As a follow-up, I quote more of physicist Howard Roffman's discussion on the evidence that FMJ ammo was not the ammo that hit JFK's head, and that the ammo that hit JFK's skull was traveling at a high velocity (whereas the alleged murder weapon was not a high-velocity rifle):
MTG doesn't believe that a FMJ bullet hit JFK's head even though a fragmented FMJ bullet was found in the limo. He believes a different type of ammo did hit JFK in the head even though not a trace of any other type of ammo was found in the limo or in JFK's head. I wonder what the thinks the fragmented FMJ bullet struck that caused it to fragment.
The Commission had its "expert" compare these fragments with the two similar fragments that were found in the front seat of the presidential limousine and identifiable with "Oswald's" rifle. The result of this comparison, as presented in the Report, is seemingly to associate these traceable fragments with the head wounds. The expert is quoted as follows:
"the recovered fragments were very similar to the ones recovered on the front seat and the floor of the car. This to me, indicates that those fragments did come from the bullet that wounded the President in the head." (Warren Report, p. 87)
These are the last words of the Report's discussion of the head wounds. Since no qualifying language follows, the reader is left with the impression that the "expert opinion" is valid in associating the identifiable fragments with the wounds. Nowhere in the Report do we find the simple fact that the fragmentation of both the test bullet and the found bullet pieces is not an exclusive occurrence, as implied. The break-up observed is consistent with the normal fragmentation pattern of full-jacketed military bullets. When such bullets break apart, the core usually separates from the jacket. The Commission could have produced the same effect if it fired the bullet through a piece of masonite.
Thus, for all its claims, the Commission was able to present no credible evidence associating bullets from "Oswald's" rifle, or even military bullets in general, with the President's head wounds.
JFK's head was blown apart and a fragmented FMJ Carcano bullet was found in the limo with two pieces which were ballistically matched to Oswald's Carcano. It requires a person with common sense to figure out that fragmented bullet was the one that hit JFK in the head. I guess that leaves MTG out.
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. . . .
This is where MTG pretends he's an expert on ballistics.
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."
And yet a fragmented FMJ bullet was found inside the limo. An inconvenient truth for MTG for which he seems to have no explanation.
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. . . .
MTG continues to pretend he is an expert on ballistics. It's quite entertaining when he does this.
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. . . .
No hunting rounds nor fragments of hunting rounds were found in JFK's head nor inside the limo. There was a fragmented FMJ military round found in the limo. An inconvenient fact which MTG continues to ignore.
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". . . .
Now MTG pretends to be an expert in forensic pathology.
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)[/font]
Just as a reminder, Dr. Fillinger was a nationally recognized forensic pathologist, considered a "giant" in the field, who was known for handling the most serious cases. "The Halbert E. Fillinger Lifetime Achievement Award" was named after him to recognize outstanding contributors to forensic science. The International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners chose Dr. Fillinger to represent them on the U.S. Department of Justice's National Medicolegal Review Panel. The website Practical Homicide says this about him:
Tell us when Dr. Fillinger examined the medical evidence.
The "Halbert E. Fillinger Lifetime Achievement Award" is named in honor of Dr. Halbert Fillinger, who was a forensic pathologist. His 40 years of service included his time as Chief Medical Examiner in the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office before being elected Coroner of Montgomery County, PA.
During his career, Dr. Fillinger lectured many times at the FBI academy in Quantico, Va., and all branches of the Armed Forces. Respected for his work, officials in the states of Texas, Michigan, Arkansas, Kentucky, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, and Colorado sought his advice. (https://www.practicalhomicide.com/current/Vidocq.html)
BTW, Dr. Fillinger regarded the SBT as pure bunk; he said there was just no way that CE 399 could have caused all of JFK's and Connally's non-fatal wounds and emerged virtually undamaged, especially with its lands and grooves intact (Roffman, Presumed Guilty, pp. 142-144).
Anyone who still claims that JFK's head was hit with FMJ ammo needs to produce a single reputable forensic source that says that FMJ ammo striking skull bone can shatter into dozens of particles and can deposit fragments in the outer table of the skull upon penetration. World-renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Vincent DiMaio said that FMJ ammo will never shatter into dozens of tiny fragments; that if an x-ray shows a cluster of tiny fragments (a "lead snowstorm," as we see on JFK's skull x-rays), this "rules out" FMJ ammo; and that on the "rare" occasions when FMJ bullets do fragment after entering skull, they will leave "few" fragments:
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)
For more information on the evidence that JFK's head was not hit with FMJ ammo and that FMJ ammo could not have produced the bullet fragmentation seen on the JFK autopsy skull x-rays, see my article "Forensic Science and President Kennedy's Head Wounds."
The only meaningful comparison would be a test 6.5mm FMJ round fired from a Carcano rifle into a synthetic skull filled with ballistic gel. All FMJ bullets are not alike and should not be expected to perform in a like manner. The 6.5mm is an unusual round that is not commonly in civilian use. More common FMJ bullets are .30-06 rounds which are used in a wide variety of weapons and the 5.56 NATO round, commonly used in AR-15 platforms. These bullets differ from the Carcano bullet in both diameter and velocity. On top of that, rifles are rarely used in homicides. Homicides committed with rifles using FMJ ammo are a subset of those, and homicides committed by gunshot wounds to the head using FMJ bullets fired from a rifle are an even smaller subset. Even a forensic pathologist who worked in that capacity for decades would see few if any homicides involving FMJ bullets fired into the victim's skull and likely would have seen no such homicides involving Carcano FMJ rounds. Therefore, generalizations regarding how such a round would behave when striking a victim's skull should be met with a good deal of skepticism.
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