The Wounding of James Tague Refutes the Lone-Gunman Theory

[Jerry Organ]

LOL

That's why Max Holland's theory makes the most sense, guys: The sniper in the sixth floor window took a shot at JFK when the limo had just come out of the Elm Street turn and was about even with the clustered black-and-white highway signs on the "island," as reported by Amos Euins and as intimated by Patricia Ann Donaldson-Lawrence in the National Geographic special "The Lost Bullet".

The bullet lost its copper jacket when it struck, at a shallow angle, the mast arm of the traffic light over the limo (from the sniper's POV) and ended up striking a curb about 20 feet from James Tague, who was standing down by The Triple Underpass, leaving a lead and antimony (but copper-less) smear on the curb.

D'oh

--  MWT 

A shot causing minimal damage to mast arm would not deflect much.

Amount of deflection needed to make Holland's theory work.

If the bullet struck the mast arm "at a shallow angle", it wouldn't deflect significantly nor would the bullet disintegrate. Bullet fragmentation and the severe angle of deflection required to reach to Tague would result in visible damage to the mast arm.

    "The surface examination and processing revealed no
     obvious features that could be attributed to a bullet impact."
          -- A Technical Investigation Pertaining to the
             First Shot Fired in the JFK Assassination
             (Holland & DeJonja, 2016)

[Gerry Down]

Its difficult to see how the bullet could have deflected this much going through JFKs head.

Could he have been hit higher up in the head like the HSCA suggested? This would make it easier for the bullet fragments to exit the head at the front.

[Jerry Organ]

Its difficult to see how the bullet could have deflected this much going through JFKs head.

Could he have been hit higher up in the head like the HSCA suggested? This would make it easier for the bullet fragments to exit the head at the front.

The (slightly-above-)EOP entry/deflection is a theory proposed by Larry Sturdivan (who thought Humes got the skull entry site right) and featured on the 2013 NOVA documentary "Cold Case JFK". A 3D reconstruction done for the program is supposed to show the skull cracks radiating from the near-EOP entry wound. I suspect the 3D was done under the direction of Sturdivan.



Unfortunately, such a deflection requires the bullet fragments to traverse the corpus callosum and be about 1.5" below the maximum depth of the laceration of the parietal brain lobe.

    "The base of the laceration is situated approximately
     4.5 cm. below the vertex in the white matter. There is
     considerable loss of cortical substance above the base
     of the laceration, particularly in the parietal lobe."
          -- Supplementary Report of Autopsy

They reported a laceration to the corpus callosum:

    "In addition, there is a laceration of the corpus callosum
     extending from the genu to the tail. Exposed in this latter
     laceration are the interiors of the right lateral and third ventricles."

But there is no mention that tissue is missing or of a missile path that communicates with the open channel described in the right parietal lobe. The rents in the deep brain area were probably caused by the trauma of the parietal lobe.

[Joe Elliott]

Its difficult to see how the bullet could have deflected this much going through JFKs head.

Could he have been hit higher up in the head like the HSCA suggested? This would make it easier for the bullet fragments to exit the head at the front.

It doesn’t matter where the bullet enters. The fragment is coming down at an angle, relative to the limousine, of about 13 degrees.

The highest fragment will travel about 80 inches forward, and need to climb about 9 inches, to clear the windshield frame and visor. Trigonometry says its upward angle, relative to the limousine is 6 degrees. So, the bullet fragment needs to be deflected upward by 19 degrees. This is true of both an EOP entrance and a cowlick entrance.

A lower, EOP, entry wound gives more length, through the head, to deflect upward, meaning the curve would not have to be to abrupt. It could be curving gently upward throughout the entire 6-inch passage.

A higher, cowlick, entry is harder to see. The fragment would have to hold a straight line, then, once it reaches near the level of the exit point, curve abruptly upward, by 19 degrees within a couple of inches.

Seems easier to by deflected by 19 degrees within 6 inches then it does to do so within 2 inches. Larry Sturdivan favored the EOP entry partly, I believe, because from his experience with ballistics, the amount of curvature required is more in line with the curvature he observed in ballistic gel caused by bullet fragments in the various tests he witnessed.


By the way, the bullet fragments being deflected by up to 19 degrees is no great surprise to any ballistic expert I ever heard of. When a bullet fragments, the irregularly shaped fragments will curve a lot more than an intact bullet. Which is why the fragments from the headshot at z312 curved a good deal more abruptly then the largely intact bullet that passed through JFK’s neck and Connally’s torso.

[John Tonkovich]

LOL

That's why Max Holland's theory makes the most sense, guys: The sniper in the sixth floor window took a shot at JFK when the limo had just come out of the Elm Street turn and was about even with the clustered black-and-white highway signs on the "island," as reported by Amos Euins and as intimated by Patricia Ann Donaldson-Lawrence in the National Geographic special "The Lost Bullet".

The bullet lost its copper jacket when it struck, at a shallow angle, the mast arm of the traffic light over the limo (from the sniper's POV) and ended up striking a curb about 20 feet from James Tague, who was standing down by The Triple Underpass, leaving a lead and antimony (but copper-less) smear on the curb.

D'oh

--  MWT 

Odd, that the West survey shows three points where JFK was hit.
Odd, that this survey remained sealed during WC hearings.
Odd, that the FBI misrepresented the West Survey in testimony to WC.

[Joe Elliott]

Dear Joe,

A bullet fragment, or a bone fragment?

Regardless, how did it loop over the windshield (or penetrate it!) and manage to hit the curb with sufficient force to chip the concrete?

--  MWT 

Much of this has been gone over before.

A bullet fragment, 60% of the mass of the bullet, cleared the windshield, the frame and visor and nicked Mr. Tague. The head would have to deflect upward the fragment upward, relative to the limousine about 6 degrees, requiring about a 19-degree deflection.

The concrete curb was not chipped. It only had a lead smear. A lead smear that was directly on the corner of the curb (what a coincidence), had curved scratches on the face of the curb, one of which pointed directly at the lead smear. These curve scratches would not be caused by a bullet or a bullet fragment but point to another cause of the lead smear, a car’s lead tire balancing weight.

So, an irregularly sharped metal fragment, spinning wildly, cleared the limousine with a 3-degrees upward protectory, relative to the horizon, and in the next 240 feet curved gently downward to nick Mr. Tague’s check, without ever hitting the curb.

All the estimates of the angles are my own rough estimates based on maps of Dealey Plaza and diagrams of the limousine and its occupants.

[Tim Nickerson]

Odd, that the West survey shows three points where JFK was hit.
Odd, that this survey remained sealed during WC hearings.
Odd, that the FBI misrepresented the West Survey in testimony to WC.

The West Survey does NOT show three points where JFK was hit. You're probably looking at a Robert Cutler production.

[Thomas Graves]

A shot causing minimal damage to mast arm would not deflect much.

Amount of deflection needed to make Holland's theory work.

If the bullet struck the mast arm "at a shallow angle", it wouldn't deflect significantly nor would the bullet disintegrate. Bullet fragmentation and the severe angle of deflection required to reach to Tague would result in visible damage to the mast arm.

    "The surface examination and processing revealed no
     obvious features that could be attributed to a bullet impact."
          -- A Technical Investigation Pertaining to the
             First Shot Fired in the JFK Assassination
             (Holland & DeJonja, 2016)

Iirc, the mast arm received five sloppy coats of paint between 11/22/63 and the day it was finally knocked over by an out-of-control motor vehicle, i.e., more than enough to hide a shallow dent.

--  MWT