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

Expert Testimony

Four firearms identification experts analyzed the nearly whole bullet, two largest bullet fragments, and three cartridge cases to determine if they were fired from the recovered C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle. Two of these experts testified before the Commission: Robert A. Frazier, a 23-year FBI Laboratory firearms identification specialist with an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 comparison examinations and 400 prior court testimonies; and Joseph D. Nicol, superintendent of the Illinois Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation with thousands of bullet and cartridge case examination experience since 1941.

第三章

This chapter covers the Commission’s analysis of ballistic evidence tied to the assassination of President Kennedy, including identification of bullet fragments and cartridge cases linked to the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, as well as evaluation of the President’s head and neck bullet wounds via autopsy findings, expert medical testimony, and wound ballistics testing.

Identification of Bullet Fragments and Cartridge Cases

This section outlines the general principles of firearms identification, which rely on matching unique microscopic markings on bullets and cartridge cases to test-fired samples from a specific firearm to confirm a given weapon fired a piece of evidence. Experts Frazier and Nicol, alongside independent FBI examiners, positively identified the nearly whole bullet recovered from President Kennedy’s stretcher and two larger bullet fragments found in the Presidential limousine as having been fired from the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found in the Texas School Depository to the exclusion of all other weapons. Smaller bullet fragments recovered from the limousine and during the President’s medical treatment could only be confirmed to match the larger fragments and rifle ammunition in metallic composition, while three cartridge cases recovered from the Depository’s sixth floor were also positively linked to the assassination rifle.