Walker Bullet Errata

[Benjamin Cole]

As JFKA researchers know, not one but two Dallas Police Department detectives authored and signed an official same-day report on April 10, 1963 that the slug found in General Walker's home, the result of a purported murder attempt, was "steel jacketed."

That in itself is unusual, as steel-jacketed slugs were then relatively rare, and still are. Copper (copper-alloy) jackets have been the norm for a century. 

DPD detective Ira Van Cleave also told reporters from four different news organizations that bullet was a "30.06." 

So here is an interesting item: It turns out there were steel-jacketed 30.06 bullets on the market in the early 1960s. 

"During World War II, because of supply problems with strategic materials like copper, the use of a steel bullet jacket was permitted (by the US military). The jackets were given a gilding-metal plating and are referred to as the “.30 M2 Alternate” – a name which often appears on packaging. Though the supply of copper improved, the M2 Ball and the M2 Alternate Ball bullets continued to be used for the remainder of the .30-06’s military career."

---30---

https://smallarmsreview.com/100-year-history-of-the-30-06/

So, there was such a thing as a steel-jacketed 30.06 bullet being manufactured through the 1950s. The US military switched out of the 30.06 in 1954, going to NATO  7.62×51mm rounds. 

The US military surplus ammo, steel jacketed or otherwise, would have been sold. 

This is not dispositive.

But there was such a thing as a steel-jacketed 30.06 on the market in the 1960s. 

And CE573, the Warren Commission's purported Walker Bullet, is a textbook example, obviously so, of a copper-jacketed bullet. 

More and more...the WC's Walker Bullet is a curious item. 

 

 

[James DiEugenio]

To say the least it is.

If you buy the WC--which i do not-- how did Oswald get it?

[Benjamin Cole]

38 minutes ago, James DiEugenio said:

To say the least it is.

If you buy the WC--which i do not-- how did Oswald get it?

IMHO, LHO may, or may not have, played a role in the Walker episode.

The Walker shooting strikes me as a staged event, either by Walker, or by confederates of LHO to test his resolve in a staged event (but not one involving assassination). 

In the latter case, evidently LHO fired to miss at Walker, with a 30.06 rifle using steel-jacketed military surplus ammo. 

LHO had Walker's home phone number in his address book (well, that is the evidence). But not Walker's address. 

Another curiosity is the original Walker slug purportedly passed through an interior wall of the Walker home, and then came to rest between bundles of paper resting against the wall.

Yes, between bundles of paper, and not inside one of the bundles. By lifting the bundles, the original Walker bullet was exposed, on top of one of the bundles. 

Well, life is full of mysteries. 

 

 

[Gerry Down]

2 hours ago, Benjamin Cole said:

IMHO, LHO may, or may not have, played a role in the Walker episode.

The Walker shooting strikes me as a staged event, either by Walker, or by confederates of LHO to test his resolve in a staged event (but not one involving assassination). 

In the latter case, evidently LHO fired to miss at Walker, with a 30.06 rifle using steel-jacketed military surplus ammo. 

LHO had Walker's home phone number in his address book (well, that is the evidence). But not Walker's address. 

Another curiosity is the original Walker slug purportedly passed through an interior wall of the Walker home, and then came to rest between bundles of paper resting against the wall.

Yes, between bundles of paper, and not inside one of the bundles. By lifting the bundles, the original Walker bullet was exposed, on top of one of the bundles. 

Well, life is full of mysteries. 

 

 

Just like bullet fragments were found loose inside the limousine.

[Benjamin Cole]

40 minutes ago, Gerry Down said:

Just like bullet fragments were found loose inside the limousine.

Not sure I follow....explain...

[Gerry Down]

The Walker bullet was found loose in the next room of Walkers house having gone through the stud wall, just like large bullet fragments were found loose inside the limousine having gone through JFKs head.

In other words there is nothing unusual about the finding of the Walker bullet loose near some piles of papers. I thought maybe you were suggesting it was odd the Walker bullet was found loose.

[Benjamin Cole]

30 minutes ago, Gerry Down said:

The Walker bullet was found loose in the next room of Walkers house having gone through the stud wall, just like large bullet fragments were found loose inside the limousine having gone through JFKs head.

In other words there is nothing unusual about the finding of the Walker bullet loose near some piles of papers. I thought maybe you were suggesting it was odd the Walker bullet was found loose.

What I was suggesting was unusual, but not impossible, is that the original Walker bullet passed through an interior wall, and then came to rest in between bundles of papers stacked against the wall. Not embedded into one of the bundles. 

I have yet to read Doudna's article carefully on the Walker episode....but I guess there is the suggestion that Walker staged the episode. 

 

 

 

 

[Gerry Down]

1 hour ago, Benjamin Cole said:

What I was suggesting was unusual, but not impossible, is that the original Walker bullet passed through an interior wall, and then came to rest in between bundles of papers stacked against the wall. Not embedded into one of the bundles. 

I have yet to read Doudna's article carefully on the Walker episode....but I guess there is the suggestion that Walker staged the episode. 

 

 

 

 

What I imagine happened is that the bullet went through the stud wall then hit off something solid in that room and then came to rest near the paper. This would be like how the bullet fragments exited JFKs head and then hit off the windshield glass and chrome trim before coming to rest near the front seats.

[Benjamin Cole]

14 minutes ago, Gerry Down said:

What I imagine happened is that the bullet went through the stud wall then hit off something solid in that room and then came to rest near the paper. This would be like how the bullet fragments exited JFKs head and then hit off the windshield glass and chrome trim before coming to rest near the front seats.

I have not explained the situation very well.

OK, so the cops get to the Walker house and see the bullet hole through the interior wall, but see no bullet.

They lift up a bundle of papers, and lying there between one bundle of tied papers and another bundle of tied papers, is the original Walker bullet. 

The original Walker bullet came to rest exactly between stacked bundles of paper.

One might suspect the bullet was placed there by hand, but that would be cynical. General Walker would never do that. 

[Gerry Down]

2 minutes ago, Benjamin Cole said:

I have not explained the situation very well.

OK, so the cops get to the Walker house and see the bullet hole through the interior wall, but see no bullet.

They lift up a bundle of papers, and lying there between one bundle of tied papers and another bundle of tied papers, is the original Walker bullet. 

The original Walker bullet came to rest exactly between stacked bundles of paper.

One might suspect the bullet was placed there by hand, but that would be cynical. General Walker would never do that. 

I would need to see a photo of these stacks of papers to understand how the bullet came to be there. As far as I know no such photo exists so we might not fully understand these stacks of paper.

[Benjamin Cole]

13 minutes ago, Gerry Down said:

I would need to see a photo of these stacks of papers to understand how the bullet came to be there. As far as I know no such photo exists so we might not fully understand these stacks of paper.

Well, there are no such photos, just as there are no photos of the original Walker bullet. History is not always kind to researchers. 

[Tom Gram]

3 hours ago, Benjamin Cole said:

Well, there are no such photos, just as there are no photos of the original Walker bullet. History is not always kind to researchers. 

There is a photo of the stacks: 

It does seem like a stretch that something could get stuck between the stacks right up against the wall, but there are mixed reports on where exactly the bullet was picked up, and by whom. 

It is indeed incredible that the DPD supposedly took all these crime scene photos but didn’t take a single photo of the bullet itself.

It is also odd that four different cops signed off on two different reports identifying the bullet as steel jacketed and the FBI didn’t ask a single one of them to explain why they did that - while under specific orders from the WC to conduct additional investigation into the Walker shooting and resolve conflicting reports about the bullet. The FBI also allegedly didn’t talk to Van Cleave at all, which is just ridiculous. 

I’d be a lot more inclined to believe Robert Frazier excuse if there was anything resembling corroboration from the investigating officers.

[Benjamin Cole]

1 hour ago, Tom Gram said:

There is a photo of the stacks: 

It does seem like a stretch that something could get stuck between the stacks right up against the wall, but there are mixed reports on where exactly the bullet was picked up, and by whom. 

It is indeed incredible that the DPD supposedly took all these crime scene photos but didn’t take a single photo of the bullet itself.

It is also odd that four different cops signed off on two different reports identifying the bullet as steel jacketed and the FBI didn’t ask a single one of them to explain why they did that - while under specific orders from the WC to conduct additional investigation into the Walker shooting and resolve conflicting reports about the bullet. The FBI also allegedly didn’t talk to Van Cleave at all, which is just ridiculous. 

I’d be a lot more inclined to believe Robert Frazier excuse if there was anything resembling corroboration from the investigating officers.

This is just one of many times that Tom Gram has positively corrected an error of mine. 

Thanks Tom for the photo. 

Yes, the written accounts of how the original Walker bullet was found are not detailed, but evidently the bullet was found between two bundles of literature stacked against the wall, through which the bullet passed. A bundle was lifted up, and the bullet revealed. 

 

 

[Mark Ulrik]

56 minutes ago, Tom Gram said:

I’d be a lot more inclined to believe Robert Frazier excuse if there was anything resembling corroboration from the investigating officers.

By "excuse" you mean the explanation that some people commonly refer to (fmj) rifle bullets as steel-jacketed? I don't find that hard to believe at all, especially in Texas 60+ years ago.

[Pat Speer]

1 hour ago, Tom Gram said:

There is a photo of the stacks: 

It does seem like a stretch that something could get stuck between the stacks right up against the wall, but there are mixed reports on where exactly the bullet was picked up, and by whom. 

It is indeed incredible that the DPD supposedly took all these crime scene photos but didn’t take a single photo of the bullet itself.

It is also odd that four different cops signed off on two different reports identifying the bullet as steel jacketed and the FBI didn’t ask a single one of them to explain why they did that - while under specific orders from the WC to conduct additional investigation into the Walker shooting and resolve conflicting reports about the bullet. The FBI also allegedly didn’t talk to Van Cleave at all, which is just ridiculous. 

I’d be a lot more inclined to believe Robert Frazier excuse if there was anything resembling corroboration from the investigating officers.

Thanks, Tom. I haven't studied the Walker shooting much and have never seen that photo before. Am I seeing this right? Is that black circle below the painting a supposed hole created by a badly-mashed rifle bullet that had hit a window frame upon entering a room, traveled across that room, missed Walker, and passed through the wall behind him? Well, if so, how does a badly-mashed bullet exit a wall by leaving a nice little hole? 

If this is indeed the supposed exit of the bullet on the far side of the wall behind Walker, and the bullet was indeed found "between" some stacks of paper, then it is 100% clear to me the shooting was staged.