Warren Commission (04 of 26): Hearings Vol. IV (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (04 of 26): Hearings Vol. IV (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Mr. EISENBERG. Now, would you say that the absence of bulges would be
inconsistent with the carrying of a heavy object or an irregularly
shaped object in the bag?
Mr. STOMBAUGH. Well, I don't believe I am qualified to answer that
question, because I actually am not an expert in paper.
Mr. EISENBERG. All right. We will leave that to the questioned document
examiner and we will take it up with him.
Did you notice anything else about the bag relating to its gross
physical characteristics and its shape, apart from any debris which you
may have found inside or outside the bag?
Mr. STOMBAUGH. No, sir; just an oblong homemade bag was the impression
I received from looking at it.
Mr. EISENBERG. Do you think it was, if it was in fact a homemade bag,
do you think it was a well-made bag, Mr. Stombaugh? Did you form any
opinion as to that?
Mr. STOMBAUGH. In my opinion, just a personal opinion, the person was
aware as to how to make a bag, to seal the ends by folding both corners
in and then folding them flat.
Mr. EISENBERG. You just demonstrated that both corners originally were
folded by the crease lines, and you folded it over again to show how it
was made?
Mr. STOMBAUGH. Yes; this makes a neat and also a secure corner or end
to the bag, to prevent losing any of the contents.
Mr. EISENBERG. Mr. Stombaugh, did you examine the outside of this paper
bag----
Mr. STOMBAUGH. Yes; I did.
Mr. EISENBERG. Exhibit 142 and also 626, to see if there were any
foreign items on the surface?
Mr. STOMBAUGH. Yes; I did.
Mr. EISENBERG. And what did you find?
Mr. STOMBAUGH. I found that the bag had previously been dusted for
latent fingerprints because I found traces of what appeared to be
fingerprint powder on it.
I was using white gloves at the time I examined this and the gloves
became quite soiled from the fingerprint powder.
Mr. EISENBERG. Did you find anything else?
Mr. STOMBAUGH. No; nothing on the outside of the bag.
Mr. EISENBERG. How did you conduct that examination, by the way?
Mr. STOMBAUGH. With a low-power microscope.
Mr. EISENBERG. Did you find any cotton fibers on the outside of the bag
at all, Mr. Stombaugh, white or colored?
Mr. STOMBAUGH. There were white cotton fibers on the outside but I
was using a pair of white cotton gloves, so these would be of no
value. White cotton is the most common thing we have in the way of
textiles, and therefore it just doesn't have sufficient individual
characteristics to be of value for comparison and identification
purposes. It is for this reason that we use gloves of this material.
Mr. EISENBERG. And those fibers may have come from your white cotton
gloves?
Mr. STOMBAUGH. Yes; they could very easily have come from my gloves
from handling the object with a pair of gloves on.
Mr. EISENBERG. Did you proceed to examine the inside of the paper bag
to see if there were any foreign objects?
Mr. STOMBAUGH. Yes; I did.
Mr. EISENBERG. What were your conclusions?
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