Was John Connally shot once or twice? Your opinion please.

[Guest Robert Morrow]

I do think the concept of the "magic bullet theory" or the "single bullet theory" is utterly ridiculous.

So let's assume as fact that both JFK and John Connally were shot in the back by different bullets.

Do you also think that John Connally was shot on the wrist by an additional bullet? Yes or no and why do you think so?

Or do you think that all the wounds to Connally were caused by one bullet in the back that exited just below his front right nipple and then hit his wrist and then lodged in a shallow wound on one of his thighs?

Also, where do you think Connally was shot from? Perhaps the County Records building roof for his back wound and perhaps the TSBD for his wrist wound?

Finally, at what frame of the Zapruder film do you think Connally is FIRST shot? And perhaps at what frame do you think JFK is being shot in the throat from the front?

Help me figure this out. Thank-you.

Edited January 3, 2013 by Robert Morrow

[David Andrews]

Twice. I believe that for as long as you see that Stetson in his right hand above the car door frame in Zapruder, he is not yet hit in that wrist. Once he's pulled down, the moment of his wrist wounding is anybody's guess.

[James R Gordon]

John Connally was wounded on two separate occasions.

The unique nature of the Dorsal wound suggests it to be impossible for it to be wounded as a consequence of the chest wound. I acknowledge that both being wounded at the same time is the traditional view. My reasons for saying they were separate occasions is because right wrist was not positioned at that point to be able to be also wounded. Because of the unique nature of the wound the wrist has to be in a particular position.

That said, the nature of the Dorsal wound is such that Charles Gregory was of the opinion that the missile that did strike the Dorsal had struck something else before striking Connally's wrist. The drawing he drew of the wound next to his handwritten report emphasises the uniqueness of this wound.

True the thigh wound could also be an independent wound, it certainly puzzled Tom Shires but I suspect it was a fragment from one of the other wounds.

However locating just when these wounds occurred, I am finding to be a very difficult task.

James.

[David Andrews]

How can one rule out three hits?

I also think he's shot in the back while he has his back to the County Records Building, or another building on the south side of Main Street.

Edited January 4, 2013 by David Andrews

[Bjørn Gjerde]

The shooting sequence in Dealey Plaza

The following is a brief summary of how the shooting most likely took place in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963, based on my interpretation of available evidence, particularly the medical evidence from President Kennedy and Governor Connally and what is depicted in the Zapruder film.

The first shot was fired along Elm Street from the top floor/roof of the Dal-Tex building hitting President Kennedy in the back of his neck just within the hairline at approximately frame 220 of the Zapruder film (Z220), i.e., when President Kennedy is hidden from view by the Stemmons Freeway sign in this film. The bullet struck the cervical spinal column and a (small) fragment of the bullet or a bone fragment tore through the right side of President Kennedy’s trachea and exited in the front of his neck (throat). President Kennedy slumped to the left and grasped with both hands towards his throat.

Governor Connally, who was seated in the jump seat immediately in front of President Kennedy, reacted to the sound of the first shot by turning to his right and apparently trid to see the President in the back seat. About 4-5 seconds after the first shot, when Governor Connally was turned approximately 90 degrees to his right in the seat (at Z290-291), he was hit in his back close to his right armpit by a bullet fired from the top floor/roof of the Criminal Courts Building to the left rear of the limousine. The (fragmented) bullet exited the front of his chest and a small portion of the bullet entered the Governor’s left thigh. Governor Connally was pushed downward in his seat by the force of the bullet, i.e., toward the right rear door of the limousine, and fell backwards into the lap of his wife, who had also turned to her right by the sound of the first shot and was at this time looking at President Kennedy in the back seat.

Just a little more than a second later (at Z313), President Kennedy was struck in the back of his head by another shot fired from the top floor/roof of the Criminal Courts Building, i.e., to his left rear. The bullet struck the right rear of President Kennedy’s head tangentially, chipping off several skull fragments, including a large fragment that was flung forward along the right side of his head. Upon striking the skull, the bullet disintegrated, with some fragments being deflected forward into President Kennedy’s skull cavity, whereas a large fragment of the bullet exited from the right side of President Kennedy’s head behind his right ear and went on to strike Governor Connally on the dorsal (upper) side of his right forearm close to the wrist, perforating and shattering the radius bone before exiting on the ventral (palmar) side of the forearm.

The impact of the bullet hitting President Kennedy’s head caused his head to move to the right and slightly forward, but this movement was almost immediately stopped an reversed (at Z314-316) when another bullet, fired from the top floor/roof of the Dal-Tex building, struck President Kennedy high in his back (corresponding to the bullet holes in his shirt and jacket) a fraction of a second later. The latter bullet struck the vertebral column (spine) and did not exit. The force of the bullet colliding with the vertebrae caused President Kennedy’s chest to be pushed violently downward and forward, which caused his head and shoulders to tilt violently backwards and his right arm to be thrown up into the air, as if he had been hit from the front.

In total, at least four shots were fired, but only three shots were heard. The second shot, which hit Governor Connally in his back, was fired with a silenced gun and was inaudible. The last two shots, hitting President Kennedy’s in his head and his upper back, were fired almost simultaneously, or in ‘rapid succession’ as many witnesses later testified. Two shots, about 5 seconds apart (#1 and #4), were fired from a gunman (or two) immediately to the rear, or slightly to the right rear of President Kennedy, i.e., most likely from the top of the DalTex Building, although the TSBD is also a possibility, and two shots (#2 and #3), including the fatal headshot (#3) were fired by two gunmen to the left rear of President Kennedy, i.e., most likely from the top of the Criminal Courts Building. There could have been an additional shot, since the first report, which sounded like a firecracker, could possibly represent two shots fired simultaneously, from the DalTex Building and the Criminal Courts Building, respectively, but the possible shot from the Criminal Courts Building missed the occupants of the limousine. No shots were fired from the Grassy Knoll, at least none of those hitting President Kennedy and Governor Connally.

For more details, see my still (after 4 years) unfinished paper about this:

http://bk.gjerde.name/images/jfk/The_three_bullets.pdf

Regards

Bjørn Gjerde

[James R Gordon]

Bjorn,

The idea that a fragment from the head wound caused the dorsal wound has some merit. On a 3D model it works quite well. That said it is just assertion. There is no means to substantiate it.

The chest wound at 290/91 is not possible. I am we'll aware that Frederick Webb also considered this period 297 as the moment and drew charts to support the idea. I am at present studying his work papers. However, that period does not work. And it is not because I say so. At that point Connally is turned so far to his right that his right arm pit, the area the bullet entered, is facing away from the North Plaza. Yes he could still be struck at this point, but the shot would have to come from somewhere near County Courts/Old Red. There is a further complication, the angle of the trajectory from source to wound needs to be 27 degrees.

It is the trajectory angle that causes the main problem. This was measured by Robert Shaw with calliper during Connally's testimony. Whatever point you choose for the wound to occur it must allow an entry wound that allows the bullet to track the angle of the 5th rib and the position of the 5th rib must be 27 degrees.

I am having considerable trouble finding a point where these criteria come into play.

James.

[Ian Kingsbury]

How can one rule out three hits?

I also think he's shot in the back while he has his back to the County Records Building, or another building on the south side of main.

this would produce a through shot to the hand and possibly thigh

As JBC was laying over on Nellie.possibly through the already weakened skull of JFK!.

[Bjørn Gjerde]

What Drs. Shaw and Gregory actually were measuring on Connally, as also stated by Dr.Shaw, was ‘the elevation of the posterior wound [at armpit] over the anterior wound' [front of chest] assuming the body was perfectly erect (horizontal). They also assumed there was no deflection of the bullet while passing through Connally. At Z-290/291 we don’t know how Connally was seated, but he was probably still leaning somewhat backwards as in the preceding frames. Hence the angle of declination of the bullet through Connally’s body doesn’t tell us anything from which height the bullet came.

Connally gradually disappears from view in the frames leading up to Z-290, and then he becomes fully visible again during the subsequent frames. This is no coincidence. Those who produced the extant Zapruder film knew a clearly visible hit at Z290 would reveal from whence this particular bullet came (definitely not from TSBD), and hence Connally was gradually edited out before this critical frame. Still the NPIC identified a hit around Z290 and produced a briefing board depicting this, and the Secret Service apparently also believed Connally was hit at this time '(second shot') when they did heir December 5^th, 1963 reenactment.

http://www.maryferrell.org/wiki/images/a/a0/Photo_wcd87_0505.jpg

Bjørn Gjerde