The FBI lost fingerprints taken from the rifle agents found in the Texas School Book Depository after the president was assassinated in Dallas, new files have revealed.
At the time of the investigation in 1963, agents and outside experts concluded that a palm print taken from the barrel off the rifle belonged to Lee Harvey Oswald.
The memo, dated July 1978, is from Jack Moriarty, who was investigating the disappearance.
Dallas Police sent over the original fingerprint lifts to the FBI, and say those prints were never returned to them.
‘Unable to discover any pertinent information’: The files reveal the scramble to locate the original fingerprints taken from the rifle
‘A mammoth research effort’: The FBI Unit Chief of Congressional Inquiries said the only way he knew to track down the missing lifts would require a huge amount of effort
Moriarty said that George Foster, who was the FBI Unit Chief of Congressional Inquiries, claims he did not know the location of the prints – but the policy of the Bureau was to return the originals to the source.
The memo adds that Foster admitted finding the prints would ‘amount to a mammoth research effort’.
The report says: ‘He checked with their latent fingerprint section and although he was unable to discover any pertinent information RE the current location of these lifts, he was informed of the long existing bureau policy which has always been to return the originals to the source after they have photographed submitted material of this type.’
‘This case was not routine, nor was it handled as such’: Sebastian F. Latona, who headed up the fingerprint section of the FBI, said he did not believe the prints were returned to the police
The head of the bureau’s fingerprint section, Sebastian F. Latona, reportedly said: ‘He didn’t think this property was returned, bureau policy notwithstanding.
‘This case was not routine, nor was it handled as such.’
The unsealing of the damning files was decided in 1992, when Congress chose 26 October 2017 for their release date.
Trump gave security agencies half a year to check that the information released would not pose a threat to national security.
3,539 files were published on Friday, with more remaining secret as security agencies saying they need more time to review all the documents.
Past JFK files have revealed other shocking secrets, such as U.S. efforts to stop Cuba’s leader, Fidel Castro.