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Still More "SBT" Common Sense (And Some Witness Interpretation Stuff)

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David Von Pein

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Nov 11, 2006, 1:07:59 AM11/11/06

A Mini-Critique Of The Book "False Mystery"......

Just The First Few Pages Yield Lots Of Errors......

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0975494104/ref=cm_rdp_product/103-9597227-6764635

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Vincent J. Salandria's 213-page book "False Mystery" (published 2004;
via Square Deal Press) attempts to shed light on a supposed conspiracy
in connection with the 1963 assassination of United States President
John F. Kennedy.

But right from the very first few pages, mistakes in facts and
questionable interpretation of evidence begin to pop out at the reader.

For example, on pages 2 and 3, the wounding of bystander James Tague is
briefly discussed, and it is noted that the mark that was left by a
bullet on the curb on Main Street near Tague's location lacked any
copper substance. Which leads the author to infer that the bullet
causing that mark could not have come from the copper-jacketed
Mannlicher-Carcano ammunition used by Lee Harvey Oswald.

But the author fails to consider the very real possibility that the
bullet's jacket might have become separated from its lead core before
striking the curbstone (as a result of possibly hitting the oak tree in
front of the Depository, or as a result of the bullet first having gone
through the head of John Kennedy prior to reaching Tague's position
near Main Street).

Then there's the usual pro-conspiracy nonsense about how the
Single-Bullet Theory is all wrong and how it couldn't have happened
that way -- which is an anti-SBT position that couldn't be more
incorrect. The SBT is most certainly the most logical and sound
explanation for the simultaneous wounding of victims JFK and Governor
John Connally.

A huge error re. the SBT presents itself on page 5 of "False Mystery":

"The Governor's body did not react immediately after the President's
body reacted. Therefore, he was not hit by the same bullet that hit the
President."

The above passage is completely inaccurate, and provably so just by
simply examining the very same Zapruder Film that Mr. Salandria claims
proves just the opposite.

Connally's body is "reacting" (involuntarily) to the bullet strike at
the EXACT same time as Kennedy (at approximately Z224-Z230 on the
famous Abraham Zapruder home movie).

In fact, since JFK isn't fully visible after emerging from behind the
road sign in the Zapruder Film until Z225, Connally can actually be
said to be reacting BEFORE Kennedy, at Z224.

At Z224, a very important involuntary reaction is visible in Connally
-- his right shoulder drops and pitches forward slightly, indicating
the transfer of momentum from the impacting 6.5mm bullet that has just
travelled through his back and chest. Watch for that shoulder movement
here.....

http://216.122.129.112/dc/user_files/6640.gif

Also at exactly Z224, the right lapel on Connally's suit jacket
"bulges" out (or "flips" up) toward the middle of his chest. This
jacket movement, too, is something that's probably indicating the
passage of the bullet through his right chest at precisely that point
in time.

At Z225, Connally's facial expression changes, as a startled look
appears on his face and his mouth opens suddenly (it had been closed at
Z224, which is more-than-likely the precise Z-Frame when the "SBT"
bullet struck both JFK and JBC).

Then, starting at Z226, another important (and obviously involuntary)
physical movement on the part of Governor Connally occurs -- his right
hand, gripping his Stetson cowboy hat, rises and drops again extremely
quickly (in just the span of a mere eight or nine Zapruder frames).
This "hat/arm flip" is telling us that his right wrist has just been
smacked by the speeding bullet from Lee Oswald's Carcano rifle.

These "involuntary" signs of Connally being hit at just precisely the
same time when Kennedy is also initially showing signs of distress are
solid indications that the Single-Bullet Theory should more
appropriately reside in the category reserved for "facts", rather than
mere "theories".

The newer, better-quality, digitally-enhanced versions of the Zapruder
Film have given us a chance to "tighten" the SBT timeline, and to hone
in with more accuracy on exactly when the SBT bullet struck the
victims. However, most of these "signs" re. Connally's movements have
pretty much been visible for years (even prior to the MPI Home Video
digital enhancements in 1998); but for some reason nobody seemed to
want to interpret these things as indications of a bullet strike with
respect to Governor Connally.

Below are a couple more examples of the SBT in action (via looped
Z-Film clips). The top clip, in super slow-motion, gives an excellent
view of Connally having just been struck by the bullet. Note the
obvious "strained" grimace that comes over his face at what equates to
Z225 of the Zapruder Film. This "grimace", along with the shoulder
movement and the hat flip, IMO, are absolute proof that Mr. Connally
has been pierced by a bullet just a few milliseconds prior to those
occurrences.

The bottom clip shows another snippet of the Z-Film at the important
"SBT" point of the movie. In my view, any person who watches that clip
a few times consecutively will have no choice but to come to the
realization that the two men in the car were reacting to a bullet
striking them at just about exactly the same moment in time. Please
take note of JFK's hands/arms at the time he becomes visible from
behind the sign. He hasn't even STARTED to move those arms upward
toward his neck when we first see him after the road-sign interference
has been removed from view.

And yet many conspiracy theorists want to believe that JFK was actually
hit many Z-Frames prior to Z224. But if that was so, why on Earth are
Kennedy's arms near his lap at Z225? Doesn't add up. But it DOES add up
if he had just been hit at Z224, and then started lifting his arms
within two Z-Frames of 224......

http://216.122.129.112/dc/user_files/7731.gif

http://users.skynet.be/mar/SBT/Images2/222-262%20full-small.gif

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's one more top-notch video extract from the Zapruder Film at the
time of the SBT bullet strike:

http://216.122.129.112/dc/user_files/3086.jpg

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An additional interpretive "SBT" error resides on page 5 of this
volume:

"The Governor's body did not register any lurch when the first bullet
struck the President."

This is definitely an inaccurate statement of the facts (unless Mr.
Salandria is contending here that JFK was first hit much earlier,
around Z210; but in such a case, neither JFK nor John Connally is
visible on the Z-Film; therefore no visual evaluation of Connally's
physical movements can be ascertained at the exact moment that JFK is
first struck anyway).

As stated above (and visually demonstrated via that excellent slo-mo
Z-Film video clip), Connally is most certainly exhibiting what could be
described as a "lurch" immediately after Z-Frame 223, with his shoulder
being visibly driven downward and forward. And if the impact of a
bullet didn't cause this bodily movement at that time, then the
question to ask would be -- what did?

Another error -- On page 6, this false statement is made: "A separate
shot removed the back of the President's head".

That quoted passage was written to represent what the Warren Commission
had stated in its Final Report in 1964. But that quoted passage is
wrong. The WC never said any such thing. The last shot from Oswald's
rifle entered the back of JFK's head....it didn't "remove" the back of
his head. The exit wound on the President's head was to the front-right
side. The official autopsy report, signed by three doctors,
definitively stated that fact; and the Warren Report says the same
thing. Why this publication says otherwise is yet another "False
Mystery" it would seem.

Mr. Salandria's earwitness selectivity, used to attempt to buttress the
idea that shots came from the Grassy Knoll area of Dealey Plaza during
the JFK shooting, is rather interesting, somewhat strange, and not very
convincing. By utilizing, on page 2 of this publication, the selective
testimony of only the witnesses who were located on the bridge atop the
Triple Underpass (plus Lee Bowers in the railroad tower to the north of
the bridge, who said the shots could have come from "either the
Depository or the Underpass", which certainly doesn't FAVOR a Knoll
shooter any more than a Depository sniper), Mr. Salandria has (IMO)
actually bolstered the "Lone Assassin" position.

The reason I say that is -- Because the cited witnesses (Austin Miller,
S.M. Holland, Thomas Murphy, and Frank Reilly) seemed to hear shots
from ONLY the Knoll general area, although Reilly is actually closer to
a "TSBD" witness than he is a "Knoll" one.

And since there is no doubt at all that at least SOME shots did come
from the Book Depository, it would tend to undercut and weaken these
witness' claims of hearing the gunshots all coming from the front of
JFK's car. Which would indicate, logically, that all of these "Triple
Underpass witnesses" were located in an area of Dealey Plaza where the
Depository shots sounded as if they had come from further west than
they actually originated.

Witness Austin Miller, by the way, said he thought the shots had
actually come from INSIDE the President's limousine itself! And yet he
is still used to try and improve Mr. Salandria's theory of shots from
the Knoll area, when he actually heard none from that specific
location. Curious.*

* = Although it's possible that the author was using Miller as a
"pro-conspiracy" witness based only on another portion of his account
of the shooting, when Miller also claimed to see "smoke or steam" on
the Knoll following the shots that he thought came "from right there in
the car". But this book's author doesn't mention that portion of
Miller's account at all on page 2.

Another way in which most of those Underpass witnesses do no harm at
all to the Lone-Shooter scenario is due to the fact that most of them
heard three shots precisely -- the exact number Lee Harvey Oswald is
said to have fired from the Book Depository (with one witness in this
batch hearing only two shots). Only Holland, among these examples,
heard more than three shots (he said he heard four).

So, within just the first few pages alone, this book is replete with
questioned items of concern that can easily be interpreted in
non-conspiratorial ways. And the hard, verifiable PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
associated with JFK's murder (and policeman J.D. Tippit's as well) on
November 22, 1963, shall never be able to be turned into "conspiracy"
-- because all of it is screaming "Oswald's Guilty!". Every gun, every
bullet, every bullet fragment, every bullet shell, and every
fingerprint. It's all Oswald's.

I, however, agree with one thing (sort of) in this book -- the title.
The "Mystery" surrounding this murder case is, indeed, a "False" one.
For, there is no "Mystery" at all, IMO. One killer named Lee H. Oswald
fired three shots from his place of employment and killed the
President. No mystery there. And the physical evidence fully bears out
that one-killer conclusion. "False Mystery" seems to me to be an odd
title for a pro-conspiracy volume.

David Von Pein
February 2006

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For those interested in studying the Zapruder Film further, below are
two additional outstanding video clips from the Z-Film. The first one
is an amazingly-clear and "stabilized" version of the whole
assassination sequence. The "motion blur" from Mr. Zapruder's panning
of the camera has been completely removed here, providing a rare and
outstanding "non-jittery" view of the event. Watch, once again, for
JFK's and Connally's simultaneous reactions to being first hit by the
gunfire, just after they come out from behind the freeway sign:

http://www.jfkmurdersolved.com/film/Zapruderstable.mov

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following Z-Film clip is a super-slo-mo clip of just the Z-Film
frames surrounding the JFK head shot. The creator of this excellent
film snippet has seamlessly merged frame 312 into frame 313, showing
the obvious FORWARD movement of JFK's head between those two critical
Z-Frames. Also note the spatter of blood, which all goes FORWARD,
indicating (without doubt IMO) that the projectile which caused that
spatter came from BEHIND the President, and not from in front of him:

http://www.jfkmurdersolved.com/images/Headshot-large.gif

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