Dr. E. Forrest Chapman

[John Corbett]

It looks like this is destined to be yet another JFKA loose end. You would think that Chapman's claim would have been a bombshell that would have generated more discussion than it did and led to further examination of CE 543. It seems like the basic issue is simply "Does CE 543 show evidence of having been struck with a firing pin more than once?"

The newspaper article I linked said Chapman was "recently interviewed" by the HSCA, but I didn't find anything relating to that. The HSCA firearms panel report deals with the "dent" issue but not really the "firing pin" issue.

After 62 years of research, all the CTs have to show for it is a pile of loose ends.

[Lance Payette]

It drives me nuts when I cannot nail something down. At Steve Duffy's "JFK Assassination Index" blog, the entry for Chapman refers to "Re Access to Autopsy Materials by Dr. E. Forrest Chapman" as though this is a document. The citation is to "JFK Collection List, pg. 27 (AMKW 65)." AMKW is a three-part collection of documents compiled by indefatigable researcher Anna Marie Kuhns-Walko following the 1992 document release. AMKW 65 would be document 65 in that collection. Discussions in the 1990s say the collection is "marketed commercially by such organizations as JFK/Lancer" and is "easily accessible" - but darned if I can find it.

At the MFF website, I found a reference to the Rockefeller Commission Report that quotes Chapman as saying in a telephone interview that if there were GK shooters they must have been very poor shots because they missed everything. MFF also has the AMKW 65 reference but apparently not the document.

It sounds like Chapman was closely aligned with Cyril Wecht and mostly shared his views. With that, I think I've reached a dead end.

[Charles Collins]

After 62 years of research, all the CTs have to show for it is a pile of loose ends.

Neither Mike Majerus or Jack Nessan seem to be CTs. Their theory that there were only two shots fired does seem to have substantial and reasonable evidence to back it up. But for me that theory would be much more credible if CE 543 did show signs of being struck more than once by the firing pin. So far I haven’t found anything to support Dr. Chapman’s claim.

[John Corbett]

It drives me nuts when I cannot nail something down. At Steve Duffy's "JFK Assassination Index" blog, the entry for Chapman refers to "Re Access to Autopsy Materials by Dr. E. Forrest Chapman" as though this is a document. The citation is to "JFK Collection List, pg. 27 (AMKW 65)." AMKW is a three-part collection of documents compiled by indefatigable researcher Anna Marie Kuhns-Walko following the 1992 document release. AMKW 65 would be document 65 in that collection. Discussions in the 1990s say the collection is "marketed commercially by such organizations as JFK/Lancer" and is "easily accessible" - but darned if I can find it.

At the MFF website, I found a reference to the Rockefeller Commission Report that quotes Chapman as saying in a telephone interview that if there were GK shooters they must have been very poor shots because they missed everything. MFF also has the AMKW 65 reference but apparently not the document.

It sounds like Chapman was closely aligned with Cyril Wecht and mostly shared his views. With that, I think I've reached a dead end.

That's never stopped a dedicated CT in the past. All you need to do is find another rabbit hole to explore.

[Lance Payette]

That's never stopped a dedicated CT in the past. All you need to do is find another rabbit hole to explore.

Are you possibly just slightly ... unhinged?

Could Duncan possibly carve out a subforum for more-or-less normal people?

[Jack Nessan]

It drives me nuts when I cannot nail something down. At Steve Duffy's "JFK Assassination Index" blog, the entry for Chapman refers to "Re Access to Autopsy Materials by Dr. E. Forrest Chapman" as though this is a document. The citation is to "JFK Collection List, pg. 27 (AMKW 65)." AMKW is a three-part collection of documents compiled by indefatigable researcher Anna Marie Kuhns-Walko following the 1992 document release. AMKW 65 would be document 65 in that collection. Discussions in the 1990s say the collection is "marketed commercially by such organizations as JFK/Lancer" and is "easily accessible" - but darned if I can find it.

At the MFF website, I found a reference to the Rockefeller Commission Report that quotes Chapman as saying in a telephone interview that if there were GK shooters they must have been very poor shots because they missed everything. MFF also has the AMKW 65 reference but apparently not the document.

It sounds like Chapman was closely aligned with Cyril Wecht and mostly shared his views. With that, I think I've reached a dead end.

CE 543  FBI  FRAZIER

The article about Dr Chapman came from this magazine. I believe this is the predecessor of The New American Magazine

They Killed the President, by Alan Stang (American Opinion, February 1976).pdf (archive.org)

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Military primers in military rounds are different in makeup than the civilian market primers. Much harder and designed different. Comparing the row of pictures to CE 543 is really an apples to oranges scenario. At the time we did not have any Western Cartridge cartridges and only used what was available to make the point. The reason for the second row or additional row of pictures was to show individual carcano rifles were not the same as far as how hard the firing pin struck the shell casing primer. The second row is far less dented in. 

The best we could do was to use two Terni 1940 M38 rifles but the way these rifles were prepared for the American market was to just put them together and make sure they fired the round and ejected it.

Personally, I can’t believe the FBI missed so much about these shells. Not only did they miss the dished in primer but the Chamber Mark on just 5 of the 6 shells. They had six shells in their possession and noted the chamber mark in the analysis of some of them but not all. It would have been easy to look and see what was in the chamber causing the indentation and maybe did look but did not note it other than to state it about some of them in the analysis. I have wondered if they realized to declare that only two of the shells showed to have been fired would that information have fueled a conspiracy belief with Merriman Smith’s/ Walter Cronkite’s three shot News Bulletin. 

A conspiracy is exactly how Dr Chapman and Josiah Thompson viewed the information.

 

[John Corbett]

Are you possibly just slightly ... unhinged?

Could Duncan possibly carve out a subforum for more-or-less normal people?

Forgive me, but I've been at this too long to take you guys and your never-ending snipe hunt seriously. It never ceases to amaze me that despite 62 years of futility, you're still pursuing the white whale.