The First Shot

[Andrew Mason]

Is Charles Brehm's FBI report given two days after the assassination any better:

"When the President's automobile was very close to him and he could see the President's face very well, the President was seated, but was leaning forward when he stiffened perceptibly at the same instant what appeared to be a rifle shot sounded. According to BREHM, the President seemed do to stiffen and come to a pause when another shot sounded and the President appeared to be badly hit in the head. BREHM said when the President was hit by the second shot, he could notice the President's hair fly up, and then roll over to his side, as Mrs. KENNEDY was apparently pulling him in that direction.

BREHM said that a third shot followed and that all three shots were relatively close together. BREHM stated that he was in military service and he has had experience with bolt-action rifles, and he expressed the opinion that the three shots were fired just about as quickly as an individual can maneuver a bolt-action rifle, take aim, and fire three shots."

And round and round we go   

So who do you suggest corroborated Brehm? Altgens, the Connallys, Gayle Newman, William Newman, the Secret Service agents, Dave Powers, Ken O,Donnell, Mary Woodward, all  contradict Brehm.

[Dan O'meara]

So who do you suggest corroborated Brehm? Altgens, the Connallys, Gayle Newman, William Newman, the Secret Service agents, Dave Powers, Ken O,Donnell, Mary Woodward, all  contradict Brehm.

And Brehm contradicts them. Templin contradicts them.
So what? What's the point you're making? That the witnesses who suit you count and others don't?
And, as usual, you present witnesses who refute what you're saying:

Mary Woodward (11-23-63 newspaper article Witness From the News Describes Assassination written by Woodward for the Dallas Morning News)
"After acknowledging our cheers, he faced forward again and suddenly there was a horrible, ear-shattering noise coming from behind us and a little to the right. My first reaction, and also my friends’, was that as a joke, someone had backfired their car. Apparently the driver and occupants of the President’s car had the same impression, because instead of speeding up, the car came almost to a halt...
Then after a moment’s pause there was another shot and I saw the President start slumping in the car. This was followed rapidly by another shot."[patspeer.com]

Woodward describes the limo coming to "almost to a halt" before the second shot. We know from the Z-film this happens just before the headshot where she describes "the President start slumping in the car". She describes another shot after this.
Shot - headshot - shot after headshot.

And round and round we go.

[Andrew Mason]

And Brehm contradicts them. Templin contradicts them.
So what? What's the point you're making? That the witnesses who suit you count and others don't?
And, as usual, you present witnesses who refute what you're saying:

Mary Woodward (11-23-63 newspaper article Witness From the News Describes Assassination written by Woodward for the Dallas Morning News)
"After acknowledging our cheers, he faced forward again and suddenly there was a horrible, ear-shattering noise coming from behind us and a little to the right. My first reaction, and also my friends’, was that as a joke, someone had backfired their car. Apparently the driver and occupants of the President’s car had the same impression, because instead of speeding up, the car came almost to a halt...
Then after a moment’s pause there was another shot and I saw the President start slumping in the car. This was followed rapidly by another shot."[patspeer.com]

Woodward describes the limo coming to "almost to a halt" before the second shot. We know from the Z-film this happens just before the headshot where she describes "the President start slumping in the car". She describes another shot after this.
Shot - headshot - shot after headshot.

And round and round we go.

Mary Woodward did NOT say that the second shot was the headshot.  She said the headshot was the third  and last shot. She makes this clear in this interview at around the 2:15 mark.

[Dan O'meara]

Mary Woodward did NOT say that the second shot was the headshot.  She said the headshot was the third  and last shot. She makes this clear in this interview at around the 2:15 mark.

That's not what she wrote the day after the shooting.
But years later she's changed her tune.

And round and round we go.

[Andrew Mason]

That's not what she wrote the day after the shooting.
But years later she's changed her tune.

And round and round we go.

She did not EVER say that there was a shot after the headshot.  That is not what she said in her article written a few hours after the shooting.   She did not go into detail of the head shot in her Dallas Morning News story, perhaps because she was writing for a newspaper. She did not think the first shot hit JFK but noticed him to start slumping after she heard the second shot. Do you actually think "start slumping" describes the headshot? And you accuse me of having confirmation bias!

Her later interview linked in my last post may explain (at 1:45) why she did not see JFK responding to the first shot: she turned to her friends. 

• "And at that moment I heard a very loud noise. And I wasn't sure what it was at that point. And I turned to my friends and asked what was that. Is some jerk shooting off firecrackers?"

I have noticed that the more one digs, one finds even more support for the head shot as the last shot. Marilyn Sitzman, standing behind Abraham Zapruder observed the head shot to be the last:

• "Q: Did you have an unobstructed view of President Kennedy at the time of the third shot?
  A: Absolutely.
  Q: Mrs. Willis, would you please describe for the Gentlemen of the Jury and the Court what you saw as a result and as the effects of this third shot?
  A: On the third shot his head exploded and went back and to the left.
  Q: Did you observe anything, anything other than the explosion?
  A: It exploded like a red halo."

(Shaw trial, Feb. 14, 1969)

So far you have Charles Brehm saying that he thought there was a shot after the headshot and Mr. Templin saying something similar in 1995.  There are at least 19 witnesses who had a clear recollection that the head shot was the last shot.

And remember: if the last shot was the headshot, you would have to agree that there was a shot a couple of seconds before z313 - ie. around z270

[Dan O'meara]

She did not EVER say that there was a shot after the headshot.  That is not what she said in her article written a few hours after the shooting.   She did not go into detail of the head shot in her Dallas Morning News story, perhaps because she was writing for a newspaper. She did not think the first shot hit JFK but noticed him to start slumping after she heard the second shot. Do you actually think "start slumping" describes the headshot? And you accuse me of having confirmation bias!

Her later interview linked in my last post may explain (at 1:45) why she did not see JFK responding to the first shot: she turned to her friends. 

• "And at that moment I heard a very loud noise. And I wasn't sure what it was at that point. And I turned to my friends and asked what was that. Is some jerk shooting off firecrackers?"

I have noticed that the more one digs, one finds even more support for the head shot as the last shot. Marilyn Sitzman, standing behind Abraham Zapruder observed the head shot to be the last:

• "Q: Did you have an unobstructed view of President Kennedy at the time of the third shot?
  A: Absolutely.
  Q: Mrs. Willis, would you please describe for the Gentlemen of the Jury and the Court what you saw as a result and as the effects of this third shot?
  A: On the third shot his head exploded and went back and to the left.
  Q: Did you observe anything, anything other than the explosion?
  A: It exploded like a red halo."

(Shaw trial, Feb. 14, 1969)

So far you have Charles Brehm saying that he thought there was a shot after the headshot and Mr. Templin saying something similar in 1995.  There are at least 19 witnesses who had a clear recollection that the head shot was the last shot.

And remember: if the last shot was the headshot, you would have to agree that there was a shot a couple of seconds before z313 - ie. around z270

I've allowed your various strategies to frustrate my thinking and have been focussed on proving you wrong rather than on demonstrating the validity of my own model.
So I've taken a step back and reviewed the last few pages.
One thing is for certain - no shot struck JBC around z270. That is unequivocally demonstrated by the Z-film irrespective of anything you might say.
But that doesn't mean there wasn't a shot around this time.
The weak point of my model has always been the third missed shot for which there is no direct evidence in the photographic/film record.
But why have the shot miss after the headshot, why not have it miss before the headshot.
This raises it's own difficulties but it doesn't, in essence, alter the things of which I am certain -

There are three clearly audible shots
The distinctive pattern of those shots
That both men are shot through by the first shot

[Andrew Mason]

I've allowed your various strategies to frustrate my thinking and have been focussed on proving you wrong rather than on demonstrating the validity of my own model.
So I've taken a step back and reviewed the last few pages.
One thing is for certain - no shot struck JBC around z270. That is unequivocally demonstrated by the Z-film irrespective of anything you might say.
But that doesn't mean there wasn't a shot around this time.
The weak point of my model has always been the third missed shot for which there is no direct evidence in the photographic/film record.
But why have the shot miss after the headshot, why not have it miss before the headshot.
This raises it's own difficulties but it doesn't, in essence, alter the things of which I am certain -

There are three clearly audible shots
The distinctive pattern of those shots
That both men are shot through by the first shot

Ok. Progress! So there may have been a shot at z270.  Given the overwhelming preponderance of evidence of the 1...........2......3 shot pattern if the last shot was the headshot (as you have not ruled out), there is no other conclusion possible.

I won't be able to persuade you that there really was a shot at z271-272 that hit JBC in the back. We'll leave that for as it is.

I would be interested, however, in your explanation for CE399.  A while back you indicated that the first shot SBT was not achieved by CE399.  Where do you think CE399 came from then?

In my view, the evidence against Oswald is overwhelming and the evidence for anyone else being involved is non-existent. I just find that the SBT does not fit the evidence and that 3 shots, 3 hits, one shooter does.

[Dan O'meara]

Ok. Progress! So there may have been a shot at z270.  Given the overwhelming preponderance of evidence of the 1...........2......3 shot pattern if the last shot was the headshot (as you have not ruled out), there is no other conclusion possible.

I won't be able to persuade you that there really was a shot at z271-272 that hit JBC in the back. We'll leave that for as it is.

I would be interested, however, in your explanation for CE399.  A while back you indicated that the first shot SBT was not achieved by CE399.  Where do you think CE399 came from then?

In my view, the evidence against Oswald is overwhelming and the evidence for anyone else being involved is non-existent. I just find that the SBT does not fit the evidence and that 3 shots, 3 hits, one shooter does.

I'm of the opinion that the bullet that struck JBC's wrist fragmented on impact, there is a relatively large entrance wound on the lateral side of his arm just above the wrist and a small slit-like exit in the crease of his wrist, plus metallic particles embedded in his wrist.
This bullet is not CE399
The bullet that struck JFK's head also fragmented, spraying the front of the limo.
This bullet is not CE399
And one bullet missed - who knows what happened to that? Could that somehow be CE399? I doubt it very much.

Where did CE 399 come from?
A corridor in Parkland hospital.
How did it get there?
Who knows beyond speculation.