Mr. BELIN. If you put your initials on or your name on on November 25,
how do you know this was the same box that was there when you first
came?
Mr. DAY. There was a scar on the top of or the top side of this box
that was sitting there. I noticed that at the time. I thought the
recoil of the gun had caused that. I later decided that was in the
wrong direction. It was not the recoil of the gun but I did notice this
scar on the box.
Mr. BELIN. When you came back on the 25th where did you find this box,
641?
Mr. DAY. They were still in the area of the window but had been moved
from their original position.
Mr. BELIN. Does that scar appear on the box in 733?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. I see there was one box in the window which you have
reconstructed as being box 653, am I correct on that?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. And then there is a box which is stacked on top of another
box, the upper box of that two-box stack is 641, is that correct?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. And there is a scar on top of that. Is this the same one
that you referred to at the top of 641?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. Do you know when you initialed box No. 653?
Mr. DAY. No, sir; I don't know exactly which day it was.
Mr. BELIN. Do you have any independent recollection of this being the
same box you saw in the window?
Mr. DAY. I beg pardon?
Mr. BELIN. Do you have any independent recollection of this being the
same box that you saw in the window, if you don't remember when you
initialed it?
Mr. DAY. No, sir; except that it was still there in that area and had
been dusted on the 25th. We did dust it on the 22d.
Mr. BELIN. Let me ask you this: When you were dusting it were there
remains of the dust on there?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. When you put your initials on on the 25th were the dust
remains still there?
Mr. DAY. The dust was still there; yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. On all of these boxes, 641 and 653, and now handing you 654,
was there dust on 654 also?
Mr. DAY. All boxes had dust on them when I collected them.
Mr. BELIN. Were boxes Nos. 641, 653, and 654 open or closed?
Mr. DAY. They were closed and had books in them.
Mr. BELIN. Did they have tape around them?
Mr. DAY. They were sealed with tape.
Mr. BELIN. Turning to 664, do you see your name as a means of
identification on this box?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir; "J. C. Day." It also has the name "R. L. Studebaker"
on it.
Mr. BELIN. I see there is an arrow pointing north here, is that correct?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. And the box appears with--it appears to have "top" written
on the box as it stands on one end, is that correct?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir; that is the top side as it was standing on the floor.
Mr. BELIN. Now, again turning to Exhibit 733, do you see where box 654
was then?
Mr. DAY. It would be the bottom box of the center stack. There are two
boxes.
Mr. BELIN. There are two boxes, and the upper box is marked "Ten
Rolling Readers," and 654 would be below that one?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. That is a reconstructed photo, to the best of your
knowledge, as to where the boxes were?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. McCLOY. Is there any indication on any of these boxes which you
could identify as indicating on which box the rifle rested?
Mr. DAY. I beg your pardon?
Mr. McCLOY. Is there any indication on any of these boxes that could
tell you where the rifle rested?
Mr. DAY. No, sir.
Mr. McCLOY. When it was fired?
Mr. DAY. No, sir; I couldn't find a thing there.
Mr. BELIN. I am going to hand you what has been marked Commission
Exhibit 735 and 736 and ask you to state if you know what these are.
Mr. DAY. 735 is the right palm of Lee Harvey Oswald's palmprint. 736 is
the left palmprint of Lee Harvey Oswald.
Mr. BELIN. Do you know when these prints were made?
Mr. DAY. They were made November 22, 1963.
Mr. BELIN. Does your name appear on these?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. With the permission of Commissioner McCloy, would it be
possible to have Xerox copies substituted for these so that the
original can go back with Lieutenant Day?
Mr. McCLOY. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. As I understand it, these are the last original copies you
have of palmprints of Lee Harvey Oswald.
Mr. DAY. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Were you there when these prints were made?
Mr. DAY. No, sir. The prints that were made in my presence, which I
compared with these, I can state are his, were sent to the FBI.
Mr. BELIN. Would these be the same prints as shown on Commission
Exhibit 628 and 629?
Mr. DAY. No, sir. They are still not the originals. They had my name
on it when I saw them sign it. But I did compare these with ones I saw
made personally of Oswald, and I can say this is his left hand, his
left palm, and his right palm.
Mr. BELIN. So you are saying 735 and 736 are his right and left palms.
What about 628 and 629?
Mr. DAY. 629 is the right palm, and 628 is the left palm of Lee Harvey
Oswald.
Mr. BELIN. What about 627, can you state what that is, if you know?
Mr. DAY. That is a set of fingerprints, standard set of fingerprints,
of Lee Harvey Oswald taken by Detective J. B. Hicks on November 22,
1963.
Mr. BELIN. You have just examined these with your magnifying glass, is
that correct?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. And you so identify these?
Mr. DAY. They are the fingerprints of Lee Harvey Oswald, whose
palmprints appear in 735 and 736.
Mr. BELIN. Lieutenant Day, did you ever try to make any ballistic
identification of the bullet slug that was removed from the residence
of General Walker?
Mr. DAY. No, sir. I don't do that work. We have a laboratory in Dallas
that we ask to do that. Wait a minute now, you said identification? My
answer should be no, sir.
Mr. BELIN. I will ask you this. Have you ever seen Commission Exhibit
573 before, if you know?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir; I have.
Mr. BELIN. Could you tell us what 573 is?
Mr. DAY. This slug was gotten from the home of former General Edwin
Walker, 4011 Turtle Creek, April 10, 1963, by Detective B. G. Brown,
one of the officers under my supervision. He brought this in and
released it to me.
Mr. BELIN. You are reading now from a report that is in your
possession, is that correct?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir. Those are the official records of my office.
Mr. BELIN. Was that prepared under your supervision?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. In the regular course of your duties at the Dallas Police
Department?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir. The slug has my name "Day" scratched in it.
Mr. BELIN. Do you know whether or not any ballistic identification was
made of this slug with regard to any rifle it may have been fired from?
Mr. DAY. No, sir. I released that to the FBI agent B. D. Odum on
December 2, 1963, at 4:10 p.m.
Mr. BELIN. Has that ever been back in your possession since that time?
Mr. DAY. Not since that time.
Mr. BELIN. Prior to that time do you know whether or not any positive
ballistic identifications were made of Exhibit 573 with regard to the
rifle from which it might have been fired?
Mr. DAY. It had not been compared with any rifle, to the best of my
knowledge.
Mr. BELIN. At this point we would like to offer and introduce in
evidence Commission Exhibits Nos. 715 through 734, inclusive.
Mr. McCLOY. They have all heretofore been identified?
Mr. BELIN. Yes, they have; and I think 715 is the first one, and if
there have been any prior to 715 I would offer to introduce that also.
Mr. McCLOY. They may be admitted.
(Commission Exhibits Nos. 715 through 734 inclusive, were received in
evidence.)
Mr. BELIN. I am also going to introduce 735 and 736. These are the
Xerox copies of those cards, of those palmprint cards, that I believe
you had, sir. Am I correct in that, and according to my records, the
next number for introduction of exhibits is 737.
Mr. McCLOY. They may be admitted.
(Commission Exhibits Nos. 735 and 736 were received in evidence.)
Mr. BELIN. I am now going to hand you No. 737 and ask you to state if
you know what this is.
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir. This is the rifle found on the sixth floor of the
Texas School Book Depository November 22, 1963.
Mr. BELIN. Who took that picture?
Mr. DAY. I took it myself.
Mr. BELIN. When?
Mr. DAY. About 9 or 9:30 p.m., November 22, on the fourth floor of the
City Hall in my office.
Mr. BELIN. I am going to now hand you what has been marked as 738 and
ask you to state if you know what this is.
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir. This is a photograph of most of the evidence that
was returned to the FBI the second time on November 26, 1963. It was
released to Agent Vince Drain at 2 p.m., November 26.
Mr. BELIN. Who took that picture, if you know?
Mr. DAY. I beg pardon?
Mr. BELIN. Who took that picture?
Mr. DAY. I took this picture.
Mr. BELIN. I am going to now hand you what has been marked as
Commission Exhibit 739 and ask you to state if you know what this is.
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir; this is a view of the Texas School Book Depository
made from about a half block south looking north on Houston Street on
November 22, 1963.
Mr. BELIN. Now, returning for the moment to Exhibit 738, do you
recognize any items in there as items that you turned over to the FBI?
Mr. DAY. All of these items were released to the FBI.
Mr. BELIN. Which ones are there now?
Mr. DAY. There is a shirt.
Mr. BELIN. This is the same shirt that has been marked Commission
Exhibit 150?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. All right. What else?
Mr. DAY. A revolver.
Mr. BELIN. Did you put any initials on the revolver or not?
Mr. DAY. No, sir; I don't think I did.
Mr. BELIN. All right. What else?
Mr. DAY. A blanket.
Mr. BELIN. Is that the blanket that has been marked "Commission Exhibit
140" here?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. All right. What else?
Mr. DAY. A live round.
Mr. BELIN. Is that the live round that you earlier identified as what
Captain Fritz ejected from the rifle?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. What else?
Mr. DAY. Two spent hulls, and an envelope in which they were in.
Mr. BELIN. Those are the ones you have earlier identified, is that
Correct?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. What else?
Mr. DAY. One piece of cardboard with a palmprint on it that has been
identified as that of Oswald.
Mr. BELIN. That is the piece of cardboard that you tore off this
cardboard box, the cardboard box being Commission Exhibit No. 648, is
that correct?
Mr. DAY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. What else?
Mr. DAY. Two--correction, one .38-caliber slug, and a button off a
policeman's uniform.
Mr. BELIN. Is that slug, do you know where that came from?
Mr. DAY. I didn't personally collect that. It was in the stuff that was
given to Vince Drain.
Mr. BELIN. All right. Anything else, if you know?
Mr. DAY. There is a plastic box, I don't remember what was in it, a
slip of paper reading "Dallas County Hospital District," laying with
the box, and there is an envelope laying with the live round with
information stating that it is a live round from the gun found on the
sixth floor of the Texas Book Depository.
Mr. McCLOY. Did you refer to the paper sack?
Mr. DAY. Yes; I didn't mention that. Also one homemade paper bag
previously identified as the bag found in the southeast corner of the
sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository.
Mr. McCLOY. What is the revolver that you previously mentioned, where
did it come from?
Mr. DAY. I understand that was the one that was in Oswald's possession,
reportedly the one used to shoot the officer.
Mr. BELIN. You don't have any independent knowledge of that, do you?
Mr. DAY. No, sir; I did not collect that.
Mr. BELIN. I am going to hand you what has been marked "Commission
Exhibit 740" and ask you to state if you know what that is. Do you have
any further comments, by the way, of 738?
Mr. DAY. I can tell from this what it is.
Mr. BELIN. You are looking toward your own inventory and you are
pointing to a picture of Exhibit 738?
Mr. DAY. Yes; it was a bullet fragment taken from the body of John
Connally at Parkland General Hospital in Dallas. The slip was in
connection with a fragment, the hospital slip previously mentioned.
Mr. BELIN. Anything else on 738?
Mr. DAY. That is all that is in the picture.