Oswald's bag

How about this - Oswald did carry a [brown paper] bag into work on the 22nd, only it wasn't the one the WC said he carried in.

Discuss...

Oswald brought a cheese sandwich and an apple to work that day, and based upon Fritz's notes- which state "sandwiches"- he may have brought 2 cheese sandwiches.

Harry Holmes writes (Warren Report, p. 636) that "when asked as to the size or shape of the sack, he said, 'Oh, I don't recall, it may have <been> a small sack or a large sack, you don't always find one that just fits your sandwiches."

So I'd say he brought a larger-than-normal lunch sack. Probably the size you'd get at the corner grocery store, shopping for two cans of tuna, a package of cheese, and a jar of peanut butter. Much smaller than a conventional supermarket bag. But one that could open up and stand on its bottom. Somewhere around 7 x 5 inches, and standing about 14 inches high.

Hi Richard,

I would tend to concur, so...

1. Who made the "gun sack"?
2. Why?
3. Where was it actually found?
4. Was it meant to be part of a scheme for planting of "evidence"?

Just after Fritz left the TSBD to head back to DPD HQ, somewhere around 2:00/2:30 or so, only Robert Studebaker, Leslie Montgomery and Marvin Johnson remained in the building. Among warehouse personnel, everyone had been sent home, or was at DPD HQ, and I think the only one remaining was Roy Truly.

It was learned shortly beforehand that Oswald had survived his arrest, and I think a decision was made by Fritz, before leaving, to create a bag for Oswald to have carried a rifle in that morning. Truly subsequently went down to Troy West's wrapping paper table and manufactured a candidate bag, and perhaps in the presence of Studebaker, Montgomery and Johnson. This became the bag that Montgomery carried down the front steps at 3:00 PM.

Gil Jesus' work on the bag certifies that it was manufactured that afternoon at the TSBD; it's available at his website. (Too tired to look it up at the moment.)

Studebaker brought some sample paper back to DPD HQ and may have created another bag there- the 8"-wide bag that got entered into the FBI's evidence. The Montgomery bag was about 10.5" wide. Fingerprint expert Sebastian Latona detected Oswald's palmprint and one fingerprint on the 8" bag, and I think it got there from Oswald being slugged during his interrogation, and some homicide detective placing the bag in Oswald's hand. In any event, it's a poor-quality print.

Personally I think they had already found a bag during the crime scene search, up in the 7th-floor stockroom. And that the Carcano was stored in it for a couple days before the assassination. They didn't think to use this bag initially because Oswald, being alive, could dispute whatever they said about it as far as trying to tie it to him. The strategy became at 2:00 to frame him via a fresh bag. It was essentially a spur-of-the-moment strategy, and they could get away with that because they controlled the release of information.

Hi Ian,

I don't know if you're aware of this, but Pat Speer has demonstrated on his website that the bag L.D Montgomery was holding is not the same as the one entered into evidence as the "gunsack". FWIW.

Richard Gilbride wrote:Oswald brought a cheese sandwich and an apple to work that day, and based upon Fritz's notes- which state "sandwiches"- he may have brought 2 cheese sandwiches.

Harry Holmes writes (Warren Report, p. 636) that "when asked as to the size or shape of the sack, he said, 'Oh, I don't recall, it may have <been> a small sack or a large sack, you don't always find one that just fits your sandwiches."

So I'd say he brought a larger-than-normal lunch sack. Probably the size you'd get at the corner grocery store, shopping for two cans of tuna, a package of cheese, and a jar of peanut butter. Much smaller than a conventional supermarket bag. But one that could open up and stand on its bottom. Somewhere around 7 x 5 inches, and standing about 14 inches high.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. I see no reason to doubt Lee Oswald's claim of bring a lunch bag with cheese sandwiches, and the Frazier's gun sack story has been picked to bits. Without having to go back over why the Frazier's story is bunk (I'm sure you have all read and reread it heaps), it seems untrue to me and that Oswald's story therefore must be the truth unless other evidence is presented.