chapter II. With the assistance of Agent in Charge Sorrels of the (Part 11 of 21)
A Robert J. E. Hughes photo of a shadow in the Depository’s sixth-floor southeast window was determined by the FBI and Navy Photographic Interpretation Center to be stacked cartons, not a gunman. A man on the Depository’s front steps identified as Oswald was actually employee Billy Lovelady; coworkers confirmed Oswald’s absence.
Oswald’s Dallas post office box was registered under his name and alias A. Hidell. Post Office regulations discarded the recipient list when the box closed May 14, 1963. “Hidell” was fictitious; Oswald rented a similar New Orleans box under the same alias. The presidential limousine moved about 11.2 mph between shots. The Commission found Oswald could have fired three shots after chambering the first, requiring only the trigger pull and two bolt operations. His Marine sharpshooter qualification, Marina’s bolt-practice testimony, and expert scope testimony established his capability.
The sixth-floor rifle bore an Italian inscription, correctly identified by Fritz and Day; Weitzman briefly glimpsed it and called it a 7.65 Mauser, while lab technicians said 6.5 Italian. No second rifle was found. A claim that Irving Sports Shop mounted a scope three weeks before the assassination was traced to an undated work tag; neither Ryder nor Greener recalled the transaction. The Mannlicher-Carcano had only two holes bored for the scope before its March 1963 shipment. The ammunition was American-made by Western Cartridge Company; experts fired it over 100 times without misfire.
The rifle’s palmprint belonged to Oswald. Dallas police—not the FBI—conducted paraffin tests; Special Agent Gordon Shanklin never publicly attributed a positive result to Oswald. Marina told police November 22 her husband owned a rifle in the Paine garage in Irving and later identified the recovered Mannlicher-Carcano as Lee’s. The published Oswald-with-rifle photograph was retouched by Life, Newsweek, and the New York Times, but the original showed a Mannlicher-Carcano 6.5, and FBI experts confirmed it was taken with Oswald’s Imperial Reflex camera. Marina testified she took the photograph; experts determined it was not composite.
Time tests by Commission investigators, superintendent Roy S. Truly, and Patrolman M. L. Baker showed Oswald could have placed the rifle behind boxes and descended to the second-floor lunchroom before they arrived, entering alone without a soft drink bottle as Baker glimpsed him through the glass panel. Exits were not sealed until at least 12:37 p.m.; Oswald was seen walking toward an exit around 12:33, giving at least seven minutes. Reenactments confirmed he could have reached 1026 North Beckley Avenue by 1:00 p.m. or earlier. Dallas Police and Sheriff’s logs showed no suspect description before 12:45 p.m., likely from Howard Brennan. Cabdriver William W. Whaley’s 12:30 p.m. log was inaccurate; he usually logged passengers at 15-minute intervals, and the bus transfer Oswald held was issued after 12:36, placing his cab entry at approximately 12:47 or 12:48. The Greyhound-to-roominghouse distance was under 2.5 miles; Whaley said the trip took six minutes, Commission tests about 5.5.
Tippit was patrolling in an area directed by police headquarters after the assassination. Dallas Police policy required roughly 80% of day-shift patrolmen to work alone; Tippit was one, with no rule requiring officers to notify headquarters when stopping a suspect. Witnesses observed no recognition between Tippit and his killer. The shooting occurred around 1:15 or 1:16 p.m., based on Domingo Benavides’ call using Tippit’s car radio. Mrs. Helen Markham, sometimes inconsistent on exact time, identified Oswald in a police lineup “mostly from his face.” Six witnesses identified Oswald as the man fleeing with a pistol: Ted Callaway, Sam Guinyard, Warren Reynolds, Pat Patterson, Harold Russell, and Mrs. Mary Brock. Oswald’s jacket was light gray, not olive-brown; Marina said he owned only blue and light-gray jackets. Oswald’s landlady, Mrs. A. C. Johnson, had not seen the pistol holster found in his room. Johnny C. Brewer and Julia Postal saw Oswald enter the Texas Theatre; Brewer testified he saw Oswald draw a gun before being subdued.
The Commission found no foundation for police brutality claims; Oswald received only a slight cut over his right eye and a bruise under his left. He was arraigned before Justice of the Peace David Johnston for Kennedy’s murder at 1:35 a.m. November 23, having been arraigned earlier at 7:10 p.m. November 22 for Tippit’s murder. Dallas police said they questioned Oswald repeatedly about the assassination that day. Oswald was offered help obtaining counsel by H. Louis Nichols, president of the Dallas Bar Association, but declined; he made calls, including an unsuccessful attempt to reach attorney John Abt in New York.
The Commission found no credible evidence Oswald was a Soviet agent. His Marxist interest was known to few fellow Marines, and his Russian study was self-initiated. The $1,500 he claimed saved from Marine pay was plausible given his frugality and $3,452.20 received in service. The Helsinki visa processing time was shorter than average but not abnormal. Had Soviet intelligence recruited him, defection would have been discouraged; he was more valuable as a Marine radar operator. His assignment to a Minsk radio plant at normal pay was consistent with Soviet suspicion of Americans seeking citizenship; his income was supplemented by “Red Cross” payments for about a year. No special assassination training in Minsk was uncovered.
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