M W unwittingly revealed that O's 1st shot was very early and missed everything

[Tom Graves]

See next post.

[Tom Graves]

Dallas Morning News reporter Mary Woodward, to whom JFK made his final wave, wrote in her 11/23 DMN article that there were three shots, the first shot sounded like a backfire, and the first shot missed everything.

She also said (mistakenly) that the limo slowed almost to a halt after the first shot, that the third shot "rapidly followed" the second one, and that the shots came from "behind us and a little to the right," i.e., the Grassy Knoll or the Triple Underpass.

The fact that she said that the limo slowed almost to a halt after the first shot tells us she had conflated what happened before and after the first shot with what happened before and after the second shot, which in turn explains why, contrary to what she wrote, "JFK's waving directly back to us" happened not just before the "backfire-like" first shot, but just before the second shot that wounded both JFK and Governor Connally.

Which we can see is the case in Z-180, in which JFK is waving to Woodard and Co. (The two women who are standing at the very left edge of the frame are, from right to left, her colleagues Maggie Brown and Ann Donaldson. To the left of Donaldson -- and out of the frame -- are blond-haired Woodward and another colleague, Aurelia Alonzo.)

Note: If you click on the frame and enlarge it, you'll be able to see that Governor Connally, having recognized the three-seconds-earlier "backfire-like" sound as a rifle shot, has turned his head far to his right in his futile attempt to catch a glimpse of JFK over his right shoulder.

https://assassinationresearch.com/zfilm/z180.jpg

Enlarge to photo in the bottom-left corner of Robin Unger's Zapruder Gallery to see in Z-153 where blond-haired Woodward and her three colleagues were standing when JFK waved to them one-and-a-half seconds later in Z-180. Note that Secret Service Agent Glen Bennett in the passenger side back seat, in leaning far to his right to see if JFK is okay, and that George Hickey opposite him is leaning over the side of the car because he thought a firecracker had exploded on the pavement.

https://www.jfkassassinationforum.com/.../Zapruder%20Gallery


Here's her article:

Four of us from Women’s News, Maggie Brown, Aurelia Alonzo, my roommate Ann Donaldson, and myself had decided to spend our lunch hour by going to see the President.

We took our lunch along—some crackers and apples—and started walking down Houston Street. We decided to cross Elm and wait there on the grassy slope just east of the Triple Underpass, since there weren’t very many people there and we could get a better view.

We had been waiting about half an hour when the first motorcycle escorts came by, followed shortly by the President’s car. The President was looking straight ahead and we were afraid we would not get to see his face. But we started clapping and cheering and both he and Mrs. Kennedy turned, and smiled and waved, directly at us, it seemed. Jackie was wearing a beautiful pink suit with beret to match. Two of us, who had seen the President last during the final weeks of the 1960 campaign, remarked almost simultaneously how relaxed and robust he looked.

As it turned out, we were almost certainly the last faces he noticed in the crowd.

After acknowledging our cheers, he faced forward again and suddenly there was a horrible, ear-shattering noise coming from behind us and a little to the right. My first reaction, and also my friends’, was that as a joke, someone had backfired their car. Apparently the driver and occupants of the President’s car had the same impression, because instead of speeding up, the car came almost to a halt.

Things are a little hazy from this point, but I don’t believe anyone was hit with the first bullet. The President and Mrs. Kennedy turned and looked around, as if they, too, didn’t believe the noise was really coming from a gun.

Then after a moment’s pause there was another shot and I saw the President start slumping in the car.

This was followed rapidly by another shot. Mrs. Kennedy stood up in the car, turned half-way around, then fell on top of her husband’s body. Not until this minute did it sink in what actually was happening. We had witnessed the assassination of the President.

The cars behind stopped and several men—Secret Service men, I suppose—got out and started rushing forward, obstructing our view of the President’s car.

Then I started looking around at the stunned crowd. About 10 feet from where we were standing, a man and woman had thrown their small child to the ground and covered his body with theirs. Apparently, the bullets had whizzed directly over their heads.

Next to us were two Negro women. One collapsed in the other’s arms, weeping and uttering what everyone was thinking: “They’ve shot him.”

It still seems like a horrible nightmare.

It will be a real-life nightmare to haunt us all for a long time to come.

. . . . . .

My comment:

Woodward was right that JFK and Jackie turned their heads after the first shot. JFK’s was quick and to his left at Z-143; Jackie’s was to her left at Z-143.5 and resulted in her being captured with a concerned look on her face in a photo that was taken by Robert Croft at Z-161.

https://www.jfkassassinationforum.com/Gallery/Croft%20Gallery

JFK and Governor Connally (who said he realized right away that the first loud sound was a high-powered rifle shot) will be wounded by a single bullet in approximately 3.3 seconds, and JFK will be struck in the head by a bullet about five seconds after that. In the Croft photo, Mary Woodward and her three colleagues are about twenty feet to the left, out of the frame, and in it Governor Connally has just turned his head quickly to his left and will soon be turning it back far to his right in a futile attempt to catch a glimpse of JFK over his right shoulder at Z-180.

(It seems to me that if JFK hadn’t turned his head far to his right and raised his hand to wave to Woodward and Co. in Z-180, Connally might have “recognized” him and pulled him down to safety or at least yelled "Get Down!")

Note also in Croft how Secret Service Agent Roy Kellerman has turned far to his right.


Edited and bumped.

[Tom Graves]

Dallas Morning News reporter Mary Woodward, to whom JFK made his final wave, wrote in her 11/23 DMN article that there were three shots, the first shot sounded like a backfire, and the first shot missed everything.

She also said (mistakenly) that the limo slowed almost to a halt after the first shot, that the third shot "rapidly followed" the second one, and that the shots came from "behind us and a little to the right," i.e., the Grassy Knoll or the Triple Underpass.

The fact that she said that the limo slowed almost to a halt after the first shot tells us she had conflated what happened before and after the first shot with what happened before and after the second shot, which in turn explains why, contrary to what she wrote, "JFK's waving directly back to us" happened not just before the "backfire-like" first shot, but just before the second shot that wounded both JFK and Governor Connally.

Which we can see is the case in Z-180, in which JFK is waving to Woodard and Co. (The two women who are standing at the very left edge of the frame are, from right to left, her colleagues Maggie Brown and Ann Donaldson. To the left of Donaldson -- and out of the frame -- are blond-haired Woodward and another colleague, Aurelia Alonzo.)

Note: If you click on the frame and enlarge it, you'll be able to see that Governor Connally, having recognized the three-seconds-earlier "backfire-like" sound as a rifle shot, has turned his head far to his right in his futile attempt to catch a glimpse of JFK over his right shoulder.

https://assassinationresearch.com/zfilm/z180.jpg

Enlarge to photo in the bottom-left corner of Robin Unger's Zapruder Gallery to see in Z-153 where blond-haired Woodward and her three colleagues were standing when JFK waved to them one-and-a-half seconds later in Z-180. Note that Secret Service Agent Glen Bennett in the passenger side back seat, in leaning far to his right to see if JFK is okay, and that George Hickey opposite him is leaning over the side of the car because he thought a firecracker had exploded on the pavement.

https://www.jfkassassinationforum.com/.../Zapruder%20Gallery


Here's her article:

Four of us from Women’s News, Maggie Brown, Aurelia Alonzo, my roommate Ann Donaldson, and myself had decided to spend our lunch hour by going to see the President.

We took our lunch along—some crackers and apples—and started walking down Houston Street. We decided to cross Elm and wait there on the grassy slope just east of the Triple Underpass, since there weren’t very many people there and we could get a better view.

We had been waiting about half an hour when the first motorcycle escorts came by, followed shortly by the President’s car. The President was looking straight ahead and we were afraid we would not get to see his face. But we started clapping and cheering and both he and Mrs. Kennedy turned, and smiled and waved, directly at us, it seemed. Jackie was wearing a beautiful pink suit with beret to match. Two of us, who had seen the President last during the final weeks of the 1960 campaign, remarked almost simultaneously how relaxed and robust he looked.

As it turned out, we were almost certainly the last faces he noticed in the crowd.

After acknowledging our cheers, he faced forward again and suddenly there was a horrible, ear-shattering noise coming from behind us and a little to the right. My first reaction, and also my friends’, was that as a joke, someone had backfired their car. Apparently the driver and occupants of the President’s car had the same impression, because instead of speeding up, the car came almost to a halt.

Things are a little hazy from this point, but I don’t believe anyone was hit with the first bullet. The President and Mrs. Kennedy turned and looked around, as if they, too, didn’t believe the noise was really coming from a gun. (emphasis added)

Then after a moment’s pause there was another shot and I saw the President start slumping in the car.

This was followed rapidly by another shot. Mrs. Kennedy stood up in the car, turned half-way around, then fell on top of her husband’s body. Not until this minute did it sink in what actually was happening. We had witnessed the assassination of the President.

The cars behind stopped and several men—Secret Service men, I suppose—got out and started rushing forward, obstructing our view of the President’s car.

Then I started looking around at the stunned crowd. About 10 feet from where we were standing, a man and woman had thrown their small child to the ground and covered his body with theirs. Apparently, the bullets had whizzed directly over their heads.

Next to us were two Negro women. One collapsed in the other’s arms, weeping and uttering what everyone was thinking: “They’ve shot him.”

It still seems like a horrible nightmare.

It will be a real-life nightmare to haunt us all for a long time to come.

. . . . . .

My comment:

Woodward was right that JFK and Jackie turned their heads after the first shot. JFK’s was quick and to his left at Z-143; Jackie’s was to her left at Z-143.5 and resulted in her being captured with a concerned look on her face in a photo that was taken by Robert Croft at Z-161.

https://www.jfkassassinationforum.com/Gallery/Croft%20Gallery

JFK and Governor Connally (who said he realized right away that the first loud sound was a high-powered rifle shot) will be wounded by a single bullet in approximately 3.3 seconds, and JFK will be struck in the head by a bullet about five seconds after that. In the Croft photo, Mary Woodward and her three colleagues are about twenty feet to the left, out of the frame, and in it Governor Connally has just turned his head quickly to his left and will soon be turning it back far to his right in a futile attempt to catch a glimpse of JFK over his right shoulder at Z-180.

(It seems to me that if JFK hadn’t turned his head far to his right and raised his hand to wave to Woodward and Co. in Z-180, Connally might have “recognized” him and pulled him down to safety or at least yelled "Get Down!")

Note also in Croft how Secret Service Agent Roy Kellerman has turned far to his right.


Edited and bumped.

Does anyone here agree with Woodward that the limo nearly came to a halt after the first, "backfire-like," shot that JFK and Jackie turned their heads in response to?

If you realize that:

1) The limo came to a near-halt, not after the first shot, but after the second shot

2) She confused what happened before and after the first shot with what happened before and after the second shot,

3) She was the person to whom JFK was waving at Z-180

4) She was right when she said there were three shots and that the first shot missed everything

5) In response to the "backfire-like" sound of the first shot, JFK quickly turned his head to his left in Z-143 and Jackie continued and accelerated her left turn at Z-144 -- and was "caught" in the Z-161 Croft photo with a concerned look on her face

You're half-way home to figuring out the JFK assassination.

[Benjamin Cole]

TG-

In these various posts of yours, you say this or that JFKA witness was correct in recollections or observations that agree with your narrative, but then the very same witnesses flop terribly when their observations conflict with your narrative.

In fact, there are many conflicting witness statements regarding the JFKA, as your own posts amplify.

Most witnesses heard a "bang...bang-bang" cadence of audible shots, including Dallas Sheriff Seymour Weitzman, who said the second two JFKA shots were nearly simultaneous.

Should we believe Weitzman, a man deeply familiar with firearms?

How did LHO, armed with a single-shot-per-bolt-action rifle, fire nearly simultaneous shots?

OK, so we don't believe Weitzman, but we do believe other witnesses?

[Tom Graves]

TG-

In these various posts of yours, you say this or that JFKA witness was correct in recollections or observations that agree with your narrative, but then the very same witnesses flop terribly when their observations conflict with your narrative.

In fact, there are many conflicting witness statements regarding the JFKA, as your own posts amplify.

Most witnesses heard a "bang...bang-bang" cadence of audible shots, including Dallas Sheriff Seymour Weitzman, who said the second two JFKA shots were nearly simultaneous.

Should we believe Weitzman, a man deeply familiar with firearms?

How did LHO, armed with a single-shot-per-bolt-action rifle, fire nearly simultaneous shots?

OK, so we don't believe Weitzman, but we do believe other witnesses?

Most witnesses don't get everything wrong, and neither did Mary Woodward, imho.

What I think she got right:

1) There were three shots.

2) The first shot sounded like a "backfire." (Some witnesses said it sounded like a "firecracker")

3) The first shot missed everything.

4) JFK and Jackie turned their heads in response to the sounds of the first shot. (JFK turned his head quickly to his left in Z-143; Jackie, who was already looking to her left, started turning her head farther to her left in an accelerating manner in Z-144)

5) JFK waved directly to Woodward and her colleagues shortly before the shot that caused him to "slump," i.e., the second shot at approximately Z-222.

6) Subject to enlargement if I think of anything else.


What I think she got wrong:

1) The limo slowed to a near-halt after the first shot. (We know that it didn't do that until after the second shot.)

2) JFK waved to her and her colleagues before the first shot (We know that he started waving to them after the first shot, i.e., at Z-180 -- in which frame we can also see that JBC, having recognized Woodward's "backfire" as a shot from a high-powered rifle, has turned far to his right in an apparent attempt to "catch a glimpse of JFK over his right shoulder.")

3) Subject to enlargement if I think of anything else.


Question:

What do you think she got right?

Everything?

What do you think she got wrong?

Nothing?

If neither of the above, which parts do you think she got right, and which parts do you think she got wrong?


Hmm?

[Tom Graves]

In these various posts of yours, you say this or that JFKA witness was correct in recollections or observations that agree with your narrative, but then the very same witnesses flop terribly when their observations conflict with your narrative.

Au contraire.

I say the parts of their statements that are supported by photographic evidence and which jibe with "my narrative" are correct.

[Benjamin Cole]

TG-

I think most people have a JFKA narrative in mind, and work backwards from that.

Given the preponderance of JFKA witnesses who described the 'bang...bang-bang" cadence, I am inclined to lean towards that. I concede "most witnesses" could be wrong.

However, three audible shots does not rule out inaudible shots, or simultaneous shots.

My layman's interpretation of the Z-film lines up with the "bang...bang-bang" cadence.