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The Fiber Evidence - Gil Jesus - 10-06-2024
https://gil-jesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/fibers.png
By Gil Jesus ( 2024 )
I. The blanket fibers in the bag
"Inside the bag were...a single brown delustered viscose fiber and several light-green cotton fibers....The fibers found in the bag were compared with brown viscose and green cotton fibers taken from the blanket. The brown viscose fiber found in the bag matched some of the brown viscose fibers found in the blanket....Each green cotton fiber found in the bag matched some of the green cotton fibers from the blanket....." ( Report, pg. 591 )
While the Report was quick to note that the fibers in the bag matched some of the fibers taken from the blanket, it suppressed the conclusion of its fiber expert, FBI agent Paul M. Stombaugh, that because he found too few fibers in the bag, he could not positively identify them as having come from the blanket.
Mr. EISENBERG. Now, in your mind what do you feel about the origin of the fibers you found in the bag ?
Mr. STOMBAUGH. I didn't find enough fibers to form an opinion on those. ( 4 H 88 )
The Commission speculates how the fibers got in the bag
The Commission concluded that the rifle picked up the blanket fibers and while it was in the paper "gunsack", released them into the bag.
This conclusion relied on a "hypothetical question" asked of Stombaugh and his opinion:
Mr. EISENBERG.....if the rifle had lain in the blanket, which is 140, and were then put inside the bag 142, could it have picked up fibers from the blanket and transferred them to the bag ?
Mr. STOMBAUGH. Yes. ( 4 H 81 )
It could have, but did it ?
Did the rifle pick up fibers from the blanket and release them into the bag ? And if it did, how many fibers would it pick up ? Would it release all of the fibers into the bag or would some remain on the rifle ?
The Commission never ran any tests with the rifle, blanket and bag in order to prove this is what happened.
No blanket fibers on the rifle
One would think that the Commission concluded the rifle transferred the fibers from the blanket to the bag because blanket fibers remained on the rifle.
But the fact is that the rifle, when examined, contained no fibers from the blanket.
"no fibers were found on the K1 gun that could be associated with the Q12 blanket" ( FBI file # 105-82555, Sec 21, pg. 177 )
If the rifle was the transfer vehicle for the blanket fibers, shouldn't there be evidence for that ? Shouldn't there be fibers still on the rifle ?
Why was the rifle, bound tightly with twine and in contact with the blanket for months and allegedly moved from Dallas to New Orleans back to Dallas, not able to hold onto the blanket fibers but was able to hold the shirt fibers so tightly, that they had to be removed with tweezers ?
Once again, the Commission turned to its fiber expert, Stombaugh, who testified that any blanket fibers loosely adhering to the rifle, "could have been dusted off" during the processing by police for fingerprints. ( 4 H 88 )
This was the Commission's "explanation" for the absence of blanket fibers on the rifle. More "could have been" speculation without proof.
Of course, the Commission could have had that proof had it run tests with the blanket and the rifle.
But it didn't.
Therefore, the Commission's conclusion that the rifle transferred the fibers from the blanket to the bag was based on an opinion rather than evidence obtained from a test.
What the Commission gave us was pure speculation: It provided no evidence that the rifle picked up fibers from the blanket. Absent blanket fibers on the rifle, there was no evidence that the blanket fibers were ever on the rifle. There was no evidence that blanket fibers were dusted away during the processing of the rifle for fingerprints.
And the way police handled the bag with the open end facing down, suggests that there were no fibers in the bag when it left the Texas School Book Depository.
Photographs show police carrying the bag with the open end down
In addition, famous news photographs taken outside the Texas School Book Depository of Detective Robert L. Montgomery with the paper "gunsack" show that he carried the bag with the open end pointed down.
The photo on the right shows Montgomery making an obscene hand gesture to the news photographer with his left hand behind the bag.
https://gil-jesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/monty-montage.jpg
If he knew there was something inside the bag, no detective worth his salt would handle an open ended bag with the open end facing down. Even if he didn't know for sure there was something inside, he would not handle the bag that way. The only reason he would handle the bag with the open end down is if he knew the bag had nothing in it and there was no danger of losing evidence that might be inside.
The fact that police handled the bag with the open end down suggests that there were no blanket fibers in it when it left the Texas School Book Depository.
II. The shirt fibers found on the rifle
On the evening of November 22nd, part of the evidence turned over to FBI agent Vincent Drain included the rifle, blanket, gunsack, and Oswald's shirt.
The FBI found a "tuft" of six or seven cotton fibers which were caught by a jagged edge of the butt plate of the CE 139 rifle. The fibers were orange-yellow, grey-black and dark blue. When compared to the cotton fibers from the CE 150 shirt, they matched in shade and twist.
But while in its Report the Commission speculated on how the blanket fibers got in the bag, it offered no explanation for how the shirt fibers got on the rifle. Was it before, after or during the shooting sequence ?
Snugly wrapped
Its fiber expert Stombaugh testified that the fibers were "wrapped around rather snugly to the sharp edge". ( 4 H 83 ) How were they wrapped ? Were they wrapped clockwise or counter-clockwise ? The direction of wrap would tell which direction either the rifle or the shirt was moving when the fibers were caught.
What part of the shirt did the fibers come from ? Did they come from an area of the shirt ( shoulder ) that was consistent with firing the rifle, or did they come from the front pocket, or the back of the shirt ?
The Commission never asked.
Stombaugh testified that the fibers were adhering so tightly to the gun, "I had to take a pair of tweezers and work them out." ( ibid. )
Would this have required more than a normal rubbing between the shirt and the butt plate ?
The snugly wrapped and tightly adhering of the fibers to the jagged edge suggests that an abnormal amount of pressure was exerted on the shirt at the time of contact with the butt plate.
Could the shirt have been rubbed by hand against the jagged edge of the butt plate in order to catch fibers from the shirt ?
The Commission never ran any tests to find out.
The Commission fails again
Not only did the Commission fail to ask questions, it failed to conduct experiments. For example, firing the rifle while wearing the CE 150 shirt could have helped determine whether the fibers were caught during the shooting sequence.
Another test the Commission could have run would be to strongly rub the shirt against the butt plate and see if the jagged edge caught any fibers. An examination of how the fibers were wrapped on the jagged edge could determine whether it caught the fibers legitimately or if the fibers were planted by police.
Stombaugh's testimony suggests that the fibers may have been caught AFTER the rifle was dusted for fingerprints.
The laying of the fibers
Video taken at the scene shows Lt. Day dusting the rifle at the time of discovery, inside the Texas School Book Depository.
https://gil-jesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/day-dusts-rifle.mp4
If there was no fingerprint powder in the crevice, then the fibers were on the rifle before it was dusted for fingerprints and were pushed into the crevice preventing the fingerprint powder from getting in there. But if there was fingerprint powder in the crevice, then the fibers were added AFTER the rifle was dusted. So the position between the fibers and the fingerprint powder are crucial in determining if the fibers were caught on the jagged edge before or after the rifle was dusted for fingerprints.
Stombaugh testified that there was fingerprint powder, "down and through the crevice there". ( 4 H 83 )
If the fibers were "folded very neatly down in the crevice" by a powder brush as Stombaugh claimed, there shouldn't be ANY fingerprint powder in the crevice. The pushing of the fibers into the crevice would prevent that.
This is an argument that researcher Pat Speer and myself have made on several occasions.
The fact that there was fingerprint powder IN THE CREVICE suggests that the fibers were caught by the jagged edge AFTER it had been dusted for fingerprints.
One question the Commission did not ask Stombaugh was if it were possible to dust the rifle, rub the fibers onto the jagged edge by hand then dust the butt end again to make it look like the dust hadn't been rubbed off.
The "fresh" fibers
Stombaugh testified to the condition of the fibers:
"They were clean, they had good color to them, there was no grease on them and they were not fragmented. They looked as if they had just been picked up." ( 4 H 83 )
Stombaugh testified that his idea of "old" fibers was in the area of 1-2 months. ( 4 H 82 ) So although he declined to give an estimation of how long the fibers were on the rifle, he would only say that, "these fibers were put on there in the recent past." ( 4 H 84 )
Stombaugh described the fibers a being, "fairly fresh" ( 4 H 82 )
But the Commission provided no evidence that the CE 150 shirt had contact with the rifle in the two month period before November 22, 1963.
And its only witness that Oswald wore the shirt on November 22nd was bus passenger Mary Bledsoe, a stroke victim who couldn't remember what bus she was on ( 6 H 408 ) and who testified from notes because she couldn't remember "what I have to say" ( ibid. ). She also couldn't remember what day she made those notes ( ibid. ).
But she remembered Oswald and the shirt he was wearing and was able to positively identify him even though "his face was so distorted" that she "didn't look at him". ( 6 H 409 ).
This was the Commission's star witness connecting the CE 150 shirt with the rifle.
None of Oswald's co-workers identified the CE 150 shirt as the shirt Oswald wore to work that morning.
Conclusion
In many of the areas in this case, the Commission speculated where it had no physical evidence. One of those areas was the fiber evidence.
The Commission failed to run tests to prove that fibers from the blanket could have been picked up by the rifle and transferred into the bag.
What part of the rifle picked them up ? How many fibers were picked up ? Were they all released into the bag or did some remain on the rifle ?
The Commission didn't want to know.
Likewise, it failed to run tests to see if the rifle could pick up fibers from the CE 150 shirt.
The Commission also failed to prove that Oswald wore the CE 150 while in the building on November 22nd. Oswald's co-workers testified that he usually worked in his t-shirt and none of them identified the CE 150 shirt as the shirt he wore while working that morning.
The Commission provided no evidence with regard to when, where or how the shirt came in contact with the rifle.
It failed to run tests, like rubbing the shirt against the butt plate, to see if the jagged edge picked up the fibers or if the fibers were "snugly wrapped" around the edge in the same fashion as the fibers found by the FBI.
These tests would have either proven the Commission's theory, or opened the possibility that the shirt fibers were planted.
But they weren't interested in the truth. They were interested in finding evidence against Oswald.