THE EMPTY SHELLS
Gil Jesus
by Gil Jesus
THE DENTED SHELL--CE 543
The Warren Commission based its conclusion that three shots had been fired on
the existence of the three shells found in the TSBD. (Commission Exhibits 543,
544 and 545) It reported that two of the cartridge cases had marks "produced by
the chamber of Oswald's rifle", one which contained marks produced by the
Carcano's magazine follower and the other had markings from the bolt of
Oswald's rifle. Two cases had markings indicating that they had been loaded
into a rifle at least twice. When the rifle was found, an unfired round was in
the chamber, ejected when Capt. Fritz operated the bolt. This is an important
detail when we examine evidence linking the rifle shells to the rifle.
CE 543
This cartridge (Commission Exhibit 543) had a dent on its lip which would have
made it impossible for it to have contained a bullet prior to its being fired.
Therefore, either one of two possibilities existed: either the shell received
the dent prior to the shooting and was not connected to it (inplying that it
was planted at the scene -- evidence of a conspiracy) or the shell was in fact
evidence and was dented somehow after its bullet had been spent. Faced with a
mandate to dispel rumors of a conspiracy, the Commission at first assumed that
this cartridge received its dent upon being ejected from the rifle and falling
onto the floor. However, solid brass cartridges don't dent when they hit the
floor, as any hunter will tell you. The FBI reported to the Commission that the
dent was made during the firing sequence, WHILE THE BOLT WAS PULLED BACKWARD,
after the shot had been fired. This seemed reasonable enough to the Commission
to explain the existance of the dented lip, but on closer examination, the
evidence does not support this conclusion.
First of all, this cartridge did not have the characteristic marking on its
side (an indentation) which the Carcano's bolt produced on EVERY cartridge
fired from it (Hoover memo to Rankin, 2 June 1964; FBI Ballistics Report, 25
Dec.1964) , indicating that it had NEVER been inside the rifle's firing
chamber, let alone been fired from it. Since it hadn't been in the firing
chamber of Oswald's rifle, this cartridge was never fired from Oswald's rifle,
which means that it could NOT have had the markings of the firing pin of
Oswald's rifle. I say this because it is impossible for this shell to have the
markings of the firing pin of Oswald's rifle without having been in the firing
chamber. So where did the dent come from ? Did Oswald make the dent with a
hammer after he fired the last shot ? The only sensible conclusion, based on
the absence of the bolt and firing pin markings, is that this shell had nothing
to do with the assassination of John F. Kennedy and was planted at the scene of
the crime.
And this may be the reason that the Dallas Police hesitated in sending this
shell to the FBI for examination.
CE 543 did contain three sets of markings inconsistent with the markings
produced by Oswald's rifle, indicating that it had been loaded and ejected
three times from a weapon other than Oswald's.
Secondly, at the primer, where the firing pin strikes the case, CE 543
contained a more concave indentation than the other two, indicating that it had
been empty when "fired" from that other rifle. Only empty shells exhibit this
type of characteristic.
The FBI reproduced this effect (CE 557) when it loaded an empty shell into
Oswald's rifle.
It contained the same deep impression on the primer that CE 543 contained.
Thirdly, CE 543 contained markings caused by a magazine follower other than
Oswald's. When the Carcano was tested by the FBI, it was found that the
magazine follower marked only the last cartridge in the clip. The last
cartridge in the clip of Oswald's rifle when found on November 22nd was an
unfired round.
What this all means is that CE 543 was an empty cartridge which was loaded
into another rifle three times and "fired". The comparison tests conducted by
the FBI supported the conclusion that CE 543 was never in the firing chamber of
Oswald's rifle and as a result of the lack of an indentation which the bolt was
known to have caused on EVERY shell fired using it, this shell was not ejected
through the bolt action and therefore this shell (CE543) was never fired from
Oswald's rifle on November 22nd or at any other time.
As I previously mentioned, this cartridge remained in the possession of the
Dallas Police until November 28th, five days after the other two shells had
been turned over to the FBI for examination. It should be noted that a
behind-the-scenes struggle for possession of the evidence existed between the
DPD and the FBI. Capt. Fritz refused to release it, and Chief Curry backed him
up. Only after Lyndon Johnson called Fritz and ordered him to do so ("You have
your man, the investigation is over") did Chief Curry and Capt. Fritz finally
agree to release it.
Despite this agreement, the DPD did not give the FBI all of its evidence on
November 23rd, withholding CE 543 and three of the four bullets removed from
the body of Officer Tippit.
This struggle for the possession of the evidence likewise may have been a
reason for not turning in CE 543 on November 23rd.
CE 544 & CE 545
Of the three cases found in the TSBD, only one, CE 544, had markings produced
by the bolt of Oswald's rifle. In addition, CE 544 had the markings of the
firing chamber and from the firing pin of Oswald's rifle, indicating that it
had been fired by Oswald's rifle at some point in time, and that it had been
loaded into the firing chamber and ejected through the bolt action. This is
strong evidence that CE 544 contained a bullet that was fired from Oswald's
rifle, although this not proof that the bullet was fired on November 22nd or
for that matter, that it was Oswald who fired it.
More on that later.
CE 545, on the other hand, did not have the markings of the bolt of Oswald's
rifle nor did it have the marking of the firing pin, strong evidence that this
shell had not been fired from Oswald's rifle. It did have the marking of the
magazine follower, which marked only the last shell in the clip. So CE 545 had
been loaded as the last shell in the clip and then unloaded by hand after the
clip was removed. This had occurred some time prior to the assassination of
JFK. As CE 543 (the shell with the dented lip) had contained three sets of
markings indicating that it had been loaded and ejected three times from a
weapon other than Oswald's, both CE 544 and CE 545 had two sets of markings
which were made from a rifle other than Oswald's.
In other words, all three shells had been in another rifle, but of the three,
only CE 544 had been fired from Oswald's rifle at some point in time.
CE 543 & CE 545 had not.
Because only one of the three shells had the marking of the firing pin of
Oswald's rifle on its primer, we can conclude that at least two of the three
shells found in the Texas School Book Depository were not fired from Oswald's
rifle at ANY time. If the shells found on the sixth floor of the TSBD were in
fact fired that day, according to the examination of these shells, the two of
them were fired from a weapon not Oswald's.
THE NUMBER OF SHELLS
The Warren Commission's finding that three empty shells or "hulls" were found
on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository and one live round was
found inside the rifle was based on the testimony of the Dallas Police
officials who were first on the scene. It is the foundation of the lone
assassin scenario. Any evidence that indicated that less than three shots were
fired from the TSBD had the exact same effect on the case as if more than three
shots were fired. For the Zapruder film was video proof that more than two
shots were fired and if only two shells were found, then there had to have been
a second source of at least one shot.
Simply said, anything more or less than three shells found in the same
location, indicated multiple shooters and thus a conspiracy.
And Hoover knew it. He knew it because he could see it on the Zapruder film,
as he told Lyndon Johnson, that the first and third shots hit Kennedy and the
second hit Connally.
However, evidence uncovered int the National Archives by a researcher named
Anna Marie casts doubt that three empty shells were in fact found. The evidence
is in the form of an evidence envelope (See attachment 1) dated 11-22-63 and
signed by FBI agent J. Doyle Williams which contained photographs of the shells
found on the sixth floor. The Description reads:
2 negatives + 4 prints each of two 6.5 bullet hulls + 1 live round of 6.5
ammunition from rifle found on 6th floor of Texas Book Depository, Dallas, on
11-22-63. (Noel Twyman, Bloody Treason, pg. 110)
In addition to the above evidence envelope, Anna Marie found the below FBI
photograph showing two empty shells and an unfired round. (See attachment 2)
As early as 1976, Gary Shaw's book Cover-up revealed a document that showed
that only two spent shells were in fact found. Corroborating this evidence is
Commission Exhibit No. 510 (See Attachment 3), a photograph which shows the two
empty shells and one live round.
In 1994, more evidence surfaced to support there only having been two spent
shells found that day. In Steven S. Airheart's book, Searching the Shadows was
corroboration for Shaw's Cover-up revelation of a Dallas Police document
listing the evidence that they turned over to the FBI. It indicated that the
Dallas Police found a 6.5mm rifle and TWO spent shells and one live round on
the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository between 1:30 and 2:15 pm on
November 22, 1963. (See Attachment 4)
Hoover believed that he saw the victims react on the Zapruder film to three
shots total that hit them. He knew that anything less than three shells in the
TSBD would prove a second source and thus a second gunman firing at least one
shot. From the tests for speed an accuracy of the rifle, Hoover learned that it
was impossible for one shooter to get off more than three rounds in the
allotted time. So he had the FBI office in Dallas change the Dallas Police
evidence list to show that three empty hulls were found instead of two.
The original "2" has been changed to a handwritten "3" in the document (See
Attachment 5), part of Commission Exhibit no. 2003.
This is not the first example of evidence being altered in this case. Those
who defend the lie might well argue that these are harmless errors, cry
incompetence and plead stupidity. But in capital cases, especially high-profile
murder cases, all of the i"s are dotted and the t's are crossed. There is
always someone within the police structure chain-of-command who reviews such
reports to see that they are concise, complete and correct. I find it hard to
believe that so many errors passed through the system designed to prevent them.
And then there is the proof from the FBI, that indicates that they only
received two empty shells from the DPD.
And more importantly, two of the three shells had nothing to do with the
assassination and were either planted at the scene of the crime by the
perpertrator(s) or later by the authorities to frame Oswald post-mortem and to
satisfy the public that Oswald was the sole assassin and thus head off a
Congressional investigation.
The shell designated CE 544, the only shell that had the marking of Oswald's
firing pin on it, was fired by the Dallas Police for ballistics comparison on
November 22nd. Because of the condition of the rifle, it was only fired once.
This shell was not fired during the assassination nor was it "found" on the
sixth floor of the TSBD. The two empty shells that were found that day, CE 543
and CE 545, were not fired from Oswald's rifle, the proof being that neither
had the markings of the firing pin of Oswald's rifle on their primers. The
Dallas Police sent to the FBI CE 544 (the "planted bullet") and CE 545,
witholding CE 543, the shell with the dented lip. The Dallas cops knew that CE
543 could not have been fired from Oswald's rifle with that dent in it, so
rather than look foolish, they withheld it from the FBI. Since it was not
received with the other shells, CE 543's role in the assassination of JFK and
the wounding of John B. Connally cannot be established.
The two shells found on the sixth floor that day, CE 543 and CE 545, were
either planted by the shooter or the police, or fired from a weapon which was
not Oswald's. Neither were fired from Oswald's rifle.
Given the FBI's investigation and the Warren Commission's conclusions, that in
itself is disturbing.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
( Matthew 5:9 )