Two very interesting newspaper articles

[Pat Speer]

12-11-63 article in the Pacific Stars & Stripes

'Joking' Threat to Kill Johnson Lands Cuban in N.Y. Jail

NEW YORK (AP) A Cuban national who police said had done target practice with a .22 caliber rifle was held Monday in $25,000 bail after being accused by the Secret Service of boasting he would assassinate President Johnson. The Cuban, Omar Padilla, 19, was arrested 20 hours before Johnson arrived here Sunday to attend the funeral of former New York Gov. Herbert H. Lehman.

Police said Padilla admitted telling co-workers at an engraving plant that assassinated President John F. Kennedy had been "asking for it" because of "the lack of security." "I'm going to shoot Johnson," police quoted him as telling fellow employees. Padilla said he made the remark in jest. Saturday morning, police found a makeshift target, range in an eighth floor stockroom at the building where Padilla works. There were 19 holes in the target. Police arrested Padilla later Saturday at his home. A .22 caliber rifle was found in the bedroom. Padilla said he bought it, along with 50 shells, last Wednesday.

1-7-64 article in the Winnipeg Manitoba Free Press

WASHINGTON (CP) — Did Lee Harvey Oswald kill John Fitzgerald Kennedy?

The chief counsel for the Warren commission says the signs point that way but that the commission still has not enough evidence to remove all doubt. So the investigation into the crime likely will continue for months.

For example, while Dallas police once reported a finger-print on the alleged assassination weapon—an Italian-made, bolt-action rifle—J. Lee Rankin, commission general counsel, said Monday there was no fingerprint; only a palm print.

The palm print—identified as that of Oswald who bought the rifle from a mail-order firm was found in the underpart of the weapon.

A palm print was supposed to have been found on the brown wrapping paper in which Oswald was believed to have brought the rifle into the Dallas schoolbook warehouse, where he worked. Again there isn't one.

OTHER POINTS PUZZLE

There are other points which bother and puzzle the former U.S. solicitor-general who directs the legal staff of the seven-man commission headed by U.S. Chief Justice Earl Warren.

Paraffin tests showed there was evidence of gunpowder on Oswald's hands, indicating the accused assassin had fired a hand weapon, but there were no similar gunpowder traces on his face, Rankin said in an interview.

Some authorities maintain the paraffin tests on Oswald's face would have been positive if he if he had fired a rifle, as police said he did,' Rankin added.

Eyewitnesses have testified that Oswald fired a pistol to kill Police Constable J. D. Tippit shortly after Kennedy was assassinated and a police alarm sounded in Dallas last Nov; 22.

On that day Kennedy was hit by two bullets fired into his limousine as his motorcade entered a road turn-in downtown Dallas. A third bullet hit Texas Governor John Connally, who was sitting in the limousine's jump seat, Connally has recovered from his wounds.

Rankin said that because of the conditions of the bullets, they could not be positively identified as coming from the rifle found in the warehouse.

However, spent shells were found near the sixth-floor window where the assassin was believed to have been perched.

The three bullets were estimated to have been fired within 6 1/2 seconds, said Rankin. While rifle experts maintain the firing of three shots in such a short period is possible, the evidence indicates that the last two shots came almost "on top of each other."

"Can a man operating a bolt action rifle fire two shots so quickly?"' asked Rankin. 'That is an example of the kind of thing that bothers us."

"What the commission wants to be able to do," he said, "is to publish a report that would eliminate doubt." Last month the Federal Bureau of Investigation gave the commission its report, concluding Oswald committed the crime unaided.

But the commission apparently was not completely satisfied with the FBI summary. It called for all documents on which the FBI report was based. The commission intends to re-examine every aspect of the case; to account if possible for every development on the day of the assassination.

Accounts Differ

"We cannot even get witnesses to agree on what Oswald wore that day," Rankin said, as another indication of his difficulties.

He could confirm, he added, that Oswald left his Russian bom wife a set of instructions the day before a sniper shot-at former Maj.-Gen.Edwin Walker last April in Dallas.

A published report said the written i n s t r u c t i o n s advised Mrs. Oswald that something was developing that might cause her husband to be absent for some time or to be

arrested. She was given directions as to the location of the jail and given a key to Lee's post office box.

Rankin said that identifying Oswald with the attempted Walker assassination did not, by itself, add much judicial evidence to the Kennedy assassination.

"We intend to gather evidence from all key witnesses, including Oswald's wife and Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy and others."

"Mrs. Kennedy has also indicated she intends to co-operate fully in providing detailed testimony for the sake of historical accuracy."

[William Kelly]

12-11-63 article in the Pacific Stars & Stripes

1-7-64 article in the Winnipeg Manitoba Free Press

WASHINGTON (CP) — Did Lee Harvey Oswald kill John Fitzgerald Kennedy?

The chief counsel for the Warren commission says the signs point that way but that the commission still has not enough evidence to remove all doubt. So the investigation into the crime likely will continue for months.

For example, while Dallas police once reported a finger-print on the alleged assassination weapon—an Italian-made, bolt-action rifle—J. Lee Rankin, commission general counsel, said Monday there was no fingerprint; only a palm print.

The palm print—identified as that of Oswald who bought the rifle from a mail-order firm was found in the underpart of the weapon.

A palm print was supposed to have been found on the brown wrapping paper in which Oswald was believed to have brought the rifle into the Dallas schoolbook warehouse, where he worked. Again there isn't one.

OTHER POINTS PUZZLE

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Rankin said that because of the conditions of the bullets, they could not be positively identified as coming from the rifle found in the warehouse.....

[Pat Speer]

OTHER POINTS PUZZLE

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Rankin said that because of the conditions of the bullets, they could not be positively identified as coming from the rifle found in the warehouse.....

Exactly, Bill. I wonder if this was just a misquote, or if Rankin really had his doubts about the ballistics evidence. It's also interesting that he said there was no print on the bag. Officially, of course, there was one. And then there's this..."the evidence indicates that the last two shots came almost "on top of each other". This shows that the WC KNEW that the eyewitness evidence was conclusive on this point, and that there was no first shot miss, etc.

This demonstrates that they knew the scenario described in their report--three evenly-spaced shots-- was in conflict with the evidence...which helps explain why their final report was so vague on this issue. They knew whatever they concluded would be wrong...so came to no conclusions.

Edited July 2, 2008 by Pat Speer