Post by Rob Caprio on Oct 20, 2019 20:41:17 GMT -5
All portions are ©️ Robert Caprio 2006-2024
www.gunsamerica.com/UserImages/4120/970360846/wm_5656838.jpg
The Warren Commission (WC) claimed Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO) shot and killed President John F. Kennedy (JFK) on November 22, 1963, with a 40” Mannlicher-Carcano (M-C). Besides there being NO evidence for this claim or for LHO owning a 40” M-C, we also have the issue of other rifles being found or mentioned in the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD) Building. We have looked at the 7.65 Mauser issue quite a bit in this series, so I won’t go into that again, but what about other rifles?
We will look at that issue in this post.
*********************************
We saw local media accounts that mentioned a Japanese rifle very early after the assassination.
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KRLD radio announced that the rifle was "presumed to be a .25 caliber high powered Army or Japanese rifle." Radio station KBOX reported a German Mauser or a Japanese rifle.
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The New Republic magazine reported this too on December 21, 1963.
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The Weapon
First press accounts quoted various members of the Dallas police force as saying the assassin’s weapon was a .30 caliber Enfield and a 7.65mm Mauser. One Secret Service man said he thought the weapon was an “Army or Japanese rifle” of .25 caliber. The same accounts reported that the rifle was found on the second floor of the building by a window, in the fifth-floor staircase, by an open sixth-floor window, and hidden behind boxes and cases on the second or sixth floors.
It was not until the FBI said it had discovered that Oswald had purchased an Italian-made 6.5mm rifle from a Chicago mail-order house that the confusion was dispelled. Then all accounts and all sources agreed: The former .30 caliber-Enfield-7.65 Mauser was now a 6.5mm Italian-made rifle with telescopic sight. It was also at this time that all sources began agreeing that the gun had been found on the sixth floor—though some still held out for the open-window location, while others argued for the buried-behind-the-boxes theory.
www.newrepublic.com/article/115659/original-jfk-assassination-conspiracy-theories-1963
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What we don’t see anywhere is who this “Secret Service” (SS) man was who said the rifle was an “Army or Japanese rifle” of .25 caliber. The only SS man at the scene was Forrest Sorrels, but if you go to his WC testimony there is no mention of this. What other SS man could this have been then? What made them think it was a Japanese rifle? Where did the .25 caliber come from? If we go to this site and look at Japanese World War II weapons we will not see a .25 caliber listed.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Japanese_military_equipment_of_World_War_II
The point about the .25 caliber is interesting as that is what the 6.5 mm translates to in American measurements (M-C was .256).
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The Japanese 6.5mm (.25 cal) weapons were all turn bolt operated, with 5-round non-detachable staggered row box magazines. They were loaded with 5-round stripper clips, a flat metal piece holding a five-round stack, which was inserted at the top of the magazine, the rounds thumbed down into position, and the metal piece sent flying when the bolt was closed.
www.koreanwaronline.com/arms/riflejap.htm
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The use of a stripper clip could be why NO clip was found in the building. The other thing I find interesting on this site is this part that matches the claims of the WC.
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Although of light hitting power, the 6.5mm rounds tumbled in flight and broke up upon impact, causing great damage.
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Wasn’t the “magic bullet” (Commission Exhibit (CE) 399) suppose to “yaw” in flight? Wasn’t the head shot bullet supposed to break into pieces? These seem more suited for a Japanese rifle than the M-C.
The Japanese rifle issue is an interesting one because we see evidence in the twenty-six volumes mentioning it in the form of testimony given by Adrian Alba, co-owner of Crescent City Garage, who had discussions with LHO about weapons when he would come over to read the magazines in the garage. This took place when LHO was working at William B. Reily Coffee Company which was next door to the garage.
Mr. LIEBELER - The address of the garage is 618 Magazine Street?
Mr. ALBA - That is correct.
Mr. LIEBELER - It is right next door to the William B. Reily Coffee Co.?
Mr. ALBA - That is correct.
Mr. LIEBELER - Did you ever become acquainted with or observe in your garage Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. ALBA - Through conversations and Outdoor Life magazines in the office I have a coffee pot there, and a coffee table, and some chairs, and a magazine rack, where he frequent the magazines quite often and drank coffee. And I have a coke machine there.
Mr. LIEBELER - Did this fellow, did you tell us what his name was?
Mr. ALBA - All I knew him was as "Lee."
Mr. LIEBELER - Just Lee?
Mr. ALBA - Yes.
Alba would say LHO was not very talkative “unless he was leading the conversation” when he came over to read his gun magazines.
Mr. LIEBELER - How did this fellow impress you?
Mr. ALBA - He certainly didn't impress me as anyone capable or anyone burdened with a charge of assassinating the President of the United States, let alone any individual, for that matter. Our conversations were purely the gun magazines, the firearms themselves, and little of anything else. Lee Oswald wasn't very talkative, not to be repeating myself, unless, of course, he was pretty much leading the conversation or doing the talking himself, on the same conversation level all the time about the firearms.
Mr. LIEBELER - Did he strike you as being peculiar in any way?
Mr. ALBA - Yes; he did. He was quiet.
Mr. LIEBELER - He was quiet?
Mr. ALBA - He was quiet. You could ask Lee Oswald two or three questions, and if Lee Oswald wasn't apparently interested in the course of the conversation, he would just remain paging through the book and look up and say, "Did you say something to me?" I hesitate putting the conversation back to Lee Oswald pursuing it first, but all you had to do was mention guns and gun magazines and Lee Oswald was very free with the conversation.
When Alba was interviewed after the assassination he said he was surprised to learn that LHO’s job was that of an “oiler” at Reily’s due to his clean and neat appearance.
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After the assassination Alba was surprised to learn that Oswald was employed as an "oiler" and never understood how he was able to keep his clothes neat and clean with such a dirty job. Every time Oswald visited his garage, Alba remembered that his pants were neatly creased and his shirt was always clean-no oil or stains at all. (81) (John Armstrong, Harvey & Lee, p. 549)
81 National Archives, HSCA I80-l 0072-1004 7, Numbered Files 007I98, HSCA interview of Arian Alba, 11/24/78
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How did LHO manage to stay so clean while doing such a dirty job IF he was actually doing that type of job? Also, in the same interview Alba would say he and LHO both ate lunch at Mancuso’s Restaurant occasionally and when he saw LHO there he was always eating alone. (Ibid.)
While discussing rifles the issue of purchasing one from Alba came up and here is what he said about it.
Mr. LIEBELER - Was this particular rifle that you have referred to, a Japanese rifle?
Mr. ALBA - No it wasn't. I had a Japanese rifle down there that was not for sale, an he was more partial to the Japanese rifle than the Springfield and the carbine put together.
Mr. LIEBELER - He was really interested----
Mr. ALBA - He was more interested in the Japanese rifle.
Mr. LIEBELER - What did Oswald say about this particular Japanese rifle?
Mr. ALBA - Nothing other than his desire to possess the gun, or to purchase the gun from me.
This is interesting since we see LHO had interest in the Japanese rifle according to Alba, and that particular type would be said to be in the TSBD on the day of the assassination. Alba would tell the FBI about LHO’s interest in this rifle too so the WC would know about it.
Mr. LIEBELER - Do you recall being interviewed by an agent of the FBI?
Mr. ALBA - Yes; I do.
Mr. ALBA - Twice, I believe. Let me retract that--the FBI came to the office, I think, three different times. I was never up in their office or contacted----
Mr. LIEBELER - Did you discuss this Japanese rifle with them?
Mr. ALBA - Yes; I did.
Mr. LIEBELER - And do you recall telling them that Oswald was interested in the number of inches that had been cut from the barrel of the gun?
Mr. ALBA - I believe I did; yes.
Mr. LIEBELER - Do you recall what Oswald said, about that?
Mr. ALBA - No; not other than a general discussion of the trajectory and the feet per second, and et cetera, and the general accuracy elimination--I mean elimination of the accuracy of the gun cutting the barrel off.
To me this does NOT sound like the LHO we know as he showed NO interest in rifles at all. What do you think? He will go over the issue of shortening a rifle and this is interesting too.
Mr. LIEBELER - Can these rifles be readily broken down, taking the stock and removing it from the barrel?
Mr. ALBA - Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER - How long would the stock be separate from the barrel in this Japanese rifle?
Mr. ALBA - From the butt of the stock the extreme end of the forearm would be approximately 20 inches, I imagine, or about 2 feet.
Two feet? Wasn’t that about the length of the alleged bag both Wesley Frazier and Linnie Mae Randle said they saw on the morning of the assassination? I think so. If LHO brought a rifle, and I doubt it based on the evidence, could it have been the Japanese rifle? Or could Frazier have brought this rifle with him and that is why he knows it was two feet long?
If we believe this next part it would seem LHO owned more than CE 143 too.
Mr. LIEBELER - Did he mention that he had a pistol, or pistols?
Mr. ALBA - If I remember correctly, I think he said he had a few, or a couple, or two. I am not definite .
Mr. LIEBELER - A couple of pistols?
Mr. ALBA - Pistol he said he had a few rifles, and a few pistols or it was a couple, or it was two. I am not clear.
He said LHO said he owned “pistols” and “rifles”, but we see no evidence for him owning any rifle and the one pistol we see evidence for is NOT CE 143! According to George De Mohrenschilt’s manuscript LHO owned a different type of pistol.
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historymatters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol12/pages/HSCA_Vol12_0133b.gif
But let’s not forget that Lee was trained by the Marine Corps to hold, show and respect weapons. The BERETTA we saw in his apartment was well oiled and immaculately clean. (Emphasis mine) (HSCA, XII, p.262)
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol12/html/HSCA_Vol12_0133b.htm
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Whatever happened to the Beretta? Who knows, but it seems LHO was way more interested in SPORTERIZED rifles than pistols.
Mr. LIEBELER - Do you remember whether Oswald seemed more interest or was disposed more in favor of rifles than pistols? Or did he seem----
Mr. ALBA - Very definitely toward the rifle side.
Mr. LIEBELER - He was more interested in rifles?
Mr. ALBA - Very little interested in the pistols. I had as many as three or--I think at one time four pistols down there, and Lee Oswald was very, very keen toward the rifles that were among my sporterizing projects, and so on; other than the pistols, he had very, very little interest in the pistols.
This begs the question then, if LHO was very interested in sporterized rifles (think Warren Caster’s Mauser and the rifle seen at the Sports Drome Rifle Range by Malcolm Price that was claimed to be LHO), why was he supposedly using a NON-sporterized rifle on November 22, 1963?
In John Craig’s “Guns of Dealey Plaza” article he does a great job of discussing all the weapons mentioned in Dealey Plaza (DP), but he left out the Japanese rifle issue. I don’t know why. He also only gives scant mention to the .303 Lee Enfield rifle issue as well.
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On the afternoon of the shooting, KBOX, a Dallas television station, broadcast that "a rifle has been found in a staircase on the fifth floor ... Sheriff's deputies identify the weapon as a 7.65 Mauser ... " [25] To add to the confusion WBAP-TV reported that a British Enfield 303 had been found in the Depository. [26]
(25) Warren Commission Exhibit, 3048.
(26) Reported by Tom Webb of WBAP-TV, Fort Worth, Texas, News Coverage of the Assassination of President Kennedy, MR 74-52: 1 (tape), The John F. Kennedy Library, Waltham, Massachusetts.
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This was supported by the 1966 book, There Was A President by NBC that said:
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Reporter Tom Whalen said, at 2:13pm CST, "The weapon which was used to kill the president, and which wounded Gov. Connally, has been found in the Texas School Book Depository on the sixth floor - a British 303 rifle with a telescopic sight. Three empty cartridge cases were found beside the weapon. It appeared that whoever had occupied this sniper's nest had been here for some time." (Per Gary Mack on July 16, 1999)
educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=19810&page=2
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Again, as in the case of the Japanese rifle, what ever happened to this rifle? The simple explanation is everyone was making ‘mistakes’ about everything, but these are very specific weapons we are talking about. The odd thing is Wesley Frazier owned a .303 rifle and it was confiscated along with a half-a-box of ammunition on November 22, 1963 by the Irving Police Department (IPD) and the Dallas Police Department (DPD) after Frazier had been arrested by the IPD.
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www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pages/WH_Vol21_0313a.gif
We call Detective J.A. McCabe back at about 6:45 p.m., and he informed us that he had effected the arrest of Wesley Frazier, and we pick Frazier up at the Irving Police Department. We (Dets. Rose and Stovall) drove directly to Irving, arriving there at approximately 7:00 p.m. ...then proceeded to Frazier’s home, 2439 West 5th, Irving (1/2 block form the Paine home) and made a search of the Randle home (also Frazier’s home) and CONFISCATED A 303 CALIBRE (sic) RIFLE, full clip, and partial box of 303 calibre (sic) ammuninition belonging to Wesley Frasier (sic) (placed in Property Room). (Stovall Exhibit C, p. 182) (Emphasis added)
www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=233585#relPageId=5
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Is this just another in a long line of coincidences in this case? Both the Mauser and the Lee Enfield are much better weapons for snipers as well. It seems Wes Frazier was real good at breaking down rifles too according to his Clay Shaw trial testimony.
Q: What kind of rifle did you use in the Service?
A: An M14.
Q: Approximately how long was the M14 that you used?
A: I believe the correct length is 30 some odd inches long?
Q: Did you ever break that rifle down?
A: Yes, sir, I broke it down many times.
It would seem he had much more experience at breaking down and reassembling rifles that LHO did. He also said he never saw LHO with a rifle at all.
Q: Mr. Frazier, did you ever see a rifle in the possession of Lee Harvey Oswald?
A: No, sir, I did not.
He told the WC the same thing.
Mr. BALL - In driving back and forth with Oswald did you ever hear him--did he ever talk about guns?
Mr. FRAZIER - No, sir; he never did.
Mr. BALL - Did he ever tell you he owned a gun?
Mr. FRAZIER - No, sir.
It is clear of the two men arrested on November 22, 1963, which one had far more experience with rifles and which one actually owned a type said to be found in the TSBD on that day—Wesley Frazier. Does this make him guilty of shooting JFK? No, but he seems to have been involved in some way otherwise the IPD would NOT have arrested him and searched where he lived. On December 1, 1963, the FBI would take over the handling of Frazier, but it was not to continue to view him as a suspect. Why was the Frazier angle never fully investigated? The supposed polygraph test he gave is suspicious due to it only taking 50 minutes allegedly. The WC never published the report regarding this test that Frazier supposedly passed with “flying colors.” Why not? All we have regarding the test is this:
www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=217800#relPageId=196
Also, how do we reconcile the man who never mentioned guns to Wes Frazier (along with his brother, Michael Paine and others) with the man who was obsessed with guns when going to Alba's garage?
We again see much evidence that calls into question the "investigation" the WC had conducted by the FBI and the DPD before them as we see ample opportunities to explore other avenues, but they chose NOT to and instead simply blamed LHO all by himself. This shows me that their conclusion cannot be correct (and in all fairness members admitted they by no means saw all the evidence) due to them limiting themselves to a pre-conceived outcome (e.g. LHO acted alone with no accomplices).
Thus, we have to say they are once again sunk.
www.gunsamerica.com/UserImages/4120/970360846/wm_5656838.jpg
The Warren Commission (WC) claimed Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO) shot and killed President John F. Kennedy (JFK) on November 22, 1963, with a 40” Mannlicher-Carcano (M-C). Besides there being NO evidence for this claim or for LHO owning a 40” M-C, we also have the issue of other rifles being found or mentioned in the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD) Building. We have looked at the 7.65 Mauser issue quite a bit in this series, so I won’t go into that again, but what about other rifles?
We will look at that issue in this post.
*********************************
We saw local media accounts that mentioned a Japanese rifle very early after the assassination.
Quote on
KRLD radio announced that the rifle was "presumed to be a .25 caliber high powered Army or Japanese rifle." Radio station KBOX reported a German Mauser or a Japanese rifle.
Quote off
The New Republic magazine reported this too on December 21, 1963.
Quote on
The Weapon
First press accounts quoted various members of the Dallas police force as saying the assassin’s weapon was a .30 caliber Enfield and a 7.65mm Mauser. One Secret Service man said he thought the weapon was an “Army or Japanese rifle” of .25 caliber. The same accounts reported that the rifle was found on the second floor of the building by a window, in the fifth-floor staircase, by an open sixth-floor window, and hidden behind boxes and cases on the second or sixth floors.
It was not until the FBI said it had discovered that Oswald had purchased an Italian-made 6.5mm rifle from a Chicago mail-order house that the confusion was dispelled. Then all accounts and all sources agreed: The former .30 caliber-Enfield-7.65 Mauser was now a 6.5mm Italian-made rifle with telescopic sight. It was also at this time that all sources began agreeing that the gun had been found on the sixth floor—though some still held out for the open-window location, while others argued for the buried-behind-the-boxes theory.
www.newrepublic.com/article/115659/original-jfk-assassination-conspiracy-theories-1963
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What we don’t see anywhere is who this “Secret Service” (SS) man was who said the rifle was an “Army or Japanese rifle” of .25 caliber. The only SS man at the scene was Forrest Sorrels, but if you go to his WC testimony there is no mention of this. What other SS man could this have been then? What made them think it was a Japanese rifle? Where did the .25 caliber come from? If we go to this site and look at Japanese World War II weapons we will not see a .25 caliber listed.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Japanese_military_equipment_of_World_War_II
The point about the .25 caliber is interesting as that is what the 6.5 mm translates to in American measurements (M-C was .256).
Quote on
The Japanese 6.5mm (.25 cal) weapons were all turn bolt operated, with 5-round non-detachable staggered row box magazines. They were loaded with 5-round stripper clips, a flat metal piece holding a five-round stack, which was inserted at the top of the magazine, the rounds thumbed down into position, and the metal piece sent flying when the bolt was closed.
www.koreanwaronline.com/arms/riflejap.htm
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The use of a stripper clip could be why NO clip was found in the building. The other thing I find interesting on this site is this part that matches the claims of the WC.
Quote on
Although of light hitting power, the 6.5mm rounds tumbled in flight and broke up upon impact, causing great damage.
Quote off
Wasn’t the “magic bullet” (Commission Exhibit (CE) 399) suppose to “yaw” in flight? Wasn’t the head shot bullet supposed to break into pieces? These seem more suited for a Japanese rifle than the M-C.
The Japanese rifle issue is an interesting one because we see evidence in the twenty-six volumes mentioning it in the form of testimony given by Adrian Alba, co-owner of Crescent City Garage, who had discussions with LHO about weapons when he would come over to read the magazines in the garage. This took place when LHO was working at William B. Reily Coffee Company which was next door to the garage.
Mr. LIEBELER - The address of the garage is 618 Magazine Street?
Mr. ALBA - That is correct.
Mr. LIEBELER - It is right next door to the William B. Reily Coffee Co.?
Mr. ALBA - That is correct.
Mr. LIEBELER - Did you ever become acquainted with or observe in your garage Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. ALBA - Through conversations and Outdoor Life magazines in the office I have a coffee pot there, and a coffee table, and some chairs, and a magazine rack, where he frequent the magazines quite often and drank coffee. And I have a coke machine there.
Mr. LIEBELER - Did this fellow, did you tell us what his name was?
Mr. ALBA - All I knew him was as "Lee."
Mr. LIEBELER - Just Lee?
Mr. ALBA - Yes.
Alba would say LHO was not very talkative “unless he was leading the conversation” when he came over to read his gun magazines.
Mr. LIEBELER - How did this fellow impress you?
Mr. ALBA - He certainly didn't impress me as anyone capable or anyone burdened with a charge of assassinating the President of the United States, let alone any individual, for that matter. Our conversations were purely the gun magazines, the firearms themselves, and little of anything else. Lee Oswald wasn't very talkative, not to be repeating myself, unless, of course, he was pretty much leading the conversation or doing the talking himself, on the same conversation level all the time about the firearms.
Mr. LIEBELER - Did he strike you as being peculiar in any way?
Mr. ALBA - Yes; he did. He was quiet.
Mr. LIEBELER - He was quiet?
Mr. ALBA - He was quiet. You could ask Lee Oswald two or three questions, and if Lee Oswald wasn't apparently interested in the course of the conversation, he would just remain paging through the book and look up and say, "Did you say something to me?" I hesitate putting the conversation back to Lee Oswald pursuing it first, but all you had to do was mention guns and gun magazines and Lee Oswald was very free with the conversation.
When Alba was interviewed after the assassination he said he was surprised to learn that LHO’s job was that of an “oiler” at Reily’s due to his clean and neat appearance.
Quote on
After the assassination Alba was surprised to learn that Oswald was employed as an "oiler" and never understood how he was able to keep his clothes neat and clean with such a dirty job. Every time Oswald visited his garage, Alba remembered that his pants were neatly creased and his shirt was always clean-no oil or stains at all. (81) (John Armstrong, Harvey & Lee, p. 549)
81 National Archives, HSCA I80-l 0072-1004 7, Numbered Files 007I98, HSCA interview of Arian Alba, 11/24/78
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How did LHO manage to stay so clean while doing such a dirty job IF he was actually doing that type of job? Also, in the same interview Alba would say he and LHO both ate lunch at Mancuso’s Restaurant occasionally and when he saw LHO there he was always eating alone. (Ibid.)
While discussing rifles the issue of purchasing one from Alba came up and here is what he said about it.
Mr. LIEBELER - Was this particular rifle that you have referred to, a Japanese rifle?
Mr. ALBA - No it wasn't. I had a Japanese rifle down there that was not for sale, an he was more partial to the Japanese rifle than the Springfield and the carbine put together.
Mr. LIEBELER - He was really interested----
Mr. ALBA - He was more interested in the Japanese rifle.
Mr. LIEBELER - What did Oswald say about this particular Japanese rifle?
Mr. ALBA - Nothing other than his desire to possess the gun, or to purchase the gun from me.
This is interesting since we see LHO had interest in the Japanese rifle according to Alba, and that particular type would be said to be in the TSBD on the day of the assassination. Alba would tell the FBI about LHO’s interest in this rifle too so the WC would know about it.
Mr. LIEBELER - Do you recall being interviewed by an agent of the FBI?
Mr. ALBA - Yes; I do.
Mr. ALBA - Twice, I believe. Let me retract that--the FBI came to the office, I think, three different times. I was never up in their office or contacted----
Mr. LIEBELER - Did you discuss this Japanese rifle with them?
Mr. ALBA - Yes; I did.
Mr. LIEBELER - And do you recall telling them that Oswald was interested in the number of inches that had been cut from the barrel of the gun?
Mr. ALBA - I believe I did; yes.
Mr. LIEBELER - Do you recall what Oswald said, about that?
Mr. ALBA - No; not other than a general discussion of the trajectory and the feet per second, and et cetera, and the general accuracy elimination--I mean elimination of the accuracy of the gun cutting the barrel off.
To me this does NOT sound like the LHO we know as he showed NO interest in rifles at all. What do you think? He will go over the issue of shortening a rifle and this is interesting too.
Mr. LIEBELER - Can these rifles be readily broken down, taking the stock and removing it from the barrel?
Mr. ALBA - Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER - How long would the stock be separate from the barrel in this Japanese rifle?
Mr. ALBA - From the butt of the stock the extreme end of the forearm would be approximately 20 inches, I imagine, or about 2 feet.
Two feet? Wasn’t that about the length of the alleged bag both Wesley Frazier and Linnie Mae Randle said they saw on the morning of the assassination? I think so. If LHO brought a rifle, and I doubt it based on the evidence, could it have been the Japanese rifle? Or could Frazier have brought this rifle with him and that is why he knows it was two feet long?
If we believe this next part it would seem LHO owned more than CE 143 too.
Mr. LIEBELER - Did he mention that he had a pistol, or pistols?
Mr. ALBA - If I remember correctly, I think he said he had a few, or a couple, or two. I am not definite .
Mr. LIEBELER - A couple of pistols?
Mr. ALBA - Pistol he said he had a few rifles, and a few pistols or it was a couple, or it was two. I am not clear.
He said LHO said he owned “pistols” and “rifles”, but we see no evidence for him owning any rifle and the one pistol we see evidence for is NOT CE 143! According to George De Mohrenschilt’s manuscript LHO owned a different type of pistol.
Quote on
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol12/pages/HSCA_Vol12_0133b.gif
But let’s not forget that Lee was trained by the Marine Corps to hold, show and respect weapons. The BERETTA we saw in his apartment was well oiled and immaculately clean. (Emphasis mine) (HSCA, XII, p.262)
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol12/html/HSCA_Vol12_0133b.htm
Quote off
Whatever happened to the Beretta? Who knows, but it seems LHO was way more interested in SPORTERIZED rifles than pistols.
Mr. LIEBELER - Do you remember whether Oswald seemed more interest or was disposed more in favor of rifles than pistols? Or did he seem----
Mr. ALBA - Very definitely toward the rifle side.
Mr. LIEBELER - He was more interested in rifles?
Mr. ALBA - Very little interested in the pistols. I had as many as three or--I think at one time four pistols down there, and Lee Oswald was very, very keen toward the rifles that were among my sporterizing projects, and so on; other than the pistols, he had very, very little interest in the pistols.
This begs the question then, if LHO was very interested in sporterized rifles (think Warren Caster’s Mauser and the rifle seen at the Sports Drome Rifle Range by Malcolm Price that was claimed to be LHO), why was he supposedly using a NON-sporterized rifle on November 22, 1963?
In John Craig’s “Guns of Dealey Plaza” article he does a great job of discussing all the weapons mentioned in Dealey Plaza (DP), but he left out the Japanese rifle issue. I don’t know why. He also only gives scant mention to the .303 Lee Enfield rifle issue as well.
Quote on
On the afternoon of the shooting, KBOX, a Dallas television station, broadcast that "a rifle has been found in a staircase on the fifth floor ... Sheriff's deputies identify the weapon as a 7.65 Mauser ... " [25] To add to the confusion WBAP-TV reported that a British Enfield 303 had been found in the Depository. [26]
(25) Warren Commission Exhibit, 3048.
(26) Reported by Tom Webb of WBAP-TV, Fort Worth, Texas, News Coverage of the Assassination of President Kennedy, MR 74-52: 1 (tape), The John F. Kennedy Library, Waltham, Massachusetts.
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This was supported by the 1966 book, There Was A President by NBC that said:
Quote on
Reporter Tom Whalen said, at 2:13pm CST, "The weapon which was used to kill the president, and which wounded Gov. Connally, has been found in the Texas School Book Depository on the sixth floor - a British 303 rifle with a telescopic sight. Three empty cartridge cases were found beside the weapon. It appeared that whoever had occupied this sniper's nest had been here for some time." (Per Gary Mack on July 16, 1999)
educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=19810&page=2
Quote off
Again, as in the case of the Japanese rifle, what ever happened to this rifle? The simple explanation is everyone was making ‘mistakes’ about everything, but these are very specific weapons we are talking about. The odd thing is Wesley Frazier owned a .303 rifle and it was confiscated along with a half-a-box of ammunition on November 22, 1963 by the Irving Police Department (IPD) and the Dallas Police Department (DPD) after Frazier had been arrested by the IPD.
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www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pages/WH_Vol21_0313a.gif
We call Detective J.A. McCabe back at about 6:45 p.m., and he informed us that he had effected the arrest of Wesley Frazier, and we pick Frazier up at the Irving Police Department. We (Dets. Rose and Stovall) drove directly to Irving, arriving there at approximately 7:00 p.m. ...then proceeded to Frazier’s home, 2439 West 5th, Irving (1/2 block form the Paine home) and made a search of the Randle home (also Frazier’s home) and CONFISCATED A 303 CALIBRE (sic) RIFLE, full clip, and partial box of 303 calibre (sic) ammuninition belonging to Wesley Frasier (sic) (placed in Property Room). (Stovall Exhibit C, p. 182) (Emphasis added)
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Is this just another in a long line of coincidences in this case? Both the Mauser and the Lee Enfield are much better weapons for snipers as well. It seems Wes Frazier was real good at breaking down rifles too according to his Clay Shaw trial testimony.
Q: What kind of rifle did you use in the Service?
A: An M14.
Q: Approximately how long was the M14 that you used?
A: I believe the correct length is 30 some odd inches long?
Q: Did you ever break that rifle down?
A: Yes, sir, I broke it down many times.
It would seem he had much more experience at breaking down and reassembling rifles that LHO did. He also said he never saw LHO with a rifle at all.
Q: Mr. Frazier, did you ever see a rifle in the possession of Lee Harvey Oswald?
A: No, sir, I did not.
He told the WC the same thing.
Mr. BALL - In driving back and forth with Oswald did you ever hear him--did he ever talk about guns?
Mr. FRAZIER - No, sir; he never did.
Mr. BALL - Did he ever tell you he owned a gun?
Mr. FRAZIER - No, sir.
It is clear of the two men arrested on November 22, 1963, which one had far more experience with rifles and which one actually owned a type said to be found in the TSBD on that day—Wesley Frazier. Does this make him guilty of shooting JFK? No, but he seems to have been involved in some way otherwise the IPD would NOT have arrested him and searched where he lived. On December 1, 1963, the FBI would take over the handling of Frazier, but it was not to continue to view him as a suspect. Why was the Frazier angle never fully investigated? The supposed polygraph test he gave is suspicious due to it only taking 50 minutes allegedly. The WC never published the report regarding this test that Frazier supposedly passed with “flying colors.” Why not? All we have regarding the test is this:
www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=217800#relPageId=196
Also, how do we reconcile the man who never mentioned guns to Wes Frazier (along with his brother, Michael Paine and others) with the man who was obsessed with guns when going to Alba's garage?
We again see much evidence that calls into question the "investigation" the WC had conducted by the FBI and the DPD before them as we see ample opportunities to explore other avenues, but they chose NOT to and instead simply blamed LHO all by himself. This shows me that their conclusion cannot be correct (and in all fairness members admitted they by no means saw all the evidence) due to them limiting themselves to a pre-conceived outcome (e.g. LHO acted alone with no accomplices).
Thus, we have to say they are once again sunk.