LNers Can't Explain the Two Back-of-Head Bullet Fragments

[Tim Nickerson]

You're quoting from my section on whether FMJ bullets leave numerous fragments inside a skull, not whether they ever deposit a fragment at/near the entry point on a skull. This is another severe problem with the lone-gunman scenario: FMJ bullets do not shatter into dozens of fragments when they penetrate skulls. The FMJ bullets in the WC's wound ballistics test did not do this. Nor did the FMJ bullets in Lattimer's test. Nor did the FMJ bullets in the Failure Analysis test.

FMJ bullets do shatter into dozens of fragments when they penetrate skulls. The FMJ bullets in the WC's wound ballistics test did so.

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=62296#relPageId=30

The FMJ bullets in Lattimer's test did as well.



Not sure about the FMJ bullets in the Failure Analysis test

[Michael T. Griffith]

FMJ bullets do shatter into dozens of fragments when they penetrate skulls. The FMJ bullets in the WC's wound ballistics test did so. The FMJ bullets in Lattimer's test did as well. Not sure about the FMJ bullets in the Failure Analysis test.

Do you not read replies before you reply to them? Do you just read the first few lines and then reply? Did you not read what Dr. Vincent DiMaio said on this issue? Did you not read what Dr. Larry S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n said on this issue? You said nothing about their observations. Did you not read my article "Forensic Science and President Kennedy's Head Wounds"? 

No, the FMJ bullets in the WC and Lattimer tests did not shatter into dozens of fragments. The picture you show from Lattimer's test only shows fewer than 10 fragments, and all but one of them is sizable. In my above-mentioned article, I include photos of the fragments from the WC's test. They do not show dozens of fragments.

You might want to back and read what DiMaio and S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n said about FMJ bullets fragmenting in skulls. When they do fragment, they do not shatter into dozens of tiny pieces but only into a few fragments.

You didn't refute anything. What you did was claim that the fragment imbedded in the forehead was the 7 x 2 mm fragment removed by Humes. Which is itself silliness, considering that the 7 x 2 mm fragment removed by Humes was in the brain behind the right eye.

Oh my goodness. This is just bizarre. As I proved, Humes himself said he removed the 7 x 2 mm fragment. You have no clue what you are talking about.

I refer interested readers to my previous replies on this issue.

You still have not explained the McDonnel fragment and the fragments beneath the 6.5 mm object's image that were detected by Dr. David Mantik and were confirmed by him and Dr. Michael Chesser via optical-density measurements. Even Dr. John Fitzpatrick, the ARRB's forensic radiologist, acknowledged there is a bullet fragment in the rear of the skull on the lateral x-rays.

Yet, you still deny there were any bullet fragments in the back of the skull, because you know they could not have been deposited by an FMJ bullet.

[Tim Nickerson]

Do you not read replies before you reply to them? Do you just read the first few lines and then reply? Did you not read what Dr. Vincent DiMaio said on this issue? Did you not read what Dr. Larry S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n said on this issue? You said nothing about their observations. Did you not read my article "Forensic Science and President Kennedy's Head Wounds"? 

No, the FMJ bullets in the WC and Lattimer tests did not shatter into dozens of fragments. The picture you show from Lattimer's test only shows fewer than 10 fragments, and all but one of them is sizable. In my above-mentioned article, I include photos of the fragments from the WC's test. They do not show dozens of fragments.

You might want to back and read what DiMaio and S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n said about FMJ bullets fragmenting in skulls. When they do fragment, they do not shatter into dozens of tiny pieces but only into a few fragments.

I read your whole reply. My post was a response to that one particular claim of yours. It's a false claim by you. The FMJ bullets in the WC and Lattimer tests did shatter into dozens of fragments. Almost 2 dozen fragments are seen in the photo of the fragments recovered from skull 8167 at Edgewood. There are 8 visible fragments of good size in the photo provided by Lattimer and he noted that there were many more smaller fragments seen in X-Rays.

Neither DiMaio nor S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n ever stated that FMJ bullets do not shatter into dozens of fragments when they penetrate skulls. In fact, S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n said just the opposite. No doubt, DiMaio did as well.

[Tim Nickerson]

Oh my goodness. This is just bizarre. As I proved, Humes himself said he removed the 7 x 2 mm fragment. You have no clue what you are talking about.

I refer interested readers to my previous replies on this issue.

You still have not explained the McDonnel fragment and the fragments beneath the 6.5 mm object's image that were detected by Dr. David Mantik and were confirmed by him and Dr. Michael Chesser via optical-density measurements. Even Dr. John Fitzpatrick, the ARRB's forensic radiologist, acknowledged there is a bullet fragment in the rear of the skull on the lateral x-rays.

Yet, you still deny there were any bullet fragments in the back of the skull, because you know they could not have been deposited by an FMJ bullet.

You proved that Humes himself said that he removed the 7 x 2 mm fragment? Wow! That's amazing. Good job on your part.   

Humes removed the 7mm x 2mm from the brain behind the right eye.  You claimed that the fragment imbedded in the forehead was the 7 x 2 mm fragment removed by Humes.

There were not two fragments imbedded in the back of the skull.

[Michael T. Griffith]

I read your whole reply. My post was a response to that one particular claim of yours. It's a false claim by you. The FMJ bullets in the WC and Lattimer tests did shatter into dozens of fragments. Almost 2 dozen fragments are seen in the photo of the fragments recovered from skull 8167 at Edgewood.

Wrong. CE 857 and CE 859 show the fragments from one of the FMJ bullets from the WC's wound ballistics test. The photos in these exhibits show that this test missile broke up into far fewer fragments than we see in the JFK autopsy skull x-rays. CE 857 shows 8 sizable fragments and perhaps 8-10 smaller ones in a plastic box. To the right of the box, it shows two large bullet fragments with the front end crushed. CE 859 shows 10 sizable fragments and maybe 15 smaller ones. There is some question about whether CE 859 contains fragments from other test bullets, given the x-rays of the skulls used in the test. But, even assuming it does not, it still proves that the fragmentation of the test bullets was very different from that of the ammo that hit JFK's skull.

We also know this from the x-rays of one of the skulls from the WC's test (see CE 861 and CE 862). Those x-rays show minimal fragmentation, and the fragmentation they show is markedly different from the fragmentation seen on the autopsy skull x-rays. The JFK skull x-rays show about 50 fragments, with about 40 concentrated in a "snowstorm" of fragments in the right-front part of the skull and with several in the back of the skull. This bears no resemblance to the WC's test, nor to Lattimer's test, nor to the Failure Analysis test.

You can see the above-mentioned CEs in my article "Forensic Science and President Kennedy's Head Wounds": https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jYMrT9P4ab2BtENAqI_0dQSEY6IJWczi/view.

The test skull x-rays suggest that CE 857 and/or CE 859 include fragments from more than one test bullet, since they (the x-rays) show minimal fragmentation, and since Dr. Olivier, the man who conducted the test, told Howard Donahue that the test bullets did not explode or disintegrate and that they broke up into only a few fragments. Even Arlen Specter noticed that the two exhibits contain different amounts of fragments.

Even taken at face value, CEs 857 and 859 contradict the fragmentation seen in the JFK autopsy skull x-rays. Also, the fragmentation seen in the x-rays of the test skull looks nothing like the fragmentation in the JFK skull x-rays.

There are 8 visible fragments of good size in the photo provided by Lattimer and he noted that there were many more smaller fragments seen in X-Rays.

8 visible fragments plus no more than 10-15 smaller ones does not equal 50 fragments with a snowstorm concentration in the right front and with several fragments in the back of the skull. And I should add that Lattimer was caught more than once outright falsifying his test results.

If an FMJ bullet had hit JFK's head, we would not see 40 some fragments clustered together to form a "snowstorm" image with other fragments trailing upward from the snowstorm, nor would we see several fragments in the rear outer table of the skull. The right-front fragment snowstorm alone is clear evidence that a high-velocity frangible bullet hit JFK's head in the right front. An FMJ bullet would never fragment in this manner.

Neither DiMaio nor S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n ever stated that FMJ bullets do not shatter into dozens of fragments when they penetrate skulls. In fact, S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n said just the opposite. No doubt, DiMaio did as well.

You somehow horribly misread DiMaio and S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n. DiMaio specifically said that if skull x-rays show dozens of fragments this rules FMJ ammo as the ammo, and S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n said the 6.5 mm object cannot be from an FMJ bullet because an FMJ bullet would never leave fragments from its cross-section in that location. In fact, just to nail this down, let's read what DiMaio and S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n said once again:

DiMaio:

In x-rays of through-and-through gunshot wounds, the presence of small
fragments of metal along the wound track virtually rules out full metal-
jacketed ammunition.. . . In rare instances, involving full metal-jacketed
centerfire rifle bullets, a few small, dust-like fragments of lead may be
seen on x-ray if the bullet perforates bone. One of the most characteristic
x-rays and one that will indicate the type of weapon and ammunition used
is that seen from centerfire rifles firing hunting ammunition. In such a case,
one will see a “lead snowstorm” [Figure 11.4]. In high-quality x-rays,
the majority of the fragments visualized have a fine “dust-like” quality.
Such a picture rules out full metal-jacketed rifle ammunition or a shotgun slug.
(Gunshot Wounds, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1999, p. 318, emphasis added).

Are we clear now? DiMaio most certainly did say that FMJ bullets will not shatter into dozens of fragments inside a skull. Indeed, he said that if a skull x-ray shows a "snowstorm" of fragments, this rules out FMJ ammo.

For more forensic experts who've noted that FMJ bullets will not break into dozens of fragments when penetrating skulls, see my above-mentioned article: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jYMrT9P4ab2BtENAqI_0dQSEY6IJWczi/view.

S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n:

Here's what S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n said about this in 1998 in explaining why the 6.5 mm object could not be a bullet fragment:

I’m not sure just what that 6.5 mm fragment is. One thing I’m sure it is not is a cross-section
from the interior of a bullet. I have seen literally thousands of bullets, deformed and undeformed,
after penetrating tissue and tissue simulants. Some were bent, some torn in two or more pieces,
but to have a cross-section sheared out is physically impossible. (David Mantik, JFK Assassination
Paradoxes, KDP, 2022, p. 21)

In his 2005 book The JFK Myths, S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n explains the 6.5 mm "fragment" seen on the autopsy x-rays cannot be from an FMJ bullet in response to Dr. Michael Baden's attempt to use the object as evidence for the debunked cowlick entry site:

It was interesting that it [Baden's description of the 6.5 mm object] was phrased that way, ducking the
obvious fact that it cannot be a bullet fragment and is not that near to their [the HSCA medical panel's]
proposed entry site. A fully jacketed WCC/MC bullet will deform as it penetrates bone, but it will not
fragment on the outside of the skull.

When they break up in the target, real bullets break into irregular pieces of jacket, sometimes complete
enough to contain pieces of the lead core, and a varying number of irregular chunks of lead core. It cannot
break into circular slices, especially one with a circular bite out of the edge. (pp. 184-185)

Are we clear now?

[Tim Nickerson]

Wrong. CE 857 and CE 859 show the fragments from one of the FMJ bullets from the WC's wound ballistics test. The photos in these exhibits show that this test missile broke up into far fewer fragments than we see in the JFK autopsy skull x-rays. CE 857 shows 8 sizable fragments and perhaps 8-10 smaller ones in a plastic box. To the right of the box, it shows two large bullet fragments with the front end crushed. CE 859 shows 10 sizable fragments and maybe 15 smaller ones. There is some question about whether CE 859 contains fragments from other test bullets, given the x-rays of the skulls used in the test. But, even assuming it does not, it still proves that the fragmentation of the test bullets was very different from that of the ammo that hit JFK's skull.

We also know this from the x-rays of one of the skulls from the WC's test (see CE 861 and CE 862). Those x-rays show minimal fragmentation, and the fragmentation they show is markedly different from the fragmentation seen on the autopsy skull x-rays. The JFK skull x-rays show about 50 fragments, with about 40 concentrated in a "snowstorm" of fragments in the right-front part of the skull and with several in the back of the skull. This bears no resemblance to the WC's test, nor to Lattimer's test, nor to the Failure Analysis test.

You can see the above-mentioned CEs in my article "Forensic Science and President Kennedy's Head Wounds": https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jYMrT9P4ab2BtENAqI_0dQSEY6IJWczi/view.

The test skull x-rays suggest that CE 857 and/or CE 859 include fragments from more than one test bullet, since they (the x-rays) show minimal fragmentation, and since Dr. Olivier, the man who conducted the test, told Howard Donahue that the test bullets did not explode or disintegrate and that they broke up into only a few fragments. Even Arlen Specter noticed that the two exhibits contain different amounts of fragments.

Even taken at face value, CEs 857 and 859 contradict the fragmentation seen in the JFK autopsy skull x-rays. Also, the fragmentation seen in the x-rays of the test skull looks nothing like the fragmentation in the JFK skull x-rays.

8 visible fragments plus no more than 10-15 smaller ones does not equal 50 fragments with a snowstorm concentration in the right front and with several fragments in the back of the skull. And I should add that Lattimer was caught more than once outright falsifying his test results.

If an FMJ bullet had hit JFK's head, we would not see 40 some fragments clustered together to form a "snowstorm" image with other fragments trailing upward from the snowstorm, nor would we see several fragments in the rear outer table of the skull. The right-front fragment snowstorm alone is clear evidence that a high-velocity frangible bullet hit JFK's head in the right front. An FMJ bullet would never fragment in this manner.

There looks to be about 17 fragments in CE-857. There are two in CE-858.
https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/html/WH_Vol17_0439a.htm

I count 39 fragments in CE-859
https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/html/WH_Vol17_0439b.htm

That's 58 in total. Those are all from one bullet. The tests done for the WC at Edgewood Arsenal did show that FMJ bullets do shatter into dozens of fragments when they penetrate human skulls.

You somehow horribly misread DiMaio and S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n. DiMaio specifically said that if skull x-rays show dozens of fragments this rules FMJ ammo as the ammo, and S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n said the 6.5 mm object cannot be from an FMJ bullet because an FMJ bullet would never leave fragments from its cross-section in that location. In fact, just to nail this down, let's read what DiMaio and S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n said once again:

DiMaio:

In x-rays of through-and-through gunshot wounds, the presence of small
fragments of metal along the wound track virtually rules out full metal-
jacketed ammunition.. . . In rare instances, involving full metal-jacketed
centerfire rifle bullets, a few small, dust-like fragments of lead may be
seen on x-ray if the bullet perforates bone. One of the most characteristic
x-rays and one that will indicate the type of weapon and ammunition used
is that seen from centerfire rifles firing hunting ammunition. In such a case,
one will see a “lead snowstorm” [Figure 11.4]. In high-quality x-rays,
the majority of the fragments visualized have a fine “dust-like” quality.
Such a picture rules out full metal-jacketed rifle ammunition or a shotgun slug.
(Gunshot Wounds, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1999, p. 318, emphasis added).

Are we clear now? DiMaio most certainly did say that FMJ bullets will not shatter into dozens of fragments inside a skull. Indeed, he said that if a skull x-ray shows a "snowstorm" of fragments, this rules out FMJ ammo.

I'm sorry but I don't see the word skull in that text. DiMaio did not say that FMJ bullets do not shatter into dozens of fragments when they penetrate skulls.

S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n:

Here's what S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n said about this in 1998 in explaining why the 6.5 mm object could not be a bullet fragment:

I’m not sure just what that 6.5 mm fragment is. One thing I’m sure it is not is a cross-section
from the interior of a bullet. I have seen literally thousands of bullets, deformed and undeformed,
after penetrating tissue and tissue simulants. Some were bent, some torn in two or more pieces,
but to have a cross-section sheared out is physically impossible. (David Mantik, JFK Assassination
Paradoxes, KDP, 2022, p. 21)

In his 2005 book The JFK Myths, S-t-u-r-d-i-v-a-n explains the 6.5 mm "fragment" seen on the autopsy x-rays cannot be from an FMJ bullet in response to Dr. Michael Baden's attempt to use the object as evidence for the debunked cowlick entry site:

It was interesting that it [Baden's description of the 6.5 mm object] was phrased that way, ducking the
obvious fact that it cannot be a bullet fragment and is not that near to their [the HSCA medical panel's]
proposed entry site. A fully jacketed WCC/MC bullet will deform as it penetrates bone, but it will not
fragment on the outside of the skull.

When they break up in the target, real bullets break into irregular pieces of jacket, sometimes complete
enough to contain pieces of the lead core, and a varying number of irregular chunks of lead core. It cannot
break into circular slices, especially one with a circular bite out of the edge. (pp. 184-185)

Are we clear now?

St.u.r.d.ivan  seemed to grudgingly accept that the "6.5mm object" was in the back of the skull. He was wrong. He should have gone with his skepticism. The "6.5mm object" was not at the back of the skull. It was the 7mm x 2mm fragment remove by Humes from behind the right eye.

[Michael T. Griffith]

There looks to be about 17 fragments in CE-857. There are two in CE-858.
https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/html/WH_Vol17_0439a.htm

I count 39 fragments in CE-859
https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/html/WH_Vol17_0439b.htm

You still haven't read my article "Forensic Science and President Kennedy's Head Wounds," have you? Dr. Olivier said that CE 857 and CE 859 were "supposed to" contain the same fragments, but they obviously do not. This is when Specter took the conversation off-the-record. Now, gee, why do you suppose Specter feld the need to do that?

There looks to be about 17 fragments in CE-857. There are two in CE-858.
https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/html/WH_Vol17_0439a.htm

I count 39 fragments in CE-859
https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/html/WH_Vol17_0439b.htm

That's 58 in total.

You still haven't read my article "Forensic Science and President Kennedy's Head Wounds," have you? Dr. Olivier said that CE 857 and CE 859 were "supposed to" contain the same fragments, but obviously they do not. This is when Specter took the conversation off-the-record. Now, gee, why do you suppose Specter felt the need to do that?

So it's not 58 in total. It's less than 40, and there is considerable doubt, given the test skull x-rays, that those exhibits contained only fragments from one bullet, not to mention the fact that at least 20 of them were sizable fragments and that the fragmentation pattern they produced in the test skull x-rays bears no resemblance to the pattern seen in the JFK skull x-rays.

Are you ever going to you explain the fact that the x-rays of the test skull show minimal fragmentation?

Those are all from one bullet. The tests done for the WC at Edgewood Arsenal did show that FMJ bullets do shatter into dozens of fragments when they penetrate human skulls.

You are kidding yourself. The WC test skull x-rays refute your argument. They show minimal fragmentation. CEs 857, 858, and 859, even ignoring the questions about their validity, do not prove your claim. Lattimer's test produced no more than 23 fragments, 8 of which were sizable, which bears no resemblance to the fragmentation seen in the JFK skull x-rays. The FMJ bullets in the Failure Analysis test behaved in the same way that Dr. Olivier told Donahue the FMJ bullets in the WC test behaved: they broke into no more than a few fragments.

I'm sorry but I don't see the word skull in that text. DiMaio did not say that FMJ bullets do not shatter into dozens of fragments when they penetrate skulls.

I take it you didn't bother to read anything else in DiMaio's book, such as these two paragraphs:

A gunshot wound of the head from a high-velocity handgun bullet —
typically the .357 Magnum — can produce an x-ray picture superficially
resembling the lead snowstorm of hunting bullets. Breakup of the handgun
bullet, however, requires perforation of bone which is not necessary with a
rifle bullet. The fragments produced by the handgun bullet are fewer in
number and larger. Lead dust is also not present (see Figure 11.5).

An x-ray of an individual shot with a full metal-jacketed rifle bullet . . .
usually fails to reveal any bullet fragments at all even if the bullet has
perforated bone such as the skull or spine. If any fragments are seen,
they are very sparse in number, very fine and located at the point the bullet
perforated bone. (p. 206)

Are we clear now?

S.t.u.r.d.ivan  seemed to grudgingly accept that the "6.5mm object" was in the back of the skull. He was wrong. He should have gone with his skepticism. The "6.5mm object" was not at the back of the skull. It was the 7mm x 2mm fragment remove by Humes from behind the right eye.

I've already refuted this inexcusable claim. A 7 x 2 mm fragment is not a 6.5 mm object. The two objects are very different in shape and are easily distinguishable from each other on the AP x-ray. It is amazing that you continue to ignore these self-evident, determinative facts.

The four forensic experts on the Clark Panel, the nine forensic experts on the HSCA Forensic Pathology Panel, and the two HSCA radiology consultants (McDonnel and Seaman) said the 6.5 mm object is in the back of the skull. Dr. David Mantik (physicist and radiation oncologist) and Dr. Michael Chesser (neurologist) have examined the skull x-rays and have proved via optical density measurements that there is a 6.3 x 2.5 mm fragment inside the ghosted image of the 6.5 mm object. They've also confirmed the existence of the McDonnel fragment, which is about 1 cm to the left of the 6.5 mm object and 1 cm below the now-debunked cowlick entry site.

You don't want to deal with the fact that those back-of-head fragments could not possibly have come from an FMJ bullet.

[Tim Nickerson]

You still haven't read my article "Forensic Science and President Kennedy's Head Wounds," have you? Dr. Olivier said that CE 857 and CE 859 were "supposed to" contain the same fragments, but they obviously do not. This is when Specter took the conversation off-the-record. Now, gee, why do you suppose Specter feld the need to do that?

You still haven't read my article "Forensic Science and President Kennedy's Head Wounds," have you? Dr. Olivier said that CE 857 and CE 859 were "supposed to" contain the same fragments, but obviously they do not. This is when Specter took the conversation off-the-record. Now, gee, why do you suppose Specter felt the need to do that?

So it's not 58 in total. It's less than 40, and there is considerable doubt, given the test skull x-rays, that those exhibits contained only fragments from one bullet, not to mention the fact that at least 20 of them were sizable fragments and that the fragmentation pattern they produced in the test skull x-rays bears no resemblance to the pattern seen in the JFK skull x-rays.

I counted 39 fragments in CE-859. With the 2 in CE-858, that makes 41. I don't what a dozen is in your fantasy world  but it's 12 here in the real world. Unless you're a baker. The tests done for the WC at Edgewood Arsenal did show that FMJ bullets do shatter into dozens of fragments when they penetrate human skulls.

Are you ever going to you explain the fact that the x-rays of the test skull show minimal fragmentation?

You are kidding yourself. The WC test skull x-rays refute your argument. They show minimal fragmentation.

From page 168 of JFK Myths: A Scientific Investigation of the Kennedy Assassination:



Doesn't look like minimal fragmentation to me.

 

CEs 857, 858, and 859, even ignoring the questions about their validity, do not prove your claim.

Wait, what? Questions about the validity of CE-857, 858, and 859? Surely, you jest? Those exhibits do prove my claim. FMJ bullets do shatter into dozens of fragments when they penetrate human skulls.

Lattimer's test produced no more than 23 fragments, 8 of which were sizable, which bears no resemblance to the fragmentation seen in the JFK skull x-rays. The FMJ bullets in the Failure Analysis test behaved in the same way that Dr. Olivier told Donahue the FMJ bullets in the WC test behaved: they broke into no more than a few fragments.

How have you determined that Lattimer's test produced no more than 23 fragments?

I take it you didn't bother to read anything else in DiMaio's book, such as these two paragraphs:

A gunshot wound of the head from a high-velocity handgun bullet —
typically the .357 Magnum — can produce an x-ray picture superficially
resembling the lead snowstorm of hunting bullets. Breakup of the handgun
bullet, however, requires perforation of bone which is not necessary with a
rifle bullet. The fragments produced by the handgun bullet are fewer in
number and larger. Lead dust is also not present (see Figure 11.5).

An x-ray of an individual shot with a full metal-jacketed rifle bullet . . .
usually fails to reveal any bullet fragments at all even if the bullet has
perforated bone such as the skull or spine. If any fragments are seen,
they are very sparse in number, very fine and located at the point the bullet
perforated bone. (p. 206)

Are we clear now?

DiMaio wrote that military bullets usually do not fragment in the body or shed fragments of lead in their paths but there are exceptions. He alse wrote this:

"A fact not appreciated is that full metal-jacketed rifle bullets may break up in the body without hitting bone."
- Page 79

And since you're such a fan of DiMaio, I'll just repost this for your appreciation:

"In gunshot wounds of the skull, a large fragment of lead may be deposited between the scalp and the outer table of the skull at the entrance site. This piece of lead is sheared off the bullet as it enters. With lead .32 revolver bullets and less commonly with .38 bullets, this fragment often has a “C” or commashaped configuration (Figure 11.7). Rarely, the tip of the jacket of a full metal jacketed bullet is so deposited." - Page 337