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.If the rifle was stored in thePaine garage as the Commission asserts (though proof of this is lacking), then the possibilitythat Oswald could have taken the rifle for practice is virtually nil.Likewise, Marina wasemphatic that Oswald never practiced during the time she lived with the Paines.For whatlittle reliance, if any, can be put in her testimony, I quote her relevant words:he couldn't have practiced while we were at the Paine's, because Ruth was there.Butwhenever she was not at home, he tried to spend as much time as he could with me -- hewould watch television in the house.(1H53)There is no evidence indicating that the rifle was in Oswald's possession during thisperiod.The woman who cleaned his small room on North Beckley never saw it there,although she did not go into the drawers of the "little wooden commode or closet" in theroom (6H440-441).While several witnesses thought they had seen Oswald practicing at arifle range in Dallas throughout September to November 1963, the evidence stronglyindicates that the man observed neither was nor could have been Oswald, as the Reportadmits (R318-30).Various FBI and Secret Service checks failed to turn up any evidence ofrifle practice by Oswald in the Dallas area (see CEs 2694, 2908, 3049).And this was Oswald the marksman -- from the time he received his first weaponstraining in the Marines, where he went from a fairly good to a rather poor shot, to his fewhunting trips with Robert Oswald, where he manifested his lack of skill with a rifle, to hispresumed hunting in the Soviet Union with other than a rifle but the same absence of anyproficiency, to the time of his assumed possession of the rifle, when no credible evidenceindicated that he ever engaged in practice.This obviously was not the caliber of shooter defined by expert Simmons as necessary tohave pulled off the assassination alone.The presumed lone assassin, according to Simmons,had to have "considerable experience" in his background, especially "considerablehttp://www.ratical.com/ratville/JFK/PG/PGchp9.html (11 of 14) [9/16/2000 01:08:21] Chapter 9, Oswald's Rifle Capability, "PRESUMED GUILTY", 1976experience with" the Carcano, and had to be "a proficient man with this weapon." Oswaldwas none of these.The only reliable evidence now known demonstrates that he was simplya poor shot who never did a thing to improve his capability.As we have seen, the Commission consistently misrepresented the evidence relevant toOswald's rifle capability.In its conclusion to this section of the Report, it retained itspropensity for conjuring up what it wanted without regard to evidence.It concluded this:Oswald's Marine training in marksmanship, his other rifle experience and his establishedfamiliarity with this particular weapon show that he possessed ample capability to committhe assassination.(R195)The Commission, in essence, told the public that "rather poor shot" Oswald did whatshooters in the NRA Master classification, the highest rating, could not do.It must havecaused great concern among those who spend hours of concentrated practice each day tryingto maintain proficiency with a rifle to learn that Oswald outdid the best and "establishedfamiliarity" with his rifle by never practicing, probably never even playing with his rifle!Oswald did not have the capability to fire the assassination shots as the official theoryproclaims.That he was a competent marksman is a pure myth created by the Commission inflagrant disregard of the evidence.__________1.Analyses of the nature of the shots and related topics have appeared in Whitewash, chap.4; Lane, chap.9; Epstein,chap.9; Meagher, chap.4.2.Frazier 2/21/69 testimony, p.67.3.Ibid., p.148.4.See also the excerpts from the Liebeler 9/6/64 Memorandum as discussed in chap.1.5.U.S.Department of Commerce, Weather Bureau, "Local Climatological Data," for San Diego, California, May1959, and Los Angeles, California, May 1959.6.I have seen this rifle at the National Archives and it does appear rather dilapidated.Fingerprint expert Latona calledit "a cheap old weapon" (4H29).Ballistics expert Robert Frazier went into more detail on the condition of the rifle:Mr.Eisenberg.How much use does this weapon show?Mr.Frazier.The stock is worn, scratched.The bolt is relatively smooth, as if it had been operated several times.I cannot actually say how much use the weapon has had.The barrel is -- was not, when we first got it, in excellentcondition.It was, I would say in fair condition.In other words, it showed the effects of wear and corrosion.(3H394)7.Liebeler 9/6/64 Memorandum.8.CD 344 was discovered in the National Archives by Harold Weisberg and is discussed in Whitewash II, pp.15-19.9.This memorandum was shown to Epstein by Liebeler.References to it may be found in Inquest, p.146, and theSaturday Evening Post, April 6, 1968, p.72.Next | ToC | Prevhttp://www.ratical.com/ratville/JFK/PG/PGchp9.html (12 of 14) [9/16/2000 01:08:21] Chapter 9, Oswald's Rifle Capability, "PRESUMED GUILTY", 1976http://www.ratical.com/ratville/JFK/PG/PGchp9.html (13 of 14) [9/16/2000 01:08:21] Chapter 9, Oswald's Rifle Capability, "PRESUMED GUILTY", 1976http://www.ratical.com/ratville/JFK/PG/PGchp9.html (14 of 14) [9/16/2000 01:08:21] Conclusion, "PRESUMED GUILTY", 1976Next | ToC | PrevConclusionThroughout twelve hours of interrogation over the weekend of the assassination, LeeHarvey Oswald steadfastly denied that he had shot the President (R613, 627).He repeatedthat denial before hundreds of newsmen crowded into the narrow corridors of the policeheadquarters: "I'm just a patsy," he exclaimed (20H362, 366).Even as he lay dying on astretcher, the police pressed him for a final confession.But Oswald merely shook his head;he would die protesting his innocence (12H185).Oswald's plea was ignored amid the clamor of official voices, which hastened to assurethe public of Oswald's guilt.The Dallas Police wasted no time in announcing their verdict.Of course, it ispreposterous to assume that even the most competent police force could have solved one ofthe century's most complex crimes overnight.Yet this was precisely the claim made by theDallas Police when, on the day after the assassination, they told the world that Oswald wasbeyond doubt the lone assassin.Two weeks later the FBI claimed that it too had conclusively determined that Oswaldwas the lone assassin.This was indeed an unwarranted conclusion since, in its "solution" ofthe crime, the FBI failed to account for one of the President's wounds and a shot that missedthe car.The FBI seems never to have anticipated that concerned citizens would probe itsthoroughly flawed report.It made sure that everyone knew the conclusion reached in thereport by leaking to the press everything it wanted known.The report itself, however, theFBI decided to keep secret.The FBI's ploy had one salient effect: it preempted the Warren Commission and left theCommission little choice but to affirm the FBI's conclusions.The alternative was for theCommission to conduct a genuinely independent investigation and announce that the FBIhad erred
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