Getting Some Facts Straight About the Single-Bullet Theory

[Michael T. Griffith]

I wonder if this specific measurement was added in several weeks, months after the fact to support the SBT.

That's a safe bet. We know that as of January 27, 1964, "the autopsy" still placed the back wound below the top of the shoulder blade. We know this from the declassified transcript of the Warren Commission's 1/27/64 executive session where Rankin refers to an autopsy photo showing the back wound "below the shoulder blade."

We also know that as of that executive session, "the autopsy" still claimed that a head-shot fragment exited the throat wound. Rankin said that "We have an explanation there in the autopsy that probably a fragment came out the front of the neck." We know from Lt. Lipsey's HSCA testimony that late in the autopsy, the doctors concluded that the throat wound was caused by a head-shot fragment. That's because they had already established beyond any doubt that the back wound had no exit point.

[Gerry Down]

That's a safe bet. We know that as of January 27, 1964, "the autopsy" still placed the back wound below the top of the shoulder blade. We know this from the declassified transcript of the Warren Commission's 1/27/64 executive session where Rankin refers to an autopsy photo showing the back wound "below the shoulder blade."

To me the "shoulder blade" might be the top of your shoulder (where you knock off dandruff, or where Biden likes to put his hands). This might, or might not, simply be a case of semantics.

[John Iacoletti]

I've never heard anyone (particularly a doctor) refer to the top of the shoulder as "shoulder blade".  It's a different bone.

[Michael T. Griffith]

To me the "shoulder blade" might be the top of your shoulder (where you knock off dandruff, or where Biden likes to put his hands). This might, or might not, simply be a case of semantics.

That's silly. Educated adults know that the shoulder blades are bones and are part of the bone structure that supports your shoulders. Everyone but the ignorant knows the difference between a shoulder blade and a shoulder.

[Joffrey van de Wiel]

The HSCA Forensic Pathology Panel determined that the bullet that hit President Kennedy in the upper back travelled upward to the exit in the throat when the body was placed in the anatomical position. It produced a drawing of JFK's position when the Single Bullet supposedly hit him in the back, and has him leaning forward to a considerable degree:



Is this actually backed up by the Zapruder film or other photographic evidence? I tried looking for it but I don't know at what frame the President was hit in the back.

[Joffrey van de Wiel]

You have to imagine the head (but not area where the missile channel is) being returned to upright; cervical vertebrae will rotate to accommodate it. The Committee thought the public was smart enough that such a common sense caveat was unnecessary.

That's just bullspombleprofglidnoctobuns and you know it Organ. The picture I posted (with accompanying question addressed to the non-morons on this site) is part of HSCA's JFK exhibit #46:



The caption reads in part:

Also depicted is a drawing demonstrating the possible trajectories through the neck of President Kennedy, depending on the position of the body.

The drawing on the right half shows that when the head is tilted to face forward, the upper body changes position too. This is natural as only lifting your head to face forward but with your upper body slumped down to a degree as depicted on the left leads to a uncomfortable and unnatural position.

Of the three trajectories, two do not match to a shot fired by Oswald from his position. Only one does. So back to my original question: does photographic evidence support JFK-46?

[Michael T. Griffith]

You have to imagine the head (but not area where the missile channel is) being returned to upright; cervical vertebrae will rotate to accommodate it. The Committee thought the public was smart enough that such a common sense caveat was unnecessary.

This is silly. If the head is returned to the upright position, the missile channel is going to move, as HSCA exhibit F-46 shows. With the head upright, the bullet would have exited with an upward trajectory.

But, of course, this is all academic anyway, because we now know that the back wound had no exit point, and that the front shirt slits and the nick on the tie were made by the nurses, not by a bullet.

[Joffrey van de Wiel]

This is silly. If the head is returned to the upright position, the missile channel is going to move, as HSCA exhibit F-46 shows. With the head upright, the bullet would have exited with an upward trajectory.

But, of course, this is all academic anyway, because we now know that the back wound had no exit point, and that the front shirt slits and the nick on the tie were made by the nurses, not by a bullet.

Yes, Dr. Carrico told Harold Weisberg that the slits in the front of the shirt and the nick on the tie were caused by the scalpels of the nurses cutting the clothes off, under his personal supervision. And the FBI found no copper residue on those slits, but the holes in the back of the shirt and suit jacket did contain traces of copper.

Dr. Carrico testified under oath that the wound in the anterior neck was located above the collar of the shirt.

Agents Francis X. O’Neill, Jr. and James W. Sibert attended the autopsy and wrote a report, which for some reason wasn't included in the Warren Commission's volumes. THey wrote:

During the latter stages of this autopsy, Dr. Humes located an opening which appeared to be a bullet hole which was below the shoulders and two inches to the right of the middle line of the spinal column. This opening was probed by Dr. Humes with the finger, at which time it was determined that the trajectory of the missile entering at this point had entered at a downward position of 45 to 60 degrees. Further probing determined that the distance travelled by this missile was a short distance inasmuch as the end of the opening could be felt with the finger.

This angle of 45 degrees also popped up during Assistent Counsel Arlen Specter's questioning of the Parkland doctors:

"Permit me to add some facts which I shall ask you to assume as being true for purposes of having you express an opinion.

First of all, assume that the President was struck by a 6.5 mm. copper-jacketed bullet from a rifle having a muzzle velocity of approximately 2,000 feet per second at a time when the President was approximately 160 to 250 feet from the weapon, with the President being struck from the rear at a downward angle of approximately 45 degrees, being struck on the upper right posterior thorax just above the upper border of the scapula 14 centimeters from the tip of the right acromion process and 14 centimeters below the tip of the right mastoid process."

How did a downward angle of 45 degrees change to an upward angle of some 25 degrees as per the HSCA?