Oswald Did NOT Purchase a Pistol from Seaport Traders

by John Armstrong

THE S&W .38 PISTOL. Next, let's examine the mail order pistol that Oswald allegedly used to murder Dallas Police officer J.D. Tippit. On March 13, 1963 Seaport Traders allegedly received an order coupon and $10 in cash from A.J. Hidell in Dallas, Texas for the purchase of a $29.95 pistol. Before shipping a pistol to anyone, in any state, Seaport had the responsibility of conforming to the laws of that state. In Texas the law required "anyone desiring to purchase a pistol or handgun first obtain a certificate of good character from a justice of the peace, county judge, or district judge in the county of residence." Seaport, without a "certificate of good character" should never have shipped a pistol to anyone in Texas. And how could anyone obtain a "certificate of good character" when using the alias "A. Hidell?" After Seaport allegedly received the order from Hidell, they allegedly sent a more expensive, $39.95 Smith & Weston pistol for the same price. The pistol was allegedly shipped via Railway Express to PO Box 2915 with instructions to collect the balance due ($19.95) as COD. But Railway Express could not deliver packages to a post office box. When Railway Express received a package addressed to a post office box, they mailed a notice to the box holder that advised a package was available for pickup at the REA office. The customer would take the “notice of attempted delivery” to the REA office, pay any COD charges, show identification, and pick up the package. Railway Express had very specific rules pertaining to the receipt and delivery of firearms. The person picking up the package was required to produce and surrender the mailing notice received for the package, in this case the notice allegedly sent to A. Hidell at post office box 2915. Identification was required for the person receiving the package, in this case identification for A. Hidell. COD charges, if any, were collected and a receipt was given to the customer. Finally, REA employees were required to check their form 5024, to confirm that the name on the mailing notice and the name of the receiver of a shipment matched their records.

The Warren Commission says the package containing the pistol was picked up at the REA office at 515 Houston St. in Dallas on March 20. But the evidence upon which they based their conclusion was a copy of a receipt signed by "Paxton." This was a COPY of a receipt, but not the original. There was no "certificate of good character," neither an original nor a copy of a notice of pickup that had been sent to A. Hidell at PO Box 2915, no original nor copy of a receipt signed by Hidell, no original nor copy of form 5024 that would have listed a parcel shipped to A. Hidell and, most importantly, no receipt or evidence that any COD charges had been paid or collected for the balance of payment to Seaport Traders. The FBI never checked REA's cash receipts or bank account to confirm a deposit for the COD charges, nor did they check Seaport Traders bank account or records to see if a deposit had been received from REA for the COD charges. In the final analysis the Warren Commission used a COPY of a receipt signed by an unknown and unidentified "Paxton" to prove that Oswald picked-up the mail-order pistol that was used to kill Dallas Police Officer Tippit--once again, nothing more than a COPY, and in this case a copy signed by an unidentified person.

Some people may try to explain away the lack of evidence that Oswald purchased a rifle and pistol by saying the FBI simply did a poor job of investigating. But when the FBI gathers original documents and original microfilm, and that evidence disappears while in their custody and is replaced by paper copies, we see that their mis-handling and manipulation of evidence is deliberate. And when we see that the FBI provided the Commission with an unused, uncashed money order, we see that they are complicit in the fabrication of evidence. The manipulation of evidence is a very important "smoking gun." We know that the Warren Commission used copies of documents to try and prove that Oswald purchased a mail order rifle and pistol. And we have seen how the Warren Commission's attorneys limited and led witness testimony in an attempt to link their fabricated pieces of evidence to Oswald. The Commission's mis-handling of documents and witnesses is another very important "smoking gun."

We have now seen that any item of evidence or any witness that could have exonerated or helped to exonerate Oswald in the purchase of the rifle or pistol was ignored by the FBI and the Warren Commission. As we explore the life and background of HARVEY AND LEE we shall see how the manipulation and alteration of evidence by the FBI, and the mis-handling and ignoring of important witnesses by the Warren Commission, was used to frame (HARVEY) Oswald for the assassination. The coverup continues to this day.