Posted on 11/24/2003 11:56:47 PM PST by kattracks
For all the coverage generated by the 40th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination this past weekend, the media managed to miss the only genuine news to emerge from the commemoration.Nellie Connally, wife of former Texas Gov. John Connally and the only person still alive who rode in the presidential death limousine, publicly disputed for the first time the Warren Commission's "magic bullet" theory, a scenario absolutely essential to its finding that Lee Harvey Oswald was Kennedy's lone assassin.
A year after the assassination the Commission concluded that Kennedy and Gov. Connally were both wounded by the first shot fired by Oswald from the Texas School Book Depository. A second shot missed completely. A third shot slammed into Kennedy's head and splattered his brains throughout the car.
But Mrs. Connally told CNN's Larry King that Kennedy and her husband couldn't have been struck by the same bullet, because she watched her husband react over a period of two seconds after the first shot struck the president.
"John [Connally] sitting right in front of him knew it was a shot," the former Texas first lady said. "He's a hunter and a shooter, you know. . . ."
Mrs. Connally continued:
"So he turned quick to his right and he couldn't see [Kennedy] because he was directly in front of him. And he said, 'No, no, no' and turned to his left. . . . Now this is a second or two. Then, as he whirled back, the second shot hit John . . ."
When pressed about the single bullet theory adopted by the Warren Commission, Mrs. Connally told King, "Do you think a bullet that went through the president's neck can hang there in air between the two seats while John turned to the right, turned to the left and came back?
"That's what I asked the Warren Commission," she explained. "I said, 'I don't believe a bullet could do that. That bullet -- the same bullet did not hit both of them.'"
I remember ballistics experts in another assassination investigation testifying that a bullet entering the head would be accompanied by a significant "blowback" of blood and brain tissue in the direction the bullet came from.
Word has it that Harry Olsen, a Dallas Police Officer, who had broken his knee cap had taken a side job guarding an "Estate" in Oak Cliff from 7:00A.M. until 8:00P.M. on the day of the Assassination.
The new WND offering "Triangle of Death" reveals that a laser trajectory analysis was performed at Deeley Plaza and concluded that the only possible trajectories were from the rear (5th/6th floor and 2nd floor rear locations).
This is consistent with the work performed by Howard Donahue as reported in the book "Mortal Error." Donahue is a shooting investigator who worked from terminal ballistic evidence, such as it was/is.
Donahue's reconstruction runs like this: The first shot, which fell short and struck the pavement behind the limo, fragmented and left copper jacket material in Kennedy's scalp, back of head, confirming a rear shooting location. (The inside of the front windshield also showed signs of this jacketting material striking it.) Kennedy verbally responded to this shot saying "I'm hit." Presumably, Connelly turned to see Kennedy. The second shot, a few seconds later, struck Kennedy in the upper back, passing through him into Connelly. The third shot, which followed the second shot very closely (as determined from the Zapruder film), struck Kennedy in the head. Donahue has a fascinating theory about who fired this last shot.
The slow moving 6.5mm Carcano round (160gr, 2200fps MV) has an impressive sectional density and can pass through almost 50" of pine. (see Donahue's testing in "Mortal Error") This penetrating ability is due to bullet construction and its slow velocity which promotes bullet integrity. And, of course, the recovered bullet, as can be seen from photographs, is not "pristine" by any stretch of the imagination (unless one doesn't know what an unfired bullet looks like).
The last 40 years of "expanded thinking" on the Kennedy Assassination has produced a nausiating collection of off-the-wall conspiracies (with WMD selling the most recent installment.) Oswald is still the best candidate. He was a Marine; practiced dry firing and throwing the bolt of his Manlicher-Carcano rifle incessantly according to his wife; and given the ranges involved (75 yards), a kneeling position with improvised rest, optics aren't even necessary to hit a man-sized target. Remember, the limo was moving away from the shooter--the ideal location (and not the grassy knoll which would have required a shot from the worst possible location, with the target moving laterally.)
I was 10 years of age when JFK was shot. We were release from school early that day. I saw Oswald shot "live" on TV news coverage. I've read many books on the subject. Not until I ran across Donahue's book "Mortal Error", penned by Bonar Menninger, did I have an opportunity to "expand my thinking" to reconsider the material evidence such as it was/is. And, informed by several years of long range rifle shooting, I was able to bring new tools to bear on this subject.
What do you know of ballistics?
OK, assuming this description is true, what is the conspiracy theory of how he received these wounds? A gunman inside the trunk of the car, shooting upward through the seats? A bullet & an explosive charge secretly implanted in Kennedy's neck months before?
Autopsy documents indicate that a rear skull bullet hole is 6mm in diameter. The recovered weapon had a 6.5mm bore. Bone does not "snap back." Thus, the projectile making this hole (inshoot) had to be slightly smaller than 6mm. That leaves a 22 calibre (5.56mm) as a possible candidate.
Two possible bore diameters implies at least two shooters.
I think Peace will be here soon nailed the answer pretty effectively; I've had a couple bicycle acciednts and one motorcycle accident in my life so far plus sliced my thumb open once or twice - the *real* pain doesn't seem to hit for awhile (I walked for 1/2 a mile after one bicycle accident, and after the ardrenalin wore I off, about 15 mins, I couldn't walk any more) ...
I have NEVER believed the Warren Commission report
... much less READ IT I'll bet ...
Jim, . . . you got me. I've never read the Warren Commision report. Very few people have. I have seen and heard reports pro and con for years though. Based on what both sides say about it I don't believe they came to a reasonable conclusion. Thanks for keeping me accountable.
There were many (not zero) eyewitnesses who claimed shots came from the front including Zapruder. Some even ran into phony Secret Service men when they rushed up the hill to investigate.
200 Witnesses - 85% of whom pointed to the TSBD building. The 'Grassy Knoll' story wasn't even BIG till later, AFTER the event ... as to phony SS Agents - I gotta believe with all the HOOPLA going on at the time in Texas and Dallas about the prez - that parade route had to have been CRAWLING with SS agents, in fact, ONE broadacast news report said that SS agents had been 'crawling all over Dallas for a week ' (WBAP - their "Lost Kennedy Tapes" series broadcast in rael-time, 40 years later, this last weekend) - to sum it up, this is an oft repeated old saw by the conspiracy hucksters ...
Robert Oswald was fed the same lies as the Believers as was Marina.
ROBERT Oswald talked to Lee Harvey *twice* while he was in jail - and he had a rather pointed question for Lee the second time:
"You've been charged with killing the President, they've got your pistol, they've got your rifle and you don't know what the Sam Hill is going on?"With an intense, steely look Lee responded: .. "Brother you won't find anything there"
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