Debating The John F. Kennedy Assassination (Part 1)
David Von Pein
THE SINGLE-BULLET THEORY
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John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963 is probably the most-studied
and scrutinized murder case in the history of the world. Hundreds of
books have been written on the subject, featuring almost as many
theories surrounding the details of how Mr. Kennedy met his awful and
bloody fate on the 22nd day of November back in '63.
I've had the opportunity to do verbal battle with several "CTers"
(conspiracy theorists) over the years via this wonderful invention
known as the Internet, and have encountered some pretty fanciful
theories being touted as the "real truth" by these critics of the
official lone-killer version of the assassination (a lone-gunman
position I agree with 100%, since there's not a scrap of physical
evidence that could possibly lead me, or any reasonable researcher, in
any other direction).
I've culled some of those "LNer vs. CTer" sessions below (just for the
fun of it, and to illustrate the patently-absurd nature of some of the
untenable positions put forth by some of the conspiracists).
The following online battles focus on the subject of the controversial
"Single-Bullet Theory", and originally took place in the months of
February, March, and May of 2005.
Let's listen in......
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CTer (A CONSPIRACY THEORIST) -- What is hilarious is that the WR
{Warren Report} claims that both mens' relative position between Z210
and Z225 were such that at any point during this timeframe the SBT
could work!
DVP (DAVID VON PEIN) -- And, considering the fact that we can never
know with 100% certainty the exact location of the two men in the car
(and their precise to-the-inch relationship to each other in the
vehicle), this "Z210-Z225" "bracketing" of the SBT is a wholly feasible
and plausible conclusion. It's not an exact science. It can't be.
Some of the angles/trajectories from the TSBD window to the victims ARE
just "guesses". Educated guesses, but guesses to a certain extent.
They've got to be. Can't be helped; and the same applies whether you're
an LNer or a CTer.
The difference in angle from the car/victims to the SN window would be
quite a small "difference" from Z210 to Z225 (less than 1 second in
time; with the car moving at about 11.2 MPH). Obviously this is true,
or the WC experts wouldn't have testified the angles could line up at
EITHER point in time.
CTers must believe that the FBI's Robert Frazier, et al, were "locked"
into the LN/SBT POV, and that these experts wouldn't have said anything
outside of that "pre-determined" SBT/LHO/LN "box" even if a shotgun had
been pointed at their temples. But that's a CT mindset that I cannot
accept whatsoever.
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CTer -- John Connally testified that he was struck AFTER the president.
DVP -- Anybody who would be stupid enough to rely on the EYEwitness
testimony of a man who WASN'T EVEN LOOKING AT THE PRESIDENT when the
President was hit is obviously also stupid enough to take Mr.
Connally's own unreliable words as the Gospel I suppose. Connally's
testimony in this specific regard is utterly worthless, and always has
been.
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CTer -- The wounds on Connally were inconsistent with the condition of
CE399, which again leads us to believe that CE399 was a planted bullet.
DVP -- An assumption on your (CT) part. And NOT supported by the known
facts regarding CE399, and by further (later) tests done to see if the
SBT was possible (utilizing MC/WCC 6.5mm bullets just like Oswald's).
Such tests (in 2004) proved beyond a REASONABLE person's doubt that a
bullet COULD, indeed, have done even MORE damage to a mock (but
realistic) body double like that of John Connally and emerge in very
good condition.
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CTer -- They wouldn't have seen any {bullets} in JFK because they never
looked. No X-rays were taken and no probing was done {at Parkland
Hospital}.
DVP -- That's right. But if you want to believe some theorists, the JFK
back bullet fell out during cardiac massage, meaning: It was somewhere
in that ER with JFK, and McClelland, and Perry, and Carrico, and Jones,
and Jenkins, et al. And NOBODY sees it.
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CTer -- As for a bullet being found in Connally, it fell out didn't it?
DVP -- Yes, CE399 fell out. But, per CTers, the REAL bullet that struck
Connally is another of the "vanishing" type. Never entered the record;
never was seen by anyone (including Dr. Shaw, even though he did state
on TV that there was still a bullet in JBC's thigh wound -- which we
know was a misstatement, because he and Dr. Gregory both testified to
the effect that no bullets were ever recovered from JBC or seen in
JBC).
Gregory, in fact, had hospital staff searching all over the place for a
bullet; and none was found.
I guess the REAL Connally bullet must have been another piece of pure
luck for the plotters, in that it must have fallen out IN THE CAR, and
was then swept away by the "Auto Cover-Up Team" afterwards.
There must have also been a Cover-Up Team in the hospital too; because
these plotters could not possibly have known (at 12:35 PM) if MORE
"covering up" would be needed within the TWO rooms of Parkland where
the two victims laid.
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CTer -- David, this was the original use for CE399 as established by
Humes on Friday night, it worked its way out during cardiac massage,
not
some theorist's idea.
DVP -- Sure. But you miss the point. CE399 ISN'T a bullet connected
with the REAL wounds, per CTers (including you I assume).
So....Where did the REAL "cardiac massage fall-out" missile go? Where?
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CTer -- I doubt they were thinking of finding or even looking for a
bullet at the time.
DVP -- But does that mean NOBODY would ever find it? Of course it
doesn't. Just because they might not have been LOOKING for bullets, the
bullets are THERE, SOMEWHERE (especially JFK's TWO in-the-body bullets,
per CTers).
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DVP -- I think a large part of the difficulty in honing in on just
exactly when the SBT occurred over the years (in the pre-digital era),
has been the generally-lousy Z-Film copies that have been used when
trying to determine the precise time the SBT happened.
The WC and the HSCA obviously knew there was a "SBT" to be extracted
from that Zapruder movie -- no question about that fact.
Why?
Obviously a "SBT" was the ONLY possible logical explanation given the
lack of any rear-seat limo damage (and lack of whole bullets recovered
from rear seats)...plus: given the lack of bullets in the body of JFK,
and the lack of any bullets being found elsewhere (car, hospital,
Dealey Plaza) that could have possibly represented the bullets that
were inside JFK had a bullet not gone completely through him.
Given these facts, there is no question there was just ONE single
bullet that went through Kennedy and on into Connally. And the WC and
HSCA knew this full well.
Regardless of what exact Z-Film frame the SBT equates to, the point is:
There IS a Z-Frame (somewhere on that film) that DOES equate perfectly
to the "SBT". There is no way there's NOT such a Z-Frame given the
totality of the evidence with respect to the initial wounding of both
victims.
Both the WC and HSCA did the best they could when attempting to piece
together the mystery of what time the SBT occurred on the film
(hampered greatly, quite obviously, by that damn freeway sign).
Now, just WHY the obvious (IMO) involuntary Connally reactions were
apparently never noticed by anybody who looked at the film for the WC
and HSCA, I cannot say (lousy copies used?).
But the Digital copies we have now positively point to a Z224 hit to
JBC -- that open-mouthed grimace and shoulder drop and ultra-fast hat
flip, are, in my view, the closest "proof positive" indicators that
we're going to find when it comes to verifying a bullet striking him at
ANY point on the film.
There is no other point on the Z-Film that gives us that much evidence
of a "hit" than do the frames just after Z223.
The WC and HSCA did "get it right" (overall) -- meaning: they were
right about only ONE bullet hitting both men simultaneously. They just
didn't have it pinpointed on the Zapruder Film with 100% accuracy.
But, circa 21st century, we CAN now pinpoint the SBT bullet strike.
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DVP -- It really doesn't matter WHERE Gerald Ford "moved" the wound to.
Because the detailed "14 cm." remarks of Dr. Boswell's original Face
Sheet still stand as the definitive location of JFK's back wound. And
Dale Myers' detailed animation work, plus the 2004 SBT re-creation
test, have (IMO) proven that the SBT is possible, based on the "14 cm."
anatomical measurements.
Gerald Ford has said, over and over again, that he moved the wound to
place it in a more accurate location on JFK's back, for clarification
purposes and to "match" more appropriately the "14 cm." Boswell
measurement. This is EXACTLY the same reason, of course, that Boswell
moved his "dot" on the back, as well.
Mile-high mountains have been manufactured out of proverbial back-wound
mole hills with regard to both Boswell's and Ford's "moving" of the
wound location.
If Ford's (or Boswell's) "dots" are too high on the back, it's because
BOTH of these men were estimating the wound, without having the benefit
of measuring body landmarks on a chart to make the "dots" precisely
accurate.
But, again, it really makes no difference at all where these
unimportant "dots" are located -- because we still have the "14-cm."
notes to guide us on the back wound.
The problem with attempting to place the back wound in an exact
location on a static non-JFK figure on a piece of paper is that it
won't equate perfectly to JFK's exact Mastoid location. Therefore, any
"dots" placed on just a piece of paper will be (obviously) just pure
"guesses" (and that applies to Dr. Boswell or Gerald Ford or whoever is
doing the dot-placing; it's just not going to be super-exact; which is
why, obviously, Dr. Boswell put in not only the "dot" on the Face
Sheet, but the "14 cm." remarks as well).
"14 cm. from the tip of the Mastoid Process" will equate to a slightly
different place from person to person, depending on length of neck,
etc. It's going to vary a little bit on virtually each individual human
being (obviously).
I've performed this easily-done measurement on myself -- and when I
measured 5.5 inches (which is exactly 14 cm.) below the "Right Mastoid
Process" (which is located approx. at the tip of the right earlobe), an
assumed "wound" on my back would be very close to just where we find it
on President Kennedy's upper back (via the autopsy photograph showing
his back wound).
And, given the known exit wound on the front of JFK's neck per the
official autopsy report (which was signed by all three principal
autopsists) -- a throat wound that was totally obliterated, granted, by
Dr. Malcolm Perry's trach at Parkland Hospital, but we know within a
few millimeters where that wound must have been -- there is a definite
DOWNWARD trajectory from back-to-front when connecting these bullet
holes.
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DVP -- The CTers (as usual) misrepresent drastically the nature of the
JFK throat wound. It was said to POSSIBLY have been an entrance wound
on 11/22/63. But it was ALSO said by the doctors who saw it that it
could very well have been EITHER "an entry or an exit wound for a
bullet"......
MR. SPECTER -- Based on the appearance of the neck wound alone, could
it have been either an entrance or an exit wound?
DR. PERRY -- It could have been either.