Warren Commission (02 of 26): Hearings Vol. II (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (02 of 26): Hearings Vol. II (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Mr. SPECTER. Do you own any rifles?
Mr. ROWLAND. No; my stepfather does.
Mr. SPECTER. Have you ever gone hunting deer with such a rifle?
Mr. ROWLAND. Yes; I have.
Mr. SPECTER. And is that a .30-odd-6 rifle that you have hunted deer
with?
Mr. ROWLAND. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. Is that a popular size of rifle in the Dallas, Tex., area?
Mr. ROWLAND. I don't know about Dallas. I do know in Oregon it is one
of the most popular for deer hunting.
Mr. SPECTER. Was the rifle which you observed similar to, or perhaps
identical with, .30-odd rifles which you have seen before?
Mr. ROWLAND. The best I could tell it was of that size.
Mr. SPECTER. Have you seen such .30-odd rifles before at close range
which had telescopic sights?
Mr. ROWLAND. Yes; one my stepfather has has a very powerful scope on it.
Mr. SPECTER. And did this rifle appear similar to the one your
stepfather owned?
Mr. ROWLAND. From my distance, I would say very similar or of similar
manufacture.
Mr. SPECTER. In what manner was the rifle being held by the man whom
you observed?
Mr. ROWLAND. The way he was standing it would have been in a position
such as port arms in military terms.
Mr. SPECTER. When you say port arms you have positioned your left hand
with the left elbow of your hand being about level with your shoulder
and your right hand----
Mr. ROWLAND. Not quite level with my shoulder, and the right hand being
lower on the trigger of the stock.
Mr. SPECTER. So the waist of the imaginary rifle you would be holding
would cross your body at about a 45-degree angle.
Mr. ROWLAND. That is correct.
Mr. SPECTER. How long was the rifle held in that position?
Mr. ROWLAND. During the entire time that I saw him there.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you see him hold it in any other position?
Mr. ROWLAND. No, I didn't.
Mr. SPECTER. For example, was he standing at any time in a parade-rest
position?
Mr. ROWLAND. No; not to my knowledge.
Mr. SPECTER. Describe, as best you can, the appearance of the
individual whom you saw?
Mr. ROWLAND. He was rather slender in proportion to his size. I
couldn't tell for sure whether he was tall and maybe, you know heavy,
say 200 pounds, but tall whether he would be and slender or whether he
was medium and slender, but in proportion to his size his build was
slender.
Mr. SPECTER. Could you give us an estimate on his height?
Mr. ROWLAND. No; I couldn't. That is why I said I can't state what
height he would be. He was just slender in build in proportion with his
width. This is something I find myself doing all the time, comparing
things in perspective.
Mr. SPECTER. Was he a white man or a Negro or what?
Mr. ROWLAND. Seemed, well, I can't state definitely from my position
because it was more or less not fully light or bright in the room. He
appeared to be fair complexioned, not fair, but light complexioned, but
dark hair.
Mr. SPECTER. What race was he then?
Mr. ROWLAND. I would say either a light Latin or a Caucasian.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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