JFK's fatal head wound: The truth for those who want to know (very graphic)

jmasland.com & others | 11/22/03

[martian_22]

Thanks for the concise description. I always wondered what the trajectory angle was at fairly close range from the 6th story though.

[Wolfstar]

As I said, I won't argue for or against any theory. I would just urge you to take into account the relative positions of the objects in question: The window height and location. The way the president's head was bent forward and his body was somewhat slumped down and to the left after the shot to his back/throat, and so on. Look closely at the frame-by-frame scenes of the head shot above. Fit fact to whatever theory you have of the murder, not the other way around.

[Double Tap]

This photo shows no such thing. Entrance wounds rarely show as much trauma as exit wounds. What the photo shows is hydrostatic shock causing the front right part of the skull to explode outwards.

If you watch the film or look at the photo sequence posted, you can see that JFK actually dips forward at the impact of the bullet, then recoils back.

Bullet impact will not move a man sized target much. I've shot Jackrabbits with large caliber rifles delivering over 3,000 ft/lb of energy. They rarely move much parallel with the bullets path. There will be a large pattern of spray around the impact area.

What the photos and the film show is a shot from the rear.

[texasbluebell]

Thanks a lot for the ping! I would have missed this.

[FreedomCalls]

He was leaned over grasping his neck. Have you not seen ANY of the Zapruder film?

[Wolfstar]

No one can see the bullet exit. It fragmented inside the president's head. ALL of the material from the exit wound explosively sprays out in an arc to the right front, up above the president's head, and below his chin. Look at the enlargement of frame 313 also provided.

[Vigilantcitizen]

"The way the president's head was bent forward and his body was somewhat slumped down and to the left after the shot to his back/throat, and so on."

You're right, I didn't pay attention to that. His head being slumped foward when hit would've produced a plane like the wax mock up shows.

[Vigilantcitizen]

Good job on the thread graphics, btw.

[Wolfstar]

Thanks for your very clear explanation, Double Tap.

[Wolfstar]

You are most welcome.

[gooleyman]

"He knew that if he was connected up to the rifle he was cooked. On other matters he told the truth, but on anything concerning the rifle he lied and that is a proven fact."

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Let me preface this by saying, you hear so many things and can't know what if any of it is true. I heard years ago that someone had expert marksmen attempt to shoot a rifle like that one as fast as they could. None of the experts could shoot it, cock it, shoot it, cock it...etc as fast as those shots rang out that day, let alone be accurate while they did it. It was a bolt action type from what I understand.

I was 7 years old and remember being let out of school early and my Grandmother was crying when I got home. We watched all the news reports and watched the funeral procession as it happened. My Grandmother kept a picture of him hanging in her living room until the day she moved into a nursing home.

[CyberAnt]

Hmmm? But if you watch the film, JFK's head is thrown in a backward motion (at one point), how do you account for that ..??

And .. are you saying that the front shot through the neck was not fatal ..??

[Steve Van Doorn]

Frame 312 is very interesting. It looks like there is something wrong as Jackie is turning towards him. That is before he was shot in the head.

[CyberAnt]

If you had a shot coming from each direction .. you would need more than one person. Therefore .. 2 directional would blow their single person theory.

[Wolfstar]

Thanks. I can accept that Oswald was the lone shooter. But I think, for me, what makes it hard to believe that he acted alone was the fact that Jack Ruby killed Oswald. I've heard the explanations for why and how that could have happened and yet not indicate a conspiracy. But two lone nuts each committing related big-time murders in the space of two or three days is one too many coincidences for my taste.

[null and void]

Thanks for the concise description.

Charm, wit and levity
Will win you in the start
But in the end it's brevity
That keeps the public's heart...

BTW Now that I think about it Connoly's bullet passed through his wrist and ended up in his thigh. It was found on his gurney after it fell out of the shallow thigh wound.

[Wolfstar]

There was no front shot. The president was shot in the back and the bullet exited out the front of his neck. See autopsy photos above in this thread. The backward motion was addressed excellently and clearly by Double Tap in Post #83 above.

[CholeraJoe]

Work on the atomic bomb does not necessarily establish expertise in wound ballistics. I have extensive knowledge about Critical Nuclear Weapons Design and Deployment Information (CNWDDI) I was cleared for that level of security when I was in the USAF.

My opinion of the possibly faked autopsy photos (if they don't have an AFIP Official stamp, they're photoshop fakes) is that a tangential impact occured in the right frontal area and sliced off the right side of his head.

[Wolfstar]

Frame 312 is the last frame before the head shot occurs. However, the president had already been shot in the back before that frame. The bullet had exited his throat just under the adams apple, and his hands had flown up to his throat.

[texasbluebell]

Interestingly, the caption for the last photo in the link at #40 claims the throat wound is an entry wound...