Why did Oswald's paraffin test come out both positive and negative?

Question

How come the paraffin test performed by the Dallas Police on Oswald come out positive for his hands, but negative for his right cheek? If we take for granted that he washed his face shortly after shooting JFK and officer Tippit, wouldn't both the hand and cheek test have come out negative, since a person uses his hands to wash his/her face?

Answer 1

To this very day, gunpowder residue tests are not very conclusive.  There have been lots and lots of inconsistent test results for gunpowder.

I just watched a show this weekend that recreated the kennedy shooting using the same distance, the same rifle, bullet, 2 body gel molds that included simulated bones, etc. etc. and they EASILY recreated the kennedy shooting once again, showing that one bullet could easily cause all the damage that it did.  I watched another show a couple years ago that proved the same thing.

I think as time goes on, it is more and more obvious that the story the public knows IS indeed the true story of what happened.

Answer 2

I'm not fully conversant on the Oswald story, but if memory serves me correctly, Officer Tippit was shot with a handgun, Kennedy was shot with a rifle.  If Oswald's paraffin test was positive for G.S.R. on his hands but not his cheek, logic would tell me that he did shoot Officer Tippit with the handgun (G.S.R. on his hands), but did not shoot Kennedy with the rifle (no G.S.R. on his cheek).