Roger Craig

[Jim Brunsman]

Walt, I've agreed with many of your opinions, but can't do so here. It would be much easier to call Craig a liar if we didn't have the testimony of Seymour Weitzman. As a former owner of a sporting goods store and knowledgeable on firearms, when Weitzman identifies a weapon as a 7.65 Mauser with a 2.5 Weaver scope, I tend to believe him. Eugene Boone was also there. There was also a report of a British Enfield being found. I have no problem believing multiple weapons were found and I have grave doubts whether Oswald or the Carcano fired any shots that day.

[Rick Plant]

It's not nonsense? From the Book "High Treason" pg 144. "Deputy Eugene Boone and and I (Craig) found the rifle which I might add was a 7.65 Mauser, so stamped on the barrel. Weitzman signed an affidavit to the this effect."

"High Treason pg 229. Affidavits sworn at the time of the assassination by Deputy Sheriff Seymour Weitzman state the gun was a German Mauser.

Weitzman- a man with extensive experience in guns, who owned gun shops, who had a graduate degree in Engineering-that the gun was a Mauser, a favored weapon of snipers.

That's pure hogwash they didn't know what type of gun it was until SaPersonay. So a FULL day after the assassination with FBI, Police and SS nobody could identify the gun until the next day? This gun that killed the President wasn't identified until the next day doesn't hold your claim.

Spot on.

Top experts were brought into Dallas and the absurd claim that it would take a day to determine the make of the rifle is completely absurd.

Roger Craig identified the rifle as a Mauser due to the stamp embedded on the rifle. That is a solid eyewitness account.

Weitzman also agreed it was a Mauser as well. He was an owner of a sporting goods store so he was familiar with rifles. When he testified later, he changed his story and claimed he only "glanced" at the rifle.

That's an absurd statement to make. Why would a Sheriff just "glance" at the potential murder weapon that just killed Kennedy? He would give it a thorough inspection.         

Weitzman changed his story and Roger Craig never did. 

[Walt Cakebread]

Walt, I've agreed with many of your opinions, but can't do so here. It would be much easier to call Craig a liar if we didn't have the testimony of Seymour Weitzman. As a former owner of a sporting goods store and knowledgeable on firearms, when Weitzman identifies a weapon as a 7.65 Mauser with a 2.5 Weaver scope, I tend to believe him. Eugene Boone was also there. There was also a report of a British Enfield being found. I have no problem believing multiple weapons were found and I have grave doubts whether Oswald or the Carcano fired any shots that day.

Ya know Jim, I believe the word "liar" is a bit strong when referring to Roger Craig.    I believe that Craig simply had a gargantuan ego and hated to be wrong. He was a BS er.....    He had heard Weitzman speculate that the rifle lying on the floor beneath the pallet of books, when Weitzman guessed that the rifle looked like a mauser.  Craig took that WAG to heart and acted as if it was his WAG....    His ego wouldn't allow him to admit that he was wrong.....Thus several months later he attempted to bolster his declaration that the rifle was a mauser by declaring that he had seem "7.65 Mauser, stamped right there on the barrel"  .

Anybody with one good eye can see for themselves that the rifle that detective  JC Day lifted up to the cameras is a Model 91/38 Mannlicher Carcano short rifle ( often erroneously called a "Carcano carbine." ) 

[Rick Plant]

Ya know Jim, I believe the word "liar" is a bit strong when referring to Roger Craig. I believe that Craig simply had a gargantuan ego and hated to be wrong. He was a BS er.....    He had heard Weitzman speculate that the rifle lying on the floor beneath the pallet of books, when Weitzman guessed that the rifle looked like a mauser.  Craig took that WAG to heart and acted as if it was his WAG....    His ego wouldn't allow him to admit that he was wrong.....Thus several months later he attempted to bolster his declaration that the rifle was a mauser by declaring that he had seem "7.65 Mauser, stamped right there on the barrel"  .

Anybody with one good eye can see for themselves that the rifle that detective  JC Day lifted up to the cameras is a Model 91/38 Mannlicher Carcano short rifle ( often erroneously called a "Carcano carbine." )

Walt is just speculating on what he "believes". There is absolutely no real evidence to make this assertion that Craig had an "ego" or was a "bs er".

How can Weitzman "guess it was a Mauser" when the Mauser stamp is embedded on the rifle? That stamp is there for a reason. All one would have to do is read the stamp to determine it was a Mauser.   

[Walt Cakebread]

Walt is just speculating on what he "believes". There is absolutely no real evidence to make this assertion that Craig had an "ego" or was a "bs er".

How can Weitzman "guess it was a Mauser" when the Mauser stamp is embedded on the rifle? That stamp is there for a reason. All one would have to do is read the stamp to determine it was a Mauser.

There's little doubt that RC was a BS er....  Anybody who has listened to him can verify that he was a BSer.

Please show me a photo of a rifle from the TSBD that has the word "MAUSER" stamped on it.

[Mitch Todd]

Walt, I've agreed with many of your opinions, but can't do so here. It would be much easier to call Craig a liar if we didn't have the testimony of Seymour Weitzman. As a former owner of a sporting goods store and knowledgeable on firearms, when Weitzman identifies a weapon as a 7.65 Mauser with a 2.5 Weaver scope, I tend to believe him. Eugene Boone was also there. There was also a report of a British Enfield being found. I have no problem believing multiple weapons were found and I have grave doubts whether Oswald or the Carcano fired any shots that day.

Weitzman never claimed to have owned a "sporting goods store." While he did say that he "was in the sporting goods business awhile,"  this can only refer to his short stint as "general manager" of Lamont Corp. His only description of the the company is that it was a "discount operation" which ran a small chain of about a half-dozen stores in the South-central US. That sounds more like it was a dry goods or department store operation, with sporting goods (much less guns) being part of a larger product mix. Even then, he held this position for something less that a year, and his stewardship of the company ended with the whole operation being shut down and liquidated. I figure that he was hired by Lamont's owners specifically to wind down an already-ailing company. At any rate, there is noting about Weitzman's tenure with Lamont Corp that provides any confidence that he had any particular expertise in firearms useful in identifying a particular rifle.

[Walt Cakebread]

Weitzman never claimed to have owned a "sporting goods store." While he did say that he "was in the sporting goods business awhile,"  this can only refer to his short stint as "general manager" of Lamont Corp. His only description of the the company is that it was a "discount operation" which ran a small chain of about a half-dozen stores in the South-central US. That sounds more like it was a dry goods or department store operation, with sporting goods (much less guns) being part of a larger product mix. Even then, he held this position for something less that a year, and his stewardship of the company ended with the whole operation being shut down and liquidated. I figure that he was hired by Lamont's owners specifically to wind down an already-ailing company. At any rate, there is noting about Weitzman's tenure with Lamont Corp that provides any confidence that he had any particular expertise in firearms useful in identifying a particular rifle.

I agree completely,  Mitch..... But something I've read, Leads me to believe that Seymour Weitzman was familiar wit a 7.65 Mauser and the Carcano does resemble a 7.65 Mauser, thus it was an honest mistake when he speculated that the rifle they saw on the floor beneath the pallet of books was a mauser.    The problem arose when Roger Craig's ego got in the way....

[Jerry Freeman]

 

Mr. BALL - In the statement that you made to the Dallas Police Department that afternoon, you referred to the rifle as a 7.65 Mauser bolt action?
Mr. WEITZMAN - In a glance, that's what it looked like.
Mr. BALL - That's what it looked like did you say that or someone else say that?
Mr. WEITZMAN - No; I said that. I thought it was one.
Mr. BALL - Are you fairly familiar with rifles?
Mr. WEITZMAN - Fairly familiar because I was in the sporting goods business awhile.
Mr. BALL - What branch of service were you in?
Mr. WEITZMAN - U.S. Air Force.
Mr. BALL - Did you handle rifles?
Mr. WEITZMAN - Mostly Thompson machine guns and pistols.
Mr. BALL - I understand that. Now, in your statement to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, you gave a description of the rifle, how it looked.
Mr. WEITZMAN - I said it was a Mauser-type action, didn't I?

  What you see is what you get.