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

CHAPITRE III.

This is Chapter III of the Warren Commission report, covering investigation findings related to assassination evidence, including eyewitness accounts from the Triple Underpass area, examination of the Presidential limousine, discovery of key physical evidence (cartridge cases, the assassination rifle, and a bullet recovered from Parkland Hospital), a full description of the recovered rifle, and expert firearms identification testimony linking the evidence to the rifle.

At the Triple Underpass

The Commission found no credible evidence that shots were fired from the Triple Underpass railroad bridge or adjacent railroad yards, despite early witness speculation about shot origins. Patrolmen were stationed on the bridge and Stemmons Freeway overpass per advance Secret Service and Dallas Police plans to keep unauthorized persons away; they allowed 15 identified railroad employees to remain on the bridge to watch the motorcade. Union Terminal Co. employee Lee E. Bowers Jr., in a tower northwest of the Depository, observed only 3 to 4 people in the general area and 3 cars entering the area in the 20 minutes before the motorcade arrived. After the shots, no one on the bridge or in the nearby area saw anyone with a rifle or suspicious activity, and bystanders who searched the area found no evidence of a shooter in the railroad yards or near the Depository. Witnesses on the bridge had varying accounts of the number and origin of the shots, which Bowers attributed to echo effects between the Depository and Triple Underpass.

The Presidential Automobile

After the assassination, Secret Service and FBI agents examined the Presidential limousine. They found two bullet fragments (a 44.6-grain nose portion and a 21.0-grain base portion) on the front seat, three small lead particles under the left jump seat previously occupied by Mrs. Connally, lead residue and small cracks on the outer layer of the laminated windshield, and a dent in the chrome strip at the top of the windshield left of the rearview mirror. Spectrographic analysis showed all bullet fragments had similar metallic composition, but it could not be confirmed if they came from the same bullet; the total weight of the fragments was consistent with portions of a single 160 to 161 grain bullet. FBI firearms expert Robert A. Frazier testified the windshield cracks and lead residue proved it was struck from the inside, and the chrome dent was caused by a high-velocity projectile (possibly one of the front seat fragments) striking the inside surface, though it was uncertain if the dent predated the assassination.

Expert Examination of Rifle, Cartridge Cases, and Bullet Fragments

The three spent cartridge cases found on the Depository’s sixth floor, the recovered 6.5mm Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, the nearly whole bullet from Governor Connally’s Parkland Hospital stretcher, and all bullet fragments from the Presidential limousine were subjected to firearms identification analysis by qualified experts. The unanimous expert conclusion was that the nearly whole bullet, the two largest bullet fragments, and the three cartridge cases were definitely fired from the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found on the sixth floor, to the exclusion of all other weapons.

Discovery of Cartridge Cases and Rifle

Shortly after the assassination, Dallas police searched the Depository building. At approximately 1:12 p.m., Deputy Sheriff Luke Mooney found three empty cartridge cases on the sixth floor near the southeast corner window, and guarded the scene until police technicians arrived to photograph and process the evidence. At 1:22 p.m., Deputy Sheriff Eugene Boone and Deputy Constable Seymour Weitzman discovered the bolt-action rifle with telescopic sight between rows of boxes in the sixth floor northwest corner near the staircase. The scene was left undisturbed until Captain J.W. Fritz and Lieutenant J.C. Day arrived to photograph the weapon; after confirming no fingerprints were on the bolt knob and the stock was too rough for prints, Lieutenant Day picked up the rifle by the stock, had Captain Fritz open the bolt to eject a live round, and took the weapon to the police department for examination. Neither Boone nor Weitzman handled the rifle.