Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Firearms Identification of Walker Bullet

Dallas police recovered a badly mutilated bullet from a room beyond where General Walker was sitting on the night of the shooting; the Dallas City-County Investigation Laboratory could not determine the weapon type due to the bullet’s condition. On November 30, 1963, the FBI requested the bullet for ballistics examination, and Dallas police forwarded it on December 2. FBI ballistics expert Robert A. Frazier testified that he was “unable to reach a conclusion” as to whether the Walker bullet had been fired from the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building, but concluded that the general rifling characteristics were of the same type, and on that basis the bullet could have been fired from the rifle based on its land and groove impressions. Frazier explained that the FBI avoids the category of “probable” identification and will not draw conclusions as to probability unless a weapon can be identified to the exclusion of all others. However, Frazier found no microscopic characteristics or other evidence indicating that the bullet was not fired from Oswald’s Mannlicher-Carcano, and testified that relatively few types of rifles could produce the characteristics found on this 6.5-millimeter bullet.

CAPÍTULO V. of this report.

This chapter presents the Commission’s evaluation of the Walker shooting attempt, the alleged Nixon threat, and Oswald’s rifle capability. It concludes that Oswald attempted to kill Major General Edwin A. Walker in April 1963 based on documentary evidence, firearms analysis, and Marina Oswald’s testimony. The alleged threat against Richard M. Nixon is found to lack probative value because no evidence confirms Nixon visited Dallas during the relevant period. The chapter then assesses whether Oswald possessed the marksmanship skill and equipment to have fired the shots that killed President Kennedy, drawing on expert testimony about shot conditions, Marine training, post-service practice, and weapon testing.

Walker Bullet Examination

Joseph D. Nicol, superintendent of the Illinois Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, independently examined the bullet that struck General Walker and concluded there was a “fair probability” it was fired from Oswald’s rifle. Nicol distinguished his approach from the FBI’s more conservative policy, arguing that in the absence of clear negative evidence, it was permissible to state that the bullet probably came from the weapon without claiming exclusion of all other firearms. The Commission acknowledged that neither expert could assert identification to the exclusion of all other rifles, but found Nicol’s testimony probative when combined with other evidence linking Oswald to the shooting.

Additional Corroborative Evidence

Marina Oswald’s account of her husband’s admissions was corroborated by several independent facts. A note and photographs of Walker’s house and nearby railroad tracks matched her description of the planning. Marina testified that Oswald postponed the attempt until Wednesday because he wanted people present to mask his arrival and departure, and church officials confirmed that Wednesday services were regularly held. Marina also stated that Oswald used a bus to return home, and bus route analysis confirmed that multiple routes would have allowed him to reach Walker’s house or the railroad tracks where the rifle may have been concealed.

Conclusion on Walker Shooting Attempt

Based on four elements—the April 10, 1963 note to Marina, the recovered photographs, firearms identification expert testimony, and Marina Oswald’s testimony—the Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald attempted to take the life of Major General Edwin A. Walker on April 10, 1963. While the Commission regarded this finding as having probative value in its investigation, its ultimate conclusion about the identity of President Kennedy’s assassin rested on evidence independent of the Walker attempt.

Richard M. Nixon Incident

Marina Oswald testified that in April 1963, shortly before Oswald’s departure for New Orleans, he dressed in a suit, armed himself with a pistol, and announced he intended to look in on Vice President Nixon’s visit to Dallas. She physically struggled with him to dissuade him. Investigation revealed, however, that Nixon was not in Dallas at that time; the only Nixon visit to Dallas in 1963 occurred November 20–21, after the assassination. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson did visit Dallas on April 23, 1963, the day before Oswald’s departure, and Marina later acknowledged possible confusion between the two figures. In the absence of corroborating evidence of intent, the Commission concluded the Nixon incident had no probative value in determining the identity of President Kennedy’s assassin.