JFK Assassination Forum

Charles: Here is Humes in 1992 in the JAMA article:

"Once we saw the holes in the back of the President's suit jacket and shirt and the nicks on his shirt collar and the knot of his necktie, the path of the second bullet was confirmed. That bullet was traveling very fast and it had to go somewhere. I believe in the single-bullet theory that it struck Governor Connally immediately after exiting the President's throat."

So it's true he initially disbelieved the idea, or thought it unlikely; he later came to support it.

That JAMA article is here: https://aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/arrb/master_med_set/pdf/md22.pdf

Thanks Steve, yes Arlen Specter’s book spells out the limited information that Humes had at the time of his testimony. That explains why he testified as he did. It is good to know that he later supported the SBT after learning more facts.


Edit: I think that one of the insurmountable reasons that no one will ever disprove the SBT is what Humes said:

“That bullet was traveling very fast and it had to go somewhere.”

Another snip from “Passion for Truth” by Arlen Specter, page 81:


Humes saw Bullet 399, which was almost pristine, for the first time the day he testified. When I showed him photographs of the positions that Kennedy and Connally had occupied in the Lincoln, Humes suggested that the same bullet might have exited Kennedy’s neck and then passed through Connally’s chest.

I asked Humes whether he thought Bullet 399 could have caused Connally’s other wounds, to the right wrist and left thigh. Humes could rely only on the Parkland Hospital records to answer. “I think that extremely unlikely,” he replied. “The reports, again Exhibit 392 from Parkland, tell of an entrance wound on the lower mid thigh of the governor, and X rays taken there are described as showing metallic fragments in the bone, which apparently by this report were not removed and are still in Governor Connally’s thigh. I can’t conceive of where they came from this missile.”
Humes also did not think Bullet 399 had caused the wounds to Connally’s wrist, because of metallic fragments found in that wound. “The reason I believe it most unlikely that this missle could have inflicted either of these wounds is that this missle is basically intact; its jacket appears to me to be intact, and I do not understand how it could possibly have left fragments in either of these locations.” At this point then, there was no Single-Bullet Theory. Humes had given us vital information indicating that the bullet had exited from Kennedy’s throat at high speed. The theory that the bullet then went through Conbnally’s chest and wrist and lodged in the governor’s thigh would have to be checked against his X rays, a suggestion Humes made. The key lay in the size and weight of the fragments.
We would later prove that Bullet 399 could indeed have passed through the president and then inflicted all of the governor’s wounds. We would make the case partly by weighing Bullet 399 and the metal fragments taken from Connally’s body. Together, the nearly whole bullet and the fragments weighed no more than an ordinary bullet.

As you can see, I said the idea that evolved into the single bullet theory originated with Dr. Humes’ testimony. Whether or not Humes believed that the other two wounds were caused by Bullet 399 is not relevant to the statement that I made.

Charles: Here is Humes in 1992 in the JAMA article:

"Once we saw the holes in the back of the President's suit jacket and shirt and the nicks on his shirt collar and the knot of his necktie, the path of the second bullet was confirmed. That bullet was traveling very fast and it had to go somewhere. I believe in the single-bullet theory that it struck Governor Connally immediately after exiting the President's throat."

So it's true he initially disbelieved the idea, or thought it unlikely; he later came to support it.

That JAMA article is here: https://aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/arrb/master_med_set/pdf/md22.pdf

    


 Note, if you will, how far to JFK's left John Connally is seated.
 Note too, how JFK was seated completely up against the inside side of the limousine, so that he could rest his right arm comfortably while riding in the motorcade,

  Cyril Wecht was a liar.   He also knew about the "Lapel Flip" as far back as 1975, and never said a word about it!

The idea that evolved into the single bullet theory originated with Dr. Humes in his Warren Commission testimony. This is spelled out in “Passion for Truth” by Arlen Spector, pate 80. Here is a snip from that page:

Our Friday interview with Humes and Boswell produced a revelation: The bullet that passed through Kennedy’s neck proceeded in a straight line, struck nothing solid, and exited with great velocity. The doctors had not mentioned this in their autopsy report. “The missle struck no bony structures in traversing the body of the late president.” Humes testified when I questioned him the following Monday. “Therefore, I believe it was moving at its exit from the president’s body at only very slightly less than that velocity, so it was still traveling at great speed.”
Humes then referred to Commission Exhibit 398, a frame of the Zapruder film that showed Kennedy raising his hands to his neck, presumably after being shot there. “I believe in looking at Exhibit 398, which purports to be at approximately the time the president was struck,” Humes said, “I see that Governor Connally is sitting directly in front of the late president, and suggest the possibility that this missile, having traversed the low neck of the late president, in fact traversed the chest of Governor Connally.”

The origin of the idea/opinion that evolved into a hypothesis, then theory and conclusion began with Dr. Humes. It has been extensively tested and evaluated by the scientific community time and time again over the past sixty-plus years and it is strongly supported by the vast majority of the scientists who have tested it. The Knott Labs study tries in vain to disprove the single bullet conclusion but fails miserably. No truly unbiased jury (they are all supposed to be unbiased) could ever believe that the Knott Labs study disproves the single bullet conclusion.

Theories require extensive testing and agreement within the scientific community. Theories are not described as true or right, but as the best-supported explanation of the world based on evidence.

https://manoa.hawaii.edu/exploringourfluidearth/physical/ocean-floor/continental-movement-plate-tectonics/practices-science-opinion-hypothesis-theory


The single bullet conclusion has been tested and agreed upon as the best-supported explanation by many scientific studies and has been that way for over sixty years. The Knott Labs study has not been tested or agreed upon by anyone other than Knott Labs.

it was tested based on what figures ? , if it is based on the warren commission and indeed Spectors theories and trajectories it does not and cannot work . this is the very reason the BACK wound has been falsely raised to the right of the neck . the HSCA later also knew it did not work and they deceived and had JFK leaning markedly forward before he first reacted . the Zapruder film shows that the lean only came after he first reacted .

when it comes to photos (or even film ) they can easily be deceptive , i mean in terms angles and perspective . photos taken from angles , overhead , offset to right or left can be deceptive . we know the jump seat was 2.5 inches inboard . jfks right arm was comfortably resting on the side wall of the limo . connallys right arm can be seen resting on the right side of the limo all be it it was not on it quite as much as JFKs which we would expect given the jump seat was a few inches inboard .

the commission and hsca etc agreed on the SBT , LN agree on it , that is hardly an endorsement of accuracy . all be it i recall a well known LN right here on this sight posting in reply to me saying he thought (i am not speaking verbatim now ) that the SBT was a nonsense . this was a very well known , very intelligent and very well researched LN here , a man very familiar with weapons , and he while saying Oswald did could not go along with the SBT . i feel sure some of the current LN here may recognize who i speak of . whether we be LN or CT or neither of those , if we use our eyes , our common sense , we will see a nonsense for exactly what it is . the SBT theory starts with a lie , an entry location where there provably was no entry wound . that alone nullifies it . and Connally and Russell did not buy it either . so we have to call a spade a spade here .