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

Photographs

Two photographs of Lee Harvey Oswald holding a rifle were found in Mrs. Ruth Paine’s garage at 2515 West Fifth Street in Irving, Texas: Commission Exhibit No. 133-A (rifle held in front of body) and 133-B (rifle held to his right). A negative of 133-B and photographs of General Walker’s house rear were also found there. An Imperial reflex camera, which Marina Oswald testified she used to take the photographs, was later produced by Robert Oswald. FBI photographic expert Lyndal D. Shaneyfelt testified regarding the photographs, negative, and camera.

Photographs 133-A and 133-B

Photographs 133-A and 133-B share virtually identical background and lighting, differing mainly in pose. Photograph 133-A displays more rifle characteristics than 133-B. Shaneyfelt rephotographed 133-A and took new comparison photos of the C2766 rifle in matching poses. While he found the pictured rifle similar to the C2766, including a shared stock notch, he could not positively identify the 133-A rifle as the C2766 beyond other rifles of the same configuration. Photograph 133-B shows less of the rifle but reveals that the pictured rifle had a homemade rope sling, whereas the C2766 found post-assassination had a homemade leather sling.

The negative

Shaneyfelt examined the negative (Commission Exhibit No. 749) and determined that 133-B had been printed from it, either directly or through an indistinguishable internegative. He believed 133-B was printed directly from the negative, since copy negatives typically show detectable loss of detail and imperfections. Any intermediate print would have been virtually indistinguishable from 133-B.