Sixth Floor Museum, Oral History Collection, J.C. Day, 8/15/96, pages 18-19, interviewer - Bob Porter:
Carl: Anyway, I found traces of a print that extended out on the barrel, part of them apparently went up under the barrel between the barrel and the stock. So then I took the gun off and finished dusting the area, and then I found a piece of a palm print there. It looked reasonably good for comparison purposes. The usual method of collecting those prints after you develop them and can see them, is take a piece of Scotch tape and mash down over it good. And the powder will cling to the tape when you pull it off, and you can put the powder on a 3 by 5 card like this, (holding up a small card) put it on the back. And then you‟ve got the print under that tape, and you can take it and compare it. But this was very dim, which indicated that was not a new print. It didn‟t take much powder. But reflection of the light showed the dried print on the barrel. I looked at the print and it looked like this part of his palm where the gun had been laying across his hand. I‟ve forgotten now which hand it was, but I was pretty sure that this part of the palm was what I‟d collected. But it was a very dim print, and for presentation to a jury, you like the best print you could show. I could see it, but I don‟t think a jury could. But the reflection of the light when I shined it on there, I could still see pretty good impressions of that print on that barrel. So I was fixing to set up my cameras to try to take a photograph of that print, and of course on something round the light makes a streak right down one part. If you‟ve got a light here, it won‟t light up the whole thing. You‟ll see a streak of light and if you move that light a little, the light on the barrel will move around. I was going to set up a time exposure, and get it set, and then take that light and move it around the barrel to get all of the print, what I was fixing to do. About that time, I got orders from my captain, Captain Dowdy…don‟t do anything else to the gun. Stop what you‟re doing, [unclear Drain], the FBI will be in at 11:30 to pick it up. Well it, of course it caught me right in the middle of the stream. I didn‟t know just exactly what to do. I had powder all over it. They say, “Don‟t do anything else to it,” and that‟s what I do. I followed orders (chuckling). But it was kind of a frustrating thing when you‟re working with it and be interrupted in mid stream that way. I don‟t think the chief‟s office at that time knew just exactly where I stood on checking that. But anyway, I stopped and stripped it back in the stock and put it aside. I didn‟t try to wrap it up or anything because you could mess those prints up wrapping them up and handling them. I didn‟t have time to write reports or anything like that, it must have been after ten o‟clock then, so I just put the gun back in the evidence room and left it alone until Drain came in at 11:30. He had two or three people with him.
Bob: Did you know him, or was this just a…
Carl: Yes, I‟d known Drain a long time. And I told him at the time, there‟s a print here. I showed him where it is, where it was. But I don‟t know whether it registered with him or not. Anyway, he took the gun. But that‟s all that I turned over. I didn‟t turn over the lift that I‟d previously made of that dim print, because I thought that they would find that under there and come up with their own print. My orders were turn over the gun, and so I don‟t remember if I gave them anything else or not - there may have been one or two other things. But I didn‟t even thing of giving them this print that I had lifted off of there. Well, the gun was taking about 11:30 that night. I worked all night - I didn‟t come in the next day. Sunday the gun was returned, but I wasn‟t there when it was returned, and it was in a box, a big box. But again, I was directed not to do anything else with it, just leave it alone. And I didn‟t open the box. And I never did get back to checking the print, they told me not to do anything else with it, and I didn‟t. I felt sure it was his print when I briefly examined it…that palm print that I got off the barrel.
Bob: Yes.
Carl: And when I went to, no I‟m getting ahead of myself. I didn‟t hear anymore of the gun after I gave it to Drain. I knew it came back and was in our evidence room. But I didn‟t examine it or do anything else with the evidence at all.
