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JFK Assassination Plus General Discussion And Debate / Summary of Some of the Major Problems with the JFK Medical Evidence
« Last post by Michael T. Griffith on June 18, 2026, 03:12:49 PM »I thought it would be worthwhile to summarize in one post some of the major problems with the JFK medical evidence.
-- The autopsy brain photos show virtually no tissue missing. Dr. Michael Baden, chairman of the House Select Committee on Assassinations' (HSCA's) medical panel (FPP), said they show "less than 1-2 ounces" of missing tissue, a fact confirmed by every other medical expert who has seen the photos and commented on the amount of tissue they show missing. However, the autopsy skull x-rays show nearly 2/3 of the right side of the brain to be missing.
Dr. Fred Hodges, one of the most qualified radiologists to ever study the autopsy skull x-rays, said the x-rays show a substantial portion of the right brain to be missing. Dr. James Humes, the chief JFK autopsy doctor, told JAMA that 2/3 of the right cerebrum was blown away. Dr. Gary Aguilar, Dr. Michael Chesser, and Dr. David Mantik, who have examined the skull x-rays at the National Archives, have likewise said they show a large portion of the right brain to be missing. Even devout WC apologist Dr. John Lattimer said the skull x-rays show "almost the entire right hemisphere of the brain" to be missing.
Moreover, Dr. Mantik has confirmed via multiple optical-density (OD) measurements of the skull x-rays that at least 60% of the right side of the brain was blown out. The OD measurements show that at least 60% of the right brain is gone. This is hard scientific evidence that the brain photos cannot be photos of JFK's brain.
Thus, it is not at all surprising that we know that pieces of JFK's brain were blown or dropped onto 16 surfaces during the shooting, and that Jackie Kennedy brought "a large chunk of brain" into the ER and handed it to Dr. Marion Jenkins.
-- The autopsy report says the large exit wound on the head extended into the occipital bone, but the autopsy brain photos show the occipital lobes to be undamaged, and autopsy photo F3 shows the large exit wound going nowhere near the occiput and being mainly above the right ear (7 HSCA 104, Figure 13).
-- Autopsy head photos F3 and F5 show the back of the head to be intact. However, dozens of witnesses in three different locations said they saw a large wound in the right-rear/right occipital-parietal part of the head. These witnesses include the two Parkland Hospital nurses who cleaned JFK's head and packed the wound with gauze to prepare the body for the casket. They include the chief neurosurgeon at Parkland Hospital, Dr. Kemp Clark. They include the three morticians who reassembled JFK's skull after the autopsy. They include Secret Service agent Clint Hill, who got two prolonged, up-close looks at JFK's head wounds, and who was called to the morgue specifically to observe JFK's wounds.
Thanks to the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB), we learned in the 1990s that Dr. John Ebersole, the radiologist at the autopsy, revealed to the FPP that one of the late-arriving skull fragments from Dallas was "a large fragment of the occipital bone," and that Ebersole also told the FPP that there was a large visible wound in "the back of the head," that he recalled seeing a "gaping occipital wound" ("Testimony of John H. Ebersole," HSCA, 3/11/78, pp. 3, 5, 62).
-- The autopsy report says there was a fragment trail that ran from slightly above the external occipital protuberance (EOP) upward to the right eyebrow (the right supra-orbital ridge):
Roentgenograms [x-rays] of the skull reveal multiple minute metallic fragments along a line corresponding with a line joining the above-described small occipital wound and the right supra-orbital ridge. (p. 4).
However, no such fragment trail appears on the extant skull x-rays. The only fragment trail on the skull x-rays is a high fragment trail that is at least 2 inches above the EOP, that runs at a downward angle instead of an upward angle, and that goes nowhere near the back of the head. Furthermore, it should be noted that the autopsy doctors said nothing about this fragment trail in the autopsy report.
-- The autopsy report says the throat wound was the exit point for the back wound. However, we now know from ARRB disclosures and other sources that on the night of the autopsy, the autopsy doctors determined with absolute certainty, through extensive and repeated probing, that the back wound was shallow and had no exit point. We know that technicians and observers standing near the autopsy table could see the end of the probe pushing up against the lining of the chest cavity.
Furthermore, we now know that the first two drafts of the autopsy report said nothing about the throat wound being an exit point for the back wound. One of the drafts said the back wound had no exit point, while the other draft said a fragment from the head shot exited the throat.
The doctors who examined the throat wound in Dallas were certain it was an entry wound. They said it was small (about 5 cm in diameter), neat, circular, and punched inward. They also noted damage behind the throat wound that was larger than the wound itself, another standard indication that it was an entry wound.
The blood stains in the front of JFK's shirt further confirm that the throat wound was an entry wound, because there was more blood on the outside of the collar band than on the inside. If a bullet had exited the throat, one would expect there would have been just as much blood, if not more blood, on the inside of the collar band as on the outside, but the exact opposite was the case.
-- The autopsy report says the rear head entry wound was "slightly above" the EOP (this was later clarified to mean 1 cm or 39/100ths of an inch). However, a bullet entering at any angle at this spot could not have missed tearing through at least the rear part of the right occipital lobe, but the brain photos show no damage whatsoever to the rear part of that lobe--in fact, they show no damage to the entire right lobe.
If the brain photos are authentic, there could have been no entry wound near the EOP. The FPP cited the brain photos as conclusive, irrefutable evidence against the EOP entry site.
However, considerable evidence supports the EOP entry site, including one of the autopsy head photos and wound diagrams drawn by two autopsy witnesses. In addition, the chief autopsy photographer, John Stringer, told the ARRB that the entry wound was where the autopsy report placed it and that the autopsy brain photos were not the brain photos he took.
-- The Clark Panel concluded that the autopsy x-rays and photos indicated that JFK's head was hit by a high-velocity bullet, but the alleged murder weapon, the rifle that Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly used, was a low-velocity rifle. Said the Clark Panel,
These findings indicate that the back of the head was struck by a single bullet travelling at high velocity. . . ." (Clark Panel report, p. 8 ).
But the FBI's chief firearms expert, Robert Frazier, informed 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)
-- The autopsy skull x-rays show a cluster of dozens of tiny fragments in the right-frontal region. They also show a few small fragments embedded in the outer table of the back of the skull, and the fragments are nowhere near the EOP entry site. The kind of ammo that Oswald allegedly used, i.e., full-metal-jacketed (FMJ) ammo, will never cause this kind of bullet fragmentation. In the WC's head-shot wound ballistics tests, not one of the FMJ bullets produced fragmentation that even remotely resembles the fragmentation seen on the autopsy skull x-rays.
Renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Vincent DiMaio, among many other experts, noted that FMJ bullets will never shatter into dozens of tiny fragments, and that if an x-ray shows a cloud of tiny fragments, this rules out FMJ ammo:
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)
Notice two key points: (1) In the "rare" cases when FMJ bullets do fragment if they penetrate bone, they will only leave "a few" fragments, and (2) if an x-ray shows a "lead snowstorm," this "rules out" FMJ ammo.
On an important side note, Dr. Russell Fisher of the Clark Panel told ballistics and firearms expert Howard Donahue that the back-of-head fragments looked like ricochet fragments, i.e., fragments from a bullet that struck elsewhere and then sent fragments flying toward JFK's head. Former HSCA wound ballistics consultant Dr. Larry Sturdivan has said there is no way an FMJ bullet would have deposited a fragment on the rear outer table of the skull.
For more information on these issues, I refer interested readers to the following articles:
"The Suspicious 6.5 mm “Fragment”: Further Evidence of Fraud in the JFK Autopsy X-Rays"
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QXCUhA5i4FmCic2nLDOnwMdCNSOa1Q10/view?usp=sharing
"A Fascinating New Development in Doug Horne's New Documentary" (Jacob Hornberger)
https://www.fff.org/2025/07/28/a-fascinating-development-in-doug-hornes-new-documentary/
"Problems with the JFK Autopsy X-Rays and Photos"
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dhhA323IReT3f_-xXOGvtR2QCnBpJtak/view
"JFK Assassination Paradoxes: A Primer for Beginners" (Dr. David Mantik)
https://themantikview.org/pdf/JFK_Assassination_Paradoxes.pdf
"Testimony for the Record of Douglas P. Horne"
https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Horne-Written-Testimony.pdf
"The Head Shot from the Front"
https://drive.google.com/file/d/19GwhnIVGHlrffoyM_T242fF_J9v4QeQl/view
"A Demonstrable Impossibility: The HSCA Forensic Pathology Panel’s Misrepresentation of the Kennedy Assassination Medical Evidence" (John Hunt)
http://www.history-matters.com/essays/jfkmed/ADemonstrableImpossibility/ADemonstrableImpossibility.htm
An excellent article by renowned researcher John Hunt showing that the HSCA’s own expert medical consultants found evidence that contradicted the lone-gunman scenario.
"Altered History: Exposing Deceit and Deception in the JFK Assassination Medical Evidence" (Doug Horne)
https://www.fff.org/freedom-in-motion/video/altered-history-exposing-deceit-and-deception-in-the-jfk-assassination-medical-evidence-part-1/
"JFK's Clothing Proves the Single-Bullet Theory Is Impossible"
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MAgWA0frOLVeWY6ok9nzdrgpRN4Wv1AL/view?usp=sharing
This includes a discussion of the pattern of blood stains in JFK's shirt collar and the ARRB disclosures regarding the probing of the back wound and the back wound's location.
-- The autopsy brain photos show virtually no tissue missing. Dr. Michael Baden, chairman of the House Select Committee on Assassinations' (HSCA's) medical panel (FPP), said they show "less than 1-2 ounces" of missing tissue, a fact confirmed by every other medical expert who has seen the photos and commented on the amount of tissue they show missing. However, the autopsy skull x-rays show nearly 2/3 of the right side of the brain to be missing.
Dr. Fred Hodges, one of the most qualified radiologists to ever study the autopsy skull x-rays, said the x-rays show a substantial portion of the right brain to be missing. Dr. James Humes, the chief JFK autopsy doctor, told JAMA that 2/3 of the right cerebrum was blown away. Dr. Gary Aguilar, Dr. Michael Chesser, and Dr. David Mantik, who have examined the skull x-rays at the National Archives, have likewise said they show a large portion of the right brain to be missing. Even devout WC apologist Dr. John Lattimer said the skull x-rays show "almost the entire right hemisphere of the brain" to be missing.
Moreover, Dr. Mantik has confirmed via multiple optical-density (OD) measurements of the skull x-rays that at least 60% of the right side of the brain was blown out. The OD measurements show that at least 60% of the right brain is gone. This is hard scientific evidence that the brain photos cannot be photos of JFK's brain.
Thus, it is not at all surprising that we know that pieces of JFK's brain were blown or dropped onto 16 surfaces during the shooting, and that Jackie Kennedy brought "a large chunk of brain" into the ER and handed it to Dr. Marion Jenkins.
-- The autopsy report says the large exit wound on the head extended into the occipital bone, but the autopsy brain photos show the occipital lobes to be undamaged, and autopsy photo F3 shows the large exit wound going nowhere near the occiput and being mainly above the right ear (7 HSCA 104, Figure 13).
-- Autopsy head photos F3 and F5 show the back of the head to be intact. However, dozens of witnesses in three different locations said they saw a large wound in the right-rear/right occipital-parietal part of the head. These witnesses include the two Parkland Hospital nurses who cleaned JFK's head and packed the wound with gauze to prepare the body for the casket. They include the chief neurosurgeon at Parkland Hospital, Dr. Kemp Clark. They include the three morticians who reassembled JFK's skull after the autopsy. They include Secret Service agent Clint Hill, who got two prolonged, up-close looks at JFK's head wounds, and who was called to the morgue specifically to observe JFK's wounds.
Thanks to the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB), we learned in the 1990s that Dr. John Ebersole, the radiologist at the autopsy, revealed to the FPP that one of the late-arriving skull fragments from Dallas was "a large fragment of the occipital bone," and that Ebersole also told the FPP that there was a large visible wound in "the back of the head," that he recalled seeing a "gaping occipital wound" ("Testimony of John H. Ebersole," HSCA, 3/11/78, pp. 3, 5, 62).
-- The autopsy report says there was a fragment trail that ran from slightly above the external occipital protuberance (EOP) upward to the right eyebrow (the right supra-orbital ridge):
Roentgenograms [x-rays] of the skull reveal multiple minute metallic fragments along a line corresponding with a line joining the above-described small occipital wound and the right supra-orbital ridge. (p. 4).
However, no such fragment trail appears on the extant skull x-rays. The only fragment trail on the skull x-rays is a high fragment trail that is at least 2 inches above the EOP, that runs at a downward angle instead of an upward angle, and that goes nowhere near the back of the head. Furthermore, it should be noted that the autopsy doctors said nothing about this fragment trail in the autopsy report.
-- The autopsy report says the throat wound was the exit point for the back wound. However, we now know from ARRB disclosures and other sources that on the night of the autopsy, the autopsy doctors determined with absolute certainty, through extensive and repeated probing, that the back wound was shallow and had no exit point. We know that technicians and observers standing near the autopsy table could see the end of the probe pushing up against the lining of the chest cavity.
Furthermore, we now know that the first two drafts of the autopsy report said nothing about the throat wound being an exit point for the back wound. One of the drafts said the back wound had no exit point, while the other draft said a fragment from the head shot exited the throat.
The doctors who examined the throat wound in Dallas were certain it was an entry wound. They said it was small (about 5 cm in diameter), neat, circular, and punched inward. They also noted damage behind the throat wound that was larger than the wound itself, another standard indication that it was an entry wound.
The blood stains in the front of JFK's shirt further confirm that the throat wound was an entry wound, because there was more blood on the outside of the collar band than on the inside. If a bullet had exited the throat, one would expect there would have been just as much blood, if not more blood, on the inside of the collar band as on the outside, but the exact opposite was the case.
-- The autopsy report says the rear head entry wound was "slightly above" the EOP (this was later clarified to mean 1 cm or 39/100ths of an inch). However, a bullet entering at any angle at this spot could not have missed tearing through at least the rear part of the right occipital lobe, but the brain photos show no damage whatsoever to the rear part of that lobe--in fact, they show no damage to the entire right lobe.
If the brain photos are authentic, there could have been no entry wound near the EOP. The FPP cited the brain photos as conclusive, irrefutable evidence against the EOP entry site.
However, considerable evidence supports the EOP entry site, including one of the autopsy head photos and wound diagrams drawn by two autopsy witnesses. In addition, the chief autopsy photographer, John Stringer, told the ARRB that the entry wound was where the autopsy report placed it and that the autopsy brain photos were not the brain photos he took.
-- The Clark Panel concluded that the autopsy x-rays and photos indicated that JFK's head was hit by a high-velocity bullet, but the alleged murder weapon, the rifle that Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly used, was a low-velocity rifle. Said the Clark Panel,
These findings indicate that the back of the head was struck by a single bullet travelling at high velocity. . . ." (Clark Panel report, p. 8 ).
But the FBI's chief firearms expert, Robert Frazier, informed 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)
-- The autopsy skull x-rays show a cluster of dozens of tiny fragments in the right-frontal region. They also show a few small fragments embedded in the outer table of the back of the skull, and the fragments are nowhere near the EOP entry site. The kind of ammo that Oswald allegedly used, i.e., full-metal-jacketed (FMJ) ammo, will never cause this kind of bullet fragmentation. In the WC's head-shot wound ballistics tests, not one of the FMJ bullets produced fragmentation that even remotely resembles the fragmentation seen on the autopsy skull x-rays.
Renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Vincent DiMaio, among many other experts, noted that FMJ bullets will never shatter into dozens of tiny fragments, and that if an x-ray shows a cloud of tiny fragments, this rules out FMJ ammo:
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)
Notice two key points: (1) In the "rare" cases when FMJ bullets do fragment if they penetrate bone, they will only leave "a few" fragments, and (2) if an x-ray shows a "lead snowstorm," this "rules out" FMJ ammo.
On an important side note, Dr. Russell Fisher of the Clark Panel told ballistics and firearms expert Howard Donahue that the back-of-head fragments looked like ricochet fragments, i.e., fragments from a bullet that struck elsewhere and then sent fragments flying toward JFK's head. Former HSCA wound ballistics consultant Dr. Larry Sturdivan has said there is no way an FMJ bullet would have deposited a fragment on the rear outer table of the skull.
For more information on these issues, I refer interested readers to the following articles:
"The Suspicious 6.5 mm “Fragment”: Further Evidence of Fraud in the JFK Autopsy X-Rays"
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QXCUhA5i4FmCic2nLDOnwMdCNSOa1Q10/view?usp=sharing
"A Fascinating New Development in Doug Horne's New Documentary" (Jacob Hornberger)
https://www.fff.org/2025/07/28/a-fascinating-development-in-doug-hornes-new-documentary/
"Problems with the JFK Autopsy X-Rays and Photos"
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dhhA323IReT3f_-xXOGvtR2QCnBpJtak/view
"JFK Assassination Paradoxes: A Primer for Beginners" (Dr. David Mantik)
https://themantikview.org/pdf/JFK_Assassination_Paradoxes.pdf
"Testimony for the Record of Douglas P. Horne"
https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Horne-Written-Testimony.pdf
"The Head Shot from the Front"
https://drive.google.com/file/d/19GwhnIVGHlrffoyM_T242fF_J9v4QeQl/view
"A Demonstrable Impossibility: The HSCA Forensic Pathology Panel’s Misrepresentation of the Kennedy Assassination Medical Evidence" (John Hunt)
http://www.history-matters.com/essays/jfkmed/ADemonstrableImpossibility/ADemonstrableImpossibility.htm
An excellent article by renowned researcher John Hunt showing that the HSCA’s own expert medical consultants found evidence that contradicted the lone-gunman scenario.
"Altered History: Exposing Deceit and Deception in the JFK Assassination Medical Evidence" (Doug Horne)
https://www.fff.org/freedom-in-motion/video/altered-history-exposing-deceit-and-deception-in-the-jfk-assassination-medical-evidence-part-1/
"JFK's Clothing Proves the Single-Bullet Theory Is Impossible"
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MAgWA0frOLVeWY6ok9nzdrgpRN4Wv1AL/view?usp=sharing
This includes a discussion of the pattern of blood stains in JFK's shirt collar and the ARRB disclosures regarding the probing of the back wound and the back wound's location.
