TESTIMONY OF CORTLANDT CUNNINGHAM beginning at 2H251...
Mr. BALL. Will you state your name for the record?
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Cortlandt Cunningham.
The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Cunningham, will you raise your right hand and be sworn, please?
Do you solemnly swear the testimony given before this Commission will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. I do.
Mr. BALL. Mr. Cunningham, be seated there.
What is your business?
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. I am a special agent of the FBI.
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Mr. BALL. What is your specialty with the FBI?
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. I am assigned to the FBI laboratory in the Firearms Identification Unit.
Mr. BALL. There is a rifle here that has been identified as Commission Exhibit No. 139, it has been in your custody, hasn't it?
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. It has.
Mr. BALL. You brought it over here this morning?
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. I did.
Mr. BALL. And I requested you disassemble it.
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. I did.
Mr. BALL. Let's take it out of the sack and put it before the Commission. Do you need any special tools to assemble this rifle?
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. No, sir.
Mr. BALL. I notice you have a screwdriver there. Can you assemble it without the use of a screwdriver?
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. What can you use?
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Any object that would fit the slots on the five screws that retain the stock to the action.
Mr. BALL. Could you do it with a 10-cent piece?
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Will you do that--about how long will it take you?
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. I know I can do it, but I have never been timed as far as using a dime. I have been timed using a screwdriver, which required a little over 2 minutes.
Mr. BALL. 2 minutes with a screwdriver.
Try it with the dime and let's see how long it takes.
Okay. Start now. Six minutes.
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. I think I can improve on that.
Mr. BALL. And the only tool you used was a 10-cent piece?
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. That is correct.
Mr. BALL. That is all.
Senator COOPER. Does the bolt work all right now?
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Once in a while with regard to the top portion--namely the retaining screw and the top stock--you have trouble getting them engaged on this particular model.
The CHAIRMAN. Yes.
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. That is the case on this weapon. On that one over there, however, it slid right on when I put it together a little while ago; it was much faster.
The CHAIRMAN. Yes. This is a weapon identical to the one that has been identified as the assassination weapon?
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. This is the assassination weapon.
Mr. BALL. This is the weapon found on the sixth floor of the Texas Book Depository.
The CHAIRMAN. May I ask, have you fired it?
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Many times.
The CHAIRMAN. That has been fired many times?
Mr. BELIN. You can disassemble it in a lesser amount of time, I assume.
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Definitely, it comes apart much faster. I can do it for you.
The CHAIRMAN. I understand with a screwdriver you put the rifle together in 2 minutes.
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Yes, sir; a few seconds over 2 minutes, somewhere around 2 1/4, 2 1/2 minutes, readily.
The CHAIRMAN. Yes.
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. And I am sure I can assemble it faster the second time with a dime than I did the last time but I did have trouble with that one retaining screw.
The CHAIRMAN. Is there anything more you have on this?
Mr. BALL. No.
The CHAIRMAN. Anybody?
Well, Agent Cunningham, thank you very much, sir.
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Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Thank you, sir.
The CHAIRMAN. Gentlemen, if there are no further witnesses today, we will adjourn for the day, and we will meet tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock for the purpose of taking further testimony.
(Whereupon, at 12:45 p.m., the President's Commission recessed.)