Arlen Specter's SBT Notebook

[David Von Pein]

The fact is, the wrist wounds are the biggest problem for CE 399, JBC's recollections are among the biggest problems for the SBT, and Orr's theory is seemingly helpful in both regards while doing no violence to the LN/SBT narrative.

Does Mr. Orr think, therefore, that it is just a rather amazing coincidence when John Connally's right arm goes flying upward at a point in time in the Zapruder Film which was within a split second of Connally being struck by a bullet? [See the Z-Film clips below.]

And this right arm / hat flying upward movement is occurring, of course, several seconds before any fragments from the JFK head shot could have possibly hit Connally's wrist.

I suppose the argument can be made that John Connally's right arm/hat flip had nothing at all to do with the bullet that was striking the Texas Governor at that exact moment (or pretty close to that exact moment in time anyway), but given the fact that we know that Connally's right wrist was injured during the shooting, it's difficult for me to believe that the very rapid and jerky movement that we can see occurring with Mr. Connally's right arm is somehow not due to the fact that a rifle bullet has just struck JBC's right wrist. Wouldn't you agree, Lance?





Also See:

http://JFK-Archives.blogspot.com / The Ultimate In SBT Denial

[Lance Payette]

People are questioning me like I'm John Orr or am endorsing his theory. Did anyone actually read his analysis? He discusses this aspect at pp. 15-19.

He believes Oswald's first shot was fired at Z204 and his second shot 1.75 seconds later at Z236. He says the second shot hit JBC in the back near the right armpit at Z237 and that this is responsible for the reactions we see at Z238. He says that JBC himself thought the shot that hit him was within a couple of frames of Z234. If we can trust Michael Griffith's work on this, both JBC's chest surgeon Dr. Shaw and wrist surgeon Dr. Gregory placed the strike right about here as well. Orr has the third shot fired by a Mafia pro at Z312, 4.15 seconds after the second, and a fourth shot by Oswald immediately thereafter that missed completely.

And that's all I'm going to say about that! The shots are all such a Rohrshach test of films, photos, the dictabelt and earwitness and eyewitness testimony that my eyes glaze over and my brain shuts down. I simply find the notion that JBC's wrist wounds may have been caused by a fragment from the head shot to have considerable explanatory power even for the LN/SBT narrative and for this possibility to at least be worth considering unless it can be shown to be flatly impossible. Why there would any visceral LN reaction against this possibility is hard for me to understand.

[David Von Pein]

I think it's fairly easy to establish the moment in the Zapruder Film when John Connally was struck by the bullet that hit him. I've collected several relatively good-quality clips from the Z-Film, and after looking over and over again at the zoomed-in frames showing Connally, it's pretty clear (to me anyway) that Mr. Connally is definitely reacting to an external stimulus (a bullet) in the frames immediately after Z224. There's shoulder-shrugging, hat-flipping, mouth-opening, lapel-bulging, eyes closing, and grimacing all happening between frames 225 and 230.

And yet I'm supposed to believe Connally wasn't even hit at all until Z237? That's ridiculous. (IMHO.)

[Tim Nickerson]

I corrected what I had said above about John Orr. He does not basically accept the SBT at all. He has CE 399 striking JBC in the back and ending up in his thigh, but JBC's wrist wounds being caused by a fragment from the head shot.

The wrist wound thing intrigues me. It would seemingly eliminate a lot of the issues with the condition of CE 399 (the wrist fragments are not from it) and JBC's confusion as to when he was hit (because he was hit twice), while doing no real violence to the SBT. CE 399 would do everything the SBT says except cause JBC's wrist wounds.

Why do you say that the wrist fragments are not from CE-399?

[Tim Nickerson]

Yes, I think Orr's theory is well worth reading even if one concludes he's dead wrong. He certainly put extensive work into it, and he is the one who commissioned the Knott Lab study even though he now distances himself from it. As I recall, one key point is that JBC's doctors seemed to think the wrist wounds had been caused by a sharp or jagged missile, which doesn't sound like CE 399.

DR. GREGORY - The only way that this missile could have produced this wound in my view, was to have entered the wrist backward. Now, this is not inconsistent with one of the characteristics known for missiles which is to tumble. All missiles in flight have two motions normally, a linear motion from the muzzle of the gun to the target, a second motion which is a spinning motion having to do with maintaining the integrity of the intial linear direction, but if they strike an object they may be caused to turn in their path and tumble end over, and if they do, they tend to produce a greater amount of destruction within the strike time or the target, and they could possibly, if tumbling in air upon emergence, tumble into another target backward. That is the only possible explanation I could offer to correlate this missile with this particular wound.
Mr. SPECTER - Is them sufficient metallic substance missing from the back or rear end of that bullet to account for the metallic substance which you have described in the Governor's wrist?
Dr. GREGORY - It is possible but I don't know enough about the structure of bullets or this one in particular, to know what is a normal complement of lead or for this particular missile. It is irregular, but how much it may have lost, g have no idea.
Mr. DULLES - Would the nature of the entry wound give you any indication as to whether it entered backward or whether it entered forward?
Dr. GREGORY - My initial impression was that whatever produced the wound of the wrist was an irregular object, certainly not smooth nosed as the business end of this particular bullet is because of two things. The size of the wound of entrance, and the fact that it is irregular surfaced permitted it to pick up organic debris, materials, threads, and carry them into the wound with it.
Now, you will note that Dr. Shaw earlier in his testimony and in all of my conversations with him, never did indicate that there was any such loss of material into the wrist, nor does the back of this coat which I have examined show that it lost significant amounts of cloth but I think the tear in this coat sleeve does imply that there were bits of fabric lost, and I think those were resident in the wrist. I think we recovered them.
Mr. SPECTER - Is the back of that bullet characteristic of an irregular missile so as to cause the wound in the wrist?
Dr. GREGORY - I would say that the back of this being fiat and having sharp edges is irregular, and would possibly tend to tear tissues more than does an inclined plane such as this.
Mr. SPECTER - Would the back of the missile be sufficiently irregular to have caused the wound of the right wrist, in your opinion?
Dr. GREGORY - I think it could have; yes. It is possible.

[Lance Payette]

Why do you say that the wrist fragments are not from CE-399?

I don't say that. John Orr does. I simply say it's an interesting idea because JBC's wrist wounds seem to me the most problematical for the condition of CE 399.

I just checked. Tink Thompson says JBC is hit at Z235. Mark Tyler, whose work I respect, says the first shot is at Z185 and JBC reacts at Z224-240. Rorschach test. I decline to dive into the debate. I simply do find CE 399 somewhat implausible, and eliminating the wrist wounds would make it far more plausible to me if that can be plausibly done.

[Tom Graves]

I don't say that. John Orr does. I simply say it's an interesting idea because JBC's wrist wounds seem to me the most problematical for the condition of CE 399.

I just checked. Tink Thompson says JBC is hit at Z235. Mark Tyler, whose work I respect, says the first shot is at Z185 and JBC reacts at Z224-240. Rorschach test. I decline to dive into the debate. I simply do find CE 399 somewhat implausible, and eliminating the wrist wounds would make it far more plausible to me if that can be plausibly done.

Dear Lance,

Are there any "Lonenutter" researchers you respect who believe in the Single Bullet Hypothesis?

Or do you not respect them for the simple reason that they do believe in it?

-- Tom

[Tim Nickerson]

I don't say that. John Orr does. I simply say it's an interesting idea because JBC's wrist wounds seem to me the most problematical for the condition of CE 399.

I just checked. Tink Thompson says JBC is hit at Z235. Mark Tyler, whose work I respect, says the first shot is at Z185 and JBC reacts at Z224-240. Rorschach test. I decline to dive into the debate. I simply do find CE 399 somewhat implausible, and eliminating the wrist wounds would make it far more plausible to me if that can be plausibly done.

Surely, you're aware of the Failure Analysis Test of 1992, are you not? What do you think CE-399 should have looked like after hitting the wrist? Granted, in the FAA test, the bullets struck the wrists nose-forward. However, Fackler didn't seem to think that mattered much.