All right, who really killed JFK?

another author claims to know not only who killed Kennedy, but also who ordered the killing. His title says it all: "Blood, Money & Power: How L.B.J. Killed J.F.K." (Hanover House, 480 pages) by Barr McClellan, a former partner in the law firm that represented Lyndon Johnson.

McClellan is making a bid for entry into the circle of conspiracy theorists that advance the so-called "deep politics" model, which blames corruption at the core of virtually all American institutions for misdeeds ranging from the killing in Dallas to Watergate to Iran-Contra. He claims "inside information" that lays bare the JFK plot, spearheaded by the head of his former law firm, long-time Johnson associate Edward Clark.

Your desire to believe Posner's book that LHO was the lone assassin is compelling, and the facts you cite are interesting. However, on further review, look at those citations you provided for Posner's book - they primarily cite the literary aspects of the book, NOT the factual evidence contained within. Writing literarily good books is what gets people published, but it doesn't make them right.

To buy into the lone assassin theory you have to, IMO, turn off every ounce of logic and instinct you have. This is one reason that the Warren Commission Report was debunked almost before the ink was dry. LHO was, at best, a patsy. He wasn't that bright and, IMO, given the period of time he was in the Marines, they made him a Rusian linguist because he wasn't good at anything else. In addition, almost everyone came out of Marine boot camp with an expert marksman medal, so that doesn't count, either.

What you need to focus on are two essential aspects: First, eliminate all the hype about assassination and politics and look at the crime as a straight murder. Who would gain what from JFK's death? Who had motive and who had opportunity?

When you evaluate it from that perspective, LHO had nothing to gain from his death. And he may have had opportunity, but he had no motive.

However, the biggest piece of the puzzle, IMO, is the Zapruder film, itself. Look at the frame sequence when the third bullet hits that takes off the BACK of his head. Any comparison between JFK's physical actions and physics tells you a couple of things:
1. His head snapped BACK when he as hit with the third bullet. It is not possible for a relaxed person's head to snap forward when they're hit from the front. Don't believe me? Have someone smack you hard on the forehead when you don't expect it - which way does your head go?
2. Bullets are known to cause larger exit wounds than entrance wounds. And the higher the caliber, the larger the exit wound. If the bullet was a hollow point, it, too, would cause a larger exit wound.
3. LHO was already behind and above JFK when he began to fire. The road in front of Dealey Plaza slopes downward at a fairly steep angle, so, IMO, it is possible that the first bullet could have traveled from about the middle of JFK's back and exit through his neck. In addition, LHO is known to have missed and one bullet ricocheted off the pavement. What if the bullet that ricochted was the one that hit him in the back (That's MY theory; it doesn't jive with other theories, btw)?
4. To believe that LHO was the lone assassin, you also have to buy into the "magic bullet" theory - a theory so fantastic as to defy the laws of physics and perform impossible feats.

Finally, I lived in Dallas when JFK was assassinated; I still have some of the newspapers from the time. If you think we didn't follow this story VERY closely, you don't know much about people. There was no other topic we discussed for months. And, with each new revelation, the assassination was re-hashed from beginning to end.

Posner's book has been debunked long ago. Yes, he may have included facts in his book, but facts can be malleable things. Just look at MM's Fareheit 911 - chock full of facts - and very selective, careful editing to create something that didn't happen; at least, not the way he presents it.

Last but not least, if LHO was the lone assassination, ask yourself this: What influence did he have on the President of the United States to get him to seal ALL of the documents for 70-plus years after the fact to make sure that everyone associated with the assassination and the government were dead before they were unsealed? And did LBJ have to gain by doing so? Especially after Jack Ruby was dispatched to kill LHO? Who benefitted from sealing all of the documents if LHO really was the lone assassination?

He wasn't that bright and, IMO, given the period of time he was in the Marines, they made him a Rusian linguist because he wasn't good at anything else.

He wasn't a Russian linguist. He was an air traffic controller. In those days, one could get bonus points toward promotion by demonstrating knowledge of any foreign language.

What you need to focus on are two essential aspects: First, eliminate all the hype about assassination and politics and look at the crime as a straight murder. Who would gain what from JFK's death? Who had motive and who had opportunity?

This is only useful if one presupposes that the assassin is a rational actor, pursuing a rational goal.

Lee Harvey Oswald did not fit this description.

1. His head snapped BACK when he as hit with the third bullet. It is not possible for a relaxed person's head to snap forward when they're hit from the front. Don't believe me? Have someone smack you hard on the forehead when you don't expect it - which way does your head go?

Does that blow to the front of your head destroy large portions of your brain? All bets are off at that point.

2. Bullets are known to cause larger exit wounds than entrance wounds. And the higher the caliber, the larger the exit wound. If the bullet was a hollow point, it, too, would cause a larger exit wound.

Hydrostatic shock is known to cause very messy effects that do not follow the classic entry/exit wound paradigm. Hydrostatic shock comes into play with high-power ammunition and hitting a rigid body feature (such as the skull).

3. LHO was already behind and above JFK when he began to fire. The road in front of Dealey Plaza slopes downward at a fairly steep angle, so, IMO, it is possible that the first bullet could have traveled from about the middle of JFK's back and exit through his neck. In addition, LHO is known to have missed and one bullet ricocheted off the pavement. What if the bullet that ricochted was the one that hit him in the back (That's MY theory; it doesn't jive with other theories, btw)?

Congratulations, you have just made your own "magic bullet" theory. A wound from a ricochet looks very different from a direct impact--the ricocheting bullet will make an oblong entry wound, not a circular one.

4. To believe that LHO was the lone assassin, you also have to buy into the "magic bullet" theory - a theory so fantastic as to defy the laws of physics and perform impossible feats.

Every critique of the magic bullet theory relies on one hypothesis contrary to fact--the idea that Connaly was sitting at the same level as JFK and directly in front of him.

In actuality, Connaly was sitting on a jumpseat that was lower than the President's seat, and somewhat to the left. When you move Connaly's seat into the proper position, the path of the "magic bullet" becomes straight.

Last but not least, if LHO was the lone assassination, ask yourself this: What influence did he have on the President of the United States to get him to seal ALL of the documents for 70-plus years after the fact to make sure that everyone associated with the assassination and the government were dead before they were unsealed?

The government does this routinely to allow candor in deliberations. I've been part of acquisition review boards that are similarly sealed.

And did LBJ have to gain by doing so? Especially after Jack Ruby was dispatched to kill LHO?

Had Lee Harvey Oswald not gone back for a sweater, Jack Ruby would have gotten to the jail after Oswald was gone. So I guess Oswald was a co-conspirator in his own murder.

Who benefitted from sealing all of the documents if LHO really was the lone assassination?

I would first assume the JFK assassination industry. They're the only people who made one thin dime off of his death.

Believe as you like, it's a free country. Perhaps you'll be around when the documents are finally unsealed and will get to know the truth. I certainly won't live that long.

The long and the short of it is that we can debate the assassination until the cows come home and not agree on a single point - it doesn't prove either of us right.

I will take issue with some of your points about sealing the records. Participating in acquisition review boards is substantially different from participating in what was supposed to be an objective murder investigation. There was no reason to seal the documentation, unless . . . . .

JFK wasn't hit by hydrostatic shock, he was struck by a bullet.

You may have a point about my own "magic Bullet" theory, I don't claim to be an arms expert. Nonetheless, I don't subscribe to the notion that a ricochet wound necessarily has to be oblong.

I also disagree with your contention about the Magic Bullet theory. Every critique does NOT assume that Connally was at the same level as JFK. The facts still remain that the bullet believed to be the Magic Bullet entered JFK around the midle of his back and exited through his neck - suggesting an upward direction of travel unless JFK was leaning forward when the bullet struck. If we assume that he was leaning forward, the Magic Bullet theory still doesn't work given the fact that Connally was on a jumpseat at a level lower than the president. The bullet, while tumbling in mid-air after exiting JFK's body, would still have had to execute s turn in the neighborhood of 90 degrees give or take in order to assume a downward direction and strike Connally in the shoulder, exit his shoulder and strike his wrist then going through his thigh. Since it was shown that the Magic Bullet did NOT strike any of Connally's bones, the trajectory of the bullet still makes no sense. Since JFK had severe back problems and would not likely have leaned far enough forward for the Magic Bullet to have made all of those turns (and I don't believe that his back brace would have allowed him to), your own observation that Connally was seated forward of and below the president only adds weight to the ridiculousness of the Magic Bullet Theory. In short, the angles simply don't work out.

Oswald is still the triggerman, or at least a triggerman, in Barr McClellan's account, having been recruited by one Malcolm Wallace based on Marxist sympathies. Wallace's fingerprint is supposedly the single mysterious unidentified fingerprint at the sniper's nest in the Texas School Book Depository Building.

Wallace has at least one incontestable link to LBJ. He was convicted but got a surprisingly light sentence for murdering LBJ's estranged former brother in law, who knew damaging information about LBJ and the family and was feared to be talkative. According to McClellan, Johnson later placed Wallace on the payroll of a defense contractor he was allied with, using Wallace for dirty tasks that included murder. McClellan briefly met Wallace as part of a corrupt bit of legal work on fraudulent oil leases that was is said to have been a payoff for the assassination.

It is a wild story, lacking corroboration of any sort on many points, but sufficiently detailed and referring to public records so that it would be vulnerable to refutation if it were pure invention. There have been about a half dozen books and articles that accuse Johnson of killing Kennedy, but McClellan worked as an attorney for LBJ, knows inside details about his corruption, and has the fingerprint identification of Malcolm Wallace.

A while back, I spent years digging up and feeding the press details of a major political scandal. On one crucial series of stories, the reporter was fiercely challenged by the targets on every detail, but suddenly, after one especially damaging article, they just stopped talking about the facts except to issue blanket denials. Why?

The reporter surmised that he knew enough facts that the targets could not discuss the facts without making things worse for themselves. You probably have had similar experiences in disagreements with other people. Although Barr McClellan has been reviled and attacked and his book attacked, I have not seen any review that evaluates the details of his claims, and I have never seen the fingerprint identification refuted.

With that said, I am not sold on the LBJ-did-it theory. Oswald may have been a lone nut assassin, but there is too many loose ends and too much doubt and controversy to think that the matter is settled.

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