TESTIMONY OF LEO J. GAUTHIER beginning at 5H135...
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.
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Mr. DULLES. And this was done on what day?
Mr. GAUTHIER. Our data to build this were compiled on December 2, 3, and 4. It took about 5 weeks to prepare this exhibit in Washington.
Mr. SPECTER. Would you now describe what is shown on the photograph?
Mr. GAUTHIER. Commission Exhibit No. 879 is a view of the scale model looking toward the southwest, in the direction of the Triple Underpass, from a position on the sixth floor in the southeast corner window.
Mr. SPECTER. I now hand you two additional photographs marked as Commission Exhibits Nos. 880 and 881, and ask you to state what they represent.
(The documents referred to were marked Commission Exhibits Nos. 880 and 881 for identification.)
Mr. GAUTHIER. Commission Exhibit No. 880 is a scale dimension view of the sixth floor looking toward the southeast corner of the Texas School Book Depository Building.
Mr. SPECTER. And in the corner of that photograph is the area depicted which has been described as the possible site of the rifleman?
Mr. GAUTHIER. That is correct.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you now describe what Exhibit No. 881 shows?
Mr. GAUTHIER. Commission Exhibit No. 881 is a three-dimensional view of leading down from Main Street and Commerce Street. Positioned on the ramps are scale models of an armored van and two police squad cars. There are also miniature mockups of individuals--representing position of people in this area of the basement garage.
Mr. SPECTER. And what event is depicted in that model, if any?
Mr. GAUTHIER. This represents the arrangement, physical arrangement, in the basement at the time Lee Harvey Oswald walked out from the elevator through the jail office onto the basement ramp.
Mr. SPECTER. And where have these models been maintained since the time they were prepared by the FBI?
Mr. GAUTHIER The models were delivered to the Commission's building and installed in the exhibits room on the first floor, on January 20, 1964.
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. Chief Justice, I now move for the admission into evidence of the photographs 878, 879, 880, and 881.
The CHAIRMAN. They may be admitted. (The documents heretofore marked for identification as Commission Exhibits Nos. 878, 879, 880, and 881, were received in evidence.)
Mr. SPECTER. Did you participate in the onsite tests made in Dallas?
Mr. GAUTHIER. I did.
Mr. SPECTER. Was a survey made of the scene used to record some of the results of that onsite testing?
Mr. GAUTHIER. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. And by whom was the survey made?
Mr. GAUTHIER. The survey was made on May 24, 1964, by Robert H. West, county surveyor, a licensed State land surveyor, located at 160 County Courthouse, Dallas, Tex.
Mr. SPECTER. Have you brought the tracing of that survey with you today?
Mr. GAUTHIER. I have; yes.
Mr. SPECTER. And have you brought a cardboard reproduction of that?
Mr. GAUTHIER. A copy made from the tracing; yes.
Mr. SPECTER. Would you produce the cardboard copy made from the tracing for the inspection of the Commission at this time, please?
Mr. GAUTHIER. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. Would you produce the tracing at this time, please?
Mr. GAUTHIER. Yes; the tracing is wrapped, and sealed in this container.
Mr. SPECTER. Without breaking the seal, I will ask you if the cardboard which has been set up here--may the record show it is a large cardboard. I will ask you for the dimensions in just a minute.
Does the printing on the cardboard represent an exact duplication of the tracing which you have in your hand?
Mr. GAUTHIER. Yes.
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Mr. SPECTER. May it please the Commission, we will mark the tracing Commission Exhibit No. 882, and not take it out, since the cardboard represents it, and place Commission Exhibit No. 883 on the cardboard drawing itself, and I would like to move for the admission into evidence of both Exhibits Nos. 882 and 883.
The CHAIRMAN. They may be admitted.
(The documents referred to were marked Commission Exhibits Nos. 882 and 883 for identification, and received in evidence.)
Mr. SPECTER. Will you now describe what Exhibit No. 883 is, Inspector Gauthier, indicating, first of all, the approximate size of the cardboard?
Mr. GAUTHIER. This is a copy of the tracing measuring 40 inches in width, 72 inches in length. It is made to a scale of 1 inch equals 10 feet. From the data compiled on that day by the surveyor, this tracing was prepared.
The area is bounded on the north by the Texas School Book Depository Building, and on further here by railroad property.
Mr. SPECTER. Indicating a general westerly direction from the School Book Depository Building?
Mr. GAUTHIER. Yes; I am pointing towards the west.
On the east it is bounded by Houston Street.
On the south by Main, which is a roadway going through Dealey Plaza.
And on the west by the triple underpass.
Located on this plat map are street lights accurately located, a catch basin, certain trees, location of trees, the delineation of the concrete pergola, which you see here on the photograph, the outer boundaries of the pericycle, and the reflecting pool--locating exactly the window in the Texas School Book Depository Building, in the southeast corner, and also a tabulation of the measurements and angles that the surveyor has compiled from certain positions identified for him on the street by an observation from this window, an observation from the position of Mr. Zapruder----
Mr. SPECTER. When you say this window, which window did you mean?
Mr. GAUTHIER. The window on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building, the one in the southeast corner, the farthest window.
Mr. SPECTER. And when you identify the Zapruder position, what did you mean by that?
Mr. GAUTHIER. This is a concrete abutment of the pergola, located in the area upon which Zapruder was standing at the time the movies were made.
(At this point, Senator Cooper entered the hearing room.)
(At this point, Representative Ford withdrew from the hearing room.)
Mr. SPECTER. Are there any other positions noted on the diagram that you have been describing showing where other movies were made?
Mr. GAUTHIER. Yes.
(At this point, Chief Justice Warren withdrew from the hearing room.)
Mr. GAUTHIER. We also locate the position of Mr. Nix, who also made movies of the motorcade at certain points on the roadway.
Mr. SPECTER. On what street was Mr. Nix standing?
Mr. GAUTHIER. I am pointing now to the south side of Main Street, approximately in front of the concrete pylon of the south pericycle structure. That is a short distance from the intersection of Main and Houston.
Mr. SPECTER. A short distance west of the intersection?
Mr. GAUTHIER. West.
Mr. SPECTER. And what other position is shown of the situs of a movie photographer?
Mr. GAUTHIER. We have another position here by Mrs. Mary Muchmore, who made movies of the motorcade movement along the Elm Street roadway on November 22, 1963.
Mr. SPECTER. I now hand you a schedule which I have marked as Commission Exhibit No. 884 and ask you what figures are contained thereon.
(The document referred to was marked Commission Exhibit No. 884 for identification.)
Mr. GAUTHIER. This is a copy of a tabulation which appears on the plat map.
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It contains certain positions marked as frame numbers. It indicates elevations and a column dealing with angle of sight from the frame positions to the window and to a horizontal line.
It also contains angels of sight the degree of sight and distances from these positions to a point on the top of the bridge, handrail height.
Mr. SPECTER. May it please the Commission, that concludes the description of the general setting.
I would like to move now at this time for the admission into evidence of Exhibit No. 884, which completes all of the exhibits used heretofore.
Mr. McCLOY. It may be admitted.
(The document heretofore marked for identification as Commission Exhibit No. 884, was received in evidence.)
Mr. SPECTER. May it please the Commission, that completes the testimony of Inspector Gauthier.