In his Nov 22/63 dispatch Altgens twice referred to the "second burst of noise" but never said the burst contained a single shot. Other witnesses said that the sound of the last two overlapped. In his WC testimony he said (7H518):
"I could vouch for No. 1, and I can vouch for the last shot, but I cannot tell
you how many shots were in between. There was not another shot fired after
the President was struck in the head."
Sorry about including Decker. I didn't intend to suggest Decker commented on shot spacing. I was copying the cite from my paper and intended to erase the reference to the Decker exhibit for the Sweatt cite and I guess I got sidetracked. But while we are on the subject of Decker (who as far as I can tell never mentioned shot spacing) was in the lead car and in an undated report done at least several days after the event said "I distinctly remember hearing two shots". He did not say there were only two shots. He just distinctly remembered hearing two. Decker was a very busy fellow and recalling the number of shots may not have been the most important detail on his mind. He also did not get much sleep in those days after the assassination.
In her first statement Nov. 24/63 she stated 3 shots and did not comment on which one hit the President in the head. In her March 23/64 statement she mentioned people reacting after the second shot. Of course the third shot is after the second shot. Aren't you going against your own principles in preferring her much later statement over her earlier one? As far as Hudson is concerned, in his signed Nov 22/63 statement he said "I definitely heard 3 shots" (19H481). In neither of his FBI statements did he state that the head shot was the second shot. It was only in his July/64 deposition that he said for the first time that he thought the second shot was the head shot. He also said in that deposition, contrary to his earlier recollection, that the shots were evenly spaced over 2 minutes, that he did not see the president did not react to any other shots. So at that time he did not remember what he said in his FBI statement: that he saw JFK's head slump to one side in reaction to the first shot.
She doesn't exactly help your "only two shot" theory, does she?
I am not "choosing" Jackson. I listed all the witnesses who commented on the shot pattern or shot spacing. Jackson was one of those witnesses. Darnell gave a statement on Nov 29/63 in which he states that after the second shot he left the press car and ran toward the president's car. He noted a lot of confusion. He doesn't say what he did after the third shot - presumably still running toward the scene. He did not say there were only two shots.
I am not "arbitrarily" interpreting their statements to mean 2.3 seconds. I am presenting their recollections of the last two shots fired in rapid succession. That gives us the general timing of the second shot. I am using specific evidence to more accurately place the second shot. A key observation was Hickey seeing JFK's hair fly forward on the second shot but missing his head. That occurs in only one place: z273-276. This also corresponds to Greer's first turn (z278-280) which he said he did immediatly after the second shot. It also fits with the change in appearance of JBC's wrist (z271-72) and the movement of the sun visor (z271-72). It just so happens that a shot at z271-72 is 2.3 seconds from z313.Hudson is a better example. There was no media influence on his first statement taken a few hours after the assassination.
The first statement from Altgens was read by Don Pardo. You are referencing the second bulletin he wrote 7 hours later. He went from stating two shots to two "bursts of noise."
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If Decker had heard three shots he would have remembered and stated three shots. A policeman would understand the importance of getting it right.
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Kounas-- It is against what I believe. She is actually making a statement against common belief which is rare. Does the third shot make any sense to the statement but there it is. Even you do not advocate a shot after the head shot.
Hudson sounds definite and never made a contradictory statement to it. Why would you who claim the head shot to be the last shot and yet quote Hudson?
Mr. HUDSON - Well there was a young fellow, oh, I would judge his age about in his late twenties. He said he had been looking for a place to park and he walked up there and he said he finally just taken a place over there in one of them parking lots, and he come on down there and said he worked over there on Industrial and me and him both just sat there first on those steps. When the motorcade turned off of Houston onto Elm, we got up and stood up, me and him both. He was on the left side and I was on the right and so the first shot rung out and, of course, I didn't realize it was a shot, what was taking place right at that present time, and when the second one rung out, the motorcade had done got further on down Elm, and you see, I was trying to get a good look at President Kennedy.
I happened to be looking right at him when that bullet hit him - the second shot.
Mr. LIEBELER - That was when the bullet hit him in the head; is that correct?
Mr. HUDSON - Yes; it looked like it ht him somewhere along about a little bit behind the ear and a little bit above the ear.
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Mr. LIEBELER - You say that it was the second shot that hit him in the head; is that right?
Mr. HUDSON - Yes; I do believe that - I know it was.
Mr. LIEBELER - You saw him hit in the head, there wasn't any question in your mind about that, was there?
Mr. HUDSON - No, sir.
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You chose Jackson. Two shots is a pattern with a time interval. Since when does "rapid succession" and all the other ways witnesses refer to how close the last two were equate to 2.3 seconds?
Hickey seen the bullet impact his head and the hair flew forward. Completely different.
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Marilyn proves it. Once again the third shot does not make any sense to the statement but there it is. Over and over again a shot is added to the statements that makes no sense to the narrative.
Altgens states it best. You yourself believe the headshot is the final shot.
Altgens:"There was not another shot fired after the President was struck in the head. That was the last shot--that much I will say with a great degree of certainty."
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The influence was immediate. Within minutes, while on the way to Parkland, Merriman Smith issued a bulletin stating "three shots fired at the motorcade" and was that message was broadcast over the airwaves eight minutes later. Before the hour was up Jay Watson was already correcting Bill Newman that there was three shots. Altgens stated there was two. But like the WC stated:
WC: "....Soon after the three empty cartridges were found, officials at the scene decided that three shots were fired, and that conclusion was widely circulated by the press.
The press had already been reporting three shots long before the shells were found. They had been reporting it within minutes of the assassination and anybody with a radio or within earshot of a radio heard it.
