Explaining the Shooting of Governor John Connally

Shown on FreeRepublic for the first time. | October 25, 2006 | Bill Charleston

[BILL_C]

It’s fall, the temperature is falling, the leaves are turning and with November here, we have some repeats to watch on the cable networks.

The History Channel will show one of their favorites, ABC’s documentary “Beyond Conspiracy” featuring Peter Jennings and a computer animation which shows a bullet that hit President Kennedy’s back four inches below his collar but then the bullet allegedly exited his neck after nicking the upper part of the knot of his tie, and then it goes down at approximately a 25 degree down angle to hit Governor Connally in his back. It’s amazing what computers can show.

We’ll also most likely see the Discovery Channel’s explanation of the assassination in “Beyond the Magic Bullet.” This show also features Dale Meyers’ computer animation, the same one used in “Beyond Conspiracy.” The show goes beyond the previous documentary as the producers go to Australia to get an expert shooter to attempt to duplicate the magic bullet, the shot that hit both JFK and Governor Connally. The shots they fire are aimed at figures composed of material which act like human muscle and bone when a bullet is fired into them.

Both of these shows think they proved the magic bullet theory is true.

Watch the digitized and stablilized Zapruder Film

The Closeup Zapruder Film with Frame #

For over 40 years we’ve heard and seen documentaries which talk about strange details in the JFK assassination investigation and reports. We first had the Warren Commission appointed by President Johnson with the main purpose to show that a lone gunman fired three shots at the limousine and wounded JFK, Governor Connally and a bystander too. We then had the House Subcommittee on Assassinations investigation in 1978 which investigated additional evidence in part because the Zapruder film was first shown to the American public on night TV in 1975. One of the newer pieces of evidence was the finding that the Dallas Police radio channel recorded a stuck open microphone during the time of the assassination and may have actually recorded the actual gunshots.

In 1991 the movie “JFK” again ignited the public’s curiosity about the assassination with “back and to the right” along with witnesses saying they saw another gunman. The government again responded and gave us the Records Review Act which released even more information about the murder. In 1997, the Zapruder film was digitized and now we can see even more details in the film. And in 2001, a statistical analysis was published concerning the Dallas Police recording with the finding there were five shots captured by the recording. A gunshot and it’s reflections off objects is like a fingerprint in that it’s fairly unique and dependent on where the shooter is and where the microphone is that captured the sounds, and the objects such as buildings that the sounds reflect off of.

Although we’ve heard about “discrepancies” for years in documentaries such as the “Men Who Killed Kennedy,” we’ve also had some documentaries disappear from the airways as the History Channel found them not to be accurate such as the “Guilty Men”, a documentary that fingered Vice-President Johnson and other cronies in a Texas murder ring.

The story in my opinion will not die as so many of the “facts” don’t seem to fit reality. We need to see something that makes sense.

Last year I met with one of the best known critics of the Warren Commission. I showed Dr. Cyril Wecht that one assumption made in the killing had led virtually everyone to make incorrect conclusions in the case. That assumption is that all of Governor Connally’s wounds were caused by one bullet when in fact Governor Connally was wounded by two separate shots which were both fired from the Texas School Book Depository. Dr. Wecht’s questions and observations led me to do more research which I’m still working on.

But what I want to show you today is when Governor Connally was wounded, something that has never been shown correctly on any of the documentaries or in any of the books that I’ve reviewed. You see, experts such as Dr. Wecht have been arguing about what did not happen. Instead, let’s show you what actually did happen.

To do that, I think the best place to start is with the last shot.

To briefly familiarize you with the Zapruder Film frame numbers, Z frame number 313 will be called Z313. The following are a few major frame numbers for familiarization.

Z=133 We first see the Limo in the film

Z=160 Some theorize the first shot from the Texas School Book Depository, we see Gov. Connally’s head movement to the right shortly afterwards

Z=220 We first see President Kennedy emerge from behind the sign, clutching his throat and obviously wounded

Z=223 Governor Connally reacts to his first wound

Z=220 to Z=324 Governor Connally turns to look over his shoulder toward what he thinks are gunshots

Z=313 We see the fatal shot to President Kennedy

Z=325 Governor Connally is hit in the back and driven forward

With the film speed of 18.3 frames/second, things happened quickly, too quick for 1960’s technology and the lack of accurate information they had to extract the truth. What we can see now in individual frames captured and edited was not possible even a few years ago when everything was analogue. And of course, nobody looked at Governor Connally closely after JFK's head shot at Z=313. Most everyone was sure all the serious action was over.

To those of you who remember the basic scenarios of the Warren Commission and the other numerous theories, the descriptions shown above concerning Connally’s wounds are new. And as I’ll show you, it isn’t a theory, it’s the only times Governor Connally could have been wounded in the eight seconds from the first shot until the last was fired.

With literally thousands of books and hour after hour of documentaries on what must surely be the most investigated murder in history, at this time let’s concentrate on Governor Connally’s wounds. Once you understand the only way possible that Governor Connally could have been wounded based on the facts we have, then not only can we understand how both men were wounded, it will once and for all reveal how the Guilty Men pulled this off.

The first question concerns the last shot shown above at Z=325. The Warren Commission concluded the last shot was the fatal head shot at Z=313 but was faced with testimony such as one of the best witnesses, Secret Service agent Roy Kellerman who sat in the Limo directly in front of Governor Connally. During his Warren Commission testimony, Kellerman spoke of the ending of the shooting as a “flurry” of shots. When pressed for how many, he said two. He described the spacing of the last two shots as bang-bang. When Arlen Specter pressed him again, he said it was like an airplane breaking the sound barrier (the front of the plane breaks the sound barrier before the rear of the plane, hence you hear bang-bang also).

When Arlen Specter asked the spacing between the first shot and the flurry of shots, Kellerman said three to five seconds.

When we look at the Zapruder film, we see at Z=325 the collapse forward and downward movement of Connally’s head. Looking at the sequence in real time, we see Connally driven quickly forward with his head snapping forward when he is shot. Further confirmation is given when you look at the analysis of the Dallas Police Recording. The difference between the Z=313 shot and the last shot is 0.7 seconds or approximately 12 frames.

We now have a credible witness, a recording, and the best motion picture of the assassination showing agreement that a shot was fired at Z=325.

But listen to a recent explanation of the Zapruder film factoring in the Dallas Police Recording. The reasons for Dr. Thomas' confusion and his trying to cling to the Warren Commission's are easily explained, but I'll leave that for later. Listen to the description of the last shot, "fired almost simultaneously" but they didn't even look to see what it might have done.

The Zapruder Film and the Dallas Police Recording per the Main Stream Media

A Warren Commission supporter will tell you that Governor Connally could not have been shot after Kennedy was shot because his leg wound does not line up with the shot trajectory through his body and through his right wrist. And, of course, there were only three bullets fired from the TSBD.

The hole in their argument is that Connally was indeed wounded earlier by a bullet fragment which entered Governor Connally’s leg. And note the importance of the fact to this investigation that it was a bullet fragment, not an intact bullet. That Connally was hit by a bullet fragment to his left leg is well documented but many of today’s documentaries incorrectly describe that the left leg wound was caused by an intact bullet which then fell out of his leg later at the hospital.

Three bullet fragments were found under Nellie Connally’s seat (CE840), who sat directly to the left of Governor Connally. It’s therefore credible that the bullet fragment that John Connally’s left leg is from the CE840 shot.

To test this “theory” against the Warren Commission’s, I took some of the better known observations in the JFK assassination list and compared the Z=325 scenario against the Warren Commission scenario. This is a quick way to see how facts fit against both theories.

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Observation	Warren Commission Three Shots	Z=325 Shot to Connally’s back
Connally turns in his seat and looks back at JFK Z=230 to Z=324	No (1)	Yes
Connally holds hat in his hand until at least Z=325	No	Yes
Nellie and John Connally both said John Was shot after JFK’s first wound (3)	No	Yes
Connally falls forward as he describes in later Interviews when he is shot	No	Yes
Three shots were fired from the TSBD	Yes	Yes
Several Witnesses saw shooter(s) at the Grassy Knoll	No	Yes
Agrees with Dallas Police Recording	No	Yes
Kellerman Described “flurry of shots”	No	Yes
JFK and Connally both react to Z=222 shot	Yes	Yes
Connally bullet left wide scar to his back like the bullet was tumbling	Yes (4)	No
Bullet to JFK’s back did not have a point of exit (5).	No	Yes

 

 

 

(1) If seriously wounded at approximately Z=220, this turn would be incredible for a man wounded so seriously.

(2) Connally’s right wrist is allegedly broken by the shot at Z=220, it’s not reasonable to believe he could hold his hat for over 5 seconds

(3) Both Nellie and John Connally were actually very sure he was not wounded by the same bullet that first struck JFK. At a showing of the Zapruder film, John Connally guessed that he was wounded closer to Z=238. If the Dallas Police recording is valid, there is no shot fired at that time. Roy Kellerman’s testimony also stated that it was 3-5 seconds before the last two shots after the first.

(4) The Single Bullet supporters such as Dr. Latimer use this as support that the bullet which hit Gov. Connally in the back struck something else first. Experimental shots show that a bullet passing through tissue like JFK’s upper body tends to roll over; hence the wider scar that was left in Gov. Connally’s back. This is not proof, however, that the bullet struck something else before it entered John Connally’s back.

(5) FBI agent O’Neal described the autopsy discovery of the bullet wound to Kennedy’s back and then said no point of exit was discovered by probing with both the doctor’s finger and instruments.

The above table indicates based on some of the information commonly discussed concerning the assassination that the Z=325 scenario has merit. When you look at the location of the shot to JFK’s back (four inches below the collar) and the fact that after exiting his neck, the bullet next has to be traveling at a 25 degree down angle; this is probably the major reason the single bullet theory has been so disbelieved.

Is that enough of an introduction? I’ll tell you later the rest of the story as for this to be credible, there had to be at least six shots with three different shooters according to one of the doctors involved in the Warren Commission investigation. But as I’ve shown so far, Governor Connally’s left leg wound was caused by a bullet which fragmented and hit both JFK and Governor Connally.

That reduces to five shots and three different shooters, three shots from the TSBD and two shots from the front of the limo, fired by two different shooters. And funny thing is, there were witnesses who saw them!

To give you a hint about the rest of the story, in Tip O’Neal’s book, “The Man of the House” he discusses a conversation with JFK aid Kenny O’Donnell who said he was quite sure there were two shot fired from the front. O’Donnell also tells why he did not tell the Warren Commission what he saw and heard when he testified.

The cover-up and the misinformation supplied by the government is as interesting as the shooting analysis itself. You see, for the government to get the investigation this wrong with testimony so clear, there had to be some interesting arm twisting going on. Arlen Specter, do you even today have a clue what you did? And Gerald Ford, the lone surviving member of the Warren Commission, you have to know something, don’t you? Or did both of you keep your heads buried in the sand as you were manipulated by the Guilty Men? The truth is buried in a Conspiracy of Silence, just like Dr. Crenshaw said in the first book I read on the subject.

And how could the major news media keep getting this so wrong? "We" will deal with you later.

If you check Tip O’Neal’s book, “The Man of the House”, you’ll see that he talks about Kenny O’Donnell’s description in the book of two shots that were fired from the front. Since O’Donnell was in one of the cars behind JFK’s, he had a unique position and describes later to Tip O’Neal why he did not tell what he saw correctly to the Warren Commission.

Now let’s look at the individual frames and see Connelly’s head snap downward immediately after the bullet hits him in the back. I drew a white line through the back of his head in each frame to make the rapid movement of his head clearer. This is the first time to my knowledge that this head movement has been documented. With 18.2 frames per second, it would be virtually impossible for Connally’s head to collapse without an external force.

Z=324

Z=325

Z=326

Z=327

Z=328

Now that you see in just a couple of frames how Governor Connally's head rolled down as he was ducking forward from the Z=313 shot that hit JFK in the head, listen to his description of how he was thrown forward as he was shot in the back.

A interview with Connally describing how he was shot

As you listen to Connally's description, the part about how he was hit in the back and thrown forward by the force of the bullet agrees with the Z=325 shot to Connally's back scenario very well, but then Govenor Connally goes on to describe how he then hears the fatal shot to JFK's head.

One of the reasons that this issue has been so confusing for so long is that many of the witnesses only got parts of what they said correct. Governor Connally, for example, did not see the head shot to President Kennedy as he was looking forward as he was turning to look over his left shoulder but he clearly says in his interview clip that JFK was shot after his back wound was received. Secret Service Agent Roy Kellerman says he heard one shot followed by 3-5 seconds then two shots, bang-bang. Kellerman argues with Specter later trying to reason there had to be more shots than three but Kellerman never says he heard more than three. The shots Kellerman identifies are number 3, 4 and 5. Shot 3 fragments and hits both JFK and wounds Connally in the left leg with a bullet fragment, shot 4 is the fatal head shot at Z=313, and shot 5 is the shot to Connally's back at Z=325.

And later when other details are explained, the actual killers will be exposed. No investigation could get this so wrong without some serious arm twisting.

[SoCal Pubbie]

The only two worth the time are Conspiracy of One and Case Closed.

[Lando Lincoln]

As usual, I've shown up at the party after everyone has gone home. I have fired a Carcano. They are everything you say they are. Not a precision fit firearm, but reliable and quite accurate. I have also been to the book depository. In my years of hunting, I have connected on many shots more difficult than Oswald's. In fact, because of the angles involved, Kennedy was nearly stationary. Not remarkable shooting, IMO. Also, Oswald only had to it once (hit his target 2 out of three times). He did.

[Shooter 2.5]

There's a new restaurant in Dallas. It's called Ozzie Rabbit. That name was Oswald's nickname while he was in the military. The owners only devoted one space in the restaurant to Oswald. It has the picture of Ruby shooting LHO.

[SoCal Pubbie]

After narrowly surviving an attack with a hand grenade, and despite warnings not to go, Archduke Ferdinand decided to go to the hospital to see the victims of that earlier attack. The driver was not given the right directions, and took a wrong turn while en route. When the Archduke's host called out the mistake, the driver stopped, and backed up slowly, within five feet of the assassin who poured bullets into Franz Ferdinand and his wife.

Was that random, or random squared?

[Churchillspirit]

Thanks.

[SoCal Pubbie]

I was just short of my fourth birthday when JFK was killed. I remember the funeral, but I do not remember anything specifically about JFK's murder. I do recall, rather vividly, my mother's reaction to Ruby shooting Oswald as we watched on TV.

[The KG9 Kid]

Hilarious and tasteless.

Must be part of that trendy underground hipster scene emerging in Dallas.

What's their menu look like?

[Shooter 2.5]

I just read the review this afternoon in the free Fort Worth Weekly. It's probably tofu.

[The KG9 Kid]

I nailed it.

[BILL_C]

What factor would you give to the hypothetical fact that Gov. Connally was holding his hat 25 seconds after Pres. Kennedy was shot in the back? Would you consider that to be an indication (although not absolute proof) that Gov. Connally was not shot in the wrist until at least 25 seconds after Pres. Kennedy was shot in the back? Would you say it's over 0.9 (very important and valid)?

I think the 0.9 that I defined is a believability factor. Obviously IF Connally held on to his hat with his right hand all the way to the hospital that says NOTHING about when he was shot. So I agree the observation of John Connally holding on to his hat AFTER the time the Single Bullet Shot was made is not proof of anything, but it's a reasonable indication that he was shot after we see him with the hat in his hand, sitting up, and turning around.

One of the many presentations I made was to an ex-Army Officer from Viet Nam days. His point was that people can do extraordinary things when shot, he'd seen it so he even ruled out the turn Connally made after the Z=230 recovery (from what I said was a minor wound to his left leg) all the way to Z=325 when Connally is shot in the back.

So what IS a show stopper for the magic bullet theory? One of them I listed was the FBI agent at the autopsy who said there was no point of exit for the bullet found by probing with an instrument and his finger. That totally rules out the magic bullet. BUT what factor do you assign to the credibility of his observation? None of the doctors said that, and Humes (sp?) destroyed his autopsy notes. And that fact is well known and still a sizable fraction of people understand that fact, so it won't convince any more people.

Along that same line is the angle of the trajectory down through JFK, then through his neck. THE sketch provided to the Warren Commission was showing the entry to the back of JFK's neck. The Autopsy photos were NOT shown to the Warren Commission and the excuse is that was out of respect to the Kennedy Family. That to me, the fact is the bullet went UP if it took the trajectory the Warren Commissioin said it did as it went through JFK. That fact is also known but we have (IMHO) rediculous conclusions that the bullet traveled down through JFK because his arm was on the car, and therefore 4 inches BELOW his back collar was above the front of his neck at the knot of his tie.

SO none of those things I put in the table will convince anyone else that the Magic Bullet is not valid.

BUT, this presentation for the first time gives an alternative to the MAGIC BULLET. There are MANY things which indicate there were two closely spaced shots at the end of the shooting (Z=313, Z=325). That information, if true, will convince everyone that there were multiple shooters.

So using a table with the observations I have individually is not nearly as convincing as the sum of the observations. The MAGIC BULLET THEORY scores poorly per my rating. The alternative for the first time is a Connally back shot at Z=325.

Putting the poor showing of the Single Bullet Theory in my table vs. the good showing of the Z=325 shot scenario seals the deal for me. So that convinced me, it removed all doubt. BUT it may not convince you, or the majority of people who are exposed to this information. Presentation is everything.

Now most everyone will bring up Occam's razor. Given the fact that EXTRAORDINARY things must have happened for the SINGLE BULLET THEORY to be true, then the alternative scenario presented above is simple by comparison.

[The KG9 Kid]

"... As usual, I've shown up at the party after everyone has gone home. I have fired a Carcano. They are everything you say they are. Not a precision fit firearm, but reliable and quite accurate."

Thanks for coming. I only get the occasional response like that from someone who's actually owned or fired a 'Carcano.

Seems that everyone else who is a detractor of the Mannlicher-Carcano has fired it at length, personally owned several dozen of them, and have always said that they'd rather be armed with a pointy plastic tent stake than the loathesome 'Carcano. Why, that rifle would explode into fragments at the slightest touch (loaded with it's inferior unreliable ammunition that has the chamber pressure of a Daisy BB-gun), surrender itself to the enemy at the first sign of conflict, or shoot with the accuracy of a wiffle ball -- and that's only if you can get a round chambered, which you can't since it jams every single time. Why, the Mannlicher-Carcano is the worst rifle ever made and that's why the conspiracists have so much trigger time on one.

The truth is that these rifles were highly suitable Italian military arms that served that nation for a half century and saw quite a lot of action in African colonial wars, WWI, and WWII. They're simply a rugged military rifle made by Italians -- a race of people who clearly know what they're doing in regards to firearms manufacture.

I don't know what it is about people that don't like the 'Carcano: Maybe they don't like it's slender and gripless Italian stock profile, Mannlicher-style magazine bloc, or it's kooky-looking bottleplug ammunition cartridge. Maybe it's the 'Carcano's Italian heritage and the old 'Never fired, only dropped once' joke that's been retold for ages. Also, I have rarely seen military surplus 'Carcanos that didn't have cosmoline-darkened and beat-up stocks so maybe it's an issue of aesthetical attraction. Some people think that vintage Ferarri sportscars from the early 1950s look a bit silly. To each his own.

As you said, I wasn't making the Mannlicher-Carcano out to be the world's finest shootin' iron. Just that I was defending the suitability of rifle from a real-world observation. Thanks for your reply.

[BILL_C]

Watch the video of Dale Meyers describing Connally's jacket lapel moving out at Z=224 and concluding the bullet penetrated his chest. Notice a few frames later Connally has raised BOTH of his arms in reaction to the bullet fragment to his left leg. If you look up to the end of the clip, you will notice that Connally has turned to look right, you see nothing of the bloody mess if there would have been a sizeable hole blown in his chest at that time (about 10cm of his rib was destroyed).

Dale Meyers talking about Connally's Z=223-4

You can also see if you look that when Connally's lapel bounces out JFK has ALREADY started raising his hands to his throat. HOW could JFK react to a bullet before it moves Connally's lapel?

[BILL_C]

I messed up when I hit reply and replied to myself :-)

Please see post 272 for the video on the jacket lapel.

[BILL_C]

"BUT explain Connally's description of how the bullet drove him forward Because he was shot in the back. Duh."

I understand your comments in the OLD context. BUT you ONLY see Gov. Connally driven forward 5 seconds later than the theorized Single Bullet. John Connally turns around after the theorized time and looks over his right shoulder. The question is how was he able to do that?

For the FIRST time, there is an alternative explanation that he was shot AFTER Kennedy's head shot, NOT before it. Now with the volume of things written about the assassination and this NOT being one of them, why should you believe there is any possibility of this being true? The simple reason is, there's a simple reason to compare to the complicated reason.

The reason I checked so many NO's in the comparison table is that there have always been doubts about the Single Bullet theory by some, but not all. The reason that's true in my opinion is that things like the table tell you that parts of the single bullet theory don't make sense.

Now your explanation of him clinching his hat after the single bullet theory is a good explanation, and is entirely possible but the question remains is it the right answer when faced with the alternative that you see John Connally driven forward in his seat:

(1)After Kennedy's head shot

(2)When the Dallas Police Recording says the second shot occurred in the last grouping of shots

(3)When several witnesses described a second shot occurred, for example, Secret Service agent Kellerman said the last two shots were on top of each other, BANG-BANG

Now you may decide that you believe the single bullet theory, surely there are many reasons to do that. BUT with a simple alternative to how John Connally was shot, then I contend history will eventually show that it took several shooters to explain what happend in that 8 seconds in Dallas.

I appreciate your comments and I'm glad you took time to consider the alternative scenario. I think there's a possibility it will grow on you and over time make become accepted because it's simple and makes sense compared to the alternative.

Regards

[Shooter 2.5]

I hate telling you this but I think Mrs. Connally stated the Governor held onto that hat all the way to the hospital. I think she said something like he would never let go of it. There may be pictures taken at Parkland that confirms this.

[exnavy]

No one has shamed anyone into the truth in the last 43 years, why do you think your going to do that now?

[exnavy]

P.S. If you haven't read Mark Lane, Plausible Denial, you should, than get on with your life.

[exnavy]

You need to read the book by Mark Lane, Plausible Denial.

[100-Fold_Return]

So who's buried in Oswald's grave? Grant? While JFK lies at the bottom of the ocean. Truth is stranger than fact hahahahaha>

[Tares]

I think the 0.9 that I defined is a believability factor. Obviously IF Connally held on to his hat with his right hand all the way to the hospital that says NOTHING about when he was shot. So I agree the observation of John Connally holding on to his hat AFTER the time the Single Bullet Shot was made is not proof of anything, but it's a reasonable indication that he was shot after we see him with the hat in his hand, sitting up, and turning around.

So if evidence was provided that Gov. Connally held his hat for an extended period of time after Pres. Kennedy was shot in the back, you agree that Gov. Connally holding his hat immediately after Pres. Kennedy was shot in the back is irrelevant in determining when Gov. Connally was shot in the wrist?