That's three now, Thought extinct ... but with us today.
| Bowers | | Saw some "unusual occurrence", probably visual ("flash of light or smoke") in "that area" (the opening between the pergola and the east end of the fence, about where a black couple reportedly ran from). Bowers said he saw no one behind the fence. | | Holland | | Holland's line-of-sight coincides with the back of the retaining wall, where a black couple reportedly ran from, and is similar to what Bowers reported. | Dodd | | Same line-of-sight as Holland. | | Simmons | | Similar line-of-sight as Holland, but Simmons originally said he "saw exhaust fumes of smoke near the embankment in front of the Texas School Book Depository Building." | | Olivier | |  |
I guess we're not going to hear from Hudson and Sitzman, who were feet from the fence corner, who reported no rifle being fired so near them, saw no smoke and detected no smell of a gun having been fired.
Thompson: (resumes recording) So now I believe the motorcade has made the turn onto Houston Street and is proceeding down Houston Street. Sorry we were interrupted.
Sitzman: Try it again. There was nothing unusual until the first sound, which I thought was a firecracker, mainly because of the reaction of President Kennedy. He put his hands up to guard his face and leaned to the left, and the motorcade, you know, proceeded down the hill. And the next thing that I remembered correct ... clearly was the shot that hit him directly in front of us, or almost directly in front of us, that hit him on the side of his fa ... [sic]
Thompson: Where on the side of the head did that shot appear to hit?
Sitzman: I would say it'd be above the ear and to the front.
Thompson: In other words, if one drew a line vertically upward from the tip of the ear, it would be forward of that line?
Sitzman: Yeah.
Thompson: It would then mean the left ... back of the temple, but on the side of the head, back of the temple?
Sitzman: Between the eye and the ear.
Thompson: Between the eye and the ear.
Sitzman: And we could see his brains come out, you know, his head opening. It must have been a terrible shot because it exploded his head, more or less.
Thompson: Did you see what the President's movement was at that point? I mean, how his head moved or how his body seemed to move under the impact of the shot.
Sitzman: No, I guess ... I saw his, you know, the shot hit his head and what happened to his head, and I don't care what anybody says, I was looking at his head. I wasn't paying any attention which way he was moving or anything else, because it's something that I've never seen before, you know, and kind of ugh.
Thompson: Did you see the head flip, though, under the impact in any particular direction -- forward, backward, to the left?
Sitzman: No, I don't recall if I did or not. I just, you know, this is what I saw, this is what I remember.
Thompson: Right, right.
Sitzman: And as far as the sound of the shots go, the first one, as I said, sounded like a firecracker, and the second one that I heard sounded the same, because I recall no difference whatsoever in them. And I'm sure that if the second shot would have come from a different place -- and the supposed theory is they would have been much closer to me and on the right side -- I would have heard the sounding of the gun much closer, and I probably had a ringing in my head because the fence was quite close to where we were standing, very close. Ah, it just sounded the same way.
Emmett Hudson
Mr. HUDSON - No, sir. I'll tell you - this young fellow that was sitting there with me - standing there with me at the present time, he says, "lay down, Mister, somebody is shooting the President." He says, "Lay down, lay down." and he kept repeating, "Lay down." so he was already laying down one way on the sidewalk, so I just laid down over on the ground and resting my arm on the ground and when that third shot rung out and when I was close to the ground -
you could tell the shot was coming from above and kind of behind. Mr. LIEBELER - How could you tell that?
Mr. HUDSON - Well, just the sound of it.
Mr. LIEBELER - You heard it come from sort of behind the motorcade and then above?
