Gov. John Connally Grips His White Stetson Hat at Z-272

[John Corbett]

MT Thanks for your comment.

"The radial nerve covers the extensor muscles of the hand. Holding the hat requires the flexors, not the extensors. The radial nerve transection, then, wouldn't be expected to prevent Connally from continuing to hold the hat."--MT

The WC said something along those lines too. Maybe so.

Cyril Wecht had the opposite opinion, as I cited above.

My layman's view is the impact and injury to the wrist would have dislodged Gov. JBC's grip from the hat, and likely did.

I rather suspect it was Texas Lore, that "and the Gov. was still holding onto to his Stetson hat." A sign of defiance and strength, in the face of dire adversity.

Caveat emptor, and draw your own conclusions.

We don't even need medical experts for this one. We can see JBC still holding his Stetson several seconds after he was shot. Obviously his wounds did not prevent him from hanging on to his hat.

Case Closed.

[John Corbett]

We know that JBC continued to press his right forearm against his chest all the way to Parkland because he said he felt no pain until he got to Parkland. [We know that the pleural cavity was punctured so if he had not occluded the wound in his chest his lung would have collapsed.  A collapsed lung is excruciatingly painful.  That is exactly what he felt when he got out of the car at Parkland - excruciating pain]. JBC said he did not know that his forearm was struck until waking up in hospital after his wounds were treated. So the forearm wound was not painful.   

So, based on the evidence, there is no reason to believe that he could not have held onto his stetson all the way to Parkland Hospital.

The SBT is in conflict with several bodies of mutually consistent evidence.  If one follows the evidence:  1. JFK was struck by the first bullet; 2. JBC was struck in the back by the second, which occurred closer in time to the third than the first; and 3.  the third and last bullet struck JFK in the head.

Greer said he turned around on the second shot - almost simultaneously with it - to see JBC falling back onto Nellie. He is finishing that turn at z281:


Hickey said he was looking at JFK for both the second and third shots, which were close together.  We can see from Altgens #6 at z255 that he is still turned facing rearward (ie. at z255 he has yet to turn forward and hear the second shot).

In that sequence of events, JBC was hit by the second shot some time after z255 and before z281. That seems to fit all the evidence, including the abundant evidence that JFK reacted visibly to the first shot, that JBC turned around to check on JFK (the turn to the rear from z230-270) and then he was struck by the second bullet in the back.   At that point he was turned with his right arm raised exposing his armpit to the SN, so that the bullet actually hit the right armpit.  His right wrist was covering the exit location in his chest so the bullet struck the right radius.

If the WC had followed the evidence, they would have realized that the shot sequence also fits with the evidence that all shots were fired from the 6th floor sniper's nest by a single shooter.

Your theory has not improved with age. It makes no more sense now than when you were peddling it on John McAdams' forum almost 20 years ago. Anyone who thinks JBC was not hit until after Z225 can't be looking at frames Z220-255 objectively. JBC's first reaction came when he suddenly flipped his right arm up and down beginning at Z226 and lasting about a half second. Do you think he flipped his arm up and down in anticipation of being shot a few seconds later? Following his arm flip, he immediately turns and dips to his right before twisting further to his right until he was facing JFK.

There's only one explanation that fits the Z-film throughout the shooting sequence. There was an early missed shot. My analysis tells me that shot was fired at or about Z151, although I will concede the evidence for that is not absolute proof. That is followed by Connally beginning to turn toward his right in reaction to a shot he judged to be behind him and to his right. Some have theorized the missed shot occurred before Zapruder resumed filming but that requires a very slow reaction not only from JBC but Rosemary Willis as well.

The next bullet was fired around Z220, passing through both men at or about z222. At Z224 we see JBC's jacket bulge out. We also see JFK's right hand that he had just begun lowering before he went behind the sign. As we move forward to Z225 we see JFK's hand still moving down. At Z226 we see JFK suddenly reverse the motion of his right as he begins to bring both hands up in front of his throat. In perfect unison, JBC also suddenly and rapidly begins to flip his injured right arm upwards. The simultaneous upward movement of these two men is to me the most convincing evidence of the single bullet theory. There's no way I will ever believe it is a coincidence that both men moved their arms upward at exactly the same frame if they were not reacting to the same stimulus. For those who don't believe JBC was hit until several seconds later, what do they think could have caused JBC's rapid up and down arm movement at Z226?