Part 6: New Views on the Same Scene (In which I finally spell out some of my own theories on what happened on November 22, 1963)

Transcription

1 Part 6: New Views on the Same Scene (In which I finally spell out some of my own theories on what happened on November 22, 1963)

2 6.5mm Military Rifle Wounds Bougainville case 11 Bougainville case 19 HSCA Figure 13 Ida Dox drawing depicting 6.5mm bullet entrance in cowlick Bougainville case 20 Bougainville case 59

3 6.5mm Military Rifle Wounds Before we can discern what really happened, we need to acquaint ourselves with the wound ballistics of rifles like Oswald s using bullets like the bullets found in its chamber. Fortunately, when one wants to learn about the wound ballistics of World War II era military rifles and full metal jacketed ammunition, one can go straight to the source. There were numerous military publications during both World Wars designed to keep surgeons up to date on the latest medical advances, and to help them save lives. And so one bright day at UCLA I spent hours combing through old Military Surgeon Magazines in search of a report on any battle with Italian forces, in hopes of finding pictures of wounds caused by Mannlicher-Carcano rifles. While I was unable to find such a study, I was able to find numerous studies of wounds caused by similar rifles, and these convinced me that the Clark Panel and HSCA s purported wound of entrance near the cowlick was far from the typical entrance wound they described in their report. While the wound was similar to a typical entrance wound created by a small caliber handgun, it is far smaller than most of the rifle wounds described in military journals. One of the military studies I looked at, a World War II report by Dr.s Ashley Oughterson, Harry Hull, Francis Sutherland, and Daniel Greiner on allied casualties in Bougainville, Fiji, available online, featured the autopsy protocols of more than one hundred soldiers, many of whom died after being shot by Japanese 6.5mm rifles. Other online articles I found revealed that these Japanese Arisaka rifles fired a bullet slightly smaller than the bullets fired by Oswald s Mannlicher-Carcano but that their bullets traveled slightly faster, imparting an almost identical amount of energy into the wound. (The articles I found indicated the Arisaka bullet weighed 139 grains and traveled at 2395 fps and the Mannlicher-Carcano bullet weighed 160 grains and traveled at 2200 fps.) If any ballisticians out there disagree with these numbers or with my assumption of a similarity between Arisaka and Carcano wound ballistics, please let me know. A quick look at this study is revealing. One finds, for instance, that the majority of the bullets didn t actually pierce the skull, but left a large gutter type wound of both entrance and exit. This makes one suspect a bullet hitting Kennedy near the top of his head would have simply blown the top of his head off, and not pierce the skull, leave a small round hole, travel a few inches, and then blast the top of his head off. The wound measurements were also helpful, not only because the entrances into the skull were most commonly far larger than the supposedly typical entrance on Kennedy, but also because these military doctors measured the wounds width by length, with the top of the head being top, as I propose was done by the military doctors at Kennedy s autopsy. The Bougainville head wound cases follow. All were victims of 6.5 mm rifle ammunition. Case 2: shot in forehead from 20 yards,.5 cm entrance, 1.2 cm exit. Case 5: shot in forehead from 150 yards, 6.5 x 2.5 cm gutter wound. Case 11: shot on side of face from 20 yards, 15 x 10 cm gutter wound. Case 8: shot on top of head from 25 yards, 5 x 2.5 cm gutter wound. Case 10: shot in eye from 15 yards, 3.7 cm entrance, 8.7 cm exit. Case 18: shot low on the back of the head from 150 yards,.6 cm entrance, 1.2 cm exit. Case 19: shot by sniper from unknown distance, unmeasured entrance wound in temple many times the size of that on Kennedy. Case 20: shot through his helmet from a distance of 75 yards, 17.5 x 4 cm gutter wound. Case 25: shot on the side of the head from a distance of 75 yards, 15 x 7 cm gutter wound. Case 59: shot in face from a distance of 75 yards, 12.5 x 3.7 cm gutter wound. President Kennedy: shot in the back of head from a distance of 90 yards, 1.5 x.6 cm entrance, 13 cm exit.

4 It s obvious from this that the exit on Kennedy s skull is far larger than just about all of the exits not associated with a gutter wound, including those resulting from shots taken at a much closer range. While the exit in his skull wasn t measured until the scalp was reflected and parts of the skull fell to the table, the autopsy photos taken before the measurements reveal an exit of at least 4 x 10 cm stretching from the top of Kennedy s head to his temple. While some will say that the small entrance/large exit on Kennedy s skull came as a result of the bullet s breaking up, I am unable to understand how this is so. While it is indeed a characteristic of soft-nosed hunting ammunition to enter a skull and break up as it passes through the brain, bullets like those fired in Oswald s gun were designed not to break up at all. Unlike contemporary military ammunition, which is designed to break up as it tumbles, the bullets fired in Oswald s gun were among the most stable ever tested. Dr. Olivier, who tested these bullets for the Warren Commission, told ballistician Howard Donahue that most of the bullets he tested broke into only two or three large fragments. This, to me, is a strong indication that the fracture of the bullet killing Kennedy occurred upon impact. It s hard to believe such an impact, resulting in the explosion of a bullet designed not to explode, would create an entrance smaller than average, with no signs of the explosion in the circumference of the hole. In sum, it seems clear from this examination of other men killed by 6.5 mm ammunition that while there were shots creating wounds with entrances as small, and shots creating wounds with exits as large, the combination of small entrance and large exit on Kennedy s skull is certainly not as typical as the experts have sought to portray. Also remarkable is that of the dozen or so fatal chest wounds in the study, the average wound of exit was many times that of the average wound of entrance, with several more than 10 times as large. While the entrance wound in Kennedy s back is believed to have been larger than the exit in his throat, I found no instances of thoracic wound entrances being larger than their exits, and only one instance where the entrance was more than one third the size of its exit. While these shots were virtually all at closer range than the shots striking Kennedy, and while all these shots were fatal, and therefore automatically more severe than the one striking Kennedy, the small size of the exit in Kennedy s throat still seems curiously disproportionate. By way of example, one man shot by a sniper from 150 yards, more than twice the length of the shot from the sniper s nest to Kennedy at Z-224, was found to have a 3 cm by 1.5 cm exit wound on his chest, more than ten times the size of the small wound observed in Kennedy s throat. While wounds ballistics experts would undoubtedly criticize my comparing wounds not exactly like Kennedy s, created by a rifle not exactly like Oswald s, at angles and distances not exactly like those in Dealey Plaza, I believe this look at the fatal wounds of the Bougainville campaign helps put Kennedy s wounds into perspective. The reader should be reminded, however, that the precise location of a bullet strike and the subsequent behavior of the bullet whether or not it tumbles and breaks up is every bit as important in determining the damage it creates as how much the bullet weighed and how fast it was traveling upon impact.

5 Reading the Test Skulls At left: Olivier Skull Warren Commission Exhibit 861 Lattimer Skull from Lattimer book Kennedy and Lincoln. Sturdivan Skull: HSCA Exhibit F-306 (Bullet entrance in middle, mark representing the entrance on Kennedy at right)

6 Reading the Test Skulls I ve only been able to find two tests where bullets like those used in Oswald s gun broke up after having been fired at a human skull. In both cases, the shots were fired by men trying to duplicate Kennedy s wounds on a test skull from a similar distance as that between the sniper s nest and Kennedy at Z-312. In both cases, the men reported that the wounds resembled Kennedy s. In both cases, a close inspection of the skulls reveals their statements were not accurate. Dr. Alfred Olivier performed a series of ballistics tests for the Warren Commission. In his testimony he admitted how surprised he was by the damage created by the 6.5 mm ammunition, and introduced a photograph of one of his ten test skulls as exhibit 861. This was, apparently, the only test skull upon which the bullet shattered into more than two or three pieces. Olivier acknowledged that this bullet missed its mark and hit the back of the skull slightly closer to its side than the reported entrance on Kennedy. Since Larry Sturdivan, in his book JFK Myths, acknowledges that the shooters were trying to have the bullet follow the Warren Commission s proposed path, entering low in the occipital bone and exiting above the temple, this would indicate the skulls were turned away from the shooters. It seems reasonable to assume, then, that the explosion of this bullet and skull may have come as a result of this bullet s striking the thick occipital bone almost on edge along the curvature behind the ear, as a bullet striking a bone on edge meets more resistance and is more likely to explode. Even if the bullet s striking the skull 4 mm to the right of the supposed entrance and at a greater angle than a bullet would if coming from the sniper s nest made little difference, however, Sturdivan s admission that they were trying to re-create the wounds, as opposed to analyzing the position of Kennedy s skull in relation to the sniper s nest and shooting at the supposed entrance to see what happened, is telling. It indicates, as with so many of the other tests performed for the Warren Commission, that they were not testing to see if a shot from the sniper s nest could have created the wounds described by the doctors, but were instead trying to create evidence under the assumption it did. In opposition, however, to both the Warren Commission s determination that a bullet entering low on the back of the President s skull left a small round hole on the bone (when viewed from the inside), and the HSCA s determination that the bullet entering near the cowlick left a similarly small round hole on the bone, the bullet in Olivier s test shattered the entire right side of the skull, from entrance to exit. The autopsy doctors, we should remember, reported no large fractures emanating from the entrance. The HSCA, of course, disagreed with the autopsy doctors, and proposed there were major fractures leading from an entrance in the cowlick, an entrance the autopsy doctors presumably failed to notice. Dr. John Lattimer, in his book Kennedy and Lincoln, presented a second test skull in which Mannlicher-Carcano ammunition shattered. Since Lattimer only presented a lateral photo of this skull, it s impossible to compare the size of the bullet s entrance to that measured at the autopsy. Still, as there appears to be some sort of wire holding the back of the skull together, it appears the exploding bullet exploded this skull as well. No clean little entrance in the back leading to a huge gaping defect in the front. Despite Lattimer s assertions that the damage to this skull was similar to Kennedy s, and that it confirmed the HSCA s interpretation of the head wound, the left side of Lattimer s test skull was blown out nearly as badly as its right. Conversely, the fragments of the assassin s bullet, despite supposedly entering Kennedy s skull less than an inch from its mid-line, were not believed to have even crossed the mid-line of his brain. When taken together, the Olivier and Lattimer test skulls should make one suspect the damage created upon impact by a fragmenting full-metal jacket bullet is significant and inconsistent with a small entrance.

7 In his testimony before the HSCA, Larry Sturdivan, the HSCA ballistics expert, presented a third skull helpful in understanding the head wounds. In order to show that a bullet creating a small entrance could indeed leave a large exit, Sturdivan presented a skull with a small entrance at its back and a blown-out face in front. This skull had been one of Olivier s test skulls from 14 years earlier. That the bullet in this test not only did not break-up, but was fired into the thick occipital bone in the back of the skull, cut into its value as evidence, however. The HSCA, after all, believed the bullet entered the President s skull in his parietal bone and exited near his temple. Nevertheless, since the bullet fired into this skull exited the face, this skull demonstrates that a bullet striking low on the skull on a flat or downwards trajectory would most likely exit low on the skull, and not sail upwards and out the top of the skull, as the current clique of lone-nutters defending the low entrance of the Warren Commission, including Larry Sturdivan himself, contend. While one might say that this sailing upwards only occurs with the break-up of a bullet, then one should wonder why the bullet fired on this test skull escaped so undamaged in comparison to the bullet striking Kennedy. Sturdivan offers the partial explanation that the test skulls were dried, and that a living skull would be more resistant. If this is so, then why wasn t this taken into account during the tests by using slightly under-charged bullets, or placing the skulls slightly further away? Ultimately, this test skull best displays that a bullet striking Kennedy in his thick occipital bone might very well leave a small round hole with no noticeable fractures, a fact to be considered when interpreting the x-rays. While I m holding off on my interpretation of the x-rays until later in this presentation, an observation by one of the HSCA s radiology consultants is pertinent at this point. The notes of the HSCA staff reflect that, after looking over the x-rays, Dr. Norman Chase of NYU Medical Center made the observation that The wound was massive, not the kind he would expect from a single, jacketed bullet hitting straight on; it was possibly tumbling or hit on an angle.

8 Large Defect Analysis Below: HSCA Exhibit 297, Kennedy s pre-mortem x-ray, rotated 17 degrees to match Z-312 Zapruder Frame 312 Position of ear Arrows represent 12 degree angle of descent from sniper s nest to Kennedy position at Z-313. (15 degrees minus the 3 degree slope of Elm Street.) Zapruder Frame 313 Zapruder Frame 335

9 Large Defect Analysis So what really happened? For the answer to that question let s consult the doctor who first inspected the head wound, Dr. William Kemp Clark. Dr. Clark testified that he believed the wound by the ear was a tangential wound (both entrance and exit, resulting from a bullet hitting the skull at an angle), and only agreed that the wound could be otherwise on the condition that a clear path through the brain could be discerned (it could not). He testified that if a bullet strikes the skull at an angle, it must then penetrate much more bone than normal, therefore, it is likely to shed more energy, striking the brain a more powerful blow. Secondly, in striking the bone in this manner, it may cause pieces of the bone to be blown into the brain and thus act as secondary missiles. Finally, the bullet itself may be deformed and deflected so that it would go through or penetrate parts of the brain, not in the usual line it was proceding. That small pieces of bone were blown into the brain can be confirmed by the January, 1965 report on the assassination given by Dr. Finck to his army superiors, in which he described the inspection of the brain by recounting No metallic fragments are identified but there are numerous small bone fragments, between one and ten millimeters in greatest dimension, in the container where the brain was fixed. Not coincidentally, this blowing of numerous bone fragments into the brain seems more likely to have occurred at the large wound near the temple, where pieces of bone were never recovered, than at either of the two suspected entrances at the back of the head, where the presumed entrance holes were barely the circumference of the bullet. When one starts looking for other reasons to believe the fatal bullet struck tangentially, they come in droves. At the post-mortem inspection of the brain, the doctors noted what are called contre-coup lesions of the brain, bruises obtained from smashing against the inside the skull. These most frequently are found opposite the point of impact. It s undoubtedly supportive, then, that the lesions described in the supplemental autopsy report (the photos have never been released) were chiefly on the left side of Kennedy s brain, opposite the large defect by the temple and not on the frontal lobe, opposite the HSCA entrance. The tearing and loosening of the falx cerebri, a process of the membrane (the dura mater) that covers the brain along the top of Kennedy s head, as noted by Dr. Boswell at the autopsy ( Falx loose from sagittal sinus from the coronal suture back ), is also suggestive of a tangential wound. War Surgery, one of the first books on wound ballistics, written by the French World War I surgeon Edmond Delorme, spells this out, declaring: At the aperture of entry the dura mater is torn and loosened: at the exit it is perforated, but not loosened. Delorme would almost certainly have seen dozens of head wounds from rifles similar to Oswald s Mannlicher-Carcano, many of them created from a distance closer than 90 yards. As a result, his observation should not be easily dismissed. And then there is the issue of missing scalp. The autopsy protocol describes Kennedy s large head wound as follows: There is a large irregular defect of the scalp and skull on the right involving chiefly the parietal bone but extending somewhat into the temporal and occipital regions. In this region there is an actual absence of scalp and bone producing a defect which measures approximately 13 cm in greatest diameter. One of the most revered books on forensic medicine, Medicolegal Investigation of Death, addresses this issue of missing scalp in the following manner: A point frequently ignored, or forgotten, in comparing entrance and exit wounds is that approximation of the edges of an entrance wound usually retains a small central defect, a missing area of skin. On the other hand, approximation of the edges of the exit re-establishes the skin s integrity. The authors of Medicolegal Investigation of Death were Dr. Russell Fisher, of the Clark Panel, and Dr. Werner Spitz, of the HSCA Forensic Pathology Panel. One can only wonder then if they forgot about this point while investigating Kennedy s death, or simply ignored it

10 Still, more reasons to suspect the bullet at 313 struck tangentially come from studying the Zapruder film. When one looks closely at Zapruder frame 313, the explosion of the President s skull, it becomes obvious that there is a large bone fragment, almost undoubtedly the so-called Harper fragment, flying upwards from the President s skull at a right angle to a trajectory from the school book depository. As any pool player will tell you, this would be the expected trajectory of a fragment exploding from an impact with a descending bullet just barely hitting the President on the right top of his head. That the cloud of blood and brain matter explodes forwards is a strong indication that the bullet did not come from in front of the President. That no bloody back spatter is visible near the back of his head is simultaneously an indication that no entrance occurred there, as an explosion of the skull is purportedly related to increased intra-cranial pressure caused by the bullet, and the closest exit for the pressurized matter at the back of the skull would have been the in-shoot. (High-speed photography of softcentered objects such as eggs and apples being pierced by bullets invariably show matter sprayed out through the entrance.). When one projects a bullet traveling downwards at 12 degrees (15 degrees from the sniper s nest minus the 3 degree slope of the street) onto Z-312, moreover, one finds that a bullet fired from the sniper s nest and just missing the back of Kennedy s head would most logically strike him directly above his ear, where Zapruder frame 313 and 337 reveal the large wound to begin. Since, as we ve seen, Kennedy s skull was tilted 25 degrees to its left, this means the presumed impact location above the ear was at the very top of his skull, and directly in the line of fire. Not surprisingly, a nose of a bullet striking Kennedy s skull and breaking up in this location might continue on to hit the windshield without traversing the right side of his skull. This could explain how the bullet fragment found on the front seat near the driver s position came to be covered with SKIN, as per the tests performed by the government in As there was very little skin lost at the entrance in the occipital bone, and as the nose of a bullet would be unlikely to come into contact with skin upon exit (as the exploding skull would push it out of the way)the best explanation for this skin is that the bullet struck the skull on a tangent. Should one continue to doubt such a shot occurred, and insist that the back-and-to-the-left movement of Kennedy s skull could only have come from the front, I suggest a simple test. I ve done it hundreds of times. Lean forward 30 degrees tilt your head 25 degrees to your left and SLAP the top of your skull above your ear downwards, and see what happens. No, don t do this!!! It hurts a bit. Take my word for it, instead,--your head will bounce right up and throw your body backwards, exactly as Kennedy s did in the frames after the fatal headshot. Just so you don t think I m making all this up, by the way, this unique attribute of tangential hits is mentioned in the online paper Wound Ballistic Simulation by Jorma Jusilla, presented at the University of Helsinki: It states A tangential hit also causes a torsion motion of the head which can cause serious injuries. According to Funk and Wagnall s, the word torsion means The act of twisting. I say that in case you might need to look it up. I did. In retrospect, the mystery over the cause of Kennedy s back-and-to-the-left movement should have been solved a long time ago. All the debate over the man behind the picket fence, the jet effect and neuro-muscular response would have been unnecessary if someone used some common sense back in People knew the bullet broke up. People knew that bullets normally pierce a body without imparting enough energy into the body to throw it one way or the other. People knew that, on the other hand, a bullet striking tangentially, creating a gutter wound, and breaking up, could impart enough energy into someone to slap them one way or the other. People knew as well that the Zapruder film showed Kennedy being slapped back into his seat. The problem, one can only guess, is that the people knowing these things were not the same people.

11 Harper Fragment Analysis Left and right: Dr. Angel s drawings in Addendum E of the HSCA report of the forensic pathology panel. HSCA Figure 28 the Harper fragment Underside of Harper fragment Approximate position of Harper fragment on skull viewed from above Exterior of Harper fragment Discolored edge HSCA exhibit F-53, lateral x-ray Color photos of the Harper fragment Discolored edge

12 Harper Fragment Analysis Since Zapruder film frames 313 and 314 show a fragment shooting nearly straight up, at a right angle to a trajectory leading back to the sniper s nest, it seems clear this fragment could not have come from below the outshoot. Similarly, if it was on the far side of the outshoot it would almost certainly have been carried forward by the momentum of the bullet. Since the tears in the scalp described in the autopsy report all led away from the large defect, it seems probable this fragment exploded away from an impact/outshoot along its bottom edge, with the initial impact causing a fracture at one end of the fragment, the outshoot causing a fracture at the other and the impact and increased pressure lifting the fragment upwards until it snapped off at its top edge, spinning upwards. The so-called Harper fragment, the largest skull fragment found outside the car, is almost certainly this fragment. When one focuses on the Harper fragment itself, one finds additional reasons to believe the bullet struck tangentially. On November 23, after Billy Harper found the fragment in an area to the left and further down Elm Street than the location of the fatal head shot, he showed it to his uncle. His uncle, who happened to be a doctor, brought the fragment into a local hospital the next day and showed it some of his colleagues. He then gave it to the FBI. Strangely, no one knows for sure what happened to the fragment after it was given to the FBI. After undergoing some tests, the fragment was reportedly given to Kennedy s personal physician Dr. Burkley. He, in turn, is believed to have given it to the President s family. What is fairly clear, however, is that even though the autopsy doctors were still working on their autopsy report when the fragment was brought to Washington, no one thought to tell them of the fragment s existence. The HSCA presumed Bobby Kennedy somehow acquired it and destroyed it or buried it along with his brother s brain and tissue slides. It is from the HSCA interview of one of Dr. Harper s colleagues, Dr. A. B. Cairns, a pathologist, and the photographs these doctors made available to researchers, that we ve come to learn most of what we know about the Harper fragment Dr. Cairns told the HSCA that he believed the fragment came from the occipital bone, down near the spine, where virtually no one believes there was an exit. Since the fragment flew upwards, an entrance in this location would make even less sense. Dr. Angel and such internet writers as Joseph Riley place the bone in the parietal area, above the right ear. This means that an area on the outer edge of the fragment is exactly where I believe the bullet first struck Kennedy. That Dr. Cairns reported grayish discoloration indicative of lead-caused damage in this area would seem too much a coincidence. While the FBI reportedly did studies on this fragment and found no such lead, researcher John Hunt claims to have seen the x-rays in the National Archives and says they do indeed confirm the presence of lead. In his extensive paper on the JFK autopsy materials, Dr. David Mantik concludes the Harper fragment was occipital, and rejects Angel s location chiefly because Angel s location would imply a parietal entry (because the lead smudge is on the outside), an option that virtually no one would support. Well, not until now.

13 Keyhole Analysis HSCA Figure 28, exterior of Harper fragment Beveled outwards In-shoot (beveled inwards) Outshoot (beveled outwards) Underside of Harper fragment (rotated to show dimensions of keyhole) Beveled inwards Keyhole entrance/exit heading 6 degrees left to right. Could the Harper fragment be the upper margin of a keyhole shaped entrance?

14 Keyhole Analysis I found additional reason to believe the large head wound was a tangential wound in a 1982 article in The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, which, intriguingly, was written by HSCA medical panelist Dr. John Coe, only three years after his HSCA experience. Although the article was written about handgun wounds, its words would presumably apply to rifle wounds as well, except that the impact from a rifle would be more likely to blow out the skull. Coe wrote In the grazing wound of the skull showing external beveling, there is an elongated perforation of the bone in which one end of the perforation resembles the usual entry wound, while the opposite end of the defect has the external beveling associated with an exit wound. The most common explanation is the bullet, by penetrating the bone tangentially, is split or shaved. One portion of the bullet proceeds into the cranial vault, while the second portion is deflected outward, exiting the bone almost immediately after its penetration of the outer table. This deflected portion, in leaving the bone, produces external beveling in the usual manner. Could this explain why the lower edge of the Harper fragment appears to include both internal and external beveling? Or is it just a coincidence that this edge appears to match the characteristics of a keyhole entrance representing both entrance and exit? Is it also a coincidence that this keyhole seems to be running 6 degrees from left to right across the skull, which matches the angle leading back to the Texas School Book Depository we ve already calculated? (The Moorman photo showed us Kennedy s head was turned 14 degrees to his left. Since the school book depository was 8 degrees to his right at Z-312, this would indicate the bullet traveled 6 degrees to the right along his skull.) Medicolegal Investigation of Death, by the Clark Panel s Fisher and the HSCA s Spitz, described keyhole wounds in a similar manner: A shot fired at a curved part of the head at a shallow angle often causes a typically inward-beveled entrance hole adjacent to an outward-beveled exit hole, producing a keyhole-shaped defect in the skull. A fragment of the slug shaved off by the bone at the entrance hole may penetrate the brain Fracture of the orbital roofs are occasionally seen in the cases of keyhole type wounds involving the top of the head or forehead. Eyelid hemorrhage on the same side may result from the seepage As the description of the fractured orbits (eye sockets) and hemorrhage on the eyelids could have been taken from Kennedy s autopsy report, and as the shaved off fragment of a bullet hitting tangentially would appear to be the best explanation for the bullet slice visible on Kennedy s x- rays, it seems quite possible that Fisher, Spitz, and even Coe were writing about Kennedy s death, whether they realized it or not.

15 Dental Dilemma Figure 10: teeth and jaw cropped from autopsy x-ray 2. HSCA Authenticity Report Figure 7: pre-mortem x-ray of President Kennedy s teeth. Image inverted. What lies hidden behind the metal markers at right? Figure 11: teeth and jaw cropped from autopsy x-ray 3.

16 Dental Dilemma Having satisfied myself that the bullet striking Kennedy at Z-312 hit at a tangent, I began trying to figure out what happened to the bullet that created the small entrance wound visible in the no longer a mystery photo. At this point, I remembered the strange circumstance of the jaws being blacked out on Kennedy s x-rays and wondered if a bullet hadn t lodged in his jaw, perhaps obscured for the most part by his teeth. I thought of an early report written from the notes of the Parkland doctors in which it was claimed that Considerable quantities of blood were present in the President s oral pharynx (mouth) before it was suctioned. Since Kennedy s throat wound was described as slowly oozing blood, I wondered if the blood in the mouth couldn t best be explained by a bullet s presence. When I read the HSCA testimony of Dr Lowell Levine, a dentist hired to confirm that the teeth in the x-rays confirmed the authenticity of the x-rays, while being barred from showing the teeth within the x-rays, my jaw hit the floor: He said: There is a radio opaque rectangular object with three small and one large radiolucent circular areas in it extending from the second lower premolar considerably beyond the third molar area. It obliterates the roots of the molars and extends at an angle beyond the inferior border of the mandible. It obliterates the roots of the molars? Could this be the missing bullet? I grew even more suspicious after re-reading the testimony of Michael Baden and finding a note which read: In deciding to release the autopsy x-rays the committee wished to permit public examination of the most important details of evidentiary significance while still maintaining a sense of propriety. In accordance with this desire, the committee decided to display the autopsy x-rays to the public in a cropped fashion. I double-checked this against Baden s 1989 book Unnatural Death, and here he told a different story: The family balked at having x-rays of the head published in our final report. That distinctive Kennedy jaw was the source of some anguish it looked too much like him, they said. We compromised. In the published report, the lower part of the jaw, showing the teeth, is blocked out. This made me even more suspicious who asked for the jaws to be blacked out, the committee or the family? And if showing the teeth was verboten, why was Dr. Lowell Levine allowed to show them in his testimony moments before Baden took the stand with his blacked-out jaws? I looked at these x-rays and couldn t figure out what the metal was, but was suspicious that whatever it was it was used to cover up a bullet lodged in Kennedy s jaw. I re-read the HSCA interview of the autopsy radiologist Dr John Ebersole and found the following exchange: Baden: what is this long rectangular object at the lower portion of the x- rays of the head? Ebersole: It is a rectangular object. It looks as if it could be used as a measuring device, yes. A measuring device! In my attempt to solve the murder of the century, I almost claimed there was a mass cover-up of a measuring device! I found further testimony explaining the presence of this device. Ebersole s radiology assistant Edward Reed told the ARRB on that I suggested at that time that we take a small metallic fragment for magnification purposes and put it attach it to the side of the head closest to the film.i did that. Put the taped it to the back part of the mastoid on the left. He continued: This marker is a piece of aluminum with a small hole in the middle, in the distal third. As soon as I saw that, I recognized that is the piece of metal that I put on the left side of the President s skull For magnification purposes we made them out of lead markers. They re not straight. We use a scissors to cut them out of lead sheets. A week later Ebersole s other assistant Jerrol Custer talked to the ARRB and claimed all the credit for himself: I had my my own little measuring device on it They had like little holes in it; and you could see the it would either elongate, or you d see a little dot. When shown the x-rays he identified My marker in the lower mandibular joint Actually, all it is, is a metal piece of metal, about half a centimeter thickness. Less than that. And about two inches long with numerous dots going left to right. When asked if it was a standard device, he said That was my device, and that Ebersole saw it that night, and he knew it belonged to me. He said that Ebersole told him I better not see it on those films, and that, when he tried to put it on the abdomen x-ray, Ebersole saw it, and made me take it off. So there you have it. No conspiracy. Merely an over-eager underling interfering with the search for a bullet.

17 The EOP Entry Revisited Autopsy Face Sheet: Boswell s arrow shows the bullet headed to the left and up. 25 degree angle to left as at Z-312 Fox Autopsy Photo: close-up of entrance shows the bullet headed to the left and down. Zapruder frame 225:.Kennedy appears to be sitting straight up, facing Zapruder. EOP entrance at frame 223. Possible scenario. Bullet descending 25 degrees through the air. Entrance into skull, diving under the cerebellum. Deflection down the neck. Deflection off transverse process of spine at C-7. Exit of bullet once again descending at 25 degrees. Overview at left reveals how the bullet would have to have curved into the skull in order to have avoided the spine.

18 The EOP Entry Revisited So where did the bullet entering the occipital bone go? When one looks closely at the entrance near the EOP (the external occipital protuberance the bony prominence low on the back of men s skulls at the approximate height of the middle of the ear), one finds a possible answer. For a close look at the tunneling from right to left will show that the bullet went down. As Kennedy was leaning so far forward at Z-312 that any shot from any of the buildings in Dealey Plaza would have to have traveled upwards within his skull, and as he was turned so far to the left that a bullet from the sniper s nest would have to have traveled left to right within his skull, and as the bullets in his brain and on the front seat of the car appeared to match, and as the bullet nose on the front seat was found to match the rifling in Oswald s rifle, one can only conclude that the EOP entrance occurred at a different point in the shooting sequence. When one considers Kennedy s severe leftward lean at Z-312 this becomes even more apparent. While Dr. Boswell s autopsy face sheet indicated that the bullet went up within Kennedy s skull this was simply because he was connecting the dots between the small entrance found at the back of the head and the large exit near the temple. Neither he nor the other doctors has cited a compelling reason to believe this bullet went up. The trajectory of a bullet heading downwards into the neck is a bit problematic, however. Since we ve already decided that a bullet entering Kennedy s back at the location of his back wound could not have continued on to bruise his lung and exit his throat without hitting his spine, this means the throat wound is unaccounted for. If one is to conclude that the bullet entering near the EOP made an exit, the most likely exit would therefore be the throat wound. Since something seems to have exited from Kennedy s neck at Z-224, right before he reaches towards his throat, then one should conclude that Kennedy was shot in the occipital bone between Z-223 and Z-224, and that he received his back wound at another time. As Connally was sure a shot was fired before he was hit, and as he appears to be hit at Z-224, this would indicate that Kennedy most probably received his back wound just prior to his being hit near the EOP, at an interval too small for both shots to have been fired by Oswald s clunky bolt-action rifle. This means the EOP entrance need not have been created by Oswald s rifle, and need not have been fired from the sniper s nest. Perhaps this can help explain the trajectory. As a shot from the roof of the Dal- Tex Building would be descending at 25 degrees at Z-224, and as a shot from a smaller caliber rifle would better explain the small entrance, deflection, and small exit associated with this trajectory, perhaps we should think along these lines. Such a shot might even dive under Kennedy s cerebellum on its way to his neck. Let us remember that Connally s first instinct was that an automatic weapon had been fired. Let us also remember that some sort of clean-up occurred in the limousine, and that no real investigation was done of the limousine beyond what the Secret Service sworn to protect President Johnson told us and what the FBI saw on the night of the assassination, hours after the limousine was illegally removed from Dallas. On the other hand, since this trajectory would entail at least one deflection entering the skull to miss the spine, and one deflection after heading down the neck to exit at the throat, this shot need not have come from the Dal-Tex Building at all. If enough deflection occurred, it s possible the bullet was fired from as far west as the western-most window of the school book depository, where at least one witness reported seeing a second shooter. Photos reveal that this window was indeed open at the time of the shooting. When one considers that the skull at the side of the EOP is at a slant, and that a bullet hitting this slant from the right and from above might be deflected downwards, and that the rightmost section of the wound in the hairline appears to represent only the upper right corner of the entrance, one might very well conclude such a deflection occurred. But what does the Zapruder film tell us?

19 Right, Left, Right Kennedy s head in Z-207 Z-188 Right Z-207 Left Z-225 Right A comparison of the shadows on Kennedy s face between Z-207 and Z-225 reveals he made a sharp turn to his right. Kennedy s head in Z-225

20 Right, Left, Righ t When studying Z-225, the first frame in which Kennedy s fully visible after his disappearance behind the Stemmons Freeway sign, the first thing one notices is that Kennedy s looking almost straight at Zapruder, approximately 50 degrees to his right. If one were to use this position to rear project the position of a likely shooter, a la Canning, one would rightly conclude the shooter was on Houston Street, on the top of the Country Records Building, or the jail. There is significant evidence this was not Kennedy s position when he was hit, however. When one compares Kennedy s face in frame 207, one second before frame 225, one can see that Kennedy s head was turned far less to his right than at 225. The shadow shifts from the side of his head to the middle of his face. When one looks at the limo in these frames, moreover, one can see that the car is turning slightly to its left, into the sun, at the same time that Kennedy is turning to his right, away from the sun. This indicates he turned his head degrees in one second. This is consistent with a bullet striking him on his right occipital bone. If you tap yourself low on the right side of your occipital bone, you ll see that your head will inevitably spring to the right. When one subtracts these degrees from Kennedy s approximate 50 degree turn at 225, moreover, one can estimate that the back of Kennedy s head was facing the southern side of the Dal-Tex Building at frame 207. There s another factor to be considered, however. And that factor is the curve bullet s make when they enter the curved part of the skull. According to Spitz and Fisher s Medicolegal Investigation of Death, if the bullet strikes the head at a shallow angle or in an area of significant curvature, at least some deflection of the bullet s trajectory may be expected. According to Aarabi and Levy s Missile Wounds to the Head and Neck, if a bullet is fired at an angle or hits a curved portion of the skull, deflection will usually result. According to Larry Sturdivan: Though all the Biophysics lab test shots were aimed so that the WC s specified entry and exit locations would lie on a straight trajectory, none of the bullets penetrated the front of the skull at the intended exit location. One even punched out through the right orbit (eye socket) near the nose. These statements indicate that the trajectory of a bullet hitting Kennedy from behind while his head was turned would be likely to curve upon entry. This is in keeping with the curve necessary in order for a bullet entering the skull by the EOP and heading down into the neck to avoid the spine. When you think about this it makes sense when you push the corner of a shopping cart into a pole its wheels turn towards the pole. The side that meets the most resistance slows down and spins the side meeting less resistance to face the resistance, like a tank. This characteristic of bullets is noted on many of the websites of gun enthusiasts. On the Single Action Shooting Society website, for instance, one such enthusiast discussed an experiment he and some friends from a SWAT team had conducted on some windshields in a junkyard. They found that: All rounds deflected up if shot from inside and down from outside the car. If shot from outside at a 45 degree angle the rounds all turned back toward the shooter and down The.22 LR when fired from inside straight on to the 45 degree windshield deflected so much we could not get a hit on a target at hood distance. Once one takes into consideration then that Kennedy was both turned to his right between degrees at Z-224, and that the bullet entering his occipital bone would have to have come from his right to leave such a mark on his skull, one should have no problem determining that the most likely location for this shooter was the Dal-Tex Building.. If we take the extreme case and say Kennedy was turned 50 degrees and that the bullet angled in at 20, then we have a potential shooter in the Country Records Building. If we go the other way and say his head was turned only 20 degrees and that the bullet angled into his skull at 30 degrees, jerking his head to his right, then we have the school book depository. But just about every other scenario points back to the Dal-Tex Building. Still, this kind of thinking--taking an entrance without an exit and a possible exit without an entrance and matching them up, and then building a case upon it--is exactly what got Dr. Humes into trouble. For fear of pulling a Humes then and incorrectly connecting the leftover wounds, let s take a step back and see if we can find any evidence a bullet even traveled down Kennedy s neck.

21 Mirage Analysis Z-308, cropped and lightened Z-312, cropped and lightened Could the small entrance near the EOP actually be visible in the Zapruder film?

22 Mirage Analysis When I first realized that a bullet entering near the EOP could have gone down the neck, I was at a loss as how to prove this to myself. It then occurred to me that if I studied the Zapruder film I might be able to spot evidence for the EOP entry before the head shot at Z-312. I looked and looked for signs of blood on Kennedy s collar, to no avail. In retrospect, this makes sense, because if this wound had led to a large loss of blood, surely someone in Dallas would have seen it. I then switched tactics and focused on watching the exact spot where I interpreted the wound to be, to see if there was anything that could demonstrate the presence of this wound. I noticed basically nothing until frame Z-308, when there was suddenly a dark oval in the area. I looked for a corroborating frame, and found a similar dark shape in the location at Z-312. Excited, I decided to show these frames to a friend, but when we looked at the frames on his wide-screen TV, we just saw dark shadows. I decided I was guilty of seeing a mirage. I wanted to see something so bad, that I saw it. Later on, while watching the Zapruder film on my ancient TV, I noticed the dark shapes again, and realized I couldn t see them on the other TV because it had a different level of contrast than my old antique. For a long time after that, I consigned myself to accepting that this downwards trajectory through the neck would remain merely a theory, something I could not prove to myself, or to others. But when I kept looking, I kept finding more and more snippets of evidence that pointed towards this possibility. Ultimately, I came to believe that the weight of the evidence supports this possibility. In preparation for this presentation, then, I decided to use the digitized versions of these frames, and, if possible, increase the contrast to bring out the shapes I first saw on my old TV. I found that by using Adobe Photoshop and lightening the shadows, the shapes I first saw on my TV became apparent. Hopefully, by the time this presentation is updated, someone with a photographic background will have lightened and inspected this location frame by frame and determined whether or not these shapes represent something on Kennedy s head, or are simply by-products of the shadows on the film. Meanwhile, let s look at the snippets.

23 Base Fracture? Could this be a fracture on the floor of Kennedy s skull? A pool of blood? Blow-up from the Fox mystery photo

24 Base Fracture? The first thing we need to establish is if there is a possibility the bullet exited the floor of the cranium on its way to Kennedy s neck. If there was no such exit, then I ll have to begin again. Although Dr. Humes told the ARRB that We looked with care at the whole interior surface of the skull to see if there were any other defects what have you. There were no others, a thorough reading of his testimony and a close look at the skull base visible on the open cranium photograph give one reason to doubt he thoroughly inspected the base of the skull. One online article on a proper dissection of the skull and brain notes that, after the brain is removed: if any intracranial hemorrhage is present the blood is collected and measured. The dura is pulled out from the floor of the skull by holding it with a piece of cotton or gauze The base of the skull and rest of the cranial cavity is examined for fractures and tested for any abnormal mobility. The fracture of anterior cranial fossa manifests itself by escape of blood and cerebrospinal fluid from the nose, and middle cranial fossa by escape of blood and cerebrospinal fluid from the ear. Since fracture of the posterior cranial fossa and ring fracture are followed by escape of blood and cerebrospinal fluid in the tissues of the neck, they may not be suspected in certain cases and would be missed unless dura is pulled out from the floor of the skull and the posterior cranial fossa carefully examined. The open cranium photograph, on the other hand, displays evidence that these procedures were not followed. Besides the remnants of the dura around the foramen already mentioned, there is what appears to be a pool of blood at the base of the skull. This would indicate the head is being held upright in the photo, which would be right in line with the testimony of photographer John Stringer. In any event, whether this is blood or brain or dura, it would certainly inhibit a close inspection of the skull base. It is perhaps not an oversight, then, that when Dr. Humes told the ARRB that the doctors inspected the skull and found nothing unusual, he failed to reveal whether the dura was pulled out or the blood was drained; the blood was certainly not measured. Humes did tell the ARRB, when describing a missing photo the doctors believe was taken of the inside of the skull (hmmm) that the photo should have been sharp and clear because there was no blood by that time, you see. The brain had been removed, and it was a through and through hole While this could be taken as an indication the dura was removed and the blood cleaned up, Humes next statement to the ARRB might be even more revelatory. When asked by Jeremy Gunn were there any fractures in that portion of the skull, Humes replied Well yeah, I guess there were fractures in the posterior cranial fossa radiating from the wound. When one looks at the possible pool of blood in the open cranium photograph, there is what could very well be a fracture line on the far side of the pool. Perhaps this fracture line traced back to an area so close to the entrance in the occipital bone that the doctors assumed the small entrance hole was the source. Perhaps at the center of these fractures was a small exit into the neck. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. The Clark Panel s interpretation of the x-rays specifically ruled this out. Their report declared: Also, although the fractures of the calvarium extend to the left of the midline and into the anterior and middle fossa of the skull, no bony defect, such as one created by a projectile either entering or leaving the head, is seen in the calvarium to the left of the midline or in the base of the skull. As there were no x-rays taken from what is known as the Towne s view, which specifically targets the occipital bone, however, they were most certainly over-stating their case. According to Radiology of the Skull and Brain Many fractures of the calvarium extend into the base but frequently they are not identified on roentgenograms (x-rays). On the other hand, HSCA Radiologist Dr.David Davis reported: There is some air in the subarachnoid space of the spinal canal, and also apparently in the middle fossa but since the fracture is open to the subarachnoid space, this is not at all surprising. This movement of air from the skull into the neck is not unprecedented. According to Power et al in the March 2004 American Journal of Roentgenology: Air has been shown on both radiography and CT within the cervical spinal canal after skull base trauma. Since this same article states The presence of air within the subarachnoid space should alert the clinician to the likely presence of a dural tear, I believe this air can be taken as a sign there was indeed a hole in the base of Kennedy s skull.

25 Reading the Signs At left and at bottom: Fox autopsy photos. (Cropped.) Above and below: Groden autopsy photos. (Cropped.) Center: photo depicting Battle s Sign.

26 Reading the Signs Let s return to Radiology of the Skull and Brain. It states Basal skull fractures are common but frequently are not appreciated on routine skull radiography. They can be suspected clinically because of 1, blood behind the tympanic membrane of the ear in the absence of direct trauma to the ear, 2, subcutaneous hemorrhage over the mastoid process (Battle s Sign), or 3, extensive ecchymoses about the orbits in the absence of direct trauma to the orbits. While the ecchymoses (bruising) about the orbits (eye sockets) of President Kennedy were indeed noted at the autopsy, the other two signs were not mentioned. When one looks at the photographs taken of the back of Kennedy s head, however, and compares it to a photograph of someone with Battle s Sign, one can see that he did indeed display this tell-tale sign of a fracture in the base of his skull. The black and white photograph, moreover, seems to be an attempt, in part, to depict this sign, as it appears some blood has been wiped from the area behind Kennedy s ear that was apparent in the nearly identical color photo taken moments before. A chapter by Dr. Jefferson Browder in Brock s Injuries of the Brain and Spinal Cord is also revealing: a bloody discharge from the external auditory canal may result from a traumatic laceration of this canal, a rupture of the tympanic membrane alone, or a compound fracture of the skull into the middle ear There was indeed a lot of blood in Kennedy s right ear. When one compares it to Kennedy s left ear, it seems likely this blood did indeed come from the ear. Since it was acknowledged even by the Clark Panel that the middle fossa was fractured, however, this provides little proof that the posterior cranial fossa was fractured. When we look back at the online description of an autopsy, however, we see that The fracture of anterior cranial fossa manifests itself by escape of blood and cerebrospinal fluid from the nose, and middle cranial fossa by escape of blood and cerebrospinal fluid from the ear. Since fracture of the posterior cranial fossa and ring fracture are followed by escape of blood and cerebrospinal fluid in the tissues of the neck, they may not be suspected in certain cases and would be missed unless dura is pulled out from the floor of the skull and the posterior cranial fossa carefully examined. This tells us that excess blood in the neck tissues could be an indication the posterior cranial fossa was fractured, perhaps even that a bullet traveled down the neck. In the HSCA report by Dr.s Kerley and Snow, who compared the autopsy photographs to one another to show that the photographs were of the same man and that that man was Kennedy, it was noted, when discussing the back of the head photos There is a 3 by 5 centimeter area of discoloration at the base of the neck in the right area that apparently represents either a slight contusion or some postmortem lividity. A close look at the right lateral autopsy photo does indeed show bruising at a point on the neck which would appear to be higher than the purported passage of the bullet between the back and throat. Could this bruising have come as a result of a bullet s traveling down the neck? Intriguingly, the doctors in Dallas who first saw Kennedy, and were only aware of his throat wound and large head wound, discussed the possible trajectory between these two wounds, and apparently had no problem assuming a bullet could have traveled up or down the neck. One might assume from this they observed some signs which told them such a passage was likely. In Josiah Thompson s Six Seconds in Dallas, he outlined the Dallas doctors testimony and demonstrated these signs. Dr. Robert McClelland, for example, noted that the swelling and bleeding around the site (the exit in the throat) was to such an extent that the trachea was somewhat deviated to the left side. Dr. Charles Baxter likewise noted There was considerable contusion of the muscles of the anterior neck. Dr. Charles Carrico, on the other hand, testified: there was some discoloration at the lateral edge of the larynx and there appeared to be some swelling and hematoma. As the bullet is believed to have passed medial to the anterior neck muscles, and some distance below the larynx, perhaps the deviation of the trachea and the aforementioned bruises can be best explained by a bullet s having passed down, and traumatizing, the entire right side of the neck. But what other signs are out there?

27 The Final Moments Z-230 Z-237 Z-246 Z-268 Z-312 Moorman photo at Z-315 Was Kennedy inadvertently telling us something?

28 The Final Moments Since a bullet shooting down the neck at Z-224 would have passed close-by the cerebellum, if not actually striking it, I decided to look back through the literature to see if there was any indication something like this occurred. I found that when discussing the brain photos with the ARRB in 1996, Dr. Humes acknowledged, the right cerebellum has been partially disrupted, yes. I also found that Dr. Peters, one of the President s doctors in Dallas, was shown the autopsy photos in 1988 and shared Humes appraisal. He wrote writer Harry Livingstone that the cerebellum was indeed depressed on the right side compared to the left. I then recalled the HSCA s declaration that the posterior-inferior portion of the cerebellum was virtually intact It certainly does not demonstrate the degree of laceration, fragmentation, or contusion (as appears subsequently on the superior aspect of the brain) that would be expected in this location if the bullet wound of entrance were as described in the autopsy report. This time, however, I noticed the qualifiers. They said virtually intact, which indicates some damage. They also said there was certainly not the degree of damage necessary to be consistent with the autopsy report, which makes sense. After all, the bullet trajectory implied in the autopsy report would have the bullet heading straight into the cerebellum. These statements by the HSCA lead me to believe the damage apparent on the cerebellum is consistent with a bullet s having headed down into the neck. At the risk of pulling a Lattimer, who nonsensically tried to link Kennedy s movements after this shot to something he called Thorburn s response, I decided to see if the President s behavior after frame 224 was consistent with someone suffering damage to his cerebellum. According to the available literature, the symptoms of cerebellar damage include a weakness to the side of the body suffering the damage (ipsilateral hypotonia), a tendency to not stop a movement at its proper point (dysmetria), an inability to grasp objects (ataxia), an abnormal head attitude, and disturbances in speech, eye movement, and equilibrium. Between Zapruder frame 224, when the President seems to suffer a wound on his throat, and 313, when he is obviously hit in the head, the President reached in the direction of his throat without grabbing anything, lifted his arms past his throat, slumped to his left (perhaps as over-compensation for the sudden weakness on his right), and stared down without letting out so much as a scream. Ironically, a November 24, 1963 article in the New York Times by Dr. Howard Rusk described this very phenomenon. Mistakenly believing the theory proposed by the Dallas doctors on the afternoon of the 22 nd, that one shot hit Kennedy in the throat and exploded out the top of his head, Dr. Rusk explained brain injuries as follows: If the injury is in the posterior portion of the brain, where the bullet that killed the President made its exit, the cerebellum is damaged. Then the individual is left with ataxia, evidenced by severe intention type of tremors that occur when one tries to perform a basic act or grasp an object. Damage to the cerebellum is also usually accompanied by a loss of equilibrium. Should one be unsatisfied with that explanation, there is also the possibility Kennedy was afflicted with Jugular Foramen Syndrome. Jugular Foramen Syndrome is described by Blakiston s Pocket Medical Dictionary as Paralysis of the ipsilateral glossopharyngeal, vagus, and spinal accessory nerves, caused by a lesion involving the jugular foramen, usually a basilar skull fracture. According to the online article Craniofacial and Skull Base Trauma by Dr. Harry Shahinian and the Skull Base Institute the paralysis of the vagus nerve would manifest itself through a paralysis of the vocal cords, and a paralysis of the spinal accessory nerves would manifest itself through a paralysis of the neck muscle that flexes the head (the strernocleidomastoid) as well as a weakness of the trapezius muscle, which rotates it. The result is a weakness in contralateral head rotation and shoulder elevation. As we know all too well, Kennedy s left shoulder dipped dramatically in his final, silent, moments.

29 Two and a Half Witnesses Fox autopsy photo. the infamous stare of death photo, revealing the damage to Kennedy s right eye socket. Note also the wound on Kennedy s right cheek. Face sheet created by Richard Lipsey for HSCA staff members Andy Purdy and Mark Flanagan

30 Two and a Half Witnesses Having established, I believe, a strong case for a new perspective on the President s wounds, the statements of three autopsy witnesses become relevant. While their memories and/or impressions could very well be wrong, if they are correct, then the conspiracy to suppress the medical evidence began much earlier than I would otherwise believe. The first witness whose statements are relevant to our analysis is Dr. George Burkley, the President s physician, the only doctor to view Kennedy s remains in both Dallas and Bethesda. While he died long ago, he nevertheless left behind a paper trail which tells an altogether different story than that provided by the government. 1. On the day after the assassination, Dr. Burkley prepared Kennedy s death certificate. He listed the cause of death as simply Gunshot wound, skull (no specific entrance and exit). In the summary of facts he explains that Kennedy was struck in the head and that the wound was shattering in type causing a fragmentation of the skull. He said the second wound occurred in the posterior back at about the level of the third thoracic vertebra. This location was slightly lower than the location eventually decided on by the autopsy surgeons and was far too low to be compatible with the single-bullet theory. 2. On October 17, 1967, Burkley was interviewed by William McHugh on behalf of the Kennedy Library. When asked about the autopsy of President Kennedy, he told McHugh My conclusion in regard to the cause of death was the bullet wound which involved the skull. The discussion as to whether a previous bullet also enters into it, but as far as the cause of death the immediate cause was unquestionably the bullet which shattered the brain and the calvarium. While, on the surface, this seems to agree with the autopsy report, when McHugh asked Burkley if he agreed with the Warren report s conclusions on the number of bullets that entered the President s body, Burkley replied I would not care to be quoted on that. 3. A memo created by the original chief counsel of the HSCA, Richard Sprague, and found in his files many years later, indicates that on March 18, 1977, he spoke to a Mr. William Illig, Burkley s attorney. Illig told Sprague that Burkley had information which indicated Oswald did not act alone. 4. When HSCA staff member Andy Purdy finally spoke to Burkley on August 17, 1977, however, the most Burkley said about the possibility of a conspiracy was that the doctors didn t section the brain and that if it had been done, it might be possible to prove whether or not there were two bullets. 5. On November 28, 1978, towards the end of the HSCA, Burkley signed a sworn statement stating that he was interviewed by Mark Flanagan and Andy Purdy of the HSCA in January In this statement, he states I supervised the autopsy and directed the fixation and retention of the brain for future study of the course of the bullet or bullets. (I hope to find Flanagan and Purdy s account of this interview before I update this presentation.) 6. In his book Reasonable Doubt, writer Henry Hurt claimed to have spoken to Burkley in 1982, and to have been told by Burkley that he believed Kennnedy was killed by a conspiracy. 7. A January, 1997 memo by Doug Horne of the ARRB reflects that he contacted Burkley s daughter and asked her to grant access to the files on her father kept by his former attorney, William Illig. It was hoped that within these files would be the information Mr. Illig had called Richard Sprague about almost twenty years earlier. She initially agreed. In July, 1998, however, Horne added to his memo that she d changed her mind.

31 Nevertheless, by piecing together Burkley s statements, we can approximate what he was thinking. Nowhere in his statements did he ever say the fatal bullet entered the back of Kennedy s head. Consequently, when he mentioned a previous bullet to McHugh it s possible he was referring to an earlier, less severe head wound. Since his placement of the back wound ruled out the single-bullet theory, and since he suspected two bullets struck Kennedy in the head, it s quite possible he suspected Kennedy was killed in the manner here proposed. A second witness of interest was Tom Robinson, who worked at Gawler s Funeral Home. He helped clean up and reconstruct the President s skull after the autopsy. While his recollections of many of the details of that night were foggy some changed dramatically between his 1977 interview with the HSCA and his 1996 interview with the ARRB he nevertheless made several relevant statements. He told the HSCA that The inside of the skull was badly smashed, that he remembered something about the bullet exiting from the throat, that the bullet might have been coming from the head and down, and that he remembers the doctors probing at the base of the head, with an 18 inch piece of metal. He told the ARRB, 19 years later that, there were fractures all over the cranium, including the base of the skull, and that he had vivid recollections of a very long, malleable probe being used during the autopsy. His most vivid recollection of the probe is seeing it inserted near the base of the brain in the back of the head (after removal of the brain), and seeing the tip of the probe come out the tracheotomy incision in the anterior neck. He was adamant about this recollection. He also recalls seeing the wound high in the back probed unsuccessfully, meaning that the probe did not exit anywhere. While some have sought to discredit Robinson s statements by pointing out their inconsistencies, they can not be wholly discounted. His memories on some details have proved accurate. For instance, he told the ARRB that he saw 2 or 3 small perforations or holes in the right cheek during embalming, when formaldehyde seeped through these small wounds and discoloration began to occur. These wounds, not mentioned in the autopsy report, and rarely mentioned elsewhere, are indeed visible in the stare of death autopsy photo. While such wounds are in correlation with a bullet exploding near Kennedy s temple while his head was leaning 25 degrees to its left, its difficult to see how they could be caused by a fragmenting bullet sailing upwards from his cranium, as proposed in Larry Sturdivan s scenario. Finally, there s Richard Lipsey, who was a military aide to the general responsible for Kennedy s funeral, General Wehle. Lipsey was ordered to keep an eye on the President s body during the autopsy. Consequently he sat close by and tried to listen to what the doctors were saying. He prepared a face sheet for the HSCA staff depicting the President s wounds as he remembered them being discussed. And they re exactly as surmised in this presentation! In dismissing Lipsey s account, the HSCA medical report said Lipsey apparently formulated his conclusions based on observations and not on the conclusions of the doctors. In this regard, he believed the massive defect in the head represented an entrance and an exit when it was only an exit. He also concluded the entrance in the rear of the head corresponded to an exit in the neck. This conclusion could not have originated with the doctors because during the autopsy they believed the neck defect only represented a tracheostomy incision Thus, although Lipsey s recollection of the number of defects to the body and the corresponding locations are correct, his conclusions are wrong and are not supported by any other evidence. How strange that the writers of this report represent these as Lipsey s conclusions, when his testimony is clear that this is simply what he believes he overheard. If they believed him to be wrong then they should have just said he misunderstood the doctors. Instead the HSCA forensics panel, which concluded the Bethesda doctors were off by 4 inches on the head wound and at least 2 inches on the back wound, concluded that Lipsey was wrong because his testimony was in disagreement with the statements of these very same doctors, as these doctors are obviously beyond reproach from all sources except, of course, the HSCA forensics panel. The panel never even inquired with the Bethesda doctors if a shot through the hairline into the neck had ever been considered, and the possibility of such a trajectory is never even discussed in their report! They simply said Lipsey s statements were not supported by any other evidence and left it at that.

32 Chest X-Ray/ HSCA Entrance Comparison HSCA Figure 24 HSCA Exhibit F-30. PLEASE NOTE: these x-rays are inverted for the purpose of comparison At right: blow-up of F-30 revealing that the bullet path leading to the exit in the throat came down the neck. Exit level

33 Chest X-ray/HSCA Entrance Comparison After reading Lipsey s account of the autopsy, I went back and re-read most of the other accounts, and found another reference supporting Lipsey s contention that the doctors suspected a bullet came down the neck. In the HSCA interview of autopsy photographer John Stringer, he distinctly recalled the autopsists having a conversation about the pathway through the neck and specifically discussion about air in the throat. This implies that, far from believing the throat wound was a mere tracheotomy incision, the doctors had other suspicions all along. The air in the throat is, almost certainly, a reference to the chest/neck x-ray. Upon close examination of the chest/neck x-ray, one notes a black spot (representing air in the tissues) at the approximate level of the exit, at approximately the midline of the throat. This would appear to be the exit. Surprisingly, however, the black line which one would have to presume represents the bullet path, can be traced backwards up the neck, to a point much higher than the purported entrance in the President s back. That the HSCA forensic pathology panel attached no importance to this interstitial emphysema (air in the tissues), even though one of its consultants, Dr. Seaman, considered it highly suspicious compared with the other side, whilst simultaneously embracing a bullet path between the hole in the back and the hole in the neck, which tore no muscles and broke no bones, yet could not be probed by the autopsy doctors, is mysterious, if not disturbing. That their projected path through the neck starting at the back entrance more than an inch and a half to the right of the President s mid-line and ending at their proposed exit in the throat slightly to the left of the President s mid-line blasted right through Kennedy s spine, while they claimed the bullet never touched a bone, makes their actions doubly mysterious, or disturbing. They simply refused to follow the evidence. Or make sense. While I initially had doubts that a wound track could be so obvious, I found a few people who seem to agree with me that this is a wound track. People who have seen a few wound tracks. Amazingly, the Clark Panel report, when discussing the back wound and the throat wound, declares: There is a track between the two cutaneous wounds as indicated by subcutaneous emphysema and small metallic fragments on the x-rays Yikes! Perhaps this is the key to their mis-representing the vertical distance between the two wounds while they could see that the bullet came down the neck, they just couldn t fathom that it was coming from anywhere but the back wound. If someone were to coin the expression assassination research makes strange bedfellows, this would be a case in point Yet another who believes the shadows are a wound track is Larry Sturdivan, the HSCA ballistics expert. Sturdivan declared in his book, The JFK Myths, that The x-rays show a faint, but perceptible, shadow of a wound track running from the entry location shown in the autopsy photos to the exit point at the suprasternal notch. Since Sturdivan adds that The entry was located just above the transverse process of the first thoracic vertebra however, it would seem he s trying to have it both ways. Unlike the forensic pathology panel, he is willing to acknowledge the wound track on the x-rays. Like them, however, he is unwilling to concede that the track leads up the neck to an entrance higher than the back wound. Since the forensic pathology panel determined that the back wound was below the exit on Kennedy s throat, however, Sturdivan s gambit is to no avail. The fact remains that any wound track heading noticeably downwards on the x-rays that ends at the level of the throat wound (which was, by the way, above the suprasternal notch) is a wound track that began higher than the level of Kennedy s back wound. Sturdivan either fails to see this, or is deliberately disregarding the wound locations of the forensic pathology panel. If he s ignoring their measurements, then, the question must be asked: why is it considered unpatriotic, unscientific, or anti-american to question the specific conclusions of the government s panels when that leads you to conclude Kennedy was killed by a conspiracy, when it s not consider unpatriotic, unscientific or anti-american to question their conclusions if you say Oswald acted alone? This double-standard, I believe, says a lot about why this case is still relevant.

34 Lattimer Drawing/X-Ray/ HSCA Drawing Comparison Lattimer drawing from book: Kennedy and Lincoln HSCA Exhibit: F- 30 Arrows signify the different positions of the lungs. Lattimer places lungs at the level of C-6, well above the collarbone. HSCA Exhibit: F-46

35 Lattimer Drawing/X-ray/HSCA Drawing Comparison One of the great surprises one receives with the conviction that a bullet traveled down the neck is that Dr. John Lattimer, who has devoted years of study to try and prove that Oswald acted alone, agrees. (That s right, on this issue, the Clark Panel, Lattimer, Sturdivan, and I all agree!) In his book, Kennedy and Lincoln, Lattimer shares his interpretation of the line of injuries in Kennedy s neck. He declares, proudly, that his drawing is based upon an actual x-ray. That his drawing distorts the arrangement of Kennedy s clothes and the shape of his body, so that a bullet could create an entrance on his jacket 5 inches from the top of his collar, enter his back at the level of his Adam s Apple, and travel inches down his neck, reveals how desperate Lattimer is to make his interpretation of the x-ray fit his beloved lone-nut theory. When one compares Lattimer s drawing of the President s wounds to a similar drawing created by the HSCA, one can notice many other distortions as well. The HSCA drawing, for starters, has the bullet entering Kennedy s back heading slightly upwards through the body while Lattimer s drawing has the bullet headed sharply downwards. The HSCA, in keeping with the autopsy photographs, places the back wound on the back while Lattimer lifts it up onto the neck. While the two present the lungs in the same place in comparison to the bullet track, this is not an agreement between the two but is actually a discrepancy, as Lattimer s bullet track is much higher within the body. While the HSCA presents the lungs as just below the level of exit when the body is erect, but higher than the exit due to Kennedy s severe forward pitch, Lattimer presents the lungs as being higher than the exit even when erect. Since Lattimer does not dispute that the bullet exited the throat midway between the Adam s apple and the bony notch at the bottom of the throat, this means he believes Kennedy s lungs extended above his rib cage, into his neck. Of course, this is preposterous. It s clear that Lattimer, as Sturdivan, was trying to have it both ways: while his interpretation of the x-rays led him to believe the bullet traveled down the neck, he still wanted to be able to say the passage of this bullet bruised Kennedy s lung, even though this trajectory would pass approximately three inches away from the nearest lung. While some, including Lattimer, have argued that the confusion around Kennedy s back wound is related to the fact that Kennedy s Addison s disease made him a hunchback, I don t believe that even one of these men has been foolish enough to suggest Kennedy s lungs changed position and rose above the level of his ribcage as a result. It was while comparing the lungs in these drawings that I had a bit of a breakthrough. While the HSCA and Lattimer were in agreement on the shape of the bruise on Kennedy s lung, which is consistent in relation to the bullet cavity and is thus supportive that the cavity did indeed create this bruise, I realized that on this issue both drawings were wrong. While the photograph of this bruise is one of the photographs that the doctors remembered taking, but never saw again, Dr. Humes testimony on the bruise is quite clear, and is in disagreement with the drawings. He told the Warren Commission that the bruise was 5 centimeters at its greatest diameter and was wedge shaped in configuration, with its base toward the top of the chest and its apex down towards the substance of the lung, and repeated that it was a roughly pyramid-shaped bruise with its base toward the surface of the upper portion of the lung, and the apex down into the lung tissue. Humes was telling them, therefore, that the bruise came to a point. Such a bruise would not be expected from a temporary cavity, which radiates in an oval, but could very well have come as a result of a bullet deflecting from an overlying bone. Articles on pulmonary contusions from gunshot wounds reflect that they are far more prominent when a bullet slaps against a rib or chest wall than when a bullet actually traverses the substance of the lung. One such article by Dr. Rollin Daniel in a 1944 edition of Surgery, in which dogs were shot and immediately studied, connected the level of pulmonary contusion to the amount of energy released into the adjacent non-lung tissue. In the single-bullet scenario, in which the bullet magically slid between the strap muscles and did not damage the arteries, the damage to the surrounding tissue would have to be quite small. As the first thoracic vertebrae attaches to the spine just above the uppermost margin of the lung, the shape of this bruise could very well indicate that a bullet deflected off this bone from above.

36 Lattimer Skeleton/X-ray Comparison Lattimer image from book: Kennedy and Lincoln. Why is there no first rib on Lattimer s skeleton? HSCA Exhibit F-30. Arrow points to what appears to be a deflection of the bullet s path, at the neck of the first rib. Typical illustration of the rib cage, demonstrating the level of the first rib. Blow-up of F-30 showing possible deflection of the bullet s path at the first rib.

37 Lattimer Skeleton/ X-ray Comparison Should one doubt that Lattimer believed the bullet traveled some distance down Kennedy s neck, one need only look at another photo published in Kennedy and Lincoln. This photo depicted the purported bullet path alongside a skeleton. Intriguingly, this skeleton appears to be missing a first rib, which represents the uppermost level of the lung in most humans. Perhaps Lattimer was seeking to conceal how far this level was from his bullet path, I don t know. In any case, in this photo, Lattimer made crystal clear his belief that the bullet entered around the level of the third or fourth cervical vertebrae, near the middle of Kennedy s neck, where no one but no one saw an entrance. Why he didn t realize such a bullet path would be more likely to have come from the hole in the hairline than from the hole in the shoulder can perhaps be attributed to his lack of imagination. Since he also claims, this bullet exited with a wobble even though the doctors who saw this exit described it as smaller than the width of the bullet, it would seem that Dr. Lattimer just wasn t particularly concerned with having his theories make a lot of sense. When one reflects that there was unexplained damage to the transverse process (a bony finger sticking out from the spine) of the President s sixth and seventh cervical vertebrae, as well as the process to his first thoracic vertebrae, just above his lung, one should realize that the damage to his vertebrae and the bruise upon his lung can be more readily explained by a bullet coming down his neck than by a bullet coming from an entrance on his back, which left no probe-able missile path through his muscles. That the bullet exited at the level of the lowest damage to his vertebrae, T-1, as opposed to the middle damage of his vertebrae, is yet another indication that that the damage did not come as a result of the temporary cavity surrounding the bullet, especially since in the Forensic Pathology Panel s interpretation the bullet was heading upwards in the body, and would therefore have been some distance from C-6 as it passed. In fact, when one looks closely at the x-ray one can see what appears to be a deflection in the bullet s path where the first rib connects to the spine. The trajectory down the neck somehow changes course and heads for the throat. Due to the aforementioned bruise, it would appear that bone was struck. This could represent one of the two deflections necessary for the bullet striking Kennedy near the EOP to exit from the middle of his throat. The other one occurred upon the entrance to his skull. This would seem to be more than just a coincidence. Perhaps we re on the right track.

38 Air from the tracheotomy? See No Evil Artifact? Artifacts? Figure 10 in the final report: X-ray no. 8 taken midway through the autopsy. HSCA Exhibit F-30, or Figure 11 in the final report: X-ray no. 9 taken at the beginning of the autopsy