Mark Lane and Charles Brehm

[John Corbett]

John Connally heard the first shot.  Therefore, he couldn't have been shot by that first shot.
Everything he said he did after hearing the first shot is captured on the Zapruder film.  He had just turned his head from right to left, then he suddenly jerked his head back to his right, and there his head remained in that position until he appeared from behind the Stemmons Freeway sign, the sudden two-time up and down motion of his shoulders, and the grimace on his face are the first signs of him being struck by the shot that he did not hear, and then he heard the third shot which stuck President Kennedy in the head. 

 This can all be heard in the 1964 CBS program "The Warren Report", which aired the day the Warren Report was released to the public.  Governor Connally gives a detailed account of what happened as soon as the car turned onto Elm Street.

JBC was remarkably consistent over the years in his retelling of the assassination. There is only one problem. He seems to have tailored that story to the Z-film as opposed to the Z-film corroborating his story. In his first telling of the story to Martin Agronsky from his hospital bed, he made two significant errors. The first is that he said he turned to his left upon hearing the first shot. The Z-film clearly shows his initial turn was to the right. The second error was a bit more significant. He said that when he looked over his shoulder, he saw the President had slumped. The Z-film shows us on his first look over his right shoulder, he did not turn enough to where he could have seen JFK. He didn't turn enough to see JFK until after they had both been hit by the second shot. He did about a 180 degree turn in his seat in reaction to his devastating wound so that he was looking directly at JFK. This is significant because if his first recollection was accurate, it would have negated the SBT. If JBC had seen JFK slumped after hearing the first shot but before JBC had been hit by the second, obviously that would mean they were hit be separate shots.

Fortunately, we do have the Z-film. Without it, I doubt anyone would have figured out the SBT. Not the WC anyway. But we do have the Z-film and it shows us what JBC got right and what he got wrong in his first telling. To his credit, he realized his errors, probably after seeing the Z-film, and made the corrections before testifying to the WC. I wonder if his first false recollection was one of the reasons he never accepted the SBT. He knew he had been hit by the second shot so if JFK had been hit by the first, the SBT could not be true. In reality, JFK had not been hit by the first shot and we don't see either man react to being hit until Z226 when they both suddenly flung their arms upward.

[Jack Nessan]

John Connally heard the first shot.  Therefore, he couldn't have been hit by that first shot.
Everything he said he did after hearing the first shot is captured on the Zapruder film.  He had just turned his head from right to left, then he suddenly jerked his head back to his right, and there his head remained in that position until he appeared from behind the Stemmons Freeway sign, the sudden two-time up and down motion of his shoulders, and the grimace on his face are the first signs of him being struck by the shot that he did not hear, and then he heard the third shot which stuck President Kennedy in the head. 

 This can all be heard in the 1964 CBS program "The Warren Report", which aired the day the Warren Report was released to the public.  Governor Connally gives a detailed account of what happened as soon as the car turned onto Elm Street.

All of the eyewitnesses stated JFK reacted to the first shot. Mary Woodward places the first shot took place after Z207 when JFK faced forward again.

Witnesses in and near the car----DPD Hargis and sidewalk spectator Bill Newman both reference JBC as having been wounded by the first shot. Both Jackie and Nelly stated JBC was hit by the first shot. SA Kellerman referenced the second shot as the head shot. SA Clint Hill is a two shot witness as is SA Greer.

Here is a list of the two shot witnesses and witnesses who stated the second shot was the head shot.

Two shot witnesses

Jackie, Nelly, Bill Newman, Gayle Newman, John Chism, Faye Chism, Jean Newman, Charles Brehm, Clint Hill, DPD Chaney, DPD Hargis, Sheriff Decker, Garland Slack, James Altgens, Malcolm Summers, Charles Roberts, BR Williams, Brennan, SA Greer, A Zapruder, Marilyn Sitzman, Charles Hester, Beatrice Hester, SA Glenn Bennet, Ann Donaldson, Peggy Burney, Dolores Kounas, Dave Powers, Kenneth O’Donnell, SA Landis,  Ernest Brandt, James Powell, James Darnell, Hugh Betzner, Seth Kantor, Lupe Whitaker, F Lee Mudd, Ernest Brandt, Milton Wright, James Perry, JW foster, Clemon Johnson, Jack Franzen, Mrs Jack Franzen, Jeff Franzen, Ann Ruth Moore, Mary Hall, Toni Glover

Second shot was the headshot

James Jarmin, Harold Norman, SA Kellerman, Marilyn Willis, SA Kinney, SA Hickey, Mary Woodward, John Templin, Gov Connally, Mary Moorman, SA Emory Roberts, Hugh Aynesworth, Ruby Henderson, DPD Douglas Jackson, Jerry Kivett, Cliff Carter, Thomas Johns, June Dishong, Aurelia Alonzo, Margaret Brown, Georgia Ruth Hendrix, DPD JW Foster

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The information from the shells left on the floor in the Snipers Nest and the cartridge left in the rifle indicated that LHO only fired twice.

[John Corbett]

All of the eyewitnesses stated JFK reacted to the first shot.

When you start with a false premise, it's not surprising you reached a false conclusion.

[Marjan Rynkiewicz]

Oswald's first shot ricochet (at pseudo Z110 say) hurt jfk koz jfk said my god i am hit (or some such).
Oswald's 2nd shot (at Z218) damaged jfk's throat etc, hence jfk could not speak.
Hickey's last shot (of hiz say 4 or 5 or 6 auto shots) at Z312 blew the top off jfk's head.

[Tom Graves]

Connally's reaction began at Z164 when he began to turn to his right.

According to Roselle and Scearce, "John Connally begins a quick head turn left at Z-151, followed by quickly looking
back right."

[John Corbett]

According to Roselle and Scearce, "John Connally begins a quick head turn left at Z-151, followed by quickly looking
back right."

The problem with that interpretation is that in his first interview, JBC said he looked over his left shoulder and saw the President had slumped as if it was all part of the same motion. Clearly, JBC did not turn far enough to the left to see that nor even after he turned to his right.

Much of what he described afterward is fairly accurate with one minor detail. In his later tellings of the story, he said he started to turn back toward the front, which is true, and he was facing almost directly forward when he felt the shot hit him in the back. He did in fact reach a forward facing position but not until the bullet had already struck him. He then turned back to his right and doubled over in reaction to being hit. Here again, I believe his later recollections were influenced by what he had seen in the Z-film. He saw himself doubled over in the late Z230s and saw he had reached a forward facing position at about Z230 and figured that was about when he was hit. He was actually hit less than a half second earlier which was followed almost immediately by his involuntary, reflexive arm flip at Z226. He didn't even remember being hit in the wrist but that event along with the jacket bulge two frames earlier give us the best indication of when the single bullet struck. Z226 is also the frame JFK made a similar involuntary, reflexive response to being hit by suddenly raising both arms.

[Tom Graves]

The problem with that interpretation is that in his first interview, JBC said he looked over his left shoulder and saw the President had slumped as if it was all part of the same motion. Clearly, JBC did not turn far enough to the left to see that nor even after he turned to his right.

Much of what he described afterward is fairly accurate with one minor detail. In his later tellings of the story, he said he started to turn back toward the front, which is true, and he was facing almost directly forward when he felt the shot hit him in the back. He did in fact reach a forward facing position but not until the bullet had already struck him. He then turned back to his right and doubled over in reaction to being hit. Here again, I believe his later recollections were influenced by what he had seen in the Z-film. He saw himself doubled over in the late Z230s and saw he had reached a forward facing position at about Z230 and figured that was about when he was hit. He was actually hit less than a half second earlier which was followed almost immediately by his involuntary, reflexive arm flip at Z226. He didn't even remember being hit in the wrist but that event along with the jacket bulge two frames earlier give us the best indication of when the single bullet struck. Z226 is also the frame JFK made a similar involuntary, reflexive response to being hit by suddenly raising both arms.

About the only thing John "Mr. Confidant Politician" Connally got right was that there were three shots, they were fired from behind him by a high-powered rifle, and that when he turned to his right to locate the source of the first shot and to see if JFK was okay, he couldn't see him out of the corner of his eye (because JFK had turned his head far to his right and had raised his hand in front of it to wave to someone, and this combination prevented Connally from "seeing" him).