John Connally and Doug Thompson

[Adam Johnson]

So David, can i outline what i think your saying here, please correct me if i get this wrong........

You believe that the Gov was hit in the chest from the front between Z225 and Z242? Due to the Gov's body position at that time...

That would mean the pergola on the north side of Elm to Zapruders immediate left and rear was a firing position or the small concrete wall to Zapruders right and front only 25 feet away was a firing position?

These two spots are the only areas allowing cover for a frontal shot to the Gov's chest at that time and since no shooter was ever seen,  they had to fire from a position of cover.

A shooter from behind the picket fence wouldn't have the correct angle between Z225 and Z242.

But more importantly than firing positions and angles it means that the Governor was a sacrificial 2nd target that day. 

Regards,

Adam.

 

[David Lifton]

Hello Adam,

I’m addressing your post, and writing much of which follows on the basis of recollection, so please keep that in mind.: 

IMHO:Governor Connally was struck in the chest, from the front, when he interfered with the shooting by lunging to the front.  (See Z frames 312 - 330, which show the “lunge.’

Taking this step by step (and I am numbering the points, for easier reference, if one has any questions):

1. Connally was struck in the chest from the front ( based on the medical evidence in the record, and my interview with nurse ER supervisor Doris Nelson in December 1982; and then again later, on film.

2.   Turning now to the Zapruder film:  During this very small time period (i.e.,, between Zapruder frame 300 and frame 330), Connally can be seen, on the Zapruder film, lunging to the front.  (The images are not all of equaly clarity, but some are pretty good).

3.  Nellie Connally mentioned this lunge, in her testimony before the HSCA.

4.  When Connally lunged to the front, his right hand was outstretched, pointing forward.

5. Now to revisit this “lunge,” Connally’s wife Nellie testified —either to the Warren Commission, or the House Select Committee —that after the shots were fired (and after she had pulled her husband down, into her lap), Gov Connally had risen up and “lunged to the front.” (from recollection).

6.  Either it was Gov Connally  (or his wife, Nellie) who noted  something else:  that during this period (when Gov. JC was “lunging to the front”), that the SS agent in the front seat on the passenger side (Secret Service agent Roy Kellerman), was punching certain buttons on the front dashboard.

7. On the front dashboard was a button that would operate a one-half horsepower motor —installed sometime prior to Dallas— and which could raise the rear seat by about 10 inches.  (I have obtained official documents about this).

8. A small (but significant) number of Dealey Plaza eyewitnesses said that they thought that— during the shooting—President Kennedy “rose up” or (momentarily) stood up. (But, IMHO, that is not quite what happened; what happened is that the seat was raised, via the electric motor, activated by the push of the button).  That operated an electric motor and the associated apparatus, installed in the trunk.   After JFK was  shot, the rear seat was immediately lowered (from its raised position) to its “lower” position.

8. When JFK was in the “raised” position (and Kellerman was operating the button[s] that raised the rear seat) one can readily see (on the Z frames) a white “flare” in the area of the front windshield (Z-320 to Z 330).  This flare has not gone unnoticed by some who have examined the individual slides of the Z film.  (I first noticed this flare, and studied it carefully, some decades ago).  Some have remarked that it is simply a reflection of light, but I disagree.   Some years ago, i had access to one of the original 35mm copies of the Zapruder film —not the original Zapruder film itself, but one of the original 35 mm copies of the Zapruder film, made by Moses Weitzman for LIFE magazine.  These frames, made by Weitzman, were published in the LIFE issues shortly after the assassination; and then again, in September 1964, when the Warren Report was published; and then again, in October 1966, when the controversy about the Warren Report and the Commission’s “lone assssin” conclusion was again in the news.  There were very few of these 35 mm copies, and the one to which I had access was a crystal clear copy that was used by CBS producer Robert Richter, in the production of one of the major CBS documentaries.  By that time (early 1990s), I had excellent black and white copies of the Kennedy autopsy photos, and CBS wanted them for use in their documentary.  In exchange, I was permitted access to their copy of the Zapruder film. 

9.  I was not just handed a role of 35 mm film; rather, I was provided access to their 35 mm copy of the film for about an entire week, and was permitted to put it on a modern state-of-the-art Oxberry optical printer.  (See my essay, “Pig on a Leash,” published years ago, for details.)

10.  An Oxberry Optical printer is about size of a small Volkswagon.  One sits at the controls — wearing a face mask to shield one’s eyes and nose from the smell of acetone (acetone being part of the process by which the film frames are viewed, via a "liquid gate.".  (Aside: The frames require liquid to ‘hide’ or obscure any scratches, and to produce a clear image, by using the liquid to adjust the 'index of refraction.").  Peering through an eyepiece, one can then examine the film frame-by-frame, and —while doing so —make 35 mm copies of the original film frames, and so that’s exactly what I did.  FWIW: The cost of rental —i.e., for use of that apparatus, for that 5 day period—was over $10,000; and I raised the money from a number of friends, certain JFK researchers, and my family.

11. Examining that copy of the Zapruder film on that apparatus, frame by frame, (and now returning to the matter of the readily visible “flare”), it seemed clear to me that this was more than a mere optical illuion or optical artifact — i.e, an artifact of sunlight reflecting on the windshield.  Rather, upon close examination, it seemed clear that Zapruder’s camera had recorded a collision caused by something that hit the windshield, and damaged it. Moreover, the “flare,” when examined carefully, contained the image of particulate matter (akin to very small pieces of glass) flying off the windshield, and back towards the inside of the limo. (Again, this imagery was clearly visible between Z frames 325 - Z-330).

12.   The original Altgen’s photo —showing the limo racing away, towards the underpass—shows the damage to the windshield. (This was first published, i believe, in Six Seconds in Dallas).  Subseuently, I obtained high quality black and white photos from either AP or UPI in New York that showed the damage to the front windshield, as the limo headed for the Triple Underpass, with SS Agent Clint Hill on the rear bumper.

13.  The original SS report, about the limo (when parked in the White House garage), states that there was a hole in the windshield. (Commission Document 80).   However, the windshield that was removed and sent tothe FBI Laboratory (and subsequently produced for the Warren Commission) shows no such hole. Its just not there.

14. Around 1971, upon my written request to the National Archives, I had that windshield uncrated and made available to me; and I studied it carefully, spending hours examining it.   It was obvious that there was no hole in the windshield— just a very small defect on the outer surface (which, since this was multi-layered safety class, indicated that it [the windshield provided to the Warren Commission] was struck from the rear).  

15.  As to the matter of whether there was a hole in the windshield, or simply relatively minor damage on one surface, the FBI and Secret Service reports were contradictory.(As I will show soon, the FBI said there was crack; the Secret Service said there was not.)  It was these seriously divergent descriptions that led me —and others —to conclude that there had been a windshield switch.

16: Now to summarize, here’s my reconstruction of what all this means;

During the assassination, Governor Connally was first grabbed by his wife, and pulled down into her lap.  That was before Connally was shot.

At the time the fatal shot struck (Z Frame 313), Secret Service Agent Roy Kellerman —seated in the front right seat—was observed (as previously noted)— punching a button on the front panel.  This button operated a powerful motor that had been installed in the trunk of the car, and which raised the rear seat, by about 10 inches.

17.  I have official documents pertaining to the installation of this motor, an installation that occurred prior to the delivery of the new Lincoln to the White House in mid-June 1961.  I have little doubt that President Kennedy liked this feature, because JFK liked being easily visible when he rode in a motorcade.  in fact, JFK  loved motorcades.  Riding past throngs of people lining the street, JFK could —as explained by Governor Connally (in a LIFE article published in January 19670)—make “eye contact” with hundreds (even thousands) of people, all in the space of a relatively short period of time, while riding past them in a typical motorcade.  But the installation of this feature (of the raised seat)  had a “downside” —i.e., it made JFK vulnerable; an easier target for assassination.  But i don’t think he really thought of it that way; indeed, IMHO, that was probably the furthest thing from his mind.  As he was quoted, the Secret Service was there to protect him; and, being a fatalist, he said;  if 'they are determined to get me, they'll even get me in church.'

18.  As far as the official investigations (which occurred in 1963 and 1964) were concerned, there was little or no notice paid to this situation.  I don’t believe that the Warren Commission paid very much —if any —attention to when the motorized device that was installed, or to the possible implications.

19.  As far as the installation of the motor was concerned (and the connecting apparatus  between the motor installed in the trunk, and mechanism to raise the rear seat), none of this seemed to be noticed.  From what i can see, it was one of those “500 pound elephants in the room.”  This matter, or its possible implications, was never investigated or pursued by either the Secret Service or the FBI.  Furthermore, it went unnoticed by the legal staff of the Warren Commission.  They seemed to know nothing about the installation of the motor, and the seat-raise apparatus; and --when it came to the actual assassination, were focused (on the ‘sniper’s nest evidence” —i.e., the cartons piled up by the window at the SE corner of the TSBD, the three shells by the window, and the the bolt action rifle, mail ordered to LHO’S PO Box (in March 1963);  a rifle  that was found amongst some cartons, towards the rear, and near the elevator on the sixth floor, about 40 minutes after the assassination.

20.  Nor was it ever officially noticed —as far as I can see—that Kennedy was “raised” during the shooting. (That original observation —or discovery (i.e., that the seat was in fact raised)—was made by the late Fred T Newcomb —co-author of Murder from Within— who showed it to me around 1969.  To pursue the matter further (which iI'm not prepared to do in this writing), one becomes entangled in an assortment of minutiae,  pertaining to whether the Zapruder film was altered.  Aside from the fact that dozens of witnesses said that the car stopped completely, or slowed down, during the shooting, eliminating all of that, plus doing what was necessary (to conceal —or minimize—the fact that the seat was raised; would be another reason to alter the motion picture record, something which I do not wish to explore in this writing.

21. To summarize: After the JFK limo entered Dealy Plaza, and during the Elm Street shooting, Secret Service Agent Kellerman, a senior agent in charge of the White House Detail on the Dallas trip, was observed punching buttons on the front panel of the limo; and, at that time, the rear seat was raised, and a number of witnesses thought Kennedy either “rose up” (my quote) or was “standing.”  Then, after Z frame 313, when he was struck fatally, and by frame Z-330, Connally was lunging forward, and  Z film frames show this flare at the front windshield, and then the limo was beginning its acceleration, to speed away, towards the Triple Underpass.  All of this happened ver quickly.  By the time the limo reached Parkland Hospital,  the rear seat was no longer in the “raised’ position.

** ** **

For those who wish to pursue the matter of the front windshield, I refer you to Chapter 24 of Best Evidence, titled `”Trajectory Reversal: Blueprint for Deception”; and specifically to the sub-section titled “Before the fact" (PP 370- 371. in the Macmillan hardcover, or Carroll & Graf [trade paperback] edition).   There you will find a detailed account of my research about the windshield (as matters stood as of summer of 1980), when B.E. was already in galleys.  (FYI: B.E. was published in mid-January 1981).

My favorite quote —summarizing the situation—appears in the middle of that chapter, and in the longest footnote that I wrote for Best Evidence.  Its about 500 words long, and akin to a small, carefully edited, essay.   The quote appears at the very end, where I contrast the two different descriptions of the windshield —one coming from FBI Director J. E.Hoover (and based on what his agents reported, when they observed the car in the White House garage, on the night of November 22, 1963); and the other, coming from Service Chief James K. Rowley, who took possession of the windshield, when it was removed from the limo a day or two later.  

Quoting that passage in Best Evidence: “The contradiction of the FBI and Secret Service records of windshield damage is epitomized by a clash between the FBI Supplemental Report, dated January 13, 1964, and Secret Service Chief Rowley’s letter to the [Warren] Commission, dated January 6, 1964.  FBI Director Hoover reported: “. . .the windshield  was cracked…” (CD 107, p. 5, the FBI Supplemental Report); Secret Service Chief Rowley wrote: “ There is no hole or crack through the windshield.” (CD 80, p2; the Secret Service Report on the limousine).

** ** **

To those who are students of the assassination, I have this advice: focus on the integrity of the evidence —i.e., on issues of authenticity —and not on endless debates about the Single Bullet Theory (which are often highly subjective, depending, for example, on making a proper determination as to exactly when Gov. Connally was struck).  Experience teaches me that there is little chance that believers of the official version will ever change their mind; whereas evidence of authenticity changes the nature of the argument entirely; and often turns on matters of readily ascertainable fact (e.g., the size of a wound, or whether or not there was a hole in a windshield)..  IMHO: those who persist on viewing “conspiracy” as the existence of a “second assassin” are not approaching the problem properly, and will get lost in the quagmire of endless debate—what has sometimes been described as a “wilderness of mirrors.”

In Best Evidence, besides addressing the specific issue of whether the President’s autopsy was falsified (i.e., via wound alteration, prior to autopsy), I try to address this wider issue —i.e., to determine who was responsible for the “false facts” — i.e., the falsification of evidence.  Solve that problem, and you are on “the trail of the assassins," and on a journey that takes one directly to the identification of the murderers of President Kennedy; and, more generally speaking, to the authors of this crime.

DSL

11/09/20 - 5:30 AM, PST; 11/12/20 12:45 AM

 

 

Edited November 12, 2020 by David Lifton