Oswald in the doorway: the blog of the Oswald Innocence Campaign, by Ralph Cinque

"From the outset, Oswald denied owning a rifle. On November 23, Fritz confronted Oswald with the evidence that he had purchased a rifle under the fictitious name of "Hidell." Oswald said that this was not true. Oswald denied that he had a rifle wrapped up in a blanket in the Paine garage. Oswald also denied owning a rifle and said that since leaving the Marine Corps he had fired only a small bore 22 rifle."

By November 23, they found out that he had ordered a rifle under the name Hidell? It was less than 24 hours after his arrest, so how could they possibly do that? Was it from some record they found in Ruth Paine's garage? But, it says that they didn't even obtain a search warrant for the Paine garage until the afternoon of the 23rd.

"On the afternoon of November 23, Officers H. M. Moore, R. S. Stovall, and G. F. Rose obtained a search warrant and examined Oswald's effects in the Paine garage. They discovered two photographs, each showing Oswald with a rifle and a pistol. These photographs were shown to Oswald on the evening of November 23 and again on the morning of the 24th. According to Fritz, Oswald sneered, saying that they were fake photographs."

Here is the account of the discovery of the missing rifle, and it makes no sense:

"Before dinner on November 21, Oswald played on the lawn of the Paines' home with his daughter June. After dinner Ruth Paine and Marina Oswald were busy cleaning house and preparing their children for bed. Between the hours of 8 and 9 p.m. they were occupied with the children in the bedrooms located at the extreme east end of the house. On the west end of the house is the attached garage, which can be reached from the kitchen or from the outside. In the garage were the personal belongings of the Oswald family including, as the evidence has shown, the rifle wrapped in the old brown and green blanket."

Notice no mention of it being disassembled. It just said that it was a rifle wrapped in a blanket.

"At approximately 9 p.m., after the children had been put to bed, Mrs. Paine, according to her testimony before the Commission, "went out to the garage to paint some children's blocks, and worked in the garage for half an hour or so. I noticed when I went out that the light was on." Mrs. Paine was certain that she had not left the light on in the garage after dinner. According to Mrs. Paine, Oswald had gone to bed by 9 p.m. Marina Oswald testified that it was between 9 and 10 p.m. Neither Marina Oswald nor Ruth Paine saw Oswald in the garage. The period between 8 and 9 p.m., however, provided ample opportunity for Oswald to prepare the rifle for his departure the next morning. Only if disassembled could the rifle fit into the paper bag found near the window from which the shots were fired. A firearms expert with the FBI assembled the rifle in 6 minutes using a 10-cent coin as a tool, and he could disassemble it more rapidly. While the rifle may have already been disassembled when Oswald arrived home on Thursday, he had ample time that evening to disassemble the rifle and insert it into the paper bag." 

So, Ruth Paine claimed to be working in the small garage for half an hour, and she saw no signs of anyone having moved anything, and she did not see the blanket. Surely, if she had seen a blanket on the floor of the garage, she would have said so. 

"On the day of the assassination, Marina Oswald was watching television when she learned of the shooting. A short time later Mrs. Paine told her that someone had shot the President "from the building in which Lee is working." Marina Oswald testified that at that time "My heart dropped. I then went to the garage to see whether the rifle was there and I saw that the blanket was still there and I said 'Thank God.'" She did not unroll the blanket. She saw that it was in its usual position and it appeared to her to have something inside."

So, this was after the shooting that Marina went into the garage and saw the rolled blanket in its usual place. But, how can that be when Michael Paine said that he moved the blanket, not once, but several times? Marina did not unroll the blanket, but it looked the same to her, the implication being that one can't tell from looking whether a blanket contains a rifle or not, that it looks the same whether it has a rifle in it or not. 

"Soon afterward, at about 3 p.m., police officers arrived and searched the house. Mrs. Paine pointed out that most of the Oswalds' possessions were in the garage. With Ruth Paine acting as an interpreter, Detective Rose asked Marina whether her husband had a rifle. Mrs. Paine, who had no knowledge of the rifle, first said "No," but when the question was translated, Marina Oswald replied "Yes."  She pointed to the blanket which was on the floor very close to where Ruth Paine was standing."

The blanket was on the floor very close to Ruth Paine, and Ruth didn't notice it? Marina had to point it out? But, earlier Marina had gone out there and seen the rifle "in its usual place." So, how did it wind up on the floor? Was the floor its usual place?  

"Mrs. Paine testified: As she (Marina) told me about it I stepped onto the blanket roll. And she (Marina) indicated to me that she had peered into this roll and saw a portion of what she took to be a gun she knew her husband to have, a rifle. And I then translated this to the officers that she knew her husband had a gun that he had stored in here... I then stepped off of it and the officer picked it up in the middle and it bent so..."

So, the blanket was on the floor. No one could tell just from looking at it whether it contained a rifle or whether it was just an empty blanket. To Marina's eyes, it looked like it contained a rifle. But, Ruth tried to find out by stepping on the blanket, but apparently, she still couldn't tell whether there was a rifle in it or not. But then, Ruth stepped off of the blanket, and the officer picked it up in the middle, and it bent. Wahlah! That's when everyone knew that there was no rifle in it.

"Mrs. Paine had the actual blanket before her as she testified and she indicated that the blanket. hung limp in the officer's hand. Marina Oswald testified that this was her first knowledge that the rifle was not in its accustomed place."

So, until the officer picked the empty blanket up and it hung limp in his hand, no one knew whether there was a rifle in it or not. Ruth had her foot on the blanket, and she couldn't tell from that whether it was just a blanket or if it had a rifle in it. She had to see the blanket hanging limp in the officer's hand before she knew. And, it was the same for Marina. 

But, how did the blanket get on the floor? Who put it there? Oswald? But, Ruth went into the garage after Oswald, and she saw no blanket on the floor. She was out there for half an hour, working, painting, in that small garage, and she didn't see any blanket on the floor or anywhere else. So, how did the blanket wind up on the floor? And, we can't presume that this was the first time Ruth Paine did anything in the garage. So, how come she never saw the blanket before when Michael Paine kept seeing it, over and over, wondering about its contents, moving it, relocating it, because it was in his way, etc.? And he didn't even live there.  

You know, if you tried to reenact this as a play that you would die laughing.

"Gee, Officer. I wonder if there's a rifle in that blanket. I can't tell from looking, and even when I press my foot on it, I just don't know. Maybe you should pick it up to see if hangs limp."

So, Oswald left the blanket on the floor. He could have easily stuffed it into a corner somewhere to get it out of view, but he just left it on the floor for people to wonder about. It had to be him, right? Ruth didn't put the blanket on the floor. Marina didn't put it on the floor. The officers didn't put it on the floor. So, it must have been Oswald. And even though Oswald left it on the floor, Ruth didn't notice it the night before even though she was working in the garage after him. And the whole next day, until the police arrived, Ruth never went out to the garage and saw it. But wait! Marina said that after finding out that the President had been shot from the building in which Lee worked that she went out into the garage and was relieved to see that the blanket "was in its usual place." So, that would suggest that it wasn't on the floor. But then it was on the floor when the police arrived? 

Is it necessary for me to point out that this story about how it was discovered that Oswald's rifle was missing has zero credibility? It makes no sense. A small child could tell you that it makes no sense.

I have quoted the exact text of the Warren Report. What is wrong with people that they believe this crap?