The Assassin
The preceding chapter has established that the bullets which killed
President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally were fired from the
southeast corner window of the sixth floor of the Texas School Book
Depository Building and that the weapon which fired these bullets was
a Mannlicher-Carcano 6.5-millimeter Italian rifle bearing the serial
number C2766. In this chapter the Commission evaluates the evidence
upon which it has based its conclusion concerning the identity of the
assassin. This evidence includes (1) the ownership and possession of
the weapon used to commit the assassination, (2) the means by which the
weapon was brought into the Depository Building, (3) the identity of
the person present at the window from which the shots were fired, (4)
the killing of Dallas Patrolman J.D. Tippit within 45 minutes after the
assassination, (5) the resistance to arrest and the attempted shooting
of another police officer by the man (Lee Harvey Oswald) subsequently
accused of assassinating President Kennedy and killing Patrolman
Tippit, (6) the lies told to the police by Oswald, (7) the evidence
linking Oswald to the attempted killing of Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker
(Resigned, U.S. Army) on April 10, 1963, and (8) Oswald’s capability
with a rifle.
OWNERSHIP AND POSSESSION OF ASSASSINATION WEAPON
Purchase of Rifle by Oswald
Shortly after the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle was found on the sixth floor
of the Texas School Book Depository Building,[C4-1] agents of the FBI
learned from retail outlets in Dallas that Crescent Firearms, Inc.,
of New York City, was a distributor of surplus Italian 6.5-millimeter
military rifles.[C4-2] During the evening of November 22, 1963, a
review of the records of Crescent Firearms revealed that the firm had
shipped an Italian carbine, serial number C2766, to Klein’s Sporting
Goods Co., of Chicago, Ill.[C4-3] After searching their records from
10 p.m. to 4 a.m. the officers of Klein’s discovered that a rifle
bearing serial number C2766 had been shipped to one A. Hidell, Post
Office Box 2915, Dallas, Tex., on March 20, 1963.[C4-4] (See Waldman
Exhibit No. 7, p. 120.)
According to its microfilm records, Klein’s received an order for a
rifle on March 13, 1963, on a coupon clipped from the February 1963
issue of the American Rifleman magazine. The order coupon was signed,
in handprinting, “A. Hidell, P.O. Box 2915, Dallas, Texas.” (See
Commission Exhibit No. 773, p. 120.) It was sent in an envelope bearing
the same name and return address in handwriting. Document examiners
for the Treasury Department and the FBI testified unequivocally that
the bold printing on the face of the mail-order coupon was in the
handprinting of Lee Harvey Oswald and that the writing on the envelope
was also his.[C4-5] Oswald’s writing on these and other documents was
identified by comparing the writing and printing on the documents in
question with that appearing on documents known to have been written by
Oswald, such as his letters, passport application, and endorsements of
checks.[C4-6] (See app. X, p. 568-569.)
In addition to the order coupon the envelope contained a U.S. postal
money order for $21.45, purchased as No. 2,202,130,462 in Dallas,
Tex., on March 12, 1963.[C4-7] The canceled money order was obtained
from the Post Office Department. Opposite the printed words “Pay To”
were written the words “Kleins Sporting Goods,” and opposite the
printed word “From” were written the words “A. Hidell, P.O. Box 2915
Dallas, Texas.” These words were also in the handwriting of Lee Harvey
Oswald.[C4-8] (See Commission Exhibit No. 788, p. 120.)
From Klein’s records it was possible to trace the processing of the
order after its receipt. A bank deposit made on March 13, 1963,
included an item of $21.45. Klein’s shipping order form shows an
imprint made by the cash register which recorded the receipt of $21.45
on March 13, 1963. This price included $19.95 for the rifle and the
scope, and $1.50 for postage and handling. The rifle without the scope
cost only $12.78.[C4-9]
According to the vice president of Klein’s, William Waldman, the scope
was mounted on the rifle by a gunsmith employed by Klein’s, and the
rifle was shipped fully assembled in accordance with customary company
procedures.[C4-10] The specific rifle shipped against the order had
been received by Klein’s from Crescent on February 21, 1963. It bore
the manufacturer’s serial number C2766. On that date, Klein’s placed
an internal control number VC836 on this rifle.[C4-11] According to
Klein’s shipping order form, one Italian carbine 6.5 X-4× scope,
control number VC836, serial number C2766, was shipped parcel post to
“A. Hidell, P.O. Box 2915, Dallas, Texas,” on March 20, 1963.[C4-12]
Information received from the Italian Armed Forces Intelligence Service
has established that this particular rifle was the only rifle of its
type bearing serial number C2766.[C4-13] (See app. X, p. 554.)
The post office box to which the rifle was shipped was rented to “Lee
H. Oswald” from October 9, 1962, to May 14, 1963.[C4-14] Experts on
handwriting identification from the Treasury Department and the FBI
testified that the signature and other writing on the application for
that box were in the handwriting of Lee Harvey Oswald,[C4-15] as was
a change-of-address card dated May 12, 1963,[C4-16] by which Oswald
requested that mail addressed to that box be forwarded to him in New
Orleans, where he had moved on April 24.[C4-17] Since the rifle was
shipped from Chicago on March 20, 1963, it was received in Dallas
during the period when Oswald rented and used the box. (See Commission
Exhibit No. 791, p. 120.)
[Illustration: DOCUMENTS ESTABLISHING PURCHASE OF RIFLE BY LEE HARVEY
OSWALD
COMMISSION EXHIBIT 791
APPLICATION FOR POST OFFICE BOX
COMMISSION EXHIBIT 773
PURCHASE ORDER
COMMISSION EXHIBIT 788
MONEY ORDER
WALDMAN’S EXHIBIT 7
KLEIN’S SHIPPING ORDER]
It is not known whether the application for post office box 2915
listed “A. Hidell” as a person entitled to receive mail at this box.
In accordance with postal regulations, the portion of the application
which lists names of persons, other than the applicant, entitled to
receive mail was thrown away after the box was closed on May 14,
1963.[C4-18] Postal Inspector Harry D. Holmes of the Dallas Post Office
testified, however, that when a package is received for a certain
box, a notice is placed in that box regardless of whether the name
on the package is listed on the application as a person entitled to
receive mail through that box. The person having access to the box then
takes the notice to the window and is given the package. Ordinarily,
Inspector Holmes testified, identification is not requested because
it is assumed that the person with the notice is entitled to the
package.[C4-19]
Oswald’s use of the name “Hidell” to purchase the assassination weapon
was one of several instances in which he used this name as an alias.
When arrested on the day of the assassination, he had in his possession
a Smith & Wesson .38 caliber revolver[C4-20] purchased by mail-order
coupon from Seaport-Traders, Inc., a mail-order division of George
Rose & Co., Los Angeles. The mail-order coupon listed the purchaser
as “A. J. Hidell Age 28” with the address of post office box 2915
in Dallas.[C4-21] Handwriting experts from the FBI and the Treasury
Department testified that the writing on the mail-order form was that
of Lee Harvey Oswald.[C4-22]
Among other identification cards in Oswald’s wallet at the time of his
arrest were a Selective Service notice of classification, a Selective
Service registration certificate,[C4-23] and a certificate of service
in the U.S. Marine Corps,[C4-24] all three cards being in his own
name. Also in his wallet at that time were a Selective Service notice
of classification and a Marine certificate of service in the name
of Alek James Hidell.[C4-25] On the Hidell Selective Service card
there appeared a signature, “Alek J. Hidell,” and the photograph of
Lee Harvey Oswald.[C4-26] Experts on questioned documents from the
Treasury Department and the FBI testified that the Hidell cards were
counterfeit photographic reproductions made by photographing the
Oswald cards, retouching the resulting negatives, and producing prints
from the retouched negatives. The Hidell signature on the notice of
classification was in the handwriting of Oswald.[C4-27] (See app. X, p.
572.)
In Oswald’s personal effects found in his room at 1026 North
Beckley Avenue in Dallas was a purported international certificate
of vaccination signed by “Dr. A. J. Hideel,” Post Office Box 30016,
New Orleans.[C4-28] It certified that Lee Harvey Oswald had been
vaccinated for smallpox on June 8, 1963. This, too, was a forgery.
The signature of “A. J. Hideel” was in the handwriting of Lee Harvey
Oswald.[C4-29] There is no “Dr. Hideel” licensed to practice medicine
in Louisiana.[C4-30] There is no post office box 30016 in the New
Orleans Post Office but Oswald had rented post office box 30061 in New
Orleans[C4-31] on June 3, 1963, listing Marina Oswald and A. J. Hidell
as additional persons entitled to receive mail in the box.[C4-32]
The New Orleans postal authorities had not discarded the portion of
the application listing the names of those, other than the owner of
the box, entitled to receive mail through the box. Expert testimony
confirmed that the writing on this application was that of Lee Harvey
Oswald.[C4-33]
Hidell’s name on the post office box application was part of Oswald’s
use of a nonexistent Hidell to serve as president of the so-called New
Orleans Chapter of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. (As discussed
below in ch. VI, p. 292.) Marina Oswald testified that she first
learned of Oswald’s use of the fictitious name “Hidell” in connection
with his pro-Castro activities in New Orleans.[C4-34] According
to her testimony, he compelled her to write the name “Hidell” on
membership cards in the space designated for the signature of the
“Chapter President.”[C4-35] The name “Hidell” was stamped on some of
the “Chapter’s” printed literature and on the membership application
blanks.[C4-36] Marina Oswald testified, “I knew there was no such
organization. And I know Hidell is merely an altered Fidel, and I
laughed at such foolishness.”[C4-37] Hidell was a fictitious president
of an organization of which Oswald was the only member.[C4-38]
When seeking employment in New Orleans, Oswald listed a “Sgt. Robt.
Hidell” as a reference on one job application[C4-39] and “George
Hidell” as a reference on another.[C4-40] Both names were found to be
fictitious.[C4-41] Moreover, the use of “Alek” as a first name for
Hidell is a further link to Oswald because “Alek” was Oswald’s nickname
in Russia.[C4-42] Letters received by Marina Oswald from her husband
signed “Alek” were given to the Commission.[C4-43]
Oswald’s Palmprint on Rifle Barrel
Based on the above evidence, the Commission concluded that Oswald
purchased the rifle found on the sixth floor of the Depository
Building. Additional evidence of ownership was provided in the form of
palmprint identification which indicated that Oswald had possession of
the rifle he had purchased.
A few minutes after the rifle was discovered on the sixth floor of
the Depository Building[C4-44] it was examined by Lt. J. C. Day of
the identification bureau of the Dallas police. He lifted the rifle
by the wooden stock after his examination convinced him that the wood
was too rough to take fingerprints. Capt. J. W. Fritz then ejected a
cartridge by operating the bolt, but only after Day viewed the knob
on the bolt through a magnifying glass and found no prints.[C4-45]
Day continued to examine the rifle with the magnifying glass, looking
for possible fingerprints. He applied fingerprint powder to the side
of the metal housing near the trigger, and noticed traces of two
prints.[C4-46] At 11:45 p.m. on November 22, the rifle was released
to the FBI and forwarded to Washington where it was examined on the
morning of November 23 by Sebastian F. Latona, supervisor of the Latent
Fingerprint Section of the FBI’s Identification Division.[C4-47]
In his testimony before the Commission, Latona stated that when he
received the rifle, the area where prints were visible was protected by
cellophane.[C4-48] He examined these prints, as well as photographs of
them which the Dallas police had made, and concluded that:
* * * the formations, the ridge formations and characteristics,
were insufficient for purposes of either effecting
identification or a determination that the print was not
identical with the prints of people. Accordingly, my opinion
simply was that the latent prints which were there were of no
value.[C4-49]
Latona then processed the complete weapon but developed no identifiable
prints.[C4-50] He stated that the poor quality of the wood and the
metal would cause the rifle to absorb moisture from the skin, thereby
making a clear print unlikely.[C4-51]
On November 22, however, before surrendering possession of the rifle
to the FBI Laboratory, Lieutenant Day of the Dallas Police Department
had “lifted” a palmprint from the underside of the gun barrel “near
the firing end of the barrel about 3 inches under the Woodstock when I
took the Woodstock loose.”[C4-52] “Lifting” a print involves the use of
adhesive material to remove the fingerprint powder which adheres to the
original print. In this way the powdered impression is actually removed
from the object.[C4-53] The lifting had been so complete in this case
that there was no trace of the print on the rifle itself when it was
examined by Latona. Nor was there any indication that the lift had been
performed.[C4-54] Day, on the other hand, believed that sufficient
traces of the print had been left on the rifle barrel, because he
did not release the lifted print until November 26, when he received
instructions to send “everything that we had” to the FBI.[C4-55] The
print arrived in the FBI Laboratory in Washington on November 29,
mounted on a card on which Lieutenant Day had written the words “off
underside gun barrel near end of foregrip C2766.”[C4-56] The print’s
positive identity as having been lifted from the rifle was confirmed
by FBI Laboratory tests which established that the adhesive material
bearing the print also bore impressions of the same irregularities that
appeared on the barrel of the rifle.[C4-57]
Latona testified that this palmprint was the right palmprint of
Lee Harvey Oswald.[C4-58] At the request of the Commission, Arthur
Mandella, fingerprint expert with the New York City Police Department,
conducted an independent examination and also determined that this
was the right palmprint of Oswald.[C4-59] Latona’s findings were also
confirmed by Ronald G. Wittmus, another FBI fingerprint expert.[C4-60]
In the opinion of these experts, it was not possible to estimate the
time which elapsed between the placing of the print on the rifle and
the date of the lift.[C4-61]
Experts testifying before the Commission agreed that palmprints
are as unique as fingerprints for purposes of establishing
identification.[C4-62] Oswald’s palmprint on the underside of the
barrel demonstrates that he handled the rifle when it was disassembled.
A palmprint could not be placed on this portion of the rifle, when
assembled, because the wooden foregrip covers the barrel at this
point.[C4-63] The print is additional proof that the rifle was in
Oswald’s possession.
Fibers on Rifle
In a crevice between the butt plate of the rifle and the wooden stock
was a tuft of several cotton fibers of dark blue, gray-black, and
orange-yellow shades.[C4-64] On November 23, 1963, these fibers were
examined by Paul M. Stombaugh, a special agent assigned to the Hair
and Fiber Unit of the FBI Laboratory.[C4-65] He compared them with the
fibers found in the shirt which Oswald was wearing when arrested in
the Texas Theatre.[C4-66] This shirt was also composed of dark blue,
gray-black and orange-yellow cotton fibers. Stombaugh testified that
the colors, shades, and twist of the fibers found in the tuft on the
rifle matched those in Oswald’s shirt.[C4-67] (See app. X, p. 592.)
Stombaugh explained in his testimony that in fiber analysis, as
distinct from fingerprint or firearms identification, it is not
possible to state with scientific certainty that a particular small
group of fibers come from a certain piece of clothing to the exclusion
of all others because there are not enough microscopic characteristics
present in fibers.[C4-68] Judgments as to probability will depend on
the number and types of matches.[C4-69] He concluded, “There is no
doubt in my mind that these fibers could have come from this shirt.
There is no way, however, to eliminate the possibility of the fibers
having come from another identical shirt.”[C4-70]
Having considered the probabilities as explained in Stombaugh’s
testimony, the Commission has concluded that the fibers in the tuft
on the rifle most probably came from the shirt worn by Oswald when he
was arrested, and that this was the same shirt which Oswald wore on
the morning of the assassination. Marina Oswald testified that she
thought her husband wore this shirt to work on that day.[C4-71] The
testimony of those who saw him after the assassination was inconclusive
about the color of Oswald’s shirt,[C4-72] but Mary Bledsoe, a former
landlady of Oswald, saw him on a bus approximately 10 minutes after
the assassination and identified the shirt as being the one worn by
Oswald primarily because of a distinctive hole in the shirt’s right
elbow.[C4-73] Moreover, the bus transfer which he obtained as he left
the bus was still in the pocket when he was arrested.[C4-74] Although
Oswald returned to his roominghouse after the assassination and when
questioned by the police, claimed to have changed his shirt,[C4-75] the
evidence indicates that he continued wearing the same shirt which he
was wearing all morning and which he was still wearing when arrested.
In light of these findings the Commission evaluated the additional
testimony of Stombaugh that the fibers were caught in the crevice of
the rifle’s butt plate “in the recent past.”[C4-76] Although Stombaugh
was unable to estimate the period of time the fibers were on the rifle
he said that the fibers “were clean, they had good color to them,
there was no grease on them and they were not fragmented. They looked
as if they had just been picked up.”[C4-77] The relative freshness
of the fibers is strong evidence that they were caught on the rifle
on the morning of the assassination or during the preceding evening.
For 10 days prior to the eve of the assassination Oswald had not been
present at Ruth Paine’s house in Irving, Tex.,[C4-78] where the rifle
was kept.[C4-79] Moreover, the Commission found no reliable evidence
that Oswald used the rifle at any time between September 23, when it
was transported from New Orleans, and November 22, the day of the
assassination.[C4-80] The fact that on the morning of the assassination
Oswald was wearing the shirt from which these relatively fresh fibers
most probably originated, provides some evidence that they were placed
on the rifle that day since there was limited, if any, opportunity for
Oswald to handle the weapon during the 2 months prior to November 22.
On the other hand Stombaugh pointed out that fibers might retain their
freshness if the rifle had been “put aside” after catching the fibers.
The rifle used in the assassination probably had been wrapped in a
blanket for about 8 weeks prior to November 22.[C4-81] Because the
relative freshness of these fibers might be explained by the continuous
storage of the rifle in the blanket, the Commission was unable to reach
any firm conclusion as to when the fibers were caught in the rifle. The
Commission was able to conclude, however, that the fibers most probably
came from Oswald’s shirt. This adds to the conviction of the Commission
that Oswald owned and handled the weapon used in the assassination.
Photograph of Oswald With Rifle
During the period from March 2, 1963, to April 24, 1963, the Oswalds
lived on Neely Street in Dallas in a rented house which had a small
back yard.[C4-82] One Sunday, while his wife was hanging diapers,
Oswald asked her to take a picture of him holding a rifle, a pistol
and issues of two newspapers later identified as the Worker and the
Militant.[C4-83] Two pictures were taken. The Commission has concluded
that the rifle shown in these pictures is the same rifle which was
found on the sixth floor of the Depository Building on November 22,
1963. (See Commission Exhibits Nos. 133-A and 133-B, p. 126.)
One of these pictures, Exhibit No. 133-A, shows most of the rifle’s
configuration.[C4-84] Special Agent Lyndal L. Shaneyfelt, a photography
expert with the FBI, photographed the rifle used in the assassination,
attempting to duplicate the position of the rifle and the lighting in
Exhibit No. 133-A.[C4-85] After comparing the rifle in the simulated
photograph with the rifle in Exhibit No. 133-A, Shaneyfelt testified,
“I found it to be the same general configuration. All appearances were
the same.” He found “one notch in the stock at this point that appears
very faintly in the photograph.” He stated, however, that while he
“found no differences” between the rifles in the two photographs, he
could not make a “positive identification to the exclusion of all other
rifles of the same general configuration.”[C4-86]
[Illustration: PHOTOGRAPHS OF OSWALD HOLDING RIFLE
COMMISSION EXHIBIT NO. 133-A
COMMISSION EXHIBIT NO. 133-B
COMMISSION EXHIBIT NO. 134
(Enlargement of Commission Exhibit No. 133-A)]
The authenticity of these pictures has been established by expert
testimony which links the second picture, Commission Exhibit No. 133-B,
to Oswald’s Imperial Reflex camera, with which Marina Oswald testified
she took the pictures.[C4-87] The negative of that picture, Commission
Exhibit No. 133-B, was found among Oswald’s possessions.[C4-88]
Using a recognized technique of determining whether a picture was
taken with a particular camera, Shaneyfelt compared this negative
with a negative which he made by taking a new picture with Oswald’s
camera.[C4-89] He concluded that the negative of Exhibit No. 133-B was
exposed in Oswald’s Imperial Reflex camera to the exclusion of all
other cameras.[C4-90] He could not test Exhibit No. 133-A in the same
way because the negative was never recovered.[C4-91] Both pictures,
however, have identical backgrounds and lighting and, judging from the
shadows, were taken at the same angle. They are photographs of the
same scene.[C4-92] Since Exhibit No. 133-B was taken with Oswald’s
camera, it is reasonably certain that Exhibit No. 133-A was taken by
the same camera at the same time, as Marina Oswald testified. Moreover,
Shaneyfelt testified that in his opinion the photographs were not
composites of two different photographs and that Oswald’s face had not
been superimposed on another body.[C4-93]
One of the photographs taken by Marina Oswald was widely published
in newspapers and magazines, and in many instances the details of
these pictures differed from the original, and even from each other,
particularly as to the configuration of the rifle. The Commission
sought to determine whether these photographs were retouched prior
to publication. Shaneyfelt testified that the published photographs
appeared to be based on a copy of the original which the publications
had each retouched differently.[C4-94] Several of the publications
furnished the Commission with the prints they had used, or described by
correspondence the retouching they had done. This information enabled
the Commission to conclude that the published pictures were the same
as the original except for retouching done by these publications,
apparently for the purpose of clarifying the lines of the rifle and
other details in the picture.[C4-95]
The dates surrounding the taking of this picture and the purchase of
the rifle reinforce the belief that the rifle in the photograph is
the rifle which Oswald bought from Klein’s. The rifle was shipped
from Klein’s in Chicago on March 20, 1963, at a time when the Oswalds
were living on Neely Street.[C4-96] From an examination of one of
the photographs, the Commission determined the dates of the issues
of the Militant and the Worker which Oswald was holding in his hand.
By checking the actual mailing dates of these issues and the time it
usually takes to effect delivery to Dallas, it was established that the
photographs must have been taken sometime after March 27.[C4-97] Marina
Oswald testified that the photographs were taken on a Sunday about 2
weeks before the attempted shooting of Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker on
April 10, 1963.[C4-98] By Sunday, March 31, 1963, 10 days prior to the
Walker attempt, Oswald had undoubtedly received the rifle shipped from
Chicago on March 20, the revolver shipped from Los Angeles on the same
date,[C4-99] and the two newspapers which he was holding in the picture.
Rifle Among Oswald’s Possessions
Marina Oswald testified that the rifle found on the sixth floor of the
Depository Building was the “fateful rifle of Lee Oswald.”[C4-100]
Moreover, it was the only rifle owned by her husband following his
return from the Soviet Union in June 1962.[C4-101] It had been
purchased in March 1963, and taken to New Orleans where Marina Oswald
saw it in their rented apartment during the summer of 1963.[C4-102]
It appears from his wife’s testimony that Oswald may have sat on the
screened-in porch at night practicing with the rifle by looking through
the telescopic sight and operating the bolt.[C4-103] In September 1963,
Oswald loaded their possessions into a station wagon owned by Ruth
Paine, who had invited Marina Oswald and the baby to live at her home
in Irving,[C4-104] Tex. Marina Oswald has stated that the rifle was
among these possessions,[C4-105] although Ruth Paine testified that she
was not aware of it.[C4-106]
From September 24, 1963, when Marina Oswald arrived in Irving from
New Orleans, until the morning of the assassination, the rifle was,
according to the evidence, stored in a green and brown blanket in the
Paines’ garage among the Oswalds’ other possessions.[C4-107] About 1
week after the return from New Orleans, Marina Oswald was looking in
the garage for parts to the baby’s crib and thought that the parts
might be in the blanket. When she started to open the blanket, she saw
the stock of the rifle.[C4-108] Ruth and Michael Paine both noticed the
rolled-up blanket in the garage during the time that Marina Oswald was
living in their home.[C4-109] On several occasions, Michael Paine moved
the blanket in the garage.[C4-110] He thought it contained tent poles,
or possibly other camping equipment such as a folding shovel.[C4-111]
When he appeared before the Commission, Michael Paine lifted the
blanket with the rifle wrapped inside and testified that it appeared
to be the same approximate weight and shape as the package in his
garage.[C4-112]
About 3 hours after the assassination, a detective and deputy sheriff
saw the blanket-roll, tied with a string, lying on the floor of the
Paines’ garage. Each man testified that he thought he could detect
the outline of a rifle in the blanket, even though the blanket was
empty.[C4-113] Paul M. Stombaugh, of the FBI Laboratory, examined the
blanket and discovered a bulge approximately 10 inches long midway
in the blanket. This bulge was apparently caused by a hard protruding
object which had stretched the blanket’s fibers. It could have been
caused by the telescopic sight of the rifle which was approximately 11
inches long.[C4-114] (See Commission Exhibit No. 1304, p. 132.)
Conclusion
Having reviewed the evidence that (1) Lee Harvey Oswald purchased the
rifle used in the assassination, (2) Oswald’s palmprint was on the
rifle in a position which shows that he had handled it while it was
disassembled, (3) fibers found on the rifle most probably came from
the shirt Oswald was wearing on the day of the assassination, (4) a
photograph taken in the yard of Oswald’s apartment showed him holding
this rifle, and (5) the rifle was kept among Oswald’s possessions
from the time of its purchase until the day of the assassination, the
Commission concluded that the rifle used to assassinate President
Kennedy and wound Governor Connally was owned and possessed by Lee
Harvey Oswald.
THE RIFLE IN THE BUILDING
The Commission has evaluated the evidence tending to show how Lee
Harvey Oswald’s Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, serial number C2766, was
brought into the Depository Building, where it was found on the
sixth floor shortly after the assassination. In this connection the
Commission considered (1) the circumstances surrounding Oswald’s return
to Irving, Tex., on Thursday, November 21, 1963, (2) the disappearance
of the rifle from its normal place of storage, (3) Oswald’s arrival at
the Depository Building on November 22, carrying a long and bulky brown
paper package, (4) the presence of a long handmade brown paper bag
near the point from which the shots were fired, and (5) the palmprint,
fiber, and paper analyses linking Oswald and the assassination weapon
to this bag.
The Curtain Rod Story
During October and November of 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald lived in a
roominghouse in Dallas while his wife and children lived in Irving,
at the home of Ruth Paine,[C4-115] approximately 15 miles from
Oswald’s place of work at the Texas School Book Depository. Oswald
traveled between Dallas and Irving on weekends in a car driven by a
neighbor of the Paines, Buell Wesley Frazier, who also worked at the
Depository.[C4-116] Oswald generally would go to Irving on Friday
afternoon and return to Dallas Monday morning. According to the
testimony of Frazier, Marina Oswald, and Ruth Paine, it appears that
Oswald never returned to Irving in midweek prior to November 21, 1963,
except on Monday, October 21, when he visited his wife in the hospital
after the birth of their second child.[C4-117]
During the morning of November 21, Oswald asked Frazier whether he
could ride home with him that afternoon. Frazier, surprised, asked
him why he was going to Irving on Thursday night rather than Friday.
Oswald replied, “I’m going home to get some curtain rods * * * [to]
put in an apartment.”[C4-118] The two men left work at 4:40 p.m. and
drove to Irving. There was little conversation between them on the way
home.[C4-119] Mrs. Linnie Mae Randle, Frazier’s sister, commented to
her brother about Oswald’s unusual midweek return to Irving. Frazier
told her that Oswald had come home to get curtain rods.[C4-120]
It would appear, however, that obtaining curtain rods was not the
purpose of Oswald’s trip to Irving on November 21. Mrs. A. C. Johnson,
his landlady, testified that Oswald’s room at 1026 North Beckley Avenue
had curtains and curtain rods,[C4-121] and that Oswald had never
discussed the subject with her.[C4-122] In the Paines’ garage, along
with many other objects of a household character, there were two flat
lightweight curtain rods belonging to Ruth Paine but they were still
there on Friday afternoon after Oswald’s arrest.[C4-123] Oswald never
asked Mrs. Paine about the use of curtain rods,[C4-124] and Marina
Oswald testified that Oswald did not say anything about curtain rods
on the day before the assassination.[C4-125] No curtain rods were
known to have been discovered in the Depository Building after the
assassination.[C4-126] In deciding whether Oswald carried a rifle to
work in a long paper bag on November 22, the Commission gave weight to
the fact that Oswald gave a false reason for returning home on November
21, and one which provided an excuse for the carrying of a bulky
package the following morning.
The Missing Rifle
Before dinner on November 21, Oswald played on the lawn of the Paines’
home with his daughter June.[C4-127] After dinner Ruth Paine and
Marina Oswald were busy cleaning house and preparing their children
for bed.[C4-128] Between the hours of 8 and 9 p.m. they were occupied
with the children in the bedrooms located at the extreme east end of
the house.[C4-129] On the west end of the house is the attached garage,
which can be reached from the kitchen or from the outside.[C4-130] In
the garage were the personal belongings of the Oswald family including,
as the evidence has shown, the rifle wrapped in the old brown and green
blanket.[C4-131]
At approximately 9 p.m., after the children had been put to bed, Mrs.
Paine, according to her testimony before the Commission, “went out to
the garage to paint some children’s blocks, and worked in the garage
for half an hour or so. I noticed when I went out that the light was
on.”[C4-132] Mrs. Paine was certain that she had not left the light on
in the garage after dinner.[C4-133] According to Mrs. Paine, Oswald
had gone to bed by 9 p.m.;[C4-134] Marina Oswald testified that it was
between 9 and 10 p.m.[C4-135] Neither Marina Oswald nor Ruth Paine
saw Oswald in the garage.[C4-136] The period between 8 and 9 p.m.,
however, provided ample opportunity for Oswald to prepare the rifle for
his departure the next morning. Only if disassembled could the rifle
fit into the paper bag found near the window[C4-137] from which the
shots were fired. A firearms expert with the FBI assembled the rifle
in 6 minutes using a 10-cent coin as a tool, and he could disassemble
it more rapidly.[C4-138] While the rifle may have already been
disassembled when Oswald arrived home on Thursday, he had ample time
that evening to disassemble the rifle and insert it into the paper bag.
On the day of the assassination, Marina Oswald was watching television
when she learned of the shooting. A short time later Mrs. Paine told
her that someone had shot the President “from the building in which
Lee is working.” Marina Oswald testified that at that time “My heart
dropped. I then went to the garage to see whether the rifle was there
and I saw that the blanket was still there and I said ‘Thank God.’” She
did not unroll the blanket. She saw that it was in its usual position
and it appeared to her to have something inside.[C4-139]
Soon afterward, at about 3 p.m., police officers arrived and searched
the house. Mrs. Paine pointed out that most of the Oswalds’ possessions
were in the garage.[C4-140] With Ruth Paine acting as an interpreter,
Detective Rose asked Marina whether her husband had a rifle. Mrs.
Paine, who had no knowledge of the rifle, first said “No,” but when
the question was translated, Marina Oswald replied “Yes.”[C4-141] She
pointed to the blanket which was on the floor very close to where Ruth
Paine was standing. Mrs. Paine testified:
As she [Marina] told me about it I stepped onto the blanket
roll. * * * And she indicated to me that she had peered into
this roll and saw a portion of what she took to be a gun she
knew her husband to have, a rifle. And I then translated this
to the officers that she knew that her husband had a gun that
he had stored in here. * * * I then stepped off of it and the
officer picked it up in the middle and it bent so. * * *[C4-142]
Mrs. Paine had the actual blanket before her as she testified and she
indicated that the blanket hung limp in the officer’s hand.[C4-143]
Marina Oswald testified that this was her first knowledge that the
rifle was not in its accustomed place.[C4-144]
The Long and Bulky Package
On the morning of November 22, 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald left the Paine
house in Irving at approximately 7:15 a.m., while Marina Oswald was
still in bed.[C4-145] Neither she nor Mrs. Paine saw him leave the
house.[C4-146] About half-a-block away from the Paine house was the
residence of Mrs. Linnie Mae Randle, the sister of the man with whom
Oswald drove to work--Buell Wesley Frazier. Mrs. Randle stated that on
the morning of November 22, while her brother was eating breakfast, she
looked out the breakfast-room window and saw Oswald cross the street
and walk toward the driveway where her brother parked his car near
the carport. He carried a “heavy brown bag.”[C4-147] Oswald gripped
the bag in his right hand near the top. “It tapered like this as he
hugged it in his hand. It was * * * more bulky toward the bottom”
than toward the top.[C4-148] She then opened the kitchen door and
saw Oswald open the right rear door of her brother’s car and place
the package in the back of the car.[C4-149] Mrs. Randle estimated
that the package was approximately 28 inches long and about 8 inches
wide.[C4-150] She thought that its color was similar to that of the
bag found on the sixth floor of the School Book Depository after the
assassination.[C4-151]
[Illustration: COMISSION EXHIBIT NO. 1304
C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle and paper bag found on the sixth floor
of the Texas School Book Depository.]
Frazier met Oswald at the kitchen door and together they walked to the
car.[C4-152] After entering the car, Frazier glanced over his shoulder
and noticed a brown paper package on the back seat. He asked, “What’s
the package, Lee?” Oswald replied, “curtain rods.”[C4-153] Frazier told
the Commission “* * * the main reason he was going over there that
Thursday afternoon when he was to bring back some curtain rods, so I
didn’t think any more about it when he told me that.”[C4-154] Frazier
estimated that the bag was 2 feet long “give and take a few inches,”
and about 5 or 6 inches wide.[C4-155] As they sat in the car, Frazier
asked Oswald where his lunch was, and Oswald replied that he was going
to buy his lunch that day.[C4-156] Frazier testified that Oswald
carried no lunch bag that day. “When he rode with me, I say he always
brought lunch except that one day on November 22 he didn’t bring his
lunch that day.”[C4-157]
Frazier parked the car in the company parking lot about 2 blocks
north of the Depository Building. Oswald left the car first, picked
up the brown paper bag, and proceeded toward the building ahead of
Frazier. Frazier walked behind and as they crossed the railroad tracks
he watched the switching of the cars. Frazier recalled that one end
of the package was under Oswald’s armpit and the lower part was held
with his right hand so that it was carried straight and parallel
to his body. When Oswald entered the rear door of the Depository
Building, he was about 50 feet ahead of Frazier. It was the first time
that Oswald had not walked with Frazier from the parking lot to the
building entrance.[C4-158] When Frazier entered the building, he did
not see Oswald.[C4-159] One employee, Jack Dougherty, believed that he
saw Oswald coming to work, but he does not remember that Oswald had
anything in his hands as he entered the door.[C4-160] No other employee
has been found who saw Oswald enter that morning.[C4-161]
In deciding whether Oswald carried the assassination weapon in the
bag which Frazier and Mrs. Randle saw, the Commission has carefully
considered the testimony of these two witnesses with regard to the
length of the bag. Frazier and Mrs. Randle testified that the bag which
Oswald was carrying was approximately 27 or 28 inches long,[C4-162]
whereas the wooden stock of the rifle, which is its largest component,
measured 34.8 inches.[C4-163] The bag found on the sixth floor was 38
inches long.[C4-164] (See Commission Exhibit No. 1304, p. 132.) When
Frazier appeared before the Commission and was asked to demonstrate
how Oswald carried the package, he said, “Like I said, I remember
that I didn’t look at the package very much * * * but when I did
look at it he did have his hands on the package like that,”[C4-165]
and at this point Frazier placed the upper part of the package under
his armpit and attempted to cup his right hand beneath the bottom of
the bag. The disassembled rifle was too long to be carried in this
manner. Similarly, when the butt of the rifle was placed in Frazier’s
hand, it extended above his shoulder to ear level.[C4-166] Moreover,
in an interview on December 1, 1963, with agents of the FBI, Frazier
had marked the point on the back seat of his car which he believed
was where the bag reached when it was laid on the seat with one edge
against the door. The distance between the point on the seat and the
door was 27 inches.[C4-167]
Mrs. Randle said, when shown the paper bag, that the bag she saw Oswald
carrying “wasn’t that long, I mean it was folded down at the top as
I told you. It definitely wasn’t that long.”[C4-168] And she folded
the bag to a length of about 28½ inches. Frazier doubted whether the
bag that Oswald carried was as wide as the bag found on the sixth
floor,[C4-169] although Mrs. Randle testified that the width was
approximately the same.[C4-170]
The Commission has weighed the visual recollection of Frazier and
Mrs. Randle against the evidence here presented that the bag Oswald
carried contained the assassination weapon and has concluded that
Frazier and Randle are mistaken as to the length of the bag. Mrs.
Randle saw the bag fleetingly and her first remembrance is that it was
held in Oswald’s right hand “and it almost touched the ground as he
carried it.”[C4-171] Frazier’s view of the bag was from the rear. He
continually advised that he was not paying close attention.[C4-172] For
example, he said,
* * * I didn’t pay too much attention the way he was walking
because I was walking along there looking at the railroad cars
and watching the men on the diesel switch them cars and I
didn’t pay too much attention on how he carried the package at
all.[C4-173]
Frazier could easily have been mistaken when he stated that Oswald held
the bottom of the bag cupped in his hand with the upper end tucked into
his armpit.
Location of Bag
A handmade bag of wrapping paper and tape[C4-174] was found in the
southeast corner of the sixth floor alongside the window from which the
shots were fired.[C4-175] (See Commission Exhibit No. 2707, p. 142.) It
was not a standard type bag which could be obtained in a store and it
was presumably made for a particular purpose. It was the appropriate
size to contain, in disassembled form, Oswald’s Mannlicher-Carcano
rifle, serial No. C2766, which was also found on the sixth
floor.[C4-176] Three cartons had been placed at the window apparently
to act as a gun rest and a fourth carton was placed behind those at the
window.[C4-177] (See Commission Exhibit No. 1301, p. 138.) A person
seated on the fourth carton could assemble the rifle without being seen
from the rest of the sixth floor because the cartons stacked around the
southeast corner would shield him.[C4-178] (See Commission Exhibit No.
723, p. 80.) The presence of the bag in this corner is cogent evidence
that it was used as the container for the rifle. At the time the bag
was found, Lieutenant Day of the Dallas police wrote on it, “Found next
to the sixth floor window gun fired from. May have been used to carry
gun. Lt. J. C. Day.”[C4-179]
Scientific Evidence Linking Rifle and Oswald to Paper Bag
_Oswald’s fingerprint and palmprint found on bag._--Using a standard
chemical method involving silver nitrates[C4-180] the FBI Laboratory
developed a latent palmprint and latent fingerprint on the bag.
(See app. X, p. 565.) Sebastian F. Latona, supervisor of the FBI’s
Latent Fingerprint Section, identified these prints as the left index
fingerprint and right palmprint of Lee Harvey Oswald.[C4-181] The
portion of the palm which was identified was the heel of the right
palm, i.e., the area near the wrist, on the little finger side.[C4-182]
These prints were examined independently by Ronald G. Wittmus of the
FBI,[C4-183] and by Arthur Mandella, a fingerprint expert with the New
York City Police Department.[C4-184] Both concluded that the prints
were the right palm and left index finger of Lee Oswald. No other
identifiable prints were found on the bag.[C4-185]
Oswald’s palmprint on the bottom of the paper bag indicated, of course,
that he had handled the bag. Furthermore, it was consistent with the
bag having contained a heavy or bulky object when he handled it since a
light object is usually held by the fingers.[C4-186] The palmprint was
found on the closed end of the bag. It was from Oswald’s right hand, in
which he carried the long package as he walked from Frazier’s car to
the building.[C4-187]
_Materials used to make bag._--On the day of the assassination, the
Dallas police obtained a sample of wrapping paper and tape from the
shipping room of the Depository and forwarded it to the FBI Laboratory
in Washington.[C4-188] James C. Cadigan, a questioned-documents expert
with the Bureau, compared the samples with the paper and tape in the
actual bag. He testified, “In all of the observations and physical
tests that I made I found * * * the bag * * * and the paper sample * *
* were the same.”[C4-189]
Among other tests, the paper and tape were submitted to fiber analysis
and spectrographic examination.[C4-190] In addition the tape was
compared to determine whether the sample tape and the tape on the bag
had been taken from the tape dispensing machine at the Depository.
When asked to explain the similarity of characteristics, Cadigan
stated:[C4-191]
Well, briefly, it would be the thickness of both the paper and
the tape, the color under various lighting conditions of both
the paper and the tape, the width of the tape, the knurled
markings on the surface of the fiber, the texture of the fiber,
the felting pattern * * *
* * * * *
I found that the paper sack found on the sixth floor * * * and
the sample * * * had the same observable characteristics both
under the microscope and all the visual tests that I could
conduct.
* * * * *
The papers I also found were similar in fiber composition,
therefore, in addition to the visual characteristics,
microscopic and UV [ultra violet] characteristics.
Mr. Cadigan concluded that the paper and tape from the bag were
identical in all respects to the sample paper and tape taken from the
Texas School Book Depository shipping room on November 22, 1963.[C4-192]
On December 1, 1963, a replica bag was made from materials found on
that date in the shipping room. This was done as an investigatory aid
since the original bag had been discolored during various laboratory
examinations and could not be used for valid identification by
witnesses.[C4-193] Cadigan found that the paper used to make this
replica sack had different characteristics from the paper in the
original bag.[C4-194] The science of paper analysis enabled him to
distinguish between different rolls of paper even though they were
produced by the same manufacturer.[C4-195]
Since the Depository normally used approximately one roll of paper
every 3 working days,[C4-196] it was not surprising that the replica
sack made on December 1, 1963, had different characteristics from
both the actual bag and the sample taken on November 22. On the other
hand, since two rolls could be made from the same batch of paper, one
cannot estimate when, prior to November 22, Oswald made the paper bag.
However, the complete identity of characteristics between the paper
and tape in the bag found on the sixth floor and the paper and tape
found in the shipping room of the Depository on November 22 enabled
the Commission to conclude that the bag was made from these materials.
The Depository shipping department was on the first floor to which
Oswald had access in the normal performance of his duties filling
orders.[C4-197]
_Fibers in paper bag matched fibers in blanket._--When Paul M.
Stombaugh of the FBI Laboratory examined the paper bag, he found,
on the inside, a single brown delustered viscose fiber and several
light green cotton fibers.[C4-198] The blanket in which the rifle was
stored was composed of brown and green cotton, viscose and woolen
fibers.[C4-199]
The single brown viscose fiber found in the bag matched some
of the brown viscose fibers from the blanket in all observable
characteristics.[C4-200] The green cotton fibers found in the paper
bag matched some of the green cotton fibers in the blanket “in all
observable microscopic characteristics.”[C4-201] Despite these matches,
however, Stombaugh was unable to render an opinion that the fibers
which he found in the bag had probably come from the blanket, because
other types of fibers present in the blanket were not found in the bag.
He concluded:
All I would say here is that it is possible that these fibers
could have come from this blanket, because this blanket is
composed of brown and green woolen fibers, brown and green
delustered viscose fibers, and brown and green cotton fibers. *
* * We found no brown cotton fibers, no green viscose fibers,
and no woolen fibers.
So if I found all of these then I would have been able to say
these fibers probably had come from this blanket. But since I
found so few, then I would say the possibility exists, these
fibers could have come from this blanket.[C4-202]
Stombaugh confirmed that the rifle could have picked up fibers from the
blanket and transferred them to the paper bag.[C4-203] In light of the
other evidence linking Lee Harvey Oswald, the blanket, and the rifle
to the paper bag found on the sixth floor, the Commission considered
Stombaugh’s testimony of probative value in deciding whether Oswald
carried the rifle into the building in the paper bag.
Conclusion
The preponderance of the evidence supports the conclusion that Lee
Harvey Oswald (1) told the curtain rod story to Frazier to explain both
the return to Irving on a Thursday and the obvious bulk of the package
which he intended to bring to work the next day; (2) took paper and
tape from the wrapping bench of the Depository and fashioned a bag
large enough to carry the disassembled rifle; (3) removed the rifle
from the blanket in the Paines’ garage on Thursday evening; (4) carried
the rifle into the Depository Building, concealed in the bag; and, (5)
left the bag alongside the window from which the shots were fired.
OSWALD AT WINDOW
Lee Harvey Oswald was hired on October 15, 1963, by the Texas School
Book Depository as an “order filler.”[C4-204] He worked principally
on the first and sixth floors of the building, gathering books listed
on orders and delivering them to the shipping room on the first
floor.[C4-205] He had ready access to the sixth floor,[C4-206] from
the southeast corner window of which the shots were fired.[C4-207]
The Commission evaluated the physical evidence found near the window
after the assassination and the testimony of eyewitnesses in deciding
whether Lee Harvey Oswald was present at this window at the time of the
assassination.
[Illustration: COMMISSION EXHIBIT NO. 1301
SOUTHEAST CORNER OF SIXTH FLOOR SHOWING ARRANGEMENT OF CARTONS SHORTLY
AFTER SHOTS WERE FIRED.]
[Illustration: COMMISSION EXHIBIT NO. 1302
APPROXIMATE LOCATION OF WRAPPING-PAPER BAG AND LOCATION OF PALM PRINT
ON CARTON NEAR WINDOW IN SOUTHEAST CORNER. (HAND POSITION SHOWN BY
DOTTED LINE ON BOX)]
Palmprints and Fingerprints on Cartons and Paper Bag
Below the southeast corner window on the sixth floor was a large carton
of books measuring approximately 18 by 12 by 14 inches which had been
moved from a stack along the south wall.[C4-208] Atop this carton was
a small carton marked “Rolling Readers,” measuring approximately 13
by 9 by 8 inches.[C4-209] In front of this small carton and resting
partially on the windowsill was another small “Rolling Readers”
carton.[C4-210] These two small cartons had been moved from a stack
about three aisles away.[C4-211] The boxes in the window appeared to
have been arranged as a convenient gun rest.[C4-212] (See Commission
Exhibit No. 1301, p. 138.) Behind these boxes was another carton placed
on the floor on which a man sitting could look southwesterly down Elm
Street over the top of the “Rolling Readers” cartons.[C4-213] Next to
these cartons was the handmade paper bag, previously discussed, on
which appeared the print of the left index finger and right palm of Lee
Harvey Oswald.[C4-214] (See Commission Exhibit No. 1302, p. 139.)
The cartons were forwarded to the FBI in Washington. Sebastian F.
Latona, supervisor of the Latent Fingerprint Section, testified that
20 identifiable fingerprints and 8 palmprints were developed on these
cartons.[C4-215] The carton on the windowsill and the large carton
below the window contained no prints which could be identified as being
those of Lee Harvey Oswald.[C4-216] The other “Rolling Readers” carton,
however, contained a palmprint and a fingerprint which were identified
by Latona as being the left palmprint and right index fingerprint of
Lee Harvey Oswald.[C4-217] (See app. X, p. 566.)
The Commission has considered the possibility that the cartons might
have been moved in connection with the work that was being performed
on the sixth floor on November 22. Depository employees were laying
a new floor at the west end and transferring books from the west to
the east end of the building.[C4-218] The “Rolling Readers” cartons,
however, had not been moved by the floor layers and had apparently been
taken to the window from their regular position for some particular
purpose.[C4-219] The “Rolling Readers” boxes contained, instead of
books, light blocks used as reading aids.[C4-220] They could be easily
adjusted and were still solid enough to serve as a gun rest.
The box on the floor, behind the three near the window, had been
one of these moved by the floor layers from the west wall to near
the east side of the building in preparation for the laying of the
floor.[C4-221] During the afternoon of November 22, Lieutenant Day
of the Dallas police dusted this carton with powder and developed
a palmprint on the top edge of the carton on the side nearest the
window.[C4-222] The position of this palmprint on the carton was
parallel with the long axis of the box, and at right angles with the
short axis; the bottom of the palm rested on the box.[C4-223] Someone
sitting on the box facing the window would have his palm in this
position if he placed his hand alongside his right hip. (See Commission
Exhibit No. 1302, p. 139.) This print which had been cut out of the
box was also forwarded to the FBI and Latona identified it as Oswald’s
right palmprint.[C4-224] In Latona’s opinion “not too long” a time
had elapsed between the time that the print was placed on the carton
and the time that it had been developed by the Dallas police.[C4-225]
Although Bureau experiments had shown that 24 hours was a likely
maximum time, Latona stated that he could only testify with certainty
that the print was less than 3 days old.[C4-226]
The print, therefore, could have been placed on the carton at any time
within this period. The freshness of this print could be estimated
only because the Dallas police developed it through the use of powder.
Since cartons absorb perspiration, powder can successfully develop a
print on such material[C4-227] only within a limited time. When the FBI
in Washington received the cartons, the remaining prints, including
Oswald’s on the Rolling Readers carton, were developed by chemical
processes. The freshness of prints developed in this manner[C4-228]
cannot be estimated, so no conclusions can be drawn as to whether these
remaining prints preceded or followed the print developed in Dallas
by powder. Most of the prints were found to have been placed on the
cartons by an FBI clerk and a Dallas police officer after the cartons
had been processed with powder by the Dallas Police.[C4-229] (See ch.
VI, p. 249; app. X, p. 566.)
In his independent investigation, Arthur Mandella of the New York
City Police Department reached the same conclusion as Latona that the
prints found on the cartons were those of Lee Harvey Oswald.[C4-229]
In addition, Mandella was of the opinion that the print taken from the
carton on the floor was probably made within a day or a day and a half
of the examination on November 22.[C4-230] Moreover, another expert
with the FBI, Ronald G. Wittmus, conducted a separate examination and
also agreed with Latona that the prints were Oswald’s.[C4-231]
In evaluating the significance of these fingerprint and palmprint
identifications, the Commission considered the possibility that Oswald
handled these cartons as part of his normal duties. Since other
identifiable prints were developed on the cartons, the Commission
requested that they be compared with the prints of the 12 warehouse
employees who, like Oswald, might have handled the cartons. They were
also compared with the prints of those law enforcement officials who
might have handled the cartons. The results of this investigation are
fully discussed in chapter VI, page 249. Although a person could handle
a carton and not leave identifiable prints, none of these employees
except Oswald left identifiable prints on the cartons.[C4-232] This
finding, in addition to the freshness of one of the prints and the
presence of Oswald’s prints on two of the four cartons and the
paper bag led the Commission to attach some probative value to the
fingerprint and palmprint identifications in reaching the conclusion
that Oswald was at the window from which the shots were fired, although
the prints do not establish the exact time he was there.
[Illustration: COMMISSION EXHIBIT NO. 2707
SIXTH FLOOR, TEXAS SCHOOL BOOK DEPOSITORY DALLAS, TEXAS]
Oswald’s Presence on Sixth Floor Approximately 35 Minutes Before the
Assassination
Additional testimony linking Oswald with the point from which the
shots were fired was provided by the testimony of Charles Givens, who
was the last known employee to see Oswald inside the building prior
to the assassination. During the morning of November 22, Givens was
working with the floor-laying crew in the southwest section of the
sixth floor.[C4-233] At about 11:45 a.m. the floor-laying crew used
both elevators to come down from the sixth floor. The employees raced
the elevators to the first floor.[C4-234] Givens saw Oswald standing
at the gate on the fifth floor as the elevator went by.[C4-235] Givens
testified that after reaching the first floor, “I discovered I left
my cigarettes in my jacket pocket upstairs, and I took the elevator
back upstairs to get my jacket with my cigarettes in it.”[C4-236] He
saw Oswald, a clipboard in hand, walking from the southeast corner
of the sixth floor toward the elevator.[C4-237] (See Commission
Exhibit No. 2707, p. 142.) Givens said to Oswald, “Boy are you going
downstairs? * * * It’s near lunch time.” Oswald said, “No, sir. When
you get downstairs, close the gate to the elevator.”[C4-238] Oswald was
referring to the west elevator which operates by pushbutton and only
with the gate closed.[C4-239] Givens said, “Okay,” and rode down in the
east elevator. When he reached the first floor, the west elevator--the
one with the gate--was not there. Givens thought this was about 11:55
a.m.[C4-240] None of the Depository employees is known to have seen
Oswald again until after the shooting.[C4-241]
The significance of Givens’ observation that Oswald was carrying his
clipboard became apparent on December 2, 1963, when an employee,
Frankie Kaiser, found a clipboard hidden by book cartons in the
northwest corner of the sixth floor at the west wall a few feet from
where the rifle had been found.[C4-242] This clipboard had been made
by Kaiser and had his name on it.[C4-243] Kaiser identified it as the
clipboard which Oswald had appropriated from him when Oswald came to
work at the Depository.[C4-244] Three invoices on this clipboard,
each dated November 22, were for Scott-Foresman books, located on the
first and sixth floors.[C4-245] Oswald had not filled any of the three
orders.[C4-246]
Eyewitness Identification of Assassin
Howard L. Brennan was an eyewitness to the shooting. As indicated
previously the Commission considered his testimony as probative in
reaching the conclusion that the shots came from the sixth floor,
southeast corner window of the Depository Building.[C4-247] (See ch.
III, pp. 61-68.) Brennan also testified that Lee Harvey Oswald, whom
he viewed in a police lineup on the night of the assassination, was
the man he saw fire the shots from the sixth-floor window of the
Depository Building.[C4-248] When the shots were fired, Brennan was in
an excellent position to observe anyone in the window. He was sitting
on a concrete wall on the southwest corner of Elm and Houston Streets,
looking north at the Depository Building which was directly in front of
him.[C4-249] The window was approximately 120 feet away.[C4-250](See
Commission Exhibit No. 477, p. 62.)
In the 6- to 8-minute period before the motorcade arrived,[C4-251]
Brennan saw a man leave and return to the window “a couple of
times.”[C4-252] After hearing the first shot, which he thought was a
motorcycle backfire, Brennan glanced up at the window. He testified
that “this man I saw previously was aiming for his last shot * * *
as it appeared to me he was standing up and resting against the left
window sill * * *.”[C4-253]
Brennan saw the man fire the last shot and disappear from the window.
Within minutes of the assassination, Brennan described the man to the
police.[C4-254] This description most probably led to the radio alert
sent to police cars at approximately 12:45 p.m., which described the
suspect as white, slender, weighing about 165 pounds, about 5’10” tall,
and in his early thirties.[C4-255] In his sworn statement to the police
later that day, Brennan described the man in similar terms, except
that he gave the weight as between 165 and 175 pounds and the height
was omitted.[C4-256] In his testimony before the Commission, Brennan
described the person he saw as “* * * a man in his early thirties,
fair complexion, slender, but neat, neat slender, possible 5 foot 10 *
* * 160 to 170 pounds.”[C4-257] Oswald was 5’9”, slender and 24 years
old. When arrested, he gave his weight as 140 pounds.[C4-258] On other
occasions he gave weights of both 140 and 150 pounds.[C4-259] The New
Orleans police records of his arrest in August of 1963 show a weight of
136 pounds.[C4-260] The autopsy report indicated an estimated weight of
150 pounds.[C4-261]
Brennan’s description should also be compared with the eyewitness
description broadcast over the Dallas police radio at 1:22 p.m. of the
man who shot Patrolman J. D. Tippit. The suspect was described as “a
white male about 30, 5’8”, black hair, slender. * * *”[C4-262] At 1:29
p.m. the police radio reported that the description of the suspect in
the Tippit shooting was similar to the description which had been given
by Brennan in connection with the assassination.[C4-263] Approximately
7 or 8 minutes later the police radio reported that “an eyeball
witness” described the suspect in the Tippit shooting as “a white male,
27, 5’11”, 165 pounds, black wavy hair.”[C4-264] As will be discussed
fully below, the Commission has concluded that this suspect was Lee
Harvey Oswald.
Although Brennan testified that the man in the window was standing
when he fired the shots,[C4-265] most probably he was either sitting
or kneeling. The half-open window,[C4-266] the arrangement of the
boxes,[C4-267] and the angle of the shots virtually preclude a standing
position.[C4-268] It is understandable, however, for Brennan to have
believed that the man with the rifle was standing. A photograph
of the building taken seconds after the assassination shows three
employees looking out of the fifth-floor window directly below the
window from which the shots were fired. Brennan testified that
they were standing,[C4-269] which is their apparent position in the
photograph.[C4-270] (See Dillard Exhibits Nos. C and D. pp. 66-67.) But
the testimony of these employees,[C4-271] together with photographs
subsequently taken of them at the scene of the assassination,[C4-272]
establishes that they were either squatting or kneeling. (See
Commission Exhibit No. 485, p. 69.) Since the window ledges in the
Depository Building are lower than in most buildings,[C4-273] a person
squatting or kneeling exposes more of his body than would normally be
the case. From the street, this creates the impression that the person
is standing. Brennan could have seen enough of the body of a kneeling
or squatting person to estimate his height.
Shortly after the assassination Brennan noticed two of these employees
leaving the building and immediately identified them as having been
in the fifth-floor windows.[C4-274] When the three employees appeared
before the Commission, Brennan identified the two whom he saw leave the
building.[C4-275] The two men, Harold Norman and James Jarman, Jr.,
each confirmed that when they came out of the building, they saw and
heard Brennan describing what he had seen.[C4-276] Norman stated, “*
* * I remember him talking and I believe I remember seeing him saying
that he saw us when we first went up to the fifth-floor window, he saw
us then.”[C4-277] Jarman heard Brennan “talking to this officer about
that he had heard these shots and he had seen the barrel of the gun
sticking out the window, and he said that the shots came from inside
the building.”[C4-278]
During the evening of November 22, Brennan identified Oswald as
the person in the lineup who bore the closest resemblance to the
man in the window but he said he was unable to make a positive
identification.[C4-279] Prior to the lineup, Brennan had seen Oswald’s
picture on television and he told the Commission that whether this
affected his identification “is something I do not know.”[C4-280] In
an interview with FBI agents on December 17, 1963, Brennan stated
that he was sure that the person firing the rifle was Oswald.[C4-281]
In another interview with FBI agents on January 7, 1964, Brennan
appeared to revert to his earlier inability to make a positive
identification,[C4-282] but, in his testimony before the Commission,
Brennan stated that his remarks of January 7 were intended by him
merely as an accurate report of what he said on November 22.[C4-283]
Brennan told the Commission that he could have made a positive
identification in the lineup on November 22 but did not do so because
he felt that the assassination was “a Communist activity, and I felt
like there hadn’t been more than one eyewitness, and if it got to be a
known fact that I was an eyewitness, my family or I, either one, might
not be safe.”[C4-284] When specifically asked before the Commission
whether or not he could positively identify the man he saw in the
sixth-floor window as the same man he saw in the police station,
Brennan stated, “I could at that time--I could, with all sincerity,
identify him as being the same man.”[C4-285]
Although the record indicates that Brennan was an accurate observer,
he declined to make a positive identification of Oswald when he first
saw him in the police lineup.[C4-286] The Commission, therefore, does
not base its conclusion concerning the identity of the assassin on
Brennan’s subsequent certain identification of Lee Harvey Oswald as
the man he saw fire the rifle. Immediately after the assassination,
however, Brennan described to the police the man he saw in the window
and then identified Oswald as the person who most nearly resembled the
man he saw. The Commission is satisfied that, at the least, Brennan saw
a man in the window who closely resembled Lee Harvey Oswald, and that
Brennan believes the man he saw was in fact Lee Harvey Oswald.
Two other witnesses were able to offer partial descriptions of a
man they saw in the southeast corner window of the sixth floor
approximately 1 minute before the assassination, although neither
witness saw the shots being fired.[C4-287] Ronald Fischer and Robert
Edwards were standing on the curb at the southwest corner of Elm and
Houston Streets,[C4-288] the same corner where Brennan was sitting on
a concrete wall.[C4-289] Fischer testified that about 10 or 15 seconds
before the motorcade turned onto Houston Street from Main Street,
Edwards said, “Look at that guy there in that window.”[C4-290]
Fischer looked up and watched the man in the window for 10 or 15
seconds and then started watching the motorcade, which came into view
on Houston Street.[C4-291] He said that the man held his attention
until the motorcade came because the man:
* * * appeared uncomfortable for one, and secondly, he wasn’t
watching * * * he didn’t look like he was watching for the
parade. He looked like he was looking down toward the Trinity
River and the Triple Underpass down at the end--toward the end
of Elm Street. And * * * all the time I watched him, he never
moved his head, he never--he never moved anything. Just was
there transfixed.[C4-292]
Fischer placed the man in the easternmost window on the south side of
the Depository Building on either the fifth or the sixth floor.[C4-293]
He said that he could see the man from the middle of his chest to the
top of his head, and that as he was facing the window the man was in
the lower right-hand portion of the window and “seemed to be sitting
a little forward.”[C4-294] The man was dressed in a light-colored,
open-neck shirt which could have been either a sports shirt or a
T-shirt, and he had brown hair, a slender face and neck with light
complexion, and looked to be 22 or 24 years old.[C4-295] The person
in the window was a white man and “looked to me like he was looking
straight at the Triple Underpass” down Elm Street.[C4-296] Boxes and
cases were stacked behind him.[C4-297]
Approximately 1 week after the assassination, according to Fischer,
policemen showed him a picture of Oswald.[C4-298] In his testimony
he said, “I told them that that could have been the man. * * * That
that could have been the man that I saw in the window in the School
Book Depository Building, but that I was not sure.”[C4-299] Fischer
described the man’s hair as some shade of brown--“it wasn’t dark and it
wasn’t light.”[C4-300] On November 22, Fischer had apparently described
the man as “light-headed.”[C4-301] Fischer explained that he did not
mean by the earlier statement that the man was blond, but rather that
his hair was not black.[C4-302]
Robert Edwards said that, while looking at the south side of the
Depository Building shortly before the motorcade, he saw nothing of
importance “except maybe one individual who was up there in the corner
room of the sixth floor which was crowded in among boxes.”[C4-303] He
said that this was a white man about average in size, “possibly thin,”
and that he thought the man had light-brown hair.[C4-304] Fischer and
Edwards did not see the man clearly enough or long enough to identify
him. Their testimony is of probative value, however, because their
limited description is consistent with that of the man who has been
found by the Commission, based on other evidence, to have fired the
shots from the window.
Another person who saw the assassin as the shots were fired was Amos L.
Euins, age 15, who was one of the first witnesses to alert the police
to the Depository as the source of the shots, as has been discussed in
chapter III.[C4-305] Euins, who was on the southwest corner of Elm and
Houston Streets,[C4-306] testified that he could not describe the man
he saw in the window. According to Euins, however, as the man lowered
his head in order to aim the rifle down Elm Street, he appeared to have
a white bald spot on his head.[C4-307] Shortly after the assassination,
Euins signed an affidavit describing the man as “white,”[C4-308] but
a radio reporter testified that Euins described the man to him as
“colored.”[C4-309] In his Commission testimony, Euins stated that
he could not ascertain the man’s race and that the statement in the
affidavit was intended to refer only to the white spot on the man’s
head and not to his race.[C4-310] A Secret Service agent who spoke to
Euins approximately 20 to 30 minutes after the assassination confirmed
that Euins could neither describe the man in the window nor indicate
his race.[C4-311] Accordingly, Euins’ testimony is considered probative
as to the source of the shots but is inconclusive as to the identity of
the man in the window.
In evaluating the evidence that Oswald was at the southeast corner
window of the sixth floor at the time of the shooting, the Commission
has considered the allegation that Oswald was photographed standing in
front of the building when the shots were fired. The picture which gave
rise to these allegations was taken by Associated Press Photographer
James W. Altgens, who was standing on the south side of Elm Street
between the Triple Underpass and the Depository Building.[C4-312] As
the motorcade started its descent down Elm Street, Altgens snapped
a picture of the Presidential limousine with the entrance to the
Depository Building in the background.[C4-313] Just before snapping
the picture Altgens heard a noise which sounded like the popping of
a firecracker. Investigation has established that Altgens’ picture
was taken approximately 2 seconds after the firing of the shot which
entered the back of the President’s neck.[C4-314]
[Illustration: COMMISSION EXHIBIT NO. 1061
TEXAS SCHOOL BOOK DEPOSITORY DIAGRAM OF FIRST FLOOR]
In the background of this picture were several employees watching
the parade from the steps of the Depository Building. One of these
employees was alleged to resemble Lee Harvey Oswald.[C4-315] The
Commission has determined that the employee was in fact Billy
Nolan Lovelady, who identified himself in the picture.[C4-316]
Standing alongside him were Buell Wesley Frazier[C4-317] and William
Shelley,[C4-318] who also identified Lovelady. The Commission is
satisfied that Oswald does not appear in this photograph. (See
Commission Exhibit No. 900, p. 113.)
Oswald’s Actions in Building After Assassination
In considering whether Oswald was at the southeast corner window at the
time the shots were fired, the Commission has reviewed the testimony
of witnesses who saw Oswald in the building within minutes after the
assassination. The Commission has found that Oswald’s movements, as
described by these witnesses, are consistent with his having been at
the window at 12:30 p.m.
_The encounter in the lunchroom._--The first person to see Oswald
after the assassination was Patrolman M. L. Baker of the Dallas Police
Department. Baker was riding a two-wheeled motorcycle behind the last
press car of the motorcade.[C4-319] As he turned the corner from Main
onto Houston at a speed of about 5 to 10 miles per hour,[C4-320] a
strong wind blowing from the north almost unseated him.[C4-321] At
about this time he heard the first shot.[C4-322] Having recently
heard the sounds of rifles while on a hunting trip, Baker recognized
the shots as that of a high-powered rifle; “it sounded high and I
immediately kind of looked up, and I had a feeling that it came from
the building, either right in front of me [the Depository Building]
or of the one across to the right of it.”[C4-323] He saw pigeons
flutter upward. He was not certain, “but I am pretty sure they came
from the building right on the northwest corner.”[C4-324] He heard two
more shots spaced “pretty well even to me.”[C4-325] After the third
shot, he “revved that motorcycle up,” drove to the northwest corner
of Elm and Houston, and parked approximately 10 feet from the traffic
signal.[C4-326] As he was parking he noted that people were “falling,
and they were rolling around down there * * * grabbing their children”
and rushing about.[C4-327] A woman screamed, “Oh, they have shot that
man, they have shot that man.”[C4-328] Baker “had it in mind that the
shots came from the top of this building here,” so he ran straight to
the entrance of the Depository Building.[C4-329]
Baker testified that he entered the lobby of the building and “spoke
out and asked where the stairs or elevator was * * * and this man,
Mr. Truly, spoke up and says, it seems to me like he says, ‘I am a
building manager. Follow me, officer, and I will show you.’”[C4-330]
Baker and building superintendent Roy Truly went through a second set
of doors[C4-331] and stopped at a swinging door where Baker bumped into
Truly’s back.[C4-332] They went through the swinging door and continued
at “a good trot” to the northwest corner of the floor where Truly hoped
to find one of the two freight elevators. (See Commission Exhibit No.
1061, p. 148.) Neither elevator was there.[C4-333] Truly pushed the
button for the west elevator which operates automatically if the gate
is closed.[C4-334] He shouted twice, “Turn loose the elevator.”[C4-335]
When the elevator failed to come, Baker said, “let’s take the stairs,”
and he followed Truly up the stairway, which is to the west of the
elevator.[C4-336]
[Illustration: COMMISSION EXHIBIT NO. 1118
TEXAS SCHOOL BOOK DEPOSITORY DIAGRAM OF SECOND FLOOR SHOWING ROUTE OF
OSWALD]
The stairway is located in the northwest corner of the Depository
Building. The stairs from one floor to the next are “=L=-shaped,”
with both legs of the “=L=” approximately the same length. Because
the stairway itself is enclosed, neither Baker nor Truly could see
anything on the second-floor hallway until they reached the landing at
the top of the stairs.[C4-337] On the second-floor landing there is a
small open area with a door at the east end. This door leads into a
small vestibule, and another door leads from the vestibule into the
second-floor lunchroom.[C4-338] (See Commission Exhibit No. 1118, p.
150.) The lunchroom door is usually open, but the first door is kept
shut by a closing mechanism on the door.[C4-339] This vestibule door
is solid except for a small glass window in the upper part of the
door.[C4-340] As Baker reached the second floor, he was about 20 feet
from the vestibule door.[C4-341] He intended to continue around to his
left toward the stairway going up but through the window in the door he
caught a fleeting glimpse of a man walking in the vestibule toward the
lunchroom.[C4-342]
Since the vestibule door is only a few feet from the lunchroom
door,[C4-343] the man must have entered the vestibule only a second
or two before Baker arrived at the top of the stairwell. Yet he must
have entered the vestibule door before Truly reached the top of the
stairwell, since Truly did not see him.[C4-344] If the man had passed
from the vestibule into the lunchroom, Baker could not have seen him.
Baker said:
He [Truly] had already started around the bend to come to the
next elevator going up, I was coming out this one on the second
floor, and I don’t know, I was kind of sweeping this area as I
come up, I was looking from right to left and as I got to this
door here I caught a glimpse of this man, just, you know, a
sudden glimpse * * * and it looked to me like he was going away
from me. * * *
I can’t say whether he had gone on through that door [the
lunchroom door] or not. All I did was catch a glance at him,
and evidently he was--this door might have been, you know,
closing and almost shut at that time.[C4-345]
With his revolver drawn, Baker opened the vestibule door and ran into
the vestibule. He saw a man walking away from him in the lunchroom.
Baker stopped at the door of the lunchroom and commanded, “Come
here.”[C4-346] The man turned and walked back toward Baker.[C4-347] He
had been proceeding toward the rear of the lunchroom.[C4-348] Along a
side wall of the lunchroom was a soft drink vending machine,[C4-349]
but at that time the man had nothing in his hands.[C4-350]
Meanwhile, Truly had run up several steps toward the third floor.
Missing Baker, he came back to find the officer in the doorway to the
lunchroom “facing Lee Harvey Oswald.”[C4-351] Baker turned to Truly
and said, “Do you know this man, does he work here?”[C4-352] Truly
replied, “Yes.”[C4-353] Baker stated later that the man did not seem to
be out of breath; he seemed calm. “He never did say a word or nothing.
In fact, he didn’t change his expression one bit.”[C4-354] Truly said
of Oswald: “He didn’t seem to be excited or overly afraid or anything.
He might have been a bit startled, like I might have been if somebody
confronted me. But I cannot recall any change in expression of any kind
on his face.”[C4-355] Truly thought that the officer’s gun at that time
appeared to be almost touching the middle portion of Oswald’s body.
Truly also noted at this time that Oswald’s hands were empty.[C4-356]
In an effort to determine whether Oswald could have descended to the
lunchroom from the sixth floor by the time Baker and Truly arrived,
Commission counsel asked Baker and Truly to repeat their movements from
the time of the shot until Baker came upon Oswald in the lunchroom.
Baker placed himself on a motorcycle about 200 feet from the corner
of Elm and Houston Streets where he said he heard the shots.[C4-357]
Truly stood in front of the building.[C4-358] At a given signal, they
reenacted the event. Baker’s movements were timed with a stopwatch. On
the first test, the elapsed time between the simulated first shot and
Baker’s arrival on the second-floor stair landing was 1 minute and 30
seconds. The second test run required 1 minute and 15 seconds.[C4-359]
A test was also conducted to determine the time required to walk from
the southeast corner of the sixth floor to the second-floor lunchroom
by stairway. Special Agent John Howlett of the Secret Service carried
a rifle from the southeast corner of the sixth floor along the east
aisle to the northeast corner. He placed the rifle on the floor near
the site where Oswald’s rifle was actually found after the shooting.
Then Howlett walked down the stairway to the second-floor landing and
entered the lunchroom. The first test, run at normal walking pace,
required 1 minute, 18 seconds;[C4-360] the second test, at a “fast
walk” took 1 minute, 14 seconds.[C4-361] The second test followed
immediately after the first. The only interval was the time necessary
to ride in the elevator from the second to the sixth floor and walk
back to the southeast corner. Howlett was not short winded at the end
of either test run.[C4-362]
The minimum time required by Baker to park his motorcycle and reach
the second-floor lunchroom was within 3 seconds of the time needed to
walk from the southeast corner of the sixth floor down the stairway to
the lunchroom. The time actually required for Baker and Truly to reach
the second floor on November 22 was probably longer than in the test
runs. For example, Baker required 15 seconds after the simulated shot
to ride his motorcycle 180 to 200 feet, park it, and run 45 feet to the
building.[C4-363] No allowance was made for the special conditions
which existed on the day of the assassination--possible delayed
reaction to the shot, jostling with the crowd of people on the steps
and scanning the area along Elm Street and the parkway.[C4-364] Baker
said, “We simulated the shots and by the time we got there, we did
everything that I did that day, and this would be the minimum, because
I am sure that I, you know, it took me a little longer.”[C4-365] On
the basis of this time test, therefore, the Commission concluded that
Oswald could have fired the shots and still have been present in the
second-floor lunchroom when seen by Baker and Truly.
That Oswald descended by stairway from the sixth floor to the
second-floor lunchroom is consistent with the movements of the two
elevators, which would have provided the other possible means of
descent. When Truly, accompanied by Baker, ran to the rear of the
first floor, he was certain that both elevators, which occupy the same
shaft,[C4-366] were on the fifth floor.[C4-367] Baker, not realizing
that there were two elevators, thought that only one elevator was
in the shaft and that it was two or three floors above the second
floor.[C4-368] In the few seconds which elapsed while Baker and Truly
ran from the first to the second floor, neither of these slow elevators
could have descended from the fifth to the second floor. Furthermore,
no elevator was at the second floor when they arrived there.[C4-369]
Truly and Baker continued up the stairs after the encounter with Oswald
in the lunchroom. There was no elevator on the third or fourth floor.
The east elevator was on the fifth floor when they arrived; the west
elevator was not. They took the east elevator to the seventh floor
and ran up a stairway to the roof where they searched for several
minutes.[C4-370]
Jack Dougherty, an employee working on the fifth floor, testified
that he took the west elevator to the first floor after hearing a
noise which sounded like a backfire.[C4-371] Eddie Piper, the janitor,
told Dougherty that the President had been shot,[C4-372] but in his
testimony Piper did not mention either seeing or talking with Dougherty
during these moments of excitement.[C4-373] Both Dougherty and Piper
were confused witnesses. They had no exact memory of the events of that
afternoon. Truly was probably correct in stating that the west elevator
was on the fifth floor when he looked up the elevator shaft from the
first floor. The west elevator was not on the fifth floor when Baker
and Truly reached that floor, probably because Jack Dougherty took it
to the first floor while Baker and Truly were running up the stairs or
in the lunchroom with Oswald. Neither elevator could have been used by
Oswald as a means of descent.
Oswald’s use of the stairway is consistent with the testimony of other
employees in the building. Three employees--James Jarman, Jr., Harold
Norman, and Bonnie Ray Williams--were watching the parade from the
fifth floor, directly below the window from which the shots were fired.
They rushed to the west windows after the shots were fired and remained
there until after they saw Patrolman Baker’s white helmet on the fifth
floor moving toward the elevator.[C4-374] While they were at the west
windows their view of the stairwell was completely blocked by shelves
and boxes.[C4-375] This is the period during which Oswald would have
descended the stairs. In all likelihood Dougherty took the elevator
down from the fifth floor after Jarman, Norman, and Williams ran to the
west windows and were deciding what to do. None of these three men saw
Dougherty, probably because of the anxiety of the moment and because
of the books which may have blocked the view.[C4-376] Neither Jarman,
Norman, Williams, or Dougherty saw Oswald.[C4-377]
Victoria Adams, who worked on the fourth floor of the Depository
Building, claimed that within about 1 minute following the shots she
ran from a window on the south side of the fourth floor,[C4-378]
down the rear stairs to the first floor, where she encountered two
Depository employees--William Shelley and Billy Lovelady.[C4-379] If
her estimate of time is correct, she reached the bottom of the stairs
before Truly and Baker started up, and she must have run down the
stairs ahead of Oswald and would probably have seen or heard him.
Actually she noticed no one on the back stairs. If she descended from
the fourth to the first floor as fast as she claimed in her testimony,
she would have seen Baker or Truly on the first floor or on the stairs,
unless they were already in the second-floor lunchroom talking to
Oswald. When she reached the first floor, she actually saw Shelley and
Lovelady slightly east of the east elevator.
Shelley and Lovelady, however, have testified that they were watching
the parade from the top step of the building entrance when Gloria
Calverly, who works in the Depository Building, ran up and said that
the President had been shot.[C4-380] Lovelady and Shelley moved
out into the street.[C4-381] About this time Shelley saw Truly and
Patrolman Baker go into the building.[C4-382] Shelley and Lovelady, at
a fast walk or trot, turned west into the railroad yards and then to
the west side of the Depository Building. They reentered the building
by the rear door several minutes after Baker and Truly rushed through
the front entrance.[C4-383] On entering, Lovelady saw a girl on the
first floor who he believes was Victoria Adams.[C4-384] If Miss Adams
accurately recalled meeting Shelley and Lovelady when she reached the
bottom of the stairs, then her estimate of the time when she descended
from the fourth floor is incorrect, and she actually came down the
stairs several minutes after Oswald and after Truly and Baker as well.
_Oswald’s departure from building._--Within a minute after Baker
and Truly left Oswald in the lunchroom, Mrs. R. A. Reid, clerical
supervisor for the Texas School Book Depository, saw him walk through
the clerical office on the second floor toward the door leading to the
front stairway. Mrs. Reid had watched the parade from the sidewalk in
front of the building with Truly and Mr. O. V. Campbell, vice president
of the Depository.[C4-385] She testified that she heard three shots
which she thought came from the building.[C4-386] She ran inside and
up the front stairs into the large open office reserved for clerical
employees. As she approached her desk, she saw Oswald.[C4-387] He
was walking into the office from the back hallway, carrying a full
bottle of Coca-Cola in his hand,[C4-388] presumably purchased after
the encounter with Baker and Truly. As Oswald passed Mrs. Reid she
said, “Oh, the President has been shot, but maybe they didn’t hit
him.”[C4-389] Oswald mumbled something and walked by.[C4-390] She
paid no more attention to him. The only exit from the office in
the direction Oswald was moving was through the door to the front
stairway.[C4-391] (See Commission Exhibit 1118, p. 150.) Mrs. Reid
testified that when she saw Oswald, he was wearing a T-shirt and no
jacket.[C4-392] When he left home that morning, Marina Oswald, who
was still in bed, suggested that he wear a jacket.[C4-393] A blue
jacket, later identified by Marina Oswald as her husband’s,[C4-394] was
subsequently found in the building,[C4-395] apparently left behind by
Oswald.
Mrs. Reid believes that she returned to her desk from the street about
2 minutes after the shooting.[C4-396] Reconstructing her movements,
Mrs. Reid ran the distance three times and was timed in 2 minutes by
stopwatch.[C4-397] The reconstruction was the minimum time.[C4-398]
Accordingly, she probably met Oswald at about 12:32, approximately
30-45 seconds after Oswald’s lunchroom encounter with Baker and Truly.
After leaving Mrs. Reid in the front office, Oswald could have gone
down the stairs and out the front door by 12:33 p.m.[C4-399]--3 minutes
after the shooting. At that time the building had not yet been sealed
off by the police.
While it was difficult to determine exactly when the police sealed off
the building, the earliest estimates would still have permitted Oswald
to leave the building by 12:33. One of the police officers assigned to
the corner of Elm and Houston Streets for the Presidential motorcade,
W.E. Barnett, testified that immediately after the shots he went to
the rear of the building to check the fire escape. He then returned to
the corner of Elm and Houston where he met a sergeant who instructed
him to find out the name of the building. Barnett ran to the building,
noted its name, and then returned to the corner.[C4-400] There he was
met by a construction worker--in all likelihood Howard Brennan, who
was wearing his work helmet.[C4-401] This worker told Barnett that
the shots had been fired from a window in the Depository Building,
whereupon Barnett posted himself at the front door to make certain that
no one left the building. The sergeant did the same thing at the rear
of the building.[C4-402] Barnett estimated that approximately 3 minutes
elapsed between the time he heard the last of the shots and the time
he started guarding the front door. According to Barnett, “there were
people going in and out” during this period.[C4-403]
Sgt. D. V. Harkness of the Dallas police said that to his knowledge
the building was not sealed off at 12:36 p.m. when he called in on
police radio that a witness (Amos Euins) had seen shots fired from a
window of the building.[C4-404] At that time, Inspector Herbert V.
Sawyer’s car was parked in front of the building.[C4-405] Harkness did
not know whether or not two officers with Sawyer were guarding the
doors.[C4-406] At 12:34 p.m. Sawyer heard a call over the police radio
that the shots had come from the Depository Building.[C4-407] He then
entered the building and took the front passenger elevator as far as
it would go--the fourth floor.[C4-408] After inspecting this floor,
Sawyer returned to the street about 3 minutes after he entered the
building.[C4-409] After he returned to the street he directed Sergeant
Harkness to station two patrolmen at the front door and not let anyone
in or out; he also directed that the back door be sealed off.[C4-410]
This was no earlier than 12:37 p.m.[C4-411] and may have been later.
Special Agent Forrest V. Sorrels of the Secret Service, who had been
in the motorcade, testified that after driving to Parkland Hospital,
he returned to the Depository Building about 20 minutes after the
shooting, found no police officers at the rear door and was able to
enter through this door without identifying himself.[C4-412]
Although Oswald probably left the building at about 12:33 p.m., his
absence was not noticed until at least one-half hour later. Truly,
who had returned with Patrolman Baker from the roof, saw the police
questioning the warehouse employees. Approximately 15 men worked in the
warehouse[C4-413] and Truly noticed that Oswald was not among those
being questioned.[C4-414] Satisfying himself that Oswald was missing,
Truly obtained Oswald’s address, phone number, and description from
his employment application card. The address listed was for the Paine
home in Irving. Truly gave this information to Captain Fritz who was on
the sixth floor at the time[C4-415]. Truly estimated that he gave this
information to Fritz about 15 or 20 minutes after the shots,[C4-416]
but it was probably no earlier than 1:22 p.m., the time when the rifle
was found. Fritz believed that he learned of Oswald’s absence after
the rifle was found.[C4-417] The fact that Truly found Fritz in the
northwest corner of the floor, near the point where the rifle was
found, supports Fritz’ recollection.
Conclusion
Fingerprint and palmprint evidence establishes that Oswald handled
two of the four cartons next to the window and also handled a paper
bag which was found near the cartons. Oswald was seen in the vicinity
of the southeast corner of the sixth floor approximately 35 minutes
before the assassination and no one could be found who saw Oswald
anywhere else in the building until after the shooting. An eyewitness
to the shooting immediately provided a description of the man in the
window which was similar to Oswald’s actual appearance. This witness
identified Oswald in a lineup as the man most nearly resembling the man
he saw and later identified Oswald as the man he observed. Oswald’s
known actions in the building immediately after the assassination are
consistent with his having been at the southeast corner window of the
sixth floor at 12:30 p.m. On the basis of these findings the Commission
has concluded that Oswald, at the time of the assassination, was
present at the window from which the shots were fired.
THE KILLING OF PATROLMAN J. D. TIPPIT
After leaving the Depository Building at approximately 12:33 p.m.,
Lee Harvey Oswald proceeded to his roominghouse by bus and taxi. He
arrived at approximately 1 p.m. and left a few minutes later. At about
1:16 p.m., a Dallas police officer, J. D. Tippit, was shot less than
1 mile from Oswald’s roominghouse. In deciding whether Oswald killed
Patrolman Tippit the Commission considered the following: (1) positive
identification of the killer by two eyewitnesses who saw the shooting
and seven eyewitnesses who heard the shots and saw the gunman flee
the scene with the revolver in his hand, (2) testimony of firearms
identification experts establishing the identity of the murder weapon,
(3) evidence establishing the ownership of the murder weapon, (4)
evidence establishing the ownership of a zipper jacket found along the
path of flight taken by the gunman from the scene of the shooting to
the place of arrest.
Oswald’s Movements After Leaving Depository Building
_The bus ride._--According to the reconstruction of time and events
which the Commission found most credible, Lee Harvey Oswald left the
building approximately 3 minutes after the assassination. He probably
walked east on Elm Street for seven blocks to the corner of Elm and
Murphy where he boarded a bus which was heading back in the direction
of the Depository Building, on its way to the Oak Cliff section of
Dallas. (See Commission Exhibit 1119-A, p. 158.)
When Oswald was apprehended, a bus transfer marked for the
Lakewood-Marsalis route was found in his shirt pocket.[C4-418] The
transfer was dated “Fri. Nov. 22, ’63” and was punched in two places by
the busdriver. On the basis of this punchmark, which was distinctive
to each Dallas driver, the transfer was conclusively identified as
having been issued by Cecil J. McWatters, a busdriver for the Dallas
Transit Co.[C4-419] On the basis of the date and time on the transfer,
McWatters was able to testify that the transfer had been issued by him
on a trip which passed a check point at St. Paul and Elm Streets at
12:36 p.m., November 22, 1963.[C4-420]
McWatters was sure that he left the checkpoint on time and he
estimated that it took him 3 to 4 minutes to drive three blocks west
from the checkpoint to Field Street, which he reached at about 12:40
p.m.[C4-421] McWatters’ recollection is that he issued this transfer to
a man who entered his bus just beyond Field Street, where a man beat on
the front door of the bus, boarded it and paid his fare.[C4-422] About
two blocks later, a woman asked to get off to make a 1 o’clock train at
Union Station and requested a transfer which she might use if she got
through the traffic.
* * * So I gave her a transfer and opened the door and she was
going out the gentleman I had picked up about two blocks [back]
asked for a transfer and got off at the same place in the
middle of the block where the lady did.
* * * It was the intersection near Lamar Street, it was near
Poydras and Lamar Street.[C4-423]
[Illustration: COMMISSION EXHIBIT NO. 1119-A
WHEREABOUTS OF
LEE HARVEY OSWALD
between
12:33 P.M. and 1:50 P.M.
November 22, 1963
(ALL TIMES ARE APPROXIMATE)
] The man was on the bus approximately 4 minutes.[C4-424]
At about 6:30 p.m. on the day of the assassination, McWatters viewed
four men in a police lineup. He picked Oswald from the lineup as the
man who had boarded the bus at the “lower end of town on Elm around
Houston,” and who, during the ride south on Marsalis, had an argument
with a woman passenger.[C4-425] In his Commission testimony, McWatters
said he had been in error and that a teenager named Milton Jones was
the passenger he had in mind.[C4-426] In a later interview, Jones
confirmed that he had exchanged words with a woman passenger on the bus
during the ride south on Marsalis.[C4-427] McWatters also remembered
that a man received a transfer at Lamar and Elm Streets and that a
man in the lineup was about the size of this man.[C4-428] However,
McWatters’ recollection alone was too vague to be a basis for placing
Oswald on the bus.