The subsequent bullet struck Kennedy in the head at frame 313, captured on all three films. Plotting lines from the Nix and Muchmore cameras to landmarks, confirmed with Zapruder frames, the FBI fixed Kennedy’s location at 230.8 feet from the Houston-Elm intersection and 265.3 feet from the sixth-floor rifle, with a declination angle of approximately 15°21’. The trajectory analysis explicitly addressed the possibility that shots could have originated from locations other than the Texas School Book Depository, including from the south side of Elm Street at ground level. The angles of declination—17°43’30“ through the President’s body at the neck shot and approximately 15°21’ at the head shot—were consistent only with shots fired from above and behind the Presidential limousine. The 265.3-foot distance from the sixth-floor rifle to the limousine at the time of the head shot, combined with the established angles of declination, consistent witness testimony, and physical evidence, ruled out shots originating from ground level in front of or beside the motorcade.
Most witnesses reported three shots, supported by three spent C2766 cartridges found on the sixth floor. The nearly whole bullet from Parkland and two larger fragments from the Presidential automobile were microscopically identified as coming from the C2766, fired from at least two separate bullets and possibly three. The three spent cartridges were demonstrated to have been fired by the same rifle that caused the wounds, through firearms identification comparing firing pin impressions, extractor marks, and breech block characteristics with test-fired specimens. It is possible the assassin carried an empty shell and fired only two shots, with witnesses hearing multiple noises from the same shot. Soon after the cartridges were found, officials decided three shots were fired, widely circulated by the press; eyewitness testimony may be subconsciously colored by this publicity. Nevertheless, the preponderance of evidence led the Commission to conclude three shots were fired. Since two bullets caused all wounds and none struck the limousine, one shot missed; which one remained inconclusive. Secret Service Agent Glen Bennett’s notes suggested a missed first shot, but photographer James Altgens’s picture was taken at frame 255, roughly two seconds after the neck shot. A mark on Main Street’s south curb contained lead and antimony smears suggesting fragment impact; witness James Tague was struck in the cheek by debris near the Triple Underpass. The 4.8–5.6 second interval between neck and head shots allowed three shots with one miss within 7.1–7.9 seconds.
Chapter IV
The Commission identified the assassination weapon as a 6.5-millimeter Italian Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, serial number C2766. FBI agents traced it from Crescent Firearms in New York to Klein’s Sporting Goods in Chicago, which shipped it March 20, 1963, to “A. Hidell” at Post Office Box 2915, Dallas. Treasury Department and FBI document examiners testified the handwriting on the mail-order coupon, envelope, and $21.45 money order was Oswald’s. The post office box was rented to “Lee H. Oswald” from October 1962 to May 1963, and Italian Armed Forces Intelligence confirmed this was the only rifle bearing serial number C2766.
The alias “Hidell” pervaded Oswald’s activities: as purchaser of the .38 caliber revolver seized at his arrest, on counterfeit Selective Service and Marine Corps cards bearing his photograph, on a forged vaccination certificate, and as fictitious president of his one-man New Orleans Fair Play for Cuba Committee. Marina Oswald testified “Hidell” was an altered “Fidel” and laughed at such foolishness.
Physical evidence confirmed Oswald’s possession. Lt. J.C. Day of the Dallas Police lifted a palmprint from the underside of the rifle barrel near the firing end—an area covered by the wooden foregrip when assembled, proving Oswald had handled the disassembled weapon. FBI experts Sebastian Latona and Ronald Wittmus, and NYPD’s Arthur Mandella, identified the print as Oswald’s right palmprint. Cotton fibers in dark blue, gray-black, and orange-yellow found between the butt plate and stock matched those from the shirt Oswald wore at arrest. FBI fiber expert Paul Stombaugh testified the fibers “could have come from” the shirt and appeared freshly caught. The bus transfer in the shirt pocket linked the garment to November 22.
A backyard photograph taken by Marina Oswald in late March 1963 showed him holding the rifle, a revolver, and copies of The Worker and The Militant. FBI photography expert Lyndal Shaneyfelt testified the rifle matched the assassination weapon, with a distinctive notch visible in both images. The negative was found among Oswald’s possessions and exposed in his Imperial Reflex camera to the exclusion of all other cameras. Marina identified the rifle as her husband’s “fateful rifle,” the only rifle he owned after returning from the Soviet Union in June 1962. After moving to Irving in September 1963, the rifle was stored in a green and brown blanket in the Paine family garage, where Michael Paine moved it on several occasions believing it contained tent poles.
On the evening of November 21, Oswald asked carpool companion Buell Wesley Frazier for an unusual midweek ride home, claiming he needed curtain rods—a false story, as his room already had rods, Ruth Paine’s rods remained in her garage, and no rods were ever found in the Depository. Between 8 and 9 p.m., with Ruth Paine painting in the garage and Marina putting the children to bed, Oswald had opportunity to retrieve and disassemble the rifle. An FBI firearms expert demonstrated the rifle could be reassembled in six minutes using only a coin.
On the morning of November 22, Frazier’s sister Linnie Mae Randle observed Oswald carrying a heavy brown paper bag, bulky toward the bottom, gripping it near the top. Frazier saw the package on the back seat and asked about it; Oswald replied, “curtain rods.” Frazier noted Oswald carried no lunch. Oswald walked ahead of Frazier into the building—unusual behavior—carrying the disassembled rifle concealed in the bag. Randle and Frazier estimated the bag at 27–28 inches, but the wooden stock measured 34.8 inches; the Commission concluded the witnesses were mistaken given Randle’s fleeting view and Frazier’s focus on switching.
A handmade paper bag was found on the sixth floor beside the southeast corner window, near three cartons arranged as a gun rest. Using silver nitrate development, FBI experts identified Oswald’s left index fingerprint and right palmprint on the bag—the palmprint positioned on the closed end where he had carried the package. Questioned-documents expert James Cadigan testified the bag’s paper and tape were identical to samples from the Depository shipping room. A single brown viscose fiber and several light green cotton fibers found inside matched fibers from the storage blanket.
Below the window, Latona identified Oswald’s left palmprint and right index fingerprint on one “Rolling Readers” carton. On a fourth carton behind the gun rest—where a seated sniper could rest his right hand—Day developed a palmprint Latona identified as Oswald’s right palm, positioned as a shooter seated with hand alongside hip. Latona estimated this print was less than three days old and probably placed within a day or two. None of the other twelve warehouse employees’ prints matched.
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