Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Hidden in Plain Sight - Did a Secret Service Agent Accidentally Shoot JFK?
Medium True Crime ^ | Oct. 8, 2017 | Bonar Menninger

Posted on 11/22/2019 9:52:46 AM PST by Hot Tabasco

early 1989, I was working as a business reporter in Washington, D.C., and interviewing a private investigator for a story about his company. At the end of our conversation, he casually mentioned he’d done some research into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

“Oh yeah?” I said, in an ironic, indifferent way. “So who killed him?” He said: “Well, I think this gunsmith in Baltimore, a guy named Howard Donahue, figured it out.” The private eye showed me a magazine article from 1977 and as I read it, my skepticism began to fade. Within a week, I was heading to nearby Towson, Maryland, to meet Donahue in person.

Donahue’s Dealey Plaza odyssey began 21 years earlier. The World War II veteran was a firearms specialist who’d testified as an expert witness in multiple shooting cases. He was also a well-known marksman. That’s why he’d been recruited to take part in a CBS News reenactment of the shooting in the spring of 1967.

The network wanted to know if Lee Harvey Oswald’s Italian military-surplus, bolt-action rifle really could have been fired three times with two hits on a moving target in less than six seconds. Donahue proved that it could. Of the 11 shooters participating in the experiment, only Donahue exceeded Oswald’s performance by scoring three hits in 4.8 seconds, well under the 5.6-second maximum....

(Excerpt) Read more at medium.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Conspiracy; History
KEYWORDS: 19631122; baltimore; carlosmarcello; dallas; dealeyplaza; howarddonahue; jackruby; jfk; mafia; maryland; no; nonext; oswaldwasapatsy; secretservice; texas; towson
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 141-160161-180181-200201-214 next last
To: BradyLS
The theory also begs another question: was every round from that Secret Service agent’s weapon accounted for when it was returned to the armory?

Here's what the article says, toward the end:

As far as we know, Hickey was the only agent carrying a long gun that day, and at the hospital he was later instructed to return the weapon to the trunk of the follow-up car, according to his Warren Commission statement.

The article also quotes hospital staff as saying two Secret Service agents burst into the hospital, and one was holding a "machine gun." When an FBI agent ran in, the Secret Service agent with the gun knocked him out cold. Then the article raises the question: Were the agents trying to keep the FBI from taking possession of the gun? (Interesting theory, if the story is true.)

181 posted on 11/23/2019 7:46:37 AM PST by Tired of Taxes
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 175 | View Replies]

To: BradyLS
The theory also begs another question: was every round from that Secret Service agent’s weapon accounted for when it was returned to the armory?

I thought about that too. If there was a cover up and the agent did accidentally fire his rifle, then the returned ammunition and rifle would have been part of the cover up.

182 posted on 11/23/2019 8:32:58 AM PST by Hot Tabasco (Never take a centipede shopping for shoes)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 175 | View Replies]

To: BradyLS
but does not answer whether that agent’s ammunition was finally accounted for.

It wouldn't have been if there were truly a cover up to protect the SS agent.

183 posted on 11/23/2019 8:37:16 AM PST by Hot Tabasco (Never take a centipede shopping for shoes)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 179 | View Replies]

To: Tired of Taxes

This is a fairly new “theory”, but was admitted to be being an outlandish bit of fiction soon after the book came out.


184 posted on 11/23/2019 8:41:53 AM PST by ALASKA (Watching an attempted coup by a thousand cuts....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 163 | View Replies]

To: ALASKA
but was admitted to be being an outlandish bit of fiction soon after the book came out.

"Outlandish" is an exaggeration of what actually happened. The book was preceded by the release of Oliver Stone's JFK and so the focus was still on the movie.

The book got some bad review by unskilled skeptics who chose to believe the Stone narrative rather than the undisputed ballistic evidence gathered by Donahue.

Against the backdrop of Stone’s garish melodrama, the idea that President Kennedy may have actually died as the result of a freak accident seemed by turns ludicrous, inconvenient and banal. Shoved under by a few derisive reviews in mainstream publications like the Washington Post and Time, Mortal Error soon slipped beneath the waves of popular culture and all but vanished from the American consciousness.

One could equate the treatment "Mortal Error" received from a skeptic media to that of President Trump when he first claimed that he was being spied on by the FBI......

185 posted on 11/23/2019 9:08:06 AM PST by Hot Tabasco (Never take a centipede shopping for shoes)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 184 | View Replies]

To: 9422WMR
From Wikipedia:

The ArmaLite AR-15 is a selective fire, air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed rifle manufactured in the United States between 1959 and 1964. Its military version was adopted by the United States Armed Forces as the M16 rifle.

I'm not an expert on these matters, but it sounds like there's a common misconception that the AR-15 only dates back to 1964. I believe that was actually the date when ArmaLite sold the design to Colt.

186 posted on 11/23/2019 9:11:11 AM PST by Alberta's Child ("In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 166 | View Replies]

To: 9422WMR

Oops — you beat me to it. LOL.


187 posted on 11/23/2019 9:11:42 AM PST by Alberta's Child ("In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 168 | View Replies]

To: Hot Tabasco

Interesting theory. Thank you for posting.


188 posted on 11/23/2019 9:15:11 AM PST by kalee
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hot Tabasco

The book also got bad reviews by highly skilled skeptics. I have read almost all the books written about the assassination and in my own personal, correct opinion, this theory is just silly.


189 posted on 11/23/2019 9:40:02 AM PST by ALASKA (Watching an attempted coup by a thousand cuts....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 185 | View Replies]

To: Hot Tabasco

There were perhaps five other people in the car with the Secret Service agent carrying the AR-15. If that weapon fired and they said nothing, they are also part of the coverup.


190 posted on 11/23/2019 9:41:06 AM PST by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 183 | View Replies]

To: Hot Tabasco

I was always puzzled by the explosive fragmentation of the Carcano bullet in the head shot. Seemed unlike with a FMJ military round.


191 posted on 11/23/2019 9:52:48 AM PST by damper99
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 183 | View Replies]

To: BradyLS
If that weapon fired and they said nothing, they are also part of the coverup.

I'm not going to dispute that. If I'm not mistaken, there is an even greater cover up going on in Washington right now that is trying to be unraveled.

As a side note, there were numerous attempts by Menninger and Donahue to interview the agent but were refused.........Is that significant? I don't know, I'm sure the agent had his reasons not to talk to them.

192 posted on 11/23/2019 10:05:00 AM PST by Hot Tabasco (Never take a centipede shopping for shoes)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 190 | View Replies]

To: ALASKA
The book also got bad reviews by highly skilled skeptics.

The theory may have gotten bad reviews but there has been no one that has been able to dispute Donahue's ballistic analysis of the carcano bullet that pierced two men and ended up intact and the unexplained fragments found in Kennedy's skull.........

193 posted on 11/23/2019 10:17:47 AM PST by Hot Tabasco (Never take a centipede shopping for shoes)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 189 | View Replies]

To: Hot Tabasco
Oswald's first shot missed, his second shot hit Kennedy in the back and the shot that took the right side of his head off may have come from an accidental discharge of the rifle held by a secret service stationed in the trailing limousine.......

This is the premise of Donahue's theory. It makes sense based on the evidence: (1) 3 spent 6.5mm Mann Carcano cases, with one primer exhibiting multiple strikes (a dry-fire case perhaps). (2) the diameter of the skull entry is too small for 6.5mm, but matches that of a 5.56mm projectile. (Skull tissue doesn't "snap back" -- it's bone).

The grassy knoll theory's major weakness is that this not a shooting position a marksman would choose. The target is would be moving laterally left->right which is hard track. Before or behind present a relatively stationary target to the shooter. A shooter positioned in front would have to deal with the windshield. It was intact, so that position is ruled out. That leaves the rear -- the book repository.

I was convinced when I first read this theory 28 years ago. Oswald fired two shots: the first missed, but the second struck Kennedy in the back and the 160gr FMJ bullet easily passed through him into Connelly. The leaves the dramatic third shot which struck Kennedy in the head to explain. A 5.56 NATO round fills the bill. Who has them? The secret service agent standing in the rear seat of the follow-on limo was sporting one. Donahue's experience investigating shootings positioned him perfectly to address what is or is not possible.

Oh, Donahue beat Oswald's supposed feat demonstrating that it was not beyond the skills of most marksmen. If we assume that Oswald fired three shots, then Donahue and another shooter in that CBS reenactment bettered Oswalds time. (But then Oswald only fired twice according to Donahue.)

194 posted on 11/23/2019 1:12:21 PM PST by nonsporting (MAGA -- Make America Godly Again)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: nonsporting
(But then Oswald only fired twice according to Donahue.)

Well, Donahue mentions the errant shot that missed and hit the road, then the shot that hit Kennedy in the back.

His evidence of the third shot being from the SS agent and the subsequent bullet fragments in the skull have not been disputed (the fragments in the skull).

I'm not privy to any information relevant to a third shot supposedly fired by Oswald..or what was the evidence that supported it.

195 posted on 11/23/2019 1:58:05 PM PST by Hot Tabasco (Never take a centipede shopping for shoes)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 194 | View Replies]

To: Hot Tabasco

Very long but interesting read.


196 posted on 11/23/2019 2:19:47 PM PST by wgmalabama (Mittens is the new Juan. Go away mittens)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Viking2002

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jlokCn3j8B0


197 posted on 11/23/2019 2:26:48 PM PST by wgmalabama (Mittens is the new Juan. Go away mittens)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: TheNext

Not quite...But I would say it’s a good bet Oswald got the Epstein solution.


198 posted on 11/23/2019 4:33:17 PM PST by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 66 | View Replies]

To: Vaquero

I’ll put it in the queue. Right now I’m reading “Rush to Judgement.” Mark Lane


199 posted on 11/23/2019 4:49:43 PM PST by Overtaxed (Ephesians 6:12)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 170 | View Replies]

To: karnage

No he didnt. JFK was shot from the front.


200 posted on 11/23/2019 5:21:08 PM PST by I got the rope
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 141-160161-180181-200201-214 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson