There is no medical evidence that the President was struck by a bullet entering the front of the head, 19 and the possibility that a bullet could have struck the President and yet left no evidence is extremely remote. Because this conclusion appears to be inconsistent with the backward motion of the President's head in the Zapruder film, the committee consulted a wound ballistics expert to determine what relationship, if any, exists between the direction from which a bullet strikes the head and subse-.
Wecht, M. In all references to conclusions of the panel, unless it is specifically stated that it was unanimous, it should be assumed that Dr. Wecht dissented. Top Skip to main content. Kennedy; the second and third shots he fired struck the President; the third shot he fired killed the President Go to the footnotes for this chapter.
The other entered the right rear of the President's head and exited from the right side of the head, causing a large wound. A determination of the number and location of the President's wounds was critical to resolving the question of whether there was more than one assassin. The secrecy that surrounded the autopsy proceedings, therefore, has led to considerable skepticism toward the Commission's findings.
Concern has been expressed that authorities were less than candid, since the Navy doctor in charge of the autopsy conducted at Bethesda Naval Hospital destroyed his notes, and the Warren Commission decided to forego an opportunity to view the X-rays and photographs or to permit anyone else to inspect them.
The skepticism has been reinforced by a film taken of the Presidential motorcade at the moment of the assassination by an amateur movie photographer, Abraham Zapruder.
In the Zapruder film, the President's head is apparently thrown backward as the front right side of the skull appears to explode, suggesting to critics of the Warren Commission's findings that the President was struck by a bullet that entered the front of the head. A team of forensic pathologists appointed by Attorney general Ramsey Clark in , 9 and a panel retained by the Commission on CIA Activities Within the United States Rockefeller Commission in , 10 reached the same basic conclusion: the President was struck by two bullets from behind.
But neither panel published the X-rays and photographs, nor did either explain the basis of its conclusions in a public hearing. Consequently, neither panel was able to relieve significantly doubts that have persisted over the years about the nature and location of the President's wounds.
Top of Page a Reliance on scientific analysis The committee believed from the beginning of its investigation that the most reliable evidence upon which it could base determinations as to what happened in Dealey Plaza on November 22, , was an analysis of hard scientific data. Accordingly, the committee contracted with leading independent experts in the fields of forensic pathology, ballistics, photography, acoustics, neutron activation analysis and other disciplines.
The reports submitted by these experts were fully considered by the committee in formulating its findings. Top of Page 1 The medical evidence. Was there any evidence that any of these photographs or X-rays had been altered in any manner? To determine if the photographs of the autopsy subject were in fact of the President, forensic anthropologists compared the autopsy Page 43 photographs with ante-mortem pictures of the President.
This comparison was done on the basis of both metric and morphological features. The metric analysis relied upon a series of facial measurements taken from the photographs, while the morphological analysis was focused on consistency of physical features, particularly those that could be considered distinctive shape of the nose, patterns of facial lines, et cetera. Once unique characteristics were identified, posterior and anterior autopsy photographs were compared to verify that they, in fact, depicted the same person.
The anthropologists studied the autopsy X-rays in conjunction with premortem X-rays of the President. A sufficient number of unique anatomic characteristics were present in X-rays taken before and after the President's death to conclude that the autopsy X-rays were of President Kennedy.
This conclusion was consistent with the findings of a forensic dentist employed by the committee. Because this conclusion appears to be inconsistent with the backward motion of the President's head in the Zapruder film, the committee consulted a wound ballistics expert to determine what relationship, if any, exists between the direction from which a bullet strikes the head and subse- 1 In many of its conclusions, the forensic pathology panel voted 8 to 1, with the dissenting vote being consistently that of Cyril H.
Page 44 quent head movement. It then shattered the radius bone of the Governor's right wrist and caused a superficial wound to the left thigh.
It concluded further that, having caused the Governor's wounds, the bullet was dislodged from his left thigh. The panel determined that the nature of the wounds of President Kennedy and Governor Connally was consistent with the possibility that one bullet entered the upper right back of President Kennedy and, after emerging from the front of the neck, caused all of the Governor's wounds.
The time between the observable reactions of the President and of the Governor was too short to have allowed, according to the Commission's test firings, two shots to have been fired from the same rifle.
The Commis- 2 In its report, the committee's photographic evidence panel suggested that Governor Connally reacted to his wounds approximately one second after President Kennedy. This interval might have been even less, but a sign obstructing Zapruder's field of view made it impossible to study the Governor immediately after the President first appeared to be reacting to having been shot.
Page 45 sion said, however, that a determination of which shot hit the Governor was "not necessary to any essential findings. Some have even suggested the possibility that the bullet wounded neither Connally nor Kennedy, that it was planted on the stretcher.
Such ammunition tends to pass through body tissue more easily than soft nose hunting bullets. Top of Page 4 Photographic evidence. The Zapruder film, the only continuous chronological visual record of the assassination, is the best available photographic evidence of the number and timing of the shots that struck the occupants of the Presidential limousine. The committee's panel of photographic experts examined specially enhanced and stabilized versions of the Zapruder film for two purposes: 1 to try to draw conclusions about the timing of the shots from visual reactions of the victims; and 2 to determine whether 3 The other large fragment recovered from the floor of the limousine had no lead in it, and therefore was not subjected to neutron activation analysis.
Page 46 the alignment of the President and the Governor was consistent with the single bullet theory. The panel also examined still photographs. Several conclusions with respect to the validity of the single-bullet theory were reached.
By Zapruder frame when President Kennedy is seen going behind a sign that obstructed Zapruder's view, he appears to be reacting to a severe external stimulus. This reaction is first indicated in the vicinity of frame of the Zapruder film.
The President's right hand freezes in the midst of a waving motion, followed by a rapid leftward movement of his head. Governor Connally shows no indication of distress before he disappears behind the sign at Zapruder frame , but as he emerges from behind the sign after frame , he seems to be reacting to some severe external stimulus. The President's reactions are obvious--he leans forward and clutches his throat. The Governor displays a pronounced rigid posture and change in facial expression.
The panel found that the alinement of the President and the Governor during this period was consistent with the single bullet hypothesis. By frame , the President's head is seen exploding, leading the panel to conclude that the actual moment of impact was approximately frame First, it contracted with acoustical consultants for an analysis of a tape recording of a radio transmission made at the time of the assassination.
The experts decided there were four shots on the recording. Taking the shot to the President's head at frame as the last of the four shots, and thus as a possible base point, 5 it was possible to correlate the other sounds identified as probable gunfire with the Zapruder film. Different people have different reaction times; moreover, a person's reaction time often depends on where he has been hit.
In this analysis, the head shot occurring at frame would, according to the acoustics results, have originated from the grassy knoll. This alternative, however, was rejected. Page 47 consultants concluded that the two earliest shots came from the depository, the shots or at least their shock waves would have reached the limousine at between frames and and frames and When coupled with the photographic evidence showing a reaction by President Kennedy beginning in the vicinity of frame , it appeared that he was first struck by a bullet at approximately frame This was done in an effort to determine whether the blurs resulted from Zapruder's possible reaction to the sound of gunshots.
The time interval of the shots associated with these blurs was determined to be approximately 6 to 7 seconds. The possibility that other blurs on the film might be attributable to Zapruder's reactions to gunshots could not be confirmed or dismissed without additional data.
Taken together with other evidence, the photographic and acoustical evidence led the committee to conclude that President Kennedy and Governor Connally were struck by one bullet at approximately Zapruder frame , and that the President was struck by another bullet at frame Thus, from the results of the analyses by its experts in the fields of forensic pathology, photography, acoustics, wound ballistics and neutron activation analysis, the committee concluded that President Kennedy was struck by two shots fired from behind.
Top of Page 2. The shots that struck President Kennedy from behind were fired from the sixth floor window of the Southeast corner of the Texas School Book Depository building Scientific evidence Trajectory analysis Photographic evidence Witness testimony Firearms testimony Summary of the evidence The Warren Commission concluded that the shots that killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally " The panel concluded that the two bullets that struck the President came from behind and that the fatal head shot was moving in a downward direction when it struck the President.
It did not attempt to determine the slope of the bullet that struck the President's back because the moment of impact was not thought to be visible in the film. This decision by the forensic pathology panel was made well before the photographic panel reached its conclusion regarding the President's and Governor Connally's reactions as shown in the Zapruder film. Page 48 able evidence as to the origin of the shots: The gunman who fired the shot that hit President Kennedy and Governor Connally at approximately frame of the Zapruder film fired from behind, and the gunman who fired the shot that hit the President in the head at frame was positioned above and to the rear of the presidential limousine.
Top of Page 1 Trajectory analysis. Although the Warren Commission also studied trajectory, its analysis consisted of proving that a bullet fired from the southeast corner of the sixth floor of the book depository could have hit the President and then hit the Governor and that another bullet fired from that location could have caused the wound to the President's head. Basically, purpose of the Commission's trajectory analysis was to prove that it was possible for the prime suspect, Lee Harvey Oswald, to have hit both the President and the Governor from the sixth floor of the depository.
The committee approached the problem without making prior assumptions as to the origin of the shots. It was an interdisciplinary effort, drawing from the expertise of forensic pathologists, acoustical and photographic analysts and an engineer from the staff of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, who plotted the trajectories. From the acoustical analysis of the radio transmission, the timing of the shots was obtained.
From the photographic analysis of the Zapruder film and the acoustical analysis, it was possible to know with relative precision when each of the shots struck--at approximately Zapruder frame for the shot that struck the President in the back of the neck, and at Zapruder frame , for the fatal shot to the President's head. Through an analysis of those frames and still photographs taken at approximately the same time from the south side of Elm Street, it was possible to determine the location of the limousine in the plaza, the sitting positions of President Kennedy and Governor Connally and their alinement to one another.
Separate direction and slope trajectories were developed for two bulletsthe one that caused the President's back and neck wounds, and the one that caused his fatal head wound. The margins of error were indicated as circles within which the shots originated. The southeast corner window of the depository was inside each of the circles.
Bronson, that some independent researchers believe shows a figure or figures in the sixth floor depository window several minutes before the shooting. The film came to the attention of the committee toward the end of its investigation. Some members of the committee's photographic evidence panel did conduct a preliminary review without enhancement of the film. While motion was detected in the window, it was considered more likely to be a random photographic artifact than human movement.
Nevertheless, the limited review was not sufficient to determine definitively if the film contained evidence of motion made by human figures. Top of Page b Witness testimony While the committee relied primarily on scientific analysis of physical evidence as to the origin of the shots, it also considered the testimony of witnesses.
The procedure used to analyze their statements was as follows: First, all available prior statements were read by the committee and studied for consistency.
The objective was to identify inconsistencies either between the words of one witness and another or between the various words of a witness whose story had changed. Second, an attempt was made to locate the witnesses and to show them the statements they made in the course of the original investigation.
Each witness was asked to read his statements and to indicate whether they were complete and accurate. If statements were inaccurate, or if a witness was aware of information that was not include, he was asked to make corrections or provide additional information. In addition, where relevant questions had not been asked, the committee asked them. Any information provided by a witness in years after the assassination--must be viewed in light of the passage of time that causes memories to fade and honest accounts to become distorted.
Certainly, it cannot be considered with the same reliability as information provided in Page 50 To the extent that they are based on witness testimony, the conclusions of the committee were vitally affected by the quality of the original investigation.
The first lady and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in at p. I know that the world shares the sorrow that Mrs. Kennedy and her family bear. I will do my best. That is all I can do. On Sunday morning, November 24, in front of the press, Oswald was being led to be transferred to the county jail from Dallas Police Headquarters. Ruby shot Oswald point-blank in the stomach with a small-caliber pistol.
Oswald died at Parkland Hospital, where Kennedy had died two days earlier. Ruby was indicted on November 26 and convicted of murdering Oswald and sentenced to death by electric chair. The ruling was overturned on appeal, but Ruby died of a pulmonary embolism stemming from lung cancer in , before a new trial could take place. John F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy, is carried from St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington, D. More than , people lined Pennsylvania Avenue to watch the procession, according to the Washington Post.
Kennedy was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery , following the requiem mass, with leaders from dozens of nations in attendance. The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy—known as the Warren Commission —concluded "the shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally were fired from the sixth-floor window at the southeast corner of the Texas School Book Depository. Some 30, never-before-seen or un-redacted documents were released to the public by the National Archives in and , with another release set for October Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Elected in as the 35th president of the United States, year-old John F. Kennedy became one of the youngest U. The Politician Born on a farm, John Connally earned both an undergraduate and law degree from the University of Texas prior to serving in the U.
Navy during World War II. Marc J. More Resources John F. Kennedy Presidency Page. Kennedy Essays Life in Brief. Life Before the Presidency. Campaigns and Elections.
Domestic Affairs. Foreign Affairs. Death of a President Current Essay. Family Life. The American Franchise. Impact and Legacy. In-Depth Exhibits Scroll left to right to view a selection of exhibits. The Civil Rights Act of The Diem coup. The Kennedy Commitment.
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