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

Authenticity of Oswald Rifle Photographs

FBI photography expert Lyndal Shaneyfelt photographed the assassination rifle in a position duplicating Exhibit 133-A and testified the rifles shared the same general configuration, including a faintly visible notch in the stock. While he found no differences, he could not make a positive identification to the exclusion of all other similar rifles. Authenticity of the photographs was established through Shaneyfelt’s comparison of the Exhibit 133-B negative with a new negative made using Oswald’s Imperial Reflex camera, concluding the negative was exposed in Oswald’s camera to the exclusion of all others. Exhibit 133-A could not be tested the same way because its negative was never recovered, but identical backgrounds, lighting, and shadows indicate the two pictures were taken at the same time with the same camera, consistent with Marina Oswald’s testimony.

Dating of the Oswald Rifle Photograph

The timing of the photograph aligns with the rifle’s acquisition timeline. The rifle was shipped from Klein’s in Chicago on March 20, 1963, while the Oswalds lived on Neely Street. By examining the newspapers Oswald held, the Commission determined the photograph must have been taken sometime after March 27, 1963. Marina testified it was taken on a Sunday about two weeks before the attempted shooting of Major General Edwin A. Walker on April 10, 1963. By Sunday, March 31, Oswald had likely received the rifle shipped from Chicago, the revolver shipped from Los Angeles, and the two newspapers appearing in the picture.

Rifle Among Oswald’s Possessions

Marina Oswald testified that the rifle found on the sixth floor was the “fateful rifle of Lee Oswald” and was the only rifle her husband owned after returning from the Soviet Union in June 1962. Purchased in March 1963, the rifle was taken to New Orleans, where Marina saw it in their rented apartment during the summer of 1963; she stated Oswald may have practiced with the telescopic sight and bolt on the screened porch. In September 1963, Oswald loaded his possessions into Ruth Paine’s station wagon for the move to Irving, Texas, and Marina stated the rifle was among them, though Ruth Paine testified she was unaware of it. From September 24 until the assassination, the rifle was stored in a green and brown blanket in the Paines’ garage. Marina saw the rifle stock when she opened the blanket looking for baby crib parts, and Michael Paine moved the blanket several times, believing it contained tent poles or camping equipment. About three hours after the assassination, a detective and deputy sheriff observed the tied blanket-roll on the garage floor and could detect the outline of a rifle, and FBI examiner Stombaugh found a bulge approximately 10 inches long that could have been caused by the rifle’s 11-inch telescopic sight.

Commission Conclusion on Rifle Ownership

The Commission concluded that the assassination rifle was owned and possessed by Lee Harvey Oswald based on five findings: (1) Oswald purchased the rifle, (2) Oswald’s palmprint on the rifle showed he had handled it while it was disassembled, (3) fibers on the rifle most probably came from the shirt Oswald wore on November 22, (4) a photograph at Oswald’s apartment showed him holding this rifle, and (5) the rifle was kept among Oswald’s possessions from purchase until the day of the assassination. The Commission concluded this weapon was used to assassinate President Kennedy and wound Governor Connally.

The Rifle in the Building

The Commission evaluated evidence on how Oswald’s Mannlicher-Carcano rifle (serial number C2766) was brought into the Depository Building. The evaluation considered: (1) circumstances of Oswald’s return to Irving on Thursday, November 21, 1963; (2) the rifle’s disappearance from its normal storage place; (3) Oswald’s arrival at the Depository on November 22 carrying a long and bulky brown paper package; (4) a long handmade brown paper bag found near the shooting point; and (5) palmprint, fiber, and paper analyses linking Oswald and the weapon to the bag.

The Curtain Rod Story

In October and November 1963, Oswald lived in a Dallas roominghouse while his family stayed with Ruth Paine in Irving, about 15 miles from his workplace. He normally commuted on weekends with Buell Wesley Frazier, a Depository coworker and neighbor of the Paines. On the morning of November 21, Oswald asked Frazier for a ride home that afternoon, explaining he was going home to get curtain rods for an apartment. Frazier’s sister, Linnie Mae Randle, also heard this explanation. However, the Commission found this story implausible: Oswald’s landlady testified his room already had curtains and rods, two curtain rods belonging to Ruth Paine remained in the garage after Oswald’s arrest, Oswald never asked Mrs. Paine about curtain rods, Marina said Oswald never mentioned them, and no curtain rods were found in the Depository. The Commission gave weight to the fact that Oswald gave a false reason for his midweek trip, which conveniently provided a pretext for carrying a bulky package the following morning.