turned into the entrance to the garden I heard a shot." In a third statement on 3 February 1966 Paterson said, "I ran back inside and asked for a gun, I went to the main gate and I received a gun and ran back outside, as I was running on to the lawn I heard the crack of a shot." Paterson changed his story, too, about who was in the line of fire when he aimed his rifle. In his first statement Paterson said, "I sighted my rifle at Ryan and was about to fire when a woman walked into the line of fire and I lifted my rifle." In his second statement Paterson said, "I took aim at Ryan but two prison officers were in the line of fire so I dropped my rifle again." In his third statement Paterson said, "I took aim at Ryan and I found out I had to fire between two prison officers to get Ryan, so I lowered my gun again." Ryan testified that he kept his rifle to prove his innocence in the event of recapture, as he knew that forensic microscopic markings on the spent bullet would prove that it was not fired from his rifle. Despite extensive search by police, neither the fatal bullet nor the spent cartridge were ever found. Although all prison-authorised rifles were the same M1 carbine type, scientific forensic testing of the bullet would have proven which rifle fired the fatal shot – every rifle leaves a microscopic "unique marker" on the fired bullet as it travels through the barrel of the rifle. All the bullets in Ryan's M1 carbine rifle would be accounted for if Ryan cocked the rifle with the safety-catch on; this faulty operation (conceded by prison officer Lange, assistant prison governor Robert Duffy, and confirmed by ballistic experts at trial) would have caused an undischarged bullet to be ejected, spilling onto the floor of the guard tower. Opas established that for a person who was inexperienced in handling that type of rifle and its cocking lever, it would be easy to jam the rifle and any attempt to clear the jam would result in a live round being ejected. On the eighth day of the trial Ryan was sworn in and took the witness stand. Ryan denied firing a shot, denied the alleged verbal (unsigned) confessions said to have been made by