What Happened - Shot 1
I'd say this is the "in a nutshell" version (as opposed to my 10-part documentary), although it's probably not as "nutshell" as many would like. But here is my scenario, with supporting evidence, and as brief as I can make it, without having to watch my documentary series by going to Episodes :-).
This page is dedicated to the first shot, which came from the TSBD, Shot 1 in my scenario. The remaining shots will be discussed on separate pages (currently under construction). If you're impatient to learn about the rest of the shots, then go watch my documentary series. :-) .
It's also important to realize that the Zapruder film, along with other important evidence, was mucked with and altered. So if you haven't already studied the authenticity questions surrounding the Z-film, then before you go any farther, read my article on Zapruder Film Alteration.
So now, in the words of one of my favorite TV detectives when he sums up the case at the end of the show, "Here's what happened..."
This page is dedicated to the first shot, which came from the TSBD, Shot 1 in my scenario. The remaining shots will be discussed on separate pages (currently under construction). If you're impatient to learn about the rest of the shots, then go watch my documentary series. :-) .
It's also important to realize that the Zapruder film, along with other important evidence, was mucked with and altered. So if you haven't already studied the authenticity questions surrounding the Z-film, then before you go any farther, read my article on Zapruder Film Alteration.
So now, in the words of one of my favorite TV detectives when he sums up the case at the end of the show, "Here's what happened..."
Sections
Click underlined text to jump to that section. I recommend reading the whole thing, in order. However, if you need to take a break and come back, or make a quick reference to something you've already read, then the jump-links will come in handy.
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Shot One--Summary
There is evidence that the TSBD shooter's first shot was a head shot, and that it occurred as the first shot in the assassination sequence (137.7 seconds into the stuck mic sequence of the acoustical evidence). The Zapruder Film does not show this shot, but then again, the Zapruder Film is an altered product. My scenario places this head shot immediately after the limousine's turn onto Elm Street. And there are witnesses who place a shot as occurring at this point.
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Early Head Shot
The Chicago Tribune had a reporter, Robert Young, who was embedded in the motorcade, and who apparently stayed behind in Dealey Plaza to interview witnesses. From that paper, we get reports indicating that Kennedy was shot in the head with the first shot, when the limousine was "75 yards" (actually, I think it was less than half of that, 92 feet or just under 31 yards--you'll see where I get this distance in a moment--but a lot of people have trouble estimating distance, so witness recollections of distance measurements should be taken with a grain of salt) away from the window and "moving at a stroller's pace," making this "an easy shot." The President's "hair flew up," indicating that this was a head shot, and the President took on an odd expression that witnesses characterized as "an awful look" or "awful" and "stunned" expression, or (per Bill Newman in his WFAA interview) showing "fear." But note how the "hair lift ' is associated with the first shot, not the third:
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Alan Smith
On a different page of the Chicago Tribune newspaper, we get an account as to exactly where on Kennedy's head this bullet struck--"in his forehead"--and exactly where the limousine was at the time of this shot--when the limousine was almost directly underneath the assassin's window and the assassin still had a frontal shot.
Alan Smith
On a different page of the Chicago Tribune newspaper, we get an account as to exactly where on Kennedy's head this bullet struck--"in his forehead"--and exactly where the limousine was at the time of this shot--when the limousine was almost directly underneath the assassin's window and the assassin still had a frontal shot.
I'd like to point out that even though Alan Smith was reported as saying that he was standing "on Main Street" (rather than Elm Street) he may actually have been misquoted and originally said that he was standing "on the main street" in front of the building, as opposed to the access road that ran between the TSBD and Elm Street. Or he may have gotten the name of the street wrong. But most importantly, he said that "the bullets came from a window right over (his) head." And critically, being possibly the closest witness to Kennedy at the time of the shot, only 10 feet away, he saw it strike the President "in his forehead."
I believe Alan Smith to have been one of these two boys seen on the far right edge of the Altgens 6 photograph. (The boy in the darker sweater can be seen running after the limousine in the Couch film.)
I believe Alan Smith to have been one of these two boys seen on the far right edge of the Altgens 6 photograph. (The boy in the darker sweater can be seen running after the limousine in the Couch film.)
I believe Alan Smith to have been one of these two boys visible in the Altgens 6 photograph.
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Mrs. Charles Hester
Recently, Denis Morissette, a researcher on the Education Forum, posted a topic in the "JFK Assassination Debate" thread (https://educationforum.ipbhost.com/topic/30389-dallas-times-herald-editor’s-notes/) with a link to the Dallas Times Herald assassination archives ("Morgue"). One of the editor's notes, #449, contained very interesting information related to Mrs. Charles Hester, a payroll clerk in Zapruder's company Jennifer's Juniors, who described the first shot as "like a firecracker exploded in the car..whn Firstone (sic.) hit him...like firecracker exploding in his head, exploded blood.."
Editors note #447 from the Dallas Times Herald archives, known as the "Morgue," from https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1M579IE0NLpX3Ry-PxP03r6GNGZp9HoRz
Mrs. Hester's description of the first shot as "like a firecracker exploded in the car...like (a) firecracker exploding in his head, exploded blood," was echoed without specifically mentioning the word "head" or "blood" but in connection with the "first" shot, by bystanders Ruby Henderson and Jack Franzen, who saw stuff flying around inside the car, even if they didn't recognize that the stuff they saw came from the President's head. However, the thought that it was a "firecracker" was a common thread, as was the mention of stuff flying around inside the car.
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Ruby Henderson
Ruby Henderson was standing at the corner of Houston and Elm in front of the Dal-Tex building, which would place her immediately behind the limousine just after the turn onto Elm. She said that "at the time the motorcade passed where she was standing," she saw “paper” flying out of the car and later realized it was “flesh.” Moreover, in order to see the paper/flesh fly out of the President's car, there would have to be no other cars (like the Secret Service follow-up car) blocking her view, which gives us further indication of the timing of this shot. (See the bottom of the first page and top of the second page of her FBI report.)
Ruby Henderson was standing at the corner of Houston and Elm in front of the Dal-Tex building, which would place her immediately behind the limousine just after the turn onto Elm. She said that "at the time the motorcade passed where she was standing," she saw “paper” flying out of the car and later realized it was “flesh.” Moreover, in order to see the paper/flesh fly out of the President's car, there would have to be no other cars (like the Secret Service follow-up car) blocking her view, which gives us further indication of the timing of this shot. (See the bottom of the first page and top of the second page of her FBI report.)
Ruby Henderson's FBI report. She saw "paper" or "flesh" fly out of the car "at the time the motorcade passed where she was standing." She was located at the corner of Houston and Elm, in front of the Dal-Tex building. (See the bottom of the first page, top of the second.)
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Jack Franzen
The Franzen family was seen in the extant Zapruder Film as the last bystanders before the limousine went under the Triple Underpass. Jack Franzen also believed he saw pieces of a “firecracker” flying around inside the car with the first shot.
The Franzen family was seen in the extant Zapruder Film as the last bystanders before the limousine went under the Triple Underpass. Jack Franzen also believed he saw pieces of a “firecracker” flying around inside the car with the first shot.
Jack Franzen's FBI report describing the first shot as "an explosion which appeared to him to come from the President's car and noticed small fragments flying inside the car and immediately assumed some had tossed a firecracker inside the automobile."
(Also of interest in Franzen's account is the description of Secret Service Agents unloading from their car and rushing up the hill, which the Newman family also described in one of their interviews. Officially, of course, this never happened. But I believe that the pool of blood described as being seen at the top of the stairs is related.)
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Pierce Allman
Another critical first-shot witness is Pierce Allman, who placed the limousine just at the end of the turn for the first shot. According to Allman, "They turned the corner, right here, and Boom!"
Another critical first-shot witness is Pierce Allman, who placed the limousine just at the end of the turn for the first shot. According to Allman, "They turned the corner, right here, and Boom!"
Pierce Allman, who was standing next to the corner of Houston and Elm at the time of the shooting, describes the limousine as "turning the corner" in the top image, and "right here, and BOOM!" in the bottom image.
In this interview, Allman described "three evenly spaced shots" that came from the TSBD window. In a same-day radio interview (audio presented in my documentary), he was asked if he saw police or Secret Service returning fire. His response was "This is possible." The "return-fire" idea is something I will return to in upcoming "What Happened" articles.
This is a truncated version of the interview from which I got the images above. It also contains his radio interview:
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Governor Connally
Governor Connally gave a press conference from his hospital bed a few days after the assassination. In that press conference, he said, "And then, we had just turned a corner. I heard a shot..."
Governor Connally gave a press conference from his hospital bed a few days after the assassination. In that press conference, he said, "And then, we had just turned a corner. I heard a shot..."
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Karen Westbrook
There was also the early Chicago Tribune account (shown above) by Karen Westbrook, who saw Kennedy’s “hair fly up” at a point where she could still see Kennedy's "awful, stunned expression." In order for her to see that expression, the limousine would have to have been approaching her position, as it was just after it turned the corner, not past her, as it was by the time the Altgens 6 photo was taken.
There was also the early Chicago Tribune account (shown above) by Karen Westbrook, who saw Kennedy’s “hair fly up” at a point where she could still see Kennedy's "awful, stunned expression." In order for her to see that expression, the limousine would have to have been approaching her position, as it was just after it turned the corner, not past her, as it was by the time the Altgens 6 photo was taken.
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Charles Brehm
Charles Brehm described in his Mark Lane interview a “hair lift” at a point when he could see Kennedy’s expression—i.e., as the limousine was approaching him—and described a “skull fragment” or “whatever it was” landing on the street near his feet. (I believe Brehm mistakenly attributed the “hair lift” to the “second” shot when it actually occurred with the “first” TSBD shot, whereas the skull fragment likely did land near his feet with the second shot, after momentarily sticking to Bobby Hargis’ cheek, where it can be seen in the Altgens 6 photo).
Charles Brehm described in his Mark Lane interview a “hair lift” at a point when he could see Kennedy’s expression—i.e., as the limousine was approaching him—and described a “skull fragment” or “whatever it was” landing on the street near his feet. (I believe Brehm mistakenly attributed the “hair lift” to the “second” shot when it actually occurred with the “first” TSBD shot, whereas the skull fragment likely did land near his feet with the second shot, after momentarily sticking to Bobby Hargis’ cheek, where it can be seen in the Altgens 6 photo).
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Hank Farmer
More recently, (thanks to the work of Pat Speer) I can add Hank Farmer (identified by Speer as the Black man wearing a black apron on the other far of Elm Street in the Zapruder film), who described Kennedy as being shot “in the face”.
More recently, (thanks to the work of Pat Speer) I can add Hank Farmer (identified by Speer as the Black man wearing a black apron on the other far of Elm Street in the Zapruder film), who described Kennedy as being shot “in the face”.
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Dan Rather's Same-Day Reporting
While narrating an aftermath film for the CBS evening news, Dan Rather twice showed the area of Elm Street just after the turn while narrating that "this is practically the spot where the President was shot" and "right there is where the President was shot." The videos are presented in episode 7 of my documentary series, but here are stills from the two times he locates the President as being shot just after the turn:
While narrating an aftermath film for the CBS evening news, Dan Rather twice showed the area of Elm Street just after the turn while narrating that "this is practically the spot where the President was shot" and "right there is where the President was shot." The videos are presented in episode 7 of my documentary series, but here are stills from the two times he locates the President as being shot just after the turn:
Dan rather narrates an aftermath film in the CBS Evening News of 11/22/63. As a cop walks towards the steps leading to the main TSBD entrance, Rather says "Right there, is where the President was shot." The video is in Part 7 of my documentary series.
Later in the film narration, Rather says, "This is practically the spot on the street where the President was shot." The Dal-Tex building can be seen on the left.
Rather is showing the end of the turn onto Elm Street as "the spot where the President was shot." This does not match any official location for a shot, but it does give the TSBD shooter an opportunity for a frontal shot.
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Other Accounts of a Forehead Wound
We also have a number of other accounts of a forehead wound, from Assistant Press Secretary Malcolm Kilduff (who announced Kennedy's death at the Parkland Hospital Press Conference, apparently describing what Dr. Burkley had told him about "a bullet right in the head"), White House photographer Joe O'Donnell (describing autopsy images he had seen), Dr. Charles Crenshaw (one of the Parkland doctors who treated Kennedy, describing a wound he saw in person), Navy Corpsman Dennis David (who saw purported autopsy images taken by William Pitzer), and Quentin Schwinn (a graduating photography student purportedly shown an autopsy photograph as part of a CIA recruitment pitch):
We also have a number of other accounts of a forehead wound, from Assistant Press Secretary Malcolm Kilduff (who announced Kennedy's death at the Parkland Hospital Press Conference, apparently describing what Dr. Burkley had told him about "a bullet right in the head"), White House photographer Joe O'Donnell (describing autopsy images he had seen), Dr. Charles Crenshaw (one of the Parkland doctors who treated Kennedy, describing a wound he saw in person), Navy Corpsman Dennis David (who saw purported autopsy images taken by William Pitzer), and Quentin Schwinn (a graduating photography student purportedly shown an autopsy photograph as part of a CIA recruitment pitch):
Top-left: Assistant Press Secretary Malcolm Kilduff points to his forehead at the Press Conference announcing Kennedy's death, saying, "Dr. Burkley tells me...it was a simple matter of a bullet right in the head."
Bottom-Left, Parkland physician who participated in Kennedy's emergency care told 20/20 viewers, "(the bullet entered) from here, through."
Top-center: White House photographer Joe O'Donnell described seeing autopsy photos not in the extant collection showing a bullet wound in the forehead.
Bottom-center: Navy Corpsman Dennis David recounts having seen an autopsy phone that showed a bullet wound in the forehead.
Bottom-right: Graduating photography student Quentin Schwinn reported seeing an autopsy photo that looked like this drawing he commissioned, showing an apparent bullet wound in Kennedy's forehead.
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Bobby Hargis' Cheek (and the Back of the Head Exit)
A close look at motorcycle officer Bobby Harris's right cheek (on the left as you view the image) shows an anomaly that I contend is a fragment of Kennedy's skull, ejected from the back of the head with the first shot, and creating the start of the back of the head blow-out that the AR-15 accidental shot enlarged seconds later. Harris didn't seem to know he had been struck by anything at the time, as he says in an interview that he didn't seem to know anything was there until after the assassination, when a fellow officer, Buddy Brewer, indicated to him that he had some tissue on his lip. In the interview (this clip of which is in my documentary), Harris touches his left cheek. However, as the Aligns 6 image shows, it actually struck his right cheek. Harris was struck with brain and bone matter from the first shot, not the last, as many researchers have assumed.
A close look at motorcycle officer Bobby Harris's right cheek (on the left as you view the image) shows an anomaly that I contend is a fragment of Kennedy's skull, ejected from the back of the head with the first shot, and creating the start of the back of the head blow-out that the AR-15 accidental shot enlarged seconds later. Harris didn't seem to know he had been struck by anything at the time, as he says in an interview that he didn't seem to know anything was there until after the assassination, when a fellow officer, Buddy Brewer, indicated to him that he had some tissue on his lip. In the interview (this clip of which is in my documentary), Harris touches his left cheek. However, as the Aligns 6 image shows, it actually struck his right cheek. Harris was struck with brain and bone matter from the first shot, not the last, as many researchers have assumed.
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The FBI "Visual Aid" Model
The limousine position for this first (early) TSBD shot aligns with an FBI “visual aid” model picture provided to the WC showing a string line running from the TSBD window to Kennedy’s throat, with distance ("92 feet") and angle ("45 degree angle") noted. Although there was no FBI admission that this was a “shot” trajectory, it matches Pierce Allman's first shot position, Ruby Henderson's description, and so on.
The limousine position for this first (early) TSBD shot aligns with an FBI “visual aid” model picture provided to the WC showing a string line running from the TSBD window to Kennedy’s throat, with distance ("92 feet") and angle ("45 degree angle") noted. Although there was no FBI admission that this was a “shot” trajectory, it matches Pierce Allman's first shot position, Ruby Henderson's description, and so on.
From "Commission Document 298, FBI Letter from Director of 20 Jan 1964 with Visual Aides Brochure" with my annotated red line leading to the model's forehead rather than throat, immediately above the FBI model's string line leading to the throat. https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=10699#relPageId=26
The string line for this odd "not a shot" location in the FBI model runs to the JFK doll's throat, and while I believe the throat wound occurred at about the same time, I contend that the string should have run to the doll's forehead, as my red annotation above shows.
While I believe that the throat wound (where the string line runs) appeared at the same time as the forehead wound (via an “internal ricochet” of a bullet fragment off the back of Kennedy’s skull, as evidenced by Thomas Robinson’s being “adamant” that the throat wound was probed from the back of the skull, as well as Jerrol Custer’s description of metallic fragments being present in the C3/C4 region of the neck in a now-missing neck X-ray), the string line should actually run to the Kennedy doll’s forehead, per my red line annotation above, rather than to the throat.
While I believe that the throat wound (where the string line runs) appeared at the same time as the forehead wound (via an “internal ricochet” of a bullet fragment off the back of Kennedy’s skull, as evidenced by Thomas Robinson’s being “adamant” that the throat wound was probed from the back of the skull, as well as Jerrol Custer’s description of metallic fragments being present in the C3/C4 region of the neck in a now-missing neck X-ray), the string line should actually run to the Kennedy doll’s forehead, per my red line annotation above, rather than to the throat.
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Secret Service Re-Enactment Image
The limousine position at the time of a critical shot closely aligns with one in the CE 875 album of photographs from the Secret Service reenactment, with the cross-hairs centered on the JFK stand-in's forehead, although in my scenario, Kennedy would be looking more to his right, and perhaps even upwards, to place the blow-out in the area where witnesses put it, (but above the Harper Fragment, which ejected later, as will be discussed shortly). The important take-away from this image is that Oswald still had a frontal shot opportunity immediately after the limousine turned the corner:
The limousine position at the time of a critical shot closely aligns with one in the CE 875 album of photographs from the Secret Service reenactment, with the cross-hairs centered on the JFK stand-in's forehead, although in my scenario, Kennedy would be looking more to his right, and perhaps even upwards, to place the blow-out in the area where witnesses put it, (but above the Harper Fragment, which ejected later, as will be discussed shortly). The important take-away from this image is that Oswald still had a frontal shot opportunity immediately after the limousine turned the corner:
From https://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/pdf/WH17_CE_875.pdf
During the assassination, however, Kennedy would have been looking to his right, more towards the camera's point-of-view, for the forehead entry and to exit at the back of the head.
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Not in the Zapruder Film
Remember my "given" that the extant Zapruder Film is an altered product? For those who say that the Zapruder Film does not show this early first shot, I am (painfully) aware of this fact. My response is that the Z-film was extensively altered, first to remove the turn onto Elm Street (where this shot occurred). Second, to hide this shot because of the large Secret Service inaction. An affidavit by Senator Ralph Yarborough, who rode in the same car as Lyndon Johnson, immediately behind the Secret Service follow-up car behind the President's limousine, states, "After the shooting, one of the secret service men sitting down in the car in front of us pulled out an automatic rifle or weapon and looked backward. However, all of the secret service men seemed to me to respond very slowly, with no more than a puzzled look. In fact, until the automatic weapon was uncovered, I had been lulled into a sense of false hope for the President’s safety, by the lack of motion, excitement, or apparent visible knowledge by the secret service men, that anything so dreadful was happening." (see https://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh7/pdf/WH7_Yarborough_aff.pdf
Most of the agents were hungover after staying out into the early morning hours on the day of the assassination--a scandal that was reported by Washington syndicated columnist Drew Pierson and apparently downplayed by the Warren Commission. Hickey was not among the agents who were drinking, as he was in Dallas and the incident occurred in Fort Worth. He can be still be seen looking down and to his left in the early Elm Street frames of the extant Zapruder Film. (Malcolm Summers, the "falling man" in the Zapruder Film, described multiple Secret Service agents as looking in that direction, in his Sixth Floor Museum "Living History" interview.") I contend that Hickey was looking at a skull fragment that ejected with this early shot, and that he then reached down to pick up the AR-15.
Finally, the Zapruder was altered to hide the limousine's stop and the follow-up car's sudden stop (described by Greg Burnham in his description of the “other” Zapruder Film as having “stopped on a dime”), which caused Hickey to fall over and the AR-15 to discharge in a slam fire. (I'll discuss the AR-15 head shot in a later section.)
Remember my "given" that the extant Zapruder Film is an altered product? For those who say that the Zapruder Film does not show this early first shot, I am (painfully) aware of this fact. My response is that the Z-film was extensively altered, first to remove the turn onto Elm Street (where this shot occurred). Second, to hide this shot because of the large Secret Service inaction. An affidavit by Senator Ralph Yarborough, who rode in the same car as Lyndon Johnson, immediately behind the Secret Service follow-up car behind the President's limousine, states, "After the shooting, one of the secret service men sitting down in the car in front of us pulled out an automatic rifle or weapon and looked backward. However, all of the secret service men seemed to me to respond very slowly, with no more than a puzzled look. In fact, until the automatic weapon was uncovered, I had been lulled into a sense of false hope for the President’s safety, by the lack of motion, excitement, or apparent visible knowledge by the secret service men, that anything so dreadful was happening." (see https://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh7/pdf/WH7_Yarborough_aff.pdf
Most of the agents were hungover after staying out into the early morning hours on the day of the assassination--a scandal that was reported by Washington syndicated columnist Drew Pierson and apparently downplayed by the Warren Commission. Hickey was not among the agents who were drinking, as he was in Dallas and the incident occurred in Fort Worth. He can be still be seen looking down and to his left in the early Elm Street frames of the extant Zapruder Film. (Malcolm Summers, the "falling man" in the Zapruder Film, described multiple Secret Service agents as looking in that direction, in his Sixth Floor Museum "Living History" interview.") I contend that Hickey was looking at a skull fragment that ejected with this early shot, and that he then reached down to pick up the AR-15.
Finally, the Zapruder was altered to hide the limousine's stop and the follow-up car's sudden stop (described by Greg Burnham in his description of the “other” Zapruder Film as having “stopped on a dime”), which caused Hickey to fall over and the AR-15 to discharge in a slam fire. (I'll discuss the AR-15 head shot in a later section.)
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Entrance and Exit Wounds
I contend that this shot had a single entrance (the forehead, as described by young Alan Smith and others above (mistakenly called "temple" by a number of other people), and that the bullet fragmented upon impact. The fragments then proceeded to exit at various points. Most of these fragments exited the back of the skull, and then proceeded to ricochet off the limousine seat back. The largest of these fragments, from the center of the bullet, returned to Kennedy to create the back wound, which was shallow in nature, and this "king-size" fragment fell out of the back wound during the autopsy, as described by Jerrol Custer in his ARRB testimony. The nose and tail portions of the bullet ricocheted off the limousine seat back and angled towards the front of the car (one of them bouncing off the chrome strip before angling towards the seat or floor), where they were later recovered. At least one small fragment made an "internal ricochet" at the back of the skull and angled downwards inside the President's body towards the throat, leaving behind the metallic particles at the C3/C4 region of the neck (as described by Jerrol Custer in his ARRB testimony) and creating the throat wound. The shored (constrained by shirt collar and tie) nature of the throat wound and its being caused by a small fragment (rather than an intact missile) fooled the Parkland doctors into believing that the throat was an "entrance," when it was in fact an exit.
As evidence for this scenario, there is the F8 "mystery" autopsy photograph, which Dr. David Mantik's reconstruction places at the back of the head. Neurologist Dr. Michael Chesser concurs, adding that the outline (at the bottom) of the hole is "highly suggestive of the Harper Fragment." The pathologists at Methodist Hospital, where Billy Harper had taken the fragment, described the skull fragment as "occipital," meaning that it came from the back of the head. "Occipital" (or "occipital-parietal") is where the Parkland doctors' under-oath testimony to the Warren Commission placed the blow-out hole in the President's head--a point they reiterated in the documentary JFK: What the Doctors Saw.
I contend that this shot had a single entrance (the forehead, as described by young Alan Smith and others above (mistakenly called "temple" by a number of other people), and that the bullet fragmented upon impact. The fragments then proceeded to exit at various points. Most of these fragments exited the back of the skull, and then proceeded to ricochet off the limousine seat back. The largest of these fragments, from the center of the bullet, returned to Kennedy to create the back wound, which was shallow in nature, and this "king-size" fragment fell out of the back wound during the autopsy, as described by Jerrol Custer in his ARRB testimony. The nose and tail portions of the bullet ricocheted off the limousine seat back and angled towards the front of the car (one of them bouncing off the chrome strip before angling towards the seat or floor), where they were later recovered. At least one small fragment made an "internal ricochet" at the back of the skull and angled downwards inside the President's body towards the throat, leaving behind the metallic particles at the C3/C4 region of the neck (as described by Jerrol Custer in his ARRB testimony) and creating the throat wound. The shored (constrained by shirt collar and tie) nature of the throat wound and its being caused by a small fragment (rather than an intact missile) fooled the Parkland doctors into believing that the throat was an "entrance," when it was in fact an exit.
As evidence for this scenario, there is the F8 "mystery" autopsy photograph, which Dr. David Mantik's reconstruction places at the back of the head. Neurologist Dr. Michael Chesser concurs, adding that the outline (at the bottom) of the hole is "highly suggestive of the Harper Fragment." The pathologists at Methodist Hospital, where Billy Harper had taken the fragment, described the skull fragment as "occipital," meaning that it came from the back of the head. "Occipital" (or "occipital-parietal") is where the Parkland doctors' under-oath testimony to the Warren Commission placed the blow-out hole in the President's head--a point they reiterated in the documentary JFK: What the Doctors Saw.
The F8 "Mystery" autopsy photograph has been called a "mystery" because of the lack of landmarks to orient exactly where on the skull this hole is located. However, Mantik maintains that the original version in the Archives, which he personally saw, is not as cropped, and shows aspects of the body (eyelashes, nipple) that help orient the hole to the back of the head. There may be a slight amount of wiggle-room in Mantik's orientation (Dr. Chesser places the midline slightly differently), but the overwhelming testimonial evidence indicates that this hole is indeed at the back of the head, and not at the front-side of the head, as has been presented.
The F8 "Mystery" autopsy photograph, with my annotations. The arrows show what appear to be exit points with external beveling. The circled annotation will be discussed in connection with the AR-15 shot.
The Harper Fragment was photographed by the Methodist doctors before being turned over to federal authorities. The image on the left shows the external aspect (with the lower-left tail matching the outline of the hole in the F8 autopsy photograph). The image on the right shows the internal aspect. The Methodist doctors described the skull bone fragment as "occipital"--meaning, from the back of the head.
A HSCA diagram showing how beveling occurs.
I do not believe that the Harper Fragment itself ejected with this first shot, but remained attached to the skull. The area of the hole above the Harper fragment certainly did eject with the first shot, but the Harper Fragment itself ejected later, with the AR-15 shot, as I will explain in my discussion of that shot.
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External and Internal Ricochets
When a projectile like a bullet or bullet fragment hits a hard surface, like bone, it can not only fragment, but also the bullet or fragments can ricochet off that hard surface to change their trajectory or angle of travel. Most people are familiar with the concept of "ricochet," but are less familiar with secondary wounds caused by ricochets, or with a concept specific to bullet wounds in the skull called "internal ricochets."
I contend that an external ricochet of one especially large fragment off the limousine seat back caused the shallow back wound that puzzled the autopsy doctors, and that an internal ricochet of a smaller fragment caused the equally puzzling throat wound, that (due especially to its shored nature--meaning, the skin was restricted by the shirt collar and tie) that fooled the Parkland doctors into believing it was an entrance wound, when it really was the exit for a small fragment.
When a projectile like a bullet or bullet fragment hits a hard surface, like bone, it can not only fragment, but also the bullet or fragments can ricochet off that hard surface to change their trajectory or angle of travel. Most people are familiar with the concept of "ricochet," but are less familiar with secondary wounds caused by ricochets, or with a concept specific to bullet wounds in the skull called "internal ricochets."
I contend that an external ricochet of one especially large fragment off the limousine seat back caused the shallow back wound that puzzled the autopsy doctors, and that an internal ricochet of a smaller fragment caused the equally puzzling throat wound, that (due especially to its shored nature--meaning, the skin was restricted by the shirt collar and tie) that fooled the Parkland doctors into believing it was an entrance wound, when it really was the exit for a small fragment.
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The Shallow (Ricochet) Back Wound
Kennedy's back wound was shallow in nature. It could not be probed beyond the first joint of the autopsy doctor's little finger. Autopsy assistant Navy Corpsman James Jenkins said that the missile causing the back wound, which he saw probed, did not penetrate the pleural lining. Any hypothetical tracks between the back wound and the throat were "presumed," based on the bogus "Single Bullet Theory," not observed. Moreover, the wound was too low in the back for the Single Bullet Theory to work, Clint Hill, who viewed the body in the morgue so that he could report to the family on the wounds, testified to the Warren Commission that the back wound was "about six inches below the neck line to the right of the spinal column." In Dr. Humes' Warren Commission testimony, it was established as "approximately 6 inches below the top of the collar, and 2 inches to the right of the middle seam of the coat." Contrary to the statement that the holes in the clothing "conform quite well" to CE 385, CE 385 places the back wound at the bottom of the neck, not 6 inches below the neck line!
Kennedy's back wound was shallow in nature. It could not be probed beyond the first joint of the autopsy doctor's little finger. Autopsy assistant Navy Corpsman James Jenkins said that the missile causing the back wound, which he saw probed, did not penetrate the pleural lining. Any hypothetical tracks between the back wound and the throat were "presumed," based on the bogus "Single Bullet Theory," not observed. Moreover, the wound was too low in the back for the Single Bullet Theory to work, Clint Hill, who viewed the body in the morgue so that he could report to the family on the wounds, testified to the Warren Commission that the back wound was "about six inches below the neck line to the right of the spinal column." In Dr. Humes' Warren Commission testimony, it was established as "approximately 6 inches below the top of the collar, and 2 inches to the right of the middle seam of the coat." Contrary to the statement that the holes in the clothing "conform quite well" to CE 385, CE 385 places the back wound at the bottom of the neck, not 6 inches below the neck line!
Image from https://www.maryferrell.org/photos.html?set=NARA-JFKCLOTHES with my arrow added to show the hole in the clothing.
Autopsy participant James Jenkins described the wound as shallow, asserts that it was probed, and said that the direction of the wound track was NOT towards the throat, as his illustration shows (with the caveat that he was trying to describe a 3D wound on a 2D image). The black dot represents the approximate entrance location. The red dot shows the approximate termination of the wound, which he saw probed to (but not penetrating) the pleural lining around the lung.
James Jenkins' representation of the back wound, from his book At the Cold Shoulder of History.
Of course, in the Warren Commission's report, this back wound was moved upwards, to the bottom of the neck, in order to make the bogus "Single Bullet Theory" work:
CE 385, as published in the Warren Commission documents. The location of the back wound has been moved up to the base of the neck, and the "blow-out" has been moved from the back of the head to the upper right side of the head in this drawing.
Gerald Ford, then a Congressman and later President of the U.S. after Nixon's resignation, eventually admitted to being the one who moved the description of the wound to the "neck." But in the same breath, Ford insisted there was no conspiracy. (There was a conspiracy, but mostly to cover-up, not to murder, and Ford himself was a part of it!)
Autopsy X-ray technician Jerrol Custer testified to the ARRB that a "king-size" fragment had fallen out of the back when the body was lifted for X-rays.
From autopsy X-ray technician Jerrol Custer's ARRB testimony.
Some accounts of a leaked FBI report on the autopsy, this fragment was morphed into a whole "bullet" that was "recovered." Perhaps it was a whole "bullet" because the nose and tail fragments were recovered from the limousine when Dr. Humes sent two Navy corpsman to search the car. (Those corpsmen also brought back an intact spent slug--the Dr. Young/Captain Osborne bullet--to be discussed in connection with the second shot. This intact slug further confused matters, contributing to the report of a whole "bullet" being recovered from the body.) Interestingly, the report describes this "bullet" as having possibly "ricocheted off the limousine" before striking Kennedy in the back. In fact, this fragment DID ricochet off the seat back to hit him in the back...after it had passed through his head, contributing to part of the back of the head blow-out.
from the January 4, 1964 issue of JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association)
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The Throat Wound as an Internal Ricochet (Fragment) Exit
Autopsy X-ray technician Jerrol Custer testified to the ARRB that he saw metallic fragments in the C3/C4 region of an X-ray (that had by the time of his testimony missing from the extant collection of autopsy images). Bullet fragments in this area would indicate either an upward trajectory from the throat wound towards the back of the head (a speculation some of the Parkland doctors entertained of a bullet hitting the spinal column and deflecting upwards), or a downward trajectory from the back of the head towards the throat wound, which makes better sense, given the C3/C4 location of Custer's metallic fragments. Mortician Thomas Robinson, who was present during the autopsy, testified that he was "adamant" he had seen the throat wound successfully probed from the back of the head--not from the base of the neck (which was not the actual location of the back wound, in any case).
Autopsy X-ray technician Jerrol Custer testified to the ARRB that he saw metallic fragments in the C3/C4 region of an X-ray (that had by the time of his testimony missing from the extant collection of autopsy images). Bullet fragments in this area would indicate either an upward trajectory from the throat wound towards the back of the head (a speculation some of the Parkland doctors entertained of a bullet hitting the spinal column and deflecting upwards), or a downward trajectory from the back of the head towards the throat wound, which makes better sense, given the C3/C4 location of Custer's metallic fragments. Mortician Thomas Robinson, who was present during the autopsy, testified that he was "adamant" he had seen the throat wound successfully probed from the back of the head--not from the base of the neck (which was not the actual location of the back wound, in any case).
An approximate trajectory from the back of the head through the C3/C4 region, to the throat wound area
So how could a fragment from a shot entering from JFK's forehead above his right eye angle forwards and downward towards the throat? The answer is, via a ricochet off the inside of the back of the skull, what's called in forensic terms, an "internal ricochet." Dr. Vincent J.M. DiMaio wrote the definitive book on gunshot wound pathology, called Gunshot Wounds. DiMaio gives this illustration of internal ricochets to show how bullets can bounce or otherwise ricochet around the inside of the skull:
A diagram of 2 different types of internal ricochets inside the skull, from Gunshot Wounds, by Vincent J.M. Di Maio (2nd Edition). In this case, the ricochet would be vertical rather than the depicted horizontal illustration, entering above the right eye, hitting the back of the skull, and then angling downwards towards the throat.
In the JFK case, the internal ricochet was vertical rather than horizontal, but bullets changing course inside the body after striking bone is a well-known phenomenon--more so now than in 1963.
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A Case of Mistaken Identity: The Shored Nature of the Throat Wound
The Parkland doctors initially believed that the throat wound had been caused by the entrance of an (intact) bullet that hit the spine and deflected (internal ricochet) upward to exit at the back of the head, as their Warren Commission testimonies described their initial speculations. An entrance wound will often have an "abrasion ring." In his Warren Commission testimony, Dr. Malcolm Perry, who performed the tracheostomy, makes no mention of any "abrasion ring" in his Warren Commission testimony, and said only that "blood obscured the edges of the wound." However, some researchers in the JFK Assassination Debate section of the Education Forum contend that Dr. Perry told researcher Harold Weisberg that he saw an "abrasion ring" around the throat wound, and that he insisted to various people that it "looked like" an entrance, and that he had been "pressured" into changing his public description of the wound as an entrance, to say instead that it could have been an exit.
I have no doubt that Perry said these things, or that he was pressured, or that the throat wound appeared to be an entrance with an abrasion collar. Nevertheless, I contend that the throat wound was an exit--but for a small fragment, not an intact bullet. Recalling Perry's sworn testimony that the throat wound could have been an exit, many researchers believe that he caved to the pressure. But just because Perry was pressured to say it was an exit doesn't mean that it wasn't an exit. There is evidence that it was an exit. And there is reason why this exit would have looked to Perry and the other Parkland doctors like an entrance, even though it was an exit: the wound was "shored" by Kennedy's shirt collar and tie, thus making it more likely for this exit to have the abrasion collar usually characteristic of an entrance.
A "shored gunshot wound of exit is produced when the outstretched skin is impaled, sandwiched, and crushed between the outgoing bullet and the unyielding object over the exit site, thus leaving an abrasion collar on the wound margin." (See "Shored gunshot wound of exit. A phenomenon with identity crisis." See pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6637946/#:~:text=Shored%20gunshot%20wound%20of%20exit%20is%20produced%20when%20the%20outstretched,collar%20on%20the%20wound%20margin . The "identity crisis" is confusion over entrance vs. exit, since the abrasion collar is usually more characteristic of an entrance, but the shored nature of some exit wounds can also create an abrasion collar. In this case, it was the buttoned shirt collar and tie that created the "unyielding object over the exit site.
Pictures of Kennedy on the same day but before the shooting demonstrate how the shirt collar and tie provided the shoring for the wound:
The Parkland doctors initially believed that the throat wound had been caused by the entrance of an (intact) bullet that hit the spine and deflected (internal ricochet) upward to exit at the back of the head, as their Warren Commission testimonies described their initial speculations. An entrance wound will often have an "abrasion ring." In his Warren Commission testimony, Dr. Malcolm Perry, who performed the tracheostomy, makes no mention of any "abrasion ring" in his Warren Commission testimony, and said only that "blood obscured the edges of the wound." However, some researchers in the JFK Assassination Debate section of the Education Forum contend that Dr. Perry told researcher Harold Weisberg that he saw an "abrasion ring" around the throat wound, and that he insisted to various people that it "looked like" an entrance, and that he had been "pressured" into changing his public description of the wound as an entrance, to say instead that it could have been an exit.
I have no doubt that Perry said these things, or that he was pressured, or that the throat wound appeared to be an entrance with an abrasion collar. Nevertheless, I contend that the throat wound was an exit--but for a small fragment, not an intact bullet. Recalling Perry's sworn testimony that the throat wound could have been an exit, many researchers believe that he caved to the pressure. But just because Perry was pressured to say it was an exit doesn't mean that it wasn't an exit. There is evidence that it was an exit. And there is reason why this exit would have looked to Perry and the other Parkland doctors like an entrance, even though it was an exit: the wound was "shored" by Kennedy's shirt collar and tie, thus making it more likely for this exit to have the abrasion collar usually characteristic of an entrance.
A "shored gunshot wound of exit is produced when the outstretched skin is impaled, sandwiched, and crushed between the outgoing bullet and the unyielding object over the exit site, thus leaving an abrasion collar on the wound margin." (See "Shored gunshot wound of exit. A phenomenon with identity crisis." See pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6637946/#:~:text=Shored%20gunshot%20wound%20of%20exit%20is%20produced%20when%20the%20outstretched,collar%20on%20the%20wound%20margin . The "identity crisis" is confusion over entrance vs. exit, since the abrasion collar is usually more characteristic of an entrance, but the shored nature of some exit wounds can also create an abrasion collar. In this case, it was the buttoned shirt collar and tie that created the "unyielding object over the exit site.
Pictures of Kennedy on the same day but before the shooting demonstrate how the shirt collar and tie provided the shoring for the wound:
And the "Stare of Death" autopsy picture places the throat wound at the lower-most area of his throat, which from the above image we can see was exactly where the shirt collar was buttoned around his neck, and the tie added further constraint:
Some researchers insist that Dr. Perry said there was an "abrasion ring" surrounding the throat wound (which his Warren Commission testimony never mentions, and indeed seems to contradict). Abrasion rings are a common characteristic of entrance wounds. However, such an "abrasion ring" is not necessarily conclusive that the throat wound was an "entrance." Shored EXIT wounds can also create abrasion rings, giving them the appearance of entrances. In this case, we know that Kennedy was wearing a shirt and tie when he was shot. The shirt and tie created a "shore" against his throat, especially in the area where the throat wound occurred. The confinement, or "shoring," allowed for the exit abrasion collar to occur.
And even though the wound was "small" and "round," and even though exit wounds are generally larger than entrance wounds, and certainly larger in diameter than the missiles that create them, in this case the missile was a bullet fragment, rather than an intact bullet, and the exit location was shored, which creates different wound characteristics than a typical bullet exit wound would have.
And even though the wound was "small" and "round," and even though exit wounds are generally larger than entrance wounds, and certainly larger in diameter than the missiles that create them, in this case the missile was a bullet fragment, rather than an intact bullet, and the exit location was shored, which creates different wound characteristics than a typical bullet exit wound would have.
There were also holes in Kennedy's shirt collar and tie. Many researchers believe that these were made by a nurse as she removed the clothes from Kennedy at Parkland. However, in order for a nurse to have made these holes, she would have had to poke through the fabric with the point of her scissors, not slice the fabric from the edge, which would be the normal way to cut the clothes off:
These are the best close-up images of the holes in the shirt I have found online. From https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/kennedy-bloody-shirt/
The Parkland doctors made an under-oath testimony that the anterior neck (throat) wound might have been an exit wound. Given the C3/C4 metallic fragments (in the now-missing X-ray that was mentioned in under-oath testimony), the under-oath testimony that the throat wound had been probed from the back of the head, and the fact that shored exit wounds can often have the appearance of entrance wounds, it seems fairly obvious to me that the throat wound was the exit for a fragment rather than an entrance for an intact bullet--as many researchers have heretofore believed.
There were three small bullet fragments (CE 840) found on the rug in the rear seat area of the limousine. This could have been one fragment that broke into smaller fragments upon hitting the floor, or one of them could have caused the throat wound:
CE 840, the three small bullet fragments that FBI expert Robert Frasier testified to the Warren Commission that he had found "lying on the rug in the rear seat area."
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Different Parts of the Same Bullet (and the Chrome Strip Dent)
The "king-size fragment" that fell out of Kennedy's back during the autopsy ended up penetrating the President after exiting the skull because it had ricocheted off the limousine seat-back. It must have come from the center portion of the bullet. I say that not because this fragment is in evidence anywhere (it isn't--it was quietly "disappeared") but because the nose and tail fragments that were found at the front of the limousine together do not equal even half the weight of an average Carcanno bullet, leaving unaccounted for in the official evidence the majority of the bullet that must have come from the middle. And just as the "king-size fragment" had ricocheted off the seat back before returning to Kennedy to penetrate his back (albeit shallowly, since it lost much of its momentum when it first struck bone, traversed brain matter, and struck bone again prior to the ricochet), likewise the nose and tail fragments from this same bullet ricocheted off the seat back and ultimately ended up at the front of the limousine.
That these bullet fragments had lost much of their initial muzzle-blast velocity is not to say that that they had lost all of their velocity. On the contrary, one of these bullet pieces still had enough force to put a dent in the chrome strip that was at the top of the windshield:
The "king-size fragment" that fell out of Kennedy's back during the autopsy ended up penetrating the President after exiting the skull because it had ricocheted off the limousine seat-back. It must have come from the center portion of the bullet. I say that not because this fragment is in evidence anywhere (it isn't--it was quietly "disappeared") but because the nose and tail fragments that were found at the front of the limousine together do not equal even half the weight of an average Carcanno bullet, leaving unaccounted for in the official evidence the majority of the bullet that must have come from the middle. And just as the "king-size fragment" had ricocheted off the seat back before returning to Kennedy to penetrate his back (albeit shallowly, since it lost much of its momentum when it first struck bone, traversed brain matter, and struck bone again prior to the ricochet), likewise the nose and tail fragments from this same bullet ricocheted off the seat back and ultimately ended up at the front of the limousine.
That these bullet fragments had lost much of their initial muzzle-blast velocity is not to say that that they had lost all of their velocity. On the contrary, one of these bullet pieces still had enough force to put a dent in the chrome strip that was at the top of the windshield:
The damage to the chrome strip (small pencil annotation in the original source image, my annotation in red).
There is a report by Secret Service agent Charles Taylor saying that chrome strip dent was caused by a bullet fragment found embedded in the front cushion of the car, as an FBI agent told him. (There are other interesting aspects of this report, especially the mention of the "hole" in the windshield in the same paragraph on the third page of the report. I'll return to the windshield hole shortly, but this front-to-back hole was not created with this first shot, fired from the TSBD window, and is related to a completely separate shot. It's also important to note that multiple searches of the limousine were made, yielding different pieces of evidence, not all of which are in the pubic record. Like the "king-size" bullet fragment that fell out of Kennedy's back, this evidence has been quietly "disappeared." I'll explain more in my discussion of the next shot.)
The first and third pages of Secret Service Agent Charles Taylor's report on the limousine. The first page contains the identifying information. The third page contains the interesting information about the "hole" in the limousine windshield (to be discussed in connection with the next shot, Shot 2), as well as FBI agents telling him that the bullet fragment found in the seat cushion had first struck the chrome strip at the top of the windshield.
So these are all parts of the same bullet, which I contend fractured upon impact when it struck Kennedy's forehead and left the apparent bullet fragment trail as seen on the skull X-rays in its wake. And there is evidence to support that assertion.
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The Lateral X-Ray Image
As asserted in my "Givens" at the top of this article, I contend (along with many other researcher) that the visual record (Zapruder film, autopsy photographs, autopsy X-Rays) were deliberately altered to support the official claim that all the shots came from Oswald, and all from behind. Even though this frontal shot came from the TSBD shooter, the frontal nature of this shot was kept hidden because of the embarrassingly slow response by Kennedy's Secret Service protective agents (most of whom, aside from Hickey, didn't really react until the next shot, because they were hung over). Moreover, the cover-up colluders were faced with the subtraction problem of trying to turn five shots (two of which didn't strike any limousine occupants) into three. They were also faced with problems like the Dallas doctors' case of "mistaken identity," especially after they publicly described the shored throat exit wound as an "entrance," and trying to understand or explain the notion of "internal ricochets" of bullets, which was probably much lesser known in 1963 than it is now. (For example, the first edition of Vincent DiMaio's "definitive book" Gunshot Wounds wasn't published until 1985.) Not to mention deliberate misrepresentations of evidence (like the two brain exams that ARRB analyst Doug Horne revealed, the fraudulent one being attended by the only forensic pathologist familiar with gunshot wound experience, Dr. Finck).
Nonetheless, and despite the altering of the autopsy evidence, I direct our attention to the HSCA--published lateral X-ray image seldom looked at by researchers. Most researchers look only at the commonly found "computer-enhanced" lateral X-ray image, which (being a composite utilizing the "living" right lateral X-ray image of an X-ray taken of Kennedy when he was alive and the HSCA published X-ray image never identified as "right" or "left" [it's the left] is even more altered than the one we are about to examine, as I discuss here).
So since the "un-enhanced" lateral image is less altered, let's take a look at it. Set aside pre-conceived notions of what you think the image shows, and look at it from a different perspective--including the information given in its original caption.
What cannot be argued (although one might debate the level of authenticity) is that this HSCA-published image actually shows a bunch of tiny radio-opaque (presumably metallic) fragments, a large dark area on the right side of the skull, and an extraordinarily white area on the left side of the skull. This image also shows more at the bottom than the "computer-enhanced" image, which crops off the information contained at the bottom of this image. Also impossible to argue is that the caption for this image describes it as showing "the occipital defect"--presumably the dark "hole" area on the right side of the skull. The "occipital" region of the skull is at the back of the head, which would put the back of the head on the right. Again, set aside what you think you know about the image, and look at what it actually shows.
Also look at what this image does not show. What it does not show is any facial features, by which we can identify whether the face would be to the right side or left side of the image. Neurologist Dr. Michael Chesser stated his belief that the facial features were "darkened" (in the "computer-enhanced" image. Dr. David Mantik has stated that the "White Patch" was created in order to hide occipital defect on the left side of the image. Even X-ray technician Jerrol Custer himself has oriented the face as being on the right and the occiput on the left. They orient the face on the right and the occiput on the left because of the features in the more commonly referenced computer-enhanced image that were taken from the living X-ray, in which the face was clearly on the right. The most notable of these features is the sella turcica, the sickle-shaped feature visible in the "living" X-ray and the "computer-enhanced" X-ray (if you overlay "living" and "computer-enhanced" X-rays, the sella turcica features match exactly!). But these features are not visible in the "original" or "un-enhanced" versions--despite being clearly visible in the so-called "enhanced" image!
The Chesser/Mantik/Custer mistakes are also helped along by the absence of the. features at the bottom of original un-enhanced image, which were cropped out of the "computer-enhanced" image. These important features, had these notables seen and paid attention to them, would have undoubtedly given the game away, because in the un-cropped version, what was thought to be "facial features" are actually the spinal column and mastoid processes. If Kennedy's face were on the right, the blow-out hole would have to be on the lower part of his face, with a completely missing lower jaw.
And no witnesses reported any such blow-out of JFK's lower face and jaw!
So setting aside your previous preconceptions about what the X-ray shows, and looking at it with fresh eyes, I think you would agree with my interpretation of the "un-enhanced" left lateral autopsy X-ray (my annotations in red):
Here is the HSCA-published "un-enhanced" lateral autopsy skull X-ray, with my added annotations in red. Note how the original caption describes it as showing the "occipital defect"--which is medical-speak for "hole at the back of the head."
As asserted in my "Givens" at the top of this article, I contend (along with many other researcher) that the visual record (Zapruder film, autopsy photographs, autopsy X-Rays) were deliberately altered to support the official claim that all the shots came from Oswald, and all from behind. Even though this frontal shot came from the TSBD shooter, the frontal nature of this shot was kept hidden because of the embarrassingly slow response by Kennedy's Secret Service protective agents (most of whom, aside from Hickey, didn't really react until the next shot, because they were hung over). Moreover, the cover-up colluders were faced with the subtraction problem of trying to turn five shots (two of which didn't strike any limousine occupants) into three. They were also faced with problems like the Dallas doctors' case of "mistaken identity," especially after they publicly described the shored throat exit wound as an "entrance," and trying to understand or explain the notion of "internal ricochets" of bullets, which was probably much lesser known in 1963 than it is now. (For example, the first edition of Vincent DiMaio's "definitive book" Gunshot Wounds wasn't published until 1985.) Not to mention deliberate misrepresentations of evidence (like the two brain exams that ARRB analyst Doug Horne revealed, the fraudulent one being attended by the only forensic pathologist familiar with gunshot wound experience, Dr. Finck).
Nonetheless, and despite the altering of the autopsy evidence, I direct our attention to the HSCA--published lateral X-ray image seldom looked at by researchers. Most researchers look only at the commonly found "computer-enhanced" lateral X-ray image, which (being a composite utilizing the "living" right lateral X-ray image of an X-ray taken of Kennedy when he was alive and the HSCA published X-ray image never identified as "right" or "left" [it's the left] is even more altered than the one we are about to examine, as I discuss here).
So since the "un-enhanced" lateral image is less altered, let's take a look at it. Set aside pre-conceived notions of what you think the image shows, and look at it from a different perspective--including the information given in its original caption.
What cannot be argued (although one might debate the level of authenticity) is that this HSCA-published image actually shows a bunch of tiny radio-opaque (presumably metallic) fragments, a large dark area on the right side of the skull, and an extraordinarily white area on the left side of the skull. This image also shows more at the bottom than the "computer-enhanced" image, which crops off the information contained at the bottom of this image. Also impossible to argue is that the caption for this image describes it as showing "the occipital defect"--presumably the dark "hole" area on the right side of the skull. The "occipital" region of the skull is at the back of the head, which would put the back of the head on the right. Again, set aside what you think you know about the image, and look at what it actually shows.
Also look at what this image does not show. What it does not show is any facial features, by which we can identify whether the face would be to the right side or left side of the image. Neurologist Dr. Michael Chesser stated his belief that the facial features were "darkened" (in the "computer-enhanced" image. Dr. David Mantik has stated that the "White Patch" was created in order to hide occipital defect on the left side of the image. Even X-ray technician Jerrol Custer himself has oriented the face as being on the right and the occiput on the left. They orient the face on the right and the occiput on the left because of the features in the more commonly referenced computer-enhanced image that were taken from the living X-ray, in which the face was clearly on the right. The most notable of these features is the sella turcica, the sickle-shaped feature visible in the "living" X-ray and the "computer-enhanced" X-ray (if you overlay "living" and "computer-enhanced" X-rays, the sella turcica features match exactly!). But these features are not visible in the "original" or "un-enhanced" versions--despite being clearly visible in the so-called "enhanced" image!
The Chesser/Mantik/Custer mistakes are also helped along by the absence of the. features at the bottom of original un-enhanced image, which were cropped out of the "computer-enhanced" image. These important features, had these notables seen and paid attention to them, would have undoubtedly given the game away, because in the un-cropped version, what was thought to be "facial features" are actually the spinal column and mastoid processes. If Kennedy's face were on the right, the blow-out hole would have to be on the lower part of his face, with a completely missing lower jaw.
And no witnesses reported any such blow-out of JFK's lower face and jaw!
So setting aside your previous preconceptions about what the X-ray shows, and looking at it with fresh eyes, I think you would agree with my interpretation of the "un-enhanced" left lateral autopsy X-ray (my annotations in red):
Here is the HSCA-published "un-enhanced" lateral autopsy skull X-ray, with my added annotations in red. Note how the original caption describes it as showing the "occipital defect"--which is medical-speak for "hole at the back of the head."
As I discuss in my documentary, this bullet, which fractured on impact, creating at least three large pieces, plus a bunch of smaller pieces. The large pieces exited the back of the head and ricocheted off the seat back. The nose and tail portions became the nose and tail fragments recovered from the front of the limousine (one of them creating the dent in the chrome trim, as evidenced by the memo by Secret Service Agent Charles Taylor), with the "king size" middle section becoming Jerrol Custer's "king size" fragment that fell out of Kennedy's back during the autopsy, per his ARRB testimony. One or more of the smaller pieces made an "internal ricochet" off the back of the skull and angled downward, towards the throat wound.
In his ARRB testimony, Jerrol Custer not only described the "king-size" fragment falling out of Kennedy's back during the autopsy, he also described a neck X-ray that he had taken, by that time missing from the collection of autopsy X-rays he was shown, that had originally shown metallic fragments in the C3/C4 region of the neck. I believe these fragments were indicative of an "internal ricochet" of a fragment or fragments that bounced off the inside of the back of the skull, and then traveled downwards towards the neck wound location. Mortician Thomas Robinson was "adamant" that he had seen the neck wound probed from the back of the head. This "internal ricochet" is what caused the throat wound to appear at roughly the same time as the forehead wound, leading to the somewhat erroneous FBI Visual Aid string trajectory leading to the throat rather than to the forehead.
In his ARRB testimony, Jerrol Custer not only described the "king-size" fragment falling out of Kennedy's back during the autopsy, he also described a neck X-ray that he had taken, by that time missing from the collection of autopsy X-rays he was shown, that had originally shown metallic fragments in the C3/C4 region of the neck. I believe these fragments were indicative of an "internal ricochet" of a fragment or fragments that bounced off the inside of the back of the skull, and then traveled downwards towards the neck wound location. Mortician Thomas Robinson was "adamant" that he had seen the neck wound probed from the back of the head. This "internal ricochet" is what caused the throat wound to appear at roughly the same time as the forehead wound, leading to the somewhat erroneous FBI Visual Aid string trajectory leading to the throat rather than to the forehead.
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The Decorticate Posture "Chest Grab"
This first shot, fired from the TSBD window and entering Kennedy's forehead, caused Kennedy to go into the iconic "chest grab" position. He wasn't attempting to "cough up a bullet," as some researchers have suggested. He was going into a neuromuscular reflex called "decorticate posture," which is indicative of severe neurological trauma. This reflex doesn't happen immediately concurrent with the trauma, but can be somewhat delayed. It can be triggered by head movement, for example, well after the initial trauma. Witnesses reported Kennedy as "slumping" or "looking down" after the first shot--gravity taking control after the President lost consciousness. That head drop is what triggered the decorticate posture position after the initial bullet trauma to the brain.
There is a YouTube video of a young "brain dead" patient who had suffered a gunshot wound to the head. The doctors were able to trigger the same sort of "chest grab" position by manipulating the young man's head. It was a "Lazarus sign" that gave the appearance that the young man was still alive, when he was essentially already brain dead:
This first shot, fired from the TSBD window and entering Kennedy's forehead, caused Kennedy to go into the iconic "chest grab" position. He wasn't attempting to "cough up a bullet," as some researchers have suggested. He was going into a neuromuscular reflex called "decorticate posture," which is indicative of severe neurological trauma. This reflex doesn't happen immediately concurrent with the trauma, but can be somewhat delayed. It can be triggered by head movement, for example, well after the initial trauma. Witnesses reported Kennedy as "slumping" or "looking down" after the first shot--gravity taking control after the President lost consciousness. That head drop is what triggered the decorticate posture position after the initial bullet trauma to the brain.
There is a YouTube video of a young "brain dead" patient who had suffered a gunshot wound to the head. The doctors were able to trigger the same sort of "chest grab" position by manipulating the young man's head. It was a "Lazarus sign" that gave the appearance that the young man was still alive, when he was essentially already brain dead:
Doctors demonstrate the decorticate posture "Lazarus Sign" by manipulating the head of a young essentially brain-dead victim of a gunshot wound to the head. From the video "Brain Death.- Lazarus sign - Rare exuberant spinal reflex exclusively elicited per head flexion" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nty6bICZlyA This Decorticate posture is indicative of severe neurological trauma.
Decorticate posture is not necessarily an instantaneous response to the head trauma (gun shot), but can be triggered later, as by the head manipulation in the video image shown above. In the case of the Kennedy assassination, it wasn't doctors manipulating Kennedy's head to cause him to go into this position. Nor was Kennedy lying down on a hospital bed. However, there was the loss of conscious control over his body, which caused Kennedy to "slump," as witnesses described him as doing. It was the "slump" and the dropping of his head that acted like the doctor's manipulation of the brain dead patient's head above, and caused Kennedy to go into that slightly delayed decorticate posture "chest grab." Kennedy's movement into this position may have fooled bystanders into thinking he was "waving" to them. It was a "Lazarus sign," as the title of the YouTube video gives. A "Lazarus sign" is a movement indicative of life, even though the mover is essentially deceased.
Whether Kennedy would have survived this initial shot remains an open question, but his ability to function undoubtedly would have been reduced. The later AR-15 shot, however, ensured that survivability was not going to happen.
That this "chest grab" action, accompanied by a leftward fall towards his wife, occurred more or less immediately after the next shot was merely a coincidence. But that coincidence convinced many witnesses that Kennedy was first shot farther down Elm Street than he actually was.
But again, that was just a coincidence. The next shot didn't actually hit anyone. Or at least, not any person. The only victim was a car.
And this shot was fired by a Secret Service agent. It was meant as a warning, to alert the slow, hungover agents in another car that the attack was taking place.
Whether Kennedy would have survived this initial shot remains an open question, but his ability to function undoubtedly would have been reduced. The later AR-15 shot, however, ensured that survivability was not going to happen.
That this "chest grab" action, accompanied by a leftward fall towards his wife, occurred more or less immediately after the next shot was merely a coincidence. But that coincidence convinced many witnesses that Kennedy was first shot farther down Elm Street than he actually was.
But again, that was just a coincidence. The next shot didn't actually hit anyone. Or at least, not any person. The only victim was a car.
And this shot was fired by a Secret Service agent. It was meant as a warning, to alert the slow, hungover agents in another car that the attack was taking place.
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Next:
The next shot in the sequence was not fired by Oswald, but by a Secret Service agent in Johnson's follow-up car. Nothing much happened with this shot--aside from inadvertently causing the hole in the windshield. It was meant as a warning--to alert hung-over agents two cars ahead to the danger
What Happened - Shot 2
The next shot in the sequence was not fired by Oswald, but by a Secret Service agent in Johnson's follow-up car. Nothing much happened with this shot--aside from inadvertently causing the hole in the windshield. It was meant as a warning--to alert hung-over agents two cars ahead to the danger
What Happened - Shot 2