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.

[mtbopfuyn]

Today, I think it can be shown beyond any doubt that LBJ did order the killing.

See my #97. You don't put your beloved wife's life in danger.

[BILL_C]

I don't believe that there is anything "magic" about it at all.

REPLY:

There's a couple of problems with the premise that a bullet fired into JFK then hit Connally at the time they say it did.

As I point out, the bullet hitting 4 inches below the collar of JFK and then exiting his neck going DOWN at 25 degrees is hard to grasp, but the documentary I mentioned "Beyond the Magic Bullet" shows it's possible :-)

So I don't argue what Dr. Wecht and others do, that the magic bullet did magical things. I instead show what happened when Connally was shot.

That arguement is consisent with many observations as I point out in the table that I showed, the Warren Commission's analysis is NOT consistent.

[mtbopfuyn]

Hey, I ain't that old!

[JoeGar]

The story mentioned by my Senator during the 1978 investigation, as I remember it, was that Kennedy hired the Mafia to hit Castro since the Mafia had access to Havana. The first assassination attempt was unsuccessful. During the second attempt, the Cubans caught two hit men in the act atop a building. The hit men spilled the plan. Castro then "turned" the men and hired the Mafia to hit Kennedy in retaliation. True or not, it explains why the assassination records have not all been released to the public.

[Tares]

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.

The fragments and the reasons for analyzing them

Kennedy assassination links for all to consider (in no particular order):

The Single Bullet Theory
Base of CE399
Kennedy Assassination Home Page
Lee Harvey Oswald's Paper Bag
Guinn’s neutron-activation Analysis
Warren Report: Table of Contents
One Hundred Errors of Fact and Judgment in Oliver Stone's JFK
The Academic JFK Assassination Web Site
HSCA (House Select Committee on Assassinations) Final Assassinations Report
A Critique of The Warren Report
Attempted assassination of General Walker
Oswald interviews, Acoustic studies and other information relating to the assassination of JFK
Queen of Diamonds
Zapruder 313
Head Wound
Photos and Illustrations of the JFK Assassination
Zapruder Head Shot
A Conspiracy Too Big? Intellectual Dishonesty in the JFK Assassination
The Single Bullet Strikes John Connally
Changed Motorcade Route in Dallas?
Zapruder frames 312-314 animated
Frame by Frame breakdown of the Zapruder Film
The Zapruder Film is Authentic
New Orleans, and the Garrison Investigation
Close up of crack in limo windshield
The Bullet Fragments In Governor Connally: Were There Too Many To Have Come From CE 399?
Body Snatchers at Love Field?
The Case for a Bunched Jacket
The Case of the Bunched Jacket (Not the same as the link above)
X-ray Wound Comparison
Zapruder Film in its entirety
Dallas Motorcycle Police Eyewitness Accounts

Free Republic threads on the Kennedy Assassination:

Did Castro Kill Kennedy?
Tape of Kennedy's Killing Is Getting Digital Analysis
Spy claims Israel assassinated JFK
Ex-Presidents, Johnson Widow Call for JFK Film Probe
Running down a footnote to assassination
The man who solved the Kennedy assassination
Case Closed: a letter to Gerald Posner (re: Kennedy assassination)
Warren (Commission) Was Right - The JFK case should be closed
Kennedy assassination solved!
Peter Jennings "JFK" Report: Oswald acted alone, go back to sleep...
Some Relevant Facts About the JFK Assassination
Who Killed JFK?
New Evidence in Kennedy Killing (Dallas not Mass)
Nellie Connally Disputes Warren Commission
JFK's fatal head wound: The truth for those who want to know (very graphic)
The Mystery of Marina Oswald
LBJ was behind JFK's assassination, upcoming book contends (I recommend this thread as having the most and best variety of information.)
Thirty-nine years after JFK's assassination...
***New study of JFK assassination backs theory of "grassy knoll" Thread 2***
New study of JFK assassination backs....... Thread 3
New study of JFK assassination backs....... Thread 4
New study of JFK assassination ---- Thread 5
New study of JFK assassination ---- Thread 6
Echo correlation analysis and acoustic evidence in the Kennedy assassination

Let me know of any others not on the list.

[Churchillspirit]

Thank you for this very informative thread.

I have read several books about the Kennedy assassination and am convinced that it was a conspiracy and that there was more than one shooter.

Best Evidence was the book which finally convinced me. The premise of the book is that the "best evidence" in a murder investigation is the body. The author (David S Lifton) attempts to follow the chain of custody of the President's body. The results are astounding - particularly the events during the autopsy.

[The KG9 Kid]

Admit that you've never owned or fired one.

[mtbopfuyn]

You're more logical than most.

[BILL_C]

No way were Connolly and Johnson involved and here's why:

Well actually Johnson had arranged for Yarborough, a left winger, to be riding in the car that day but Kennedy hearing about the rift between LBJ and Sen. Yarborough said, he can ride with LBJ or he can walk.

So JFK screwed up the perfect scenario, getting BOTH JFK and Yarborough eliminated.

And Connally then changed parties to be a Republican. Connally later said in a private conversation that he had his opinion about what really happened but IF I remember correctly he said he loved his country and would not talk about it.

[Al Gator]

Had about 5 of those buggers. Gave them all away. Friends tried to give them to me, wouldn't take them.

The price tag said it all. They sold from 9.99 to 14.95 tops. And Sears did carry them, I have catalog #25 somewhere in the pile that features them.

Junk. Plain and simple.

6.5 round nosed round, even in civilian, was a punk round.

Oswald was NOT the rifleman everyone claims. He barely made sharpshooter the two times he qualified.

He never practiced much with the rifle.

He was there, he had the rifle, he was part of it, he DID NOT do the damage. Another shooter(s) did.

Sigh, this debate will outlive the both of us.

[mtbopfuyn]

And then there's all the mystery of the disappearing JFK brain and a possible substitute brain for later photo ops. Who's brain was placed in the Archives and who/why/when was it, along with the slides, "lost"?

[Al Gator]

BTW, the scope he used made it difficult to cycle the action without moving the head and losing sight picture. That was proven.

Oswald was a lefty. Even more difficult.

NO WAY could he get of 3 accurate shots in the time alotted.

I didn't believe it when it happened, I believe it even less today.

I still can't stand that pristine bullet. What a crock.

[Monterrosa-24]

Why would you have FIVE Carcanos if you didn't like em. Didn't you wise up after the first two or three?

I know rifles and the Carcano is a good rifle. You keep going to price but in those days one could also buy a Mauser for umteen dollars. I remember when a Cain Sloan Department store in Nashville had a GERMAN Mauser K-98 in great condition for $32.

[Jack Black]

The 6.5 is a capable killer of medium game. The 6.5 x 55mm was a favorite of Swedes for hunting Moose, among other big game. The Italian round is a little shorter (less case capacity, same bullet) but the round is still more powerful than our current military round, the .223

The main factors in accuracy are a good barrel and sights. I believe that Oswald had put a scope on it.

It doesn't seem impossible that Oswald used a military surplus rifle, shooting a mid-sized deer round (and a bullet known for penetration due to its high sectional density) a hundred yards at a slow moving target and hit, and killed, Kennedy.

I have in my personal gun collection several cheap military surplus rifles that shoot very well. These include the Mosin-Nagant Russian Rifle, which is crude and even older than Oswalds gun. It still shoots very small groups (with iron sights) at 100 yards.

[BILL_C]

And then there's all the mystery of the disappearing JFK brain and a possible substitute brain for later photo ops. Who's brain was placed in the Archives and who/why/when was it, along with the slides, "lost"?

As anyone knows, if you have enough evidence, after a while even something as mysterious as this starts to become obvious. Remember, in writing this, I stayed with what I think are facts. Things like a disappearing brain , faked autopsy photographs can be argued like the magic bullet theories and no one will have their minds changed.

BUT if you look at how Connally was wounded, then use today's technology and the information that has just become available through the Records Review Act .....,, then it becomes obvious.

I have my opinions on HOW these things disappeared and why, but there are no facts to support them that I know of......

[Al Gator]

LOL,

I kept thinking that somewhere in that barrel I could find a good one. Gave up after 5.

K98 sold for about 20 to 30 depending on condition. You could get a real good one for 40. The m1 garand and carbines started at about 40 and went up.

Hey, don't let me bust on your favorite piece! Folks think I'm a nut because I like swedish mausers in 6.5, and nagants in .54R.

It just proves that in this life, there is truly an ass for ever seat!

[fanfan]

Ping to post #46

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

WHO ORDERED THIS

My guess is LBJ.

[Eastbound]

"Well, maybe the memo didn't go out to "all hands"."

I'm sure it didn't. But I was referring to all the supposed groups, organizations and individuals in those cities who were in on the planning or at least had second-hand knowledge of the plot and mentioned in the multitude of theories over the years.

Someday someone's going to start hawking Official JFK Scorecards. Won't be able to tell the players (actors) without one. ;>

To Great grandma: Yes.

Re: Files. Agrees with the Giancana book, "Double Cross," written by a 'family' member which alludes to the mob's involvement.

[Jack Black]

Who were the other three. Scoop Jackson was a anti-Commie dem back then. Was he one?