Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. KennedyUnited States. Warren Commission
History
Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
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.)
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