A Small, Overlooked Interesting JFKA Clue?

[Benjamin Cole]

The JFKA is the greatest detective story ever written, even as its repugnant horror seems to never fade away.

And even yet, new clues can emerge out of old cloth. Literally.

So recently, I was puzzling over Gov. JBC's already mysterious wrist-wound.

JBC's surgeon, Dr. Robert Shaw, thought the wrist wound, which resulted from a slug entering the dorsal side---the wristwatch side---and which left the ventral side of the wrist, may have resulted from a separate projectile.

Recently I reviewed a photo of the hole in JBC's left pant leg, into which CE-399 is said to have temporarily buried itself, before popping out (after passing through JFK's neck, JBC's torso, and JBC's right wrist, and yes, both the WC and the more-skeptical HSCA accepted this explanation).

See the photo:



The Western Cartridge 6.50 slug has a diameter of a little more than 1/4". It is large slug, at about 1 and 1/4" inches long.

This is a neat, perfect hole CE-399 purportedly made in JBC's pant leg on 11/22, indicative of spiraling slug.

Gun enthusiasts know that a modern-era bullet is spiraling (a bit like a well-thrown football) as it leaves a rifle barrel, and one can see spirals on the inside of a gun barrel that impart the spin.

OK. So, it appears whatever bullet struck JBC in the leg had maintained its spiral, and was not tumbling.

OK, if the SBT is true, then a bullet passed through JFK's neck, then passed through JBC's torso (taking out four inches of rib), then fractured his wrist, and then still spiraling, made a perfect hole in JBC's pant leg to burrow into the leg itself.

Add on: A strange quote from JBC's wrist surgeon:

Dr. GREGORY. Yes; debridement is a surgical term used to designate that
procedure in attending a wound which removes by sharp excision all nonvital
tissue in the area together with any identifiable foreign objects.
In attending this wound, it was evident early that clot had been carried into
the wound from the dorsal surface to the bone and into the fracture. This
would imply that an irregular missile had passed through the wrist from the
dorsal to the volar aspect.

https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh6/pdf/WH6_Gregory.pdf

An irregular missile? Does that describe a slug that must have been spiraling when it struck JBC's leg? Does that describe CE-399?

I wish I had a sensible answer to the wound pattern on JBC. For me, the SBT does not hold water---indeed, even if JBC was struck by a separate shot, his wound pattern is mysterious.

I have long pondered if JBC's wrist was struck by a shot from the GK smoke-and-bang show.

The wound to JBC's leg, however, poses yet new curiosities.

Dr. Gregory's long-forgotten quote that an "irregular" missile had passed through JBC's wrist is another oddity.

Last thought: Gov. JBC's twice said (WC and HSCA) slugs were entering the JFK cab limo as is from "automatic weapons" fire.

More later.

[Royell Storing]

The JFKA is the greatest detective story ever written, even as its repugnant horror seems to never fade away.

And even yet, new clues can emerge out of old cloth. Literally.

So recently, I was puzzling over Gov. JBC's already mysterious wrist-wound.

JBC's surgeon, Dr. Robert Shaw, thought the wrist wound, which resulted from a slug entering the dorsal side---the wristwatch side---and which left the ventral side of the wrist, may have resulted from a separate projectile.

Recently I reviewed a photo of the hole in JBC's left pant leg, into which CE-399 is said to have temporarily buried itself, before popping out (after passing through JFK's neck, JBC's torso, and JBC's right wrist, and yes, both the WC and the more-skeptical HSCA accepted this explanation).

See the photo:



The Western Cartridge 6.50 slug has a diameter of a little more than 1/4". It is large slug, at about 1 and 1/4" inches long.

This is a neat, perfect hole CE-399 purportedly made in JBC's pant leg on 11/22, indicative of spiraling slug.

Gun enthusiasts know that a modern-era bullet is spiraling (a bit like a well-thrown football) as it leaves a rifle barrel, and one can see spirals on the inside of a gun barrel that impart the spin.

OK. So, it appears whatever bullet struck JBC in the leg had maintained its spiral, and was not tumbling.

OK, if the SBT is true, then a bullet passed through JFK's neck, then passed through JBC's torso (taking out four inches of rib), then fractured his wrist, and then still spiraling, made a perfect hole in JBC's pant leg to burrow into the leg itself.

Add on: A strange quote from JBC's wrist surgeon:

Dr. GREGORY. Yes; debridement is a surgical term used to designate that
procedure in attending a wound which removes by sharp excision all nonvital
tissue in the area together with any identifiable foreign objects.
In attending this wound, it was evident early that clot had been carried into
the wound from the dorsal surface to the bone and into the fracture. This
would imply that an irregular missile had passed through the wrist from the
dorsal to the volar aspect.

https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh6/pdf/WH6_Gregory.pdf

An irregular missile? Does that describe a slug that must have been spiraling when it struck JBC's leg? Does that describe CE-399?

I wish I had a sensible answer to the wound pattern on JBC. For me, the SBT does not hold water---indeed, even if JBC was struck by a separate shot, his wound pattern is mysterious.

I have long pondered if JBC's wrist was struck by a shot from the GK smoke-and-bang show.

The wound to JBC's leg, however, poses yet new curiosities.

Dr. Gregory's long-forgotten quote that an "irregular" missile had passed through JBC's wrist is another oddity.

Last thought: Gov. JBC's twice said (WC and HSCA) slugs were entering the JFK cab limo as is from "automatic weapons" fire.

More later.

        This is why Specter handled the questioning of Tomlinson. Specter was required in order to muddle the issue of the pristine bullet having fallen from the JFK stretcher. Same goes for Specter being called in to question ASAIC Kellerman and his description of a "flurry" of shells coming into the JFK Limo. Specter being called in to question a witness was a "break glass in case of fire" necessity. 

[Benjamin Cole]

RS-

Thanks for your collegial reply.

I agree, Specter played the role of the prosecution in the WC, not an investigator. There was no defense counsel. In brief, the WC became a posthumous prosecutorial body.

In general, I accept the conclusions of the subsequent HSCA, but (like every JFKA researcher) I have drawn my own conclusions also. 

Side note: Yes, the WC was formed to find LHO as a LN.

But that also meant that G2 or KGB influences on LHO, possibly through KGB moles embedded in the CIA, were also shoved under the rug. Victor Marchetti thought as much.

Researchers have been able to pore over CIA documents....but not those of the KGB or G2, except as revealed by those governments.

So, we researchers face an oceanic black hole in our study of LHO.

[Dan O'meara]

The JFKA is the greatest detective story ever written, even as its repugnant horror seems to never fade away.

And even yet, new clues can emerge out of old cloth. Literally.

So recently, I was puzzling over Gov. JBC's already mysterious wrist-wound.

JBC's surgeon, Dr. Robert Shaw, thought the wrist wound, which resulted from a slug entering the dorsal side---the wristwatch side---and which left the ventral side of the wrist, may have resulted from a separate projectile.

Recently I reviewed a photo of the hole in JBC's left pant leg, into which CE-399 is said to have temporarily buried itself, before popping out (after passing through JFK's neck, JBC's torso, and JBC's right wrist, and yes, both the WC and the more-skeptical HSCA accepted this explanation).

See the photo:



The Western Cartridge 6.50 slug has a diameter of a little more than 1/4". It is large slug, at about 1 and 1/4" inches long.

This is a neat, perfect hole CE-399 purportedly made in JBC's pant leg on 11/22, indicative of spiraling slug.

Gun enthusiasts know that a modern-era bullet is spiraling (a bit like a well-thrown football) as it leaves a rifle barrel, and one can see spirals on the inside of a gun barrel that impart the spin.

OK. So, it appears whatever bullet struck JBC in the leg had maintained its spiral, and was not tumbling.

OK, if the SBT is true, then a bullet passed through JFK's neck, then passed through JBC's torso (taking out four inches of rib), then fractured his wrist, and then still spiraling, made a perfect hole in JBC's pant leg to burrow into the leg itself.

Add on: A strange quote from JBC's wrist surgeon:

Dr. GREGORY. Yes; debridement is a surgical term used to designate that
procedure in attending a wound which removes by sharp excision all nonvital
tissue in the area together with any identifiable foreign objects.
In attending this wound, it was evident early that clot had been carried into
the wound from the dorsal surface to the bone and into the fracture. This
would imply that an irregular missile had passed through the wrist from the
dorsal to the volar aspect.

https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh6/pdf/WH6_Gregory.pdf

An irregular missile? Does that describe a slug that must have been spiraling when it struck JBC's leg? Does that describe CE-399?

I wish I had a sensible answer to the wound pattern on JBC. For me, the SBT does not hold water---indeed, even if JBC was struck by a separate shot, his wound pattern is mysterious.

I have long pondered if JBC's wrist was struck by a shot from the GK smoke-and-bang show.

The wound to JBC's leg, however, poses yet new curiosities.

Dr. Gregory's long-forgotten quote that an "irregular" missile had passed through JBC's wrist is another oddity.

Last thought: Gov. JBC's twice said (WC and HSCA) slugs were entering the JFK cab limo as is from "automatic weapons" fire.

More later.

JBC's wrist injury shows no sign that a bullet passed through it, spiralling, tumbling or otherwise (a tumbling bullet would have blown his hand off).
If it did it would look something like this:



The bullet has to travel from one side of the bone, pass through it, and exit the other side of the bone.
Common Sense tells us it would create a hole through the bone where the bullet has passed.
JBC's wrist bone shows no such thing:



How to explain this lack of a hole through the bone?
I believe the bullet exiting JBC's chest hit the wrist bone and fragmented. A small fragment passed through the wrist bone creating  a "slit-like" exit wound in the creases of the under side of the wrist. The far larger fragment deflected away from the wrist and embedded itself in JBC's thigh.
This explains why there appears to be a large entry wound yet a small exit wound in the wrist. Something that was noted as being quite strange.
It also explains the number of metallic fragments seen throughout the wrist. Something that cannot be explained by assuming CE399 had anything to to with these injuries (spiralling OR tumbling).
It also explains the observation that the object that passed through the wrist was an "irregular missile".
And it also explains why there is no hole through the bone showing where a bullet passed through.

The large fragment of bullet that embedded itself in JBC's leg fell to the floor of the operating theatre as JBC was being moved from his stretcher onto the operating table. It was picked up by a nurse. (JBC recalls this in his memoirs)
Henry Wade, who was visiting his good friend Connally at the time, recalls the nurse bringing the slug to him and he told her to give it to the nearest police officer.
It appears the nurse then put the slug into an envelope and went into the corridor where she found Bill Stinson, Connally's Chief Aide, talking to Texas Highway Patrolman Bob Nolan. She told Stinson what she had and he told her to give it to Nolan who put the envelope in his pocket.
This large bullet fragment would go on to mysteriously transform itself into the four small fragments of bullet taken from JBC's wrist wound and labelled Q9 by the FBI lab, in Washington.

[Benjamin Cole]

DO-

Thanks for your collegial comments, and your explanation is as good as any.

I do wonder about a fragment leaving JBC's wrist and making what looks like a near-perfect bullet hole in JBC's pant leg.

I lean to Paul Landis finding CE-399 in the back of the JFK limo, 11/22.

Caveat emptor, and draw your own conclusions.

[Dan O'meara]

DO-

Thanks for your collegial comments, and your explanation is as good as any.

I do wonder about a fragment leaving JBC's wrist and making what looks like a near-perfect bullet hole in JBC's pant leg.

I lean to Paul Landis finding CE-399 in the back of the JFK limo, 11/22.

Caveat emptor, and draw your own conclusions.

You don't seem to disagree with my observation that an intact bullet could not have passed through JBC's wrist bone but you don't seem to agree either.
The lack of hole through the bone, the small slit-like exit wound, the trail of metallic fragments through the wound and the irregular nature of the object certainly favours the explanation that a small fragment of bullet passed through the wrist rather than an intact bullet.

As for CE399...there isn't a scrap of evidence, that I'm aware of, placing CE399 anywhere near Parkland hospital on the day of the assassination and Connally recalls the slug that was in his leg being recovered in the operating theatre as he was being moved from the stretcher to the table. He recalls it making a sound like a "wedding band" hitting the floor and that a nurse picked it up. This is from a Robert Harris article [ https://www.kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-articles/the-connally-bullet ]:

But there is an even better reason why we can be quite certain that CE399 was not the bullet that wounded Governor Connally. The real bullet was found on the second floor and recovered by a nurse, who then passed it on to officer Bobby Nolan, who then delivered it to the Dallas Police department. The confirmation of this begins with Governor Connally. This is from his autobiography entitled, "In History's shadow".

"..the most curious discovery of all took place when they rolled me off the stretcher, and onto the examining table. A metal object fell to the floor, with a click no louder than a wedding band. The nurse picked it up and slipped it into her pocket. It was the bullet from my body, the one that passed though my back, chest and wrist and worked itself loose from my thigh.

There was enormous significance to that scrap of metal, but I can't be certain how many years later I understood the importance of it. I have always believed that three bullets found their mark. What happened in the hospital demonstrated how easily a bullet could have been swept aside and lost.."

What the governor obviously didn't realize however, is that the bullet was not "swept aside". Certainly, the nurse who recovered it would not have just discarded the most important piece of forensic evidence she had ever handled. As it turned out, the Dallas District attorney arrived at the hospital, eager to find out how his old friend, Governor Connally was doing. It seems that he arrived at about the same time that the surgery on the governor was completed, when he ran into that same nurse who found the bullet. This is from an interview of Dallas District attorney, Henry Wade, by the Dallas Morning News.

I also went out to see (Gov. John) Connally, but he was in the operating room. Some nurse had a bullet in her hand, and said this was on the gurney that Connally was on. I talked with Nellie Connally a while and then went on home.

Q: What did you do with the bullet? Is this the famous pristine bullet people have talked about?

A: I told her to give it to the police, which she said she would. I assume that's the pristine bullet.

The nurse promptly carried out the district attorney's instructions, passing the bullet to the nearest uniformed officer in sight, who happened to be Dallas Hwy Patrolman, Bobby Nolan, who was standing in the hallway talking to Connally aide, Bill Stinson. This is from my interview of Nolan in 2010.

I was talking to a man who was one of governor Connally's aides. His name was - I think it was either Stinton or Stimmons (Bill Stinson). And he was an aide to the Governor. And she came up and told him that she had the bullet that came off of the gurney. Now I don't know what gurney. I think they meant Governor Connally's gurney. And she said, "What do you want me to do with it?" He and I were just sitting there in the hallway talking to me and said, "Give it to him"

Q. Was it a bullet fragment or a complete bullet?

Nolan: I don't know. It was a  - they told me that it was a bullet. And I don't know if it was a fragment of a bullet or a whole bullet because it was in a little, small brown envelope. And it was sealed and it was about, I'd say 2 by 3 inches. And it was in that envelope when I got it and I never did look at it or anything."

Q. Now when the nurse gave it to you, did she describe it as a bullet fragment or as a bullet.

Nolan: Uh no. She just said it was a bullet. That's all.

Nolan delivered the bullet to the Dallas Police department that evening, and the next morning, was interviewed by the FBI, who reported (emphasis is mine), Bobby M. Nolan, Texas highway patrolman, Tyler district, was interviewed relative to a bullet fragment removed from the left thigh of Governor Connally, which was turned over to him at Parkland Hospital in Dallas for delivery to the FBI.[/b]

[Benjamin Cole]

"The medical experts described the actual exit wound on the palm (volar) side of JBC's wrist as a "puncture-type wound" that was about 1.5 centimeters (6/10th of an inch or 9/16ths in diameter)."

I don't know enough about bullet wounds to know how JBC's wrist was fractured, but the wrist bone does not appear to have a hole through it, as you say.

I lean towards Paul Landis finding a whole slug in the back of the JFK limo, and that became CE-399. There is a confusing welter of stories regarding slugs and fragments in Parkland, as you know.

That said, a same-day 11/22 FBI memo appears to confirm the Landis story:

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=62266#relPageId=143&search=Rifle



A Secret Service agent had found the bullet in the limo on 11/22, according to this FBI memo. Sounds like Landis.

I am still puzzled by JBC's wound pattern.

Surgeon Shaw thought it more likely a separate projectile had struck JBC's wrist, and that JBC had not been struck by the same bullet that had hit JFK. In other words, two separate bullets struck JBC---and Connally did say, twice (WC/HSCA), that bullets were entering the cab of the limo as if from automatic weapons fire.

At bottom, I am not sure what happened to JBC on 11/22.