CHAPTER III
THE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE:
ALTERED/CHANGED/PLANTED
or
REAL ?
"I'm just a patsy."
Lee Harvey Oswald
In this, our first section, we will delve into the backbone of the case against Lee Harvey Oswald. It will be our objective to prove that, although the physical evidence reviewed by the Warren Commission and the House Select Committee does indeed point to Oswald as the only legitimate suspect in this case, that physical evidence does not stand up to close examination and was, undoubtedly, fostered to cover-up the truth and frame LHO.
To understand how difficult our legal system makes it to prove that a piece of physical evidence was planted, altered or changed, one must understand the American judicial process of evidence, and how it applies to any criminal case.
When a defendant implies that he is a patsy, in most US jurisdictions such a defense is considered affirmative. As such, the defendant is required to show proof that indicates his allegation is true. It is still the prosecution's challenge to show the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, but the defendant cannot just claim that he has been framed without producing evidence to back his contention.
Physical evidence is considered "admissible evidence" under law, as long as it is obtained legally and a logical, documented and proper chain of possession is established from the instant of discovery until it is presented in a courtroom. If this chain is duly established and documented, then that evidence may be considered true and valid. What the evidence proves is another story. To try to establish that evidence has been "planted" or "altered", requires one to prove that the opportunity to plant, alter, remove or change existed before the evidence was discovered (i.e. clues left by the perpetrator to mislead) or that the investigative/prosecutive bodies did so themselves after the discovery and that someone involved in the chain of possession is committing perjury and obstructing justice. One must also establish that there is a reason that this has been done, identify who did it and tell how it was done. This is necessary because, despite the fact that, constitutionally, a defendant is innocent until proven guilty, most courts will believe in the evidence presented by the prosecution, even if there are a few "problems" with that evidence, unless the defense can prove that evidence to be otherwise. It is extremely difficult to convince mainstream legal professionals that any government body would purposely alter evidence to implicate a defendant, for any reason.
Sometimes a jury may believe that some crucial piece of evidence has been tainted in the possession process and return a "not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" verdict because the defense has planted some doubt about the validity of that piece of evidence (i.e. the O.J Simpson criminal trial).
In this case however, reasonable doubt will not suffice. We must prove, beyond all doubt, that all of the major pieces of physical evidence have been altered, changed, planted or destroyed, in a manner so that they point only to Lee Harvey Oswald and away from others. If we do, we establish that LHO did not kill JFK, and that someone else did, and used LHO as the patsy. If we do not, the government apologists can use the existing studies and conclusions, their view as the axioms of this case, and state, as they have on many occasions, that if the evidence doesn't point to Oswald, to whom does it point? They will point to the pieces of physical evidence and require that they be used to implicate someone else. The pieces of physical evidence cannot be used for that purpose, because they do point only to Oswald. This is the argument that has been used for many years by government apologists. The problem with it is: If all the physical evidence points to implicating Oswald and yet does not make sense, then the only logical conclusion left is that the evidence has been changed, altered or planted, in an effort to both implicate LHO and hide the truth. When it is shown that the physical evidence does not fit together, and the conclusions drawn from it defy rational beliefs, long accepted mathematical principles and the laws of the Universe, not once but on many occasions, the correct conclusion becomes quite visible to all who wish to see it. It is the lack of validity of the physical evidence that points us elsewhere.
Since no conclusion other than the guilt of Oswald alone was ever considered by the WC, it is simple to see the ease with which this could have been accomplished, without a single member of the Commission knowingly taking part. Without a start from scratch, assume nothing mentality, there was little if any way to uncover the probability that someone involved in the investigation may have been a party to the assassination, and was using the Commission to cover it up. And, any member of the investigating team who might have eventually thought that, would have needed tons of evidence to even so much as suggest it privately. I've long heard the adage, "The higher up you go, the more you've got to have them by the balls". No truer words were ever spoken. Understanding that all involved in this case lived by that premise, will help you understand what went on, and perhaps, why.
DEALEY PLAZA
Evidence and Witnesses
Immediately after the shots rang out in Dealey Plaza, President Kennedy and Governor Connally, both lying severely wounded in the limousine, were rushed to nearby Parkland Memorial Hospital, accompanied by the President's Secret Service contingent and most of the other motorcade vehicles. Many of the Dallas police officers and sheriff's deputies left in Dealey Plaza began looking for a suspect, witnesses and physical evidence, as soon as each officer was able to recover from his initial shock. Some reacted almost immediately; others were delayed. Some bystanders, accompanied by police and convinced that shots were fired from the "grassy knoll" area, rushed up there seconds after the final shot, only to be confronted by "Secret Service Agents" where, the WC later documented, there were none stationed.
(NOTE: in his recently published work Live by the Sword, Gus Russo states that former Secret Service Agent Mike Howard, who stayed behind in Ft Worth when the presidential entourage went to Dallas, relayed to Russo that Dallas SAIC Forrest Sorrells did post "deputized" personnel on the "grassy knoll". I can find absolutely nothing to substantiate this claim. However, it is fascinating that, after years of total denial of anyone with credentials being on the knoll, we suddenly have an alternative theory, which still allows for the lone gunman.)
These "agents" told the policemen that the "knoll" was clear. Several of the officers were then told by "civilians" near the knoll that the shots had come from the Texas School Book Depository, situated on the corner of Elm and Houston Streets, behind the limousine during the shooting. Later, none of the officers could give an accurate were description of any of these civilians. What is known is that:
1) there were two or more of them,
2) they were not detained for interview and,
3) because of them, and the bogus "Secret Service" agents, the emphasis of the investigation was immediately switched away from the knoll and into the TSBD, where one Lee Harvey Oswald was an employee.
(For an interesting article on the bogus Secret service agents click HERE )
Officer Marrion Baker, a motorcycle patrolman assigned to the motorcade, testified that he immediately rushed into the TSBD, because he believed that shots had been fired from the roof. Inside, within a maximum* of "...90 seconds..." of the final shot he and Roy Truly, the building superintendent, encountered Lee Harvey Oswald on the second floor, near the lunchroom, drinking a "coke" [note: the original Baker report on this encounter included the phrase "drinking a coke"; this phrase was subsequently removed and the correction was initialed by Baker (see Warren Commission Exhibit 3076-)].
(* In CE 1434, a witness, Pauline Sanders, told the FBI that she saw Baker entering the building within "...ten seconds..." of the final shot)
Oswald was identified by Truly as an employee, and Baker and Truly continued up the steps. They found no suspicious persons during their search and Officer Baker later testified that Oswald had seemed neither nervous nor out of breath. Also of note in relation to this, the floor setup at the Texas School Book Depository as it is today, is not the same as it was on November 22, 1963.
In those days, the stairs emptied out onto each floor; today the staircase is enclosed. The difference is that no one could have run down the stairs past the 5th floor without being seen by Bonnie Ray Williams and/or the 4th floor by Vicki Adams. According to the FBI interviews of both (Dallas 89-43) they saw no one.
While this was going on, police were informed by railroad worker Lee Bowers, situated in the Union Terminal tower, located behind the parking lot adjacent to the "grassy knoll", that a number of people had hidden in one of the railroad cars in the yard. Police searched the car and pulled three alleged "hobos" out of it. These "suspects" were quickly released, without any effort to do a background and/or fingerprint check. It would be years later before any record of these men would surface.
Before 1:00PM other members of the DPD and Sheriff's Office were searching the TSBD for clues. They found some physical evidence on the 6th floor. Later that afternoon, a roll call of TSBD employees showed that Oswald was among the missing.
Evidence reportedly found on the 6th floor of the TSBD included:
1) a partially consumed lunch of fried chicken and a soft drink
2) a group of boxes that appeared to block the line of sight to the corner window.
3) a brown paper sack of a length and construction to have possibly been used to carry a rifle.
4) three spent shell casings or hulls, of 6.5mm caliber, one with a bent lip on the neck.
5) a rifle, found hidden between some boxes located diagonally across the floor from the corner window, on the way to the stairs.
Meanwhile, all around Dealey Plaza, other witnesses continued to be detained and questioned. Some of those who felt they had heard shots from in front of the President were reportedly told to keep quiet or that they were mistaken. “authorities” confiscated several cameras, containing film of the sequence of the assassination. At least two of these were never booked into evidence and haven't been seen since. The owners of each of these films believed that federal officials were the ones who took them.
Mr. Abraham Zapruder, a dressmaker who had offices in the Dal-Tex building across Houston Street from the TSBD, had filmed the entire assassination sequence from the grassy knoll area using a new Bell & Howell 8mm home movie camera. He turned his camera and its film over to authorities. It became one of the most important pieces of evidence taken from Dealey Plaza.
Documents show that his film, or a copy of it, was sent to the National Photographic Interpretation Center for review, within three days of the assassination. The NPIC, a part of the National Security Agency, has one of the finest photographic laboratories in the world, using the most sophisticated photographic equipment available, anywhere. Even in 1963 what they could do with a piece of film was years ahead of any industrial laboratory. Whether the undeveloped film, or a developed copy was sent to them is unknown, as is what they did to, or with it. What is known is that the film ended up in a vault at Time-Life, with a number of frames "missing" and it was withheld from the American people for many years.
Also, as the afternoon progressed at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Darrel Tomlinson, a senior engineer there, moved a pair of stretchers, one of which had carried JBC. They were blocking the elevator doors in the corridor outside the emergency room where both President Kennedy and Governor Connally had been treated. When he moved them, he made a fascinating discovery: a bullet, which fell from one of the stretchers. Tomlinson immediately turned it over to the hospital's head of security, O. P. Wright.
Still later that night, in Washington D.C., the limousine used in Dallas was returned to the White House Garage. Secret Service agents there, while cleaning out the car, recovered some items of interest to the investigation; two large bullet fragments, found near the front seat. Within days, on the orders of the new president, the limousine was sent back to the Ford Motor Company plant to be completely rebuilt, prior to any proper forensic efforts by the FBI to develop any additional clues. Photographs of the limousine, taken at Parkland and in the White House garage, show windshield damage that might have come from a bullet unaccounted for by the Warren Commission. In addition, Carl Renas, head of Security for the Dearborn Division of The Ford Motor Company, drove the limousine from Washington, DC to Cincinnati, Ohio, 3 days after the assassination for its rebuild. He too, noticed several bullet holes, one of which, in the chrome around the windshield, he is certain was from a bullet, not a fragment.
He was told to keep quiet by the Secret Service.
Much of this physical evidence was soon linked, scientifically or by documentation, to Oswald. Contained in the Dealey Plaza evidence are all the bullets and fragments found that fit this description. Smaller fragments, recovered at the autopsy or removed at Parkland Hospital from Connally, will be discussed later. Also included is the major film of the assassination; that of Abraham Zapruder, which was used extensively by the FBI to determine the time frames and relative positions of all during the assassination sequence. FBI studies of the film and the rifle were used to establish the minimum time required to aim and fire each shot and when there was evidence of a hit, via victim reaction, an estimated time frame was established. This covered the first two shots that, because of the wound suffered by James Tague, needed to include a miss. For the fatal headshot, the time was exact. The Warren Commission conclusion that three shots were fired was based, almost entirely, on the recovery of only three shell casings in the "sniper's nest". Their original scenario concluded that all three shots were hits, two on Kennedy and one on Connally. The Commission tried for months to ignore the Tague wound, and its impact on their conclusions, until they were finally forced to interview the victim by the Assistant U.S. Attorney in Dallas, Martha J. Stroud. When Tague's wound finally had to be accounted for, the addition changed from three shots-three hits to three shots-two hits, one miss, and a group of seven wounds in two people with only one bullet to cause them. This dilemma had to be addressed. Enter WC junior counsel Arlen Specter (today a Republican Senator from Pennsylvania), and his "single bullet theory" (SBT).
Notice that it was, and still is, called a "theory". That is because the premise was never proven to have happened then, and the alleged results have never been duplicated since, except "in theory". In reality it was a political necessity that turned into the highly controversial and principal foundation for the Warren Commission Report's "lone gunman" conclusion.
If the existence of a second gunman had been presumed at this time, it would have in no way excluded the possibility of three shots from the 6th floor. The fact that the probability of multiple gunmen, which was consistent with all the evidence from the very beginning, was never even considered, shows to what extent the need for the "lone nut" gunman was ingrained on the Commission and also showed to what extent the Commissioners were willing to "shoehorn" the evidence into the preconceived scenario. The perceived need for this action also made a cover-up far easier.
An inquisitive person should want to know why this course was so necessary. What possible reasons could the Warren Commission have had to not wish to investigate the seemingly relevant occurrences, testified to by so many people, including Dallas Police, real Secret Service Agents and other witnesses, that were thought to have taken place around the picket fence on the knoll? Also, why was a single gunman conclusion of such importance that the Commission would so easily accept as far-fetched a theory as the SBT? Why accept this stretch, especially when taken in conjunction with all the evidence and testimony from Dealey Plaza?
A REVIEW OF THE DEALEY PLAZA PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
I.THE RIFLE: CE 139- a 6.5mm Italian-made Mannlicher-Carcano bolt-action rifle with a 4 power Japanese-made telescopic sight--While the FBI examination of the rifle showed no fingerprints, the DPD allegedly found a palm print belonging to Oswald. This was not announced until after LHO's death and the FBI examination. The print was supposedly found in a place on the gun that would have been exposed only when the rifle was broken down for cleaning or transport.
The legal meaning here is that there is no fingerprint evidence that Oswald ever fired that weapon...on November 22nd or any other day! The location of the fingerprint, even if there was one, does NOT put it in Oswald's hand on November 22nd.
This rifle was, allegedly, the one found at approximately 1:20PM CST on the 6th floor of the TSBD, by two Dallas law enforcement officers. The gun was hidden between some boxes which were approximately in a line from the "sniper's nest" to the exit to the stairs, and closer to that exit.
Oddly enough, Tom Alyea, a Dallas Morning News photographer who was present when a rifle was found and examined by Dallas Police, stated in an interview that DPD Crime Lab head, Lt Carl Day, took fingerprint lifts off of the rifle while on the 6th floor of the TSBD. These prints were never entered into evidence and have never been discussed. Since Alyea stated that Day was the first to touch the rifle, any lifted prints would be of great significance.
WHAT THE WARREN COMMISSION REPORT CONCLUDED
The Warren Commission Report concluded that the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle was the weapon used to inflict all the wounds in Kennedy and Connally and all other shots fired that day.
They also concluded that CE 139 was the rifle ordered by LHO through the mail from Klein’s Sporting Goods of Chicago, Illinois, using the alias A. Hidell and delivered to a post office box rented by Oswald. It was then concluded by the Commission that LHO used this rifle to assassinate JFK by firing three shots, one of which hit Kennedy and Connally, another missed completely and wounded Tague and the other shot that was responsible for the President's fatal head wound. While there was no formal conclusion as to the sequence of the shots, the Commissioners leaned strongly towards a scenario that had the missed shot as shot number two, since they could not make any other missed shot that could wound Tague fit the sequence. They felt that it was unreasonable to believe in a first shot miss and could find no reason or evidence of a discharge after the fatal headshot. The report also concluded that LHO had carried the rifle to work with him, in a paper bag, on the morning of November 22nd and that this bag was seen by fellow TSBD employee Buell Wesley Frazier, and Frazier's sister, Linnie Mae Randle, when LHO got into Frazier's car that morning in Irving. The WCR also concluded that this was the bag found on the 6th floor of the TSBD by the DPD.
Frazier lived near the home of Mary Paine, where Marina Oswald and her children stayed, and he usually gave LHO, who stayed at a room in Oak Cliff during the week, a ride from work on Friday and a ride to work on Monday. For the only time, LHO had requested a ride from work on Thursday and to work on Friday. Frazier testified that Oswald told him the package contained curtain rods for his Oak Cliff room. Frazier, who had worked in a hardware store and handled and packaged curtain rods many times, believed what Oswald told him.
WHAT THE HSCA CONCLUDED
The House Select Committee on Assassinations did not feel that their examination uncovered anything that was in conflict with the conclusions drawn by the Warren Commission about this particular area of evidence. Their review of the testimony and items of evidence found in the WCH, showed that the WC conclusions were supported by the evidence and testimony. They also stated that they could find nothing in the WCR that was in conflict or questionable about the weapon, its identity, owner or recovery.
WHAT THE EVIDENCE AND TESTIMONY ACTUALLY SHOWED
a) The 2 sheriff's deputies who found a rifle on the 6th floor of the TSBD and a highly decorated deputy who saw it before it was taken from the floor ALL identified it as a "7.65mm Mauser". Subsequent documents and affidavits filed by these deputies continued to identify it that way (Commission Exhibit Decker 5323). CIA documents still identified it as a "Mauser" 4 days later. One of the officers, decorated deputy sheriff Roger Craig, continued to insist that this identification was correct, even after his testimony before the Commission. He maintained that the gun he saw had the word "MAUSER" stamped on the barrel.
Craig also told researchers that his WC testimony had been altered in 14 different places by WC counsel David Belin so that it appears bland in the 26 volumes. Another of the deputies in question, Constable Seymour Weitzman, had also sold rifles while working, for many years, in a sporting goods store and therefore, had a vast amount of experience in both handling and identifying them. Police officers are trained to properly observe and notate evidence. In fact, their observations are more readily accepted in a court of law than those of most other witnesses.
The Warren Commission Report attempts to slide past this "problem" with the weapon by saying that the deputies only had a "glance" at the weapon.
Click HERE to see comparisons of a Carcano and Mauser
b) The tape recording of a news broadcast of November 22, 1963 on Dallas radio station K-BOX said:
Sheriff's deputies identify the rifle as a seven point sixty- five Mauser, a German-made Army rifle with a telescopic sight. It had one shell in the chamber. Three spent shells were found nearby.
(CE 3048)
Additionally, in his book, On the Trail of the Assassins, Jim Garrison claims to have viewed a Dallas TV newsreel from that day which he claims showed a police officer bringing another rifle down the fire escape from the roof. I have been unable to confirm this.
c) Five separate documents with descriptions of the rifle originally found on the 6th floor were missing from the FBI files on the Presidential assassination when presented to the WC. Those documents were:
1) DPD Lt Carl Day's dictated memorandum on the weapon
2) Day's description to FBI SA Bardwell Odum
3) Odum's subsequent description, which was broadcast over FBI radio
4) Constable Weitzman's original report to the FBI
5) DPD Detective C N Dhority's written report.
d) The legal "chain of possession" of CE 139 was never properly established. The officers who found a gun should have either marked it for identification purposes immediately or watched as the detective who removed it did so. Neither identification procedure took place at the scene. It appears that this was finally done some six hours later, at DPD Headquarters, after the weapon found had passed through countless other hands, and had allegedly laid in the evidence room for several hours. What chain of possession that existed after that was again broken when the rifle was taken to FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC, by FBI Special Agent Vincent Drain on the night of November 22nd, unaccompanied by any officer of the DPD.
In 1963, even though threatening the President was a federal crime, the assassination of a President was not. It was merely an all too common, local murder.
This meant that the FBI had no jurisdiction whatsoever in the case. If the weapon needed to be sent to an FBI lab for analysis, it needed to be accompanied by a Dallas officer to maintain the legal "chain of possession". The reasons behind this continuous improper handling of such vital evidence, in such a high profile case, by highly trained local and federal officers are very suspicious. This type of handling would have been questionable enough for the weapon to be excluded from the evidence in any trial of LHO.
How fortunate they were that there was no trial.
e) Despite all the controversy over the initial "misidentification" of the rifle, at no time did the WC show CE 139 to any of the Dallas law enforcement officers who found it and ask them, point blank, if CE 139 was the weapon that they had found. What they showed them were photographs, not the weapon itself. Not one of those Dallas witnesses could positively state that the weapon in the photos was the weapon that they had found.
Even today, you and I still can only see photographs of this infamous weapon at the National Archives. We cannot see nor measure the weapon itself.
f) The paper bag found on the 6th floor showed no signs of any gunpowder residue or any gun oil and contained no verifiable fingerprints (a partial palm print that had some characteristics similar to Oswald's palm print was found. However, there were too few similarities for a legal match), according to the FBI examination conducted of it. The package's size was also too small to have contained CE 139, unless the rifle was broken down.
(CE 1304)
Next, when broken down, the weapon contained a number of sharp-edged parts, which, logically, should have made some scratches or tears in the paper, had it been in there. Not only were there no scratches or tears, they wasn't a single crease which the FBI could match to any part of CE 139.
Basically, we find that there was no physical evidence that any gun had ever been inside the bag found on the 6th floor and alleged by the WC to have carried CE 139 from Irving, Texas to the TSBD that day.
(Was a bag actually found? Click here to read a fascinating research article by English researcher Ian Griggs)
g) If the rifle were broken down for transport, its accuracy would have suffered further without the ability to be sighted-in after reassembly. Military experts stated that a minimum of 10 shots would have been required, adjusting the scope after each, to re-sight any rifle for accurate shooting.
h) Both Buell Frazier and Linnie Randle, the only people to have seen it, testified that the package LHO had in Frazier's car was no more than 26" in length, yet the longest part of CE 139, even when broken down was 34.8".
(CE 1303)
Frazier further testified that when Oswald laid the package in the back seat of the car, it took up less than half of the length of the seat. The back seat's total length was 62". Frazier also testified that when they arrived at work Oswald took the package out of the back seat and, holding one end in the palm of his hand, tucked the other end under his arm.
For the package Frazier saw to have contained CE 139, even broken down, would have required Oswald to have an arm length of over 36". Rather amazing for a man of 5' 9".
(2 WCH 210-245)
We see, therefore, that there was also absolutely no testimony corroborating the WCR conclusion about how Oswald allegedly got the rifle into the depository, either.
How and why then was this conclusion drawn?
i) While the Warren Commission Report used as evidence an FBI document (Dallas 89-43) which says that the FBI laboratory found the materials used to construct the paper bag entered into evidence to be consistent with materials found at the TSBD and could have been constructed from them, researcher Livingstone in his book High Treason , shows another copy of that same document which says that the materials were not similar.
While there is no way to categorically determine which is the correct copy, there would appear to be no logical reason for the FBI to have revised the report to deny the similarities, then enter the incorrect one into evidence. However, if my belief that they altered evidence is correct, then changing the report from not similar to similar fits in quite nicely with that scenario.
j) FBI tests of CE 139's accuracy showed that the rifle was:
1) inaccurate from 15 yards (CE 549),
2) carrying a scope that was mounted for a left-handed shooter (CE 2560); [LHO was right-handed], and
3) unable to be sighted in, using the scope, without the installation of 2 metal shims, which were not present when the rifle arrived for testing nor notated in any previous description of CE 139 (3 WCH Pg 440-445).
Nothing resembling a shim was found at the TSBD, Oswald's room in Oak Cliff or on his person, when arrested.
k) During efforts, supervised by the FBI, to duplicate the shooting accuracy allegedly achieved, no FBI, military or civilian (National Rifle Association) expert was ever able to match the concluded performance, while using CE 139 in the condition it was found, within the time frame established and under conditions similar to those faced by a shooter crouched in the 6th floor window of the TSBD. These re-creations took place on November 27, 1963, March 16, 1964, and March 27, 1964. None of these attempts were made under circumstances that came even remotely close to the difficulties and pressures that would have been encountered by a gunman in that 6th floor window, and still they all failed to duplicate the feats attributed to Oswald. Later efforts, sponsored by the HSCA Firearms Panel, were successful in hitting three stationary targets, within the time frames. However, they used a different rifle, albeit a similar Mannlicher-Carcano and fired using open-sights, instead of the scope, and again, from a different position, angle and under different circumstances than would have been encountered by LHO, or anyone else crouched in the 6th floor window of the TSBD.
(3 WCH 390-430)
In addition, the HSCA testimony of Firearms Panel member Monty Lutz shows his opinion of the scope:
Mr. LUTZ. This is a four-power Ordinance Optics telescopic sight with a crosshair reticule.
Mr. MCDONALD. Would you in your opinion classify it as an accurate scope?
Mr. LUTZ. The accuracy is fairly undependable, as far as once getting the rifle sighted in and it is very cheaply made, the scope itself has a crosshair reticule that is subject to movement or being capable of being dislodged from dropping, from impact, or a very sharp recoil. So the accuracy would be somewhat questionable for this particular type of a scope.
(HSCA Vol 1, pg 449)
Why the HSCA experts did not use the real exhibit is another valid question that has never been answered. Perhaps it was because the original examination by the FBI in 1963-1964 showed that CE 139 was inaccurate at 15 yards or someone involved knew the shooting could not be duplicated using that weapon.
Former HSCA Firearms Panel member Lutz, an expert rifleman himself, later confirmed these failures. He stated, in a 1986 mock Oswald trial sponsored by the BBC, that to his knowledge, no one had ever duplicated LHO's alleged shooting feats, using CE 139 in the condition it was found. Also in this regard, Craig Roberts, a Marine Corps sniper with combat experience in Vietnam , professional law enforcement officer, and world-class rifleman, states in his book Kill Zone , that even using his precise equipment loaded with match rounds, he could not have equaled the shooting process assumed by the Warren Commission to have taken place. It is very hard to disregard such statements by an expert who has actually looked out on Elm St from the "sniper's window". Mr. Roberts is not the only expert to feel this way.
In fact, efforts to duplicate the shooting expertise were attempted by agencies within the governments of Cuba, Israel and the USSR. All reached the same conclusion: The shooting, as outlined by the Warren Commission was virtually impossible!
The time frames required were established by the FBI after the review and calculation of time between shots shown on the Zapruder film, also taking into consideration the time required to operate CE 139 and the view from the 6th floor. The HSCA findings concluded that only if Oswald had fired using open sights, could he have fired 3 shots accurately within the WCR time frames. No possible scenario that included any additional gunmen was ever considered meaning all shots must have come from that rifle and during the designated time frames.
l) DPD searches of Oswald's room in Oak Cliff and his family's residence in Irving, failed to unearth any additional ammunition or any cleaning supplies normally associated with the operation of a rifle. In fact, additional checks by agents of the Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms failed to find any evidence that either LHO or Alec Hidell had ever purchased ammunition for the rifle, either. Yet, an FBI memorandum described the rifle, when presented to them, as being in "...a well-oiled condition...". Additional ammunition would have been needed to practice, and that same FBI memorandum, signed by Director J. Edgar Hoover himself, noted that an examination of the firing pin showed that "numerous" shots had been fired through CE 139.
(CE 2974)
Also, the three experts who first test-fired the rifle showed concern that the firing pin might break because it was rusted.
(3 WCH 444)
Ammunition isn't purchased one bullet at a time. The minimum would be a box of twenty. It would be inconsistent with the way LHO allegedly purchased the weapon, for him to hide the purchase of the ammunition. And, rusted firing pins are not what one would consider suitable for a rifle being used in such a high profile political assassination...what if it broke on the first shot?
m) FBI searches of every gun range in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area failed to come up with even a single shell casing that could be matched to CE 139. In all, literally millions of used casings were reviewed and 13,000 possible Mannlicher-Carcano casings were recovered and compared. None ballistically matched CE 139. This lack of physical evidence came despite the testimony of several witnesses who told stories of a man, allegedly LHO, practicing at various ranges with a high-powered rifle and being very visible doing so...in some cases going out of his way to draw attention to himself.
The fact is that the FBI could find absolutely no physical evidence, which showed that LHO had ever purchased ammunition or practiced firing CE 139. Yet, again, in spite of this lack of evidence, not only did the WCR conclude that he had, but they also concluded that he became so good at shooting that he could make shots that documented experts could not.
n) The length of CE 139 and the length of the rifle depicted in the ad allegedly used to order it, from the February, 1963, issue of American Rifleman magazine, are significantly different.
The weapon depicted in that ad, a Mannlicher-Carcano 6.5mm Italian Carbine, model# C20-T750 is 36" long, assembled. This is the weapon reportedly shipped, on March 20, 1963 to :
A. Hidell
PO Box 2915
Dallas, Texas
The length of CE 139 is 40.2" assembled and it is model# C20-750. Representatives of Klein’s were unable to adequately explain these differences.
(CE 773)
Also, the FBI records of the length of the rifle they tested show 3 different figures, none of which was 36''.
(NOTE: the author owns a Mannlicher-Carcano of the same model as CE 139. Its length is 40.2")
Klein's was also able to state how it was paid for (postal money order), when it was deposited AND they were able to produce both the envelope it was received in and the stamp used to mail the order to them!
o) While the serial number of CE 139---C2766---was the same as that of the weapon shipped by Klein’s to A. Hidell, the FBI discovered that, due to the manufacturing techniques used by Italy during World War II, this serial number was not necessarily unique to only one such weapon. In fact, it is possible that as many as 5 different rifles could have had the serial number C2766.The FBI eventually traced another Carcano, serial number C2766, to Canada.
In addition, Scottish researcher and friend Bill MacDowall has done significant research in this area and has traced the rifle mailed by Klein’s to A. Hidell all the way back to its manufacture. He has found evidence that ALL identifying markings were supposedly removed prior to Klein’s purchase of the weapon.
Bill has written an extensive paper on this weapon and has made it available to be posted exclusively on this site.
(Click HERE)
p) While evidence showed that the rifle from Klein’s was shipped to the post office box of LHO, no one knows for sure who actually took possession of it, on its arrival. For Oswald to have received it, the Dallas Post Office would have needed to violate Postal Regulations since it was addressed to "Hidell" and it was Oswald's PO box.
q) Amazingly, the FBI was able to track this weapon to the retailer (Klein’s) even before SA Vince Drain actually took possession of it at 11:30 that first night. This is truly amazing since, as late as 9PM on the night of November 22nd, Dallas District Attorney Henry Wade was still calling it a "Mauser", and, other than the serial number, there was nothing to go on to search for its owner. That serial number was only worthwhile if the FBI knew the manufacturer, and in this case even that would not have been enough, since more than one Mannlicher-Carcano had that serial number.
Yet, by 11PM, government agents were already at Klein's to look up the purchase and shipping orders, despite the fact that the retailer would have been next-to-last on the possession time-line.
r) Few of the eyewitnesses who testified that they saw a gun firing from the 6th floor window of the TSBD described anything similar to CE 139. Several felt that the weapon was an automatic rifle because of the speed of the firing and those few witnesses who testified as to seeing a scope mounted on the rifle they saw, did not see the rifle actually being fired.
s) There is no notation, anywhere within the twenty-six volumes of evidence that either the DPD or FBI ever tested CE 139 to see if it had been fired recently...they simply assumed that it had been fired that day. This despite the fact that no one testified to smelling gunpowder in or around the "sniper's nest", and with no notations that forensic examinations of the boxes showed any traces of gunpowder residue.
t) Documents concerning what was recovered from the 6th floor all state that one live round was in the chamber when the rifle was found. One live round was also turned over to the FBI. The problems with this are generally overlooked. They are:
None of the witnesses who testified as to seeing the shots
fired spoke of seeing the shooter eject a round after the fatal head shot, thus
meaning a spent cartridge, not a live round should have been in the chamber.
If the shooter did eject the fired round, why would he do
it after moving away from the window? And if he did so, why were all 3 casings
allegedly recovered together?
If it was LHO who did this, we must factor in the
additional delay that ejecting the final spent round, for reasons unknown,
would have on his ability to wipe the gun clean of prints, hide it and still be
on the first floor no more than 90 seconds after firing the fatal shot.
u) Finally, there is the remarkable story of the clip. A Mannlicher-Carcano requires that a clip be fed into the magazine, in order to be a rapid-fire weapon. Without the clip, each round must be fed, by hand, into the firing chamber. Without that clip, not even Superman could have fired 3 shots in the available time. The clip was not shipped with the rifle, meaning it needed to be bought separately. A clip did not come with a box of American made ammunition. However, Italian-made ammunition boxes did, and still do contain clips.
While a clip is mentioned and entered into evidence (CE 574), there is absolutely nothing to tie it to CE 139, since it is mentioned in no DPD list of recovered evidence, in no statements by those present when the rifle was found and in no testimony by anyone other than the FBI weapons expert Robert Frazier (WCH 3 pg 441). Even then, Frazier mentions it almost as an afterthought and its significance is underplayed and overlooked.
The clip in a Mannlicher-Carcano is designed to fall out of the bottom of the magazine housing (the protrusion sticking out in front of the trigger guard) after the last shell is chambered (being the owner of such a weapon, I speak with first-hand knowledge).
That means that it should have fallen out before Capt. Will Fritz ejected the live round. Interestingly, not one of those present ever mentioned finding the clip anywhere, either inside the rifle or on the floor, nor are there any photographs of the clip, showing where it was found. Even more confusing is that the DPD crime scene unit headed by Lt. Day never appear to have examined it for fingerprints, despite it being such an obvious place to look.
· · Note: A documentary hosted by Roger Moore aired on March 3, 2000, in which there was a statement made that a button on the trigger housing must be pressed to release the clip. This information was allegedly from KGB files. The information is wrong. The button is for removing the clip when it is loaded with ammunition. It ejects automatically, after the final round is chambered.
The clip is mentioned in one FBI document and a late November 22nd DPD document, but no where is there any indication by the DPD, FBI or Secret Service by whom, how or where the clip was recovered. Also to consider is the fact that it is much more difficult to load and fire using the clip unless it is originally fully loaded with the maximum 6 rounds (the bullets within the clip tend to move around some). Since, by all accounts, the maximum number of shells found on the sixth floor is 4 (3 casings, 1 live round), one has to wonder why not load 6 originally?
After all, if one were going to risk everything to assassinate the president, it certainly would have been embarrassing to run out of ammunition before completing the job. There is at least one photograph of the rifle with what could be the clip sticking out of the bottom, but the photo is inconclusive and is certainly not enough to overlook the other questions about it.
Besides, after you look at that photograph, ask yourself if it is logical to believe that Lt Day would risk handling it that way with the possibility of having the clip fall out and be lost? If your answer is NO, then please try to reconcile that thought with the fact that the newsreel film from which the photo was taken tends to imply it was carried from the 6th floor all the way to a waiting police car in just that manner.
One final point of contention is that the clip currently housed at the National Archives, and identified as CE 574, appears to be made of steel not bronze, while the clip is identified as being bronze.
CONCLUSION: Since all the ballistics evidence is tied to CE 139 and it, in turn, is the only physical evidence linking LHO to the assassination, this is at best an astonishing, thrice duplicated case of misidentification by trained law officers, and a truly remarkable feat of marksmanship by LHO. This shooting exploit has never been duplicated, even by the repeated efforts of handpicked professionals from all over the world, yet the Warren Commission concluded that LHO had succeeded where they had failed in his one and only attempt. Interestingly, LHO's best grade for shooting while in the Marines was just barely (2 points out of a total of 200) into the middle qualification of "sharpshooter" and accomplished in 1956, some 7 years before the assassination. During his military service, he would have practiced with a Garand M-1 rifle, which is semi-automatic. On his last qualification prior to discharge, he barely made the lowest classification on "marksman".
The working of the bolt to rapid fire a weapon requires far more skill and coordination in maintaining the target than with a semi-automatic weapon. Let us remember that Oswald was so uncoordinated that he was unable to learn how to drive a motor vehicle.
Accurate shooting requires practice. All of those who failed to duplicate his alleged exploits have at least been graded as "expert", the next level above "sharpshooter", and there is no evidence that Oswald ever fired a rifle again after he left the Marines in 1959. Would you think his skills would have gotten better or worse over that time?
We must also consider the fact that LHO's Marine Corps qualifications were done by shooting at stationary targets. Being able to hit moving targets requires far more skill and practice than do stationary targets, especially when involving a bolt-action weapon and time constraints...one has to learn how to maintain the target while working the bolt!
Taking all that into consideration, is it reasonable to believe that he was capable of the required shooting prowess? At best, the finest riflemen that could be assembled to try to duplicate the prowess were unable to do it. Could Oswald have secretly practiced somewhere, leaving no trace, to such an extent as to be BETTER than the government's handpicked experts? Could he have purchased ammunition secretly, yet not been secretive about the weapon? Did he also secretly purchase gun-cleaning equipment and a clip?
Is any of it the least bit believable?
The actual ownership of CE 139 is suspect since all the documentation from Klein’s could well be for a different weapon than the one entered into evidence and no one can be sure who actually received delivery of whatever weapon was shipped. In fact, Postal Regulations do not allow mail to be delivered to a PO box unless the individual to whom it is addressed is authorized to receive mail there. Amazing as it seems, the Dallas Post Office stated that the information regarding Oswald's box 2915 was "routinely destroyed" after the box was closed. This is in direct disregard for another Postal Regulation, which requires retention of such documentation for 2 years. Since the package containing the rifle would have been too large to place in the box, regulations would have required some documentation or signature to have been retained HAD it have actually been delivered. No such documentation has ever been produced. All this casts serious doubts on the accepted manner for Oswald to have taken possession of CE 139.
The lack of any gun cleaning equipment or additional ammunition is totally inconsistent with owning and operating a rifle, especially for the alleged reason LHO used it. Firing the required rounds to insure accuracy would have required numerous cleanings.
The Warren Commission conclusion about the rifle being transported in the paper bag is strongly disputed by both the only two people to have actually seen what LHO had carried to work that day, and the lack of any physical evidence to substantiate that a rifle was ever in the bag recovered from the 6th floor. There also appears to be documentation that supports the possibility that someone within the FBI willfully altered the findings of the lab to make it appear that the paper bag was made from materials found at the TSBD. That altered document was then allowed to be entered into evidence to erroneously support this conclusion. Both documents are signed by FBI SA Vincent Drain, the same man who also took a rifle to the FBI lab in Washington, the night of November 22-23. Why alter this relatively unimportant piece of evidence ?
The fact is that the only thing to actually back the particular conclusion about the bag and its use, is the desire and need for the conclusion itself.
In addition, it appears at least strange and possibly ominous that the DPD did not take even a single photograph of the bag where it was allegedly found and in the photograph of it being held by a detective outside the TSBD, it appears to contain something of roughly rifle size.
A possibly sinister sidelight to the ownership question was uncovered during the HSCA investigation when CIA officials testified that they had acquired a dozen 6.5mm Mannlicher-Carcano rifles and a million rounds of appropriate ammunition for agency use through the U.S. Marine Corps (the Marine Corps had no weapons in its inventory which could use 6.5mm ammunition) in 1963.
Then we have the original identification problems that the Warren Commission Report tried to smooth over by stating that the deputies "did not handle the weapon" and "only saw it at a glance". If you read the police reports (something the Commissioners hoped you wouldn't), entered by Deputies Boone and Weitzman (Decker 5323) and notice the detail used in their descriptions of the rifle, it is difficult to believe they just glanced at it. They describe the color of the weapon (wrong), the sling material (wrong again), and the manufacturer and power of the mounted scope (strike 3!!!). Can you believe that they got ALL of it wrong and yet had the audacity to swear to it in a police report?
While I will ascribe to the outside possibility that they did "misidentify" a Carcano as a Mauser, the key factor here is the caliber of the weapon identified.
Since Capt. Will Fritz ejected an unused bullet from the weapon found, it is totally unfathomable that all those standing there would have so misidentified a 6.5mm for a 7.65mm bullet...the difference in them is clearly noticeable at a glance!!
(for those who have limited experience with weapons, 6.5mm is .25 caliber; 7.65 is slightly larger than .30 caliber...no one with experience would mistake one for another...Fritz had 42 years in police work)
Isn't it more reasonable to believe what was entered into evidence is not what was originally found?
(Click HERE to see bullet comparisons and the author's Carcano)
Next, and this is rarely, if ever discussed: Why did Officer Baker let Oswald go after confronting him?
The logic is obvious...he was looking for an outsider...someone who snuck into the building...because even without conscious thought, Baker dismissed the possibility of an employee being the assassin! Obviously, one would not feel that an employee would be the assassin...it would be someone who stalked Kennedy and took advantage of the TSBD's location...not someone who was already there!
So, as soon as Roy Truly stated that he knew Oswald, to Baker LHO was not a suspect...yet, an hour later, Truly allegedly told the police that Oswald was not there...and forgot to mention that he and Baker had seen him on the second floor within seconds of the fatal shot. Then he became a suspect.
Doesn’t that seem a little odd?
Does it at all make sense that Oswald would quickly become the prime suspect under those circumstances? At that time it was too early to tie the weapon to Oswald. In fact, another employee had brought a Mauser to the TSBD in the days just before...so why was Oswald selected?
If we add all these amazing facts together, we have very strong circumstantial evidence pointing to a set-up of Oswald. That scenario appears far more plausible than the WCR conclusion. The failure of the FBI to find even one casing that could be matched to CE 139 at any of the gun ranges in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area, despite the testimony of several witnesses who claimed to have seen LHO practicing, and the ability to tie LHO to CE 139 is not only extremely questionable, but we also can easily see where what is alleged could more credibly be seen as further evidence of the efforts to set him up.
If it was LHO these witnesses saw, why were there no casings recovered? While LHO could have practiced elsewhere, in private, who then were these LHO look-alikes and what was their purpose? Another benign coincidence ??
The Warren Commission failed to appreciate the inconsistencies surrounding the alleged murder weapon and investigate the possibility that the weapon was either planted or exchanged. Had a competent defense attorney represented Oswald’s interests, the inconsistencies may have been highlighted then...maybe that is one of the reasons Oswald was not so represented. While on the surface this theory might have seemed highly improbable, the true facts now seem to substantiate it, and the WC could have obtained all of these facts if they had looked for, or at them. They simply did not care to do so. They already had their conclusion established, and none of these particular facts substantiated it.
Rather than the WC conclusion, it is just as probable, perhaps more so, when you consider the total evidence, to deduce that CE 139, misidentified, without a proper chain of possession established, and sent out of Dallas improperly, was planted or, more likely, exchanged, to establish the needed foundation for LHO's guilt.
After all, how much faith must you possess to believe that all these problems are not sinister in nature?
What reality shows us is that the only piece of physical evidence that created a link to Oswald is, at minimum, seriously undermined by a review of all of the evidence.
II. THE BALLISTICS EVIDENCE: CE 399--One complete bullet. The bullet was ballistically matched to CE 139, the alleged assassination rifle. CE 399 is usually referred to as the "magic bullet". Also recovered were allegedly, three (3) shell casings, one of which was matched by the scratches on it to the extractor in CE 139. While the casings were important to the WC for establishing the number of shots fired, their recovery on the 6th floor is only supplemental to the rest of the evidence and of very limited value in and of themselves. Since the testimony of a number of those individuals at the scene indicated that Dallas Police Captain Will Fritz picked up the shell casings and later tossed them back on the floor, the positions and any fingerprints found on them are of no evidentiary value. And since the one casing that had the correct extractor marks on it (CE 543), also had a bent lip that would have precluded it from holding a bullet, we must assume that either that casing was planted or that it was somehow damaged after being fired. Because no test is available to determine if any bullets had been fired THAT DAY from any of the casings, no firm conclusion in regards to the casings can, or should be drawn, despite all the attempts to draw significance to them by both studies.
Also, in his work Bloody Treason, researcher Noel Twyman points out that the original evidence sheet showed only 2 casings recovered. This was changed to 3 in the one presented to the WC (CE 2003.
In an interview with former Dallas Times Herald journalist Connie Kritzberg, Dallas Morning News photographer Tom Alyea states in no uncertain terms, that all still photographs of the shell casings and their positions on the 6th floor are re-creations. Alyea, the only newsman on the 6th floor during its initial examination states that he took newsreel footage of the shell casings in their original positions and that Capt Will Fritz then picked them up to show Alyea. Alyea also states that it is his belief that those casings shown in the still photographs are not only in different positions, but are actually not the casings first recovered. I have communicated with Connie Kritzberg to reaffirm that the above was truly what Alyea had stated in the interview and she reaffirmed it all, word for word. If true, the 6th floor scenario changes dramatically. After all, if Alyea is correct, where did the DPD come up with at least 2 more shell casings? Could they have been the ones referred to in the recovered evidence lists? What then of the originals? Is it possible that they were 7.65mm, not 6.5mm casings? The questions raised by Alyea's statements are both intriguing and ominous.
WHAT THE WARREN COMMISSION CONCLUDED
In its report, the Warren Commission concluded that CE 399 was one of the 3 bullets fired from CE 139 and that Oswald pulled the trigger. They also concluded:
"All the evidence indicated that the bullet found on the governor's stretcher could have inflicted all the wounds."
(Warren Commission Report, pg 95)
This statement, depicted as verified, established the most controversial and essential part of the Warren Commission's case against Lee Harvey Oswald: the legendary "Magic Bullet".
More researchers have attacked this part of the WCR case than any other. Both sides have since produced "experts" to back their beliefs. Only one side can be correct.
It is absolutely crucial to the WCR scenario that this theory be correct. If incorrect, there cannot be a single gunman.
Because of that statement, CE 399 became responsible for:
1) Entering JFK's neck/back at a downward angle of 18-20deg and
2) exiting his throat, possibly then nicking his tie, before
3) entering JBC, under the right arm, at a 39deg downward angle, while moving right to left, and continuing on to
4) shatter 10cm of rib, before
5) exiting just below his right nipple, headed right to left, then
6) entering and shattering the right wrist, and finally
7) exiting the wrist and wounding his left thigh, while
8) leaving a number of fragments throughout JBC, especially in his wrist and thigh and
9) leaving traces of copper on JFK's suit, then
10) leaving traces of copper in JBC's wounds and amazingly
11) losing no more than 3 grains (1/180th of an ounce) in original weight while
12) remaining virtually pristine in appearance.
WHAT THE HSCA CONCLUDED
The HSCA investigation again stated that it could find no reason to dispute the findings of the Warren Commission in this area of evidence, except that they felt the shot was fired earlier. While members of the HSCA showed some reluctance to support the SBT, they could find no other possibility that could be used to replace it. They did find a number of differences regarding the wounds caused by CE 399, but these will be discussed, in detail, under the AUTOPSY section, later on in this work. The HSCA did decline to run tests of their own to determine the feasibility of the SBT. It appears that they did so after a private company told them:
" The number of shots required to reproduce the chance result of CE 399 could range from one up to infinity"
(1HSCA 382-383)
That statement alone shows a basic, indisputable flaw with the single bullet theory. While one may be able to argue that it could happen, it is illogical to believe that it did happen because its occurrence is so improbable.
The argument that it did happen is based, almost entirely, on the fact that it had to have happened if Oswald, alone, was responsible.
On such faulty logic is the Warren Commission Report based.
WHAT THE EVIDENCE AND TESTIMONY ACTUALLY SHOWED
a) Allegedly, no human matter of any kind was found on CE 399 despite the necessary assumption that it had caused numerous wounds, nor was it recovered from either victim's body. It therefore could not be scientifically linked to either Kennedy or Connally.
In fact, in what appears to be an effort to hide this, the WC leads FBI SA Robert Frazier through contradictory testimony about CE 399. (WCH 3, Pgs 228-244) He finally states however, that even under microscopic examination, no blood nor human tissue was found.
b) No striation marks (tiny scratches) were found by the FBI on the bulbous, undamaged nose of CE 399, despite allegedly going through JFK's jacket, shirt, possibly nicking his tie, JBC's jacket, shirt, shirt, jacket, jacket, shirt, shirt, jacket and pants. Striation marks, around the nose, are common even when bullets are fired only into cotton for ballistic comparison purposes. Because of this, CE 399 cannot scientifically be determined to have gone through either man's clothes, much less both.
c) Zapruder film frames 210-226, show the limousine as it begins to come out from behind the Stemmons Freeway sign. It is during this period of time that both JFK and JBC must be hit for the WC's SBT to work. JFK is seen reacting to a wound at frame 212. Strangely, the film shows Connally's shoulders remaining virtually parallel to JFK's shoulders through this entire sequence, making a shot that goes through JFK's neck and then enters JBC's body at an acute angle, from right to left, under the right arm pit and exits under the right nipple virtually impossible. JBC appears to be in the correct position only significantly after (frame 236) JFK reacts to being hit. Governor Connally's testimony before both the WC and the HSCA seems to verify that he was in a similar position when he felt the first impact.
(4 WCH 132-147; 1 HSCA 20-30)
d) The Zapruder film also does not appear to show Connally reacting to being wounded (frame 240) until well after JFK reacts (frames 210-226). In frame 230, JFK has his hands up by his throat, while JBC sits calmly facing forward, apparently oblivious to the President's plight. The WC tried to explain this as a "delayed reaction" despite the testimony of Dr. Robert Shaw, who treated JBC at Parkland. He stated that a delayed reaction to a bullet that hits a bone is "highly unlikely".
(4 WCH 116)
e) It is also possible to see that in this frame (230) and others immediately before and long after it, JBC is still holding his Stetson hat, in his right hand. If the WCR conclusion is correct, his right wrist must have already been shattered by CE 399 and should show some blood, either on the wrist or the hat. It doesn't. Also, is it plausible to believe that Connally could still hold on to his hat after he was wounded in that wrist?
f) The testimony of both JBC and his wife before both panels and JBC's stubbornly maintained lifelong opinion, was that he and Kennedy were hit by separate shots. Both Connallys also stated that they heard shots only from behind.
(4 WCH 132-147; 1 HSCA 20-40) .
Mrs. Connally has recently uncovered notes she made immediately after the shooting that reaffirm her long-held opinion...her husband and the President were hit by separate shots.
In addition, researchers Martin Shackelford and Jerry Charbonear consulted with experienced lip-readers James and Kimberly Petrimoulx. They confirmed, using both a videotape of the Zapruder film and high quality slides of the complete sequence that the utterances of JBC, as mentioned in his and Mrs. Connally's HSCA testimony, also show that Connally and Kennedy were hit by separate shots.
If different bullets hit them, the time differences are too close together to have been caused by anyone using CE 139. That means at least two assassins were firing at the limousine from behind, or only 1 assassin...without CE 139!!
g) Interestingly, Connally stated, in both his testimony and in various interviews that, after hearing the first shot, he "...turned to my right (my emphasis) to try to get a glimpse of the President ...".
Connally then began turning to his left to look over his left shoulder, because, as he states in the above sound clip, he was unable to see Kennedy when he turned to his right.
That means that Connally could not have been seated to Kennedy's left (if he had been, by turning to his right he would have seen Kennedy). Therefore he could not have been properly aligned for the Single Bullet Theory to have been possible under any circumstances, since his body needed to be well to Kennedy's left!!!!
See for yourself. Click HERE
Some have argued that Connally heard the first shot, which missed all together, and then he and JFK were both hit by the 2nd shot. However, based on Connally's recollection of his actions (and who would know better?), Connally was not in the position to be hit by a bullet, fired from the 6th floor of the TSBD which first impacted with Kennedy's back, exited his throat and entered Connally at a right to left, downward angle at the time he believed he was hit!!
h) No traces of copper were found on JFK's tie. This is very inconsistent with the copper traces found in the other clothes and/or wounds of both men. CE 399 is copper jacketed. If traces of copper were found on JFK's suit (entrance) and in JBC's wounds (entrance and exit), logic would dictate that there should be traces on the tie (JFK exit) IF they were caused by the same bullet or even the same type of bullet.
If the same bullet did not cause them, then at least one gunman, firing from the front, is necessary, since there was no other rear entrance wound for another bullet to have exited here.
Some have put forth the idea that the tie was nicked during the efforts at Parkland Hospital to save JFK. This appears a possibility but it is not definite.
i) The testimony of every one of the autopsy doctors and the physician who treated Connally at Parkland, stated that none of them could believe that CE 399 could have caused all the wounds because of its pristine condition and because too much metal was removed or remained in the victims. Their testimony on this point was unequivocal.
(2 WCH 374-375, 382; 4 WCH 109, 113-114)
In addition, FBI ballistics expert Robert Frazier's testimony about the probability of JFK and JBC being properly aligned for CE 399 to have wounded both, is elicited and answered on a "hypothetical basis" only. We can also see where none other than Arlen Specter, the creator and chief advocate of the SBT handled this line of questioning. It appears that the WC let Specter examine any and all of the witnesses whose testimony might be damaging to the SBT theory:
SPECTER:...Mr. Frazier, assuming the factors which I have asked you to accept as true...as to the flight of the bullet and the straight-line penetration through the President's body...do you have an opinion as to what probably happened during the interval between frames 207 and 225 as to whether the bullet which passed through the neck of the President entered the Governor's back?
FRAZIER: There are a lot of probables in that. First, we have to assume there is absolutely no deflection in the bullet from the time it left the barrel until the time it exited from the Governor's body...I feel that physically this would have been possible...However, I myself don't have any technical evidence...which would support it as far as my rendering an opinion as an expert. I would certainly say it was possible but I don't say that it probably occurred because I don't have the evidence (author's emphasis) on which to base a statement like that...We are dealing with a hypothetical situation here...So when you say would it probably have occurred, then you are asking me for an opinion, to base my opinion on a whole series of hypothetical facts which I can't substantiate.
(5 WCH 171-172)
Despite this exchange, in order to support the SBT, the WCR stated:
"... Frazier testified that it probably (author's emphasis) struck Connally."
(WCR pg 105)
Such statements in the Warren Commission Report are why it is necessary to actually read the evidence to determine if the Report accurately reflects the truth.
We can also see in Specter's approach, one of the subtleties used by the WC when dealing with anything connected to the SBT: they continually treat the effects of the magic bullet as a series of unrelated individual occurrences, rather than one continuous event. For the theory to be correct, ALL must have occurred, in sequence.
j) Dr. Shaw's testimony about the wound in JBC's thigh (4 WCH 109-135) is extremely important yet almost always overlooked. For the SBT theory to hold up, the wound to Connally must have been made by the complete bullet (CE 399) that later "fell out". The wound must therefore show these characteristics. Shaw's testimony, while ambiguous on this point, appears to describe the wound as being made by a fragment, not a complete bullet. CE 399 is not a fragment, and the largest fragment that could have come from it would have been no more than 3 grains, hardly large enough to cause a treatable wound.
Additionally, Dr. Shaw has told researcher Livingstone that the thigh wound was indeed caused by a fragment, larger than 5 grains. The Parkland Hospital report on Connally (CE 392) appears to corroborate this point, and Dr. Shaw again identified the thigh wound as being made by a fragment in the NOVA documentary "Who Killed President Kennedy?". This seriously undermines the theory that CE 399 fell out of JBC's leg while he was on the stretcher and that CE 399 caused all his wounds.
In addition, fragments too large to have come from CE 399 show up in X-rays of Connally. Parkland nurse Audrey Bell described these fragments as "Anywhere from 3-4 millimeters in length by a couple of millimeters wide"
(Dallas Morning News interview, 4/1/77)
Finally, Dr Charles Gregory, who worked on Connally, testified (6 WCH 122-123) that he saw multiple fragments that were large enough for him to determine their color.
As can be seen, there is NO SUPPORTING TESTIMONY and NO PHYSICAL EVIDENCE to support the KEY WCR conclusion that:
"All the evidence indicated that the bullet found on the Governor's stretcher could have caused all the wounds."
Where then, did this conclusion come from, on what is it based, and why was it drawn? Obviously the lack of fact to support the theory did not bother Arlen Specter or the Warren Commission.
The only reason that it could have been drawn is because without the "SBT", there can be no "single gunman".
There are still other reasons to impeach the "SBT"
k) FBI calculations determined that the angle for a rifle shot from the 6th floor window of the TSBD, alleged as the "sniper's nest", to JFK was about 18deg from the horizontal axis. Of the 5 Forensic Pathologists on the HSCA panel to review the "neck wound" X-rays, only 3 stated the opinion that it was higher than the anterior (front) throat wound; the other two thought it was lower; obviously the wound angle in the X-rays, is nearly flat and certainly no greater than the 18deg entrance wound. Yet, the entrance angle of Connally's back wound is 39deg, and it is depicted as being "oblong", which is somewhat consistent with the type of wound caused by a deflected bullet, but is therefore inconsistent with the Dallas doctors' recollections of the exit wound in JFK's throat which was round.
(a possible explanation for this, which is highly speculative, would be that Connally's wound was caused by a bullet which "key holed" on leaving the barrel. That is sometimes caused by a barrel which has its rifling worn out. Another reason, would be a "sabot" round, where a smaller caliber round is fired from a larger caliber barrel by using a "shoe" to hold the smaller round within the barrel. It thus makes little contact with the barrel's rifling and is wobbling to some degree as it leaves...thus an "oblong" hole on impact. Sabot is French for shoe or foot)
Smaller caliber rounds, as CE 399 is, have a strong tendency to "tumble" once they impact with any type of body tissue. This being true, both the "exit" wound in JFK's throat and the entrance wound in JBC's back should have been both somewhat oblong and larger than 6.5mm. Dr. Shaw's testimony does describe JBC's entrance wound as such. None of the Parkland doctors described JFK's throat wound that way, since they thought it was an entrance wound. These facts make the possibility of a bullet exiting JFK's throat and then causing all the wounds to Connally extremely unlikely.
l) The original FBI report from the autopsy, filed by two agents present during the entire procedure, asserts that Dr. James J. Humes, the lead prosector, said that the JFK back wound was determined to be at a 45 degree downward angle and that the missile which caused it did not transit the body (FBI Report# 89-30-31). A bullet at a 45-degree angle, unless JFK was substantially bent over at impact could not have come from the 6th floor of the TSBD between frames 210-225 of the Zapruder film. No known frames of any of the films show JFK bent over at the approximate time of the first known impact.
While an entrance wound of 45deg would more closely match the JBC entrance wound of 39deg, such a wound would have had to be much higher than the front exit wound or it could not have come from a shot fired from the "sniper's window" at Zapruder frames 210-220, unless Kennedy was in a visibly contorted state.
m) Darrel Tomlinson, the Parkland hospital employee who recovered the bullet from a stretcher in the hall of the emergency room, required much cross-examination by Commission counsel Arlen Specter before he would say that it was even possible that the stretcher in question was the one that carried John Connally. His initial and vigorously maintained testimony was that the bullet he found came from a stretcher that had not been used by either Connally or Kennedy (6 WCH 130-134). He has stood by that contention ever since.
(NOVA, November 15, 1988)
n) Neither Tomlinson, O.P. Wright, Secret Service Agent Richard Johnsen nor Secret Service Chief J.J. Rowley, the first 4 people to handle the bullet found on the stretcher, could later identify CE 399 as that bullet, leaving open the possibility that another bullet was originally found and CE 399, a ballistic match to CE 139, substituted to implicate LHO. This would have been possible since many hours passed before the proper chain of possession was established.
(CE 2011)
o) Independent computer generated recreations of the scenarios alluded to by both the WC and the HSCA, have needed to have JBC's position raised and the trajectory of the magic bullet changed at several places to allow for the shot to do what the reports concluded that it did. These scenarios used the 18deg entrance and exit from JFK.
(JFK Assassination: A Visual Investigation, Wilbur Films, 1994; The Assassination of J F Kennedy,Matthew Smith and VIDIT, 1998)
p) The use of basic trigonometry to determine the continued trajectory of a deflected bullet leaving JFK's throat at a downward angle of 39deg, the necessary angle for entry into JBC, shows that while covering the distance between JFK and JBC, the bullet would have dropped at least 10 inches and impacted with the back of Connally's seat, at least 6 inches below the level of his entrance wound.
q) The documentary, "Who Killed President Kennedy?", presented on NOVA in 1988, states that, for the angles of trajectory to line up for one bullet to go through both men and back to the "sniper's nest", JFK needed to have been leaning forward and JBC leaning backward and turned to his right at the time of impact. This re-creation does take the differences in the wound angles themselves into account.
The appropriate frames of the Zapruder film never show this alignment prior to JFK reacting to being hit, and JFK was wearing his bulky back brace which tended to keep his posture quite upright while sitting. And, if the FBI report on the entrance wound in JFK's back is correct (45 deg), they cannot line up.
The NOVA special incidentally, still supported the WCR conclusions.
r) The ARRB released internal WC memoranda which show that WC member John J. McCloy, described as the "...ultimate establishment man...", professed serious doubts about the validity of the SBT. This document had been classified as "SECRET" until just recently. It contained nothing else whatsoever that could have, at any time, been construed as threatening our "national security". Yet, it has been kept away from the public since 1964. Why?
In addition, at the last WC executive session, Senator Cooper made a point to strongly dissent about the SBT only to find that his dissent not only didn't make it into the Report, but that the transcripts of that meeting were and are missing...
s) Dallas News Herald journalist Connie Kritzberg interviewed Drs. Malcolm Perry and Kemp Clark by phone later in the afternoon of November 22. Her notes and recollections have Dr. Perry referring to the front throat wound as a wound of entrance. They also stated that they could not determine if the massive head wound and the front throat wound were the result of one or two shots. She then wrote the story of the interviews and the observations of the doctors. When the story appeared, less than 24 hours after the assassination, she was astonished to see the following line inserted into her story:
A doctor admitted it was possible there was only one shot.
Kritzberg, flabbergasted since she had written no such line, contacted one of the Herald's editors to determine who was responsible for adding the line and thus changing the entire nature of the doctor's observations.
The FBI, she was told!
t) CBS News, long a defender of the "lone gunman" scenario, attempted to recreate the SBT during their 1967 special, The Warren Commission. They had experts fire at gelatin blocks to attempt to illustrate the necessary effects. The test failed so miserably that Josiah Thompson used an analysis of their tests in his book, Six Seconds in Dallas. CBS, embarrassed at giving ammunition to a conspiracy theory threatened to sue Thompson over his use.
u) The Warren Commission Report itself, had to use double-talk to explain away some of the inconsistencies which undermine the SBT.
In order for the CE 399 to be responsible for all JBC’s wounds and yet survive so relatively un-deformed, the WC had to slow it down considerably, since the Army ballistics tests showed bullets hitting ribs or wrists were all markedly deformed. So, the WCR stated that:
"The bullet which entered the Governor’s chest had already lost velocity by passing through the President’s neck. Moreover, the large wound on the Governor’s back would be explained by a bullet that was yawing (turning over)...
(WCR pg 109)
However, the WC also had to account for the fact that that same bullet also penetrated 5 layers of JBC’s skin and shattered 2 bones, so it obviously need to maintain a great deal of momentum...the EXACT opposite of what was used to explain the lack of deformation.
To any normal human being, these opposite requirements would send the signal that maybe another explanation was in order...but not to the Warren Commission. They simply explained it away by saying later in the WCR:
"...it was concluded that the bullet lost little of its velocity in penetrating the President’s neck..."
and it
"...had retained most of its stability (no turning over)..." upon exiting the President
(WCR, pg 582)
while also noting that:
"Because of the small size and clean cut edges of the wound on the Governor’s back, Dr. Robert Shaw concluded it was an entry wound."
(WCR, pg 92)
III. OTHER BALLISTICS EVIDENCE : CE 567 and CE 569---Two bullet fragments, one from the front of a bullet, the other from the rear of a bullet. They were supposedly found, on the night of November 22-23, 1963, inside the President's limousine while it was being searched at the White House Garage. Secret Service agents allegedly found both of these fragments on the floor near the front seat. Each fragment was ballistically linked to CE 139, the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle.
However, they could not be linked, in any fashion, to any of the other fragments removed from either victim, nor could they be scientifically linked to either victim.
While these fragments have been mentioned in both pro-conspiracy and non-conspiracy works, their true significance is usually downplayed. For the WC scenario to hold true, these two fragments must have come from the three shots that they concluded were fired from the TSBD by Oswald. It is possible that they came from any two of those shots, or from just one.
At the risk of being overly redundant, those three shots were: one miss that wounded Tague; one bullet that wounded JFK and JBC; and the fatal headshot.
WHAT THE EVIDENCE AND TESTIMONY ACTUALLY SHOWED
a) If CE 567 and/or CE 569 were from the bullet that later wounded James Tague, then the fragment remaining (the middle section of the bullet) would have had to have flown over 200 feet with sufficient velocity to have impacted with a concrete curb and then traveled an additional 30 feet with enough power to cause the 4" long wound on Tague's jaw line. For this fragment to deflect that distance would have required it to ricochet many feet into the air. It is therefore highly improbable that the bullet that these fragments were part of could have subsequently wounded Tague.
b) If they came from the bullet that killed JFK, they somehow fell to the floor without damaging any seat or the carpet, yet impacted with his skull carrying sufficient power to shatter both the skull and the bullet, and the center section only caused all the damage to Kennedy's brain yet, left behind only very minor, almost "dust like" particles.
CE 567 is currently being tested to determine if the human matter found on it can be traced to either Kennedy or Connally. The results of this test may not be as eye opening as is thought simply because by being on the floor, it could be argued that the fragments came into contact with the blood of both Kennedy and/or Connally. The test therefore may not accurately establish if CE567 actually hit either man.
What is odd about it all, is that it has taken over 35 years for this "test" to be run, and, even now, many respected researchers do not believe that an accurate test is being undertaken.
Any findings or conclusions therefore should have all these points taken into consideration.
UPDATE: On January 21, 2000 the National Archives released the test results mentioned above. The tests conclude that the materials were non-textile and paper-based, meaning that they did not come from Kennedy's shirt, and that the organic materials were human skin and tissue. However, DNA testing was deemed to be "inconclusive". The report failed to define "inconclusive". Does it mean that they did not match Kennedy, that they didn't try to obtain a sample to compare, or did they match someone else, like John Connally?
Once again we see evidence, even today that government agencies do not want to find the truth.
How else does one explain the lack of a definition for "inconclusive", which appears to be a safe, innocuous, non-committal answer, rather than a much-needed definitive one?
As I have previously stated, the value of these tests was very limited, especially if the results added fuel to the controversy. The results tend to bear this out, and the media went overboard to say that the results support a single gunman. Such conduct was to be expected.
But, as Julius Caesar might have said about that conclusion, "Horsis Crapus!!"
They support nothing of the sort.
Since the organic material cannot be matched to Kennedy, there remains no proof that the bullet from which that fragment came, ever impacted with any part of Kennedy's body. And the presence of paper product on the fragment makes one wonder HOW that could have gotten there as a part of the assumed scenario...unless the sample was long ago contaminated.
To the best of my knowledge Kennedy was not wearing a paper party-hat when shot during the motorcade...
c) HSCA Exhibit F-48, a drawing depicted as an exact duplicate of one of the autopsy photos, shows a clean, round entrance hole in the back of the head, near the cowlick. It does not appear possible that any bullet from which CE 567 and/or CE 569 would have been part, could have caused this type of wound without these fragments penetrating the skull and brain.
d) Neither of the two fragments could have come from the magic bullet, since they are far too large to have been part of CE 399.
e) After eliminating all these highly improbable scenarios, the only possibilities left are another bullet(s) and, due to the timing constraints, at least one other gunman, or that they were planted to implicate LHO. Either conclusion means a conspiracy.
f) The fragments were not discovered until the night of November 22-23, over ten hours after the assassination, when the Presidential limousine was in the White House Garage. Secret Service agents assigned to take charge of the vehicle could only vouch for the security of the vehicle and its contents after it left Dallas. Many people could have had sufficient access to the limousine before it arrived at the White House to have tossed in these two small fragments. Almost anyone in the large crowd of bystanders at Parkland Hospital would have had the opportunity, since the limousine was left completely unguarded there for a notable period of time. According to the testimony of respected reporter Seth Kantor, Jack Ruby was among those bystanders.
Kantor, who knew Ruby, swore that he had had a conversation with him, at around 1:15PM, inside Parkland Hospital, near where Tomlinson later found the bullet that is supposedly CE 399.
The Warren Commission, not wanting to address this situation and its possible implications if true, simply concluded that Kantor was mistaken, because Ruby stated that he did not go to Parkland Hospital. Since it fit their desires, Ruby's statement was taken at face value, despite the fact that another witness backed Kantor. This convenient reasoning will be important later.
CONCLUSION: To believe the ballistics evidence in this case is to stretch the parameters of reason and logic beyond normal time and space.
For the WCR conclusions to work, we must believe that a bullet could cause 7 wounds, transit 2 humans, possibly fracture a vertebra, destroy 10cm of rib, shatter a wrist, then emerge with virtually no weight loss (1/180 of an ounce) while leaving significant fragments in one of the victims. This, in itself, is a wild stretch.
Next, we must also believe it could do that AND remain almost pristine AND show no signs of human matter OR fabric striations. That is even more improbable.
Then we must add the requirement that the two jagged fragments came from a bullet or bullets which either shattered a human skull and blew out a large part of a man's brain or from one that shattered on impact with some part of the limousine and sent a fragment over 200 feet with enough force to deflect off a curb and wound someone else. Such a belief is bordering on hallucination.
We must also add the necessary fact that the angle of trajectory of a bullet can change in mid-air, without outside influence, stop its forward momentum, and then continue. This necessity alone requires that the bullet act contrary to all the known and long accepted Laws of Physics, Mathematics AND Common Sense.
Words cannot express the skepticism of believing that ALL THAT, through some undiscovered, logical, believable, and scientifically sound manner could have happened with this one, historic shot. The final arguments against the legitimacy of these "clues" is that not one of these bullets or fragments was actually recovered from any of the victims, and all the physicians who saw the wounds attributed to the "magic bullet" agreed that CE 399 could not have possibly caused them. Therefore, the only other alterative to explain how the evidence got to where it was allegedly found is to conclude that the evidence was planted. There is simply no other logical explanation for the bullets and fragments to get there. Either they were shot from a rifle and landed there or they were placed there. No other possibilities exist.
When so many stretches are required for them to have been fired from the rifle and landed there, and since no proper
