The Magic Bullet

[John Iacoletti]

So are you saying that it is a myth that McDonald actually said this (3 H 300):

Mr. MCDONALD. His right hand was on the pistol.
Mr. BALL. And which of your hands?
Mr. MCDONALD. My left hand, at this point.
Mr. BALL. And had he withdrawn the pistol-
Mr. MCDONALD. He was drawing it as I put my hand.
Mr. BALL. From his waist?
Mr. MCDONALD. Yes, sir.

Do you not see any difference between "he was drawing it" and "pulled a gun"?  By McDonald's account, was the gun still in the waistband when he grabbed Oswald's hand?  If so, then by McDonald's account, Oswald did not pull a gun.

....

Mr. Mr. MCDONALD. Yes, sir. When this hand-we went down into the seats.
Mr. BALL. When your left hand went into the seats, what happened?
Mr. MCDONALD. It felt like something had grazed across my hand. I felt
movement there. And that was the only movement I felt. And I heard a snap.
I didn?t know what it was at the time.

So as far as you're concerned, "I heard a snap" is the same as "Oswald tried to fire the gun"?  How many different hands were on this gun when this "snap" supposedly was heard?

? Because that is evidence on which one could easily conclude that Oswald pulled his gun on the arresting officer and pulled the trigger with the gun pointing at the officer.

Was it pointed at the officer?  Not according to Officer Walker:

"The gun finally got out of his belt, and it was about waist high and pointed out at about a 45 degree angle. I turned around and I was holding Oswald trying to get his arm up behind him in a hammerlock, and I heard it click. I turned around and the gun was still pointing at approximately a 45 angle. Be pointed slightly toward the screen, what I call.

And not according to Officer Hutson either:

Mr. BELIN. Do you know which way the pistol was pointing when you heard the snap?
Mr. HUTSON. Was pointing toward the back of the seat.
Mr. BELIN. It was pointing toward the back of the seat?
Mr. HUTSON. Yes; toward the screen in the front of the theatre, in that direction.

You may not believe it, but that does not make that evidence mythical. It exists.

Yes, it exists.  It just doesn't support the conclusions that you have made.

[Alice Thorton]

Magic Bullet??

Governor Connally's wife even said they were shot at 2 different times. There is no way one single bullet shot them both. But at the same time, people say they only heard 3 single shots. Also, I thought the first shot was shot at the curb? Then the second hit Kennedy in the neck and the third was the fatal shot to the head?

[Tim Nickerson]

Magic Bullet??

Governor Connally's wife even said they were shot at 2 different times. There is no way one single bullet shot them both. But at the same time, people say they only heard 3 single shots. Also, I thought the first shot was shot at the curb? Then the second hit Kennedy in the neck and the third was the fatal shot to the head?

Alice, Nellie Connally said that they were shot at 2 different times. Nellie Connally was wrong. The Zapruder film leaves no doubt the Kennedy and Connally were hit at virtually the same time.

[Alice Thorton]

Alice, Nellie Connally said that they were shot at 2 different times. Nellie Connally was wrong. The Zapruder film leaves no doubt the Kennedy and Connally were hit at virtually the same time.

Yeah, now that I look at it again you're right. I figured to believe her since she was in the vehicle as well. It crazy how a bullet can exit from one person to another so fast. It looks as if they were hit at the exact same time though? But everyone only heard 3 shots. The head, neck, and curb... Could there have been a 4th shot?

[Tim Nickerson]

Yeah, now that I look at it again you're right. I figured to believe her since she was in the vehicle as well. It crazy how a bullet can exit from one person to another so fast. It looks as if they were hit at the exact same time though? But everyone only heard 3 shots. The head, neck, and curb... Could there have been a 4th shot?

Alice,the best explanation for a strike on the curb is a fragment from the head shot. One fragment struck the inside of the limo windshield. Another struck the chrome piece of the windshield. And a third passed over the top of the windshield and went on the strike the curb.

[Alice Thorton]

Alice,the best explanation for a strike on the curb is a fragment from the head shot. One fragment struck the inside of the limo windshield. Another struck the chrome piece of the windshield. And a third passed over the top of the windshield and went on the strike the curb.

 That makes more sense now. I just watched a documentary on the history channel and there were a few witnesses who said they saw Oswald on the 6th floor but no one saw anyone on the Grassy Knoll with a gun... But the headshot looks like it came from the front and not the back.

[Andrew Mason]

Alice,the best explanation for a strike on the curb is a fragment from the head shot. One fragment struck the inside of the limo windshield. Another struck the chrome piece of the windshield. And a third passed over the top of the windshield and went on the strike the curb.

That is certainly the case if you believe that CE399 was from the second shot.

But the only evidence we have as to which shot caused James Tague's cheek cut indicates that it was the second shot.  Tague initially was not sure when asked but thought about it and said it was not the first shot and he recalled a shot after being struck and he was sure there were only three shots. 

Also, Greer said he heard or felt a "concussion" from the second shot. He did not experience this on the other shots. There was significant damage to the windshield frame just above and to the right of his head, so it seems reasonable that he would have heard a sound from that.

We also have George Hickey who said that the second shot appeared to miss JFK's head on the right side because he saw his hair fly up on the second shot.  He was looking rearward at z256 (Altgens). The only time JFK's hair flies up is from z273-276.  A shot missing JFK on the right side would have to have struck Gov. Connally on the right side. That fits with everything else. A shot exiting JBC's chest would have struck his wrist which was pressed against his chest.  If it fragmented upon striking the wrist and those fragments deflected away from the point of contact, the fragments would deflect up and forward.  That fits with the evidence of Greer and Tague and the windshield damage.

So the notion that the damage to the windshield and Tague's injury occurred due to fragments from the third shot is inconsistent with the evidence we have.  It is also difficult to understand how fragments deflected upward after passing through JFK's skull.