What became of the Back of the Head?

[Jon G. Tidd]

Dr. McClellan said on camera during an interview that Jackie handed him a piece of JFK's brain. That piece obviously was not blasted skyward or forward into the front part of the car.

I wish the microscope here would be turned toward the pre-8:00 p.m. activities at Bethesda, as Ray suggests. I also wish the microscope here would be turned toward J.D. Tippit's corpse. Tippit was buried allegedly on November 23 in a closed casket. The reported coup de grace to Tippit's skull is noteworthy and suspicious. It suggests the killer was trying to inflict a specific skull wound.

I also wish the alleged Knudsen photographs would be discussed in depth here. Along with Dr. Ebersole's W.C. testimony.

All these matters go to the back of the head.

Finally, I wish the experts here would address this question, in depth, without bias: Who had the power and the willingness to cause the fudging of JFK's autopsy? I'm talking principals, not mere agents, when I ask "who".

[Ron Ecker]

FWIW there were two morgues at Bethesda. An old one (no longer in use, presumably) and the new one. Perhaps work was done in both morgues that night.

That would be RATHER handy.

Ron, do you know where the 'old morgue' was located relative to the one that was used to perform the "official" autopsy?

Tom

Don't know. I think Lifton's book is where I read about the two morgues, but I'm not sure. I recall something about animal cages in the old morgue, and that part of one may be seen on the floor in the death-stare autopsy photo. There was also the question of whether the tile on the floor in that photo would match the tile in the new morgue.

[Robert Prudhomme]

Dr. McClellan said on camera during an interview that Jackie handed him a piece of JFK's brain. That piece obviously was not blasted skyward or forward into the front part of the car.

I wish the microscope here would be turned toward the pre-8:00 p.m. activities at Bethesda, as Ray suggests. I also wish the microscope here would be turned toward J.D. Tippit's corpse. Tippit was buried allegedly on November 23 in a closed casket. The reported coup de grace to Tippit's skull is noteworthy and suspicious. It suggests the killer was trying to inflict a specific skull wound.

I also wish the alleged Knudsen photographs would be discussed in depth here. Along with Dr. Ebersole's W.C. testimony.

All these matters go to the back of the head.

Finally, I wish the experts here would address this question, in depth, without bias: Who had the power and the willingness to cause the fudging of JFK's autopsy? I'm talking principals, not mere agents, when I ask "who".

By all means, Jon, let's discuss all of those things. I'm all ears.

[Tom Neal]

Don't know. I think Lifton's book is where I read about the two morgues, but I'm not sure. I recall something about animal cages in the old morgue, and that part of one may be seen on the floor in the death-stare autopsy photo. There was also the question of whether the tile on the floor in that photo would match the tile in the new morgue.

Now that you mention the tiles, etc. I think you're absolutely right.

If only I had a copy of BE I'd look it up...never loan out books...never.

Tom

[James R Gordon]

Tom,

Abebooks have copies of the Best Evidence for a few dollars. They even have hard back copies. Might be worth a look. I got an excellent hard back copy there.

James

[Tom Neal]

Dr. McClellan said on camera during an interview that Jackie handed him a piece of JFK's brain. That piece obviously was not blasted skyward or forward into the front part of the car.

IMO that piece of brain was retrieved by her from the trunk at the time Clint Hill arrived and moved her back into the seat.

The reported coup de grace to Tippit's skull is noteworthy and suspicious. It suggests the killer was trying to inflict a specific skull wound.

Considering the shot to Tippit's head was from point blank range with a pistol, any skull damage would be a rather poor match for a 200-300 foot shot with a rifle.

Finally, I wish the experts here would address this question, in depth, without bias: Who had the power and the willingness to cause the fudging of JFK's autopsy? I'm talking principals, not mere agents, when I ask "who".

ADM Calvin B. Galloway who was in charge of the Bethesda complex. I'm unfamiliar with the Chain of Command "layers" from Galloway upward, but the Chief of Naval Operations is the direct link to the POTUS. LBJ of course had the authority to order anyone to do anything by invoking the National Security angle. My question is, would CNO ADM David L. McDonald order Galloway to do this without permission from LBJ? This would of course be a "Seven Days in (Le)May" scenario.

Tom

PS I personally would not have put it past ADM George Anderson, the previous CNO...

Edited November 10, 2015 by Tom Neal

[Ron Ecker]

If only I had a copy of BE I'd look it up...never loan out books...never.

I just looked through the book. Lifton does mention a "second morgue" (p. 623 of my paperback edition), but only to state that he knew there wasn't one, because he "personally inspected the morgue facilities at Bethesda." Of course that apparently means he inspected the morgue facilities current at the time he inspected them.

Someone else is thus the source for the two morgues. I remember it being discussed here, and I remember someone saying that what was claimed to be an animal cage in the death-stare photo was actually the bottom of an x-ray machine. (Don't ask me.) As for the floor tile in that photo, I know of no other autopsy photo showing the floor. Wall tile, I would think, would be different from floor tile in any case.

Edited November 10, 2015 by Ron Ecker

[Tom Neal]

Tom,

Abebooks have copies of the Best Evidence for a few dollars. They even have hard back copies. Might be worth a look. I got an excellent hard back copy there.

James

Thanks for idea, James. They have been my favorite source for used books for decades.

My book collection has overrun the house, and I can't tolerate the thought of losing my library. My solution has been the wholesale scanning of the collection and converting them to ebooks. At the moment I'm FINALLY starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm resisting the purchase of any new non-ebooks, but I will have to purchase BE and Larry Hancock's 2010 version of "Someone Would Have Talked" and add them to the "To Be Scanned" pile.

Tom

Edited November 10, 2015 by Tom Neal

[Tom Neal]

I just looked through the book. Lifton does mention a "second morgue" (p. 623 of my paperback edition), but only to state that he knew there wasn't one, because he "personally inspected the morgue facilities at Bethesda."

Thanks for checking!

Someone else is thus the source for the two morgues. I remember it being discussed here... As for the floor tile in that photo, I know of no other autopsy photo showing the floor. Wall tile, I would think, would be different from floor tile in any case.

Along with the floor and wall tiles, IIRC, JFK's 'head support' was not recognized by anyone at Bethesda.