- 01: Introduction
- 02: History
- 03: Propellants, Firearms, and Ammunition Development
- 04: Modern Firearms Manufacture
- 05: Small Arms Ammunition
- 06: Evidence Handling Procedures
- 07: Equipment and Instrumentation
- 08: Examination of Firearms
- 09: Cartridge and Shotshell Examination
- 10: Characterization and Evaluation of Fired Projectiles
- 11: Bullet Comparison and Identification
- 12: Gunshot Residue and Distance Determination
- 13: Toolmark Identification
- 14: Communicating Results
- Resources
1961-1963
Home > History > 1961-1963
1961
Sacco & Vanzetti
Frances Russell, a Boston author who was convinced of the innocence of Sacco and Vanzetti, arranged for the reexamination of the firearms evidence by firearm consultants Frank Jury and Jac Weller. Re-evaluation of the evidence included test firing the evidence firearms and comparing the test bullets to the bullet that killed the payroll guard. The evidence bullets were identified as having been fired from the firearm belonging to Sacco and verified the findings made by Calvin Goddard in 1927.
1962
Mathews' volumes I & II
After nearly a forty-year career, Dr. J. H. Mathews published a two-volume set of books titled Firearms Identification, which included extensive reference materials collected by Dr. Mathews during the course of his work in the field of firearms identification.
Volume I contained:
- Information concerning the laboratory identification of a firearm
- Measurements of rifling data on a wide variety of handguns
- Series of appendices that include photographs of the firing pin impressions on rim fire cartridges
Volume II contained:
- Several hundred photographs of handguns to assist in their identification
- Illustrations of other handguns
- Photographs of trademarks and other identification marks
1963
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was alleged to have shot and killed both President Kennedy and Officer J.D. Tippet. While in police custody, Oswald was shot and killed by Jack Ruby.
Firearms examination and identification played an important part in the 1963-64 Warren Commission investigation of the Kennedy assassination. Three senior firearm examiners from the FBI Laboratory (Robert A. Frazier, Cortlandt Cunningham, and Charles Killion) examined the evidence and provided testimony before the Warren Commission. Joseph D. Nicol, superintendent of the Illinois State Bureau of Criminal Identification, also provided corroborating testimony to the Commission. A nearly whole bullet, two large bullet fragments, and three cartridge cases were positively linked to the rifle fired by Oswald.
1963
Major General Julian S. Hatcher, well known in the field of firearms identification, died at age 75.
