Mr.Day. Yes.
Mr.Belin. Does that cartridge case, Exhibit 544, have your name on it again?
Mr.Day. It has my name on the small end where the slug would go into the shell.
Mr.Belin. Are all of the three shells of the same caliber?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. Is there any other testimony you have with regard to the cartridge cases themselves?
Mr.Day. No, sir.
Mr.Belin. Can you explain how you processed these shells for fingerprints?
Mr.Day. With blackfingerprint——
Mr.McCloy. May I ask before you get to that, is this all your handwriting?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.McCloy. The narrative as well as the signature?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; this and this. That is not, this is not.
Mr.McCloy. Who is that, what is that initial, do you know?
Mr.Day. I think that is Vince Drain, the FBI agent it was released to. It looks like a "V. D." I don't know whether his initial is "E" or not.
Mr.McCloy. Can you identify those marks up there, what they are?
Mr.Day. Those "Q" numbers, I believe, are FBI numbers affixed here in Washington.
Mr.Belin. Returning to Exhibit717——
Mr.McCloy. Not returning. That is what that last question was about.
Mr.Belin. I believe the last questions were the initials on the cartridge cases. Strike the question then.
We will start all over again. On Commission Exhibit No. 717 I see some initials with the notation "11-22-63" in the upper left-hand corner as you take a look at the side which has all of your writing on it here. Do you know whose initials those are?
Mr.Day. I think it is Vince Drain, FBI, but I am not sure.
Mr.Belin. You think it is the initials of Vincent E. Drain?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; I am not sure if his middle initial is "E". I know it is Vince Drain.
Mr.Belin. Now, on the other side I see some other initials on here with some date and time. Do you know whose initials those are?
Mr.Day. "R. M. S." stands for R. M. Sims, the detective whom I turned it over to. That is the date and the time that he took it from me.
Mr.Belin. What date and time does it show?
Mr.Day. November 22, 1963, 1:23 p.m.
Mr.Belin. Now, I believe you originally stated that you had all three of these cartridge hulls put in Exhibit 717, is that correct?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. And then you turned it over to Detective Sims?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. Was the envelope sealed when you turned it over to Detective Sims?
Mr.Day. No, sir; I don't think so.
Mr.Belin. Did you seal it?
Mr.Day. No, sir.
Mr.Belin. When you got the envelope back later that night was the envelope sealed?
Mr.Day. I don't think so.
Mr.Belin. To the best of your knowledge, had it been sealed and reopened or was it just unsealed?
Mr.Day. To the best of my knowledge it was not sealed. It is possible I could be wrong on that, but I don't think it was sealed.
Mr.McCloy. In order to make the record perfectly clear, at least my understanding perfectly clear, did I understand that you testified that your initial which appears on that exhibit was—not your initial but your signature which appears on that exhibit was—put on there before the other writing, namely to the effect that there were two of the three hulls enclosed, that was put on the envelope?
Mr.Belin. You are referring, Mr. McCloy, to the signature on the bottom of Commission Exhibit 717, "Lieutenant J. C. Day."
Mr.McCloy. That is what I am referring to.
Mr.Day. That was put on there before.
Mr.McCloy. That was put onthere——
Mr.Day. At 1:23 p.m.
Mr.Belin. And the remainder of the writing was put on that night at the Dallas Police Department, is that right?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; about the same time that I marked those two hulls.
Mr.Belin. Could you tell us what exactly you did in testing those hulls for fingerprints?
Mr.Day. I used fingerprint powder, dusted them with the powder, a dark powder. No legible prints were found.
Mr.Belin. After you did this, you dusted the prints and you put them in the envelope, 717, and then what did you do?
Mr.Day. I released them to Detective Sims or rather he took them.
Mr.Belin. And then what did you do?
Mr.Day. At that time I was summoned to the northwest corner of the building.
Mr.Belin. Then what did you do?
Mr.Day. Sir?
Mr.Belin. Then what did you do?
Mr.Day. I met Captain Fritz. He wanted photographs of the rifle before it was moved.
Mr.Belin. Do you remember if Captain Fritz told you that the rifle had not been moved?
Mr.Day. He told me he wanted photographs before it was moved, if I remember correctly. He definitely told me it had not been moved, and the reason for the photographs he wanted it photographed before it was moved.
Mr.Belin. I am going to hand you what the reporter has marked or what has been marked as Commission Exhibit 718, and ask you to state, if you know, what this is.
Mr.Day. This is a photograph made by me of the rifle where it was found in the northwest portion of the sixth floor, 411 Elm Street, Dallas.
Mr.Belin. I am going to hand you what has been marked as Commission Exhibit 719 and ask you to state if you know what that is.
Mr.Day. It is a picture of the portion of the northwest floor where the rifle was found. This is a distance shot showing the stack of boxes.
Mr.Belin. Is Commission Exhibit 718 a print from the same negative as Commission Exhibit 514?
Mr.Day. The same negative?
Mr.Belin. Yes, sir.
Mr.Day. No, I don't think so. This is a copy of this picture.
Mr.Belin. You are saying 514 was made, I assume, as a copy of 718. By that you mean a negative, a second negative, was made of 718 from which 514 was taken?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. Otherwise it is the same?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. 718 appears to be a little clearer and sharper.
Mr.Day. You can tell from looking at the two pictures which is the copy.
Mr.Belin. Was any other picture of that rifle made in that position?
Mr.Day. Nos. 22 and 23 were both made.
Mr.Belin. Your pictures which you have marked No. 22 and No. 23 were both made, one was made by you, is that Commission Exhibit718——
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. And the other was madeby——
Mr.Day. Detective Studebaker.
Mr.Belin. Whose knee appears?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; showing. Identical shots, we just made both to be sure that one of us made it, and it would be in focus.
Mr.Belin. For this reason I am introducing only 718, if that is satisfactory.
Mr.McCloy. Very well.
Mr.Belin. How did you stand to take the picture, Exhibit 718?
Mr.Day. I was on top of a stack of boxes to the south of where the gun was found.
Mr.Belin. I wonder if you could put on Exhibit 719 the location with an "X" where you stood to take the picture, 718.
Mr.Day. I was in that position looking this way, but you can't tell which box I was on looking from that angle.
MrBelin. I mean, you have placed an "X" on Exhibit 719. Were you sitting or standing on top of a stack of boxes in that general area?
Mr.Day. Kneeling.
Mr.Belin. Kneeling?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. In what direction would your face have been?
Mr.Day. Facing north and down.
Mr.Belin. Facing north and looking down?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; to the floor.
Mr.Belin. Can you see the rifle at all in Exhibit 719?
Mr.Day. No, sir.
Mr.Belin. Had the rifle been removed when 719 was taken, if you know?
Mr.Day. I don't remember.
Mr.Belin. Could you locate with an arrow on Exhibit 719 the place where the rifle would have been?
Mr.Day. Here.
Mr.Belin. You have so noted with an arrow on 719. Was the rifle resting on the floor or not?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. It was?
Mr.Day. The rifle was resting on the floor.
Mr.Belin. What else did you do in connection with the rifle at that particular time?
Mr.Day. Captain Fritz was present. After we got the photographs I asked him if he was ready for me to pick it up, and he said, yes. I picked the gun up by the wooden stock. I noted that the stock was too rough apparently to take fingerprints, so I picked it up, and Captain Fritz opened the bolt as I held the gun. A live round fell to the floor.
Mr.Belin. Did you initial that live round at all?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; my name is on it.
Mr.Belin. When did you place your name on this live round, if you remember?
Mr.Day. How?
Mr.Belin. When?
Mr.Day. At the time, that was marked at the scene.
Mr.Belin. Handing you Commission Exhibit No. 141. I will ask you to state if you know what this is.
Mr.Day. It has "Day" on it where I scratched it on the small end where the slug goes into the shell.
Mr.Belin. What is this, what is Exhibit 141?
Mr.Day. That is the live round that fell from the rifle when Captain Fritz opened the bolt.
Mr.Belin. What did you do with this after you put your name on it?
Mr.Day. Captain Fritz took possession of it. I retained possession of the rifle.
Mr.Belin. Did you process this live round at all for prints?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; I did. I did not find any prints.
Mr.McCloy. Before Captain Fritz ejected the live cartridge, did you dust the rifle for fingerprints?
Mr.Day. Not before.
Mr.Belin. Did you dust the bolt for fingerprints?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. Before the live round was ejected?
Mr.Day. No, no; the only part that Captain Fritz touched was the round nob. I looked at it through a glass and decided there was not a print there, and it would be safe for him to open the bolt.
Mr.Belin. You did this before it was ejected, before the live round was ejected?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. Who held the rifle while you looked at it with the glass?
Mr.Day. I held it.
Mr.Belin. In one hand?
Mr.Day. One hand, using the glass with the other.
Mr.Belin. How did you try to process the live round for prints?
Mr.Day. With black fingerprint powder.
Mr.Belin. Let me ask you this in an effort, perhaps, to save time. In all of your processing of prints did you use anything other than this black powder at the scene that day?
Mr.Day. No, sir.
Mr.Belin. So whenever you say you processed for prints you used black powder, is that correct?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.McCloy. When was the rifle as such dusted with fingerprint powder?
Mr.Day. After ejecting the live round, then I gave my attention to the rifle. I put fingerprint powder on the side of the rifle over the magazine housing. I noticed it was rather rough.
I also noticed there were traces of two prints visible. I told Captain Fritz it was too rough to do there, it should go to the office where I would have better facilities for trying to work with the fingerprints.
Mr.McCloy. But you could note with your naked eye or with a magnifying glass the remnants of fingerprints on the stock?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; I could see traces of ridges, fingerprint ridges, on the side of the housing.
Mr.Belin. Lieutenant Day, as I understand it, you held the stock of the rifle when Captain Fritz operated the bolt?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. Now, when you first came over to see the rifle, was it easily visible or not?
Mr.Day. I beg pardon?
Mr.Belin. When you first came over to see the rifle, when you were first called there, what is the fact as to whether or not it was easily visible?
Mr.Day. No, sir; you had to look over the box and down to see it. You could not see it ordinarily walking down the aisle.
Mr.Belin. Was anything resting on top of it?
Mr.Day. On top of the gun?
Mr.Belin. Yes.
Mr.Day. No, sir.
Mr.Belin. Do you have any estimate as to how wide or what the width was of that particular area in which the rifle was placed? In other words, the area between the boxes, how much space was there?
Mr.Day. It was just wide enough to accommodate that rifle and hold it in an upright position.
Mr.Belin. Was the location at which you found the rifle completely surrounded by boxes or was it kind of like two parallel rows of boxes without boxes at either end of it?
Mr.Day. There was three or four rows of boxes there.
Mr.Belin. What I mean is this: If you can visualize a narrow squared "O," was it more like a narrow squared "O" so far as the boxes were concerned, with sort of an island of space in the center or was it more like just two basic rows of boxes with nothing at either end?
Mr.Day. I don't quite follow you there.
Mr.Belin. I will restate the question this way.
Mr.Day. There were four parallel lines of boxes. The second line from the north side was not completely filled. In other words, there was vacant places in this particular line.
Mr.Belin. I am going to hand you what has been marked Commission Exhibit 139 and ask you to state if you know what this is.
Mr.Day. This is the rifle found on the sixth floor of the Texas Book Store at 411 Elm Street, November 23, 1963.
Mr.Belin. What date?
Mr.Day. November 22, 1963.
Mr.Belin. Does it have any identification mark of yours on it?
Mr.Day. It has my name "J. C. Day" scratched on the stock.
Mr.Belin. And on the stock you are pointing to your name which is scratched as you would hold the rifle and rest it on the stock, approximately an inch or so from the bottom of the stock on the sling side of the stock, is that correct?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. Do you have any recollection as to what the serial number was of that?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; I recorded it at the time, C-2566.
Mr.Belin. Before you saythat——
Mr.Day. C-2766, excuse me.
Mr.Belin. Do you have any record of that with you or not?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; this is the record I made of the gun when I took it back to the office. Now, the gun did not leave my possession.
Mr.Belin. From the time it was found at the School Book Depository Building?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; I took the gun myself and retained possession, took it to the office where Idictated——
Mr.Belin. Could you just read into the record what you dictated.
Mr.Day. To my secretary. She wrote on the typewriter: "4 x 18, coated, Ordinance Optics, Inc., Hollywood, California, 010 Japan. OSC inside a clover-leaf design."
Mr.Belin. What did that have reference to?
Mr.Day. That was stamped on the scopic sight on top of the gun. On the gun itself, "6.5 caliber C-2766, 1940 made in Italy." That was what was on the gun.
I dictated certain other stuff, other information, for her to type for me.
Mr.Belin. Well, you might just as well dictate the rest there.
Mr.Day. "When bolt opened one live round was in the barrel. No prints are on the live round. Captain Fritz and Lieutenant Day opened the barrel. Captain Fritz has the live round. Three spent hulls were found under the window. They were picked up by Detective Sims and witnessed by Lieutenant Day and Studebaker. The clip is stamped 'SMI, 9 x 2.'"
Mr.Belin. Could you tell us what other processing you did with this particular rifle?
Mr.Day. Beg pardon?
Mr.Belin. What other processing did you do with this particular rifle?
Mr.Day. I took it to the office and tried to bring out the two prints I had seen on the side of the gun at the bookstore. They still were rather unclear. Due to the roughness of the metal, I photographed them rather than try to lift them.
I could also see a trace of a print on the side of the barrel that extended under the woodstock. I started to take the woodstock off and noted traces of a palmprint near the firing end of the barrel about 3 inches under the woodstock when I took the woodstock loose.
Mr.Belin. You mean 3 inches from the small end of the woodstock?
Mr.Day. Right—yes, sir.
Mr.McCloy. From the firing end of the barrel, you mean the muzzle?
Mr.Day. The muzzle; yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. Let me clarify the record. By that you mean you found it on the metal or you mean you found it on the wood?
Mr.Day. On the metal, after removing the wood.
Mr.Belin. The wood. You removed the wood, and then underneath the wood is where you found the print?
Mr.Day. On the bottom side of the barrel which was covered by the wood, I found traces of a palmprint. I dusted these and tried lifting them, the prints, with scotch tape in the usual manner. A faint palmprint came off.
I could still see traces of the print under the barrel and was going to try to use photography to bring off or bring out a better print. About this time I received instructions from the chief's office to go no further with the processing, it was to be released to the FBI for them to complete. I did not process the underside of the barrel under the scopic sight, did not get to this area of the gun.
Mr.Belin. Do you know what Commission Exhibit No. 637 is?
Mr.Day. This is the trace of palmprint I lifted off of the barrel of the gun after I had removed the wood.
Mr.Belin. Does it have your name on it or your handwriting?
Mr.Day. It has the name "J. C. Day," and also "11/22/63" written on it in my writing off the underside gun barrel near the end of foregrip, C-2766.
Mr.Belin. When you lift a print is it then harder to make a photograph of that print after it is lifted or doesn't it make any difference?
Mr.Day. It depends. If it is a fresh print, and by fresh I mean hadn't been there very long and dried, practically all the print will come off and there will be nothing left. If it is an old print, that is pretty well dried, many times you can still see it after the lift. In this case I could still see traces of print on that barrel.
Mr.Belin. Did you do anything with the other prints or partial prints that you said you thought you saw?
Mr.Day. I photographed them only. I did not try to lift them.
Mr.Belin. Do you have those photographs, sir? I will mark the two photographs which you have just produced Commission Exhibits 720 and 721. I will ask you to state what these are.
Mr.Day. These are prints or pictures, I should say, of the latent—of the traces of prints on the side of the magazine housing of the gun No. C-2766.
Mr.Belin. Were those prints in such condition as to be identifiable, if you know?
Mr.Day. No, sir; I could not make positive identification of these prints.
Mr.Belin. Did you have enough opportunity to work and get these pictures or not?
Mr.Day. I worked with them, yes. I could not exclude all possibility as to identification. I thought I knew which they were, but I could not positively identify them.
Mr.Belin. What was your opinion so far as it went as to whose they were?
Mr.Day. They appeared to be the right middle and right ring finger of Harvey Lee Oswald, Lee Harvey Oswald.
Mr.Belin. At the time you had this did you have any comparison fingerprints to make with the actual prints of Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; we had sets in Captain Fritz' office. Oswald was in his custody, we had made palmprints and fingerprints of him.
Mr.Belin. Is there any other processing that you did with the rifle?
Mr.Day. No, sir.
Mr.Belin. At what time, if you know, did you release the rifle to the FBI?
Mr.Day. 11:45 p.m. the rifle was released or picked up by them and taken from the office.
Mr.Belin. Was that on November 22?
Mr.Day. November 22, 1963.
Mr.Belin. At what time did these same photographs which are the same as Commission Exhibit 720 and 721 of thisprint——
Mr.Day. About 8 o'clock, somewhere around 8 o'clock, in that neighborhood.
Mr.Belin. Of what date?
Mr.Day. November 22, 1963.
Mr.Belin. What about the lift which has previously been marked as Commission Exhibit 637?
Mr.Day. About what?
Mr.Belin. When did you turn that over to the FBI?
Mr.Day. I released that to them on November 26, 1963. I did not releasethis——
Mr.Belin. You are referringnow——
Mr.Day. On November 22.
Mr.Belin. You are referring to Commission Exhibit 637?
Mr.Day. Yes.
Mr.Belin. Is there any particular reason why this was not released on the 22d?
Mr.Day. The gun was being sent in to them for process of prints. Actually I thought the print on the gun was their best bet, still remained on there, and,too, there was another print, I thought possibly under the wood part up near the trigger housing.
Mr.Belin. You mean the remaining traces of the powder you had when you got the lift, Exhibit 637, is that what you mean by the lift of the remaining print on the gun?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir. Actually it was dried ridges on there. There were traces of ridges still on the gun barrel.
Mr.Belin. Can you tell the circumstances under which you sent Exhibit 637 to the FBI?
Mr.Day. We released certain evidence to the FBI, including the gun, on November 22. It was returned to us on November 24. Then on November 26 we received instructions to send back to the FBI everything that we had.
Mr.Belin. Did you do that?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; and at that time I sent the liftmarked——
Mr.Belin. 637.
Mr.Day. Yes. The gun was sent back again, and all of the other evidence that I had, including cartons from Texas Bookstore, and various other items, a rather lengthy list.
Mr.Belin. Had the FBI in the interim returned the gun to you then after you sent it to them on November 22?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. When the rifle was photographed, as I understand it, you were the one who lifted it out of there, is that correct?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. Was it wedged in very tight or could you readily lift it up without moving any boxes?
Mr.Day. It came out without moving any boxes. It wasn't wedged in.
Mr.McCloy. Am I to understand your testimony, Lieutenant, about the fingerprints to be you said you were positive—you couldn't make a positive identification, but it was your opinion that these were the fingerprints of Lee Oswald?
Mr.Day. Well, actually in fingerprinting it either is or is not the man. So I wouldn't say those were his prints. They appeared similar to these two, certainly bore further investigation to see if I could bring them out better. But from what I had I could not make a positive identification as being his prints.
Mr.McCloy. How about the palmprint?
Mr.Day. The palmprint again that I lifted appeared to be his right palm, but I didn't get to work enough on that to fully satisfy myself it was his palm. With a little more work I would have come up with the identification there.
Mr.Belin. Lieutenant Day, what is the fact as to whether or not palmprints are a sound means of identification of an individual?
Mr.Day. You have the same characteristics of the palms that you do the fingers, also on the soles of feet. They are just as good for identification purposes.
Mr.Belin. Is there anything else you did in connection with the rifle, the cartridges, the live cartridge, or the taking of prints from any of these metallic objects that you haven't talked about yet?
Mr.Day. No, sir; I believe that is the extent of the prints on any of those articles.
Mr.Belin. Did you make a positive identification of any palmprint or fingerprint?
Mr.Day. Not off the rifle or slug at that time.
Mr,Belin. At any other time did you off the rifle or the slugs?
Mr.Day. After I have been looking at that thing again here today, that is his right palm. But at that time I had notno——
Mr.Belin. When you are saying you looked at that thing today, to what are you referring?
Mr.Day. Your No. 637 is the right palm of Oswald.
Mr.Belin. Handing you what has been marked "Exhibit 629" I ask you to state if you know what this is.
Mr.Day. That is the right palm of Lee Harvey Oswald.
Mr.Belin. Do you know where this print was taken?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; it was taken by Detective J. B. Hicks in Captain Fritz' office on November 22, 1963.
Mr.Belin. Did you take more than one right palmprint on that day, if you know?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; we took two, actually we took three. Two of them were taken in Captain Fritz' office, and one set which I witnessed taking myself in the identification bureau.
Mr.Belin. Any particular reason why you took more than one?
Mr.Day. In most cases, when making comparisons, we will take at least two to insure we have a good clear print of the entire palm.
Mr.Belin. Now,based——
Mr.Day. One might be smeared where the other would not.
Mr.Belin. Based on your experience, I will ask you now for a definitive statement as to whether or not you can positively identify the print shown on Commission Exhibit 637 as being from the right palm of Lee Harvey Oswald as shown on Commission Exhibit 629?
Mr.Day. Maybe I shouldn't absolutely make a positive statement without further checking that. I think it is his, but I would have to sit down and take two glasses to make an additional comparison before I would say absolutely, excluding all possibility, it is. I think it is, but I would have to do some more work on that.
Mr.Belin. Could you do that here in Washington before you go back, sir, or would this necessitate going back to Dallas?
Mr.Day. If I had the proper equipment I think I could do it here. I don't have very good equipment for making comparisons here. I need two fingerprint glasses.
It was my understanding the prints had been identified by the FBI. I don't have official word on it.
Mr.Belin. Is there any other thing that you did with regard to the rifle that you haven't discussed this far that you can remember right now?
Mr.Day. No, sir; I released it to the FBI then, and they took possession of it.
Mr.Belin. Did you ever hear this rifle referred to as a 7.65 Mauser or as any type of a Mauser?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; it wasn't referred to as that. Some of the newsmen, when I first carried the rifle out, asked me if it was a .30-06, and at another time they asked me if it was a Mauser. I did not give them an answer.
Mr.Belin. Were there newsmen on the sixth floor at the time the rifle was found, if you know?
Mr.Day. I think there was.
Mr.Belin. Did you ever describe the rifle as anything but a 6.5-caliber with regard to the rifle itself?
Mr.Day. I didn't describe the rifle to anyone other than police officers.
Mr.Belin. Is the description that you used with the police officers the same that you dictated here into the record from your notes?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. Anything else with regard to the rifle?
Mr.Day. I can't think of anything else that I did with it at the time.
I don't know whether you are interested in this or not, but about, it must have been about 8:30 I was processing the gun on the fourthfloor——
Mr.Belin. Of the police department there?
Mr.Day. Of the police department where my office is. The identification bureau. And Captain Fritz came up and said he had Mrs. Oswald in his office on the third floor, but the place was so jammed with news cameramen and newsmen he did not want to bring her out into it.
Mr.Belin. Was this the wife or the mother of Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr.Day. That was Marina, Oswald's wife. She had her baby with her, or babies, and there was an interpreter down there. He wanted her to look at the gun to see if she could identify it, didn't want to bring her in through the crowd, and wanted to know if we could carry it down. He said, "There is an awful mob down there."
I explained to him that I was still working with the prints, but I thought I could carry it down without disturbing the prints, which I did.
We waded through the mob with me holding the gun up high. No one touched it. Several of the newsmen asked me various questions about what the gun was at that time. I did not give them an answer.
When I went back to the office after Marina Oswald viewed the gun, they still were hounding me for it. I told them to check with the chief's office, he would have to give them the information, and as soon as I got back to my office I gave a complete description, and so forth, to Captain King on the gun.
Mr.Belin. Were you there when Marina Oswald was asked whether or not she could identify it?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir. But I didn't understand what she said. I was standing across the room from her where I couldn't understand. The interpreter said something to her and said something to Captain Fritz. I didn't catch what was said. I mentioned that because there was some talk about a Mauser and .30-06 at the time and various other things, that is the reason I mentioned it.
Mr.Belin. You just refused to answer all questions on that, is that correct?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir. It wasn't my place to give them that information. I didn't know whether they wanted it out yet or not.
Mr.McCloy. There was never any doubt in your mind what the rifle was from the minute you saw it?
Mr.Day. No, sir; It was stamped right on there, 6.5, and when en route to the office with Mr. Odum, the FBI agent who drove me in, he radioed it in, he radioed in what it was to the FBI over the air.
Mr.Belin. What else did you do, or what was the next thing you did after you completed photographing and inspecting the rifle on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building for whatever prints you could find, what did you do next?
Mr.Day. I took the gun at the time to the office and locked it up in a box in my office at Captain Fritz' direction.
Mr.Belin. Then what did you do?
Mr.Day. I went back to the School Book Depository and stayed there. It was around three that I got back, and I was in that building until about 6, directing the other officers as to what we needed in the way of photographs and some drawing, and so forth.
Mr.Belin. What did you do when you got back, what photographs did you take?
Mr.Day. We went, made the outside photographs of the street, we made more photographs inside, and did further checking for prints by using dust on the boxes around the window.
Mr.Belin. I hand you what has been marked as "Commission Exhibit 722" and ask you to state if you know what this is.
Mr.Day. Yes, sir. This is a view of Houston Street looking south from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building.
Mr.Belin. Do you know when that was taken?
Mr.Day. About 3 or 3:15, somewhere along there, on November 22, 1963.
Mr.McCloy. You say from the sixth floor; was it from the farthest east window?
Mr.Day. The south window on the east end of the building.
Mr.Belin. You don't mean that. State that again. What side of the building was the window on?
Mr.Day. It was on the south side of the building, the easternmost window.
Mr.Belin. At the time you took Exhibit 722 had any boxes been moved at all?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. Here is Exhibit 724, and I will ask you to state if you know what that is.
Mr.Day. This is a view from the same window looking southwest down Elm Street. Actually this is the direction the shots were fired. When this picture wasmade——
Mr.Belin. When you say this picture you are referring to—I think I have skipped a number here.
Mr.McCloy. This is 722.
Mr.Belin. All right. When 722 was made,you——
Mr.Day. I did not know the direction the shots had been fired.
Mr.Belin. All right. I'm going to hand you what I have already marked as 724. What about that one?
Mr.Day. This was made, 724 was made, some 15 to 20 minutes after 722 when I received information that the shooting actually occurred on Elm rather than Houston Street. The boxes had been moved at that time.
Mr.Belin. In 724 there are boxes in the window. Were those boxes in the window the way you saw them, or had they been replaced in the window to reconstruct it?
Mr.Day. They had simply been moved in the processing for prints. They weren't put back in any particular order.
Mr.Belin. So 724 does not represent, so far as the boxes are concerned, the crime scene when you first came to the sixth floor; is that correct?
Mr.Day. That is correct.
Mr.Belin. Let me ask you this: Had all of the boxes of the stack in 724 been replaced there or had any of the boxes been in a position they were at the time you first arrived at the building, if you know?
Mr.Day. No, sir; they had not been placed in the proper position or approximate position at the time we arrived.
Mr.Belin. Now, I am going to hand you what I will mark as "723" and ask you to state if you know what this is.
Mr.Day.726——
Mr.Belin. No; 723.
Mr.Day. 723 is the southeast corner of the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building.
Mr.Belin. Who took that picture, if you know?
Mr.Day. Detective Studebaker.
Mr.Belin. Was it taken under your direction and supervision, Mr. Day?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; I was present. The two metal boxes you will note to the left, are our fingerprint equipment that inadvertently got into the picture with a wide-angle lens camera.
Mr.Belin. When you say to theleft——
Mr.Day. To the right.
Mr.Belin. You mean as you face the picture to the right.
Mr.Day. Yes.
Mr.Belin. Do you want to circle on Exhibit 723 your fingerprint equipment?
Mr.Day. Yes.
Mr.Belin. Now, I will ask you to state if you know if this picture was taken before any of the boxes shown on 723 were moved.
Mr.Day. To the best of my knowledge they had not been moved.
Mr.Belin. And straight ahead the camera is pointed toward it?
Mr.Day. To the south.
Mr.Belin. At which window?
Mr.Day. Toward the window where the hulls were found.
Mr.Belin. I'm going to hand you what has been marked as "725," and ask you to state if you know what this is.
Mr.Day. That is a view of the same window as 723 except it shows the full length of the aisle.
Mr.Belin. Was 725 taken before the boxes were moved, if you know?
Mr.Day. I beg your pardon?
Mr.Belin. Was Commission Exhibit 725 taken before any boxes were moved, if you know?
Mr.Day. To the best of my knowledge, nothing had been moved.
Mr.Belin. I'm going to hand you what has been marked as 726 and ask you to state if you know what this is.
Mr.Day. This is the next aisle over, or the next aisle west of the aisle shown in 723. Actually, this was taken on November 25. Some movement had been made of the boxes as shown in 723.
Mr.Belin. All right. So you now are saying Commission Exhibit 726 was taken on November25——
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. And there had been some movement of the boxes?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. Generally did it depict the area as you saw it on November 22?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. I am handing you Commission Exhibit 727 and ask you to state if you know what that is.
Mr.Day. 727 is the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository, taken looking east along the inside of the south wall.
Mr.Belin. When was that taken?
Mr.Day. November 25, 1963.
Mr.Belin. Just by general means of identification, perhaps it might help to see when some pictures were taken and some pictures were not taken. I think you can see on Exhibit 727 that the shadows show that the sun would not as yet have reached a due south position. Is that correct?
Mr.Day. That is correct. It was taken in the morning. This is the morning shadow.
Mr.Belin. Handing you what has been marked 728, would you state if you know what this is?
Mr.Day. This is the third aisle from the east side of the building, sixth floor, Texas School Book Depository.
Mr.Belin. Was that taken on November 22 or November 25?
Mr.Day. It was taken on November 22, 1963.
Mr.Belin. Again you can note the shadows at this time, and it would appear as a southwesterly sun.
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. I notice a pop bottle there. Do you know whether or not that pop bottle was there at the time you got to the scene?
Mr.Day. It was, sir.
Mr.Belin. Was it in the same relation as that two-wheeler cart, if you know?
Mr.Day. To the best of my knowledge nothing had been moved there.
Mr.Belin. Did you see anything else with the pop bottle when you were in that area?
Mr.Day. There was a brown-paper sack, like a lunch sack.
Mr.Belin. About how large?
Mr.Day. It does not show in the picture.
Mr.Belin. Where would the sack have been located?
Mr.Day. Sir?
Mr.Belin. Where would that sack have been located, if you know?
Mr.Day. I don't remember.
Mr.Belin. Would this have been at the third pair of windows counting from the east; when you meant the third aisle, did you mean the third set of windows also?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. You mentioned a sack that would have been at that third aisle. Was any kind of a sack found on the sixth floor, if you know?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. What other kind of a sack was found?
Mr.Day. A homemade sack, brown paper with 3-inch tape found right in the corner, the southeast corner of the building near where the slugs were found.
Mr.McCloy. Near where the hulls were found?
Mr.Day. Near where the hulls. What did I say?
Mr.McCloy. Slugs.
Mr.Day. Hulls.
Mr.Belin. I'm going to hand you what has been marked as Commission Exhibit 729 and ask you to state if you know what this is.
Mr.Day. 729 is a photograph of the inside wall, south and east walls, right at the corner of the building at the sixth floor of the Texas Book Depository.
Mr.Belin. I notice some pipes on the right portion of this picture as you face it, and I also notice a box.
I will first ask you to state if this picture was taken before or after anything was removed from the area.
Mr.Day. The sack had been removed.
Mr.Belin. Had any change been made of the position of that box that is set off by itself in the center of the picture?
Mr.Day. I don't think the box—well, it is possible the box had been moved. This is an approximate position of it. The box had been dusted for powder and—dusted for prints. The black powder is visible on it. It is possible the box may have been moved a tiny bit.
Mr.Belin. Where was the sack found with relation to the pipes and that box?
Mr.Day. Between the sack and the south wall, which would be the wall at the top of the picture as shown here.
Mr.Belin. You mean between—you said the sack.
Mr.Day. I mean the pipe. The sack was between the pipe and the wall at the top of the picture.
Mr.Belin. That wall at the top of the picture would be the east wall, would it not?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; laying parallel to the south wall.
Mr.Belin. Did the sack—was it folded over in any way or just lying flat, if you remember?
Mr.Day. It was folded over with the fold next to the pipe, to the best of my knowledge.
Mr.Belin. I will now hand you what has been marked as Commission Exhibit 626 and ask you to state if you know what this is, and also appears to be marked as Commission Exhibit 142.
Mr.Day. This is the sack found on the sixth floor in the southeast corner of the building on November 22, 1963.
Mr.Belin. Do you have any identification on that to so indicate?
Mr.Day. It has my name on it, and it also has other writing that I put on there for the information of the FBI.
Mr.Belin. Could you read what you wrote on there?
Mr.Day. "Found next to the sixth floor window gun fired from. May have been used to carry gun. Lieutenant J. C. Day."
Mr.Belin. When did you write that?
Mr.Day. I wrote that at the time the sack was found before it left our possession.
Mr.Belin. All right, anything else that you wrote on there?
Mr.Day. When the sack was released on November 22 to the FBI about 11:45 p.m., I put further information to the FBI reading as follows: "FBI: Has been dusted with metallic magnetic powder on outside only. Inside has not been processed. Lieut. J. C. Day."
Mr.Belin. Did you find anything, any print of any kind, in connection with the processing of this?
Mr.Day. No legible prints were found with the powder, no.
Mr.Belin. Do you know whether any legible prints were found by any other means or any other place?
Mr.Day. There is a legible print on it now. They were on there when it was returned to me from the FBI on November 24.
Mr.Belin. Do you know by what means they found these?
Mr.Day. It is apparently silver nitrate. It could be another compound they have used. The sack had an orange color indicating it was silver nitrate.
Mr.Belin. You mean the sack when it came back from the FBI hada——
Mr.Day. Orange color. It is another method of processing paper for fingerprints.
Mr.Belin. Was there anything inside the bag, if you know, when you found it?
Mr.Day. I did not open the bag. I did not look inside of the bag at all.
Mr.Belin. What did you do with the bag after you found it and you put this writing on after you dusted it?
Mr.Day. I released it to the FBI agent.
Mr.Belin. Did you take it down to the station with you?
Mr.Day. I didn't take it with me. I left it with the men when I left. I left Detectives Hicks and Studebaker to bring this in with them when they brought other equipment in.
Mr.Belin. By this you are referring to the bag itself?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. Did you ever get the kind of sample used at the School Book Depository?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; on the afternoon of November 22, 1963. I had the bag listedas——
Mr.Belin. Commission Exhibit 626 or 142.
Mr.Day. On the first floor of the Texas School Book Depository, and I noticed from their wrapping bench there was paper and tape of a similar—the tape—as of the same width as this. I took the bag over and tried it, and I noticed that the tape was the same width as on the bag.
Mr.Belin. Did it appear to have the same color?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. All right. Then what did you do?
Mr.Day. Sir?
Mr.Belin. Then what did you do?
Mr.Day. I directed one of the officers standing by me, I don't know which, to get a piece of the tape and a piece of the paper from the wrapping bench.
Mr.Belin. Handing you what has been marked as Commission Exhibit 677, I will ask you to state if you know what this is.
Mr.Day. This is the tape and paper collected from the first floor in the shipping department of the Texas School Book Depository on November 22, 1963.
Mr.Belin. Does this have any identification marks on it?
Mr.Day. It has my name, "J. C. Day, Dallas Police Department," and also in my writing. "Shipping Department."
Mr.Belin. Any other writing on there that you recognize?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; Detective Studebaker, who was with me, and in his writing it says. "Paper sample from first floor, Texas School Book Depository, Studebaker, 11-22-63."
The tape also has Studebaker's writing on it, "Tape sample from first floor."
Mr.Belin. I will ask you to state if you know what are Exhibits 730, 731 and 732?
Mr.Day. These are photographs of the wrapping bench on the first floor, Texas School Book Depository, taken by me on April 13, 1964, after I had talked to you when I was back in the building. I didn't have a previous picture of this wrapping bench.
Mr.Belin. Does that represent the location on the first floor of the School Book Depository Building where you got the tape sample, Commission Exhibit 677?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir; it is approximately the same. I do not think the benches had been changed since the November shooting.
Mr.Belin. Do you recognize at any point on any of the exhibits the actual tape machine that was used?
Mr.Day. The one that we removed this from was the north roll and tape on the east side of the bench.
Mr.Belin. You are now pointing at Exhibit 730. I notice a roll of paper underneath the bench in the center of the picture. Is that where you got the big paper, the main paper on Commission Exhibit 677?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir. To the best of my knowledge that is the roll we tore the paper off of.
Mr.Belin. What about tape itself?
Mr.Day. The tape was from the machine immediately above that roll of paper on top of the bench.
Mr.Belin. Were there other tape machines there also?
Mr.Day. Yes; but I didn't notice them at the time.
Mr.Belin. How did you get the tape from out of the machine, if you remember?
Mr.Day. Just pulled the tape off and tear it out and tear it off.
Mr.Belin. Was there a lever at all that you used, if you remember if there is such a lever?
Mr.Day. I don't remember. I don't think we used the lever.
Mr.Belin. What did you do with Commission Exhibit 677?
Mr.Day. I released this, I released 677 to Vince Drain of the FBI, 11:45 p.m., November 22, 1963.
Mr.Belin. I am going to hand you what has been marked as Commission Exhibit 733 and ask you to state if you know what this is.
Mr.Day. This is the southeast corner of the sixth floor at the window where the shooting apparently occurred. The boxes in front of the window, to the best of our knowledge, in the position they were in when we arrived there on November 22, 1963.
Mr.Belin. So 733 represents a reconstruction in that sense, is that correct?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. What aboutExhibit——
Mr.Day. This, by the way, was taken on November 25, 1963.
Mr.Belin. All right. What about 734?
Mr.Day. That is another view of the same boxes shown in 733.
Mr.Belin. In 734 you can also see this juncture of the south and east walls of the sixth floor where you say the bag was found; is that correct?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. I want to turn for the moment to 729. I notice that the box on 729 appears to have a portion of it torn off and then replaced again. Is this correct or not?
Mr.Day. Yes, sir.
Mr.Belin. I am going to hand you what has been marked as Commission Exhibit 649 and ask you to state if you know what this is.
Mr.Day. Yes, sir. This is a portion torn from the box shown in 729.
Mr.Belin. While you are holding that I'm going to hand you Commission Exhibit 648 and ask you to state if you know what this is.
Mr.Day. That is the box shown in 729 at the center of the picture.