The evidence - Where is CSI when you need them?

Perhaps the greatest knock against the Warren Commission was the way it handled the evidence and the conclusions it drew from that evidence. Still there is enough blame to go around, the conspiracy theorists have not done much better either. We shall look at a number of Warren Commission exhibits and examine some of the conclusions drawn by the commissioners based on the evidence before them. I hope to show some of the flaws in the commission's conclusions and the theorists too. I hope we can approach the evidence with an open mind and reexamine it and gain some insight into what really happened in Dealey Plaza November 22nd 1963.

Who were the Warren Commission and what was there mandate? In the chaotic wake of events on November 22nd 1963 the secret service bundled the Presidents body our of Parkland hospital and onto Air force 1 to get the dead President and the Vice President out of harm's way. According to Texas state law they were removing evidence. Murder is a state offense. The case should have been handled by Texas officials. Hindsight is 20/20 but who can judge the decision to get everyone on the plane when the whole world seemed to be going crazy. Within two hours Dallas police had a suspect in custody and was gathering evidence. Within the first 24 hours a case was being built against the defendant, though he had not even been charged yet. No need for the Warren commission. Then came Sunday November 24th. In a move that would later seem foolish Dallas police led Oswald through a basement garage for his transfer to the county jail. Suddenly Jack Ruby appears in the glare of the television camera lights. He shoves a colt cobra .38 revolver into Oswald's ribs and pulls the trigger, once. Oswald's face is a mask of pain and within minutes he is dead. No trial, no defense attorney, no evidence, no need. The suspect was dead. Dead is not good enough. A trial would have helped to answer the questions of the American people. Who had done this? Why? Are they done or is this whole thing part of a bigger plot? Enter Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Earl Warren. In the wake of Oswald's killing the world was waiting for a re conning. A re conning that would never come. Something had to be done. There were questions to be answered. Were the Russians or Cubans involved? Oswald had been to Russia, was he a foreign agent? The President was a powerful man, he had powerful enemies. Who had really done this? On November 29th 1963 only one week after the late President's death, the new President, Lyndon Johnson signed executive order number 11130

which called for the formation of the commission. The document states " Pursuant to the authority wested in me as President of the United States, I hereby appoint a Commission to ascertain, evaluate and report upon the facts relating to the assassination of the President John F. Kennedy and the subsequent violent death of the man charged with the assassination."The Commission consisted of Chief Justice of the Supreme court Earl Warren,Senator Richard Russell(Georgia) Senator John Sherman Cooper (Kentucky) Congressman Hale Boggs (Louisiana) Congressman Gerald Ford (Michigan) Allen Dulles and John McCloy. There can be little doubt that the purpose of the commission was largely political. There had to be a clear resolution of who was to be blamed so as not to fuel public speculation that could create instability. That does not mean that the commission did not largely meet the mandate that Johnson set for them. In several key areas, however the commission and those who handled the gathering and processing of some of the evidence failed the American people and have since created the speculation that the commission was set up to avoid. The most controversial aspects of the commission and the investigation were the so called "magic bullet theory" and commission exhibit 399 and the handling of the autopsy. I will deal with these issues each in there own chapters. Lord knows that entire books have been written on the subjects.

Meanwhile we shall deal with some of the other evidence, every bit as crucial but slightly less problematic.

The Rifle CE1303

The gun found on the sixth floor of the TSBD on November 22nd was a Manlicher-Carcano M91/38. I know that this will be excruciatingly dull for some but the gun has been a source of some controversy and this is an area of some importance. It is also an area in which I am quite knowledgeable. For years I was a collector of military firearms and I have owned and fired a number of Carcanos including the 91/38.

The rifle has many detractors and is much maligned. It does have some problems. But in no way does it deserve the reputation that has been heaped on it. In Oliver Stone's entertaining but unjournalistic movie JFK one character calls it "The world's worst shoulder weapon." This is patently untrue. Thee are many things I would not do with the Carcano, but it was designed to kill people and it is more than capable of that.

history In the late 19th century the European powers were adapting their arsenals to the industrial revolution and a couple of key developments; the metal cartridge and smokeless gunpowder. The metallic cartridge offered improvements in the feeding and handling of ammunition. It made the magazine possible allowing for repeating rifles. Smokeless powder allowed for smaller, lighter weapons with smaller bores that allowed for easier handling and greater accuracy at longer ranges. The rifles became easier to load and the training necessary to become proficient was less so the gun could be used by anyone with only a minimal amount of training. A Lt. Colonel named Salvatore Carcano developed this rifle in 1891 at the Turin Arms Works. The mechanism is based on two other systems the bolt and safety are similar to the Mauser action and the magazine is entirely borrowed from the Austrian Mannlicher rifle. The magazine is a charger type metal clip formed of one piece of stamped metal is filled with six rounds of ammunition and is inserted into the receiver where it em gages a sear which holds the clip in place by means of a spring. When the ammunition is expended the magazine drops out of the receiver, allowing another full clip to be loaded. Only full clips can be loaded and without the charger the gun can only be fired as single shot.

These photos show what a loaded clip of 6.5mm Carcano ammunition looked like, how it was loaded and how the empty magazine was ejected from the rifle.

The Carcano rifle formed the backbone of the Italian arsenal through the First and Second World Wars. It was decommissioned in 1945 after nearly 54 years of service. It was used in all theatres of operation in both wars and saw service in desert heat and extreme cold in the alpine corps. It handled mud, ice, sand and other operational challenges and performed reasonably well. The Italians produced other weapons during this time yet kept the Carcano in service. It had more than 10 variations. The 91/38 was known as "Fucle Corto" or short rifle and was a carbine version of the weapon. Carbines were used wherever weight and size was critical, by cavalry, by men who had other duties such as artillery or service personnel.

A crucial question often asked by theorists is why the Carcano? Of all the firearms on the market in 1963 why did Oswald choose this weapon? Oswald had some experience with firearms in the marine corps. He had used shotguns to hunt in Russia. He would have known several facts, bolt action rifles are more accurate than semi automatic weapons, smaller caliber rifles have less recoil and can be more quickly re aimed for a second or third shot and rifles with a telescopic sight greatly improve the accuracy of the weapon. Oswald's test results in the military had been average for accuracy. This with a much heavier and higher powered weapon. Many of the critics of the Warren Commission point out the shortcomings of the Mannlicher-Carcano without understanding what they mean or who made them or why they were leveled against the rifle. Let's take a look at some of the principle shortcomings of the weapon then some of its' strengths.

Shortcomings of the Manlicher-Carcano weapon system

It lacks power-The Carcano was built around the 6.5mmx52mm Carcano cartridge. This cartridge uses a bullet that is .265 inch in diameter with a cartridge length of 3.02 inches. It has a muzzle velocity 2296 FPS which is not fast but is comparable to other military 6.5mms of the period. It uses a 160 grain metal jacketed cartridge. At the very short ranges of the November 22nd assassination the gun was plenty fast enough. Its' 160 grain cartridge was capable of horrific damage at such short range. The wounds to Kennedy and Connally prove this.

Accuracy-Accuracy has always been a chafing point for conspiracy theorists they feel the Carcano was not accurate enough to do the job. The Carcano rifle has a number of versions and were produced for fifty years so they exist in a wide variety of different conditions. Many collectors have criticized earlier models for their rifling. They were produces with inferior rifling which produced poor ballistic results. Testing of Oswald's 91/38 and my own testing of the Carcanos that I have owned did not produce these results. I have found these weapons to be of average accuracy. In the shooting of surplus military fire arms the most important three factors are: Condition, condition, condition. Like the people at Antiques Roadshow, I cannot stress this enough. These are ex military service weapons, the conditions under which they served, their duration of service and the care and attention spent on them during their lifetimes are critical. I have seen weapons that looked like they were made yesterday and some that looked like the came out of an archaeological dig. You can only tell by examining them and by shooting them. There are some indications that Oswald did fire the weapon before the Walker attempt and that he frequently worked the bolt and "Dry fired" the weapon to practice its' use. There is certainly no doubt that the Manlicher-Carcano rifle model 91/38 was accurate enough and powerful enough to do the job. Any shooter who has fired one could verify that.

The safety is awkward- Yes, it is. In a sporting weapon this would be a major flaw. To operate the safety you depress a lug on the bolt and turn. the bolt spring is strong and it takes quite a bit of effort to engage and disengage the safety. Something that probably did not bother Oswald in the least. I doubt he used the safety on November 22nd at all.

It's a cheap weapon- Yes it is. The countries of Europe in the first half of the twentieth century were forced to spend millions equipping vast armies in their defense. All expense was spared. No frills here. No brass mounts or fancy turnings. This is a plain Jane working man's weapon. The surfaces may be a bit rough, the stocks less than perfect. It did meet the specifications of the designers. It was made well enough to last and to handles diverse and adverse conditions. Its parts performed well when tighter tolerances may not have. The gun with scope and freight cost Oswald $21.45 as the money order he bought to purchase it proves. Doesn't seem like much does it? He bought the weapon out of an ad in American Rifleman magazine, February 1963 edition. He could have chosen others, there were plenty advertised. So why the Carcano? In many ways the Carcano ideally suited Oswald's purposes, we have spoken at some length of the weaknesses of the Carcano let's look at some of the rifles strengths (from an assassins point of view).

Strengths of the Manlicher-Carcano 91/38 CE1303

Lack of power- Most of the criticisms of the Manlicher-Carcano rifle were levelled against the weapon by sportsmen and gun collectors. They don't like the weapon because it is not easily"sporterized" a word coined by gun enthusiasts who take stock military rifles and modify them for sporting use. Usually they cut down the stocks modify the sights refinish the barrels and sometimes re chamber the weapons to handle other ammunition or different loads of ammunition of the same caliber. The weapons then are used for sporting rifles for hunting game. This is a popular hobby and often collectors will spend more than the gun is worth to "sporterize" the weapon. The Carcano is not easily s"sporterized" and this is the source of much of the criticism of the weapon. In its' military configuration many of the "problems" are non-existent. The lack of power and lack of a strong mechanism means that the gun cannot easily be re chambered for higher power rounds. The 6.5mm cartridge is a relatively low powered round by some standards. This means, however that the rifle has less recoil than would a higher power rifle. Higher powered rifles were available in the same magazine that Oswald ordered CE1303 from. There are advantages to a gun with less recoil. Oswald was not a big man at 5' 9" and weighing about 165 lbs. A higher powered rifle would be harder to shoot, would have produced much more recoil and would have made a second shot harder if not impossible. When a shooter is setting up a shot he/she forms what is called a sight picture. Whether using a scope or open sights a shooter sets the target area in relation to the sights or cross hairs. When the target is in the correct position one squeezes the trigger. The recoil of the rifle and the cycling of the action will cause the sight picture to move and so the shooter must bring the target back into position to get the next shot off. The greater the recoil the more difficult this becomes and the longer it will take. Hence one of the Carcano's shortcomings becomes a plus to an assassin.







It is a cheap weapon- Yes it is. Oswald was on a budget. He made only a few thousand dollars in 1963. It's funny but the conspiracy theorists make a lot of the fact that the Carcano is cheap and crude, but had Oswald owned a shiny new Winchester they would be crying conspiracy even louder because how could he afford that?. Had he access to a bigger budget, if say, he was part of some huge conspiracy, he would probably have had a special rifle built like the character from "Day of the Jackal". Being that he was poor he bought an inexpensive rifle that met his needs. Maybe had Oswald bought a howitzer and rolled it up to the sixth floor window and used it to kill JFK we might not be still debating the capabilities of his $20 rifle.




It is small and easily hidden- the Carcano is only 40.2 inches in overall length and weighs only 7.5 lbs. Broken down, in the form that Oswald smuggled the gun into the TSBD on November 22md the rifle is only about 34" long. He knew he would have to smuggle the weapon into the building so he constructed an envelope from materials in the TSBD mailing room (brown paper and paper tape). At some point on the night of the 21st November 1963 Oswald disassembled the rifle and put it in the brown paper sack, telling his driver that the package contained curtain rods. The package was found later on the sixth floor of the TSBD no curtain rods were ever found but his rifle which was found on the sixth floor as well was missing from the Paine garage. The rifle was relatively simple to, no doubt Oswald had done so before, probably on the occasion of the Walker attempt and he would be reasonably proficient at doing so. Having disassembled the Carcano a number of times myself, I know it only requires a dime and takes only a couple of minutes. The FBI had an agent take the Carcano apart and it took six minutes and less time than that to put it back together using only a dime as a tool. Most weapons can be taken down with a cartridge case, the Carcano cartridge is rimless so this will not work. The dime trick is well known among gun fanciers and was no doubt what Oswald used. The rifle's size and weight would have been a definite advantage to Oswald and could have been a factor in his choice of the rifle over other models. When Oswald ordered the rifle from Klein's the advertisement actually said the the rifle shipped would be a 36" 5 lb Italian carbine. This would have been the Rocca model which is smaller and lighter than the version shipped to A. Hidell at the Oswald mail box. It is possible that Oswald thought he was ordering the smaller weapon. The supply of Carcanos was huge but the weapons were arriving in lots as this was the only way the Crescent, the importer could afford them. It was some time before Klein's changed their ad to read 40" rifle weighing 7lbs (the dimensions of the Oswald rifle CE1303). Having ordered many dozens of firearms from surplus suppliers I will say that the accuracy of the ads leaves a lot to be desired, but the value of the weapons delivered is usually consistant.




The action is fast- The Carcano is one of the fastest bolt action rifles in cycling a round of ammunition. Some detractors have called the action "Loose", it does however make the rifle one of the fastest I have ever loaded and fired and reloaded. Here is a quote from an article called "The Italian 6.5x52mm Mannlicher-Carcano Rifle" by noted collector and sportsman Chuck Hawks "The one real virtue of the M91 is that it is fast to operate. Perhaps this was partly because the action was not real tight, and partly due to the Mannlicher design. But for whatever reason, the bolt slid very easily and very fast in its' recess. A buddy of mine owned an M91 carbine, and I remember it as being the fastest bolt action military rifle I ever cycled. Practically anyone with a minimum of practice, could shoot a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle quickly." Remember Marina's testimony the Oswald would practice "Dry Firing" the rifle. He was building up his proficiency at cycling the weapon. This would prove very important on November 22nd and would surprise the experts when the timing of the shots was placed under the microscope. The commission provided the weapon to experts to fire to test the speed and accuracy of the weapon. They were given the weapon for only a few minutes. Oswald practiced this for hours, he knew that as important as accuracy was, the time frame he would have to fire at the limousine was limited. To get in the last shot he would have to be fast. He needed a fast weapon. The add in Amerrican Rifleman called the rifle "fast loading". More recent analysis of the Zapruder film has widened the window of time that the three shots could have been fired to as much as 8.4 seconds, which would make the results that Oswald achieved much more understandable.

Accuracy- The assassin shooting with a rifle, from cover, would require a telescopic sight. Much of the criticism of the Carcano for inaccuracy had to do with the standard issue open sights which the rifle was issued. Oswald chose the Carcano, one supposes, due in part to the fact that it came with telescopic sights. Given the relatively short distances involved, a good shooter would not have needed telescopic sights. Oswald was at least an average shooter in the Marines and may have had some practice after he left the service (there is some debate on this). However, given the short distances involved in the three shots from the TSBD they certainly would have been very easy with the telescopic sight fitted to CE1303. It would have been relatively easy.


A few other points about the rifle before we put this one to rest. In the confusion of the hours after the assassination the rifle was misidentified as a Mauser. This matter has persisted and many conspiracists still cling to the "second rifle" theory in spite of all evidence to the contrary. The rifle was discovered on the sixth floor of the TSBD on Novermber 22nd by Deputy Sheriff Eugene Boone. Deputiy Luke Mooney and Deputy Constable Seymour Weitzman were also present and Deputy Roger Craig overheard the conversation and saw the weapon. The men described the weapon as a 7.65 German Mauser. This information went out over the press wires along with a whole host of other incorrect information in the first hours of the investigation. Following the discovery of the weapon it was collected by Lt. C. Day and was taken to Dallas police headquarters and logged as a 6.5Mannlicher-Carcano Italian Carbine Serial No. C2766. When pressed by the Warren Commision Boone and Mooney admitted they could have been mistaken. Roger Craig never changed his testimony, though he had less contact with the weapon. Moonety would later change his testimony once again, making even more fervent claims which can be viewed on youtube. WillFitz who was in charge of the Dallas police investigation also never wavered in his identification of the weapon as a Carcano and is vehemnet about the gun's identity and caliber. He had possession of the cartridge casings until the FBI took two for fingerprinting then the Warren Commosion took the third. It seems highly doubtful that there was ever a second rifle that magicaly disappeared. It seems much more likely that the deputies were mistaken about the identity of the weapon. The deputies described the sling and later recognized it as the same. They had no doubt about the scope either. It is very likely that they mistook the rifle for a Mauser with which they had some familiarity. The Carcano was at the time of the assassination a very uncommon weapon which not too many people would recognize especially in the carbine form. The Carcano does bear a superficial resmblance to the Mauser and no where on the weapon does it say the words Carcano or Mannlicher. I am not certain how much time the men had to handle the weapon as it had not been fingerprinted and they were not supposed to touch the finished surfaces. Some conspiracy theorists have described Weitzman and Mooney as snipers which would seem to make them firearms experts. Far from it. Most snipers would be familiar with modern, civilian weapons. The Carcano is an obscure weapon which is scarcely recognizable to collectors of military firearms. Testimony about who held the gun and for how long varies by the one telling the story. The concedud seems to be that Weizman was asked for his opinion because he was an "expert" and he seems to be the one who pronounced the gun a "7.65 Mauser" the gun does resemble a Mauser but not particularly the 7.65 carbines, which are longer, heftier and generlly better made. They mostly predate the Carcano. The gun does resemble a Mauser suffciently to fool many people. The problem with the eyewitnesses is the problem with most eyewitness testimony, it is unreliable. The witnesses have, over the years changed their stories many times and have, odlly enough, claimed more detail and become more emphatic with time, which renders there testimony suspect. In my opinion, the witnesses were scrambling to identify the weapon so as not to look foolish in front of the International media. The National media was already, quite literally on their doorstep at the TSBD. Ther first reports of the rifle were broadcast at 1:26 pm only minutes after the rifle was discovered. Had the investigators been silent until they had a positive identification they could have avoided havbing egg on their faces. By sticking fiercely to a false I.D. they regain respect in the eyes ofa public that is 70% convinced of a conspiracy. I believe that the officers were stumped and took their collective "best guess" leaving history to clean up the mess. It is interesting that when under oath they were not so certain. The fact that they have become more certain with time weakens their claims, in my opinion. In any case, in the absence of solid testimony we must go with the physical evidence, we do have a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, ordered by A.Hidell a known alaias of LHO and delivery to his Dallas mail box. The rifle is photographically the same as the one in the "backyard photo". Oswald's palm printis on the weapon and his fingerprints are on the bag. He was seen carrying the bag into the TSBD. He never had any curtain rods in the Paaine garage. His room in Dallas had curtains and a curtain rod. He had not asked his landlady about changing or replacing the curtains or rods. The package appeared to be too heavy to be curtain rods. No curtain rods have ever been discovered at the TSBD even though LHO had nothing in his hands when he left the building. The only bullet fragments recovered from the vehicle and Parkland and the bodies all match the ammunition of Ce1303. Ladies and gentlemen, it walks like a duck, it talks like a duck...