Chief Jesse Curry: The Very First CT'er?

[Lawrence Schnapf]

@Mark Ulrik NAA? I didnt mention NAA? Curry has nothing to do with NAA. 

[Mark Ulrik]

1 minute ago, Lawrence Schnapf said:

@Mark Ulrik NAA? I didnt mention NAA? Curry has nothing to do with NAA. 

OK, then you must've been talking about other "developments". How are they relevant here?

[Benjamin Cole]

3 hours ago, Mark Ulrik said:

You've got the timing horribly wrong, Ben. According to the AP article, it was soon after the shooting that Curry said that in his opinion the bullets were steel-jacketed, etc. It's not known if he actually said "steel-jacketed" or it was a misquote, but he went on to say that it had not been confirmed to him. This tells us that he almost certainly hadn't yet received the 11/23 FBI memo identifying the bullet specimens as copper-jacketed. It would seem that the AP reporter, not knowing about the memo, simply assumed that Curry was still waiting for a response when they wrote that "the type of bullets used to shoot JFK a week ago remained a secret of the FBI."

NB! It feels a bit harsh to criticize the FBI for using the expression "Mannlicher-Carcano rifle bullet." The stretcher bullet (Q1) and limo fragments (Q2+3) were ballistically matched to the TSBD rifle (K1) identified as a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle (a slight misnomer for the Carcano rifle) whereas the TSBD cartridges and cases (Q6+7+8) were easily identified by their headstamp as having been manufactured by the Western Cartridge Co.

More later, if I can summon the energy. Ben has the Mai Tai advantage.

See below

Edited June 10, 2023 by Benjamin Cole

[Benjamin Cole]

3 hours ago, Mark Ulrik said:

You've got the timing horribly wrong, Ben. According to the AP article, it was soon after the shooting that Curry said that in his opinion the bullets were steel-jacketed, etc. It's not known if he actually said "steel-jacketed" or it was a misquote, but he went on to say that it had not been confirmed to him. This tells us that he almost certainly hadn't yet received the 11/23 FBI memo identifying the bullet specimens as copper-jacketed. It would seem that the AP reporter, not knowing about the memo, simply assumed that Curry was still waiting for a response when they wrote that "the type of bullets used to shoot JFK a week ago remained a secret of the FBI."

NB! It feels a bit harsh to criticize the FBI for using the expression "Mannlicher-Carcano rifle bullet." The stretcher bullet (Q1) and limo fragments (Q2+3) were ballistically matched to the TSBD rifle (K1) identified as a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle (a slight misnomer for the Carcano rifle) whereas the TSBD cartridges and cases (Q6+7+8) were easily identified by their headstamp as having been manufactured by the Western Cartridge Co.

More later, if I can summon the energy. Ben has the Mai Tai advantage.

Granted the language of the AP article could use some editing. 

Having loaded up on mai-tais, I can say you seem to believe no one in the entire United States, from game wardens, to police detectives, to Chief of Police, to lab techs, to news reporters, could tell the difference between steel or copper-jacketed bullets, or if they could tell the difference, they didn't care, even when collecting evidence at the scene of an attempted murder of a high-profile public figure. 

Granted, Americans are not Danes, but we are not totally clueless either. 

Back on the AP article, although the article switches from past to present tense, the article indicates Curry is still seeking confirmation that steel jacketed bullets were used in the JFKA, as of Nov. 28-9. 

I think my version holds water: Curry suspected LHO of the Walker shooting, and the evidence Curry had, the official reports, indicated a steel-jacketed bullet had been found in the Walker residence. 

Ergo, Curry deduced LHO used the steel bullets again in the JFKA.

Curry believed his own eyes and ears, that there was likely a second gunman on the GK area. 

Ergo two gunman, one armed with steel-jacketed bullets. 

Curry was wrong on his deduction about steel-jacketed bullets. The M-C was loaded with FMJ copper jackets, and no steel bullets were recovered from crime scene evidence or body. 

As for there being a second gunman near the GK area---who can say both Decker and Curry were wrong? 

 

 

 

[Mark Ulrik]

Ben, as stated in my first reply, we can't even be certain that Curry said "steel-jacketed". But it wouldn't matter even if he had said "banana-jacketed" because he got his answer in the form of that 11/23 FBI report identifying all the JFK bullet specimens as copper-jacketed. It would make zero sense for him a week later to be waiting for "confirmation" that those bullets were anything other than copper-jacketed. Am I talking Chinese here?

Edited June 10, 2023 by Mark Ulrik

[Benjamin Cole]

1 hour ago, Mark Ulrik said:

Ben, as stated in my first reply, we can't even be certain that Curry said "steel-jacketed". But it wouldn't matter even if he had said "banana-jacketed" because he got his answer in the form of that 11/23 FBI report identifying all the JFK bullet specimens as copper-jacketed. It would make zero sense for him a week later to be waiting for "confirmation" that those bullets were anything other than copper-jacketed. Am I talking Chinese here?

MU--

Yes, it makes sense for Curry to be awaiting confirmation.

Curry suspected two gunman in the JFKA, based on his own ears and eyes. He had suspected gunfire from the GK area immediately after the JFKA. 

He was later informed LHO had been in the TSBD during the JFKA, not on the GK area. And that LHO had fired upon JFK.

Ergo, it was reasonable for Curry to suspect two gunman, and evidently he did, as was revealed in his 1969 book. 

OK, so he also suspected LHO was armed with steel-jacketed bullets, as LHO was a suspect in the Walker shooting, and a steel-jacketed bullet had been found in the Walker home. 

Believe it or not, in the US, police officials, game wardens, gun hobbyists, military---all are very aware of the differences between steel- and copper-jacketed bullets. There is no conflating of the two types of bullets. 

In Denmark, do you think a pair of your police detectives would pick up an obviously copper-jacketed bullet as evidence at an attempted murder scene, then handle and mark the bullet, but then officially record the bullet as "steel jacketed"?  Why would they do that? 

Have a pitcher of mai-tais before answering. 

I hope the Dane police are up to US standards.