The head wounds revisited

First topic message reminder :

Martin,

Just so we don't derail the "Education forum" thread, I thought I'd start a separate thread for your article, which I've linked below:

http://themysteriesofdealeyplaza.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/the-head-wounds-revisited.html

I've quickly read through it, and I think that it was very well written, but I want to read through it again tomorrow before commenting on it. But for now, let me say that I'm glad that you decided there was an EOP entrance wound. Too many witnesses who recall it, with none recalling a cowlink entrance, plus the fact that there was no back-spatter from the top of the President's head.

Anyway, I'll read through it again tomorrow and get back to you.

Hasan,

Just a quick response to your post from Tuesday.

I'm of the opinion that the earwitness testimony is mostly meaningless and trumped by the objective evidence of the dictabelt. I think the point that the Warren Commission raised about witness perceptions being influenced by the publicity given the 3 shot scenario is more than reasonable. Ultimately, I cannot bring myself to reject scientific analysis in favour of subjective witness impressions. Especially given that even without the acoustics we know there had to be more than 3 shots.

I see Bonnie Ray Williams as a particularly confused witness. For example, on November 22, 1963, Williams said in a sworn affidavit that he did not see Oswald again that day after he saw him at 8 AM. (24H229) The next day he told the FBI that he had seen Oswald at 11:30 AM on the fifth floor. (CD5 p. 330) On March 20, 1964 he changed his mind again to say that he had seen Oswald on the east side of the sixth floor at 11:40 AM. (22H681-682) And finally, when he appeared before the commission, he put Oswald on the north side of the sixth floor. (3H167) I realise that this is not directly relevant to the number of shots Williams thought he heard but it is relevant to his overall reliability (or lack thereof) as a witness. So I don't place any stock in his recollection of only hearing 2 shots.

As I recall, the idea that the Tippit killer walked up and fired the last shot as Tippit laid on the ground comes from a single witness that came along 15 years later and for that reason I doubt its validity. And yes I think the discrepancy between shells and bullets is most reasonably explained by a 5 shot scenario with one bullet and one shell being lost.

I don't think this is the place to start an extended discussion of the acoustics. I'll just say that I'm satisfied that the third shot is valid because, when we synchronize the dictabelt with the Zapruder film, it falls at exactly the moment Connally appears to have been struck. It is beyond me to view this as some freak coincidence. I firmly believe that the audio and video together provide a self-authenticating whole. I can't explain why H.B. Mcclain said what he said but the fact is that he did testify before the HSCA that the mic on his bike was always getting stuck in the "on" position.

I don't discard the possibility that a shot striking the EOP could be deflected downwards and out of the throat. But I don't believe it happened because, like I said, it leaves the subcortical brain damage unexplained. Also, and I hate to use a lone nut style argument, I can't imagine where that bullet would have gone after it exited the throat. Presumably a FMJ round would still have had plenty of energy left having struck only one bone. It didn't hit Connally or the interior of the limo as far as we know so where did it go?

I am satisfied, based partly on the testimony of Connally's doctors and the tests at Edgewood that showed his wrist wound wasn't caused by a pristine bullet, that the limo fragments are from the shot that struck him.

In my reading about ballistics I haven't come across any stated exceptions to the fact that FMJ ammo doesn't disintegrate and leave a lead snowstorm. I personally doubt that striking the skull tangentially would matter. If you find any evidence to the contrary I would be genuinely interested to hear of it.

I have no problems with JFK's movement after being struck. The Grassy Knoll shot came from the right front and Kennedy was propelled backwards and leftwards. I don't see any reason to expect a different reaction. But then, I'm open to the possibility that it had nothing to do with a transfer of momentum anyway. I have no firm opinion on the issue which is why I didn't go into detail about it in my article.

Anyway, that's my two cents. I don't pretend to be an expert either. I can only offer what makes sense to me.

Thank you for a very enjoyable discussion so far!

Hi Martin. Thanks for your response. Just quickly, you make some great points about Bonnie Ray Williams. I don't know if you're aware of this, but both Greg and Richard have made a strong case that the elderly Negroe man seen by Arnold Rowland was the TSBD janitor, Eddie Piper, and not Williams. Search for Eddie Piper in the forum. Still, I remain satisfied that only two shots were fired from the sniper's nest, and when I get done with my article on Ce399, I hope I can convince you of that. Per the bullet fragments, I remain satisfied that Kellerman's testimony indicates they were from the head shot to the President. Per the shot to Tippit's head, if you read Benavides testimony, he says that when looked up, he saw the killer standing over Tippit with the gun pointing down at him. FWIW, despite my disagreements with you and Richard in our discussions here, I have not lost any respect for either one of you. Carry on my friends!

I've just had a look through Pat Speer's Chapter 16b, "Digging in the Dirt", the latter portion deals with the Harper fragment. I cannot agree with his analysis; it's missing a key piece of the puzzle- that bone sliding off of the limousine in Z-327 - Z-331.

The chief of pathology at Methodist Hospital, A.B Cairns, told the FBI on July 10, 1964 that "the bone specimen looked like it came from the occipital region of the skull". (WCD 1395). Two fellow pathologists concurred. Cairns added for the HSCA, specifically, that the fragment "came from an area close to the entry wound <in the back of the head> by virtue of the way the 'tables' were broken."

These broken tables, I believe, produced what Speer describes as internal & external beveling along the bottom edge of the Harper fragment. While he suggests that such dual beveling is indicative of a tangential strike, it instead suggests to me that the 'tables' were weakened backwardly by the concussive blast of a shot at the right temple, then weakened frontwardly from a shot at the EOP. So the bone broke off at the bottom with both kinds of beveling.

Dr. J. Lawrence Angel, provided with the autopsy X-rays and photographs, and having no indication that there might be any bone missing from the occipital area, concluded that the Harper fragment came from the "posterior section of the right parietal". But the HSCA fudged this to read "the upper middle third of the right parietal bone" (above the right ear), so as to imply that all the shots came from the rear. Science with a true political agenda.

Several other prominent names also concluded similarly, such as Dr. Joseph Riley and Dr. Randy Robertson.

But they missed the sagittal and lambdoid sutures at the top of the Harper fragment, that demonstably situate this fragment in the high occiput. These suture lines are packed tight with blood, like an existential snapshot. By the way, the sagittal suture runs front to back across the top of the head, and the lambdoid right to left at the cowlick.

They missed them, in my opinion, because their thinking was fatally skewed before they analysed the Harper fragment- they were sure it had to be from somewhere on the top of the head, after all, look at the skyward ejecta in Z-313 (!)

And unfortunately Speer plays that ejecta like a trump card in this particular essay- noting how Billy Harper showed researcher Howard Roffman in 1969 that the fragment was found about 100 feet forward of the limo's position in Z-313.

Not realizing that the fragment didn't get jettisoned until Z-331...

Back to the drawing board, Pat !!   

The skyward ejecta seen in Z-313 was more likely the "Burris fragmens". These were found by 20-year-old David Burris the afternoon of November 22nd and photographed by Robert Studebaker. These fragments landed very near where photographer James Altgens had been standing during the motorcade. For more in-depth discussion, see the topic "David Burris" at JFK Lancer's search engine. In the 6th post, #80855, by John Hunt in Attachment #1 is a diagram of where the Burris fragments landed. 

http://1078567.sites.myregisteredsite.com/dc/user_files/14808.jpg

Maybe, maybe not. If I have the time, I'll read up on it.