Connally screwed up big time.

[Tom Graves]

Connally's head movement left to right was very fast, within a second.

The reason Connally turns his head so far to his right starting around Z-165 (and keeps turning it farther to his right) is because he's consciously trying to catch a glimpse of JFK over his right shoulder to see if he's okay.

Connally's "startle reaction" to the sounds of the first shot had already occurred by Z-139.

In other words, Connaly snaps his head to his right twice:

1) before Z-139 ("startle reaction")

2) around Z-165 (conscious effort to see if JFK's okay).

[Jack Nessan]

Perhaps you missed the subject of this thread / the first sentence in my post.

Here it is again for you:


Connally screwed things up.


Perhaps I should have said Connally experienced three shots.

ME: How many shots did Governor Connally believe were fired, altogether, whether they hit or missed?

GROK: Governor John Connally believed a total of three shots were fired during the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. In his testimony to the Warren Commission and subsequent interviews, he consistently stated that he heard three shots: the first he believed missed, the second struck him, and the third was the fatal shot to Kennedy. He maintained this account, emphasizing three shots total, regardless of whether they hit or missed, as noted in the Warren Commission Report (Chapter 3) and his later statements, such as in a 1982 interview with The Dallas Morning News.


ME: If he believed that the first shot missed, the second shot hit him, and the third shot hit JFK's head, how did he explain the entrance wound in JFK's upper back / lower neck and the exit wound in JFK's throat?

GROK: Governor John Connally's testimony and statements about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, focus primarily on his experience of the shots and their effects, but he did not directly provide a detailed explanation for the specific wounds to Kennedy, such as the entrance wound in Kennedy’s upper back/lower neck and the exit wound in his throat. However, based on his accounts, particularly in the Warren Commission testimony and later interviews, we can infer his perspective and how it aligns with or diverges from the official findings.Connally testified before the Warren Commission (Volume IV, pages 131–137) that he heard three shots: the first, which he believed missed both him and Kennedy; the second, which struck him in the back, exiting through his chest; and the third, which he identified as the fatal head shot to Kennedy. He explicitly rejected the "single-bullet theory" (the Warren Commission's conclusion that one bullet caused both Kennedy’s back/neck/throat wounds and Connally’s injuries), arguing that the second shot hit him separately from any shot that hit Kennedy. He based this on the timing and his immediate sensory experience, stating he was not hit by the first shot but was struck by the second after turning to look toward Kennedy.Regarding Kennedy’s wounds specifically—the entrance in the upper back/lower neck and the exit through the throat—Connally did not offer a detailed explanation in his testimony or public statements about how these wounds occurred. His focus was on the sequence of shots and his own injuries. However, his belief in three shots and his rejection of the single-bullet theory imply that he likely attributed Kennedy’s back/neck/throat wounds to a separate bullet, distinct from the one that hit him. In his view, since the first shot missed and the third was the head shot, the second shot (or another shot not aligned with his own wounding) would have had to account for Kennedy’s non-fatal wounds. He did not specify which shot caused these wounds, but his insistence on separate shots for himself and Kennedy suggests he believed a different bullet (likely the second in his sequence) struck Kennedy in the back and exited through the throat. In later interviews, such as one with The Dallas Morning News in 1982, Connally reiterated his belief in three shots and his skepticism of the single-bullet theory, stating that the bullet that hit him could not have also hit Kennedy due to the timing and his physical reaction. He did not elaborate on the forensic details of Kennedy’s wounds, as his account was based on his personal experience rather than ballistic analysis. He acknowledged the possibility of a lone gunman but maintained that the shots’ effects on him and Kennedy were distinct events. The Warren Commission, conversely, concluded that a single bullet (the "single-bullet theory") caused both Kennedy’s back-to-throat wound and Connally’s injuries, based on ballistic evidence, the alignment of the men in the limousine, and the timing of the shots in the Zapruder film. Connally’s rejection of this theory implies he believed Kennedy’s back/neck/throat wounds were caused by a separate bullet, but he did not provide a specific alternative explanation for which shot caused them or how they occurred in his three-shot framework. In summary, Connally did not directly explain the mechanics of Kennedy’s back/neck/throat wounds but implied they resulted from a separate bullet, likely the second shot in his sequence, as he believed the first missed and the third was the head shot. His rejection of the single-bullet theory suggests he viewed Kennedy’s non-fatal wounds as caused by a distinct shot from the one that struck him.

GROK: Governor John Connally believed a total of three shots were fired during the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. In his testimony to the Warren Commission and subsequent interviews, he consistently stated that he heard three shots: the first he believed missed, the second struck him, and the third was the fatal shot to Kennedy. He maintained this account, emphasizing three shots total, regardless of whether they hit or missed, as noted in the Warren Commission Report (Chapter 3) and his later statements, such as in a 1982 interview with The Dallas Morning News.

GROK apparently is not very reliable. This is pretty basic to have gotten it wrong.

This is just wrong. JBC heard only two shots and thought he was hit by the shot he never heard.

Governor, you have described hearing a first shot and a third shot. Did you hear a second shot?
Governor CONNALLY. No; I did not.

Governor CONNALLY. ..... I didn't hear but two shots. I think I heard the first shot and the third shot.

-----------------------------------

GROK: Governor John Connally's testimony and statements about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, focus primarily on his experience of the shots and their effects, but he did not directly provide a detailed explanation for the specific wounds to Kennedy, such as the entrance wound in Kennedy’s upper back/lower neck and the exit wound in his throat. However, based on his accounts, particularly in the Warren Commission testimony and later interviews, we can infer his perspective and how it aligns with or diverges from the official findings.[/b]

JBC is explaining the reason for any memory inconsistancies.

Governor CONNALLY,,,,what a short period of time it took for it to occur, in a matter of seconds, and if my memory is somewhat vague about precisely which way I was looking or where my hand or arm was, I can only say I hope it is understandable in the light of the fact that this was a very sudden thing. It was a very shocking thing.

Senator COOPER. But now when you heard the shot, you turned to your right because you thought, as you said, that the shot came from that direction. As you turned, was that in the direction of the Texas School Book Depository?
Governor CONNALLY. Yes, sir; it was.

 AS seen in the Zapruder Film JBC looks right at JFK and sees him slumping.


(11-27-63 televised interview with Martin Agronsky, transcript printed in the 11-28-63 New York Times.) ”we had just turned the corner, we heard a shot; I turned to my left—I was sitting in the jump seat. I turned to my left to look in the back seat—the President had slumped. He had said nothing. Almost simultaneously, as I turned, I was hit and I knew I had been hit badly. I knew the President had been hit and I said,

-----

(12-13-63 FBI report on a 12-11 interview, CD188, p. 3-5) “Governor Connally stated “First sense or realization of anything unusual I became conscious of a shot or what sounded like a gunshot. I knew it came from my right rear. I instinctively turned to my right to look back and as I did so I sensed more than I saw that President Kennedy was hit. As I turned I realized something was amiss with President Kennedy and then I turned back to my left a little and as I did so I got hit with a bullet   

Mr. SPECTER. Mrs. Connally, tell us what happened at the time of the assassination.
Mrs. CONNALLY. In fact the receptions had been. so good every place that I had showed much restraint by not mentioning something about it before.
I could resist no longer. When we got past this area I did turn to the President and said, "Mr. President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you."
Then I don't know how soon, it seems to me it was very soon, that I heard a noise, and not being an expert rifleman, I was not aware that it was a rifle. It was just a frightening noise, and it came from the right.
I turned over my right shoulder and looked back, and saw the President as he had both hands at his neck.
Mr. SPECTER. And you are indicating with your own hands, two hands crossing over gripping your own neck?
Mrs. CONNALLY. Yes; and it seemed to me there was--he made no utterance, no cry. I saw no blood, no anything. It was just sort of nothing, the expression on his face, and he just sort of slumped down.
Then very soon there was the second shot that hit John. As the first shot was hit, and I turned to look at the same time, I recall John saying, "Oh, no, no, no." Then there was a second shot, and it hit John, and as he recoiled to the right, just crumpled like a wounded animal to the right, he said, "My God, they are going to kill us all."
I never again----
Mr. DULLES. To the right was into your arms more or less?
Mrs. CONNALLY. No, he turned away from me. I was pretending that I was him. I never again looked in the back seat of the car after my husband was shot. My concern was for him, and I remember that he turned to the right and then just slumped down into the seat, so that I reached over to pull him toward me.   

There is no doubt the first shot struck JFK and JBC.

 

[Jarrett Smith]

The reason Connally turns his head so far to his right starting around Z-165 (and keeps turning it farther to his right) is because he's consciously trying to catch a glimpse of JFK over his right shoulder to see if he's okay.

Connally's "startle reaction" to the sounds of the first shot had already occurred by Z-139.

In other words, Connaly snaps his head to his right twice:

1) before Z-139 ("startle reaction")

2) around Z-165 (conscious effort to see if JFK's okay).

I disagree. Zapruder's film blurs at Z158-Z160 plus Jackie and Nellie Connally both turn to the right after the shot that occurred at Z-155.

[Tom Graves]

Jackie and Nellie Connally both turned to the right after Z-155.

Jackie, Nellie, JFK, JBC, Roy Kellerman, George Hickey and Rosemary Willis all turned their heads suddenly between Z-142 and Z-150.