10 Reasons to Believe That Oswald Was Innocent

[John Corbett]

I think some follow-up to these points will be helpful.

I think you had already posted plenty of nonsense. You didn't need to add on.

Howard Donahue, a court-certified ballistics and firearms expert, met with Dr. Alfred Olivier in the spring of 1969. Donahue wanted to talk with Olivier about the head-shot wound ballistics test that Olivier conducted for the Warren Commission (WC) in 1964. In that test, 10 FMJ bullets were fired into human skulls. The skulls were wrapped and filled with ballistics gelatin to simulate both the scalp on the skull and the brain matter inside the skull. The gelatin on the outer surface of the skull was "trimmed down to approximate the thickness of the tissues overlying the skull, the soft tissues of the head" (5 H 87). 

Olivier told Donahue that "in each case" the bullets broke into "only two or three large fragments," and that the bullets did not "disintegrate or explode." Olivier even showed Donahue the skulls from the test, and Donahue noted that the resulting exit wounds were "nowhere close to where Kennedy's exit wound was located." I quote from Bonar Menninger's book Mortal Error, which Menninger wrote with Donahue to tell the story of how Donahue came to formulate the mortal-error theory of the assassination:

Donahue needed more data. He'd already concluded that the slug [the head-shot bullet] -- by virtue of its disintegration on impact -- showed all the characteristics of a small-caliber, high-velocity, soft-nosed round. But what about the Warren Commission's test firings? Did the Carcano test bullets disintegrate in a similar fashion? Donahue didn't think so. The doctor who'd conducted the flawed analysis of the single-bullet theory -- the shots through goat meat and cadavers -- Dr. Alfred Olivier up at the Army's Edgewood Arsenal, had done the head-shot tests as well. What could be learned from Olivier?

In the spring of 1969, Donahue made a phone call to Edgewood. Luckily, Olivier was still employed there. Donahue got Olivier on the line and, without going into detail, explained that he was a weapons expert who'd been investigating the assassination. He said he'd be very interested in seeing the results of Olivier's head-shot test firings firsthand. Would it be possible to come and visit him? Olivier said he didn't see why not, and the two set an appointment for the following week.

Edgewood is located an hour or so north of Baltimore on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. The compound is part of the Army's Aberdeen Proving Grounds, a sprawling facility where in the 1960s the instruments of war -- everything from artillery rounds to napalm -- were tested and refined.

Olivier was a veterinarian by training and responsible for studying the effects of gunshots on animals in the arsenal's wound ballistics lab. Donahue found Olivier to be a friendly man with graying hair and wire-rimmed glasses. The men exchanged pleasantries. Donahue asked about the doctor's attempts to duplicate the President's head wounds. Olivier explained he had test-fired Carcano rounds into ten human skulls filled with gelatin. The gelatin simulated the human brain.

"Did the bullets break up?" Donahue asked.

"Yes, they did," Olivier replied.

"How big were the fragments? I mean. . . . How many were there?"

"Well, in each case, I could find only two or three large fragments, but together they seemed to account for the bulk of the bullet's mass."

"So the bullets didn't disintegrate or explode, as far as you could see?" Donahue asked.

"No," Olivier replied, "they did not."

Donahue asked if any of these fragments had somehow been deposited on the outside table of the skull.

"No," Olivier said. "Actually, I have the skulls here. I brought them out in anticipation of your visit. Would you like to see them?"

Olivier began pulling human skulls out of two plastic bags. Donahue quickly made a mental note. Olivier had obviously fired his shots into the skulls slightly above and to the right of the external occipital protuberance. . . .

Predictably, the resulting exit wounds were nowhere close to where Kennedy's exit wound was located. Most were in the face of the skull, shattering the bones in the forehead area. (Mortal Error: The Shot That Killed JFK, St. Martin's Press, 1992, pp. 83-84).

Yet, the transcript of Olivier's WC testimony has Olivier saying that all the bullet fragments in CE 857 came from one bullet and were recovered from a single skull from the head-shot test, which is a physical impossibility for an FMJ bullet and which contradicts what Olivier told Donahue about his test.

Furthermore, CE 857 shows 19-21 fragments plus two large fragments. Even if we assume that all those fragments came from a single bullet, this would not duplicate the behavior of the ammo that hit JFK's head. The JFK head-shot ammo deposited over 30 tiny fragments in the right-frontal region, deposited several fragments to the left (viewer's left) of the right-frontal fragment cluster, deposited two fragments slightly behind and above the right orbit at least 1 inch from any other fragment, deposited a lone fragment in the left side of the skull, and deposited several fragments and a few particles on the rear outer table of the skull.

It gets worse, and more suspicious. CE 857 and CE 859 are supposed to show the same fragments from the same bullet recovered from the same skull, but they clearly do not show this. CE 859 shows 32-35 fragments, at least five of which are 10-20 mm wide and 10-20 mm long, but the two large fragments seen in CE 857 are not shown.

Even WC counsel Arlen Specter noticed this obvious discrepancy and asked Olivier about it. Olivier said the two exhibits were supposed to contain the same fragments, and then suggested that some of the fragments may have "dropped out," presumably before the exhibits were photographed. At that point, Specter felt compelled to hold an off-the-record discussion with Olivier. When they came back on the record, nothing more was said about the obvious conflict between the two exhibits:

Mr. SPECTER. Are all of the fragments on 859 contained within 857?

Dr. OLIVIER. They are supposed to be, photographed and placed in the box. If they dropped out, they are supposed to be all there.

(Discussion off the record.) (5 H 88)

We should keep in mind that Olivier worked for the Army, so he could have been ordered to misrepresent his test results. If he had refused, he could have been fired. Notice that not one word was said about the fragmentation of the nine other bullets in Olivier's test, a very odd and suspicious omission, especially since Olivier was never asked if the supposed fragmentation of the one test bullet was representative of the behavior of the other test bullets.

Physicist Howard Roffman noted way back in 1976 that the released skull x-rays from Oliver's head-shot test show bullet fragmentation that is very different from the fragmentation seen in the JFK autopsy skull x-rays:

These x-rays depict gelatin-filled human skulls shot with ammunition of the type allegedly used by Oswald. They were classified by the government and remained suppressed until recently; they are printed here for the first time ever. What they reveal is that Oswald1s rifle could not have produced the head wounds suffered by President Kennedy. The bullet that hit the president in the head exploded into a multitude of minuscule fragments. One Secret Service agent described the appearance of these metal fragments on the X rays: "The whole head looked like a little mass of stars." The fragmentation depicted on these test x-rays obviously differs from that described in the president's head. The upper x-ray reveals only relatively large fragments concentrated at the point of entrance; the lower reveals only a few tiny fragments altogether. This gives dramatic suppressed proof that Oswald did not fire the shot that killed President Kennedy.(Presumed Guilty, A. S. Barnes, 1976, pp. 155-157; pp. 156-157 show the released skull x-rays from Olivier's test)

Roffman also noted that the bullet fragmentation seen in the JFK autopsy skull x-rays is not the type fragmentation that would be caused by an FMJ bullet:

The only solid observation that can be made on the basis of fragmentation depicted in the head x-rays is that a bullet striking the head fragmented extensively, leaving pieces of metal, for the most part "the size of dust particles," concentrated toward the frontal portion of the brain. This type of fragmentation is not consistent with the type of full-jacketed military ammunition that the Commission says was used. The construction and composition of full-jacketed bullets obviates any such massive break-up. As noted previously, when military ammunition fragments, it is usually in such a manner that the core separates from the jacket. The core may undergo further break-up, although its metallic composition does not permit the creation of numerous dust-like particles. (Presumed Guilty, pp. 117-118.)

All of the above is rendered moot by the fact that a fragmented FMJ bullet was found in the limo with two large fragments being positively matched to Oswald's rifle and a number of smaller fragments were also found. These fragments were less than the material contained by a FMJ Carcano bullet so we can safely say some of the fragments flew out of the limo. MTG would have us believe that a bullet struck JFK's head and disappeared without a trace. MTG apparently believes in several Magic Bullets that struck both JFK and JBC and then disappeared into thin air. The WCR scenario has none of these problems. It fully explains all the wounds to the two men with just two bullets fired from the sniper's nest, both of which are accounted for.  The single bullet which struck JFK in the back, yawed upon exiting from his throat, making an elongated wound into JBC's back who was lined up perfectly to be struck by that bullet. That bullet exited from the right side of JBC's and wrist, flattening it at the base and depositing small lead fragments from the base. We know those fragments came from the base because that is the only place the lead core was exposed. That bullet then went on to make a shallow entry into JBC's thigh before working it's way out and being discovered later that day at Parkland. MTG rejects that scenario even though he has no evidence or explanation for other bullets fired from other locations, which wounds they caused, nor where they ended up. He's not alone, however. No other CT has been able to provide such an explanation over 62 years.

[Michael T. Griffith]

I think some follow-up to these points will be helpful.

Howard Donahue, a court-certified ballistics and firearms expert, met with Dr. Alfred Olivier in the spring of 1969. Donahue wanted to talk with Olivier about the head-shot wound ballistics test that Olivier conducted for the Warren Commission (WC) in 1964. In that test, 10 FMJ bullets were fired into human skulls. The skulls were wrapped and filled with ballistics gelatin to simulate both the scalp on the skull and the brain matter inside the skull. The gelatin on the outer surface of the skull was "trimmed down to approximate the thickness of the tissues overlying the skull, the soft tissues of the head" (5 H 87). 

Olivier told Donahue that "in each case" the bullets broke into "only two or three large fragments," and that the bullets did not "disintegrate or explode." Olivier even showed Donahue the skulls from the test, and Donahue noted that the resulting exit wounds were "nowhere close to where Kennedy's exit wound was located." I quote from Bonar Menninger's book Mortal Error, which Menninger wrote with Donahue to tell the story of how Donahue came to formulate the mortal-error theory of the assassination:

Donahue needed more data. He'd already concluded that the slug [the head-shot bullet] -- by virtue of its disintegration on impact -- showed all the characteristics of a small-caliber, high-velocity, soft-nosed round. But what about the Warren Commission's test firings? Did the Carcano test bullets disintegrate in a similar fashion? Donahue didn't think so. The doctor who'd conducted the flawed analysis of the single-bullet theory -- the shots through goat meat and cadavers -- Dr. Alfred Olivier up at the Army's Edgewood Arsenal, had done the head-shot tests as well. What could be learned from Olivier?

In the spring of 1969, Donahue made a phone call to Edgewood. Luckily, Olivier was still employed there. Donahue got Olivier on the line and, without going into detail, explained that he was a weapons expert who'd been investigating the assassination. He said he'd be very interested in seeing the results of Olivier's head-shot test firings firsthand. Would it be possible to come and visit him? Olivier said he didn't see why not, and the two set an appointment for the following week.

Edgewood is located an hour or so north of Baltimore on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. The compound is part of the Army's Aberdeen Proving Grounds, a sprawling facility where in the 1960s the instruments of war -- everything from artillery rounds to napalm -- were tested and refined.

Olivier was a veterinarian by training and responsible for studying the effects of gunshots on animals in the arsenal's wound ballistics lab. Donahue found Olivier to be a friendly man with graying hair and wire-rimmed glasses. The men exchanged pleasantries. Donahue asked about the doctor's attempts to duplicate the President's head wounds. Olivier explained he had test-fired Carcano rounds into ten human skulls filled with gelatin. The gelatin simulated the human brain.

"Did the bullets break up?" Donahue asked.

"Yes, they did," Olivier replied.

"How big were the fragments? I mean. . . . How many were there?"

"Well, in each case, I could find only two or three large fragments, but together they seemed to account for the bulk of the bullet's mass."

"So the bullets didn't disintegrate or explode, as far as you could see?" Donahue asked.

"No," Olivier replied, "they did not."

Donahue asked if any of these fragments had somehow been deposited on the outside table of the skull.

"No," Olivier said. "Actually, I have the skulls here. I brought them out in anticipation of your visit. Would you like to see them?"

Olivier began pulling human skulls out of two plastic bags. Donahue quickly made a mental note. Olivier had obviously fired his shots into the skulls slightly above and to the right of the external occipital protuberance. . . .

Predictably, the resulting exit wounds were nowhere close to where Kennedy's exit wound was located. Most were in the face of the skull, shattering the bones in the forehead area. (Mortal Error: The Shot That Killed JFK, St. Martin's Press, 1992, pp. 83-84).

Yet, the transcript of Olivier's WC testimony has Olivier saying that all the bullet fragments in CE 857 came from one bullet and were recovered from a single skull from the head-shot test, which is a physical impossibility for an FMJ bullet and which contradicts what Olivier told Donahue about his test.

Furthermore, CE 857 shows 19-21 fragments plus two large fragments. Even if we assume that all those fragments came from a single bullet, this would not duplicate the behavior of the ammo that hit JFK's head. The JFK head-shot ammo deposited over 30 tiny fragments in the right-frontal region, deposited several fragments to the left (viewer's left) of the right-frontal fragment cluster, deposited two fragments slightly behind and above the right orbit at least 1 inch from any other fragment, deposited a lone fragment in the left side of the skull, and deposited several fragments and a few particles on the rear outer table of the skull.

It gets worse, and more suspicious. CE 857 and CE 859 are supposed to show the same fragments from the same bullet recovered from the same skull, but they clearly do not show this. CE 859 shows 32-35 fragments, at least five of which are 10-20 mm wide and 10-20 mm long, but the two large fragments seen in CE 857 are not shown.

Even WC counsel Arlen Specter noticed this obvious discrepancy and asked Olivier about it. Olivier said the two exhibits were supposed to contain the same fragments, and then suggested that some of the fragments may have "dropped out," presumably before the exhibits were photographed. At that point, Specter felt compelled to hold an off-the-record discussion with Olivier. When they came back on the record, nothing more was said about the obvious conflict between the two exhibits:

Mr. SPECTER. Are all of the fragments on 859 contained within 857?

Dr. OLIVIER. They are supposed to be, photographed and placed in the box. If they dropped out, they are supposed to be all there.

(Discussion off the record.) (5 H 88)

We should keep in mind that Olivier worked for the Army, so he could have been ordered to misrepresent his test results. If he had refused, he could have been fired. Notice that not one word was said about the fragmentation of the nine other bullets in Olivier's test, a very odd and suspicious omission, especially since Olivier was never asked if the supposed fragmentation of the one test bullet was representative of the behavior of the other test bullets.

Physicist Howard Roffman noted way back in 1976 that the released skull x-rays from Oliver's head-shot test show bullet fragmentation that is very different from the fragmentation seen in the JFK autopsy skull x-rays:

These x-rays depict gelatin-filled human skulls shot with ammunition of the type allegedly used by Oswald. They were classified by the government and remained suppressed until recently; they are printed here for the first time ever. What they reveal is that Oswald1s rifle could not have produced the head wounds suffered by President Kennedy. The bullet that hit the president in the head exploded into a multitude of minuscule fragments. One Secret Service agent described the appearance of these metal fragments on the X rays: "The whole head looked like a little mass of stars." The fragmentation depicted on these test x-rays obviously differs from that described in the president's head. The upper x-ray reveals only relatively large fragments concentrated at the point of entrance; the lower reveals only a few tiny fragments altogether. This gives dramatic suppressed proof that Oswald did not fire the shot that killed President Kennedy.(Presumed Guilty, A. S. Barnes, 1976, pp. 155-157; pp. 156-157 show the released skull x-rays from Olivier's test)

Roffman also noted that the bullet fragmentation seen in the JFK autopsy skull x-rays is not the type fragmentation that would be caused by an FMJ bullet:

The only solid observation that can be made on the basis of fragmentation depicted in the head x-rays is that a bullet striking the head fragmented extensively, leaving pieces of metal, for the most part "the size of dust particles," concentrated toward the frontal portion of the brain. This type of fragmentation is not consistent with the type of full-jacketed military ammunition that the Commission says was used. The construction and composition of full-jacketed bullets obviates any such massive break-up. As noted previously, when military ammunition fragments, it is usually in such a manner that the core separates from the jacket. The core may undergo further break-up, although its metallic composition does not permit the creation of numerous dust-like particles. (Presumed Guilty, pp. 117-118.)

As a follow-up, I quote more of physicist Howard Roffman's discussion on the evidence that FMJ ammo was not the ammo that hit JFK's head, and that the ammo that hit JFK's skull was traveling at a high velocity (whereas the alleged murder weapon was not a high-velocity rifle):

The Commission had its "expert" compare these fragments with the two similar fragments that were found in the front seat of the presidential limousine and identifiable with "Oswald's" rifle. The result of this comparison, as presented in the Report, is seemingly to associate these traceable fragments with the head wounds. The expert is quoted as follows:

"the recovered fragments were very similar to the ones recovered on the front seat and the floor of the car. This to me, indicates that those fragments did come from the bullet that wounded the President in the head." (Warren Report, p. 87)

These are the last words of the Report's discussion of the head wounds. Since no qualifying language follows, the reader is left with the impression that the "expert opinion" is valid in associating the identifiable fragments with the wounds. Nowhere in the Report do we find the simple fact that the fragmentation of both the test bullet and the found bullet pieces is not an exclusive occurrence, as implied. The break-up observed is consistent with the normal fragmentation pattern of full-jacketed military bullets. When such bullets break apart, the core usually separates from the jacket. The Commission could have produced the same effect if it fired the bullet through a piece of masonite.

Thus, for all its claims, the Commission was able to present no credible evidence associating bullets from "Oswald's" rifle, or even military bullets in general, with the President's head wounds.

The nature of the bullet fragmentation within the President's head actually disassociates military bullets from the head wounds, and strongly suggests that some type of sporting ammunition struck the head. . . .

The "Clark Panel" is describing a 6.5 mm. piece of metal that separated from the bullet upon entering the skull and became embedded in the skull at the bottom portion of the entrance wound. This, the key to the type of ammunition causing the wound, vitiates Dr. Humes's previously cited testimony that a "jacketed bullet" probably caused this entrance wound.

The bullet from which was shaved this substantial fragment upon entrance could not have been covered with a hard metal jacket such as copper alloy. Such a fragment is, in fact, a not infrequent occurrence from a lead bullet. Rowland Long, in his book The Physician and the Law, speaks of the penetration of lead bullets into the skull and asserts: "Not infrequently a collar shaped fragment of lead is shaved off around the wound of entrance and is found embedded in the surrounding scalp tissues." Criminologist Lemoyne Snyder describes a similar phenomenon in his book Homicide Investigation. Forensic pathologist Dr. Halbert Fillinger explained to me the principles that rule out full-jacketed ammunition and suggest a lead bullet:

"You can appreciate the fact that a jacketed projectile is going to leave very little on the [bone] margins because
it's basically a hardened jacket, and it's designed so that it will not scrape off when it goes through a steel barrel. One can appreciate the fact that going through bone, which is not as hard as steel, may etch or scratch it, but it's not going to peel off much metal. In contrast to this a softer projectile might very well leave little metallic residues around the margins."

The Commission's case against Oswald requires full-jacketed ammunition to have been used to inflict the wounds of President Kennedy. The presence of the 6.5 mm. metallic fragment in the margin of the skull entrance wound eliminates the possibility that a full-jacketed bullet entered through this hole. Such a fragment located at that site is indicative of a lead or soft-nosed bullet. . . .

The loss of a substantial quantity of brain tissue becomes significant when we consider Dr. Humes's testimony that the X rays showed "30 or 40 tiny dustlike particle fragments" of metal in the President's head (2 H 353). Humes cautioned that the fragments that appeared to be "the size of dust particles" (2 H 359) on the X rays would actually have been smaller because "X ray pictures ... have a tendency to magnify these minute fragments somewhat in size" (2H353). Secret Service Agent Roy Kellerman saw the X rays during the autopsy and provided a similar description: " ... the whole head looked like a little mass of stars, there must have been 30, 40 lights where these little pieces were so minute that they couldn't be reached" (2 H 100). . . .

Dr. Fillinger tells me that the fragments described in the President's brain were not characteristic of a military round. . . . He feels that the break-up of the bullet is more consistent with a hunting round. . . .

The size and extent of the gaping defect, and the associated fracturing and fragmentation of the skull, are indicative of a high-velocity bullet's having struck the head to produce this damage. Dr. Fillinger has expressed to me his strong feeling that the extensive fragmentation of the skull is the consequence of a high-velocity round. He stated that the presence of such massive fracturing means that "there is a tremendous amount of force applied to the skull to produce all these fractures .. .. This has been pretty well fragmented, as a matter of fact," he told me, "and again, speaks for some sort of high-velocity round". . . .

Because there was great damage to the head and extensive bullet fragmentation in the brain, Dr. Fillinger was doubtful that the Mannlicher-Carcano could have produced these wounds. "To produce this kind of effect," he told me, "you have to have a very high-velocity projectile, and the Carcano will not stand very high bolt pressures."(Presumed Guilty, 1976, pp. 113-120)

Just as a reminder, Dr. Fillinger was a nationally recognized forensic pathologist, considered a "giant" in the field, who was known for handling the most serious cases. "The Halbert E. Fillinger Lifetime Achievement Award" was named after him to recognize outstanding contributors to forensic science. The International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners chose Dr. Fillinger to represent them on the U.S. Department of Justice's National Medicolegal Review Panel. The website Practical Homicide says this about him:

The "Halbert E. Fillinger Lifetime Achievement Award" is named in honor of Dr. Halbert Fillinger, who was a forensic pathologist. His 40 years of service included his time as Chief Medical Examiner in the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office before being elected Coroner of Montgomery County, PA.

During his career, Dr. Fillinger lectured many times at the FBI academy in Quantico, Va., and all branches of the Armed Forces. Respected for his work, officials in the states of Texas, Michigan, Arkansas, Kentucky, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, and Colorado sought his advice. (https://www.practicalhomicide.com/current/Vidocq.html)

BTW, Dr. Fillinger regarded the SBT as pure bunk; he said there was just no way that CE 399 could have caused all of JFK's and Connally's non-fatal wounds and emerged virtually undamaged, especially with its lands and grooves intact (Roffman, Presumed Guilty, pp. 142-144).

Anyone who still claims that JFK's head was hit with FMJ ammo needs to produce a single reputable forensic source that says that FMJ ammo striking skull bone can shatter into dozens of particles and can deposit fragments in the outer table of the skull upon penetration. World-renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Vincent DiMaio said that FMJ ammo will never shatter into dozens of tiny fragments; that if an x-ray shows a cluster of tiny fragments (a "lead snowstorm," as we see on JFK's skull x-rays), this "rules out" FMJ ammo; and that on the "rare" occasions when FMJ bullets do fragment after entering skull, they will leave "few" fragments:

An x-ray of an individual shot with a full metal-jacketed rifle bullet . . . usually fails to reveal any bullet fragments at all even if the bullet has perforated bone such as the skull or spine.If any fragments are seen, they are very sparse in number. . . .(Gunshot Wounds, p. 166)

In x-rays of through-and-through gunshot wounds, the presence of small fragments of metal along the wound track virtually rules out full metal-jacketed ammunition.. . . In rare instances involving full metal-jacketed centerfire rifle bullets, a few small, dust-like fragments of lead may be seen on x-ray if the bullet perforates bone. One of the most characteristic x-rays and one that will indicate the type of weapon and ammunition used is that seen from centerfire rifles firing hunting ammunition. In such a case, one will see a 'lead snowstorm'. . . . Such a picture rules out full metal-jacketed rifle ammunition or a shotgun slug. (Gunshot Wounds, p. 318)

For more information on the evidence that JFK's head was not hit with FMJ ammo and that FMJ ammo could not have produced the bullet fragmentation seen on the JFK autopsy skull x-rays, see my article "Forensic Science and President Kennedy's Head Wounds."

[John Corbett]

As a follow-up, I quote more of physicist Howard Roffman's discussion on the evidence that FMJ ammo was not the ammo that hit JFK's head, and that the ammo that hit JFK's skull was traveling at a high velocity (whereas the alleged murder weapon was not a high-velocity rifle):

MTG doesn't believe that a FMJ bullet hit JFK's head even though a fragmented FMJ bullet was found in the limo. He believes a different type of ammo did hit JFK in the head even though not a trace of any other type of ammo was found in the limo or in JFK's head. I wonder what the thinks the fragmented FMJ bullet struck that caused it to fragment.

The Commission had its "expert" compare these fragments with the two similar fragments that were found in the front seat of the presidential limousine and identifiable with "Oswald's" rifle. The result of this comparison, as presented in the Report, is seemingly to associate these traceable fragments with the head wounds. The expert is quoted as follows:

"the recovered fragments were very similar to the ones recovered on the front seat and the floor of the car. This to me, indicates that those fragments did come from the bullet that wounded the President in the head." (Warren Report, p. 87)

These are the last words of the Report's discussion of the head wounds. Since no qualifying language follows, the reader is left with the impression that the "expert opinion" is valid in associating the identifiable fragments with the wounds. Nowhere in the Report do we find the simple fact that the fragmentation of both the test bullet and the found bullet pieces is not an exclusive occurrence, as implied. The break-up observed is consistent with the normal fragmentation pattern of full-jacketed military bullets. When such bullets break apart, the core usually separates from the jacket. The Commission could have produced the same effect if it fired the bullet through a piece of masonite.

Thus, for all its claims, the Commission was able to present no credible evidence associating bullets from "Oswald's" rifle, or even military bullets in general, with the President's head wounds.

JFK's head was blown apart and a fragmented FMJ Carcano bullet was found in the limo with two pieces which were ballistically matched to Oswald's Carcano. It requires a person with common sense to figure out that fragmented bullet was the one that hit JFK in the head. I guess that leaves MTG out.

The nature of the bullet fragmentation within the President's head actually disassociates military bullets from the head wounds, and strongly suggests that some type of sporting ammunition struck the head. . . .

This is where MTG pretends he's an expert on ballistics.

The "Clark Panel" is describing a 6.5 mm. piece of metal that separated from the bullet upon entering the skull and became embedded in the skull at the bottom portion of the entrance wound. This, the key to the type of ammunition causing the wound, vitiates Dr. Humes's previously cited testimony that a "jacketed bullet" probably caused this entrance wound.

The bullet from which was shaved this substantial fragment upon entrance could not have been covered with a hard metal jacket such as copper alloy. Such a fragment is, in fact, a not infrequent occurrence from a lead bullet. Rowland Long, in his book The Physician and the Law, speaks of the penetration of lead bullets into the skull and asserts: "Not infrequently a collar shaped fragment of lead is shaved off around the wound of entrance and is found embedded in the surrounding scalp tissues." Criminologist Lemoyne Snyder describes a similar phenomenon in his book Homicide Investigation. Forensic pathologist Dr. Halbert Fillinger explained to me the principles that rule out full-jacketed ammunition and suggest a lead bullet:

"You can appreciate the fact that a jacketed projectile is going to leave very little on the [bone] margins because
it's basically a hardened jacket, and it's designed so that it will not scrape off when it goes through a steel barrel. One can appreciate the fact that going through bone, which is not as hard as steel, may etch or scratch it, but it's not going to peel off much metal. In contrast to this a softer projectile might very well leave little metallic residues around the margins."

And yet a fragmented FMJ bullet was found inside the limo. An inconvenient truth for MTG for which he seems to have no explanation.

The Commission's case against Oswald requires full-jacketed ammunition to have been used to inflict the wounds of President Kennedy. The presence of the 6.5 mm. metallic fragment in the margin of the skull entrance wound eliminates the possibility that a full-jacketed bullet entered through this hole. Such a fragment located at that site is indicative of a lead or soft-nosed bullet. . . .

MTG continues to pretend he is an expert on ballistics. It's quite entertaining when he does this.

The loss of a substantial quantity of brain tissue becomes significant when we consider Dr. Humes's testimony that the X rays showed "30 or 40 tiny dustlike particle fragments" of metal in the President's head (2 H 353). Humes cautioned that the fragments that appeared to be "the size of dust particles" (2 H 359) on the X rays would actually have been smaller because "X ray pictures ... have a tendency to magnify these minute fragments somewhat in size" (2H353). Secret Service Agent Roy Kellerman saw the X rays during the autopsy and provided a similar description: " ... the whole head looked like a little mass of stars, there must have been 30, 40 lights where these little pieces were so minute that they couldn't be reached" (2 H 100). . . .

Dr. Fillinger tells me that the fragments described in the President's brain were not characteristic of a military round. . . . He feels that the break-up of the bullet is more consistent with a hunting round. . . .

No hunting rounds nor fragments of hunting rounds were found in JFK's head nor inside the limo. There was a fragmented FMJ military round found in the limo. An inconvenient fact which MTG continues to ignore.

The size and extent of the gaping defect, and the associated fracturing and fragmentation of the skull, are indicative of a high-velocity bullet's having struck the head to produce this damage. Dr. Fillinger has expressed to me his strong feeling that the extensive fragmentation of the skull is the consequence of a high-velocity round. He stated that the presence of such massive fracturing means that "there is a tremendous amount of force applied to the skull to produce all these fractures .. .. This has been pretty well fragmented, as a matter of fact," he told me, "and again, speaks for some sort of high-velocity round". . . .

Now MTG pretends to be an expert in forensic pathology.

Because there was great damage to the head and extensive bullet fragmentation in the brain, Dr. Fillinger was doubtful that the Mannlicher-Carcano could have produced these wounds. "To produce this kind of effect," he told me, "you have to have a very high-velocity projectile, and the Carcano will not stand very high bolt pressures."(Presumed Guilty, 1976, pp. 113-120)[/font]

Just as a reminder, Dr. Fillinger was a nationally recognized forensic pathologist, considered a "giant" in the field, who was known for handling the most serious cases. "The Halbert E. Fillinger Lifetime Achievement Award" was named after him to recognize outstanding contributors to forensic science. The International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners chose Dr. Fillinger to represent them on the U.S. Department of Justice's National Medicolegal Review Panel. The website Practical Homicide says this about him:

Tell us when Dr. Fillinger examined the medical evidence.

The "Halbert E. Fillinger Lifetime Achievement Award" is named in honor of Dr. Halbert Fillinger, who was a forensic pathologist. His 40 years of service included his time as Chief Medical Examiner in the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office before being elected Coroner of Montgomery County, PA.

During his career, Dr. Fillinger lectured many times at the FBI academy in Quantico, Va., and all branches of the Armed Forces. Respected for his work, officials in the states of Texas, Michigan, Arkansas, Kentucky, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, and Colorado sought his advice. (https://www.practicalhomicide.com/current/Vidocq.html)

BTW, Dr. Fillinger regarded the SBT as pure bunk; he said there was just no way that CE 399 could have caused all of JFK's and Connally's non-fatal wounds and emerged virtually undamaged, especially with its lands and grooves intact (Roffman, Presumed Guilty, pp. 142-144).

Anyone who still claims that JFK's head was hit with FMJ ammo needs to produce a single reputable forensic source that says that FMJ ammo striking skull bone can shatter into dozens of particles and can deposit fragments in the outer table of the skull upon penetration. World-renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Vincent DiMaio said that FMJ ammo will never shatter into dozens of tiny fragments; that if an x-ray shows a cluster of tiny fragments (a "lead snowstorm," as we see on JFK's skull x-rays), this "rules out" FMJ ammo; and that on the "rare" occasions when FMJ bullets do fragment after entering skull, they will leave "few" fragments:

An x-ray of an individual shot with a full metal-jacketed rifle bullet . . . usually fails to reveal any bullet fragments at all even if the bullet has perforated bone such as the skull or spine.If any fragments are seen, they are very sparse in number. . . .(Gunshot Wounds, p. 166)

In x-rays of through-and-through gunshot wounds, the presence of small fragments of metal along the wound track virtually rules out full metal-jacketed ammunition.. . . In rare instances involving full metal-jacketed centerfire rifle bullets, a few small, dust-like fragments of lead may be seen on x-ray if the bullet perforates bone. One of the most characteristic x-rays and one that will indicate the type of weapon and ammunition used is that seen from centerfire rifles firing hunting ammunition. In such a case, one will see a 'lead snowstorm'. . . . Such a picture rules out full metal-jacketed rifle ammunition or a shotgun slug. (Gunshot Wounds, p. 318)

For more information on the evidence that JFK's head was not hit with FMJ ammo and that FMJ ammo could not have produced the bullet fragmentation seen on the JFK autopsy skull x-rays, see my article "Forensic Science and President Kennedy's Head Wounds."

The only meaningful comparison would be a test 6.5mm FMJ round fired from a Carcano rifle into a synthetic skull filled with ballistic gel. All FMJ bullets are not alike and should not be expected to perform in a like manner. The 6.5mm is an unusual round that is not commonly in civilian use. More common FMJ bullets are .30-06 rounds which are used in a wide variety of weapons and the 5.56 NATO round, commonly used in AR-15 platforms. These bullets differ from the Carcano bullet in both diameter and velocity. On top of that, rifles are rarely used in homicides. Homicides committed with rifles using FMJ ammo are a subset of those, and homicides committed by gunshot wounds to the head using FMJ bullets fired from a rifle are an even smaller subset. Even a forensic pathologist who worked in that capacity for decades would see few if any homicides involving FMJ bullets fired into the victim's skull and likely would have seen no such homicides involving Carcano FMJ rounds. Therefore, generalizations regarding how such a round would behave when striking a victim's skull should be met with a good deal of skepticism. 

[Michael T. Griffith]

All of the above is rendered moot by the fact that a fragmented FMJ bullet was found in the limo with two large fragments being positively matched to Oswald's rifle and a number of smaller fragments were also found. These fragments were less than the material contained by a FMJ Carcano bullet so we can safely say some of the fragments flew out of the limo.

I guess you simply lack the capacity to understand how absurd and pitiful this argument is. You just don't seem to realize that you are waving aside the known facts of forensic science regarding the behavior of FMJ bullets and are instead clinging to erroneous assumptions that are refuted by those facts.

You're assuming that the two limo fragments came from the head shot, even though the JFK autopsy skull x-rays show that the head-shot ammo produced bullet fragmentation that forensic science tells will never, ever, ever occur with FMJ ammo. Instead of judging your assumptions by forensic science, you're rejecting forensic science because it contradicts your assumptions.

Moreover, you still have not explained the fact that one of the limo fragments was deformed in a way that could not have been done by passing through a skull, with a jacket peeled backward 180 degrees and folded almost flat and with one edge literally forming a razor edge. Nor have you explained the fact that not a single bullet fragment in any of the JFK head-shot wound ballistics tests emerged with such deformation -- not one.

Nor have you faced the fact that scientists have debunked the claim that NAA testing proved that the limo fragments came from the same ammo that Oswald allegedly used. I've documented this for you at least twice, but you just keep ignoring it.

I'm just wondering how in your mind you can dismiss these facts and dismiss what forensic science tells us about the known, documented behavior of FMJ bullets.

I notice you've simply ignored the fact that no FMJ bullet will ever "shear off" two or more fragments and deposit them on the outer table of the skull upon penetrating the skull. Even your side's best wound ballistics expert, Dr. Larry Sturdivan, has admitted that the 6.5 mm object cannot -- absolutely cannot -- have come from an FMJ missile and must be an artifact. You also keep ignoring the fact that two sets of optical-density measurements, consisting of thousands of data points, have confirmed that the 6.5 mm object is not metallic but is a ghosted image placed over some smaller genuine bullet fragments.

And I see you're still struggling with basic English: Again, it's "an FMJ Carcano bullet," not "a FMJ Carcano bullet."

MTG would have us believe that a bullet struck JFK's head and disappeared without a trace. MTG apparently believes in several Magic Bullets that struck both JFK and JBC and then disappeared into thin air.

You know these are falsehoods. People can go back and read the replies wherein I have addressed these bogus arguments, and they will see that you are simply being dishonest.

The WCR scenario has none of these problems. It fully explains all the wounds to the two men with just two bullets fired from the sniper's nest, both of which are accounted for.  The single bullet which struck JFK in the back, yawed upon exiting from his throat, making an elongated wound into JBC's back who was lined up perfectly to be struck by that bullet. That bullet exited from the right side of JBC's and wrist, flattening it at the base and depositing small lead fragments from the base. We know those fragments came from the base because that is the only place the lead core was exposed. That bullet then went on to make a shallow entry into JBC's thigh before working it's way out and being discovered later that day at Parkland. MTG rejects that scenario even though he has no evidence or explanation for other bullets fired from other locations, which wounds they caused, nor where they ended up. He's not alone, however. No other CT has been able to provide such an explanation over 62 years.

This stuff would be funny if it weren't so pathetic and misleading.

If a yawing bullet exited JFK's throat, how in the world was the throat wound punched inward and only about 5 mm in diameter? How could a bullet have exited JFK's throat when the damage behind and below the wound was larger than the wound itself, a textbook indicator of an entry wound, not an exit wound? How could a bullet have exited JFK's throat without at least nicking the left or right edge of the tie knot, given that we have ample photographic evidence that the tie knot was neatly centered in the middle of JFK's collar band? How could a bullet have exited JFK's throat without creating a hole in the shirt with fabric missing from it and without leaving any metallic traces in the exit defect in the shirt?

I have personally corrected you several times on the myth that Connally's back wound was "elongated." You know this is false, but you just keep repeating this lie anyway. Connally's back wound was only 1.5 cm wide, the same width as JFK's rear head entry wound. And the wound track through Connally's chest, as Dr. Shaw explained, was narrow, so much so that the bullet pulverized at least 4 inches of rib bone while doing only minimal damage to the surrounding muscle tissue, the exact opposite of what would have happened if the bullet had been yawing. But you just keep ignoring these facts and repeating claims that you know are false.

I have "no evidence or explanation for other bullets fired from other locations"?! You know that's another lie. Here, too, people can go back and read our exchanges and see that I most certainly do have evidence of other bullets, as well as of additional bullet fragments, and of bullets fired from other locations. 

"Extra Bullets and Missed Shots in Dealey Plaza."

"The Shifting Sands of the Single-Bullet Theory"

"Ten Reasons I Reject the Single-Bullet Theory"

[John Corbett]

I guess you simply lack the capacity to understand how absurd and pitiful this argument is. You just don't seem to realize that you are waving aside the known facts of forensic science regarding the behavior of FMJ bullets and are instead clinging to erroneous assumptions that are refuted by those facts.

What the hell do you know about forensic science?