The Position of the Bolt on the MC

[Charles Collins]

Yes, you're right....Fritz had to have let Day take possession of the rifle because Alyea filmed Day dusting the rifle with finger print powder behind the brightly lit west window.  I'm not sure that Day ever relinquished total possession to Fritz... There may be some law that would have been broken if Day had taken his hand off the rifle...

Now let's Look at the practical aspect of this.....  If Lee Oswald had been the shooter, what would his actions have been after he had fired three shots?   In my opinion he would definitely ( by reflex action) have loaded that fourth round, and it would have been in the chamber with the bolt closed and latched.   And therefore the rifle would not have been found with the bolt unlatched and about 1/4 inch short of being closed and latched.  It just doesn't make sense for an assassin to stop loading  his rifle in mid stroke.

I firmly believe that the rifle was simply a throw down gun and it was never fired that day....

I think that the sight of JFK's head exploding could have been enough of a shock (even to LHO) to make him just freeze in the middle of loading the next round. But, of course, anything we come up with is only conjecture.

Another, totally different, possibility is that LHO actually did complete the loading process of the next round and set the rifle down between the boxes. The first photos taken by the DPD reportedly show the rifle before anyone touched it. And the rifle can be seen in that photo upright. The Alyea film appears to show Day lifting the rifle from a laying down position. So it is conceivable that before Day lifted the rifle from the floor that either he or Fritz could have lifted the bolt handle into the up position by reaching between the boxes. I am not saying that that is what happened. Only that I think it is a possibility.

[Charles Collins]

the end of Dan’s compilation shows Day dusting the rifle for prints.

Yes, Alyea did film detective Day dusting the rifle for prints ....and Alyea caught the brass clip in the magazine on film.

The fact that the clip was still in the rifle raises more questions.   We know that the official tale says that the live round was the last round in the clip and it was in the chamber.... And since that clip drops out of the magazine when the last round is stripped from the clip by the forward stroke of the bolt .....then that clip should have been on the floor in the "Sniper's Nest".

SO WHY was it in the magazine when Day was dusting the rifle ??     

It could possibly be that a less than clean and lubricated magazine and friction held it in place. After all, if I understand it correctly, gravity is the only force that causes it to fall out of the bottom of the magazine. And the clip appears to be relatively lightweight. Therefore the force of gravity wouldn't be very powerful.

[James Hackerott]

For what it is worth….

From the TV show Caught on Film (COF) – “Infamous Guns” episode.
Tom Alyea was the guest for this first of three segments of the hour long show.
 
After finding the hidden rifle:

Narrator
10 minutes after finding the shells officers spot a rifle hidden beneath some shipping boxes.

Alyea
This is the first picture of the assassin’s rifle. At this time we did not know it was an assassin. (Rifle on floor with Capt. Fritz standing next to the rifle).

Narrator
Capt. Fritz decides to allow the crime scene investigation team to examine the rifle before removing it from its hiding place. While they are waiting for the crime scene team to examine the rifle the investigators inside learned that President Kennedy has in fact been killed.

Alyea
We heard for the first time that the President is dead. We were standing there looking at the weapon that killed the President of the United States and that’s all we could see of it (rifle).

Narrator
After determining there were no prints on any of the exposed surfaces Crime Scene Investigator J.C. Day moves the rifle from it’s hiding place and hands it to Capt. Fritz.

[Walt Cakebread]

It could possibly be that a less than clean and lubricated magazine and friction held it in place. After all, if I understand it correctly, gravity is the only force that causes it to fall out of the bottom of the magazine. And the clip appears to be relatively lightweight. Therefore the force of gravity wouldn't be very powerful.

gravity is the only force that causes it to fall out of the bottom of the magazine. And the clip appears to be relatively lightweight. Therefore the force of gravity wouldn't be very powerful.


Yes, the clip does simply fall out when the last round is stripped from the clip by the forward stroke of the bolt...

The clip was made of brass and the brass clips are actually heavier than the steel clips that we've seen drop out on the you tube videos.  I'm 100% certain that if that carcano had been fired from that 6th floor window the clip would have been right there on the floor beneath that window. I believe the yokel who dropped the live round into the chamber also placed the clip in the magazine.

[Charles Collins]

For what it is worth….

From the TV show Caught on Film (COF) – “Infamous Guns” episode.
Tom Alyea was the guest for this first of three segments of the hour long show.
 
After finding the hidden rifle:

Narrator
10 minutes after finding the shells officers spot a rifle hidden beneath some shipping boxes.

Alyea
This is the first picture of the assassin’s rifle. At this time we did not know it was an assassin. (Rifle on floor with Capt. Fritz standing next to the rifle).

Narrator
Capt. Fritz decides to allow the crime scene investigation team to examine the rifle before removing it from its hiding place. While they are waiting for the crime scene team to examine the rifle the investigators inside learned that President Kennedy has in fact been killed.

Alyea
We heard for the first time that the President is dead. We were standing there looking at the weapon that killed the President of the United States and that’s all we could see of it (rifle).

Narrator
After determining there were no prints on any of the exposed surfaces Crime Scene Investigator J.C. Day moves the rifle from it’s hiding place and hands it to Capt. Fritz.

 

[Walt Cakebread]

For what it is worth….

From the TV show Caught on Film (COF) – “Infamous Guns” episode.
Tom Alyea was the guest for this first of three segments of the hour long show.
 
After finding the hidden rifle:

Narrator
10 minutes after finding the shells officers spot a rifle hidden beneath some shipping boxes.

Alyea
This is the first picture of the assassin’s rifle. At this time we did not know it was an assassin. (Rifle on floor with Capt. Fritz standing next to the rifle).

Narrator
Capt. Fritz decides to allow the crime scene investigation team to examine the rifle before removing it from its hiding place. While they are waiting for the crime scene team to examine the rifle the investigators inside learned that President Kennedy has in fact been killed.

Alyea
We heard for the first time that the President is dead. We were standing there looking at the weapon that killed the President of the United States and that’s all we could see of it (rifle). ]

Narrator
After determining there were no prints on any of the exposed surfaces Crime Scene Investigator J.C. Day moves the rifle from it’s hiding place and hands it to Capt. Fritz.

Thanks for posting that, James....

After finding the hidden rifle:  THE KEY WORD HERE IS "HIDDEN"

Narrator
10 minutes after finding the shells officers spot a rifle hidden beneath some shipping boxes.  "HIDDEN BENEATH SOME SHIPPING BOXES"

Alyea
This is the first picture of the assassin’s rifle. At this time we did not know it was an assassin. (Rifle on floor with Capt. Fritz standing next to the rifle). " RIFLE ON FLOOR"  NOT jammed between boxes ....
Narrator
Capt. Fritz decides to allow the crime scene investigation team to examine the rifle before removing it from its hiding place. While they are waiting for the crime scene team to examine the rifle the investigators inside learned that President Kennedy has in fact been killed.

Alyea
We heard for the first time that the President is dead. We were standing there looking at the weapon that killed the President of the United States and that’s all we could see of it (rifle).   Apparently Alyea is referring to a picture on the screnne, that we can't see, when he says "that's all we could see of it"   I believe that there was only a small portion of the butt of the rifle visible beneath the pallet of books.

Narrator
After determining there were no prints on any of the exposed surfaces Crime Scene Investigator J.C. Day moves the rifle from it’s hiding place and hands it to Capt. Fritz.   REMOVES IT FROM IT'S HIDING PLACE

Notice that the in reference to the place where the rifle was found it was said to have been hidden....In it's HIDDING PLACE.

The official DPD in situ photos do not depict the rifle as HIDDEN.....In fact the official tale says that Lee Harrrrvey OSSSSSwald Boooo hisss simply leaned over the row of box and stuffed the rifle between the row of boxes.  The DPD photo is a fake.

[James Hackerott]

Thanks for posting that, James....

After finding the hidden rifle:  THE KEY WORD HERE IS "HIDDEN"

Narrator
10 minutes after finding the shells officers spot a rifle hidden beneath some shipping boxes.  "HIDDEN BENEATH SOME SHIPPING BOXES"

Alyea
This is the first picture of the assassin’s rifle. At this time we did not know it was an assassin. (Rifle on floor with Capt. Fritz standing next to the rifle). " RIFLE ON FLOOR"  NOT jammed between boxes ....
Narrator
Capt. Fritz decides to allow the crime scene investigation team to examine the rifle before removing it from its hiding place. While they are waiting for the crime scene team to examine the rifle the investigators inside learned that President Kennedy has in fact been killed.

Alyea
We heard for the first time that the President is dead. We were standing there looking at the weapon that killed the President of the United States and that’s all we could see of it (rifle).   Apparently Alyea is referring to a picture on the screnne, that we can't see, when he says "that's all we could see of it"   I believe that there was only a small portion of the butt of the rifle visible beneath the pallet of books.

Narrator
After determining there were no prints on any of the exposed surfaces Crime Scene Investigator J.C. Day moves the rifle from it’s hiding place and hands it to Capt. Fritz.   REMOVES IT FROM IT'S HIDING PLACE

Notice that the in reference to the place where the rifle was found it was said to have been hidden....In it's HIDDING PLACE.

The official DPD in situ photos do not depict the rifle as HIDDEN.....In fact the official tale says that Lee Harrrrvey OSSSSSwald Boooo hisss simply leaned over the row of box and stuffed the rifle between the row of boxes.  The DPD photo is a fake.

Here is a stacked image of 59 video frames that Alyea was discussing.  The frames were part of a clip of Fritz standing near the weapon, while he, or someone else, was shining a flashlight near his feet and rifle.