Senator COOPER. You had to establish the position of the President at
the time the bullet struck him and the position of the rifle to make a
determination about the degree of the angle of the direction?
Mr. SHANEYFELT. That is correct. The positions in the car, their
positions in the car, were based on the Zapruder film.
Senator COOPER. And you were able to determine what you think very
accurately the position of the President in the car by the films that
you have examined?
Mr. SHANEYFELT. Yes.
Senator COOPER. Then the factor then, which is not determinate,
exactly, then is the location of the rifle, is that correct?
Mr. SHANEYFELT. That is correct.
Senator COOPER. Upon what did you determine the location of the
rifle--upon what factors?
Mr. SHANEYFELT. The rifle was positioned in the sixth floor window of
the Book Building where the cartridges were found, and was determined
from information furnished by representatives of the Commission.
Senator COOPER. Did you have information about the location of certain
boxes that were seen--were found--at the window after the shooting
occurred?
Mr. SHANEYFELT. That is correct. Yes; we had photographs of the boxes
and we were advised, of the approximate position in the window and how
far down the window was, the fact that some observers noted the rifle
sticking out the window.
Senator COOPER. I want to ask you--you did have information from the
testimony of witnesses who said they saw the rifle protruding from the
window?
Mr. SHANEYFELT. We had this information furnished to us by the
Commission.
Senator COOPER. And those facts, those locations were made known to
you, and upon that evidence did you locate the rifle, in making these
calculations?
Mr. SHANEYFELT. That was the basis for the location of the rifle in all
of our calculations.
Senator COOPER. Just one other question. Assuming that there might have
been some variation in the location of the rifle, length of the window,
the breadth of the window, or that the rifle you used was held higher
than the rifle might have been, would it have made--how much variation
would it have made, in your judgement, in these calculations you made?
Mr. SHANEYFELT. I don't believe that any movement of the rifle in
that specific window would alter our calculations to any appreciable
degree if you stay within that window, because our reenactment and our
repositioning of the bodies in the car based on the photographs is
subject to some variation, too, so we have variations throughout.
And the variations from the position of the rifle at that particular
window, I feel would be negligible.
Senator COOPER. At every point where you made it, hypothetically, at
least, made the determination that at a particular point the President
was struck by a bullet, at that point the car and the President could
be seen from the window?
Mr. SHANEYFELT. That is correct.
Senator COOPER. That is all I want to ask.
Mr. SHANEYFELT. Even under the tree you still could see the car and the
President through the tree.
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. Shaneyfelt, did the surveyors calculate the angle and
distance from each position where the simulated car was stopped from
the President to the triple underpass?
Mr. SHANEYFELT. That is correct.
Mr. SPECTER. And are those figures reproduced in terms of distance to
overpass, and angle to overpass on every one of the exhibits which also
depict distance to window, referring to the sixth floor window, and
angle to rifle in window?
Mr. SHANEYFELT. Yes; they do. They are on all the exhibits.
Mr. SPECTER. Now; is there any point on the overpass where the angle
to the President's car or the angle to the President's stand-in seated
in the simulated car, would permit a shot to be fired and to create
the wound in the President's neck, which has an angle of decline of
approximately 17°, based on the information furnished to you by the
medical evidence, which we have asked you to assume, where that wound
could be inflicted on the President's neck without regard to the point
of entry?
Mr. SHANEYFELT. No; none of the angles from the overpass are anywhere
near 17°. They range from frame 161 at a minus 7´, from horizontal, to
frame 313 which is 1°28´. None of them are even close to 17°.
Senator COOPER. From the exhibit that has been introduced, showing
the position of the car and the President at the time of the first
shot--what was the distance from that point to the overpass?