Oswald spent shells fingerprints?

[Steve Thomas]

Mr Strawman strikes again.  Oswald's prints weren't found.

John,

At this point we can't say whether Oswald's prints were, or were not found on the shell casings, at least that I know, because I can't find that they were ever tested.

What we do know is that a Dallas City policeman responded to a call that a fellow officer had been shot. While there, he is approached by a civilian who hands him two shells, and tells him that "these are the bullets that killed that officer."

You are that responding policeman. When confronted with this startling information, you take the following action:
1) You do not take this witness's statement
2) You do not get his name
3) You do not ask him where he found these shells
4) The shells are not tested for fingerprints, even though an officer from the crime lab with his fingerprint kit is standing there right in front of you actually using that kit dusting the car for prints.

Uh huh

Steve Thomas

[Paul McBrearty]

Oswald's Thumbprint ?

[Walt Cakebread]

Oswald's Thumbprint ?

That print looks like the print of Will Fritz.....

[Lee Wotton]

3 spent cartridges on the floor of the Texas School Book Depository.
1 live round in the rifle - that makes 4
4 cartridges recovered at the scene of Tippit's shooting - that makes 8
5 rounds found in Oswald's pocket - that makes 13
a fully loaded revolver with 6 rounds - that makes 19
On 19 bullets or cartridges, Oswald's fingerprints were not found on a single one of them?
Was anyone's prints found on any of them?
Doesn't that seem odd?

Were the spent shells from the revolver ever tested for fingerprints? I just don't remember.
The reason I ask is that Benavides told the WC that he had seen the shooter take 2 shells out of the gun and throw them.
http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/benavide.htm

?Mr. BELIN - Well, did you see the man empty his gun?
Mr. BENAVIDES - That is what he was doing. He took one out and threw it.?
?Mr. BENAVIDES - Yes. As he turned the corner he was putting another shell in his gun.
Mr. BELIN - You saw him?
Mr. BENAVIDES - I mean, he was acting like. I didn't see him actually put a shell in his gun, but he acted like he was trying to reload it.?
?Mr. BELIN - Now you saw him throw two shells?
Mr. BENAVIDES - Yes, sir.?
 
He also told the the WC that he (Benavides) had picked one up and then dropped it back down in the grass.
When he gave the shells to Poe, why didn't Poe ask him where he got them?
Mr. BELIN - When the officers came out there, did you tell them what you had seen?
Mr. BENAVIDES - No, sir.
Mr. BELIN - What did you do?
Mr. BENAVIDES - I left right after. I give the shells to the officer. I turned around and went back and we returned to work.

Poe never asked, "Where did you get these"? and "How did they get there?"

Later that evening, around 4:00 PM, two officers came to see him....
"I was just trying to hide from the reporters and everything, and these two officers came around and asked me if I'd seen him, and I told him yes, and told them what I had seen..."

After knowing that Benavides had seen the suspect take two empty shells and throw them, did they fingerprint the shells? Wouldn't that have established for sure that Oswald was there?
Did they fingerprint Benavides?
Apparently they didn't fingerprint him.
Mr. BELIN - Did he ever take you to the police station and ask you if you could identify him?
Mr. BENAVIDES - No; they didn't.
Which means that he wasn't taken down to the station to be fingerprinted either as a means of eliminating him as a suspect.

According to Day's WC testimony, both the empty shells and the live round were tested for fingerprints, and no prints at all were found.
http://jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/day1.htm
Mr. DAY. Were taken, I processed these three hulls (found at the TSBD) for fingerprints, using a powder. Mr. Sims picked them up by the ends and handed them to me. I processed each of the three; did not find fingerprints.
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. 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.

What about the shells Benavides says he saw Oswald throw?

Steve Thomas

They obviously forgot to take the shells to the morgue when they took the rifle there to put Oswald's palm print on it!!

[John Mytton]

Lt. Day said he dusted the rifle shells for prints and no prints were found. Looks like that print may have been left on the shell afterwards.

Steve Thomas

Day said no "legible" prints were found, meaning whatever prints were there weren't of sufficient value for identification.

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.



JohnM

[John Anderson]

Maybe Dallas PD were accustomed to kicking a confession out of a suspect they thought was guilty. With a confession and guilty plea there's no need for evidence. Maybe that's unfair but they certainly seemed to be quite blase about a lot of things in the case.

Fritz's testimony regarding not taking notes because they were old school and had been trained to have reliable memories is astounding considering he struggled to answer many of the WC's questions. Maybe he was better when he was younger.

[Dale Nason]

I've said for years that the Dallas Police were the most inept and stupid police department that I've ever known to exist on 11/22/63. Police Departments today must be laughing their asses off at them. I can't believe the mistakes they made.

[Walt Cakebread]

I've said for years that the Dallas Police were the most inept and stupid police department that I've ever known to exist on 11/22/63. Police Departments today must be laughing their asses off at them. I can't believe the mistakes they made.

Mistakes??....  They were the LAW..... They decided who was guilty and then set about sending that poor sucker to prison.  That's the way things were done in Henry Wade's and LBJ's Texas....