that's right.
Mr. LIEBELER. Mr. Slack has told you that?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. And Mr. Price was also there the same day?
Mr. DAVIS. He said he was.
Mr. LIEBELER. He also indicated that he thinks one of those two
gentlemen was Oswald?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. You yourself had an opportunity to observe both of these
gentlemen, did you not?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes; I sure did.
Mr. LIEBELER. I want to show you some pictures which have been
previously marked as Commission Exhibits Nos. 451, 453, 454, 455 and
456, and ask you if you recognize from these pictures the pictures of
the individuals who were firing from booth No. 8, at your range on
Sunday, November 17, 1963?
Mr. DAVIS. He sure looks familiar, but I couldn't say for sure. It sure
looks familiar. This would have been the taller of the two, and this is
almost----
Mr. LIEBELER. You pointed to Commission Exhibit 451, and you think that
gentleman resembles the taller of the two men that were firing from
booth No. 8?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes; he is about the same size. The face features, I seem
to have seen them before, but as far as--it sure looks like him. I
couldn't say definitely that it was him, but it sure looks a lot like
him.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you see any resemblance between any of the pictures
which I have shown and the shorter of the two men?
Mr. DAVIS. The face on the other one, I couldn't say what it looked
like. So many of these pictures of Lee Harvey Oswald have been shown to
me, and they started showing me things about the time it all happened,
and I would hate to say that it was him. But definitely this fellow,
the taller of the two fellows was about his built. He looked like he is
about my size. He may be a little bit shorter in those pictures.
Mr. LIEBELER. What about the facial features of the gentleman on 451?
Mr. DAVIS. Like I say, the features of his face are familiar, they seem
to be familiar to me, but as far as definitely saying that was the
person out there I----
Mr. LIEBELER. You couldn't do that?
Mr. DAVIS. No, sir; but it does look familiar, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. I show you next a photograph that has previously
been marked Pizzo Exhibit 453-B, which is a photograph of several
individuals, one of whom has been marked by a green marker. I ask you
if that picture bears any resemblance to either of the two men you saw
firing from booth No. 8, at your rifle range on Sunday, November 17?
Mr. DAVIS. Like I said before I couldn't be too sure because I have saw
so many pictures of this that look like Lee Harvey Oswald that they get
to running together with them when I get to thinking about them, and I
would hate to say that I was, because I have saw pictures of him in all
different forms, in the newspapers, in--and also some that the police
have brought out there, and the Grand Prairie police brought them,
and some of the FBI, and I would hate to say because I was very much
interested in the case at the time it did happen, because myself it was
a blow to the business that I am in.
As far as someone with a high-powered rifle shooting the President like
he did, I was afraid they were going to pass a bill which would stop
that stuff, and it is like a hard blow to me.
Mr. LIEBELER. To your business at the range?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did your business actually fall off after the
assassination?
Mr. DAVIS. It practically died on that thing. It just
gradually--yesterday we had one person out there, compared to 80 and 90
when we first opened. Of course, they were in deer season. That had a
lot to do with it.
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you ever been shown this picture that I just showed
you before?
Mr. DAVIS. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. 453-B?
Mr. DAVIS. Not that particular shot.
Mr. LIEBELER. I will show you an exhibit marked Pizzo 453-C, and ask
you if you recognize that individual as being one of those who were at
your range on the date we have been discussing?
Mr. DAVIS. I have saw that picture or similar one before.
Mr. LIEBELER. You have seen the picture before?
Mr. DAVIS. I have seen a picture similar to him before. There was a
scar on his head, but as far as that is concerned, I don't believe I
have saw the individual.
Mr. LIEBELER. You can't identify that individual as either one of the
two that was at the range?
Mr. DAVIS. No, sir; definitely.
Mr. LIEBELER. Let me show you Exhibit 451 again and ask you if that
individual appears to you to be the same individual as Lee Harvey
Oswald, based on your observation of Oswald's picture in the newspaper
and the press?
Mr. DAVIS. That this is Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. LIEBELER. Yes. Does that appear to you to be Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. DAVIS. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. It does not?
Mr. DAVIS. No, sir. This Mr. Price did say that Oswald was in an old
model Chevrolet when he was out there on this Friday, the 9th, because
it was late in the afternoon when he came out there.
And Mr. Price helped him sight that rifle in. Helped him sight the
scope in on the rifle, and he had two comments to say about that rifle,
sir.
I am not for sure, I don't know anything about it, but he said that
the markings, all but the serial number had been filed off of this
particular rifle.
Mr. LIEBELER. Mr. Price did say that?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes, sir. And he said that the scope was the clearest scope
that he had ever seen for a small scope.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did he tell you what size scope it was?