JFK Assassination Forum

[SNIP]
Was Dr. Fred Hodges, the chief of neuro-radiology at the John Hopkins medical school, an actual expert? He advised the Rockefeller Commission that the skull x-rays showed a substantial portion of the right brain to be missing.

Was Dr. Douglas Ubelaker, a forensic anthropologist at the Smithsonian and one of the ARRB's three forensic consultants, an actual expert? Among other things, he noted that the damage pattern in the scalp and bone suggests a front-to-rear shot, with a shot coming from the front or right front. Perhaps his exact words should be quoted:

The damage pattern (displacement of scalp and bone) evident when viewing the photos showing the right side of the head and right shoulder (#s 5 6 26 27 and 28) and the photos showing the superior view of the head (#s 7 8 9 10 32 33 34 35 36 and 37) is suggestive of a head wound resulting from a bullet traversing from front-to-rear from the front or right front. (Meeting Report, ARRB, 1/26/96, p. 2)

Is Dr. Michael Chesser, a board-certified neurologist who has examined the autopsy photos and x-rays at the National Archives, an actual expert? He says the x-rays totally contradict the brain photos and that multiple optical-density measurements of the skull x-rays prove they have been altered.

Is Dr. David Mantik, a board-certified radiation oncologist and a former professor of physics whose research has been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, an actual expert? Dr. Mantik has repeatedly examined the autopsy materials at the National Archives, and has interviewed the autopsy radiologist and several of the autopsy medical technicians. He has also done multiple optical-density measurements of the skull x-rays and has found hard scientific evidence that they've been altered. He has even been able to duplicate how they were altered. He is the one who discovered the presence of several tiny metal fragments inside the ghosted image of the 6.5 mm object on the skull x-rays.

Were the four members of the Clark Panel, who were considered among the leading forensic experts in their day, actual experts? They said the autopsy materials indicated the ammo that hit JFK's head was fired from a high-velocity rifle: "These findings indicate that the back of the head was struck by a single bullet travelling at high velocity. . . ." (Clark Panel report, p. 8 ). I trust you know that the FBI's chief firearms expert, Robert Frazier, advised the WC that the alleged murder weapon was a low-velocity rifle:

Mr. FRAZIER. Considerably less. The recoil is nominal with this weapon, because it has a very low velocity and pressure, and just an average-size bullet weight.
Mr. EISENBERG. Is the killing power of the bullets essentially similar to the killing power at these ranges---the killing power of the rifles you have named?
Mr. FRAZIER. No, sir.
Mr. EISENBERG. How much difference is there?
Mr. FRAZIER. The higher velocity bullets of approximately the same weight would have more killing power. This has a low velocity. . . . (3 H 414, emphasis added)

Was Dr. Lawrence Angel, a forensic anthropologist from the Smithsonian who was consulted by the HSCA FPP, an actual expert? His reconstruction of the head damage destroyed the FPP's version of the head shot, which is why the FPP simply ignored it. I'm sure this is news to you. Here's an article on the FPP's stunning dismissal of Dr. Angel's head-damage reconstruction written by John Hunt, one of the most respected and careful researchers in the research community:

The HSCA Forensic Pathology Panel’s Misrepresentation of the Kennedy Assassination Medical Evidence
https://www.history-matters.com/essays/jfkmed/ADemonstrableImpossibility/ADemonstrableImpossibility.htm

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Oh, yes, the FPP did "reposition" the rear head entry wound--yeah, by a staggering 4 inches. They floated the absurd scenario that the three autopsy doctors somehow, someway mistook a wound that was above the lambdoid suture and the lambda for a wound that was a whopping 4 inches lower and only 1 cm above the EOP, an astonishing error that not even a first-year medical student could make.

They had to float this preposterous scenario because they and the HSCA's trajectory expert realized that the rear head entry wound described in the autopsy report was impossible to align back to the sixth-floor window--unless JFK was leaning well over 50 degrees forward when the bullet struck.

Despite intense pressure and outright brow-beating by the FPP majority, Finck and Boswell fiercely refused to go along with this fantasy and insisted the rear head wound was very near the EOP as stated in the autopsy report. Humes only went along with this nonsense at the very end of the hearings and only after he was publicly and private badgered and insulted--yet later Humes repudiated his revision and again insisted that the autopsy report's location for the wound was correct. Several autopsy witnesses have confirmed the EOP location.

There's a reason that 2/3 to 3/4 of the Western world doesn't buy your lone-gunman mythology.

I think some follow-up is in order. A key part of the single-shooter story advanced by the majority of lone-gunman theorists is that the autopsy doctors--Humes, Boswell, and Finck--somehow, someway made the mind-boggling "mistake" of confusing a wound in the cowlick for a wound nearly 4 inches lower near the EOP.

Even a first-year pathology student would never make such an unbelievable, impossible "mistake," especially when they had the obvious, fixed anatomical feature of the EOP as a reference point, not to mention the hairline and the lambdoid suture.

Positing such an astounding "mistake" is as absurd as suggesting that three doctors mistook a wound next to the right eye for a wound just to the left of the mouth. No jury, no judge, nobody would buy such a claim. They would all say, "Nobody could make that kind of a mistake. Something else is going on here."

It should further be noted that nearly all lone-gunman theorists also ask us to believe that all three autopsy doctors, including Finck, somehow confused the obvious high fragment trail seen on the skull x-rays with a trail that started at least 2 inches lower and on the opposite end of the skull. The high fragment trail includes a cloud of numerous fragments in the right-frontal region, and from there it dissipates upward and does not reach the phantom cowlick entry site. Just try to fathom how anyone could make such a stupendous blunder when looking at the lateral skull x-ray.

For those who may not be aware, the low fragment trail described in the autopsy report is nowhere to be seen on the extant autopsy skull x-rays. It has vanished. The only fragment trail now seen on the skull x-rays is the high fragment trail. Furthermore, and equally incredibly, the autopsy report says nothing, not one word, about the high fragment trail--the only fragment trail it describes starts near the EOP and trails upward. Again, no such low fragment trail is  now seen on the skull x-rays.

Another point that needs to be made is that lone-gunman theorists have almost completely ignored the important findings of the ARRB's three forensic experts, Dr. John Fitzpatrick, Dr. Doug Ubelaker, and Dr. Robert Kirschner.

The ARRB forensic experts noted the following:

* The AP skull x-ray shows substantial frontal bone missing. (Dr. Fitzpatrick, Dr. Ubelaker)

Forensic experts Dr. G.M. McDonnel and Dr. Lawrence Angel told the HSCA the same thing, but Dr. Michael Baden, the chairman of the HSCA's medical panel (FPP), ignored their findings and falsely claimed in the FPP's report that the x-rays show the frontal bone to be intact.

How does one square a substantial amount of missing frontal bone with the autopsy photos that show JFK's forehead intact? Dr. Ubelaker noted this contradiction, as I note below. Of course, Baden was surely aware of this problem, which is why he falsely claimed in the FPP's report that the x-rays show the frontal bone to be intact.

* The amount of missing frontal bone in the AP skull x-ray is inconsistent with the appearance of the forehead in the autopsy photos. (Dr. Ubelaker)

As mentioned, Dr. McDonnel and Dr. Angel likewise noted that the skull x-rays show a sizable amount of missing frontal bone, a fact that Baden ignored. Baden only asked McDonnel and Angel to study the x-rays, so McDonnel and Angel did not realize that the autopsy photos show no indication of any significant frontal-bone damage. But, of course, Baden knew this, yet this didn't stop him from ensuring that the FPP's report falsely claimed that the x-rays show the frontal bone intact.

* On the AP x-ray, the orbit of the right eye appears to be “cracked and displaced.” (Dr. Fitzpatrick, Dr. Ubelaker)

Of course, no such damage appears in the autopsy photos that show the face. Dr. Kirschner went even further regarding right-orbit damage, saying that “the rear of the right orbit was observed to be missing.” Yet, the autopsy photos that show the face show no damage to JFK's right eye.

If the autopsy photos were pristine, they would show the right eye sunken or at least displaced/distorted, since the x-rays show the right orbit to be "cracked and displaced" and show the rear of the right orbit to be missing.

* No part of the lambdoid suture is visible on the lateral skull x-rays. (Dr. Ubelaker)

This is critical information. The lambdoid suture is the fibrous connective tissue joint that joins the parietal bones to the occipital bone. It is located only in the back of the head. Dr. Mantik notes that the absence of the right part of the lambdoid suture clearly requires that occipital bone and rear parietal bone are missing. Dr. Mantik notes that part of the right lambdoid suture is also missing on the AP x-ray.

* There is no fragment in the back of the skull on the lateral skull x-rays that corresponds to the 6.5 mm object on the AP x-ray. (Dr. Fitzpatrick, Dr. Ubelaker, Dr. Kirschner)

As some will realize, this is monumental. It confirms the optical-density (OD) measurements and magnified viewing of the 6.5 mm object done by three medical doctors with expertise in radiology, including Dr. Mantik and Dr. Chesser. We now know that a forger ghosted the image of the 6.5 mm object onto the AP x-ray sometime before the Clark Panel reviewed the autopsy materials. Dr. Mantik has been able to duplicate how it was done.

* The damage pattern in the scalp and bone suggests a front-to-rear shot, i.e., a shot from the front. (Dr. Ubelaker)

* The Clark Panel/HSCA cowlick entry wound does not appear on the skull x-rays. There is no radiographic evidence of a wound in that location. (Dr. Fitzpatrick, Dr. Ubelaker, Dr. Kirschner)

Yet, the Clark Panel and the HSCA FPP both claimed that the skull x-rays show the cowlick entry site. Either they were looking at different skull x-rays, or they all blundered, or they all falsely claimed to see an entry wound where there was none.

This leaves the EOP entry site described in the autopsy report as the only viable rear-head entry site, but the EOP site presents impossible trajectory problems for the lone-gunman theory. There is no way that the alleged lone gunman could have fired that shot, unless we assume JFK was leaning forward by well over 50 degrees when the shot hit his head. This was one of the reasons the people doing the cover-up decided to move the entry wound up by a whopping 4 inches, from the EOP up to the cowlick. The Clark Panel and the HSCA FPP obediently rubber-stamped the cowlick entry site.

Two of the HSCA FPP's radiology consultants did raise questions about the cowlick site, but Baden ignored them.

For example, Dr. David O. Davis, one of the HSCA's radiology consultants and the chairman of the Department of Radiology at George Washington University Hospital at the time, noted that the high fragment trail is 6 cm above and in front of the 6.5 mm object, that the trail extends "anteriorly [toward the front] from the inner table of the skull at a point approximately 6-cm. antero-superiorly [in front of and above] from the previously described embedded metallic fragment.” In plain English, this means the high fragment trail does not connect with the proposed cowlick entry site but starts 5 cm above the site, since the 6.5 mm object is 1 cm below the site.

IOW, the high fragment trail not only does not connect with the phantom cowlick entry site but it starts 1.9 inches (5 cm) above the site. Baden had to know that these facts raised all sorts of doubts about the cowlick site, but he simply ignored them. Dr. Gary Aguilar, who has studied the autopsy materials at the National Archives, notes the problems for the cowlick entry site posed by the skull x-rays:

That fragment trail does not line up with the presumed higher entrance hole. As one of the authors (Aguilar) determined by looking at the original X-rays, the trail lies noticeably higher than that level. . . .

Therefore, the trail of fragments is 5 cm higher than the “above-mentioned hole” [the cowlick entry site]. And so, if extended posteriorly, the fragment trail does not pass through the “above-mentioned hole,” but 5 cm above it. (Dr. Gary Aguilar and RN Kathy Cunningham, ”How Five Investigations Into JFK’s Medical/Autopsy Evidence Got It Wrong: III. The Clark Panel,” History Matters website, May 2003, https://history-matters.com/essays/jfkmed/How5Investigations/How5InvestigationsGotItWrong_3.htm. 

* The photos of the back of the head support the EOP entry site, not the cowlick site. (Dr. Ubelaker)

Dr. Ubelaker was “surprised that the HSCA had determined the red spot in the back of the head photos was the entry wound on President Kennedy’s head.” He added,

The red spot in the upper part of the photo near the end of the ruler does not really look like a wound. The red spot looks like a spot of blood--it could be a wound but probably isn't. The white spot which is much lower in the picture near the hairline could be a flesh wound and is much more likely to be a flesh wound than the red spot higher in the photograph.

Interestingly, this is exactly what the three autopsy doctors said when several of the HSCA medical panel members tried to pressure them to repudiate the EOP site and endorse the cowlick entry site.

In addition, John Stringer, the chief photographer at the autopsy, told the ARRB that he saw an entrance wound right next to the EOP, near the hairline, where the autopsy doctors said it was (Deposition of John Stringer, ARRB, 7/16/96, pp. 81-82). He also said that the supposed image of an entry wound in the cowlick was not the entrance wound he saw on the night of the autopsy. Indeed, Stringer denied the photo showed a bullet wound in the higher location (Ibid., pp. 193-195, 212).

BTW, Stringer also insisted to the ARRB that the extant autopsy brain photos were not the photos he took. He said they showed the wrong view and were made with a different kind of film than the film he used (Ibid., pp. 153-154).

Some people here may not be aware that in his 2005 book The JFK Myths, Larry Sturdivan, a former HSCA wound ballistics consultant, rejects the cowlick entry site and argues that the rear entry wound was where the autopsy doctors said it was: about 4 inches below the cowlick site and slightly above the EOP (pp. 165-180).

* Autopsy photo F8 shows fatty tissue in the upper-left corner. (Dr. Kirschner)

This is crucial because F8 could not show that fatty tissue unless it had been taken from the back of the head. We now know that the autopsy doctors, the autopsy radiologist, and the medical photographer who took the picture said it was a back-of-head photo. This, in turn, is crucial because it means this photo shows a large wound in the occiput.

* Some of the dark areas on the skull x-rays are unusually dark, much darker than the dark areas on normal x-rays. (Dr. Ubelaker)

Dr. Mantik had made this same observation a few years earlier, unknown to Dr. Ubelaker. When the ARRB interviewed Dr. Humes and asked him to review the skull x-rays, Humes was troubled by the large dark area in the right-frontal region.

BC, are you doubting that JBC had been shot at all at Z-272? Or are you only doubting the wrist wound? Do you have a reasonable alternate theory as to when and how JBC received the wrist wound?

Recently I have been chided for having what I term "reasonable doubts" about the LNT-SBT, especially in connection to Gov. JBC and his Stetson hat.

AI: "Is the Warren Commission position on the possibility of Governor Connally holding onto his hat after being shot through the wrist plausible?"

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The Warren Commission's position on Governor Connally holding his hat after his wrist was shot is widely debated. However, forensic experts, physicians, and critics argue it is highly improbable for him to retain a firm grip, though holding onto the hat by reflex or trapping it as his arm fell is plausibly possible.

The Core Arguments The Injury: Governor Connally sustained a severely comminuted (shattered) fracture to his right radius bone, completely severing the bone and destroying the wrist's structural integrity. Medics noted that the median nerve was also damaged, leading to an instant loss of motor control and strength in his right hand.

The Physics: Holding a rigid cowboy hat (Stetson) firmly in the air requires grip strength and the use of the wrist joint. Once shattered, the hand would typically go limp, causing the hat to fall to the floor of the limousine instantly.

8)The Warren Commission's Stance: The Commission argued that because the bullet was losing velocity as it passed through President Kennedy, Connally’s chest, and his wrist, it retained enough kinetic energy to break the bone, but it did not tear the hand apart. They theorized Connally reflexively maintained the hat in his grasp or that the hat was simply trapped in his hand or lap as he was struck.

Connally's Rebuttal: Governor John Connally himself fundamentally rejected the Warren Commission’s Single Bullet Theory. He testified that he was hit by a separate bullet from President Kennedy and frequently maintained that he immediately dropped his hat after being shot in the wrist, which contradicts the WC's timeline of him holding it later in the Zapruder film.

The most prominent expert who explicitly used the term "highly improbable" regarding the single-bullet theory and its medical trajectory is Dr. Cyril Wecht. He was a highly renowned forensic pathologist, attorney, and former president of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Dr. Cyril Wecht's Medical Critique: Dr. Wecht extensively studied the medical evidence and testified before the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA). He vehemently argued against the Warren Commission's timeline using Zapruder film frame 230.

His expert critique regarding the hat specifically centers on the following points:

The Neurological Impossibility: Dr. Wecht noted that the bullet shattered the distal end of Connally's right radius bone (wrist) and partially severed his radial nerve.

Voluntary vs. Involuntary Control: He argued that with a collapsed lung from the chest wound and a shredded wrist nerve, it is medically "incongruous" for Connally to maintain voluntary grip strength to hold up a heavy Stetson cowboy hat for 1.5 seconds after the alleged impact.

The "Highly Improbable" Quote: When summarized during investigative panels and televised CBS/CNN historical reviews, Dr. Wecht noted that while he hesitates to say anything is 100 percent impossible in forensics, the Warren Commission's exact timeline for these combined injuries and movements is "highly improbable".

Other Aligning Medical Voices

While Dr. Wecht is the specific source of that phrasing, other medical professionals expressed similar deep skepticism:

The Parkland Hospital Surgeons: Doctors like Dr. Charles Gregory (who operated on Connally’s wrist) noted that the neurovascular and bone destruction from a high-velocity military round would cause immediate, catastrophic loss of function in the hand.

Independent Forensic Analysts: Over decades, secondary medical critics—such as those featured in Jim Garrison's investigative files and various independent forensic studies—concluded that the hand would immediately go limp, meaning the hat could only remain in the hand if it was involuntarily trapped or wedged against his lap rather than actively held.

---30---

I have reasonable doubts on the ability of Gov. JBC to hold onto his Stetson hat, after being shot through the wrist. If we want to toss out Cyril Wecht as a dedicated CT'er, then we have Dr. Charles Gregory, who actually operated on JBC's wrist.

Gov. JBC is indisputably seen at Z-272 holding onto his Stetson hat. Even the WC assents to that.

Yet, the WC contends Gov. JBC was already shot through the wrist at that point...well, that is highly improbable.

This is one reason I doubt the LNT-SBT narratives.

 

Are you thinking the doctors were less than truthful about the severity of the damage to the wrist?

What is the point being made here?   

What does it matter what caused the injury to JBC’s wrist? He still held onto his hat with the known injury.

MW-

Largely, I concur. Even back in the 1960s, every hospital knew it mandated to report all bullet wounds and retain all evidence for police.

JBC says a bullet fell out his left leg and clicked on the ground, while he was in surgery. We know that a slug made a small round hole upon entering JBC's pant leg, which indicates substantial velocity. Why was not that leg-slug retained in an envelope, inside the surgery room, per well-understood hospital procedures, especially in such a high-profile case?

Yet what is purported to be CE-399 is purported to have been found outside the surgery room in Parkland, near some elevators, underneath a gurney, by Tomlinson, who gave the slug OP Wright, a former police chief, who said he received a pointy-head slug from Tomlinson. Not like CE-399.

The narrative told by Paul Landis may be worth reviewing.

I have reasonable doubts about the WC CE-399 narrative also.

Recently I have been chided for having what I term "reasonable doubts" about the LNT-SBT, especially in connection to Gov. JBC and his Stetson hat.

AI: "Is the Warren Commission position on the possibility of Governor Connally holding onto his hat after being shot through the wrist plausible?"

---

The Warren Commission's position on Governor Connally holding his hat after his wrist was shot is widely debated. However, forensic experts, physicians, and critics argue it is highly improbable for him to retain a firm grip, though holding onto the hat by reflex or trapping it as his arm fell is plausibly possible.

The Core Arguments The Injury: Governor Connally sustained a severely comminuted (shattered) fracture to his right radius bone, completely severing the bone and destroying the wrist's structural integrity. Medics noted that the median nerve was also damaged, leading to an instant loss of motor control and strength in his right hand.

The Physics: Holding a rigid cowboy hat (Stetson) firmly in the air requires grip strength and the use of the wrist joint. Once shattered, the hand would typically go limp, causing the hat to fall to the floor of the limousine instantly.

8)The Warren Commission's Stance: The Commission argued that because the bullet was losing velocity as it passed through President Kennedy, Connally’s chest, and his wrist, it retained enough kinetic energy to break the bone, but it did not tear the hand apart. They theorized Connally reflexively maintained the hat in his grasp or that the hat was simply trapped in his hand or lap as he was struck.

Connally's Rebuttal: Governor John Connally himself fundamentally rejected the Warren Commission’s Single Bullet Theory. He testified that he was hit by a separate bullet from President Kennedy and frequently maintained that he immediately dropped his hat after being shot in the wrist, which contradicts the WC's timeline of him holding it later in the Zapruder film.

The most prominent expert who explicitly used the term "highly improbable" regarding the single-bullet theory and its medical trajectory is Dr. Cyril Wecht. He was a highly renowned forensic pathologist, attorney, and former president of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Dr. Cyril Wecht's Medical Critique: Dr. Wecht extensively studied the medical evidence and testified before the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA). He vehemently argued against the Warren Commission's timeline using Zapruder film frame 230.

His expert critique regarding the hat specifically centers on the following points:

The Neurological Impossibility: Dr. Wecht noted that the bullet shattered the distal end of Connally's right radius bone (wrist) and partially severed his radial nerve.

Voluntary vs. Involuntary Control: He argued that with a collapsed lung from the chest wound and a shredded wrist nerve, it is medically "incongruous" for Connally to maintain voluntary grip strength to hold up a heavy Stetson cowboy hat for 1.5 seconds after the alleged impact.

The "Highly Improbable" Quote: When summarized during investigative panels and televised CBS/CNN historical reviews, Dr. Wecht noted that while he hesitates to say anything is 100 percent impossible in forensics, the Warren Commission's exact timeline for these combined injuries and movements is "highly improbable".

Other Aligning Medical Voices

While Dr. Wecht is the specific source of that phrasing, other medical professionals expressed similar deep skepticism:

The Parkland Hospital Surgeons: Doctors like Dr. Charles Gregory (who operated on Connally’s wrist) noted that the neurovascular and bone destruction from a high-velocity military round would cause immediate, catastrophic loss of function in the hand.

Independent Forensic Analysts: Over decades, secondary medical critics—such as those featured in Jim Garrison's investigative files and various independent forensic studies—concluded that the hand would immediately go limp, meaning the hat could only remain in the hand if it was involuntarily trapped or wedged against his lap rather than actively held.

---30---

I have reasonable doubts on the ability of Gov. JBC to hold onto his Stetson hat, after being shot through the wrist. If we want to toss out Cyril Wecht as a dedicated CT'er, then we have Dr. Charles Gregory, who actually operated on JBC's wrist.

Gov. JBC is indisputably seen at Z-272 holding onto his Stetson hat. Even the WC assents to that.

Yet, the WC contends Gov. JBC was already shot through the wrist at that point...well, that is highly improbable.

This is one reason I doubt the LNT-SBT narratives.