They asked Adrian Alba this during his testimony.
Mr. LIEBELER - He was really interested----
Mr. ALBA - He was more interested in the Japanese rifle.
Mr. LIEBELER - Had you already sporterized that?
Mr. ALBA - That was completely sporterized.
Mr. LIEBELER - What do you do to a rifle when you sporterize it?
Mr. ALBA - Alter the stock, eliminate me of the weight, and the length of the stock, because it is a military piece to start with, and you glass-bead the stock.
Mr. LIEBELER - And what does that mean?
Mr. ALBA - To accurize the stock, and you put this where you have all metal in contact in the stock. It is referred to as accurizing, and sporterizing, and customizing a piece.
This is interesting given the fact we just saw that Warren Caster supposedly purchased a ?sporterized? .30.06 Mauser and brought it into the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD) on November 20, 1963. In #81 we looked at some of the incidents that were supposedly LHO taking target practice and we covered this testimony.
Quote on
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you see the rifle closely that day--you must have handled it in looking through the scope?
Mr. PRICE. Oh, yes; I handled it--it was a Mauser-type rifle.
Mr. LIEBELER. What do you mean by that--I don't know anything about rifles?
Mr. PRICE. Well, it's strictly a military rifle and it's patterned after the German Mauser.
Mr. LIEBELER. A bolt-action rifle?
Mr. PRICE.. A bolt action, and the general outline it had--about oh, possibly a six shot clip that set just ahead of the trigger, and I understand it was a 6.5 Italian, but at that time I didn't know. I thought it was a Mauser because there's a friend of mine in Grand Prairie that has an Argentine Mauser that was 7.6 and it looked very familiar--they looked a whole lot alike.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you have a chance to look at any of the writing or printing that was stamped on the rifle?
Mr. PRICE. Well, the only thing that I could see on it--I looked for a brand name so I could see approximately where it was made, and the only thing that I could find on it was a serial number.
It is obvious Mr. Price wants to aid the WC as he throws in the mention of an Italian rifle, but we know it was NOT the alleged murder weapon simply because that rifle had ?MADE ITALY? and ?6.5? stamped on it and Price said the ONLY thing he could find was the serial number. Also, the rifle Price saw was ?sporterized? (remember Warren Caster?s Mauser?) and the alleged murder weapon has NEVER been accused of this.
Mr. LIEBELER. It had been taken off as part of the attempt to sporterize the rifle?
Mr. PRICE. Yes.
Quote off
This line of questioning is again interesting to the overall picture.
Mr. LIEBELER - And do you recall telling them that Oswald was interested in the number of inches that had been cut from the barrel of the gun?
Mr. ALBA - I believe I did; yes.
Mr. LIEBELER - Do you recall what Oswald said, about that?
Mr. ALBA - No; not other than a general discussion of the trajectory and the feet per second, and et cetera, and the general accuracy elimination--I mean elimination of the accuracy of the gun cutting the barrel off.
Mr. LIEBELER - What is the effect of cutting the barrel?
Mr. ALBA - On the accuracy of a rifle; none.
Mr. LIEBELER - Did you tell Oswald that?
Mr. LIEBELER - Did he seem surprised?
Mr. ALBA - Not that my memory would--if my memory-would serve me correctly; no.
Why were they so interested in LHO?s knowledge and interest in this? Was it too see if he could have been at the target ranges as claimed? The next exchange pretty much eliminates the claim LHO would purchase anything like the Mannlicher-Carcano (M-C) to do the deed as claimed.
Mr. LIEBELER - Did he seem to have a fairly good knowledge of a rifle?
Mr. ALBA - He did of the military pieces, the M-1 and the Garand. He was asking questions about the Japanese rifle and the Springfield, the l 3-A, the A-3 Springfield, inquiring questions about those pieces, but he seemed to have a very thorough knowledge of the M-1 and the Garand.
Mr. LIEBELER - You just mentioned two different rifles, or three different rifles that he showed a real familiarity with?
Mr. ALBA - Two.
Mr. LIEBELER - This was the straight M-1 gas-operated rifle that has been used by the military services?
Mr. ALBA - Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER - And the other was the Springfield?
Mr. ALBA - No, no; the other was the Garand M-1. The Garand M-1 and you have the M-l, carbine. Both are gas-operated.
Mr. LIEBELER - Those are the only two weapons that he show any particular or real familiarity with, is that correct?
Mr. ALBA - That is correct.
LHO showed knowledge of just the M-1 and its CARBINE companion. That is all is according to Alba who discussed weapons with him, so why would he go with a cheap rifle like the M-C that required using a bolt?
It makes no sense like the rest of the WC?s case. This along with many other things shows us that LHO was NOT guilty of this crime in my opinion. What do you think?
