John F. Kennedy Assassination Rifle - Discovery

Discovery

The Warren Commission found that in the weeks before the assassination, Oswald kept the rifle wrapped in a blanket and hidden in the garage of friends Michael and Ruth Paine, where Marina was living at the time, and Oswald would occasionally visit. Michael Paine described "a package wrapped in a blanket," which he thought was camping equipment. He did find this odd, saying to himself "they don't make camping equipment of iron pipes any more." Marina testified that after she and Lee moved their belongings to the Paine home in September 1963, she found the rifle in the blanket while searching for a part for her child's crib.

The Commission concluded that Oswald had smuggled the rifle into the Texas School Book Depository on the morning of the assassination, November 22, 1963, in a brown paper package, which he had told a co-worker contained "curtain rods," although Oswald later denied this, and said that he carried only a lunch bag that day. He also said that he did not own a rifle.

About half an hour after the assassination of President Kennedy, a floor-by-floor search of the Texas School Book Depository Building was commenced by Dallas police, joined by sheriff's deputies. The rifle was found by Deputy Sheriff Seymour Weitzman and Officer Gene Boone among cartons on the sixth floor. They initially came to what the Warren Commission concluded was the mistaken belief that the rifle was a Mauser, rather than the Carcano that Oswald owned. Captain Fritz of the Dallas Police Department, who arrived shortly afterwards, later admitted that he did not know that much about the differences between a Carcano and a Mauser at that time. In fact, the appearance of the two types of weapons is similar, since the Carcano action (see this article) was historically based on the Mauser design, and the rifle stocks were similar.

The two officers who found the rifle — and later Captain Fritz — picked it up by the sling, but did not handle it until the arrival of Lt. Carl Day of the crime scene search section of the identification bureau. Lt. Day then held the rifle by the stock, in one hand, "because it was too rough to hold a fingerprint" and inspected the rifle with a magnifying glass in his other hand. He checked that the bolt had no prints on it before Fritz ejected a live round.

Also found in the same vicinity were three 6.5x52mm brass cartridge cases believed to have been fired from Oswald's rifle. One of the empty cases, CE 543, was dented in the area of the neck. Ballistic experts testified to the HSCA that this likely occurred when the rifle was rapidly fired and the case was ejected. When four test bullets were fired from the rifle, one of the four had a dented neck on its ejected case similar to CE 543.

The rifle was subjected to further forensic examination at the laboratory. A palm print was discovered on part of the rifle that could only have been put there when the rifle was not fully assembled. Such a palm print could not be placed on this portion of the rifle when assembled because the wooden foregrip covers the barrel. He did not complete his investigation, however, because he was told to stop, and to hand the rifle over to FBI Agent Vince Drain, because the FBI would finish the investigation. He later did his own research, however, and concluded that the prints were Oswald's, because by then he had Oswald's prints on file.

Police Chief Jesse Curry testified that - despite believing that the FBI had no jurisdiction over the case - he complied with FBI requests to send the rifle and all other evidence to their laboratories in Washington. During the night after Kennedy's murder, the rifle was taken by FBI agent Vincent Drain from Dallas to Washington D.C. who then gave it to FBI agent Robert Frazier. He testified that he kept it in the FBI office until November 27, 1963, whereupon it was sent back to Dallas and given back to someone at the Dallas Police Department for reasons unclear. It was later sent back to the FBI headquarters in Washington.

Sebastian Latona, supervisor of the Latent Fingerprint section of the FBI’s identification Division, testified that the palm print found on the barrel of the rifle belonged to Lee Harvey Oswald. Experts agree that palm prints are as unique as fingerprints for purposes of establishing identification.

During his testimony before the Warren Commission, Lt. Day identified Exhibit 139 as the weapon he believed officers Weitzman and Boone found in the afternoon of the murder.