From: david@cats.ucsc.edu (David Wright)
Newsgroups: alt.conspiracy.jfk
Subject: Conspiracy; Cases and Cartridges
Date: 28 Jul 1992 21:23:16 GMT
Organization: University of California; Santa Cruz
NNTP-Posting-Host: si.ucsc.edu
Summary: Only one shell could have been fired from the TSBD



According to Kurtz (Crime of the Century, 1982) the bullet shell casings found
on the floor of the TSBD could not have been the shells fired by Oswald's
rifle, or at least two could not, and one may have, although it is unlikely.

The shells are CE543, CE544 and CE545:

1. CE543

This one had a dent in the top side that was so large it could not have housed
the bullet. Yet the dent was odd enough that it was not the result of being
stepped on: it was a steep indentation, and did not make the shell go oval.
There is a better explanation: The FBI, Thompson (6 Seconds), and a forensic
Pathologists Chapman (Crime, pages 52-53), all found that when you load an
empty shell you can get the same type of dent near the top.

Keeping along the same theme, both the FBI and Chapman found that the primer
mark had a concave indentation that was only achieved by firing at an empty
cartridge.

CE543 also did not have the typical dent in the side of the case as all other
shells fired from Oswald's rifle had.

Nor did it have the bolt marks from the Mannlicher-Carcano bolt.

It also had marks of the magazine follower, which marks the bullet if it is the
*last* bullet in the clip.

2. CE544

CE544 did not have the firing pin marks of the Mannlicher-Carcano. Yet it was
the only one to have the bolt marks from Oswald's rifle. It also had marks as
if was loaded into a gun a few times. (FBI report). It appears it was shot
from another weapon, and loaded into a Mannlicher-Carcano.

3. CE545

CE545 did not have any bolt marks of the Carcano.

It did contain the firing pin marks of the rifle, however, so it is possible
that it could have been fired in the TSBD. However, it also had magazine
follower marks, so that it was the last bullet in the clip. Yet, that is
impossible, since the last bullet in the clip was found live in the rifle.

4. Circumstational evidence:

Two of the shells were found nearly directly beneath the window, however, in
tests conducted by the WR, it was found that ejected shells fly an appreciable
distance away from the rifle and would end up farther than the location they
were actually found.

One of the first people to see the shells, Deputy Sheriff Roger Craig, said
that the shells were aligned up neatly in a row, and not in the position
characterized in the photos. (See Thompson, 6 seconds in Dallas).

In sum, note that anti-conspirators are quite happy to convict Oswald in the
Tippit murder based only on the shells found at the scene, which happend to
have primer marks made by the rifle found on Oswald. However, only one shell
casing could have been fired from Oswald's gun, and it is likely it was not on
that day, since it had the magazine follower marks on it.
-- 
   |^^^^^^|      _______________________________________________________
   |      |      |"There is nothing in the marginal conditions that    | 
   |      |      | distinguish a mountain from a mole hill"            |
   | (o)(o)      O         Kenneth Boulding                            | 
   @      _)    o|_____________________________________________________|  
    |  ____\ o o
    |     /   
   /     \                              All comments  are mine---(David Wright) 
Xref: sparky alt.conspiracy.jfk:2676 sci.skeptic:13210 alt.conspiracy:9392