JFK Assassination Forum
The JFK Assassination Discussion & Debate => JFK Assassination Discussion & Debate => Topic started by: John Corbett on August 11, 2026, 02:37:14 PM
-
https://www.statista.com/statistics/195325/murder-victims-in-the-us-by-weapon-used/
MTG has tried to make a big deal out of Vincent DiMaio's observations regarding how FMJ bullets behave when striking a human skull. What he fails to take into account is that handguns are far and away the most commonly used weapons in US homicides and would make up the overwhelming majority of the case studies DiMaio observed. For 2024, the most recent year for which statistics are available, there were 6246 handgun homicides compared to 356 for all other firearms. That would include both rifles and shotguns. Rifles make up only a portion of the 356, and homicides using FMJ ammo would be a small fraction of that, given that hunting ammo is by far the most common rifle ammo used by the civilian population. Of the few homicides committed with FMJ rifle rounds, only a fraction of those would be gunshot wounds to the skull. I would hazard a guess that the number is in the single digits.
For that reason, DiMaio would see very few such cases, if any, on which to base his conclusion. In fact, it would not surprise me if DiMaio was addressing only handgun rounds in his textbook on gunshot wounds. More to the point, I doubt DiMaio ever looked at another case of a homicide committed with an FMJ Carcano round fired into a human skull. He would therefore have no basis for concluding how such a round would fragment when striking a human skull.
DiMaio made general observations on how FMJ ammo reacts to striking a human skull and it would be poor science to take from his observations that all FMJ ammo would behave the same way, but that is exactly what MTG has done.
One more pertinent question which I doubt MTG will even address is this. If the fragmented bullet found on the floor of the limo did not shatter when striking JFK's skull, what else could it have struck that would cause it to break apart and what evidence is there for such a bullet strike.
-
Well, you asked for it, and now you're gonna get it.
MTG has tried to make a big deal out of Vincent DiMaio's observations regarding how FMJ bullets behave when striking a human skull. What he fails to take into account is that handguns are far and away the most commonly used weapons in US homicides and would make up the overwhelming majority of the case studies DiMaio observed. For 2024, the most recent year for which statistics are available, there were 6246 handgun homicides compared to 356 for all other firearms. That would include both rifles and shotguns. Rifles make up only a portion of the 356, and homicides using FMJ ammo would be a small fraction of that, given that hunting ammo is by far the most common rifle ammo used by the civilian population. Of the few homicides committed with FMJ rifle rounds, only a fraction of those would be gunshot wounds to the skull. I would hazard a guess that the number is in the single digits.
Oh my goodness. Just shaking my head. So I guess DiMaio, Molina, Cave, and other authors of forensic-ballistics books just made up their statements about FMJ bullet behavior?!
As I pointed out to you in this thread, per FBI crime stats, in 2020 and 2021 rifles were used in murders over 900 times in the U.S.; they were used 570 times in 2022 murders; they were used 533 times in 2023 murders; and they were used 401 times in 2024 murders (https://www.gunowners.org/wp-content/uploads/FBI_UCR_Expanded_Homicide_Data_Table_8_Murder_Victims_by_Weapon_2020-2024-1.pdf).
If only 10% of those cases involved headshots with FMJ ammo, that would make over 230 cases involving headshots with FMJ ammo just in the last six years, and, again, FMJ ammo is one of the three most common types of rifle ammo.
I should add that a study by Molina, DiMaio, and Cave found that rifles are the second-most commonly used weapon in both suicides and homicides, with handguns being the most commonly used weapon. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24196728/).
For that reason, DiMaio would see very few such cases, if any, on which to base his conclusion.
LOL! Isn't it odd that DiMaio never said any such thing? You still haven't read his book, obviously.
In fact, it would not surprise me if DiMaio was addressing only handgun rounds in his textbook on gunshot wounds.
More comedy. Uh, did you miss the part where DiMaio specified he was talking about rifle bullets?! Let's read his statements yet again:
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, emphasis added)
How could you miss this? I have presented these quotes to you at least six times in the last three months, yet you still somehow, someway missed the fact that he specified he was talking about rifle bullets. I suspect the problem is that you simply are not educated enough to read material that requires at least a high-school level of reading comprehension.
Furthermore, if you had bothered to even skim through DiMaio's book, of if you had just looked at the table of contents, you would have seen that he has separate sections for handgun bullets and rifle bullets. But, obviously, you did neither. That's because you have no interest in actual research and in learning facts.
More to the point, I doubt DiMaio ever looked at another case of a homicide committed with an FMJ Carcano round fired into a human skull. He would therefore have no basis for concluding how such a round would fragment when striking a human skull.
Another howler! Umm, there is actually no such thing as an "FMJ Carcano round." Your supposed lone gunman allegedly used 6.5 mm Western Cartridge Company (WCC) FMJ bullets, which could be fired from a variety of rifles at the time, such as the Armaguerra Mod. 39, the Fiat-Revelli Modello, the M1891 Long Rifle, and the M1891 Cavalry Carbine, and not just from the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle.
DiMaio made general observations on how FMJ ammo reacts to striking a human skull and it would be poor science to take from his observations that all FMJ ammo would behave the same way, but that is exactly what MTG has done.
Do you really think anyone is going to be fooled by your nonsense when they read DiMaio's statements about the behavior of FMJ bullets? He didn't say that only some FMJ bullets never shatter into dozens of tiny fragments when hitting bone. He said FMJ bullets, period, will never behave like this. He also said that if an x-ray shows dozens of small fragments, this rules out FMJ ammo. He didn't say "some FMJ ammo," but just FMJ ammo, period.
You're putting words in DiMaio's mouth that he never said or even implied, because you can't bring yourself to face the fact that FMJ bullets will not shatter into dozens of tiny fragments when they strike bone. On the "rare" cases when they do fragment after hitting bone, they will leave only a few fragments, as DiMaio pointed, and as we see in the skull x-rays from the WC's headshot wound-ballistics test and in the Failure Analysis headshot wound-ballistics test.
We see the same thing in Dr. John Lattimer's headshot wound-ballistics test. Lattimer fired WCC FMJ bullets into test skulls coated and packed with ballistics gelatin. X-rays of these test skulls revealed no bullet fragments, not even near the wound of entry in the rear of the head.
And we're not just talking about DiMaio, either. We're also talking about Dr. Cyril Wecht (forensic pathologist), Dr. Halbert Fillinger (forensic pathologist), Dr. Roger McCarthy (ballistics expert), Howard Donahue (firearms and ballistics expert), Dr. James Green (forensic pathologist), Dr. Eric Berg (forensic pathologist), Dr. Thomas Smith (forensic pathologist), Dr. Lorenzo Gitto (forensic pathologist), Dr. Robert Stoppacher (forensic pathologist), Dr. Kimberly Molina (forensic pathologist), among others.
Dr. Wecht:
It is my experience, including bullets that are not as powerful and fully jacketed ammunition like this [the 6.5 mm Carcano bullet], that they do not explode into dozens of pieces. They may break into two or three fragments or pieces, but they don't just disintegrate like that. And so when you say it behaved much more like a soft or hollow-point or so on, I agree with you. I've been saying that for a long time. (Mortal Error, p. 231)
From Howard Roffman's report on his interview with Dr. Fillinger:
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)
Also, if you had bothered to read DiMaio's book, you would have seen that he discusses the fact that FMJ bullets are designed to avoid fragmenting into many pieces, especially dozens of tiny fragments, in order to enhance their penetrating power. BTW, DiMaio provides an example of the "lead snowstorm" on an x-ray that rules out FMJ ammo (Figure 7.6, p. 179). As anyone can see, that cluster of fragments only has about half the number of fragments seen in the fragment cluster on the JFK autopsy skull x-rays.
Also, it's worth remembering that Dr. Larry Sturdivan, a wound ballistics expert who served as a consultant for the HSCA, has acknowledged that the back-of-head fragment could not have come from an FMJ bullet because it is physically impossible for a cross-section to be sheared from an FMJ projectile as a result of penetrating skull bone (The JFK Myths, 2005, pp. 184-186).
One more pertinent question which I doubt MTG will even address is this. If the fragmented bullet found on the floor of the limo did not shatter when striking JFK's skull, what else could it have struck that would cause it to break apart and what evidence is there for such a bullet strike.
You must be kidding. I've addressed this issue several times. Not only have I addressed this issue, I've asked you to explain how CE 569, one of the two limo fragments that supposedly transited JFK's skull, could have emerged with part of its substance peeled backward 180 degrees, folded almost flat, and forming a razor edge. Skull bone is not strong enough to do that to a fragment, and not one of the fragments from the WC's headshot wound-ballistics test was deformed in this manner. The two limo fragments most likely came from the bullet that struck the pavement early in the shooting sequence.
In fact, just so others can see your little game of falsely pretending that I have not addressed an issue when I have in fact addressed it, here's what I said to you about this issue in a reply many weeks ago in another thread:
It is comical that you would cite the limo bullet fragments as evidence that FMJ bullets shatter into dozens of fragments when they strike skulls. This is a hilarious gaffe. I notice you didn't explain how a bullet fragment that supposedly transited a human skull could end up with a jacket peeled backward 180 degrees and folded almost flat, with one edge literally forming a razor edge. Not a single bullet fragment in any of the JFK wound ballistics tests emerged with such deformation--not one.
I was referring to the following point that Donahue made and that I discussed in the OP for the Donahue thread:
-- Donahue discovered that the jacket of one of the fragments that were reportedly recovered from the limousine is peeled backward 180 degrees and folded almost flat. One edge of this folded section literally forms a razor edge. Donahue realized that it was extremely unlikely that such a sharp edge could have been fashioned as the bullet traveled through the skull and cranial tissue, but that it was entirely possible that this sharp edge was caused by striking pavement.
You should have been able to figure out by now that since the ammo that hit JFK's head behaved nothing like FMJ ammo, and since we know that nearly one dozen other bullet fragments were found during the autopsy but never entered into evidence, and since we know that Guinn's 1977 NAA claims are false, and since we know that a deformed bullet was found in the limo during the autopsy and was brought to Dr. James Young (who handed it to Humes), and since we know that none of the bullet fragments from the WC's headshot wound-ballistics test emerged with part of its body peeled backward to form a razor edge -- given these facts, the two limo fragments have no value as evidence for the lone-gunman theory.
-
Well, you asked for it, and now you're gonna get it.
Oh my goodness. Just shaking my head. So I guess DiMaio, Molina, Cave, and other authors of forensic-ballistics books just made up their statements about FMJ bullet behavior?!
As I pointed out to you in this thread, per FBI crime stats, in 2020 and 2021 rifles were used in murders over 900 times in the U.S.; they were used 570 times in 2022 murders; they were used 533 times in 2023 murders; and they were used 401 times in 2024 murders (https://www.gunowners.org/wp-content/uploads/FBI_UCR_Expanded_Homicide_Data_Table_8_Murder_Victims_by_Weapon_2020-2024-1.pdf).
If only 10% of those cases involved headshots with FMJ ammo, that would make over 230 cases involving headshots with FMJ ammo just in the last six years, and, again, FMJ ammo is one of the three most common types of rifle ammo.
I should add that a study by Molina, DiMaio, and Cave found that rifles are the second-most commonly used weapon in both suicides and homicides, with handguns being the most commonly used weapon. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24196728/).
I don't know if that was their finding or your misrepresentation but whoever came up with that is just dead wrong. The statistics I posted show that rifles are the 6th most common weapon used in homicides. There is a category of firearm homicide in which the specific type of firearm is not identified, but given how much handgun homicides outnumber rifle homicides in cases in which the type of weapon is identified, we should expect a similar ratio among the cases where the type of firearm is not specified. That would still leave rifle homicides behind knives and personal weapons (bare hands and feet).
As for suicides, there are no statistics which specify handgun or rifle. They are all lumped together. Again, given how much handguns out number rifles among homicides, it seems probable the same is true for suicides.
LOL! Isn't it odd that DiMaio never said any such thing? You still haven't read his book, obviously.
Apparently you have read his book. Tell us how many rifle shots to the head cases DiMaio included in his study and what specific types of rifle and ammo were included.
More comedy. Uh, did you miss the part where DiMaio specified he was talking about rifle bullets?! Let's read his statements yet again:
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)
Now tell us how many of those studies involved FMJ 6.5x52mm Carcano ammo which is what Oswald fired. It's the only true comparison.
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, emphasis added)
How could you miss this? I have presented these quotes to you at least six times in the last three months, yet you still somehow, someway missed the fact that he specified he was talking about rifle bullets. I suspect the problem is that you simply are not educated enough to read material that requires at least a high-school level of reading comprehension.
You apparently are under the delusion that a FMJ 6.5x52mm Carcano bullet is going to behave the same way as FMJ .30-06, a 7.92x57mm Mauser, 7.62x39mm AK-47, or a 5.56x45 NATO round. Each of these bullets have different size, velocity, jacket composition, and core composition. It makes no sense to assume all of these are going to behave the same way when striking a skull.
Furthermore, if you had bothered to even skim through DiMaio's book, of if you had just looked at the table of contents, you would have seen that he has separate sections for handgun bullets and rifle bullets. But, obviously, you did neither. That's because you have no interest in actual research and in learning facts.
It's because I don't have an anal compulsion to find an alternate truth to the JFKA. I figured out a long time ago that Oswald killed JFK and you have presented nothing in 35 years that would cause me to doubt that conclusion. Don't feel bad. Nobody else has either.
What puzzles me is how someone who doubts the WC explanation of the assassination is unable to come up with a plausible alternative. You've had 62 years to figure this out. It only took the DPD 12 hours to reach the correct answer.
Another howler! Umm, there is actually no such thing as an "FMJ Carcano round." Your supposed lone gunman allegedly used 6.5 mm Western Cartridge Company (WCC) FMJ bullets, which could be fired from a variety of rifles at the time, such as the Armaguerra Mod. 39, the Fiat-Revelli Modello, the M1891 Long Rifle, and the M1891 Cavalry Carbine, and not just from the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle.
Is that a fact. Explain these ammo offerings:
https://milsurpmunitions.com/product/6-5-carcano-268/
https://sgammo.com/catalog/rifle-ammo-sale/65-carcano-ammo/
https://ammo.com/rifle/6.5x52mm-carcano-ammo
https://smokymountainsgunsandammo.com/product/6-5-x-52-carcano-134gr-rn-brass-500-round/
https://steinelammo.com/all-available-calibers/rifle-ammo/6-5x52-carcano/6-5-x-52-carcano-150gr-lead-rn-vetterli-safe/
I always get a chuckle when a Mr.-Know-it-All such as yourself steps in it as badly as you just have.
Do you really think anyone is going to be fooled by your nonsense when they read DiMaio's statements about the behavior of FMJ bullets? He didn't say that only some FMJ bullets never shatter into dozens of tiny fragments when hitting bone. He said FMJ bullets, period, will never behave like this. He also said that if an x-ray shows dozens of small fragments, this rules out FMJ ammo. He didn't say "some FMJ ammo," but just FMJ ammo, period.
If that is his conclusion and not your misrepresentation, it is an illogical conclusion. It makes no sense to draw a conclusion regarding ALL FMJ rifle rounds based on a sampling of studies.
You're putting words in DiMaio's mouth that he never said or even implied, because you can't bring yourself to face the fact that FMJ bullets will not shatter into dozens of tiny fragments when they strike bone. On the "rare" cases when they do fragment after hitting bone, they will leave only a few fragments, as DiMaio pointed, and as we see in the skull x-rays from the WC's headshot wound-ballistics test and in the Failure Analysis headshot wound-ballistics test.
I have done no such thing. I have simply applied critical thinking to your claims. The questions I raise are legitimate. What sense does it make to draw a conclusion about how all FMJ rifle ammo will behave based on a limited study of various ammo types. Not only do these bullets have different compositions, calibers, and velocity, the length of the barrel affects bullet performance as well. I'll bet you didn't know that.
We see the same thing in Dr. John Lattimer's headshot wound-ballistics test. Lattimer fired WCC FMJ bullets into test skulls coated and packed with ballistics gelatin. X-rays of these test skulls revealed no bullet fragments, not even near the wound of entry in the rear of the head.
And we're not just talking about DiMaio, either. We're also talking about Dr. Cyril Wecht (forensic pathologist), Dr. Halbert Fillinger (forensic pathologist), Dr. Roger McCarthy (ballistics expert), Howard Donahue (firearms and ballistics expert), Dr. James Green (forensic pathologist), Dr. Eric Berg (forensic pathologist), Dr. Thomas Smith (forensic pathologist), Dr. Lorenzo Gitto (forensic pathologist), Dr. Robert Stoppacher (forensic pathologist), Dr. Kimberly Molina (forensic pathologist), among others.
Dr. Wecht:
It is my experience, including bullets that are not as powerful and fully jacketed ammunition like this [the 6.5 mm Carcano bullet], that they do not explode into dozens of pieces. They may break into two or three fragments or pieces, but they don't just disintegrate like that. And so when you say it behaved much more like a soft or hollow-point or so on, I agree with you. I've been saying that for a long time. (Mortal Error, p. 231)
From Howard Roffman's report on his interview with Dr. Fillinger:
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)
Also, if you had bothered to read DiMaio's book, you would have seen that he discusses the fact that FMJ bullets are designed to avoid fragmenting into many pieces, especially dozens of tiny fragments, in order to enhance their penetrating power. BTW, DiMaio provides an example of the "lead snowstorm" on an x-ray that rules out FMJ ammo (Figure 7.6, p. 179). As anyone can see, that cluster of fragments only has about half the number of fragments seen in the fragment cluster on the JFK autopsy skull x-rays.
Also, it's worth remembering that Dr. Larry Sturdivan, a wound ballistics expert who served as a consultant for the HSCA, has acknowledged that the back-of-head fragment could not have come from an FMJ bullet because it is physically impossible for a cross-section to be sheared from an FMJ projectile as a result of penetrating skull bone (The JFK Myths, 2005, pp. 184-186).
All of the above observations are based on experiences with FMJ bullets in general and not Carcano bullets specifically. The way the bullet fragmented might well be unusual for a FMJ bullet in general and might even be unusual for a Carcano bullet, but unusual does not equate to impossible. The fact that a badly fragmented bullet was found on the floor of the limo, that no other bullet was recovered from inside the limo, and there was no evidence of a direct strike anywhere else in the limo is strong evidence that the fragmented bullet is the one that the one that struck JFK in the head. If you have a more compelling explanation for the evidence, by all, means present it. But that is not how CTs operate. They aren't into explaining the evidence. Their whole game is to explain it away. They have no interest in determining how the JFKA happened. Their whole game is rejecting the WCR conclusions without ever offering a more compelling explanation in its place. You can't replace something with nothing. One would think that if there was a better explanation for how the JFKA went down, someone would have figured it out by now. Of course that has never happened. No one has come up with a plausible alternative to the WCR because no such alternative exists. This is the reason the CTs have been spinning their wheels for six decades. There is only one truth and they have rejected it which is why they have no real hope of ever figuring out the JFKA.
You must be kidding. I've addressed this issue several times. Not only have I addressed this issue, I've asked you to explain how CE 569, one of the two limo fragments that supposedly transited JFK's skull, could have emerged with part of its substance peeled backward 180 degrees, folded almost flat, and forming a razor edge. Skull bone is not strong enough to do that to a fragment, and not one of the fragments from the WC's headshot wound-ballistics test was deformed in this manner. The two limo fragments most likely came from the bullet that struck the pavement early in the shooting sequence.
Really?. That is the best you can come up with? That makes more sense to you than the fragmented bullet struck JFK in the back of the head? Follow the bouncing bullet. You are probably correct that the early missed shot struck the pavement near the limo but there is no evidence that bullet jumped into the limo. And what about the bullet that did hit JFK in the head. Where do you suppose that went? What is your evidence for that?
It's easy to see why CTs rarely try to offer alternative explanations. When they do, they always end up sounding silly.