?30-odd six? rifle
How about a simple transcription error (Thirty Ought Six) by the court transcriber that was repeated and not corrected?
Mr. SPECTER - When you say, .30-odd-6, exactly what did you mean by that?
Mr. SPECTER - And is that a .30-odd-6 rifle that you have hunted deer with?
Mr. SPECTER - Was the rifle which you observed similar to, or perhaps identical with, .30-odd rifles which you have seen before?
Mr. SPECTER - Have you seen such .30-odd rifles before at close range which had telescopic sights?
In an FBI report dated 23/11/1963 it had "and holding what appeared to be a .306 rifle with telescopic sight on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository."
There is no "odd" in the description.
he finally convinces himself there was another person.
No - there was another person on the 6th floor who left remnants of his lunch exactly where Rowland saw the Negro gentleman who fit his description except for the age.
The gunman and BRW were on the same floor for 10 minutes.
The count of people altering Rowland's statement is now up to four. Maybe the problem is Rowland.
.306 ....Or the FBI Agent wrote it down exactly like he said it, Three OH Six. Just like the 30 Odd Six another cartridge that doesn't exist. The US military had recently developed a new cartridge to be used in the M1A's called the .308, pronounced Three OH Eight, Rowland makes up his own cartridge again and calls it the Three OH Six which is what the FBI Agent wrote down. The British also had a cartridge called the Three OH Three (.303) from World War II. Once again he gets it wrong. Apparently he changed from Three OH Six to 30 Odd Six. Either way Specter shows he has know idea what he is talking about. Once again you cannot tell the caliber of a rifle from a distance.
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All Rowland had to do was repeat his affidavit from 11/22 but he was unable to to that without embelishing the story. Rowland never seen anyone in the other window. The first mention of an additional person in the SN does not occurr until he is interviewed by the WC. Even then his description of the person is a developed as the interview progresses.
At first he isn't even sure what this supposed person looks like let alone that he describes BRW.
This is not a description of Bonnie Ray Williams. Rowland is not sure he is even a colored man.
Mr. ROWLAND - At the time I saw the man in the other window, I saw this man hanging out the window first. It was a colored man, I think.
Now he starts to add to the description. He is a Negro and an elderly one.
Mr. SPECTER - Will you describe with as much particularity as you can what that man looked like?
Mr. ROWLAND - It seemed to me an elderly Negro, that is about all. I didn't pay very much attention to him.
Now Rowland really adds to the description and it is definitely not a description of BRW. He even goes as far as to describe the height and weight of a man that he says is hanging out of the window.
Mr. SPECTER - Mr. Rowland, a couple of other questions.
Are you able to give us any other type of a description of the Negro gentleman whom you observed in the window we marked "A" with respect to height, weight, age?
Mr. ROWLAND - He was very thin, an elderly gentleman, bald or practically bald, very thin hair if he wasn't bald. Had on a plaid shirt. I think it was red and green, very bright color, that is why I remember it.
Mr. SPECTER - Can you give us an estimate as to age?
Mr. ROWLAND - Fifty; possibly 55 or 60.
Mr. SPECTER - Can you give us an estimate as to height?
Mr. ROWLAND - 5'8", 5'10", in that neighborhood. He was very slender, very thin.
Mr. SPECTER - Can you give us a more definite description as to complexion?
Mr. ROWLAND - Very dark or fairly dark, not real dark compared to some Negroes, but fairly dark. Seemed like his face was either--I can't recall detail but it was either very wrinkled or marked in some way.
Number one that in no way is a description of BRW. Is there any real doubt why the WC did not believe a word that Rowland told them? He could not tell the same story twice. He is shown by Slpecter and the WC members over and over again to be fabricating his story and embellishing the details. This is why Ford finally asks him :
Representative FORD - Mr. Rowland, have you ever had occasion to go back to the scene and reconstruct it? Have you ever gone back--
The CHAIRMAN - Supposing we take a few minutes recess.
Mr. ROWLAND - The answer to that question is yes; I do all the time. I pass that area very frequently.
