On Gerald Posner
          by Martin Shackelford

Item Number One:Posner and the Paper Bag 
(with thanks to James Folliard)

POSNER (p. 224):   
"Linnie Mae Randle, Buell Frazier's sister, was at 
her kitchen sink when she glanced out the window at 
7:15 Friday morning, November 22. She saw Oswald walk 
across the street toward her house, carrying a long 
package parallel to his body. He held one end of the 
brown-paper-wrapped object tucked under his armpit, 
and the other end did not quite touch the ground. 
Randle later recalled it appeared to contain something 
heavy." 


(cite: FBI statement of Linnie Mae Randle, CE 2008, 
WC Vol. XXIV, p. 407)THE WARREN REPORT (p. 133) says: 
  "...the wooden stock of the rifle, which 
is its largest component, measured 34.8 inches.
"LOGIC PROBLEM: An object of approximately 35 inches, 
with one end under the armpit of a man Oswald's size, 
would reach down to about his knee, not likely to be 
described as "not quite touch[ing] the ground." 


LINNIE MAE RANDLE (FBI Statement
CE 2008, WC Vol. XXIV, p. 407):
"Mrs.RANDLE stated that at the time she saw OSWALD 
walking across the street, he was carrying a long 
package wrapped in brown paper or a brown sack in 
his right hand. It appeared to contain something 
heavy. She stated that it was long but did not touch 
the ground as he walked across the street." 
(No mention of the bag being tucked under his armpit.)


BUELL WESLEY FRAZIER (FBI Statement
CE 2009, WC Vol. XXIV, p. 408):  
"As OSWALD turned to walk south toward the TSBD Building, 
FRAZIER observed that OSWALD had this package under his 
right arm, one end of the package being under his armpit 
and the other end apparently held with his right fingers." 
(Not  almost touching the ground).
NOTE: An object of approximately 27 inches, held as 
Mr. Frazier described it, by a man of Oswald's height, 
would fit almost exactly between the right hand and 
the right armpit. At approximately 35 inches, it would 
extend up to the middle of the right ear.
CONCLUSION: Posner borrows pieces of both statements 
to make the paper bag appear to be long enough to contain 
the disassembled rifle. How long did these two witnesses 
estimate the bag to be?

     LINNIE MAE RANDLE (CE 2008, op. cit.):  
     "The replica [bag] was shortened by folding the open 
     top down to reach the desired length. Then, in accord-
     ance with Mrs. RANDLE'S observations, Special Agent 
     MC NEELY grasped the top of this sack with his hand, 
     much like a right-handed batter would pick up a base-
     ball bat when approaching the plate. When the proper 
     length of the sack was reached according to Mrs. 
     RANDLE'S estimate, it was measured and found to be
     27 inches long."

NOTE: An object of approximately 27 inches, held as 
Mrs. Randle described it, by a man of Oswald's height, 
would be approximately 4 inches from the ground. At 
approximately 35 inches, it would drag on the ground. 

     BUELL WESLEY FRAZIER (CE 2009, op. cit.):
     "...FRAZIER glanced back and noticed a long package,
     light brown in color, lying on the back of the rear 
     seat and extending from approximately the right rear 
     door to about the center of the seat...FRAZIER design-
     ated an approximate spot on the back seat where he 
     felt the package extended to from the right rear door 
     and measurement by Special Agents BARDWELL D. ODUM and 
     GIBBON E. MC NEELY determined that this spot was 27 
     inches from the inside of the right rear door, 
     indicating that FRAZIER estimates that as the length 
     of the package." 

NOTE: Both independently estimated in different ways, both 
surprisingly consistent. Posner concedes (footnote, p. 224-5): 
"Initially Randle said the package was approximately 27 
inches long, and Frazier estimated a little over two feet." 
(Note how the wording conceals the identical measurements).