Three Problems with the Lone-Gunman Theory

[Marjan Rynkiewicz]

Maybe from the storm drain on the north side of the Elm St.

[Marjan Rynkiewicz]

It’s curious, when you look at top down photo of where the JFK limo and the grassy knoll are located. A shot from the grassy knoll would be to JFK’s right, not front. So no windshield issues, no glass issues. But the throat shot had to have come from the front, where could a shooter have shot from the front. Overpass had a policeman on it. What am I missing??

There is lots of glass. There is the (semi-permanent) small side glass on the central partition. There is the (i think electric) door glass, shown half wound up on the Nellie side in the pix (the wind must have had a bit of south in it, it would have been cold on the faster sections of the motorcade). I bet that these glasses were extra thick.

[Mark A. Oblazney]

There is lots of glass. There is the (semi-permanent) small side glass on the central partition. There is the (i think electric) door glass, shown half wound up on the Nellie side in the pix (the wind must have had a bit of south in it, it would have been cold on the faster sections of the motorcade). I bet that these glasses were extra thick.

Yeah... x-tra thick, uh.......  what is WRONG with you ?

[Richard Smith]

The baseless assertation that Oswald cannot be the assassin because it required some uncanny marksmanship abilities that he did not possess is among the weakest but most persistent CTer claims.  First, Oswald was trained to shoot in the US Marines.  He was not some rube who had no experience with rifles.  Second, the longest distance at which he hit JFK that day was entirely within the capabilities of an individual trained by the US Marines.  Charles Whitman, with similar training, hit human targets at much longer distances.  Third, the timeframe for firing the shots is uncertain because we do not know the exact sequence in which the shots were fired.  Oswald may have had as much or more than ten seconds or more seconds to fire all his shots depending on the sequence and timing.  Nothing about Oswald's marksmanship or his rifle precludes him as the assassin. 

[John Iacoletti]

Whitman had been out of the Marines 20 months.  Oswald had been out of the Marines for over 4 years.

[Dan O'meara]

There are hundreds of problems with the lone-gunman theory. Here are just three of them:


3. The lone-gunman theory requires the single-bullet theory (SBT). If the SBT is wrong, then at least four shots were fired at JFK and at least two gunmen were involved. The SBT is one of the most ridiculous, dubious theories ever put forth in a criminal investigation.

-- No one has yet been able to explain how any non-deformed bullet could have made the irregular H-shaped tears in the front of Connally’s shirt, but the SBT says that CE 399, a nearly pristine bullet, somehow made those tears.
-- We now know from a number of released documents that on the night of the autopsy, the autopsy doctors positively, absolutely determined that the back wound had no exit point. We also know that even the second version of the autopsy report said the back wound had no exit point and that the throat wound was caused by a fragment from the head shot. The autopsy report that was submitted to the WC was written after Oswald was killed and after the government knew there would be no trial and thus no defense examination of the autopsy materials and no cross-examination of the autopsy doctors. Then and only then did the autopsy doctors claim that the throat wound was the back wound’s exit point.
-- The throat wound gave every appearance of being an entrance wound. It was very small, about 3-5 mm in diameter, and was punched inward. In fact, it was smaller than the back wound.
-- CE 399, the SBT’s bullet that supposedly caused all of JFK’s and Connally’s non-fatal wounds, is virtually pristine. Its lands and grooves are even intact, and it is missing virtually no substance. However, every single bullet from the WC’s wound ballistics tests that struck one or more bones emerged with considerably more damage and deformity than CE 399 exhibits.
-- According to the SBT, CE 399 somehow nicked JFK’s tie knot when it allegedly exited his throat, but the nick on the knot is visibly inward from the edge of the knot.
-- CE 399 supposedly also made the irregular slits in the front of JFK’s shirt, but even a cursory examination of the slits shows that if a bullet had made them, that bullet would have had to go through the middle part of the tie knot—not dead center but at some point between the edges of the knot. Photos and video of JFK taken 1-5 minutes before he was shot show his tie knot in its normal position in the center of the collar. The actions of waving his hand and turning his head would not have caused his tie knot to shift markedly to the right or left.
-- Spectrographic and NAA testing of the shirt slits found no metallic residues on the front shirt slits, whereas such residues were found on the holes in the back of JFK’s shirt and coat. This finding agrees with the evidence that the back wound had no exit point, that the throat wound was an entrance wound, and that the slits were made by Parkland Hospital nurses as they hurried cut away JFK’s clothing.
-- In 2007, scientists at Texas A&M University reviewed the NAA research done by the WC and the HSCA and found that research to be markedly flawed, and they argued that the NAA results might actually indicate that more than one gunman was involved:

Chemical and Forensic Analysis of JFK Assassination Bullet Lots: Is A Second Shooter Possible?
https://arxiv.org/pdf/0712.2150.pdf

Ignore CE 399 and the Single Bullet Theory is perfectly feasible.
There is evidence, particularly from Connally's wrist wound, that the bullet that passes through both men fragments, ruling out CE 399 as the bullet.
Take CE 399 out of the equation and there is no problem with both men being shot through by the same bullet.

[Joffrey van de Wiel]

Ignore CE 399 and the Single Bullet Theory is perfectly feasible.
There is evidence, particularly from Connally's wrist wound, that the bullet that passes through both men fragments, ruling out CE 399 as the bullet.
Take CE 399 out of the equation and there is no problem with both men being shot through by the same bullet.

The problem is Governor Connally stated he heard the first shot, turned to look over his right shoulder but failing to see the President was in the process of turning back when he was hit in the back by a second bullet. Mrs. Connally said her husband was hit by the second bullet, and the President already had his hands at his throat when that happened.

Both the FBI and the SS committed to the 3 shots - 3 hits scenario. 

[Bill Chapman]

Whitman had been out of the Marines 20 months.  Oswald had been out of the Marines for over 4 years.

Thanks for pointing that out, Neil... explains why the little nobody missed Walker and the first shot at the somebody in the limo. You know, just getting the kinks out..