Ballistic Evidence Match
It is possible to match most of the official and unofficial ballistic evidence to the shots in my scenario. The exception is the Tague bullet, which as far as I know was never recovered. (There's one researcher who mentioned a bullet or fragment being dug out of the concrete of the abutment, but I can't source that at the moment.)
There was ballistic evidence recovered for four shots. However, the chain of custody for most of it was problematic in some way or another. For one piece of evidence, it was the devastation to the Single Bullet Theory. For another, it was a chain-of-custody issue--a bullet pocketed by a nurse and subsequently given more or less anonymously to a Texas Highway Patrol Officer. For yet another, it was evidence that not only traced back to the AR-15, but also was moved around by Secret Service agents, eventually put back (after it had already been picked up) on the wrong stretcher. In all, four bullets (intact or fragmented) were recovered. The Tague bullet was never recovered, as far as I know. The others were recovered.
The chains of custody, however, were rather problematic. If the investigation was honest and Oswald had gone to trial, would he have been convicted based on the original evidence and their chains? I don't know. There might have been enough "reasonable doubt" to set him free.
But when Oswald was killed and the only trial was the court of public opinion, in order to "convince the public that Oswald was the lone assassin" and that he had "no accomplices who were still at large," the "investigation" became less about gathering evidence, and more about hiding the embarrassing Secret Service accidents (plural). Meanwhile, orders of secrecy were issued to military participants, while many of the non-military participants were either convinced of the need for silence or intimidated into silence. A few were brave enough to speak out from the beginning, but until Josiah Thompson's book Six Seconds in Dallas was published, these few were largely unknown to the public.
It was a shell game, and like the magician's trick, it can be very hard to follow. But if you bear with me, I'll try to explain the sleight of hand that occurred--which was complicated by the perhaps "benign" intention of returning evidence to where it was "originally" found--which created the impression of even more bullets being found than actually were, and thus more headaches for the Secret Service and those involved in the cover-up, leading to various theories of a "planted" stretcher bullet (which was "returned" to the stretcher and subsequently substituted).
But eventually, and with the JFK Records Act and the ARRB especially, orders were rescinded, and more individuals felt free to speak out, some very recently (i.e., the recent 2023 Paul Landis revelation, which resulted in a minor change to what I had initially pieced together). Thus we now have enough information to piece together the sequence of the ballistic evidence shell-game.
Try to follow along. There were a lot of moves in the shell-game, and the sequence can be confusing.
But I'll try my best to explain.
There was ballistic evidence recovered for four shots. However, the chain of custody for most of it was problematic in some way or another. For one piece of evidence, it was the devastation to the Single Bullet Theory. For another, it was a chain-of-custody issue--a bullet pocketed by a nurse and subsequently given more or less anonymously to a Texas Highway Patrol Officer. For yet another, it was evidence that not only traced back to the AR-15, but also was moved around by Secret Service agents, eventually put back (after it had already been picked up) on the wrong stretcher. In all, four bullets (intact or fragmented) were recovered. The Tague bullet was never recovered, as far as I know. The others were recovered.
The chains of custody, however, were rather problematic. If the investigation was honest and Oswald had gone to trial, would he have been convicted based on the original evidence and their chains? I don't know. There might have been enough "reasonable doubt" to set him free.
But when Oswald was killed and the only trial was the court of public opinion, in order to "convince the public that Oswald was the lone assassin" and that he had "no accomplices who were still at large," the "investigation" became less about gathering evidence, and more about hiding the embarrassing Secret Service accidents (plural). Meanwhile, orders of secrecy were issued to military participants, while many of the non-military participants were either convinced of the need for silence or intimidated into silence. A few were brave enough to speak out from the beginning, but until Josiah Thompson's book Six Seconds in Dallas was published, these few were largely unknown to the public.
It was a shell game, and like the magician's trick, it can be very hard to follow. But if you bear with me, I'll try to explain the sleight of hand that occurred--which was complicated by the perhaps "benign" intention of returning evidence to where it was "originally" found--which created the impression of even more bullets being found than actually were, and thus more headaches for the Secret Service and those involved in the cover-up, leading to various theories of a "planted" stretcher bullet (which was "returned" to the stretcher and subsequently substituted).
But eventually, and with the JFK Records Act and the ARRB especially, orders were rescinded, and more individuals felt free to speak out, some very recently (i.e., the recent 2023 Paul Landis revelation, which resulted in a minor change to what I had initially pieced together). Thus we now have enough information to piece together the sequence of the ballistic evidence shell-game.
Try to follow along. There were a lot of moves in the shell-game, and the sequence can be confusing.
But I'll try my best to explain.
Shot One: Carcanno Bullet Fragments
The bullet entering Kennedy's forehead, the first TSBD shot, fragmented upon impact, into three large pieces and a bunch of smaller pieces. This fragmentation created the apparent fragment trail in the (altered) X-rays. The X-rays were altered to make it appear as if the bullet causing the trail entered from the back of the head, but even that caused problems, because the resulting apparent trail was still too high for a "cowlick" entry, and much too high for an EOP entry. I've discussed how the original left lateral X-ray (with its "occipital defect" caption, meaning "hole at the back of the head") was altered by the addition of Dr. Mantik's "White Patch" and the "Black Hole." Subsequent further alteration occurred when this X-ray was composted over the JFK right lateral "living" X-ray, to create the "computer-enhanced" X-ray identified as a "right" lateral thanks to the sella turcica, cropping tricks, and other shenanigans. You can read about the X-ray manipulation on my website at HSCA Published X-rays. But in the non-"enhanced" X-ray (again, with its "occipital defect" caption), we can see that the fragment trail does track to a forehead entry, despite the "white patch" and "black hole."
The largest of the fragments--the nose, tail, and middle section fragments--exited at the back of Kennedy's head and ricocheted off the seat back. The nose and tail fragments made their way to the front of the car. One of them bounced off the chrome strip at the top of the windshield, and then embedded itself into a front seat cushion, as an FBI agent examining the limousine with Secret Service agent Charles Taylor told Taylor, and which Taylor described in a report.
The bullet entering Kennedy's forehead, the first TSBD shot, fragmented upon impact, into three large pieces and a bunch of smaller pieces. This fragmentation created the apparent fragment trail in the (altered) X-rays. The X-rays were altered to make it appear as if the bullet causing the trail entered from the back of the head, but even that caused problems, because the resulting apparent trail was still too high for a "cowlick" entry, and much too high for an EOP entry. I've discussed how the original left lateral X-ray (with its "occipital defect" caption, meaning "hole at the back of the head") was altered by the addition of Dr. Mantik's "White Patch" and the "Black Hole." Subsequent further alteration occurred when this X-ray was composted over the JFK right lateral "living" X-ray, to create the "computer-enhanced" X-ray identified as a "right" lateral thanks to the sella turcica, cropping tricks, and other shenanigans. You can read about the X-ray manipulation on my website at HSCA Published X-rays. But in the non-"enhanced" X-ray (again, with its "occipital defect" caption), we can see that the fragment trail does track to a forehead entry, despite the "white patch" and "black hole."
The largest of the fragments--the nose, tail, and middle section fragments--exited at the back of Kennedy's head and ricocheted off the seat back. The nose and tail fragments made their way to the front of the car. One of them bounced off the chrome strip at the top of the windshield, and then embedded itself into a front seat cushion, as an FBI agent examining the limousine with Secret Service agent Charles Taylor told Taylor, and which Taylor described in a report.
At some point, the nose fragment apparently broke into two pieces.
The bullet tail fragment found in the limousine
The dent in the chrome strip at the top of the windshield near the visor.
A page from a report by Secret Service agent Charles Taylor, describing how an FBI agent had old him that the bullet fragment found embedded in the front seat cushion had hit the chrome strip, and then bounced back to the seat.
FBI ballistics expert Robert Frazier testified to the Warren Commission that the weight of the nose fragment/s was 44.6 grains (Hearings Vol. III, p. 432), and the weight of the tail fragment was 21.0 grains (Hearings Vol III, p. 435), totaling together 65.6 grains. Carcanno bullets weighed in the vicinity of 161 grains (CE 399 slightly less than that at 158.6 grains) (Hearings Vol III, p. 430). So there was an extremely large portion of the bullet missing, approximately 95 grains or more--the nose and tail fragments together not even making the weight of half of a Carcanno bullet. Some of the missing bullet weight could be accounted for by the minuscule fragments recovered from the President's brain and from the rug at the back floor of the limousine, but not nearly enough to approach the missing 95 grains. So where's the missing middle section of the bullet?
Pages from Warren Commission Hearings, Vol III, wherein FBI ballistics expert Robert Frazier discusses the weights of the nose and tail fragments found in the front of the limousine, and the weights of other Carcanno bullets (including CE-399). From https://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh3/pdf/WH3_Frazier.pdf
The middle section, larger than both the nose and tail fragments put together, was found, but then it was quietly disappeared, because its existence was problematic. The problem was that its existence destroyed the Single Bullet Theory (SBT), which was needed in order to subtract a shot from the original 3-shot scenario (Kennedy-Connally-Kennedy), in order to account for the minor wounding of bystander James Tague, which became public knowledge towards the end of the Commission's tenure.
Despite this large fragment's disappearance from the body of evidence, by looking at autopsy witness accounts, it turns out that the largest missing piece of this bullet can be accounted for.
How do I know this? Because of X-ray technician Jerrol Custer's under-oath testimony to the ARRB, wherein he described a "king-size" bullet. fragment falling out of Kennedy's back when the body was lifted for X-rays:
The middle section, larger than both the nose and tail fragments put together, was found, but then it was quietly disappeared, because its existence was problematic. The problem was that its existence destroyed the Single Bullet Theory (SBT), which was needed in order to subtract a shot from the original 3-shot scenario (Kennedy-Connally-Kennedy), in order to account for the minor wounding of bystander James Tague, which became public knowledge towards the end of the Commission's tenure.
Despite this large fragment's disappearance from the body of evidence, by looking at autopsy witness accounts, it turns out that the largest missing piece of this bullet can be accounted for.
How do I know this? Because of X-ray technician Jerrol Custer's under-oath testimony to the ARRB, wherein he described a "king-size" bullet. fragment falling out of Kennedy's back when the body was lifted for X-rays:
From the ARRB deposition of autopsy X-ray technician Jerrol Custer. See https://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/arrb/medical_testimony/pdf/Custer_10-28-97.pdf
So how did Custer's "king-size" fragment, the largest fragment from the forehead bullet, comprising the middle of the bullet and making up the vast majority of the missing 95 grains, end up in Kennedy's back? It, too, ricocheted off the seat back, but on a somewhat different trajectory than the nose and tail fragments found at the front of the car. After bouncing off the seat back, it returned to the President to strike him in the back and cause the shallow back wound. This was reported by a few sources in December, 1963 and January, 1964, based on a "leaked" FBI autopsy report (possibly leaked by J. Edgar Hoover himself as a sort of "power" play to try to make sure it was his version of events that became the accepted one). The January 7, 1964 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) was one of those sources:
There's already a bit of a shell game starting with this leaked FBI autopsy report. First, it was not an intact bullet that was recovered, as this report implies but a fragmented bullet. The nose and tail pieces (plus some minuscule fragments to be discussed in a moment) were recovered from the limousine, and it was a "king-size" fragment (per Custer), making up the largest portion of the bullet, that was recovered from Kennedy's back during the autopsy. (There was also a collection of minuscule fragments that were recovered from Kennedy's head during the autopsy.) And, as we will see in a moment, the "small fragment" that "angled down and passed out through Kennedy's throat" also came from this same bullet, from the first shot, not the last one. I'll explain how shortly.
But the "bullet" causing the back wound (actually, a "king-size fragment) that "was recovered during the autopsy," which came from "the upper part of the right back shoulder" and which "did not go through his body" obviously is not compatible with the Single Bullet Theory, because if this bullet/fragment did not go through Kennedy's body and was recovered during the autopsy, it could not have been the same missile that struck Governor Connally. So it was quietly disappeared.
But the "bullet" causing the back wound (actually, a "king-size fragment) that "was recovered during the autopsy," which came from "the upper part of the right back shoulder" and which "did not go through his body" obviously is not compatible with the Single Bullet Theory, because if this bullet/fragment did not go through Kennedy's body and was recovered during the autopsy, it could not have been the same missile that struck Governor Connally. So it was quietly disappeared.
As farther confirmation that this missile did not go through the body, it could not be probed beyond the first joint of Dr. Humes' little finger. A metal probe was attempted, but autopsy witness James Jenkins reported that he could see the rounded end of the probe pressing against the pleural lining of the chest cavity that had been opened during the autopsy, and that the probe did not penetrate through the pleural lining.
which could not be probed beyond the first joint of Dr. Humes' little finger. A metal probe was attempted, but autopsy witness James Jenkins reported that he could see the rounded end of the probe pressing against the pleural lining of the chest cavity that had been opened during the autopsy, and that the probe did not penetrate through the pleural lining.
Commission Exhibit CE840, described as "Three small lead particles found on rug underneath left jump seat of Presidential limousine." One of these particles appears to have later vanished, as it no longer appears to be in evidence, based on the later NARA photo of this exhibit. From Hearings, Vol XVII, p. 840 at https://historymatters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/pdf/WH17_CE_840.pdf
NARA photo of CE 840, taken circa 1959, from https://jenikirbyhistory.getarchive.net/topics/assassination+of+john+f+kennedy
How did these 3 fragments end up on the floor of the limousine? Well, the fragment that caused the throat wound had to go somewhere. The likelihood is that it hit the floor and broke into the 3 smaller pieces that became CE 840. That they were reportedly found under the left jump seems odd, but left and right are frequently confused by many people, and could have been misreported along the way (either innocently, or perhaps deliberately, to imply a trajectory from the right?), or the fragment's could have hit the floor and bounced in that direction, or the action of removing Kennedy's body from the limousine could have moved the fragments, or the travel of the limousine between Dealey Plaza and the White House garage could have jostled the fragments somewhat.
Diagram of two types of "internal ricochets" from the Vincent DiMaio definitive book Gunshot Wounds. In the case of JFK's throat wound, the internal ricochet would have been vertically downwards rather than the examples depicted here.
To summarize:
The first bullet to strike President Kennedy entered his forehead and fragmented on impact. It broke into three large fragments, and a whole bunch of smaller fragments. The three large fragments exited the back of Kennedy's head and ricocheted off the seat back. The nose and tail portions traveled towards the front of the car, on slightly different trajectories. One of these ricocheted again off the chrome strip, and ended up in the front seat cushion. Another ended up on the floor. The largest fragment, a "king-size" fragment comprising the largest section of the bullet, from the middle, ricocheted off the seat back and returned to the President to strike him in the back and cause the shallow back wound. Of the remaining minuscule fragments, some remained in the head to create the apparent fragment trail seen in the (left) lateral X-ray, while another fragment made an "internal ricochet" off the back of the inside of Kennedy's skull, and angled downwards towards the throat wound location, leaving traces of metal in the C3/C4 cervical region of the neck, which Jerrol Custer testified he had seen in X-rays that was later disappeared from the extant collection. The throat exit, being shored by the shirt collar and tie, fooled the Parkland doctors into thinking it was an "entrance." but the fragment that caused the wound hit the floor of the limousine and broke apart into the
The first bullet to strike President Kennedy entered his forehead and fragmented on impact. It broke into three large fragments, and a whole bunch of smaller fragments. The three large fragments exited the back of Kennedy's head and ricocheted off the seat back. The nose and tail portions traveled towards the front of the car, on slightly different trajectories. One of these ricocheted again off the chrome strip, and ended up in the front seat cushion. Another ended up on the floor. The largest fragment, a "king-size" fragment comprising the largest section of the bullet, from the middle, ricocheted off the seat back and returned to the President to strike him in the back and cause the shallow back wound. Of the remaining minuscule fragments, some remained in the head to create the apparent fragment trail seen in the (left) lateral X-ray, while another fragment made an "internal ricochet" off the back of the inside of Kennedy's skull, and angled downwards towards the throat wound location, leaving traces of metal in the C3/C4 cervical region of the neck, which Jerrol Custer testified he had seen in X-rays that was later disappeared from the extant collection. The throat exit, being shored by the shirt collar and tie, fooled the Parkland doctors into thinking it was an "entrance." but the fragment that caused the wound hit the floor of the limousine and broke apart into the