The Harper Fragment
-----
Introduction
When young Billy Harper found the Harper fragment on the grass in Dealey Plaza on the day after the assassination, he to it to Methodist Hospital, where his uncle, Dr. Jack C. Harper worked. At Methodist Hospital, the FBI was notified and the fragment was examined by multiple doctors, and photographed and X-rayed before FBI agents came to collect it.
In the image below, the exterior aspect is on the left, and the interior aspect is on the right.
When young Billy Harper found the Harper fragment on the grass in Dealey Plaza on the day after the assassination, he to it to Methodist Hospital, where his uncle, Dr. Jack C. Harper worked. At Methodist Hospital, the FBI was notified and the fragment was examined by multiple doctors, and photographed and X-rayed before FBI agents came to collect it.
In the image below, the exterior aspect is on the left, and the interior aspect is on the right.
Image from https://www.history-matters.com/essays/jfkmed/ADemonstrableImpossibility/ADemonstrableImpossibility.htm
The HSCA report published the images below:
from https://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol7/html/HSCA_Vol7_0067b.htm
from https://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol7/html/HSCA_Vol7_0067a.htm
On the exterior aspect (Figure 28), note the surface characteristics on the right side of the exterior surface of the Harper Fragment. Some other piece of bone had been apparently attached to the HF along that edge. There was also a slight smear of metal along the outer aspect of the HF at the small edge on the bottom-right of the exterior aspect.
On the interior aspect, note the bottom edge of the HF, which shows beveling along the interior aspect of the entire bottom edge.
The skull bone occurs in layers, known in the vernacular as "tables." The tables of the HF are important for 2 reasons: 1. It shows that something was previously attached to the outside table along the right-side edge (figure 28). And 2. there is beveling along the inside aspect of the entire bottom edge the HF.
The missing material on the outside right edge of the HF is a good indication that something was previously attached to the HF at that point, but ejected first, before the HF ejected.
Conversely, the beveling along the interior aspect along the bottom edge of the HF is a good indicator of force from the opposite direction, that is, from the outside towards the inside, as the HScA diagram demonstrating "beveling" shows:
-----
Mantik's skull reconstruction with the Harper Fragment
Dr. David Mantik studied the autopsy X-rays and photographs to create his skull reconstruction using
Mantik created this diagram below to show his reconstruction of JFK's skull incorporating the HF: His reconstruction places the slight metallic smear (occurring on the exterior surface of the HF, indicating a missile entrance) right at point where the autopsy doctors described the EOP entrance:
Dr. David Mantik studied the autopsy X-rays and photographs to create his skull reconstruction using
Mantik created this diagram below to show his reconstruction of JFK's skull incorporating the HF: His reconstruction places the slight metallic smear (occurring on the exterior surface of the HF, indicating a missile entrance) right at point where the autopsy doctors described the EOP entrance:
Dr. David Mantik's skull reconstruction with the Harper Fragment from his book "JFK's Head Wounds" (Figure 7A). The red arrow (original to the source) indicates the location of the fake 6.5mm object. The upward pointing area marked with "L" at the bottom of the HF indicates the location of the metallic smear entry point.
My only question of this is that the autopsy doctors described a skull fragment as being brought to the autopsy from the limousine, which "completed" the circumference of the entrance wound. Mantik notes that the HF was to found in Dealey Plaza until the next day. Mantik also hints that the HF might have been "moved" to the location where Billy Harper found it, at some point between the assassination and the HF discovery. If the skull fragment that "completed the circumference" was the HF, then why was it returned to Dealey Plaza for Billy Harper to find? And if it was some other fragment that "completed the circumference" of the EOP entrance wound, then where is this fragment in Mantik's reconstruction? I can't answer either question with any certainty, although if the HF was returned to Dealey Plaza, "planted," as it were, the motivation may have been to keep its "discovery" removed from Secret Service involvement. There is an account (JFK Horsemen) that a boy in Dealey Plaza (Jeff Franzen, perhaps?) picked up a skull fragment and handed it to a Secret Service man, who tossed it to the inside of the car before they drove off. My conjecture is that this was the Secret Service follow-up car, the "Queen Mary," rather than the Presidential limousine, the "SX-100." That it was tossed into the Queen Mary follow-up car may explain the confusion on the part of Dr. James Young when he recalled that a skull fragment (and intact bullet) from the "Queen Mary" was brought into the autopsy. It may well be that the skull fragment did come from the "Queen Mary," but I believe that the intact bullet did indeed come from SX-100--unless that was removed from the SX-100 and taken to the Queen Mary. I believe that the Secret Service improperly moved evidence around (e.g., placing the stretcher bullet onto Kennedy's and the hallway stretcher), so this might be an example of moving evidence around and improperly attempting to cover that up.
But for the purposes of the present discussion, let's focus on the HF and what can be demonstrably said of it.
But for the purposes of the present discussion, let's focus on the HF and what can be demonstrably said of it.
-----
Methodist Hospital Doctors
HSCA's Andy Purdy interviewed two Methodist Hospital doctors who saw the Harper Fragment when it was at the hospital before it was turned over to the FBI.
Dr. Jack Harper, the uncle of Billy Harper, who found the skull fragment named after him, told Purdy that "the consensus of the doctors who viewed the skull fragment was that it was part of the occipital region."
So, "occipital" per the consensus of multiple doctors who had no personal connection to a biased "investigation."
Good to know.
Purdy also interviewed Dr. A.B. Cairns, who, in 1963, had been Chief Pathologist at Methodist Hospital where Billy Harper had taken the Harper Fragment after he found it. Cairns had also examined the Harper Fragment, and told Purdy that "the skull fragment had no indication of being an entry or exit wound. However, he said he believed the skull fragment came from an area close to the entry wound by virtue of the way the 'tables' were broken."
Except that there are two areas where the "tables" are of interest. There is the right-side edge, where skull bone had been previously attached to the exterior aspect of the HF. And there is beveling at the point of the "L" arrow in Mantik's reconstruction, which is what I believe Cairns was referring to when he said "the way the tables were broken."
HSCA's Andy Purdy interviewed two Methodist Hospital doctors who saw the Harper Fragment when it was at the hospital before it was turned over to the FBI.
Dr. Jack Harper, the uncle of Billy Harper, who found the skull fragment named after him, told Purdy that "the consensus of the doctors who viewed the skull fragment was that it was part of the occipital region."
So, "occipital" per the consensus of multiple doctors who had no personal connection to a biased "investigation."
Good to know.
Purdy also interviewed Dr. A.B. Cairns, who, in 1963, had been Chief Pathologist at Methodist Hospital where Billy Harper had taken the Harper Fragment after he found it. Cairns had also examined the Harper Fragment, and told Purdy that "the skull fragment had no indication of being an entry or exit wound. However, he said he believed the skull fragment came from an area close to the entry wound by virtue of the way the 'tables' were broken."
Except that there are two areas where the "tables" are of interest. There is the right-side edge, where skull bone had been previously attached to the exterior aspect of the HF. And there is beveling at the point of the "L" arrow in Mantik's reconstruction, which is what I believe Cairns was referring to when he said "the way the tables were broken."
Then there's Purdy's interview with Dr. A.B. Carins, started on the page above and continued below. Cairns said that the HF came "from the lower occipital area, specifically." He described suture and inner markings where blood vessels run around the base of the skull for that evaluation.
He also described a small area on the HF "showing grayish discoloration suggesting metal had stained the bone." He believed that the skull fragment came from an area close to the entry wound because of the way the "tables" were broken."
He also described a small area on the HF "showing grayish discoloration suggesting metal had stained the bone." He believed that the skull fragment came from an area close to the entry wound because of the way the "tables" were broken."
from https://aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/arrb/master_med_set/md19/html/Image01.htm
Dr. David Mantik, in his skull reconstruction, places the metal smear right at the EOP entrance described by the autopsy pathologists.
Dr. Mantik asserts that the grayish smear is on an outside surface of the fragment, making it an entry site. But it's on the outside surface of the inner layer of the "skull bone sandwich."
And that has some interesting implications.
Dr. Mantik asserts that the grayish smear is on an outside surface of the fragment, making it an entry site. But it's on the outside surface of the inner layer of the "skull bone sandwich."
And that has some interesting implications.
-----
David Mantik's Footnote 10
Dr. David Mantik's skull reconstruction with the Harper Fragment places it as "occipital," based on characteristics of the fragment seen in the pictures of it, thus matching the Methodist Hospital "consensus" that it was "occipital."
In Mantik's book JFK Head Wounds, Mantik includes this footnote to note that the metallic smear on the Harper Fragment is on the outside, indicating that this point of the Harper fragment is for an entry wound. And son of a gun if his placement, with the help of the F8 "mystery" autopsy photograph, which both he and neurologist Dr. Michael Chesser describe as showing an "occipital" hole based on landmarks (nipple, eyelashes, abdominal fat) visible in the NARA version of the photo but not in the cropped the publicly available one, places the Harper fragment with its metallic smear right where the autopsy doctors placed the EOP entrance.
Moreover, there are indications that the skull had already been fractured before the bullet struck the site of the EOP smear.
Mantik's Footnote #10 in his book John F. Kennedy's Head Wounds is especially interesting. Here it is (with my underlining):
Dr. David Mantik's skull reconstruction with the Harper Fragment places it as "occipital," based on characteristics of the fragment seen in the pictures of it, thus matching the Methodist Hospital "consensus" that it was "occipital."
In Mantik's book JFK Head Wounds, Mantik includes this footnote to note that the metallic smear on the Harper Fragment is on the outside, indicating that this point of the Harper fragment is for an entry wound. And son of a gun if his placement, with the help of the F8 "mystery" autopsy photograph, which both he and neurologist Dr. Michael Chesser describe as showing an "occipital" hole based on landmarks (nipple, eyelashes, abdominal fat) visible in the NARA version of the photo but not in the cropped the publicly available one, places the Harper fragment with its metallic smear right where the autopsy doctors placed the EOP entrance.
Moreover, there are indications that the skull had already been fractured before the bullet struck the site of the EOP smear.
Mantik's Footnote #10 in his book John F. Kennedy's Head Wounds is especially interesting. Here it is (with my underlining):
10. John Hunt (e-mail of September 24, 2014) observes that the smear is on the outside of the inner table of the skull, which may be true. Picture the skull bone as a sandwich; the two slices of bread represent the two skull layers—the inner and outer tables of bone. Inside the sandwich is the cancellous (soft) bone. Even though the smear is on the inner table (i.e., inside the sandwich), it nonetheless faced outward—and there was no cancellous bone or outer table overlying it. That is because those portions had already broken off before the bullet arrived. The inner table (i.e., the surface facing the cancellous bone—or, if you prefer, the surface facing the meat in the sandwich) was therefore directly exposed to the incoming bullet (that deposited the smear). In that case, the fracture must have occurred before the bullet struck the site of the smear. Exactly when this fracture occurred (with respect to the arrival of the bullet) can be debated, but it is known that fractures can propagate faster than bullets can travel (Terminal Ballistics: A Text and Atlas of Gunshot Wounds (2005), Malcolm J. Dodd, p. 104). It would seem therefore that a single EOP shot could have caused both the fracture and the smear, without requiring a second EOP shot. The alternate scenario would be two EOP shots: one that chipped off the outer table (but did not deposit the smear), and a second shot that left the smear. However, it seems unlikely that two EOP shots would arrive at precisely the same site within seconds of one another.
So "the fracture must have occurred before the bullet struck the site of the smear."
Well, son of a gun if that doesn't match my first shot scenario! The fracture occurred with the first (Oswald) head shot, then the AR-15 bullet arrived after the skull had already been fractured, passing the already fractured "meat" side surface of the bread "sandwich" on the layer of bread closest to the brain, to deposit its metallic smear.
Well, son of a gun if that doesn't match my first shot scenario! The fracture occurred with the first (Oswald) head shot, then the AR-15 bullet arrived after the skull had already been fractured, passing the already fractured "meat" side surface of the bread "sandwich" on the layer of bread closest to the brain, to deposit its metallic smear.