Testimony of Leo J. Gauthier

Mr. Specter.

Would you state your full name for the record, please?

Mr. Gauthier.

Leo J. Gauthier.

Mr. Specter.

And by whom are you employed, sir?

Mr. Gauthier.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Mr. Specter.

And what is your rank with the Federal Bureau of Investigation?

Mr. Gauthier.

Inspector. I am in charge of the Bureau's exhibit section, where we prepare investigative aids, consisting of diagrams, charts, maps, three-dimensional exhibits, in connection with the presentation of cases in court.

Mr. Specter.

How long have you been employed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation?

Mr. Gauthier.

Twenty-nine years.

Mr. Specter.

Did you have occasion to reconstruct certain models to scale in connection with the investigation on the assassination of President Kennedy?

Mr. Gauthier.

Yes; I did.

Mr. Specter.

And what model reproduction, if any, did you make of the scene of the assassination itself?

Mr. Gauthier.

The data, concerning the scene of the assassination, was developed by the Bureau's Exhibits Section, including myself, at the site on December 2, 3, and 4,. of 1963. From this data we built a three-dimensional exhibit, one-quarter of an inch to the foot. It contained the pertinent details of the site, including street lights, catch basin, concrete structures in the area, including buildings, grades, scale models of the cars that comprised the motorcade, consisting of the police lead car, the Presidential car, the followup car, the Lincoln open car that the Vice President was riding in, and the followup car behind the Vice-Presidential car.

Mr. Specter.

On the model of the scene itself, Mr. Gauthier, did you reproduce a portion of the scene which is depicted in Commission Exhibit No. 876?

Mr. Gauthier.

Yes; I did.

Mr. Specter.

Handing you that Commission Exhibit No. 876, I will ask you to describe what it represents in toto.

Mr. Gauthier.

This is an aerial view of the site known as Dealey Plaza, in Dallas, Tex.
It indicates the large buildings that surround this area. They are numbered 1 through 11. It indicates the main streets--Commerce, Main, and Elm Streets, and the roadways through the plaza, including the triple underpass.

Mr. Specter.

I now hand you a document which has been marked as Commission Exhibit No. 877 and ask you if that document was obtained by you in connection with the survey for the model which you prepared.

Mr. Gauthier.

Yes; this is a description of Dealey Plaza stating the historical background and the physical description.

Mr. Specter.

I move at this time for the admission into evidence of Commission Exhibits Nos. 876 and 877.

The Chairman.

They may be admitted.
(The documents referred to were marked Commission Exhibits Nos. 876 and 877 for identification, and received in evidence.)

Mr. Specter.

Inspector, I now hand you two photographs marked as Commission Exhibits Nos. 878 and 879 and ask you to state what those depict.
(The documents referred to were marked Commission Exhibits Nos. 878 and 879 for identification.)

Mr. Gauthier.

Commission Exhibit No. 878 is a view of the scale model looking toward the northeast with the Texas School Book Depository Building in the background, together with the Daltex Building, and a portion of the Dallas County Courthouse. It includes the pergola to the left, and the pericycle structure on the right with the reflecting pool in the immediate background.
It also shows the roadway through the plaza, which is an extension of Elm Street, upon which appears miniature scale models of the vehicles in the motorcade.

Mr. Dulles.

What motorcade is this?

Mr. Gauthier.

We are depicting the Presidential motorcade at the time of the assassination, the motorcade that passed that area.

Mr. Gauthier.

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