Post by Rob Caprio on Oct 20, 2023 19:46:28 GMT -5
All portions are ©️ Robert Caprio 2006-2025
www.conspiracyarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Featured-Lee-Harvey-Oswald.jpg
Let’s continue our look at the rifle range sightings by moving onto Garland Slack’s testimony (don’t try finding it on John McAdams’ Witness testimony site as it is NOT there).
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Mr. Liebeler. You went back to the rifle range the immediately following Sunday, is that right?
Mr. Slack. That is right, the 10th. Oswald was there the 10th. He was there the 17th. The 10th was the turkey shoot. And I contacted him three or four times trying to get him to pay a dollar and get in the turkey shoot. Ten men were paying a dollar a shoot, and he commented he could win the turkey but he didn't have the dollar.
Mr. Liebeler. This was on the 10th, is that right?
Mr. Slack. But had no direct contact no more than asked him like the 10 other fellows I talked to. That was my impression of him.
The next, the 17th is where he and I had the run in, where he shot target. I paid two bits and put up a target, and before I got ready to there would be somebody shoot a hole in it. ,So Lucille, my wife, she me. She was keeping score. We got to noticing who it was, and maybe shoot anybody's target, and I raised the devil. I didn't see why I have to pay my two bits and pay for a new target sheet and I'm shooting No. 9, and the rifle range operator came and told him not to shoot my target after that, and that is how I remember the part in his hair and the look on his face.
And I told him, I said, "You are not going to win no turkey shooting rapid fire."
He shot rapid fire about three or four times, aria they had a cap full of shells and they were shooting--I mean he was burning up the ammunition. And I talked about that going back to Snug Harbor, because somebody is going to get hurt, because everybody shooting everybody's target.
And there was a bunch of ruffians shooting pistols, and there was lots people. And I remember when I told him that, he give me a look that I would forget it. That is the only reason I remember him when they showed him on television. It made me sick and I tried to figure out. It took me a day to figure out where I had seen him.
And I went to the rifle range and these four or five other people knew he had been there, but they were afraid to say anything about it.
But when I asked the manager, I said, "Oswald was over here," and he said "Yes, I know he was." And they were afraid it would hurt their business.
And I told Charlie Brown and Doc Carter where I saw the fellow, and I think it was; everyone doubts if they knew anything at all on him, so they met me over there and between the three, they admitted sure.
Mr. Liebeler. Who is this Charlie Brown that you referred to?
Mr. Slack. He is the FBI man. He and Doc Carter, they came out two different times and I talked to them.
Mr. Liebeler. Carter is also an FBI agent?
Mr. Slack. One was Secret Service and one was the FBI.
Mr. Liebeler. What is the incident about the rifle? Did Oswald have your rifle at any time?
Mr. Slack. He handled my rifle and he handled my targets, that was the 17th.
Mr. Liebeler. Other than that, you didn't say anything to him?
Mr. Slack. That is all I said.
We see Slack is adamant that the man he saw shooting at his target was Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO). He said the man was "burning up the ammo" in a rapid fire way, but we have NO evidence LHO ever purchased any ammunition. In fact, when arrested it was determined he allegedly only took four rounds with him that day! He got a good look at the rifle the man had too.
Mr. Liebeler. Did you have a chance to see the rifle that he had?
Mr. Slack. I absolutely saw the rifle.
Mr. Liebeler. What kind of rifle was it?
Mr. Slack. It was an Italian type rifle, but it never showed in the newspapers, a picture of that rifle.
In other words, if the first picture that came out of the officer holding the rifle, that was on the floor of the Book Depository, if that was the gun, I had never seen that gun before, and I know rifles and I know scopes.
Mr. Liebeler. What was the difference between it and the rifle you saw?
Mr. Slack. The one he had was a small three--quarters, about seven hundred fifty thousandths diameter tube, a small tube no bigger than your thumb, with the windage gage. They were practicing. It was a cheap scope. Well, $5.66 scope. But it was sporterized. You cut the wood off of them. Short barrel.
Mr. Liebeler. In other words, this rifle that Oswald had was a sporterized rifle? It had been rebuilt?
Mr. Slack. Just as advertised. I have seen besides the Oswald, I have friends that have those rifles. I wouldn't shoot a toad frog with one of them, because I know that they are just junk.
In other words, you take that rifle as it was manufactured, and you cut the barrel off 8 inches, and you take all the wood off the top of the barrel and cut this off here, and varnish it, and have it blued, and it makes a pretty little gun. It was one that he had wrapped up and handed over the fence, but they had two other guns that type. They had no scopes on them.
He said a variation of the type of gun the Warren Commission (WC) alleged was used to kill President John F. Kennedy (JFK) in one of the greatest shooting feats of all time was a “piece of junk” and he wouldn’t use it to shoot “toad frogs” with!
This next part is interesting.
Mr. Liebeler. Was there somebody else?
Mr. Slack. That Sunday there sure was. The tall boy had the biggest feet of any kid I ever saw, and about the time he would go to shoot, he would kick with his feet, and I said if my feet was that big I would bump somebody too.
He was the boy that drove him to that rifle range the 17th. They found the boy. He had no connection with him except he had driven him there.
Mr. Liebeler. How do you know they found him?
Mr. Slack. I read it in the paper. I don't know what his name was. Don't know where they found him, but they found him, and he had no connection with him no more than I had. He Just probably begged a ride and he took him to the rifle range, but they had three guns.
Lucille remembers-the boy handing the guns over the fence, and they were throwing the guns in the back of the old model car and taking off like they did.
And I recognized that because a gun, a good gun, you are not supposed----they just threw those old guns in that car, or they took two of them. Of course, one was wrapped up in a blanket, a dirty looking old grey blanket that had a red trim, I remember. I remember that, because we found an old blanket at our house and I told Lucille I was trying to think, I knew it was something common, this good gun, it was wrapped up and tied up.
The sporterized Italian gun was tied up and he handed it over the fence nicely. And he had a grey and red maroon, looked slick as satin, and I remember it well, what a gun case--you see everything at a shooting place--some bring a rifle in a tote sack and--for a gun case.
The other thing I remember about that blanket he had wrapped around his gun, it was tied up with a rag string that was torn about an inch and half wide out of a filling station type wipe cloth, a ribbon, pink, and he had torn it up and--to use as a rag string.
Mr. Liebeler. Do you remember what kind of car these fellows drove?
Mr. Slack. No; I couldn't remember it, and Lucille couldn't except it was an older model car.
Mr. Liebeler. Was it a sedan?
Mr. Slack. A four-door sedan, and it was a dark color, and he left there like a crazy bunch of hoodlums. And Lucille would remember that because she made a remark to me. You know how boys take off and make the dust fly.
Well we had--in other words, without having some reason, you wouldn't notice what kind of car it was.
This is a GOLDMINE of information. Numerous accounts in this case mention a sighting of an old model car. We know one person who drove an old model car! The WC failed to persue this issue, but luckily for us in Mrs. Slacks’ interview with the FBI we got this nugget.
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According to Mrs. Slack, Mr. Slack maintained that Oswald was at the rifle range on November 17, 1963, and that he had been brought there by a man named “FRAZIER” from Irving, Texas.
Mr. Buell Wesley Frazier…advised that on no occasion did he ever take Lee Harvey Oswald to a rifle range. (CE 3077, p. 681)
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh26/html/WH_Vol26_0359a.htm
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How interesting his name came up though, huh? Mrs. Virgina Davis would testify that the man she saw drove an old model car!
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know whether or not this man who Mr. Price took down to the range this evening as the last customer signed in the book or not?
Mrs. DAVIS. He did not. It was our last customer and he just went on down with him because it was late and they were tired and cold and wanting to get home. But he was in an old car and he was alone and he was a young slender man, and that is all I know.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know what kind of car it was?
Mrs. DAVIS. No; I don't.
Mr. LIEBELER. Mr. Price does?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes; he does. But I don't. It is just an old car to me. I don't know too much about cars and then the day that Mr. Slack came up there in a panic because someone was shooting at a target that he had paid for instead of his own, I remember that. That is the only three incidents that I remember, and that is all.
Wayne January in his statement to researchers said he was approached by a young couple in an old car looking to charter a flight from Red Bird Airport.
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…a man and woman, were seeking to hire a light aircraft for a flight to Yucatan (Mexico). They arrived in an old black car, and, he saw through his office window, left behind them another passenger in the front seat.
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Wes Frazier himself would say he had an old model car!
Mr. BALL - Do you remember any conversation when he asked you what the clutch was?
Mr. FRAZIER - Oh, yes. We got talking about that. He noticed, you know, most cars as old as mine, you know most of them are standard shift, and when I bought this old car it kind of fooled me it had automatic transmission on it so we got talking about it on the way home driving home and I told him that I really prefer a standard because you know, they are a lot easier to work on and you know, when an automatic goes dead it goes dead, there is no rolling a couple of feet and jumping on the clutch and starting when the battery is down.
We are seeing a pattern of an old car emerging. All we have is Frazier’s denial that he ever took LHO to a shooting range, and perhaps he is NOT lying as he took SOMEONE WHO LOOKED LIKE HIM instead!
Back to Mr. Slack’s testimony. He said the man he saw was taking rifles out of the car and one was wrapped in a blanket. He would get a good look at the rifle and said it was a “sporterized Italian gun.” He would be shown the same photos of the alleged murder weapon and asked if it was the same rifle he saw.
Mr. Liebeler. I want to show you a picture of a rifle. Two pictures that have previously been marked as Exhibits 3 and 4, on the deposition of Mr. Greener, and ask you if that looks like the rifle they had at the rifle range?
Mr. Slack. I don't remember a carrying strap on it, this rifle here. Of course, that is something you use to carry the gun, if you take it. That could be it, that is right, with the sling off. When I saw the gun the sling was not on it.
I don't think it had the wood up above the barrel, because when it is sporterized, as I remember, the whole barrel is painted blue.
Mr. Liebeler. So there was not as much wood to the front of the rifle on the one you saw at the range, is that right?
Mr. Slack. That's right.
Mr. Liebeler. What about the scope? Was it the same kind of scope?
Mr. Slack. I can say no. Pictures do something to you, but that scope seems like it is a 1-inch, that scope, according to the size of the gun and proportions of sizes. This is the same gun upside down, the other side.
Mr. Liebeler. So that the rifle you saw at the rifle range is not the same rifle as the picture I have just shown you, is that right?
Mr. Slack. Now they had two other rifles that would fit that. They were not sporterized.
Mr. Liebeler. But they didn't have scopes on them?
Mr. Slack. They didn't have scopes on them.
So we are looking at THREE rifles at least here. If this was LHO, where did he get all these rifles from?
He would NOT ID any of the photos of Crafard, but when shown the ones of LHO (Pizzo/CE-453 C) he did make an ID of LHO.
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pages/WH_Vol21_0082b.jpg
Mr. Liebeler. Let me show you another picture, Mr. Slack, that has been previously marked as Pizzo's 453-C, and ask you if that looks like the fellow you saw at the rifle range?
Mr. Slack. That is him. I would know that baby face and that chin, and he had a--I remember people, but no names.
Mr. Liebeler. What about the hair?
Mr. Slack. That is the man I saw at the rifle range.
Mr. Liebeler. You are sure about that?
Mr. Slack. I know it is. In other words, just like if I saw you tomorrow. Because his eyes were deep like a man that was, that wears highly magnified glasses and then doesn't have his glasses on. -And he had that deep--that is the man we saw out there. That is the man. And I would remember him 20 years from now, just over that one incident.
He seems adamant that it was LHO. Let’s move on to Sterling Wood’s testimony.
Mr. LIEBELER. Can you tell us the date that you went out there?
Mr. WOOD. It was the Saturday before. It was 6 days before the President was killed. It was a Saturday.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now I understand that you and your father saw a man out there firing in the booth next to you?
Mr. LIEBELER. Can you tell us what happened right there at the rifle range that day?
Mr. WOOD. Yes, sir; I came out there. I had-been shooting for about 10 or 15 minutes and he came up next to me and started shooting, and he only shot about 8 or 10 times and I noticed every time he got through shooting he would take the breech and open it up and put the shell in his pocket. We went down to check our target and I remembered that his was almost always in the eye. And as we came back to shoot again. I talked to him and I said, "Sir, is that a 6.5 Italian carbine?" And he said, "Yes, sir."
Mr. LIEBELER. Why did you ask him that question?
Mr. WOOD. Because I read gun books and I was pretty sure that was a 6.5 Italian carbine and I wanted to make sure.
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you told your father about this, that that was an Italian carbine?
Mr. WOOD. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. How did you express it?
Mr. WOOD. I said, "Daddy, it looks like a 6.5 Italian carbine," and I asked him if it was a four-power scope, because it was funny looking, it wasn't American, and he said, "Yes, it was."
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you talk to this fellow any more than just ask him what you have already told us?
Mr. WOOD. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. And he said only two words to you?
Mr. WOOD. Yes.
This sounds good for the WC’s claims as it was the Saturday before the assassination, but the young man is describing a rifle that was different from the rifle that the WC said was used. The young boy said that he saw a 6.5 mm carbine, but the WC claimed that the murder weapon was a 40" short rifle. The man did leave in a newer model car with another man though.
Mr. LIEBELER. How did he go?
Mr. WOOD. He left with a man in a newer model car.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you see the model?
Mr. WOOD. No, I didn't. They went into the parking lot. They went around and I heard the car door slam and they took off, but it was a newer model.
Mr. LIEBELER. What kind of car?
Mr. WOOD. It was a Ford, if I remember.
Mr. LIEBELER. About what year would you say?
Mr. WOOD. I don't remember. I just knew it was a newer model car.
Mr. LIEBELER. Was it a convertible or station wagon?
Mr. WOOD. It was a hardtop.
Being with someone else is NOT good for the “lone nut” image though. Also, for the first time we see a newer model car mentioned, thus, one can surmize this is a different person accompanying him from the other sightings. He describes LHO’s height too (well, at least in some of the official documents in evidence).
Mr. LIEBELER. How tall would you say this man was?
Mr. WOOD. Oh, about 5'9''.
He too said the pictures of LHO on television made him say that was the man at the range.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now later on the next week after the President was assassinated, did you see a picture of this man or observe his picture on television or the radio or newspaper, or see him in any other way?
Mr. WOOD. Are you talking about Oswald?
Mr. LIEBELER. The man that was firing at the rifle range?
Mr. WOOD. That is what made me notice him.
Mr. LIEBELER. Tell us about that.
Mr. WOOD. The man out at the rifle range had a mean, stern face. You could tell he was a cold man, and that is what made me look at him more than I did anybody else. So when I saw the picture on television that night, I was sure it was him.
Mr. LIEBELER. You spoke to your father about it?
Mr. WOOD. Yes; we went to get a paper about the assassination and I said, "Dad, that does look like the man to me." And he said it did, too.
He too would shoot down Crafard as the man he saw at the range.
Mr. LIEBELER. Sterling, I want to show you some pictures of some men, and these pictures have previously been marked as Commission's Exhibit 451 and 453 through 456, sir; There are five of them. I want you to look at them and tell me if any of the pictures look like the guy you saw at the rifle range that you think was Oswald?
Mr. WOOD. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. None of those look like him?
Mr. WOOD. No, sir.
But, he did ID LHO in the photos he was shown.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now I want to show you another photograph which has not yet been marked, and ask you to look at it very carefully and tell me if any of the people in that picture look like the boy at the rifle range?
Mr. WOOD. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Which one?
Mr. WOOD. That one with the paper in his hand.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now I want to show you another picture that has been marked as Pizzo Exhibit 453-B, and ask you, that is the same picture, isn't it?
Mr. WOOD. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. You pointed out that he has a green line over his head and you say that is the fellow you saw at the rifle range?
Mr. WOOD. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Here is another picture that I want you to look at and see if you see anybody that looks like the fellow you saw at the rifle range?
Mr. WOOD. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. I want to show you a picture that has been marked "Pizzo Exhibit 453-C," and ask you if that looks like the fellow you saw at the rifle range?
Mr. WOOD. Yes, sir.
Over and over he says LHO is the man he saw (or someone who looked very much like LHO). Look at this!
Mr. LIEBELER. Did the FBI show you a picture of Oswald?
Mr. WOOD. They showed me a picture with his gun in his backyard.
Mr. LIEBELER. And you recognized that picture as being the man you saw at the rifle range?
Mr. WOOD. Yes, sir.
All the pictures of LHO available and the FBI is showing the alleged BYP’s to witnesses! Can you say prejudicing the witness? Despite the confusion, he did NOT say the rifle he saw was the same one shown to him in pictures by the FBI.
Mr. LIEBELER. Well, now, the FBI did show you a picture of a rifle?
Mr. WOOD. Yes; it was an enlarged picture.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you tell them that that was the rifle that the man you think is Oswald had, or was not the rifle?
Mr. WOOD. I told them that was not the rifle.
Mr. LIEBELER. You told them that was not the rifle?
Mr. WOOD. Yes.
Dr. Wood, Sterling’s father, said he too recognized the man as LHO.
Mr. LIEBELER. After you saw this man, you left the rifle range. Then later on the next Friday the President was assassinated, and at sometime subsequent to that time, did you connect up Lee Harvey Oswald with this man that you saw at the rifle range?
Dr. WOOD. I did.
Mr. LIEBELER. Tell me when and how you did that?
Dr. WOOD. I saw him flashed on the television screen at home several times. They would interrogate him and bring him down the hall and bring him back to his cell. This particular time I mentioned to my wife, I said to her, "Honey, that looks exactly like the fellow that was sitting next to Sterling at the rifle range. But I am not going to say anything to Sterling because I want to see if he recognizes him and if he thinks it was."
Well, I would say within 30 minutes or an hour he was flashed back on the screen and he said to me, "Daddy, that is the fellow that was sitting next to me out on the rifle range."
Mr. LIEBELER. So that you, independently of your son, first noticed the resemblance between Oswald.
Dr. WOOD. And mentioned it to my wife.
Mr. LIEBELER. And Sterling was not in your presence at that time?
Dr. WOOD. No, sir; he was not in the room.
Mr. LIEBELER. Then later he came into the room, saw Oswald's picture on the television, and said to you that that was the guy that was out at the rifle range that previous Saturday, is that correct?
Dr. WOOD. Yes.
He too shot Crafard down as the man he saw. What made the WC use Crafard in the first place as the man they may have seen? Again, he WORKED FOR JACK RUBY at the Carousel Club. Again, he would ID LHO as the man he saw.
Mr. LIEBELER. So would the picture here, Commission Exhibit 454, be a lateral view of the type you describe.
Dr. WOOD. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. That is too much from the front?
Dr. WOOD. Well, now, that is a right lateral view. I assume his was a left lateral view. But still I would say that wasn't.
Mr. LIEBELER. You would say what?
Dr. WOOD. That was not the man that I saw.
Mr. LIEBELER. That was not the man you saw?
Dr. WOOD. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. I show you a photograph that has been previously marked as Pizzo. Exhibit 453-A and ask you if you recognize any of the individuals in that photograph as the man you saw in the rifle range?
Dr. WOOD. Yes. The man holding the paper facing me with a green mark above his head.
Mr. LIEBELER. I show you another picture which has been marked Pizzo Exhibit 453-B, and ask you if any of the individuals there appear to be the same as the man you saw at the rifle range?
Dr. WOOD. Yes. The man with one green marking above the top of his head is the--I would identify as the man.
Mr. LIEBELER. I show you another picture that has been marked as Pizzo Exhibit 453-C, and ask you if you recognize that individual as the man you saw at the rifle range?
Dr. WOOD. I do.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you have any doubt about it?
Dr. WOOD. In my mind there is no doubt. If I just had to swear on a Bible, I couldn't, but in my mind, it is him.
Mr. LIEBELER. Well, of course, you realize that you are testifying under oath.
Dr. WOOD. I know he is a dead man and all that, but I must say in my own mind it is him, I am positive.
Notice the question regarding Dr. Wood having “doubts”, why is that NOT asked to any of the shaky pro-WC witnesses? Or the comment about him “testifying under oath”. Again, why is that NOT mentioned to the pro-WC witnesses that leave a lot to be desired?
He could NOT ID the rifle one way or another as he did NOT observe it well enough and admitted he knew very little about rifles.
OF course, the WC would find all of this too much to take and would discount all of it in terms of being LHO. They wrote the following on page 319 of the Report.
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historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wr/pages/WCReport_0172a.gif
Moreover, the date on which Price adjusted the scope for the unknown person was September, 28, 1963, but Oswald is known to have been in Mexico City at the time; since a comparison of the events testified to by Price and Slack strongly suggest that they were describing the SAME MAN; there is reason to believe that Slack was also describing a man other than Oswald. In addition, Slack believed he saw the same person at the rifle range on November 10 and there is persuasive evidence that on November 10, Oswald was at the Paine’s home in Irving and did not leave to go to the rifle range. Finally, the man whom Price assisted September 28 drove an old car, possibly a 1940 or 1941 Ford. However, there is evidence that Oswald could not drive at the time, and there is no indication that Oswald ever had access to such a car.
Several witnesses noticed a bearded man at the club when the person believed to be Oswald was there, although only one witness thought the two men were together; the bearded gentleman was located, and he was NOT found to have any connection with Oswald. (Emphasis mine) (WCR, p. 319)
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0172a.htm
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In a nutshell we see why they dismissed this evidence. There is NO evidence that stands up showing the LHO we know ever went to Mexico City so that excuse is overturned. The issue the WC never got into is why would someone looking very much like LHO be doing these things in the first place? All they tried to do was show it was NOT LHO since he was accounted for elsewhere, but that is only part of the picture.
Also, why was the bearded man NOT called before the WC to give his account and see if he was ever there at the same time as the person many thought was LHO? They simply said he had no connection with LHO, but that does NOT mean he had NO connection with someone who looked like LHO.
The old car to me is a clue, and I have been discussing it for years. I know of only one person who had an old car in this story, and I mentioned him—Wes Frazier. I did an overview of his background and the odds of him moving to Dallas just months before the assassination, move in with his sister who would just happen to live ½ block from the Paines, and get a job in the same place LHO would work so he could drive him home on Fridays. The odds seem astronomical to me. He also owned a Lee Enfield .303 rifle and early media accounts mention this type of rifle in the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD). I am NOT saying he was a shooter, but he could have done what the WC claimed LHO did—brought in a rifle for the real killer. Who knows? We won’t as NO investigation was ever really done, although Frazier was given a lie detector test to see if he was honest and he passed (although many have said the test was rigged). The bottom line was he was unaccounted for six hours or so and he was arrested by the DPD and given a lie detector test for some reason. They obviously had some thoughts regarding him.
This story and the other two I have done show a pattern of someone either looking like LHO, or in this case really being LHO, leaving a mark for when the big event came. In this particular story LHO could have been working on the case some researchers have said he was doing—helping FBI Agent Hosty and the ATF with catching gun runners.
These incidents show the WC was out to hide and/or eliminate anything that did NOT support their preconceived conclusion and show us many of their claims are sunk. These show us LHO was either being impersonated (and NO lone nut would be) or he was working with others on some plan, both of which make him NO lone nut as the WC claimed.
www.conspiracyarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Featured-Lee-Harvey-Oswald.jpg
Let’s continue our look at the rifle range sightings by moving onto Garland Slack’s testimony (don’t try finding it on John McAdams’ Witness testimony site as it is NOT there).
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Mr. Liebeler. You went back to the rifle range the immediately following Sunday, is that right?
Mr. Slack. That is right, the 10th. Oswald was there the 10th. He was there the 17th. The 10th was the turkey shoot. And I contacted him three or four times trying to get him to pay a dollar and get in the turkey shoot. Ten men were paying a dollar a shoot, and he commented he could win the turkey but he didn't have the dollar.
Mr. Liebeler. This was on the 10th, is that right?
Mr. Slack. But had no direct contact no more than asked him like the 10 other fellows I talked to. That was my impression of him.
The next, the 17th is where he and I had the run in, where he shot target. I paid two bits and put up a target, and before I got ready to there would be somebody shoot a hole in it. ,So Lucille, my wife, she me. She was keeping score. We got to noticing who it was, and maybe shoot anybody's target, and I raised the devil. I didn't see why I have to pay my two bits and pay for a new target sheet and I'm shooting No. 9, and the rifle range operator came and told him not to shoot my target after that, and that is how I remember the part in his hair and the look on his face.
And I told him, I said, "You are not going to win no turkey shooting rapid fire."
He shot rapid fire about three or four times, aria they had a cap full of shells and they were shooting--I mean he was burning up the ammunition. And I talked about that going back to Snug Harbor, because somebody is going to get hurt, because everybody shooting everybody's target.
And there was a bunch of ruffians shooting pistols, and there was lots people. And I remember when I told him that, he give me a look that I would forget it. That is the only reason I remember him when they showed him on television. It made me sick and I tried to figure out. It took me a day to figure out where I had seen him.
And I went to the rifle range and these four or five other people knew he had been there, but they were afraid to say anything about it.
But when I asked the manager, I said, "Oswald was over here," and he said "Yes, I know he was." And they were afraid it would hurt their business.
And I told Charlie Brown and Doc Carter where I saw the fellow, and I think it was; everyone doubts if they knew anything at all on him, so they met me over there and between the three, they admitted sure.
Mr. Liebeler. Who is this Charlie Brown that you referred to?
Mr. Slack. He is the FBI man. He and Doc Carter, they came out two different times and I talked to them.
Mr. Liebeler. Carter is also an FBI agent?
Mr. Slack. One was Secret Service and one was the FBI.
Mr. Liebeler. What is the incident about the rifle? Did Oswald have your rifle at any time?
Mr. Slack. He handled my rifle and he handled my targets, that was the 17th.
Mr. Liebeler. Other than that, you didn't say anything to him?
Mr. Slack. That is all I said.
We see Slack is adamant that the man he saw shooting at his target was Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO). He said the man was "burning up the ammo" in a rapid fire way, but we have NO evidence LHO ever purchased any ammunition. In fact, when arrested it was determined he allegedly only took four rounds with him that day! He got a good look at the rifle the man had too.
Mr. Liebeler. Did you have a chance to see the rifle that he had?
Mr. Slack. I absolutely saw the rifle.
Mr. Liebeler. What kind of rifle was it?
Mr. Slack. It was an Italian type rifle, but it never showed in the newspapers, a picture of that rifle.
In other words, if the first picture that came out of the officer holding the rifle, that was on the floor of the Book Depository, if that was the gun, I had never seen that gun before, and I know rifles and I know scopes.
Mr. Liebeler. What was the difference between it and the rifle you saw?
Mr. Slack. The one he had was a small three--quarters, about seven hundred fifty thousandths diameter tube, a small tube no bigger than your thumb, with the windage gage. They were practicing. It was a cheap scope. Well, $5.66 scope. But it was sporterized. You cut the wood off of them. Short barrel.
Mr. Liebeler. In other words, this rifle that Oswald had was a sporterized rifle? It had been rebuilt?
Mr. Slack. Just as advertised. I have seen besides the Oswald, I have friends that have those rifles. I wouldn't shoot a toad frog with one of them, because I know that they are just junk.
In other words, you take that rifle as it was manufactured, and you cut the barrel off 8 inches, and you take all the wood off the top of the barrel and cut this off here, and varnish it, and have it blued, and it makes a pretty little gun. It was one that he had wrapped up and handed over the fence, but they had two other guns that type. They had no scopes on them.
He said a variation of the type of gun the Warren Commission (WC) alleged was used to kill President John F. Kennedy (JFK) in one of the greatest shooting feats of all time was a “piece of junk” and he wouldn’t use it to shoot “toad frogs” with!
This next part is interesting.
Mr. Liebeler. Was there somebody else?
Mr. Slack. That Sunday there sure was. The tall boy had the biggest feet of any kid I ever saw, and about the time he would go to shoot, he would kick with his feet, and I said if my feet was that big I would bump somebody too.
He was the boy that drove him to that rifle range the 17th. They found the boy. He had no connection with him except he had driven him there.
Mr. Liebeler. How do you know they found him?
Mr. Slack. I read it in the paper. I don't know what his name was. Don't know where they found him, but they found him, and he had no connection with him no more than I had. He Just probably begged a ride and he took him to the rifle range, but they had three guns.
Lucille remembers-the boy handing the guns over the fence, and they were throwing the guns in the back of the old model car and taking off like they did.
And I recognized that because a gun, a good gun, you are not supposed----they just threw those old guns in that car, or they took two of them. Of course, one was wrapped up in a blanket, a dirty looking old grey blanket that had a red trim, I remember. I remember that, because we found an old blanket at our house and I told Lucille I was trying to think, I knew it was something common, this good gun, it was wrapped up and tied up.
The sporterized Italian gun was tied up and he handed it over the fence nicely. And he had a grey and red maroon, looked slick as satin, and I remember it well, what a gun case--you see everything at a shooting place--some bring a rifle in a tote sack and--for a gun case.
The other thing I remember about that blanket he had wrapped around his gun, it was tied up with a rag string that was torn about an inch and half wide out of a filling station type wipe cloth, a ribbon, pink, and he had torn it up and--to use as a rag string.
Mr. Liebeler. Do you remember what kind of car these fellows drove?
Mr. Slack. No; I couldn't remember it, and Lucille couldn't except it was an older model car.
Mr. Liebeler. Was it a sedan?
Mr. Slack. A four-door sedan, and it was a dark color, and he left there like a crazy bunch of hoodlums. And Lucille would remember that because she made a remark to me. You know how boys take off and make the dust fly.
Well we had--in other words, without having some reason, you wouldn't notice what kind of car it was.
This is a GOLDMINE of information. Numerous accounts in this case mention a sighting of an old model car. We know one person who drove an old model car! The WC failed to persue this issue, but luckily for us in Mrs. Slacks’ interview with the FBI we got this nugget.
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According to Mrs. Slack, Mr. Slack maintained that Oswald was at the rifle range on November 17, 1963, and that he had been brought there by a man named “FRAZIER” from Irving, Texas.
Mr. Buell Wesley Frazier…advised that on no occasion did he ever take Lee Harvey Oswald to a rifle range. (CE 3077, p. 681)
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How interesting his name came up though, huh? Mrs. Virgina Davis would testify that the man she saw drove an old model car!
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know whether or not this man who Mr. Price took down to the range this evening as the last customer signed in the book or not?
Mrs. DAVIS. He did not. It was our last customer and he just went on down with him because it was late and they were tired and cold and wanting to get home. But he was in an old car and he was alone and he was a young slender man, and that is all I know.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know what kind of car it was?
Mrs. DAVIS. No; I don't.
Mr. LIEBELER. Mr. Price does?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes; he does. But I don't. It is just an old car to me. I don't know too much about cars and then the day that Mr. Slack came up there in a panic because someone was shooting at a target that he had paid for instead of his own, I remember that. That is the only three incidents that I remember, and that is all.
Wayne January in his statement to researchers said he was approached by a young couple in an old car looking to charter a flight from Red Bird Airport.
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…a man and woman, were seeking to hire a light aircraft for a flight to Yucatan (Mexico). They arrived in an old black car, and, he saw through his office window, left behind them another passenger in the front seat.
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Wes Frazier himself would say he had an old model car!
Mr. BALL - Do you remember any conversation when he asked you what the clutch was?
Mr. FRAZIER - Oh, yes. We got talking about that. He noticed, you know, most cars as old as mine, you know most of them are standard shift, and when I bought this old car it kind of fooled me it had automatic transmission on it so we got talking about it on the way home driving home and I told him that I really prefer a standard because you know, they are a lot easier to work on and you know, when an automatic goes dead it goes dead, there is no rolling a couple of feet and jumping on the clutch and starting when the battery is down.
We are seeing a pattern of an old car emerging. All we have is Frazier’s denial that he ever took LHO to a shooting range, and perhaps he is NOT lying as he took SOMEONE WHO LOOKED LIKE HIM instead!
Back to Mr. Slack’s testimony. He said the man he saw was taking rifles out of the car and one was wrapped in a blanket. He would get a good look at the rifle and said it was a “sporterized Italian gun.” He would be shown the same photos of the alleged murder weapon and asked if it was the same rifle he saw.
Mr. Liebeler. I want to show you a picture of a rifle. Two pictures that have previously been marked as Exhibits 3 and 4, on the deposition of Mr. Greener, and ask you if that looks like the rifle they had at the rifle range?
Mr. Slack. I don't remember a carrying strap on it, this rifle here. Of course, that is something you use to carry the gun, if you take it. That could be it, that is right, with the sling off. When I saw the gun the sling was not on it.
I don't think it had the wood up above the barrel, because when it is sporterized, as I remember, the whole barrel is painted blue.
Mr. Liebeler. So there was not as much wood to the front of the rifle on the one you saw at the range, is that right?
Mr. Slack. That's right.
Mr. Liebeler. What about the scope? Was it the same kind of scope?
Mr. Slack. I can say no. Pictures do something to you, but that scope seems like it is a 1-inch, that scope, according to the size of the gun and proportions of sizes. This is the same gun upside down, the other side.
Mr. Liebeler. So that the rifle you saw at the rifle range is not the same rifle as the picture I have just shown you, is that right?
Mr. Slack. Now they had two other rifles that would fit that. They were not sporterized.
Mr. Liebeler. But they didn't have scopes on them?
Mr. Slack. They didn't have scopes on them.
So we are looking at THREE rifles at least here. If this was LHO, where did he get all these rifles from?
He would NOT ID any of the photos of Crafard, but when shown the ones of LHO (Pizzo/CE-453 C) he did make an ID of LHO.
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Mr. Liebeler. Let me show you another picture, Mr. Slack, that has been previously marked as Pizzo's 453-C, and ask you if that looks like the fellow you saw at the rifle range?
Mr. Slack. That is him. I would know that baby face and that chin, and he had a--I remember people, but no names.
Mr. Liebeler. What about the hair?
Mr. Slack. That is the man I saw at the rifle range.
Mr. Liebeler. You are sure about that?
Mr. Slack. I know it is. In other words, just like if I saw you tomorrow. Because his eyes were deep like a man that was, that wears highly magnified glasses and then doesn't have his glasses on. -And he had that deep--that is the man we saw out there. That is the man. And I would remember him 20 years from now, just over that one incident.
He seems adamant that it was LHO. Let’s move on to Sterling Wood’s testimony.
Mr. LIEBELER. Can you tell us the date that you went out there?
Mr. WOOD. It was the Saturday before. It was 6 days before the President was killed. It was a Saturday.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now I understand that you and your father saw a man out there firing in the booth next to you?
Mr. LIEBELER. Can you tell us what happened right there at the rifle range that day?
Mr. WOOD. Yes, sir; I came out there. I had-been shooting for about 10 or 15 minutes and he came up next to me and started shooting, and he only shot about 8 or 10 times and I noticed every time he got through shooting he would take the breech and open it up and put the shell in his pocket. We went down to check our target and I remembered that his was almost always in the eye. And as we came back to shoot again. I talked to him and I said, "Sir, is that a 6.5 Italian carbine?" And he said, "Yes, sir."
Mr. LIEBELER. Why did you ask him that question?
Mr. WOOD. Because I read gun books and I was pretty sure that was a 6.5 Italian carbine and I wanted to make sure.
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you told your father about this, that that was an Italian carbine?
Mr. WOOD. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. How did you express it?
Mr. WOOD. I said, "Daddy, it looks like a 6.5 Italian carbine," and I asked him if it was a four-power scope, because it was funny looking, it wasn't American, and he said, "Yes, it was."
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you talk to this fellow any more than just ask him what you have already told us?
Mr. WOOD. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. And he said only two words to you?
Mr. WOOD. Yes.
This sounds good for the WC’s claims as it was the Saturday before the assassination, but the young man is describing a rifle that was different from the rifle that the WC said was used. The young boy said that he saw a 6.5 mm carbine, but the WC claimed that the murder weapon was a 40" short rifle. The man did leave in a newer model car with another man though.
Mr. LIEBELER. How did he go?
Mr. WOOD. He left with a man in a newer model car.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you see the model?
Mr. WOOD. No, I didn't. They went into the parking lot. They went around and I heard the car door slam and they took off, but it was a newer model.
Mr. LIEBELER. What kind of car?
Mr. WOOD. It was a Ford, if I remember.
Mr. LIEBELER. About what year would you say?
Mr. WOOD. I don't remember. I just knew it was a newer model car.
Mr. LIEBELER. Was it a convertible or station wagon?
Mr. WOOD. It was a hardtop.
Being with someone else is NOT good for the “lone nut” image though. Also, for the first time we see a newer model car mentioned, thus, one can surmize this is a different person accompanying him from the other sightings. He describes LHO’s height too (well, at least in some of the official documents in evidence).
Mr. LIEBELER. How tall would you say this man was?
Mr. WOOD. Oh, about 5'9''.
He too said the pictures of LHO on television made him say that was the man at the range.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now later on the next week after the President was assassinated, did you see a picture of this man or observe his picture on television or the radio or newspaper, or see him in any other way?
Mr. WOOD. Are you talking about Oswald?
Mr. LIEBELER. The man that was firing at the rifle range?
Mr. WOOD. That is what made me notice him.
Mr. LIEBELER. Tell us about that.
Mr. WOOD. The man out at the rifle range had a mean, stern face. You could tell he was a cold man, and that is what made me look at him more than I did anybody else. So when I saw the picture on television that night, I was sure it was him.
Mr. LIEBELER. You spoke to your father about it?
Mr. WOOD. Yes; we went to get a paper about the assassination and I said, "Dad, that does look like the man to me." And he said it did, too.
He too would shoot down Crafard as the man he saw at the range.
Mr. LIEBELER. Sterling, I want to show you some pictures of some men, and these pictures have previously been marked as Commission's Exhibit 451 and 453 through 456, sir; There are five of them. I want you to look at them and tell me if any of the pictures look like the guy you saw at the rifle range that you think was Oswald?
Mr. WOOD. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. None of those look like him?
Mr. WOOD. No, sir.
But, he did ID LHO in the photos he was shown.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now I want to show you another photograph which has not yet been marked, and ask you to look at it very carefully and tell me if any of the people in that picture look like the boy at the rifle range?
Mr. WOOD. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Which one?
Mr. WOOD. That one with the paper in his hand.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now I want to show you another picture that has been marked as Pizzo Exhibit 453-B, and ask you, that is the same picture, isn't it?
Mr. WOOD. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. You pointed out that he has a green line over his head and you say that is the fellow you saw at the rifle range?
Mr. WOOD. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Here is another picture that I want you to look at and see if you see anybody that looks like the fellow you saw at the rifle range?
Mr. WOOD. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. I want to show you a picture that has been marked "Pizzo Exhibit 453-C," and ask you if that looks like the fellow you saw at the rifle range?
Mr. WOOD. Yes, sir.
Over and over he says LHO is the man he saw (or someone who looked very much like LHO). Look at this!
Mr. LIEBELER. Did the FBI show you a picture of Oswald?
Mr. WOOD. They showed me a picture with his gun in his backyard.
Mr. LIEBELER. And you recognized that picture as being the man you saw at the rifle range?
Mr. WOOD. Yes, sir.
All the pictures of LHO available and the FBI is showing the alleged BYP’s to witnesses! Can you say prejudicing the witness? Despite the confusion, he did NOT say the rifle he saw was the same one shown to him in pictures by the FBI.
Mr. LIEBELER. Well, now, the FBI did show you a picture of a rifle?
Mr. WOOD. Yes; it was an enlarged picture.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you tell them that that was the rifle that the man you think is Oswald had, or was not the rifle?
Mr. WOOD. I told them that was not the rifle.
Mr. LIEBELER. You told them that was not the rifle?
Mr. WOOD. Yes.
Dr. Wood, Sterling’s father, said he too recognized the man as LHO.
Mr. LIEBELER. After you saw this man, you left the rifle range. Then later on the next Friday the President was assassinated, and at sometime subsequent to that time, did you connect up Lee Harvey Oswald with this man that you saw at the rifle range?
Dr. WOOD. I did.
Mr. LIEBELER. Tell me when and how you did that?
Dr. WOOD. I saw him flashed on the television screen at home several times. They would interrogate him and bring him down the hall and bring him back to his cell. This particular time I mentioned to my wife, I said to her, "Honey, that looks exactly like the fellow that was sitting next to Sterling at the rifle range. But I am not going to say anything to Sterling because I want to see if he recognizes him and if he thinks it was."
Well, I would say within 30 minutes or an hour he was flashed back on the screen and he said to me, "Daddy, that is the fellow that was sitting next to me out on the rifle range."
Mr. LIEBELER. So that you, independently of your son, first noticed the resemblance between Oswald.
Dr. WOOD. And mentioned it to my wife.
Mr. LIEBELER. And Sterling was not in your presence at that time?
Dr. WOOD. No, sir; he was not in the room.
Mr. LIEBELER. Then later he came into the room, saw Oswald's picture on the television, and said to you that that was the guy that was out at the rifle range that previous Saturday, is that correct?
Dr. WOOD. Yes.
He too shot Crafard down as the man he saw. What made the WC use Crafard in the first place as the man they may have seen? Again, he WORKED FOR JACK RUBY at the Carousel Club. Again, he would ID LHO as the man he saw.
Mr. LIEBELER. So would the picture here, Commission Exhibit 454, be a lateral view of the type you describe.
Dr. WOOD. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. That is too much from the front?
Dr. WOOD. Well, now, that is a right lateral view. I assume his was a left lateral view. But still I would say that wasn't.
Mr. LIEBELER. You would say what?
Dr. WOOD. That was not the man that I saw.
Mr. LIEBELER. That was not the man you saw?
Dr. WOOD. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. I show you a photograph that has been previously marked as Pizzo. Exhibit 453-A and ask you if you recognize any of the individuals in that photograph as the man you saw in the rifle range?
Dr. WOOD. Yes. The man holding the paper facing me with a green mark above his head.
Mr. LIEBELER. I show you another picture which has been marked Pizzo Exhibit 453-B, and ask you if any of the individuals there appear to be the same as the man you saw at the rifle range?
Dr. WOOD. Yes. The man with one green marking above the top of his head is the--I would identify as the man.
Mr. LIEBELER. I show you another picture that has been marked as Pizzo Exhibit 453-C, and ask you if you recognize that individual as the man you saw at the rifle range?
Dr. WOOD. I do.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you have any doubt about it?
Dr. WOOD. In my mind there is no doubt. If I just had to swear on a Bible, I couldn't, but in my mind, it is him.
Mr. LIEBELER. Well, of course, you realize that you are testifying under oath.
Dr. WOOD. I know he is a dead man and all that, but I must say in my own mind it is him, I am positive.
Notice the question regarding Dr. Wood having “doubts”, why is that NOT asked to any of the shaky pro-WC witnesses? Or the comment about him “testifying under oath”. Again, why is that NOT mentioned to the pro-WC witnesses that leave a lot to be desired?
He could NOT ID the rifle one way or another as he did NOT observe it well enough and admitted he knew very little about rifles.
OF course, the WC would find all of this too much to take and would discount all of it in terms of being LHO. They wrote the following on page 319 of the Report.
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Moreover, the date on which Price adjusted the scope for the unknown person was September, 28, 1963, but Oswald is known to have been in Mexico City at the time; since a comparison of the events testified to by Price and Slack strongly suggest that they were describing the SAME MAN; there is reason to believe that Slack was also describing a man other than Oswald. In addition, Slack believed he saw the same person at the rifle range on November 10 and there is persuasive evidence that on November 10, Oswald was at the Paine’s home in Irving and did not leave to go to the rifle range. Finally, the man whom Price assisted September 28 drove an old car, possibly a 1940 or 1941 Ford. However, there is evidence that Oswald could not drive at the time, and there is no indication that Oswald ever had access to such a car.
Several witnesses noticed a bearded man at the club when the person believed to be Oswald was there, although only one witness thought the two men were together; the bearded gentleman was located, and he was NOT found to have any connection with Oswald. (Emphasis mine) (WCR, p. 319)
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In a nutshell we see why they dismissed this evidence. There is NO evidence that stands up showing the LHO we know ever went to Mexico City so that excuse is overturned. The issue the WC never got into is why would someone looking very much like LHO be doing these things in the first place? All they tried to do was show it was NOT LHO since he was accounted for elsewhere, but that is only part of the picture.
Also, why was the bearded man NOT called before the WC to give his account and see if he was ever there at the same time as the person many thought was LHO? They simply said he had no connection with LHO, but that does NOT mean he had NO connection with someone who looked like LHO.
The old car to me is a clue, and I have been discussing it for years. I know of only one person who had an old car in this story, and I mentioned him—Wes Frazier. I did an overview of his background and the odds of him moving to Dallas just months before the assassination, move in with his sister who would just happen to live ½ block from the Paines, and get a job in the same place LHO would work so he could drive him home on Fridays. The odds seem astronomical to me. He also owned a Lee Enfield .303 rifle and early media accounts mention this type of rifle in the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD). I am NOT saying he was a shooter, but he could have done what the WC claimed LHO did—brought in a rifle for the real killer. Who knows? We won’t as NO investigation was ever really done, although Frazier was given a lie detector test to see if he was honest and he passed (although many have said the test was rigged). The bottom line was he was unaccounted for six hours or so and he was arrested by the DPD and given a lie detector test for some reason. They obviously had some thoughts regarding him.
This story and the other two I have done show a pattern of someone either looking like LHO, or in this case really being LHO, leaving a mark for when the big event came. In this particular story LHO could have been working on the case some researchers have said he was doing—helping FBI Agent Hosty and the ATF with catching gun runners.
These incidents show the WC was out to hide and/or eliminate anything that did NOT support their preconceived conclusion and show us many of their claims are sunk. These show us LHO was either being impersonated (and NO lone nut would be) or he was working with others on some plan, both of which make him NO lone nut as the WC claimed.