NEW ARTICLE: JFK's Clothing Proves the Single-Bullet Theory Is Impossible

[Michael T. Griffith]

Not only does JFK's clothing prove that no bullet exited the throat and the shirt slits, and that no bullet nicked the tie knot, but it also proves that Dr. Carrico and Dr. Jones were truthful and correct when they said the throat wound was above the tie knot. The clothing further proves that Dr. Perry was correct when he identified the throat wound as an entrance wound, and that the nurses were the ones who nicked the tie and made the shirt slits, just as Dr. Carrico indicated and just as one of the nurses confirmed to Henry Hurt.

In addition, this all comes together to explain why the damage behind the throat wound was larger than the wound itself, why the wound was small and punched-in, and why there was more blood on the outside of the collar band than on the inside.

Furthermore, this explains the fact that, as we now know, at the autopsy the autopsy doctors absolutely, positively, and conclusively established that the back wound had no exit point, why they and others around the table could see the end of the probe pushing up against the lining of the chest cavity, and why the rear clothing holes were over 5 inches below the collar.

[Lance Payette]

Because I just love it when CTers get into an internecine cat fight, I have continued to monitor the identical thread that Michael started at the Ed Forum. Cliff Varnell, who is the godfather of the Impossible Clothing Argument, says "Forget the damn necktie, willya??? We don't need it!"

I had failed to appreciate the subtlety of Cliff's argument. I thought he was positing a CIA melting ice bullet for the frontal throat wound and a dud Carcano round falling out of the shallow back wound. Cliff wisely points out that the back wound wasn't THAT shallow and a Carcano bullet wouldn't have simply fallen out.

For the back wound - and perhaps the throat wound as well - Cliff now posits a "blood soluble" bullet as developed for the CIA at the Army Biological Laboratory at Fort Detrick (MD) in connection with something called MKNAOMI, which you can read about here: https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/178-10004-10087.pdf. (Any document with "shellfish toxin" and "hand-launchers loaded with dog incapacitant" in it is worth reading, no?)

Wow, huh? Bad guys with blood-soluble bullets at both the front and rear! I had previously thought Lin Soo Mknaomi was just a South Korean professional golfer on the LPGA Tour, but now I'm starting to come around to Cliff's way of thinking on this.

[Michael T. Griffith]

If anyone has any questions about the arguments being made by SBT defenders in this thread, please message or email me and I'll address them. Unless something changes, I'm probably not going to spend any more time responding to their strained, evasive arguments.

You'll notice that not one of them is explaining how a bullet exiting the throat wound and shirt slits could have missed the tie knot, and how such a bullet could have weaved around the body of the knot to nick its outer surface on the left area of the bottom half of the knot (and not on the edge).

Sherlock Holmes famously said, "When you eliminate the impossible, however improbable, whatever remains must be the truth." To put it another way, once all impossible scenarios are removed from consideration, the only remaining explanation, even if it seems unlikely, must be the correct one.

In this case, the remaining explanation is eminently probable on its face, and it is proven beyond any rational doubt by JFK's shirt, coat, and tie.

Less than two hours after JFK died, the Parkland Hospital doctors held a press conference. During the presser, Dr. Malcolm Perry identified the throat wound as an entrance wound three times. Dr. Perry, who had much more experience with gunshot wounds than Humes or Boswell, diagnosed the throat wound as an entry wound because it was small (3-5 mm), neat, circular, and punched-in, and because of the damage he saw behind the wound.

We have the transcript of the press conference, but not any film footage of it. Why? How could this be? Because the Secret Service confiscated all film footage of the presser, and it has not surfaced since then.

Moreover, the Secret Service lied to the WC and said they could not locate the films or the transcript of the press conference. Thanks to the ARRB, we now know that the Secret Service had the transcript in their possession by 11/26, four days after the shooting.

With no film or transcript of the press conference, the WC claimed that press reports that quoted Perry as saying the wound was a neat puncture wound were inaccurate, and that all the journalists at the presser somehow misunderstood what Perry said. The Commission even pressured Perry into endorsing this claim.

The Church Committee discovered in the 1970s that the Secret Service pressured Dr. Perry to change his story long before he testified before the WC.

It gets worse. Journalist Martin Steadman and two other journalists spoke with Dr. Perry about a week after the assassination. Steadman knew that Perry had identified the throat wound as an entrance wound at the 11/22 press conference. Steadman wrote that Dr. Perry said he thought the throat wound was an entrance wound because the hole was small, circular, and clean (not ragged). Perry added that he had treated hundreds of patients with gunshot wounds and knew the difference between an exit wound and entrance wound.

Steadman reported that Dr. Perry then told him that during the night of the assassination, he got several phone calls from the doctors at Bethesda. He said they were very upset about his statement that the neck wound was an entry wound.

Let me pause to note that this debunks the autopsy doctors' lie that they knew nothing about the throat wound until the morning after the autopsy. The Parkland press conference had been widely reported on by major news outlets. Even without Dr. Perry's disclosure, it would be hard to believe that the autopsy doctors heard nothing about the throat wound until the morning after the autopsy.

Anyway, to continue. Steadman reported that Perry said that the autopsy doctors asked him if he or another Parkland doctor had turned over the body to see the wound in Kennedy’s back. Perry said they had not. They then argued that he could not therefore be certain about the throat wound, that there was no evidence of a shot from the front, and that he should stop saying the throat wound was an entrance wound.

Moreover, Steadman said that Dr. Perry told him that when he insisted he could only say what he believed to be true, one or more of the autopsy doctors told him he would be brought before a medical board if he continued to insist on his story. Perry said they even threatened that he would lose his medical license.

Crucially, Parkland nurse Audrey Bell confirmed in her 1997 ARRB interview that Dr. Perry told her that he received several calls on the night of the assassination from Bethesda Naval Hospital pressuring him to change his story about the throat wound:

Saturday morning, when I got over there, Dr. Perry came up to
the office. I said, "You look awful. Did you get any sleep last night?"

He said, "Well, not too much, between the calls from Bethesda
that came in during the night." ["Bethesda" refers to Bethesda Naval
Hospital, where the autopsy was performed.]

I said, "What about?"

He said, "Oh, whether that was an entrance wound or an exit wound
in the throat."

He said, "They were wanting me to change my mind."
(https://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/arrb/medical_interviews/audio/ARRB_Bell.htm)

All of this makes perfect sense when we acknowledge the hard physical evidence that no bullet could have exited the throat and shirt slits without tearing through the tie, that no such bullet could have magically flown around the knot and nicked its outer surface, which facts in turn confirm that the throat wound was above the tie knot and could have only been an entry wound.

[David Von Pein]

https://jfk-archives.blogspot.com/2016/04/dvp-vs-dieugenio-part-115.html#The-Clark-Perry-Press-Conference-At-Parkland-Hospital-On-November-22-1963

[Jack Nessan]

If anyone has any questions about the arguments being made by SBT defenders in this thread, please message or email me and I'll address them. Unless something changes, I'm probably not going to spend any more time responding to their strained, evasive arguments.

You'll notice that not one of them is explaining how a bullet exiting the throat wound and shirt slits could have missed the tie knot, and how such a bullet could have weaved around the body of the knot to nick its outer surface on the left area of the bottom half of the knot (and not on the edge).

Sherlock Holmes famously said, "When you eliminate the impossible, however improbable, whatever remains must be the truth." To put it another way, once all impossible scenarios are removed from consideration, the only remaining explanation, even if it seems unlikely, must be the correct one.

In this case, the remaining explanation is eminently probable on its face, and it is proven beyond any rational doubt by JFK's shirt, coat, and tie.

Less than two hours after JFK died, the Parkland Hospital doctors held a press conference. During the presser, Dr. Malcolm Perry identified the throat wound as an entrance wound three times. Dr. Perry, who had much more experience with gunshot wounds than Humes or Boswell, diagnosed the throat wound as an entry wound because it was small (3-5 mm), neat, circular, and punched-in, and because of the damage he saw behind the wound.

We have the transcript of the press conference, but not any film footage of it. Why? How could this be? Because the Secret Service confiscated all film footage of the presser, and it has not surfaced since then.

Moreover, the Secret Service lied to the WC and said they could not locate the films or the transcript of the press conference. Thanks to the ARRB, we now know that the Secret Service had the transcript in their possession by 11/26, four days after the shooting.

With no film or transcript of the press conference, the WC claimed that press reports that quoted Perry as saying the wound was a neat puncture wound were inaccurate, and that all the journalists at the presser somehow misunderstood what Perry said. The Commission even pressured Perry into endorsing this claim.

The Church Committee discovered in the 1970s that the Secret Service pressured Dr. Perry to change his story long before he testified before the WC.

It gets worse. Journalist Martin Steadman and two other journalists spoke with Dr. Perry about a week after the assassination. Steadman knew that Perry had identified the throat wound as an entrance wound at the 11/22 press conference. Steadman wrote that Dr. Perry said he thought the throat wound was an entrance wound because the hole was small, circular, and clean (not ragged). Perry added that he had treated hundreds of patients with gunshot wounds and knew the difference between an exit wound and entrance wound.

Steadman reported that Dr. Perry then told him that during the night of the assassination, he got several phone calls from the doctors at Bethesda. He said they were very upset about his statement that the neck wound was an entry wound.

Let me pause to note that this debunks the autopsy doctors' lie that they knew nothing about the throat wound until the morning after the autopsy. The Parkland press conference had been widely reported on by major news outlets. Even without Dr. Perry's disclosure, it would be hard to believe that the autopsy doctors heard nothing about the throat wound until the morning after the autopsy.

Anyway, to continue. Steadman reported that Perry said that the autopsy doctors asked him if he or another Parkland doctor had turned over the body to see the wound in Kennedy’s back. Perry said they had not. They then argued that he could not therefore be certain about the throat wound, that there was no evidence of a shot from the front, and that he should stop saying the throat wound was an entrance wound.

Moreover, Steadman said that Dr. Perry told him that when he insisted he could only say what he believed to be true, one or more of the autopsy doctors told him he would be brought before a medical board if he continued to insist on his story. Perry said they even threatened that he would lose his medical license.

Crucially, Parkland nurse Audrey Bell confirmed in her 1997 ARRB interview that Dr. Perry told her that he received several calls on the night of the assassination from Bethesda Naval Hospital pressuring him to change his story about the throat wound:

Saturday morning, when I got over there, Dr. Perry came up to
the office. I said, "You look awful. Did you get any sleep last night?"

He said, "Well, not too much, between the calls from Bethesda
that came in during the night." ["Bethesda" refers to Bethesda Naval
Hospital, where the autopsy was performed.]

I said, "What about?"

He said, "Oh, whether that was an entrance wound or an exit wound
in the throat."

He said, "They were wanting me to change my mind."
(https://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/arrb/medical_interviews/audio/ARRB_Bell.htm)

All of this makes perfect sense when we acknowledge the hard physical evidence that no bullet could have exited the throat and shirt slits without tearing through the tie, that no such bullet could have magically flown around the knot and nicked its outer surface, which facts in turn confirm that the throat wound was above the tie knot and could have only been an entry wound.

MG ”Sherlock Holmes famously said, "When you eliminate the impossible, however improbable, whatever remains must be the truth." To put it another way, once all impossible scenarios are removed from consideration, the only remaining explanation, even if it seems unlikely, must be the correct one.”
 
Where does Sherlock say if lacking evidence for your grand proclamation, it is OK to fabricate your own evidence? Must be in a different nugget of wisdom.

MG “In this case, the remaining explanation is eminently probable on its face, and it is proven beyond any rational doubt by JFK's shirt, coat, and tie.”

Great explanation, except the autopsy photos do not support this nonsense and show the bullet hole lower on JFK’s throat and then there is the problem of the bullet went on to strike JBC in the back. Other than that, a very inspirational observation.
 

[Michael T. Griffith]

I think this is a good time to quote some of Dr. Jerry McKnight's research on the shirt slits and the tie. This comes from his article "Bugliosi Fails to Resuscitate the Single-Bullet Theory":

-----------QUOTE-------------

The first FBI laboratory reports on Kennedy’s clothes revealed that the holes in his coat and shirt submitted to both X-ray and spectrographic analysis showed traces of copper (bullet metal) around the edges of the holes. This was forensically consistent with JFK having been shot in the back with copper-jacketed ammunition. The same tests run on Kennedy’s collar and tie showed no bullet metal was found in the surrounding fabric. Rather than admit that the slits in the President’s collar and nick in his tie were not caused by an assassin’s bullet, the FBI lab report noted that the slits had the “characteristics of an exit hole for a bullet fragment.”

The FBI knew that the origin of the slits and the nick in the tie were not caused by a bullet fragment, but it was essential to stay on message: The official story decided upon over the weekend of the assassination was locked into all three shots originating from above and to the rear of the presidential limo, so the FBI was willing to go the extra mile and pretend that a fragment from the bullet that struck Kennedy from the rear caused the “holes” (the report’s description) in the collar and the nick in the tie. . . .

Dr. Charles J. Carrico was the first physician to examine the agonal Kennedy, whose breathing was spasmodic and his color cyanotic (bluish gray), symptoms associated with a terminal patient. Because time was critical the attending nurses took scalpels and cut off Kennedy’s clothes. In their haste to free the patient from his clothes one of the nurses nicked the tie and left two slits in his shirt collar. As Carrico explained to Specter the use of scalpels was “the usual practice” in a medical emergency of this nature. Allen Dulles, who accompanied Specter to Dallas, asked Carrico twice to show him the location of the hole in Kennedy’s anterior neck. The Parkland doctor responded on both occasions locating a point above the collar line. So Specter had unimpeachable first-hand testimony that would have persuaded any good faith investigation to have ruled out the Commission’s single-bullet explanation.

Bugliosi attempts to validate the Commission’s single-bullet construction is really a fatuous exercise in trying to make the worst appear the better case. He cites a 1965 memorandum from Dr. Pierre A. Finck, one of the Bethesda Naval Hospital prosectors, to his commanding officer in which the Army pathologist contends that there was a "bullet hole perforating both flaps of the [Kennedy] shirt, right and left." It is necessary to point out that Finck and the other prosectors did not see Kennedy’s clothes until March 1964 when Specter made them available in preparation for their appearances before the Commission. Even more to the point, according to Finck when he attempted to examine the President’s clothes during the Bethesda autopsy he was blocked by an "officer who outranked me told me that my request was only of academic interest". . . .

If the FBI had a reasonable doubt or even a fleeting suspicion that the “holes” or perforations in JFK's collar were caused by a bullet or a missile fragment, it would have subjected the collar to testing to determine whether the “holes” or slits overlapped or coincided and whether the fibers around the perforations were pointing in or out. The specialist who would have conducted these tests was SA Paul M. Stombaugh, the FBI’s chief hair and fiber expert. Stombaugh did appear before the Commission but during his lengthy testimony not a single question was asked about an examination of JFK’s collar and whether in his expert opinion the slits or “holes” in the collar overlapped or coincided.

Was Stombaugh ever tasked to make an examination of JFK’s collar and tie? According to Robert A. Frazier, the FBI’s firearms expert, Stombaugh ran tests on JFK’s collar and tie at Frazier’s request. In 1977 Frazier was deposed in a FOIA suit brought by prominent JFK assassination researcher Harold Weisberg. Frazier was under oath and admitted that Stombaugh ran tests on the collar and tie. He also admitted that Stombaugh made a report of his findings. Whatever the results, that report is not in the Warren report or the 26 volumes of testimony and exhibits. . . .

Harold Weisberg interviewed both Carrico and Perry at Parkland Hospital on 12/1/1971. His notes on the conversation that Carrico acknowledged that he was talking about a scalpel when he told Specter “... I proceeded with the examination and the nurses removed his clothing as is the usual procedure” (3 H 359). Nurse Diane Bowron told Specter “... Miss Henchliffe and I cut off his clothing” (6 H 136). The instrument used was a scalpel, Carrico told Weisberg. The record of this conversation can be found in the Weisberg Subject Index File under “Dr. Carrico,” items 02 and 03. (https://www.maryferrell.org/pages/Essay_-_Bugliosi_Fails_to_Resuscitate_the_Single-Bullet_Theory.html)

-----------------------END QUOTE---------------------

We should keep in mind that the claim that the shirt slits' fibers were pushed outward was not made in the FBI lab report on the clothing. This claim was only made later by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover in a letter to the WC's chief counsel, J. Lee Rankin.

Also, neither Frazier nor Stombaugh nor Hoover nor Finck ever tried to explain how a bullet that exited the shirt slits could have avoided tearing through the tie knot or how a bullet could have performed like a guided missile and weaved around the body of the knot to nick the knot's outer surface. And, again, it should noted that the nick was not on the edge of the knot but visibly inward from the edge.

In fact, in FBI Exhibit 60, the FBI twisted the knot to make it appear that the nick was in the center of the knot, giving the false impression that there was a hole through the knot. The HSCA, to its great credit, admitted that the nick was only on the "outer facing" of the knot and that the lining under the nick was not damaged.

[Jack Nessan]

I think this is a good time to quote some of Dr. Jerry McKnight's research on the shirt slits and the tie. This comes from his article "Bugliosi Fails to Resuscitate the Single-Bullet Theory":

-----------QUOTE-------------

The first FBI laboratory reports on Kennedy’s clothes revealed that the holes in his coat and shirt submitted to both X-ray and spectrographic analysis showed traces of copper (bullet metal) around the edges of the holes. This was forensically consistent with JFK having been shot in the back with copper-jacketed ammunition. The same tests run on Kennedy’s collar and tie showed no bullet metal was found in the surrounding fabric. Rather than admit that the slits in the President’s collar and nick in his tie were not caused by an assassin’s bullet, the FBI lab report noted that the slits had the “characteristics of an exit hole for a bullet fragment.”

The FBI knew that the origin of the slits and the nick in the tie were not caused by a bullet fragment, but it was essential to stay on message: The official story decided upon over the weekend of the assassination was locked into all three shots originating from above and to the rear of the presidential limo, so the FBI was willing to go the extra mile and pretend that a fragment from the bullet that struck Kennedy from the rear caused the “holes” (the report’s description) in the collar and the nick in the tie. . . .

Dr. Charles J. Carrico was the first physician to examine the agonal Kennedy, whose breathing was spasmodic and his color cyanotic (bluish gray), symptoms associated with a terminal patient. Because time was critical the attending nurses took scalpels and cut off Kennedy’s clothes. In their haste to free the patient from his clothes one of the nurses nicked the tie and left two slits in his shirt collar. As Carrico explained to Specter the use of scalpels was “the usual practice” in a medical emergency of this nature. Allen Dulles, who accompanied Specter to Dallas, asked Carrico twice to show him the location of the hole in Kennedy’s anterior neck. The Parkland doctor responded on both occasions locating a point above the collar line. So Specter had unimpeachable first-hand testimony that would have persuaded any good faith investigation to have ruled out the Commission’s single-bullet explanation.

Bugliosi attempts to validate the Commission’s single-bullet construction is really a fatuous exercise in trying to make the worst appear the better case. He cites a 1965 memorandum from Dr. Pierre A. Finck, one of the Bethesda Naval Hospital prosectors, to his commanding officer in which the Army pathologist contends that there was a "bullet hole perforating both flaps of the [Kennedy] shirt, right and left." It is necessary to point out that Finck and the other prosectors did not see Kennedy’s clothes until March 1964 when Specter made them available in preparation for their appearances before the Commission. Even more to the point, according to Finck when he attempted to examine the President’s clothes during the Bethesda autopsy he was blocked by an "officer who outranked me told me that my request was only of academic interest". . . .

If the FBI had a reasonable doubt or even a fleeting suspicion that the “holes” or perforations in JFK's collar were caused by a bullet or a missile fragment, it would have subjected the collar to testing to determine whether the “holes” or slits overlapped or coincided and whether the fibers around the perforations were pointing in or out. The specialist who would have conducted these tests was SA Paul M. Stombaugh, the FBI’s chief hair and fiber expert. Stombaugh did appear before the Commission but during his lengthy testimony not a single question was asked about an examination of JFK’s collar and whether in his expert opinion the slits or “holes” in the collar overlapped or coincided.

Was Stombaugh ever tasked to make an examination of JFK’s collar and tie? According to Robert A. Frazier, the FBI’s firearms expert, Stombaugh ran tests on JFK’s collar and tie at Frazier’s request. In 1977 Frazier was deposed in a FOIA suit brought by prominent JFK assassination researcher Harold Weisberg. Frazier was under oath and admitted that Stombaugh ran tests on the collar and tie. He also admitted that Stombaugh made a report of his findings. Whatever the results, that report is not in the Warren report or the 26 volumes of testimony and exhibits. . . .

Harold Weisberg interviewed both Carrico and Perry at Parkland Hospital on 12/1/1971. His notes on the conversation that Carrico acknowledged that he was talking about a scalpel when he told Specter “... I proceeded with the examination and the nurses removed his clothing as is the usual procedure” (3 H 359). Nurse Diane Bowron told Specter “... Miss Henchliffe and I cut off his clothing” (6 H 136). The instrument used was a scalpel, Carrico told Weisberg. The record of this conversation can be found in the Weisberg Subject Index File under “Dr. Carrico,” items 02 and 03. (https://www.maryferrell.org/pages/Essay_-_Bugliosi_Fails_to_Resuscitate_the_Single-Bullet_Theory.html)

-----------------------END QUOTE---------------------

We should keep in mind that the claim that the shirt slits' fibers were pushed outward was not made in the FBI lab report on the clothing. This claim was only made later by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover in a letter to the WC's chief counsel, J. Lee Rankin.

Also, neither Frazier nor Stombaugh nor Hoover nor Finck ever tried to explain how a bullet that exited the shirt slits could have avoided tearing through the tie knot or how a bullet could have performed like a guided missile and weaved around the body of the knot to nick the knot's outer surface. And, again, it should noted that the nick was not on the edge of the knot but visibly inward from the edge.

In fact, in FBI Exhibit 60, the FBI twisted the knot to make it appear that the nick was in the center of the knot, giving the false impression that there was a hole through the knot. The HSCA, to its great credit, admitted that the nick was only on the "outer facing" of the knot and that the lining under the nick was not damaged.

Did Sherlock Holmes state when your story is shown to be completely bogus, double down on the assertion it is correct and then accuse everyone of being part of the conspiracy? Maybe it was Confucius who stated it.

Just curious but do sparks fly from a bullet that comes to a grinding screeching halt in flesh? Probably not given it was lead and copper, but in this story you never know. To go from 2100 feet/second to zero instantly and leaving no trace of it. That is amazing, considering this would defy all of the laws of physics.