Mr. SIMS. Well, someone then hollered--we started a search of the sixth floor then, going from east to west--all the officers, and someone had found the rifle over by the stairway.
Mr. BALL. That would be in what corner of the building?
Mr. SIMS. That would be in actually the northwest corner of the building.
Mr. BALL. And what happened then?
Mr. SIMS. Then, we went over to where the rifle was found.
Mr. BALL. Did you see the rifle?
Mr. SIMS. Yes; I saw the rifle.
Mr. BALL. Where was the rifle?
Mr. SIMS. It was laying there near a stairway, partially covered by some paper.
Notice that Sims reference for the location of the rifle as 8 feet from the stairs has been deleted .
Sims said that the gun was laying on the floor ( not jammed between boxes ) and it was about 5 feet from the west wall and about 8 feet from the stairway.
The liars swore that the in situ photo ( the fake) was taken before anything was moved....So where's the paper that was partially covering the rifle?
And why does the in situ photo ( the fake) show that the rifle is NOT laying on the floor and it is about three feet from the stairs???
Mr. BALL - What happened then?
Mr. BOONE - Some of the other officers came over to look at it. I told them to stand back, not to get around close, they might want to take prints of some of the boxes, and not touch the rifle. And at that time Captain Fritz and an ID man came over. I believe the ID man's name was Lieutenant Day--I am not sure. They came over and the weapon was photographed as it lay. And at that time Captain Fritz picked it up by the strap, and it was removed from the place where it was. (Here, Boone's memory failed him as it was Day who picked up the rifle by the strap)
Mr. BALL - You saw them take the photograph?
Mr. BOONE - Yes.
Mr. BALL - Were you alone at that time?
Mr. BOONE - There was an Officer Weitzman, I believe. He is a deputy constable.
Mr. BALL - Where was the rifle located on the floor, general location?
Mr. BOONE - Well, it was almost--the stairwell is in the corner of the building, something like this, and there is a wall coming up here, making one side of the stairwell with the building acting as the other two sides. And from that,
it was almost directly in front or about 8 feet south, I guess, it would be, from that partition wall that made up the stairwell.
Sims said that he rifle was about 8 feet from the stairs, and Boone said the rifle was about 8 feet from the stairs , and Studebaker measured the distance from the rifle to the stairs and he found the distance to be 15 feet 4 inches....