Les Jones

I didn't see the show but lately I have changed my tune and become once again a believer in the lone gunman theory. I became a believer in the conspiracy about ten years ago while watching a show on A&E called American Justice (the first six episodes of this now established series were a six part series on the Kennedy assasination)During the Am-Jus series A&E showed the Zapruder film many times in slo-mo and magnified. I came to the conclusion that the fatal head shot came from the front and dismissed any other evidence as inconsequential. For ten years I never re-examined any thing in this regard. However recently I began looking into it on the net and examining the vast amount of resources freely available there and I have changed my mind and I will tell you why.
1. The "Plume" In the A&E series and in the movie JFK, footage of the head shot is cropped just above the President's head; however, when the entire frame is viewed one sees a plume of blood/brain/etc. shooting up from the president's skull. The plume seems to shoot up in a largely vertical manner, but also to some degreee in the same direction as the motorcade is moving.I simply couldn't reconcile the angle of this plume with a shot from the front.
2. Exit Wounds. When I made my initial hasty determination that the shot came from the front, I reacted in the same way that James Garrison (Kevin Costner in JFK)reacted in the famous trial transcripts, "back, and to the left, back and to the left". However, I never gave any thought at all to exit wounds. Regardless of whether the famous head shot came from the front or the back, there either had to be a corresponding exit wound, or the bullet remained inside the President's skull. So I began to search the web for evidence of one or the other. What I found was that the autopsy report described the President's head wound as having an entrance wound in the rear and an exit wound in the front but that remarkably, the two wounds were only four inches apart. At such an angle there would be barely room for the bullet to pass beneath the skull, which it apparently did manage to do; however, due to the extreme angle it also shattered all the skull material in between the entrance and exit wounds. This was consistent with another salient feature of the Zapruder film, the piece of the President's skull which can be seen falling away from his face.That piece of skull which remains attached below the wound is obviously falling away from the President's face in a manner consistent with an exit wound from a bullet fired from the rear. Furthermore, the angles all ine up right for the shot to have been fired from the book depository.
3. The "magic bullet" Having based my previous determination solely on "back and to the left" aspect of the head shot I never had given any thought to the validity of the magic bullet, and it is the strongest piece of evidence in favor of a conspiracy. The bullet is not per se "pristine" but its in pretty good shape for a missle that supposedly smashed Governor Connally's rib and radius bone. However, when the Zapruder film is examined frame by frame the Governor's testimony is consistent with his injuries being caused by the magic bullet. The Governor says he was hit by the second bullet. This is consistent with the concept that the first shot missd the limo altogether. The second shot then hits the President in the back and passes through his throat (this is widely accepted). I have examined the photographs and I have no problem with the relation between the point of entry and exit. You can do this experiment on yourself. The autopsy establishes the points of entry and exit which are substantially similar on all persons. Find the spot on your back, two inches to the right of your spine which is just above your scapula (shoulderblade). Then find the point on your throat which is just below your adams apple. Then observe your profile in a mirror and you should see the front wound to be lower than the back wound. In the Z-film, Governor Connally does not appear to have a very pronounced reaction to what is ultimately a very severe wound, however, his testimony has always been that he was hit by the second shot. As long as we establish that the President's throat wound was the second shot, then Governor Connally's testimony is consistent with that same shot causing his injuries.

"The second shot then hits the President in the back and passes through his throat (this is widely accepted). I have examined the photographs and I have no problem with the relation between the point of entry and exit."

Sorry Dino: Close, but no cigar. No way a bullet passes through the solid bones of the top of the spine in the neck and exits with a tiny hole. No way. The bullet would have been deflected and/or splintered to another path and exited a different point. The bullet hole in the front of JFK's neck is from a shot from the front.

JAS: the only solid bones at the top of the spine is the the vertebra of the spine. The bullet didn't go through JFK's vertebra, though as I recall it came very close or nicked it.

sorry JAS but i dont think so ...havent you ever seen the show- its proven the bullet passes though the back hits the ribs through the wrist and still is in good enoug condition to pass and lodge itself into the leg and still the bullet remains in good condition

I never seen a good autopsy photo of the back of jfk's head, (a big hole?), but the radiographic x-rays show 2 different fractures one in the base of the skull radiating upwards and a second from the top of skull radiating towards the back of the neck. I recomend to read groden's testimony on the photographic evidence he proves that the shot that hit connelly is a seperate shot because of time restraint.