"I was on the floor looking under the flat at the same time he [Boone] was looking
on the top side and we saw the gun, I would say, simultaneously and I said,
"There it is" and he started hollering, "We got it."
-- Weitzman
Interesting. If the rifle is beneath the pallet, how can Boone (on top of the pallet) see through the stacked books to the floor?
"Well, I would be looking over--Boone was looking the top side; I was looking under
the flat. We were looking over everything. I was behind this section of books.
I believe there were more books in here."
-- Weitzman
Hmm. "I was behind this section of books"? He's probably crouched down near the floor ("I was looking under the flat") when he saw the rifle trough the gap between the stacked cartons ("I was behind this section of books").
"at the time we found the gun there were no boxes protruding over the gun"
-- Weitzman
Doesn't sound like there's a pallet and a huge stack of cartons over the rifle.
  CE 515 (marked by Boone) |
Mr. BALL - Now, 515 contains the arrow which shows the space between boxes
where you found the rifle, is that right?
Mr. BOONE - Yes.
Boone's arrow point to the line of boxes where the rifle appears in the Crime Lab pictures.
"I left Fritz in charge while Deputy Boone and I began looking for the weapon.
...
Boone was about six to eight feet from me when he said, "I see it!"
I stepped over and looked between the cartons and said, "Sure, that's the weapon!"
-- Luke Mooney, in "No More Silence" (Snead, 1998)
"Looked between the cartons".
Mr. BELIN - How far were you from Officer Boone when he hollered?
Mr. CRAIG - About 8-foot.
Mr. BELIN - What did you do then?
Mr. CRAIG - I went over to the--uh--luster of boxes where he was standing and
looked down between the boxes and saw the rifle lying on the floor.
Mr. BELIN - When you say "between the cluster of boxes," could you describe
which way the boxes were?
Mr. CRAIG - There was a row going east to west on the north side of the weapon,
and a box going east to west on the south side of the weapon, and--uh--if I
remember, uh--as you'd look down, you had to look kinda back under the
north stack of boxes to see the rifle. It was pushed kinda under---uh---or up
tight against 'em---you know, where it would be hard to see. And, of course,
both ends of the rows were closed off where you couldn't see through 'em.
You had to get up and look in 'em.
Mr. BELIN - You are gesturing with your hand there---would you say that the boxes,
then, as you gestured, were in the shape of what I would call a rectangular
"O", so to speak?
Mr. CRAIG - Yes, yes, uh-huh.
Mr. BELIN - And about how high were the walls of this enclosure, so to speak?
Mr. CRAIG - Well, it-it was different heights. Now, the part where I looked in
particularly was about---uh---oh, was about 5-foot.
"Looked down between the boxes and saw the rifle lying on the floor". Sounds like they're standing South of the pallets of stacked cartons and looking northward through that gap:
Gap between stacked cartons on pallets is upper center in background.
Interesting. If the rifle is beneath the pallet, how can Boone (on top of the pallet) see through the stacked books to the floor?
Boone only saw a tiny portion of the butt of the rifle that was not beneath the pallet... ( In fact boone might not have seen that tiny portion of the butt if Weitzman hadn't alerted him to the rifle on the floor beneath the pallet. ( actually between the wings of the pallet )
"at the time we found the gun there were no boxes protruding over the gun"...Seymour Weitzman
Weitzman couldn't have known what Boone saw.... because he was down on the floor shining his flashlight beneath the stack of books that were on the pallet.
Meanwhile Boone had removed at least one box the served as the roof of the crevasse in which the rifle was lying on the floor. (
"Looked down between the boxes and saw the rifle lying on the floor") Boone shined his flashlight down into the dark crevasse, and he saw a tiny portion of the butt of the rifle protruding out from beneath the boxes.
Then we have Mooney's statement that corroborates Weitzman and Boone...
"I stepped over and looked between the cartons and said, "Sure, that's the weapon!"And some added icing on the cake....Roger Craig's testimony....
Mr. CRAIG - There was a row going east to west on the north side of the weapon,
and a box going east to west on the south side of the weapon, and--uh--if I
remember, uh--as you'd look down, you had to look kinda back under the
north stack of boxes to see the rifle. It was pushed kinda under---uh---or up
tight against 'em---you know, where it would be hard to see. And, of course,
both ends of the rows were closed off where you couldn't see through 'em.
You had to get up and look in 'em.
Mr. BELIN - You are gesturing with your hand there---would you say that the boxes,
then, as you gestured, were in the shape of what I would call a rectangular
"O", so to speak?
Mr. CRAIG - Yes, yes, uh-huh.
Mr. BELIN - And about how high were the walls of this enclosure, so to speak?
Mr. CRAIG - Well, it-it was different heights. Now, the part where I looked in
particularly was about---uh---oh,
was about 5-foot.Now how the hell could anybody have dashed by the spot and hid that rifle that was beneath the pallet of books that were stacked about four feet high?
