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

第三章

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.