"Overthinking" (or maybe not?) the Walker attempt

[Charles Collins]

As I stated on another thread, when I bought my 30-06 in Phoenix in 1976 out of the classified ads in the Arizona Republic, the seller and I met in the parking lot of Park Central Mall as a mutually convenient spot. I simply gave him the cash and he gave me the rifle. Possibly we introduced ourselves as Lance and Vladimir, but I don't recall even that. People who didn't live in a state like Arizona or Texas in the 1960's and 1970's perhaps have no idea the extent to which buying and selling guns was no more complex than buying and selling golf clubs or baby strollers. Yes, the gun would be identifiable by serial number, but tracing it would be a hell of a project.

On second thought, perhaps LHO intentionally wanted the rifle to be traced to himself. He apparently wanted to leave his Walker attempt planning records for the “historical record”. So, why not make it apparent that the revolver and rifle both belonged to himself also?

[Lance Payette]

On second thought, perhaps LHO intentionally wanted the rifle to be traced to himself. He apparently wanted to leave his Walker attempt planning records for the “historical record”. So, why not make it apparent that the revolver and rifle both belonged to himself also?

There is also the possibility, addressed in Marina's WC testimony, that he wanted to be caught.

[Charles Collins]

There is also the possibility, addressed in Marina's WC testimony, that he wanted to be caught.

I don’t remember reading that, but I will take your word for it. Also, remember that he still had the Alek Hidell IDs on him when he was arrested. That seems to me to possibly point toward him wanting the rifle to be traced to himself.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

I don’t remember reading that, but I will take your word for it. Also, remember that he still had the Alek Hidell IDs on him when he was arrested. That seems to me to possibly point toward him wanting the rifle to be traced to himself.

Liebeler asked her about this since he had left behind so much incriminating evidence:

Mr. LIEBELER. Did it seem strange to you at the time, Marina, that Lee did make these careful plans, take pictures, and write it up in a notebook, and then when he went out to shoot at General Walker he left all that incriminating evidence fight in the house so that if he had ever been stopped and questioned and if that notebook had been found, it would have clearly indicated that he was the one that shot at General Walker?
Mrs. OSWALD. He was such a person that nothing seems peculiar to me for what he did. I had so many surprises from him that nothing surprised me. He may have wished to appear such a brave man or something.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you ever have the feeling that he really wanted to be caught in connection with the Walker affair?
Mrs. OSWALD. I don't know how to answer that--maybe yes and maybe no. I couldn't read his mind.

The McMillan book goes over in great detail the Walker attempt. Viz., how Marina knew based on his erratic behavior that he was up so something. About a month before the attempt he ordered her to write the Soviet Embassy asking to be let back in. She didn't want to go back but he forced her to. Again, he was planning on abandoning them again. Shortly before the attempt the beatings got worse (the neighbors complained to the landlord about it). Oddly after the attempt she said he destroyed some papers - the maps he had - but kept others. Why some but not all? Maybe the more incriminating evidence but not other?

[Lance Payette]

While I'm off in the ozone anyway, I virtually never see it discussed why Oswald would have felt he was obligated to shoot JFK from the cramped, exceedingly risky, difficult-to-escape-from 6th floor of the TSBD. OK, you've decided to shoot JFK. No one pays any attention to what you're doing anyway, and the event is during the lunch hour. Disappear a few minutes early with your curtain rods, ascend to the roof of the Dal-Tex building or wherever, do the deed, and blend back into the crowd. By all accounts, it would have been an easier shot. Ba-da-boom, ba-da-bing.

[John Corbett]

As I stated on another thread, when I bought my 30-06 in Phoenix in 1976 out of the classified ads in the Arizona Republic, the seller and I met in the parking lot of Park Central Mall as a mutually convenient spot. I simply gave him the cash and he gave me the rifle. Possibly we introduced ourselves as Lance and Vladimir, but I don't recall even that. People who didn't live in a state like Arizona or Texas in the 1960's and 1970's perhaps have no idea the extent to which buying and selling guns was no more complex than buying and selling golf clubs or baby strollers. Yes, the gun would be identifiable by serial number, but tracing it would be a hell of a project.

There is no federal law requiring records being kept for sales between individuals. Gun dealers have been required to keep records of gun purchases since 1938. The fact Oswald decided to purchase a rifle via mail order rather than from a private seller is evidence of nothing. Trying to read Oswald's mind an any point in time is a futile effort.

[Charles Collins]

While I'm off in the ozone anyway, I virtually never see it discussed why Oswald would have felt he was obligated to shoot JFK from the cramped, exceedingly risky, difficult-to-escape-from 6th floor of the TSBD. OK, you've decided to shoot JFK. No one pays any attention to what you're doing anyway, and the event is during the lunch hour. Disappear a few minutes early with your curtain rods, ascend to the roof of the Dal-Tex building or wherever, do the deed, and blend back into the crowd. By all accounts, it would have been an easier shot. Ba-da-boom, ba-da-bing.

The sniper’s nest was apparently set up for supported shots, while seated on the seat box, in the kill zone (just after the limo emerged from beneath the oak tree) on Elm Street. Yes, I have built my own full size physical model and sat in it while aiming a similar sized rifle at targets placed at the proper angles. I cannot imagine any other reasonable place providing an easier shot. It is tight quarters, but concealment was part of LHO’s reason for selecting that spot. While simply sitting straight up on the seat box, LHO was able to view the approaching limo on Houston Street without exposing much of himself to the folks outside (for the most part). When the limo was essentially right below LHO all he had to do was raise the rifle up from his lap, lean forward, support his arm and the rifle on the window boxes, aim and pull the trigger. He was mostly concealed until the very last few seconds.

For what it is worth, I helped my cousin eliminate a groundhog a few days ago. It was rambling down a grassy hill when I saw it. I kept an eye on it while my cousin went to fetch his rifle. I told him where it was at the point in time that he returned with his rifle. He spotted it, dropped down so his arm and the rifle were supported on the table in front of him, and hit the groundhog in the head the first and only shot. The whole shot sequence only took a very few seconds. He isn’t an expert marksman or anything but knows how to shoot pretty well. I don’t think he had practiced with his rifle recently. He and his wife just returned from their winter home in the Florida Keys a week or two ago. A supported shot while seated is one of the most stable shots available to a shooter.