Ash Grimes

Was Oswald the Lone JFK Gunman? By Juan A. Lozano May 25, 2007 7:51AM New testing on the type of ammunition used in the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy raises questions about whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, according to a study by researchers at Texas A&M University. Lead research Cliff Spiegelman stressed, however, that the research doesn't necessarily support conspiracy theorists who for decades have doubted Oswald was the lone gunman. "We're not saying there was a conspiracy. All we're saying is the evidence that was presented as a slam dunk for a single shooter is not a slam dunk," said Spiegelman, a Texas A&M statistics professor and an expert in bullet-lead analysis. The Warren Commission concluded in 1964 that Oswald fired three shots at Kennedy's motorcade from the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas. The U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations agreed in 1979 and found that the two bullets that hit Kennedy came from Oswald's rifle. The committee's findings were based in part on the testimony of the late forensic chemist Vincent Guinn, who said recovered fragments came from only two bullets. Guinn testified that the bullets Oswald used, Western-Winchester Cartridge Co. Mannlicher-Carcano bullets, were unique and that it would be possible to distinguish one from another even if they both came from the same box. But Spiegelman and his fellow researchers, who tested 30 of the same type of bullets, found that fragments were not nearly so rare and that bullets within the same box could match one another. One of the test bullets also matched one or more of the assassination fragments. "This finding means that the bullet fragments from the assassination that match could have come from three or more separate bullets," the researchers wrote in a paper detailing their study, set to be published later this year by the journal "Annals of Applied Statistics." The study is available on the journal's Web site. "If the assassination fragments are derived from three or more separate bullets, then a second assassin is likely, as the additional bullet would not be attributable to the main suspect, Mr. Oswald," they wrote. The bullets Spiegelman's team used were from two of only four lots ever produced of the ammunition. The researchers were able to test for more elements than Guinn and used better quality control techniques, Spiegelman said. Gary Mack, curator of the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, which focuses on Kennedy's life and assassination, questioned the study's methods. "Their study can't answer anything about the assassination," he said. "That's my understanding of it because they didn't test the actual fragments. They tested similar fragments and found that the test itself is flawed." Conspiracy supporters believe it helps prove that Oswald didn't act alone. "Is this going to solve the case, create further investigation or change anybody's mind? Probably not, but it supports the contentions of conspiracy researchers all through the years," said Jim Marrs, whose book, "Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy" was one of two used as the basis for Oliver Stone's conspiracy film "JFK." Spiegelman advocates for the bullet fragments from the assassination to undergo more rigorous analysis. Further testing of the fragments would be up to the National Archives and Records Administration, the legal custodian of the projectiles and other evidence used by the Warren Commission. The last time the fragments were tested was in 1999. The examination was inconclusive. © 2007 Associated Press/AP Online. All rights reserved. © 2007 Sci-Tech Today. All rights reserved. SOURCE: Sci-Tech Today

Ash, The Jefferies film is important only because it allowed LNers like Gerald Posner to step into an evidentiary trap. According to Posner, the Jefferies film shows JFK's jacket in the "precise" location required by the SBT. In Jefferies, the jacket rode up over the top of the shirt collar. But in the Towner film -- taken within a few seconds of the shooting -- the shirt collar is clearly visible. http://www.jfk-online.com/Towner.mpg Ergo, the jacket dropped, and by Posner's own analysis the SBT is debunked. The JFK cover-up has destroyed itself over this issue, mark my words. I don't think it's the end of the cover-up at all, really. They managed to keep SOMEONE believing 45 years later, even if the number drops more and more every year. Sure, Posner will go on as the spokesman of the SBT, and some housewife somewhere will think, "That fella with the plastic face has a point!" At the end of the day, though, people continue not believing them, although most people aren't as die-hard into the belief of a conspiracy as some of us and most people don't have a clue as to how deep they think it goes. People are stupid. I hate to sound rude, but, considering the people I've met in my college courses, I feel quite confident in that statement. They also don't want anything to shake what they believe in, and apparantly, there's still a large number of people who want to believe that all elements in our government are good and happy and positive. It's an odd form of denial, I suppose, but they'll have it long after it's been proven by the research community.

Thanks for that insight, Mr. White - I've been confused before regarding that, I've heard both Bloom & JCS before.

While yes, I do believe this is a very interesting piece of footage and I'm glad we have it, and it certainly suggests that there are people who have footage or photographs that have not yet come forward even now - I don't think it's nearly as important as some people are making it out to be. At the end of the day, photos and video from nearly 45 years ago can be open to interpretation as a result of the poor quality.

I'm Ash, I'm nineteen, I currently live in Houston, Texas where I'm going to school for my degree in history. After I graduate, I plan on moving to Boston, preferably working in a museum. I'd like to join the forum as history fascinates me, and I feel more at home doing research than I do with anything else in my life.