Lot 187

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Lot 187
Kennedy Zapruder Film FBI Investigator 10k Gold Pin
Description:

Kennedy Zapruder Film FBI Investigator 10k Gold Pin

10K gold pendent measuring 1" in length, Embellished to the front with the words "FIDELITY-BRAVERY-INTEGRITY", "1908", with a sword and weighted balance scale, representing justice. Verso of the pendent displays: "FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION L.L. SHANEYFELT IN RECOGNITION OF 10 YEARS FAITHFUL AND LOYAL SERVICE 1951 10k"  From the collection of Ron Hoskins, assassinologist. Fine condition.

By 1963 Shaneyfelt was the Photographic Specialist for the Bureau and participated in the analysis of both the Zapruder film in addition to other photos taken during the assassination of JFK. Shaneyfelt identified his FBI duties as:

"I assist in the training of our agents in photographic matters, I have worked in photographic work in the FBI almost entirely since I have been there, in early years as a photographer and as a Special Agent Document Examiner, and I handled photographic assignments. I was a newspaper photographer before entering the FBI in 1940 for approximately three years. My present duties in the laboratory for the past several years have been the examination of photographic evidence submitted by local law enforcement agencies as well as our own officers and an example would be the comparison of film recovered from a victim of a theft of his camera with the camera recovered perhaps in a pawn shop or from a suspect, to identify that film as having been exposed in that camera, that is a photograph to determine whether or not they are composites or fraudulent or fake photographs, things of that type...."

Upon the assassination of JFK, and the lack of understanding of the crime scene, the study of the available film and photos became of paramount importance. By this time, the level of sophistication to analyze film was of such detail that Shaneyfelt was even able to determine the speed of JFK's limousine at the time of the "shots" based on camera used (see this clip of his Shaneyfelt's incredible testimony below): 

Q: Did you examine the Zapruder film and ascertain the average speed of the President's limousine on Elm Street yourself, sir?
A: Yes, I did, yes.
Q: How did you go about this, sir, what was the result of your examination?
A: This complete finding was based on a determination first of the average speed of the Zapruder camera, and a determination of the speed with which the sequence of events took place based on the speed of the camera, then during the re-enactment, measurements were made on Elm Street from the specific frame numbers, once they were ascertained, and I took the frame, the frames from Frame 161 to Frame 313 and determined -- it took the distance, computed this base don the number of frames involved, the speed at which the Zapruder camera operated, found that the average speed over that period as between 161, Frame 161 and Frame 313 was 11.2 miles per hour.
Q: What was the speed of the Zapruder camera as you found, sir, when you examined it?
A: The average speed of the camera was 18.3 frames per second.
Q: How did you ascertain this, sir?
A: Using Mr. Zapruder's camera, I loaded it with film and photographed a clock that had a sweep second hand. I then, by examining the film after it was processed, under the microscope I could see when the second had was on right up at 12:00 o'clock and counted the frames until the hand got down and made a full circle, giving the number of frames per minute and breaking that down to the number of frames per second. This was done on successive rolls of film and averaged throughout the film, and motion picture cameras almost all slow down toward the end of the run when the spring, this was a spring-wind camera, and when the spring runs down, there is a tailing off. I average the speed without taking the tailing off into account because of the fact that the film was taken with the film full -- with the camera fully wound. This averaged out to be 18.3..."

Shaneyfelt also testified regarding the retouching of Oswald photos which were then later put to print in Life Magazine and various newspapers. In his professional opinion, any retouching had not be substantial in nature and instead only essentially cleaned the images not alter the content. However the fact that the photos were retouched did create enormous concerns and numerous newspapers had to come forward. See below one such example below from the New York Times:

Dear Mr. Rankin:

Exhibit No. 17 --
June 17, 1964

Your letter of June 16 to The New York Times, which I assume was sent to various other publications and news agencies, has come into my hands, and I am able to give you the following reply: The photograph to which you refer and about which Lyndal L. Shaneyfelt testified before the President's Commission was supplied to The New York Times by the Associated Press, which has stated that it obtained the photograph from the Detroit Free Press and/or the Dallas Morning News. The New York Times did not retouch the photograph in any way that would change the facts of the photograph--that is to say, it did not alter any essential feature of the photograph. I have our copy in front of us, and the only retouching that has been done is to outline Lee Harvey Oswald's head and right shoulder, to highlight the stock of the gun he is holding, to put a crease in his trousers and tone down somewhat the shadow cast by his figure. We are enclosing a copy of the print, but to see the points that we have made it would be necessary to examine the original, which we are keeping in our files. It is at your disposal if any members of your Commission wish to see it . We are also enclosing a photocopy of the reverse side of the photograph, which shows the source of the photograph, the caption that was printed with it, the dates on which it was published and so on. Once more, we express our appreciation for your cooperation with us and we are glad to be able to cooperate on this matter with you.

The Hon. J. Lee Rankin
General Counsel
President's Commission
200 Maryland Ave., N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20002
SHANEYFELT EXHIBIT NO. 17
Clifton Daniel
Assistant Managing Editor

This important piece from a lead FBI investigator during the investigation of the assassination of JFK is truly one-of-a-kind. Similar FBI pendants/pins from other agents awarded for their 10 years of service sell for over $550 without the history behind them!

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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