Zapruder's demonstration of JFK's head wound before his film had been developed

[Steven Kossor]

Abraham Zapruder demonstrated a massive blow-out of the front/right side of JFK's head in his filmed interview with Jay Watson on WFAA-TV in Dallas shortly after filming the assassination (before the film had been developed).  Zapruder's description disagreed with the observations of the Parkland doctors (who reported a hole at the back of the head, not a massive blow-out of the front and right sides of JFK's head).  Interestingly, the autopsy photos and X-rays taken at Bethesda later that night precisely match Zapruder's description.  Food for thought:  https://youtu.be/4BZiqsk99qI

Edited June 9, 2022 by Steven Kossor

[Michael Crane]

5 hours ago, Steven Kossor said:

Abraham Zapruder demonstrated a massive blow-out of the front/right side of JFK's head in his filmed interview with Jay Watson on WFAA-TV in Dallas shortly after filming the assassination (before the film had been developed).  Zapruder's description disagreed with the observations of the Parkland doctors (who reported a hole at the back of the head, not a massive blow-out of the front and right sides of JFK's head).  Interestingly, the autopsy photos and X-rays taken at Bethesda later that night precisely match Zapruder's description.  Food for thought:  https://youtu.be/4BZiqsk99qI

Can you point me in the direction of the photographs that you seen that shows damage to the side of the head please?

The picture that shows that flap has clearly been tampered with.

Edited June 9, 2022 by Michael Crane

[Steven Kossor]

The Bethesda autopsy photo collection shows extensive damage to the parietal and temporal areas of the head, and there are no pictures of the hole at the back of the head that was documented by the Parkland doctors.  The right side of the head, extending into the frontal area of the skull, is damaged or missing in the X-rays.  Overall, the size of the head wound is about five times larger in the Bethesda photos than anything documented before Bethesda.  The description of the head wound by Humes, Boswell and Finck in the official autopsy report suggested that the head was struck by an axe, not a bullet, according to a medical doctor who reviewed the written description of the wounds sent to him by David Lifton in 1966, as reported in 1985 edition of Best Evidence, which I believe was the first public distribution of the autopsy photos.

[Michael Crane]

I agree that x-rays show extensive damage to the side of JFK's head.The fact still remaines that no pictures & x-rays match.

[Steven Kossor]

My point was that Zapruder's depiction of JFK's head wounds in Dealey Plaza during his interview with Watson of WFAA-TV was much more like the condition of JFK's skull at Bethesda than like the condition described by doctors at Parkland.  I'm sure there is some innocent explanation for this discrepancy.  Perhaps it is the foundation for the rigid family taboo against discussing the Zapruder film (revealed by Abraham Zapruder's granddaughter in her book 26 Seconds) that Abe, his wife, and his son all took to their graves.  Hornberger's recent book about the Zapruder film includes a wealth of information that summarizes the history of the Zapruder film with extensive references to the AARB and other efforts to uncover the truth.

[Pat Speer]

19 hours ago, Michael Crane said:

I agree that x-rays show extensive damage to the side of JFK's head.The fact still remaines that no pictures & x-rays match.

FWIW, I studied hundreds of autopsy photos and x-rays in dozens of textbooks and articles, and came to the conclusion JFK's photos and x-rays do in fact match. They all show a large defect on the top right side of the head above and slightly in front of the right ear. This location, moreover does not in itself designate the direction of the bullet. But the damage to the scalp, skull, dura and brain all indicate that the primary impact on Kennedy's skull was at the large defect depicted in the photos and x-rays. This leaves the small entrance on the back of the head unexplained and is strong evidence for two headshots and more than one shooter. 

[Andrej Stancak]

I understand that Zapruder's gesture to indicate the location of the head wound and the direction of the spatter was not accurate. It cannot compete with a large number of reports by the Parkland surgeons who had time to observe the head wound from a close distance and for a long periods of minutes. Further, the missing piece of bone known as Harper fragment could not originate from the frontal bone; it was most likely a piece of occipital bone although I would place it slightly differently in occipital bone compared to Dr Mantik's reconstruction. The occipital location of Harper fragment would match the reports of Parkland staff accurately. Notably, that missing fragment in occipital bone is nowhere to be seen in the autopsy photographs.

[John Butler]

6 hours ago, Andrej Stancak said:

It cannot compete with a large number of reports by the Parkland surgeons who had time to observe the head wound from a close distance and for a long periods of minutes.

Well said Andrej!

[Steven Kossor]

It looks like there is a strong consensus that the autopsy photos and X-rays are at least compatible in that they both depict a large area of damage to the skull, including the top and right sides, which is also compatible with Zapruder's demonstration at WFAA-TV on Friday afternoon of what his film would later depict.  The important thing to recognize is that all of the photo, X-ray and existing Zapruder film depictions of JFK's head injuries are incompatible with the observation at Parkland hospital that JFK had a hole at the back of his head, through which cerebellar tissue was falling onto the gurney.  Cerebellar tissue is at the back/bottom of the skull so the hole they were viewing it through must have been much farther to the rear and toward the underside of the skull than any autopsy photo or X-ray currently in evidence depicts.  Zapruder was either prescient in predicting what the autopsy photos, X-rays and his finished film would look like, or there is some other explanation for the remarkable consistency of his depiction of JFK's head wound on the afternoon of the assassination, and the official evidence collection that was eventually assembled much later.

[Andrej Stancak]

Steven:

did Zapruder's interview happen before or after he had a chance to view his film?

[Michael Crane]

11 hours ago, Pat Speer said:

FWIW, I studied hundreds of autopsy photos and x-rays in dozens of textbooks and articles, and came to the conclusion JFK's photos and x-rays do in fact match. They all show a large defect on the top right side of the head above and slightly in front of the right ear. This location, moreover does not in itself designate the direction of the bullet. But the damage to the scalp, skull, dura and brain all indicate that the primary impact on Kennedy's skull was at the large defect depicted in the photos and x-rays. This leaves the small entrance on the back of the head unexplained and is strong evidence for two headshots and more than one shooter. 

The head x-rays in existence today had to have been taken later during the autopsy.

[Eddy Bainbridge]

On 6/9/2022 at 2:20 AM, Steven Kossor said:

Abraham Zapruder demonstrated a massive blow-out of the front/right side of JFK's head in his filmed interview with Jay Watson on WFAA-TV in Dallas shortly after filming the assassination (before the film had been developed).  Zapruder's description disagreed with the observations of the Parkland doctors (who reported a hole at the back of the head, not a massive blow-out of the front and right sides of JFK's head).  Interestingly, the autopsy photos and X-rays taken at Bethesda later that night precisely match Zapruder's description.  Food for thought:  https://youtu.be/4BZiqsk99qI

The Newman's would have agreed with Zapruder. I think the anomaly cannot be explained by making a case that all the medical professional testimony was wrong. I believe the only reconciliation in evidence possible is an initial rear headshot , seen by Zapruder and the Newman's. This was followed by a frontal headshot blowing out of the rear of the head. I think the Newman's had ducked and missed the second shot. Zapruder may have fixated on the first shot but I suspect his original film caught it. 

The autopsy evidence seems to tend towards a massive skull wound. I suggest the large wound is a compound of the two large blowouts, joined by fractured and detached fragments, that were dislodged during the autopsy 

[Pat Speer]

5 hours ago, John Butler said:

Well said Andrej!

Yes, by all means, repeat the myth as often as possible. 

[Steven Kossor]

Zapruder's on-air WFAA-TV interview with Watson happened before his film was developed.  He brought the film to the TV studio, allegedly believing that they could develop it and they referred him to the local Kodak plant, which developed the film later that afternoon.  Then, he took the developed "master" film to the Jamison film studio in Dallas (which was known at the time as "the Hollywood of the MIdwest" because of its great array of film editing technology and expertise) where three (four?) copies of the film were made.  It would have been possible for all of the special effects edits to the Zapruder film to be done right at the Jamison plant in Dallas (optical printers, aerial mats, etc), if someone had wanted to do that, so the necessity and purpose for the film's detour to NPIC and Hawkeye works is diminished a little, I think.  Jacob Hornberger provides a step-by-step report of the process that he believes led to the existence of the "Zapruder film" that is kept in the National Archives today in his recent book An Encounter with Evil: The Abraham Zapruder Story which includes an incisive critique of the book 26 Seconds written by Abe Zapruder's granddaughter and summarizes Doug Horne's and other researchers' attempts to to explain what happened to the Zapruder film on 11/22/63 and in the weeks thereafter.  Thanks, Pat, for weighing in on all of this; there has been a great deal of myth-making in the so-called "JFKA research" community, and most unfortunately, the mythmakers tend to stand by their creations long after they should have been modifying them when new facts came to light, but such is the lure of the confirmation bias.

[Pat Speer]

8 hours ago, Michael Crane said:

The head x-rays in existence today had to have been taken later during the autopsy.

Custer testified to the ARRB that he took the x-rays at the beginning of the autopsy. He even spotted his personal marker on them. The x-rays, furthermore, show brain within the skull, and shattered skull at the top and back of the head. This corresponds 100% with Humes' testimony that shattered skull fell to the table as he peeled back the scalp.