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Author Topic: The Shifting Single-Bullet Theory--It Always "Works" No Matter What  (Read 16859 times)

Online Andrew Mason

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Re: The Shifting Single-Bullet Theory--It Always "Works" No Matter What
« Reply #216 on: March 25, 2024, 10:24:29 PM »
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As for shot-spanning (just how did people accurately gauge that without foreknowledge and the anticipation of a murder?), you think an equal number who didn't describe the shot-spanning that way are wrong. See Dave Reitzes' tabulation. ( Link ) "My preliminary finding is that 58 witnesses reported that the second two shots were timed more closely together, 39 reported that the shots were timed about evenly, and 15 reported that the first two shots were timed more closely together. "
I said I would review Reitzes' tabulation and here is my tally:
Witnesses who actually stated that they recalled a 1...2.....3 relative spacing (shorter pause between 1 and 2 than 2-3):
Cecil Ault
Nellie Connally
Kenneth O'Donnell
Gayle Newman
Steven Wilson

Witnesses listed by Reitzes who are alleged to have given a statement of a 1...2......3 pattern but it is not recorded in a statement they acknowledged or they did not make statements about shot spacing until 1993 or later:
Officer James Courson
JM Head
Bo Mabra
Hugh Sidey

Except for JM Head who, apparently gave a statement to someone at the Houston Post on the day of the assassination, none of these witnesses gave statements about the shot spacing until decades later and the source statements referred to by Larry Sneed (Courson, Mabra) and CNN are not provided.  Head's complete statement is not provided (I don't have access to the 22Nov63 edition of the Houston Post) but he does not actually say the first two were closer together: just two shots then a hesitation and a third shot.  So it is, at best, ambiguous.

Reitzes is simply wrong in attributing the 1...2......3 spacing to these witnesses:

-Charles Bronson (two shots and a slight pause before third shot. He does not mention relative spacing.  Statement could be: two distinct shots -ie. separated by a pause - and then a slight pause before third.)

-Governor Connally: never commented on the relative spacing. He says the time between 1 and 2 was a "very, very brief span of time" (4H133) and the time span between 1 and 3 was a "very brief span of time" He estimated the total time to be 10-12 seconds "extremely rapid" "a very short period of time".  But he does say there was sufficient time between 1 and 2 for him to recognize the rifle sound, conclude that an assassination was unfolding and turn completely around to check on the President.

-SA Thomas Johns.  Johns does not mention relative spacing but does note that he jumped out of the car after hearing the first two shots.  He has not jumped out at the time of Altgens #6 (z255).

-Dave Powers:  He is quoted by a ghost writer in 1972 saying that he "heard shots, two close together and then a third one".  He does not say the first two were closer.  But even if that was what he meant, it is inconsistent with what he said he saw at the time: JFK moving left after the first shot exposing JBC to his view and then JBC disappearing after the second shot.  JBC is well to JFK's right until z270s before he falls back on his wife and out of Powers' view.

-Garland Slack:  Slack does not mention relative spacing.  Besides in his first statement on November 22/63 he described hearing only two shots.

-Senator Yarborough:  Yarborough gave a detailed affidavit recalling the 1.........2....3 pattern.  Yarborough stated to the WC (7 H 439) “After what I took to be about three seconds, another shot boomed out, and after what I took to be one-half the time between the first and second shots (calculated now, this would have put the third shot about one and one-half seconds after the second shot--by my estimate--to me there seemed to be a long time between the first and second shots, a much shorter time between the second and third shots--these were my impressions that day), a third shot was fired. After the third shot was fired, but only after the third shot was fired, the cavalcade speeded up, gained speed rapidly, and roared away to the Parkland Hospital.”

So from Reitzes list I get 5 confirmed, 4 ambiguous/maybe and 6 wrong.  He also missed one that I found:  William Newman.  However, he is a problem as well, since he initially insisted that he heard only two shots in total.









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Re: The Shifting Single-Bullet Theory--It Always "Works" No Matter What
« Reply #216 on: March 25, 2024, 10:24:29 PM »