Concept article by Alan Eaglesham

[dankbaar]

My comments are in green


Brief Context

In 1987, John Rademacher dug up two .222-caliber cartridge cases from the north side of Dealey Plaza [1]. One was located about 10 ft east of the picket fence close to the pergola, and the other was some 60 ft to the northeast [2].

Wrong. The first one (with the dent) was found on day 2 some 3 feet from the picket fence, not 10 feet. The other one was found on day 30 at the other side of the pergola, more or less where eyewitness Malcolm Summers claimed to have seen a man with a gun under his overcoat. The precise locations of the two shells can be seen here: http://jfkmurdersolved.com/radtruth.htm



Subsequently, Mr. Rademacher was introduced to Kennedy-assassination eyewitness Malcolm Summers by investigator Joe West. From photographs provided by Rademacher of weapons that fire .222 rounds, Mr. Summers identified a Remington XP-100 Fireball pistol as similar to what he had seen in the possession of a man on the north side of Elm Street shortly before the assassination [3].

This is correct to my knowledge.


In 1992, Mr. West was given a lead on the Kennedy assassination by FBI agent Zechariah (Zack) Shelton that led West to James Files, serving a 30-year sentence in Statesville Prison, Joliet, IL, for attempted murder of two policemen in 1991.

Also correct

In August 1992, West interviewed Files who stated that he had shot President Kennedy from behind the picket fence on the grassy knoll.


Not correct. James Files NEVER stated to Joe West that he had shot President Kennedy from behind the picket fence on the grassy knoll. He only indicated in a drawing that a shot had been fired from there, but not by whom. He only made it known to Joe West, after developing a relationship with him, that he was in Dealey Plaza, but not why and where. He said he would only help Joe West, who had the case to exhume JFK in court, with more information, if Joe West and attorney Don Irvin would arrange immunity for him. Joe West died, never knowing that James Files was the grassy knoll shooter. Although he may have thought it, but even that cannot be determined. If Alan Eaglesham would really have absorbed the book and DVD (which he has in his possesion) he would not have made such a blatant error, unless he makes it on purpose, which to me is not unprobable given Eaglesham's efforts to discredit James Files.


Joe West died six months later, and the investigation was assumed by Bob Vernon. Mr. Vernon met with Files in Statesville in May of 1993, to be told that he (Files) had assassinated the president with an XP-100 Fireball, modified to fire .222 cartridges (rather than .221).

It should be noted here that the XP-100 that Files used was a prototype given to him by his CIA controller David Atlee Phillips. Those prototypes were chambered for .222 cartridges. I quote from an independent article: During it development stages, the XP-100 was first chambered for the .222 Remington cartridge, but Leek eventually decided it burned a bit more powder then was necessary in a 10-3/4 inch barrel. Consequently, the .222 case was shortened to 1.40 inches and the new cartridge became known as the .221 Fire Ball.

Source: http://jfkmurdersolved.com/fireball1.htm





Furthermore, Vernon was told that if the cartridge case from the round fired by Files was ever found, it would be dented at the open end because Files had bitten down on it (and left it on the picket fence).


Wrong again: Files told Vernon what he had done with the shell. Then Vernon told him that two shells were found on Dealey Plaza a few years before. Files said that that he knew of only one, and if it was his, it could be recognized, for his teethmarks are in it.


Vernon then contacted and visited Rademacher in Texas, and discovered that the cartridge case found near the picket fence was, indeed, dented as Files had predicted [1].

Correct

Everything seemed to fit.


Suggestive conjecture. In fact, hardly anything seemed to fit. The casing was not found in the exact location where Files said he left it (on the sidebar of the picket fence, some 10 feet of the corner). Moreover Files had no explanation for the second casing and it is obvious now that whoever Malcolm Summers saw, if he was credible, which I think he was, could NOT have been James Files. For James Files did not have an overcoat over his arm, and he had the the Fireball in a briefcase. Also the location and age of the man described by Summers did not fit, because Summers told me personally before he died that the man was "well in his forties, maybe fifty". Whatever is said about his sighting is pure speculation in the absence of the man coming forward himself, which is highly unlikely given his age back then. Hence if I would say that it could have been Marshall Caifano, who died a few years ago, that would be speculation too.What does this prove? It proves at least that Files and Vernon could not have concocted a story to fit the known facts, which becomes even more evident if you study the story in more depth. Files for example could not have known that the dents in the casing were teethmarks, if nobody (not even Rademacher) knew they were, until Files said so, and until this was verified. Files could only have known this if he put the teethmarks there himself. And given the fact that he was in jail from 1980 to 1988, he could only have done it BEFORE 1980. If not in 1963 during the assassination of JFK, why would he have done that? To use it two or three decades later after he was involuntarily located by Joe West ?? Keep in mind also that the depth of the casing in the ground was consistent with a deposit in 1963.

In 2003, Bob Vernon sold his rights to the Files story to Willem (Wim) Dankbaar, who now manages jfkmurdersolved.com where the book Files on JFK: Interviews with the Confessed Assassin James E. Files [4] and the DVD I Shot JFK: The Real Murderer Reveals His Secret [5] are available for sale.

Thanks for advertising the website. The reasons why Vernon sold his rights to me are numerous and ambiguous. I can spend a whole day telling the story. Suffice to say that Vernon turned around 180 degrees after selling out, not because of love of truth, but love of money that he falsely claimed I owed him and thus didn't get. Everyone who worked with Vernon on this project, including the West family, the Holt family, James Files, Zack Shelton and Tosh Plumlee, feels betrayed by Vernon. And rightfully so.

Figure 1. Headstamps of the cartridge cases found by John Rademacher [6].



Is James Files Telling the Truth?

On his website, Mr. Dankbaar has a detailed article titled Is James Files telling the truth? which includes a close-up of the cartridge case unearthed near the picket fence by John Rademacher, clearly showing two indentations on the open end [7]. The article states: "The .222 casing was manufactured before 1971, as could be determined by the headstamp." No photograph of the headstamp is provided, but I had a jpeg on my hard drive showing both of Rademacher’s finds (Fig. 1); Dankbaar’s reason for ascribing a pre-1971 date is non-obvious.

A telephone conversation with Bob Vernon revealed that a Remington Arms representative initially told him that the Rademacher cartridge cases had been manufactured in the 1960s, as revealed by the length of the dash between the "R" and the "P" on the headstamps. Later, however, word came from Remington that an error had been made, that the length of the dash revealed that the cartridge cases had been made after operations were moved from Bridgeport, CT, to Lonoke, AR, in 1971. If the cartridge cases had been manufactured in the 1960s, the dash would have been the same length as the height of the "R" and the "P"—0.04 inches. Subsequent to the move to Arkansas, the dash was shortened, as on the Rademacher headstamps (Fig. 2).



Figure 2. Headstamps of the Rademacher cartridge cases, modified to emphasize the dashes.


Vernon recalls a telephone conversation shortly before the sale of JFK Murder Solved in which he told Dankbaar that he (Dankbaar) may have bought two worthless pieces of metal and that James Files might be working a hoax. The two men also discussed the possibility that Remington’s change of information might signify an effort to conceal the truth.

Vernon would do anything in revenge to discredit the story he worked on for 10 years. There is nothing he would like more than demolishing the investments he sollicited from me. And since he and Eaglesham have the same objective it is no surprise that Eaglesham would use anything Vernon claims to help that goal.


Corroborative Physical Evidence?

The situation was left unresolved and the sale made. Vernon moved on to other endeavors and Dankbaar assumed responsibility for jfkmurdersolved.com. His words there—"The [dented] .222 casing was manufactured before 1971, as could be determined by the headstamp"—suggest that he researched the issue and verified that the dented cartridge case found by Mr. Rademacher is, indeed, physical evidence corroborative of James Files’ claim of being the man who killed Kennedy. But if the headstamp shows that the dented cartridge case is of 1960s vintage, why not display it?

The notion that the headstamp was manufactured before 1971, is based on Vernon's research, for which there is no evidence that it is false. Moreover there is a big difference in the honesty of that research before or after his alienation from the Files story. He asserted that his research showed that the dash between R and P was lengthened after 1971. Since the dented cartridge has a short dash, more like a dot, this was proof to him that the cartridge was manufactured before 1971. Whether it can or cannot be determined that the cartridges were manufactured before 1971, is really an immaterial detail for the story. Unless it could be proven of course they were manufactured AFTER 1971. That would demolish the Files confession definitely. But Mr. Eaglesham can never prove that. In fact I am not afraid to challenge him to do so. The headstamp pictures were thusfar not displayed on my website because they are extremely big an high resolution and would affect the speed of the pageloading. It never occured to me that people would want to see it, but I have of course no problem whatsoever with showing them, contrary to what Eaglesham wants to suggest. The question arises why I would make this effort to address Eaglesham's concept article that sets out with so many falsities to start with.


Surely it would be a simple matter to determine whether the Rademacher cases could have been deposited in Dealey Plaza in 1963. I decided to bite the bullet.

The Search

I contacted Remington Arms via their website—requesting photographs of R-P headstamps before and after the change of manufacturing venue in 1971—and was told that company policy is to provide such information only to law-enforcement agencies.

Googling "cartridges" indicated that Cartridges of the World: A Complete and Illustrated Reference for over 1500 of the World’s Most Important Sporting Cartridges might provide the information [8]. I was able to purchase it second-hand for $10. Only three of the 500 pages deal with headstamps, and only in generic terms. However, the bibliography includes the Cartridge Headstamp Guide [9] which looked interesting, particularly if an edition exists later than 1963 as listed. An internet search of used-book sites revealed that a 1977 edition is available; however, both editions are rare and priced in excess of $200.

I put in a request for an interlibrary loan via the local library, and 3 weeks later collected a copy of CHG in exchange for the princely sum of fifty cents. However, I was soon disappointed to find that it was the 1963 edition, not the 1977 edition specified on the request. The only notation for R-P is shown in Fig. 3.



Figure 3. Entry on the R-P headstamp in the 1963 edition of Cartridge Headstamp Guide [9].


The length of the dash in Fig. 3 is consistent with what Bob Vernon was told by the Remington representative: about the same as the height of the "R" and the "P." I renewed the interlibrary loan request, impressing upon the librarian that, if available, only the 1977 edition should be requisitioned.

A "cartridge headstamp" search on Google as a whole—not just used-book sites—revealed the availability of a CD titled Cartridge Headstamp & Measurement Guide assembled by Curtis Steinhauer [10]. It arrived in the mail within two weeks of placing an order. The CD provides photographs of three R-P headstamps, each with a short dash (Fig. 4) with the notation, "Headstamp used on cartridges since 1960 (the merger of Peters into the Company)," with the origin stated as "Remington Arms Co., Bridgeport, CT"; there is no mention of Lonoke, AR.



Figure 4. R-P headstamps in Cartridge Headstamp & Measurement Guide [10].



Mr. Steinhauer clarifies that the "R-P" notation on Remington headstamps originated in 1960—prior to which "REM-UMC" had been used since 1911 (Fig. 5)—demonstrating that the cases found by Mr. Rademacher were not manufactured prior to 1960.

The information provided by Mr. Stenhauer—at odds with that of White and Munhall—indicates that the Radenbacher cartridge cases could have been manufactured prior to November 1963. However, if the short dash shown by Stenhauer on the R-P cases in Fig. 4 has been used for the past 46 years, it begs the question of how Mr. Dankbaar would know from the headstamp on the dented Rademacher cartridge case that it dates from before 1971.

Another Google search revealed a webpage run by "Ammo Guy" at http://ammoguy.com/. Ammo Guy’s list of items for sale included these:

.222 Remington, copper jacket soft point, copper primer, headstamp R-P 222 REM $1.00

.222 Remington, copper jacket hollow point, copper primer, headstamp R-P 222 REM $1.00



I emailed, asking if he had R-P cartridges from the 1960s and 1970s to allow comparison of headstamps. He replied that he was unaware that a headstamp change had occurred with Remington’s move from Bridgeport to Lonoke. I was grateful to him for informing me that the 1977 edition of Cartridge Headstamp Guide has the same information on R-P cartridges as does the 1963 edition. I was grateful to him also for suggesting that I seek information on the Cartridge Forum at the website of the International Ammunition Association.

I registered with the forum and posted (Fig. 6).



Figure 6. Message posted on the International Ammunition Association Cartridge Forum.

No hint of the nature of the purported headstamp change was given. Later that day, the messages below were posted by a forum member and a forum administrator. They are consistent with the White & Munhall sketch (Fig. 3) and with what Mr. Vernon had been told by Remington; the short dash on the Rademacher cartridge cases indicates that they were manufactured in 1971 or later.

1. Remington used R . P instead of R - P for production at the Lonoke, Arkansas plant.

2. According to my notes:

1970, centerfire ammunition production was moved to Lonoke Arkansas.

December 1989, the Bridgeport plant was closed down and all ammunition was produced at Lonoke.

R - P Remington Peters, Bridgeport, CT c.1960-1989

R . P Remington Peters, Lonoke, AR c.1970-date

A member of the forum sent a private email with the address of someone who might be able to help. Although unable to assist directly, that individual provided the address of someone else who answered my email with an attached file containing the drawing shown in Fig. 7. It provides better documentation than photographs.

Resolution

The drawing (Fig. 7) had been salvaged from trash by a former Remington employee who gave it to the person who so kindly shared it with me. It shows the drawing matrix for heading bunter E1258-1 for the .222 Remington cartridge. The drawing was made, traced, checked and approved on 4-14-60, shortly after which Remington changed from "Rem-UMC" (see Fig. 5) to "R-P" headstamps. The second line of "record of alterations" states: "98719 .015 was .040 12-30-70 F.L.C.Y." (emphasis added) (Fig. 7 inset). This refers to a change in the length of the dash between the "R" and the "P" from 0.040 inches to 0.015 inches; note that ".015" is underlined on the drawing, denoting where the change was to be made on December 30, 1970. Note also, that the dash at 0.04 inches was the same length as the height of the "R." (This design, in turn, was "superseded" by another, designated D3034-28, on 10/5/73, as shown by the notation upper-left of the circle.)

In short, the long dash—0.04 inches in length—was used on .222 cartridge headstamps throughout the 1960s. The dash was shortened to 0.015 inches in 1970.

The cartridge cases found in Dealey Plaza by John Rademacher were manufactured in 1971 or later. The dented cartridge case has nothing to do with James Files or the assassination of President Kennedy.

Conclusion

The apparently conflicting information in Cartridge Headstamp Guide and Cartridge Headstamp & Measurement Guide almost precluded a firm determination of the decade in which the Rademacher shells were manufactured. Resolution resulted perhaps from luck, but certainly from generosity.

Wim Dankbaar stated [7]: "The shell casing is…a crucial piece of physical evidence for [Files’] credibility." It stretches credulity beyond a reasonable doubt that two similarly dented Remington .222 cartridge cases lay in the vicinity of the picket fence in Dealey Plaza, one used by James Files to assassinate President Kennedy and the other (presumably deposited by happenstance) used to attempt to prove his culpability in that crime. In my opinion, Files is a fraud and the onus is now on Mr. Dankbaar to justify his statement, "The .222 casing was manufactured before 1971, as could be determined by the headstamp."

Good, I gladly take that challenge and invite everyone to help. There surely must be cartridge collectors who still have casings from the 1960's to compare.


Figure 7. 1960 drawing matrix for the Remington Arms .222 cartridge headstamp [11].



Notes

[1] John Rademacher and the .222 Casing. (http://www.jfkmurdersolved.com/radtruth.htm)

[2] Distances are estimated by comparing Mr. Rademacher’s map at www.jfkmurdersolved.com/radtruth.htm with Richard Trask’s map in Pictures of the Pain, Yeoman Press 1994, which includes a scale reference.

[3] It is noteworthy that in a statement given to Dallas police on the day after the assassination, Mr. Summers made no mention of this man: Yesterday, November 23 [sic], 1963, I was standing on the terrace of the small park on Elm Street to watch the President's motorcade. The President’s car had just come up in front of me when I heard a shot and saw the President slump down in the car and heard Mrs. Kennedy say, "Oh, no," then a second shot and then I hit the ground as I realized these were shots. Then all of the people started running up the terrace away from the president’s car and I got up and started running also, not realizing what had happened. In just a few moments the president’s car sped off and everyone was just running around towards the railroad tracks and I knew that they had somebody trapped up there. I imagine I stayed there 15 or 20 minutes and then went over on Houston Street to where I had my truck parked..."

[4] Files on JFK. (http://www.jfkmurdersolved.com/buy2.htm)

[5] I Shot JFK. (http://www.jfkmurdersolved.com/dvd.htm)

[6] Permission to use the photograph in Fig. 1 was granted by Wim Dankbaar on condition that he have the opportunity to respond.

[7] Is James Files Telling the Truth? (http://www.jfkmurdersolved.com/filestruth.htm)

[8] Barnes FC McPherson ML (2000) Cartridges of the World: A Complete and Illustrated Reference for over 1500 of the World’s Most Important Sporting Cartridges, 9th Edition. Krause Publications, Iola, WI.

[9] White HP Munhall BD (1963 & 1977) Cartridge Headstamp Guide. H.P. White Laboratory, Inc., Bel Air, MD.

[10] Steinhauer C (2006) Cartridge Headstamp & Measurement Guide (CD). (www.cartridge-corner.com)

[11] This article was sent to Remington Arms. They had no objection to use of drawing E1258-1.

[Jim Thompson]

dankbaar wrote: In fact I am not afraid to challenge him to do so. The headstamp pictures were thusfar not displayed on my website because they are extremely big an high resolution and would affect the speed of the pageloading. It never occured to me that people would want to see it, but I have of course no problem whatsoever with showing them, contrary to what Eaglesham wants to suggest.

Why not put the headstamp photos on a separate page so that those who want to take the trouble of waiting for the slow downloads can have the opportunity to view them?

Are the headstamps on these casings identical? What about the hammer markings (firing pin indentions)?

[dankbaar]

The hammer markings were the reason I had those pictures made by a professional photographer. The reason was not the headstamps. I have smaller pictures of the headstamps, which I will post later. This is going to be a cold shower for Mr. Eaglesham.

Wim

[Jim Thompson]

dankbaar wrote:The hammer markings were the reason I had those pictures made by a professional photographer. The reason was not the headstamps. I have smaller pictures of the headstamps, which I will post later. This is going to be a cold shower for Mr. Eaglesham. Wim

Good,... I take it that the photos which you will post later will show the hammer markings in sufficient resolution for comparison purposes. You can crop & edit with a program like Photoshop.

[Bruce Patrick Brychek]

Dear Mr. Wim Dankbaar, and Fellow JFK Forum Members,

I have very, very quickly reviewed this thread, which I will study more completely this weekend.

My first response is that you have outdone yourself, yet again. I will review your notes with Jimmy in person in the next week or two. I will add it to our Things To Do List, which as you know, is always lengthy.

Do any photos show the two (2) separate, and distinct set of footprints behind the fence at the Grassy Knoll ? Even though it rained earlier that morning, 11.22.1963, the specific area where Jimmy was, and where he conversed with another party more than once, was muddy. There should be two (2) distinct set of footprints, one with size 10, and one with size 8.5. Where photos taken ? Were plaster casts taken ?

Hope this helps.

Respectfully,
Bruce Patrick Brychek.

[Jim Thompson]

dankbaar wrote: In my opinion, Files is a fraud and the onus is now on Mr. Dankbaar to justify his statement, "The .222 casing was manufactured before 1971, as could be determined by the headstamp."

I don't think Jimmy's a fraud.

Another explanation is: the casings were planted as a ruse by someone who didn't realize that the headstamps were not struck until 1971.

Another: a switch occurred in order to trick a buyer of these bogus casings into thinking that these fake "teeth indentations" were rare proof positive of Jimmy's story.

Wasn't Jimmy's map of his location at Dealey very close to the unindented casing's locus?

[dankbaar]

No switch occured. It's a preposterous assumption that Files would bury a dented shell in Dealey Plaza before 1980, and not in the place where he would claim he was two decades later.

Watch this clip of Zack telling how it all evolved:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xuvqm-UjrxQ

Wim

[Jim Thompson]

dankbaar wrote:No switch occured. It's a preposterous assumption that Files would bury a dented shell in Dealey Plaza before 1980, and not in the place where he would claim he was two decades later.Watch this clip of Zack telling how it all evolved: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xuvqm-UjrxQWim

There's a misunderstanding.

Jimmy's story about the casings is the truth.

But the casings found by Rademacher, according to Eaglesham's article as posted here by Wim, were manufactured after 1970 according to Remington. Therefore, of the two Rademacher casings neither could have been the one casing Jimmy bit & left on the fence.

So, either Jimmy's bit casing was either removed from the fence by a clean up agent, or it possibly still lies buried somewhere in the ground by the fence.

Thus, the question arises: why was one of the Rademacher casings put forward as proof of Jimmy's story? Was there a possible hoax, designed to validate Jimmy, who, in my opinion, does not need validation, anyway.

Who had a motive to perpetrate such a deception? Vernon?

Much will be revealed when Wim posts the photos of the Rademacher casing headstamps. I'm interested in the hammer markings.

[dankbaar]

But the casings found by Rademacher, according to Eaglesham's article as posted here by Wim, were manufactured after 1970 according to Remington. Therefore, of the two Rademacher casings neither could have been the one casing Jimmy bit & left on the fence.


*************

Jim, "according to Eaglesham's article" you say. Very important observation. The casing was manufactured before 11/22/1963.

Once I post the pictures, you may all set out to approach anyone, from Remington to cartridge collectors, to gun experts, and sooner or later it will be proven that I am right and Eaglesham is wrong. After that, Eaglesham will throw up something else. He's programmed as a Terminator.

Wim

[Bob]

Sometimes a name is all you need to know about someone. Case in point...EagleSHAM. Also, guess what family was in business with Remington? The Bu$hes, as in Samuel Bu$h, one of the "Merchants of Death" from WWI.