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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. II - Page 48« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Mark Resumed In Open Session Lane)

Mr. Lane.
the scorecard indicating Oswald's marksmanship or lack of marksmanship while in the Marine Corps.
In addition to that, you have the documents given to you by Marguerite Oswald, Lee Oswald's mother, which contained a scorecard maintained by Oswald while in the Marine Corps, showing his score in fast and slow shooting at various different yardages, in reference to both an M-1, as I recall, and an American carbine. Now, of course, it has been alleged on occasion that Mr. Oswald practiced with his rifle, on occasion, on weekends, at rifle ranges.
Mrs. Paine, with whom Lee Oswald's wife lived for the 2 month period preceding the assassination, and where Lee Oswald himself spent weekends for that 2 months period preceding the assassination, told me that . Oswald could not have ever gone to a rifle range on a weekend, since she can account for his whereabouts during that entire 2 month period just preceding the assassination.
Mr. Rankin.
Can you give us the day of that conversation with Mrs. Paine?
Mr. Lane.
I have had about five conversations with her. The first one would be, oh, I believe, New Year's Day. I think that is the first time this year--I believe that is the first time that she made the statement to me. She said she could account for Oswald's whereabouts during that 2 month period on weekends, from Friday late afternoon, when he left work in Dallas and arrived there in. Irving, until early Monday morning.
She said the exception is during that time she didn't watch him every moment, of course there might be exceptions when she went shopping for half an hour, and he was left home to take care of the children, her two children, his children. But that unless he ran out quickly into the back yard with the rifle and shot and then quickly put the rifle away while caring for three children or four children, that it would be impossible for him to practice with the rifle on weekends.
Since it has been alleged that the rifle was in the garage during the entire period of time, of course that was in Irving, Tex, and he was in Dallas, Tex.-it would have been impossible for him to practice during the week while he was in Dallas, with that particular rifle.
Of course one must zero in a rifle in order to be even fairly accurate with it. One must practice with the specific weapon which one is going to use, in order to have any accuracy, in any event.
Now, I spoke with Dial M. Ryder, who is a gunsmith in Irving, Tex., at the Irving Sport Shop, and he told me that he mounted a telescopic sight on a rifle for a man named Oswald during October 1963.
Now, unfortunately, he does not recall--that is around the deer season, he informed me, and a lot of people are getting rifles fixed or repaired or sights mounted on them during that time in the Dallas-Irving area. And he does not recall, therefore, what this gentleman named Oswald looks like.
But he does know that a rifle was brought to him by someone whose name now appears in this record as Oswald, and that he drilled three holes in the rifle for a mount, telescopic mount. He said he had only seen three rifles which required three holes for telescopic mount--a 303 British Enfield, a 303 American Springfield army surplus rifle, or an Eddystone, which is also an American rifle. He said, therefore, he did not attach a telescopic sight to the Italian carbine, because he would have only drilled two holes.
His employer, I think his name is Greener, he told me, checked with all the Oswalds they could find in the Irving area after this matter came to their attention, and could not find anyone in that area--and they called some people in Dallas also named Oswald--could not find anyone named Oswald who brought the rifle in to him.
I talked to Milton Klein, who is the owner of Klein's sporting goods store in Chicago--Klein's Sporting Goods is the name of the establishment, in Chicago.
Mr. Rankin.
When was this?
Mr. Lane.
I spoke with him within the last 2 or 3 days. And he told me that--he runs the mail-order house which sent the carbine, Italian carbine, to Dallas, not to Oswald, but to A. Hidell, and that he sent that out with the holes already bored in the Italian carbine, and equipped with a telescopic sight which was already attached to the rifle.
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