JFK autopsy doctor says they were given instructions on what they could do

[Henry Frost]

Dr. Finck was one of three pathologists who performed the autopsy on JFK. During his ARRB deposition in 1996, Dr. Finck said there were 26 other people in the room, some of whom were limiting the scope of the autopsy.  Here is part of the deposition, the bolding emphasis is mine:

[4] Dr. Finck, I would like to shift to
[5] another topic now and ask you about something of
[6] which there has been a great deal of controversy
[7] and I hope that you can help clarify some of the
[8] issues.
[9] Could you please tell us what your
[10] understanding is of who was in charge of the
[11] autopsy?
[12] A: Of the autopsy itself? I would say Dr.
[13] Humes, who was the chief of the laboratory.
[14] Q: Was there anyone during the course of the
[15] autopsy who gave Dr. Humes instructions regarding
[16] the scope of the autopsy?
[17] A: Throughout the autopsy, we were told about
[18] the wishes of the family to limit the autopsy to
[19] the head, and then it was extended to the chest,
[20] but -
[21] Q: Does that mean that Dr. Humes, Dr. Boswell
[22] and yourself were not free to perform a complete

[1] medical/legal autopsy on President Kennedy?
[2] A: That's right.
[3] Q: Who, to the best of your understanding,
[4] was the person who gave the instructions to Dr.
[5] Humes that limited the scope of the autopsy?
[6] A: Well, there were several people around us,
[7] and that may have been recorded, I don't know, who
[8] relayed the wishes of the Kennedy family to us.
[9] Q: Did you or any of the other prosectors
[10] respond that you believed that you needed to
[11] conduct a full medical/legal autopsy on President
[12] Kennedy?
[13] A: Well, it would have been desirable to have
[14] a full autopsy. We were limited in our doing by
[15] the family.
[16] Q: On what information do you base your
[17] understanding that it was the family, rather than
[18] somebody else, who was limiting the scope of the
[19] autopsy?
[20] A: We were told during the autopsy about the
[21] wishes of the family.
[22] Q: Would it be fair to say that you had no

[1] independent knowledge yourself of what the family's
[2] wishes were, other than what you had been told?
[3] A: Can you repeat that, please?
[4] Q: Sure. Let me try a different kind of
[5] question.
[6] I assume that you did not, you or Dr.
[7] Humes did not talk to the Attorney General, Robert
[8] Kennedy?
[9] A: We did not.
[10] Q: I assume that you did not personally speak
[11] to Jackie Kennedy?
[12] A: We did not.
[13] Q: Your understanding during the course of
[14] the autopsy about their wishes came from somebody
[15] else?
[16] A: Right.
[17] Q: Is that fair?
[18] Approximately how many people were in the
[19] autopsy room during the course of the autopsy?
[20] A: I have a figure of 26.

https://www.jfk-assassination.net/russ/testimony/fincka.htm

The ARRB also concluded that not all standard operating procedures where followed or applied.  When asked why certain procedures were not followed, Dr. Finck would always always fall back to "it depends on the case".  I am hard pressed to think of a more important case.

At one point during the deposition, Dr. Finck was asked if the autopsy was a "three-ring circus". 

The best forensic pathologists were not called in for a full medical/legal autopsy of a murdered President of the United States.  Is it too far-fetched to say an unambiguous autopsy wasn't performed for a reason?

 

Edited September 7, 2022 by Henry Frost

[Micah Mileto]

https://www.jfk-assassination.net/russ/wit.htm

[Henry Frost]

https://www.jfk-assassination.net/russ/wit.htm

Cool.  Updated the OP.  Four entries for Finck, Pierre A.  Plus lots of others.

Edited September 7, 2022 by Henry Frost

[Ron Bulman]

I can't remember which but in Eye of History the attendant to Humes, Jenkins, O'Connor, David or Custer whichever remembered them investigating a wound to the right temple.  Told to stop, Humes called to the gallery, coming back and saying we will move on from this.

The same attendant told to go tell the cigar smoker in the gallery to put it out by Humes?  But didn't because of his rank?

[Tony Krome]

10 minutes ago, Ron Bulman said:

I can't remember which but in Eye of History the attendant to Humes, Jenkins, O'Connor, David or Custer whichever remembered them investigating a wound to the right temple.  Told to stop, Humes called to the gallery, coming back and saying we will move on from this.

Mass psychosis at Parkland, people pointing at imaginary entry wounds, people describing occipital blowouts. Glad it all got sorted.

Edited September 7, 2022 by Tony Krome

[Ron Bulman]

1 hour ago, Ron Bulman said:

I can't remember which but in Eye of History the attendant to Humes, Jenkins, O'Connor, David or Custer whichever remembered them investigating a wound to the right temple.  Told to stop, Humes called to the gallery, coming back and saying we will move on from this.

The same attendant told to go tell the cigar smoker in the gallery to put it out by Humes?  But didn't because of his rank?

Yes, they were directed at points at Bethesda.  Not much doubt here.

[Cory Santos]

So DVP your thoughts on the Fink testimony? 

[Ron Ege]

So Finck is performing an autopsy on the POTUS/leader of the free world, and he is told to not perform his duty as he should because person X is "relaying the wishes of the family".  Hm-m.

The family, especially AG Robert Kennedy, the US CLEO, really does not want to know exactly how JFK died?

Seems like post autopsy, Finck might have asked someone, "Who was that guy?"

Guess that wouldn't have fit in with the "scheme" that directed autopsy participants to sign paperwork that they would not divulge events of that evening, lest they be court martialed.

Nothing to see here folks.

 

[Paul Cummings]

List of patrons at the Texas Theatre and in the autopsy roon seem to have vanished. Just tough luck I guess.

Edited September 7, 2022 by Paul Cummings

[Micah Mileto]

11 hours ago, Ron Bulman said:

I can't remember which but in Eye of History the attendant to Humes, Jenkins, O'Connor, David or Custer whichever remembered them investigating a wound to the right temple.  Told to stop, Humes called to the gallery, coming back and saying we will move on from this.

The same attendant told to go tell the cigar smoker in the gallery to put it out by Humes?  But didn't because of his rank?

https://old.reddit.com/r/JFKeveryday/

 

It was Jenkins. O'Connor also said Burkley didn't want them examining the throat.

[Henry Frost]

2 hours ago, Ron Ege said:

So Finck is performing an autopsy on the POTUS/leader of the free world, and he is told to not perform his duty as he should because person X is "relaying the wishes of the family".  Hm-m.

The family, especially AG Robert Kennedy, the US CLEO, really does not want to know exactly how JFK died?

Seems like post autopsy, Finck might have asked someone, "Who was that guy?"

Guess that wouldn't have fit in with the "scheme" that directed autopsy participants to sign paperwork that they would not divulge events of that evening, lest they be court martialed.

Nothing to see here folks.

 

Yup, that's a good summary.  All three autopsy doctors were military, used to following a chain of command. This may be the reason why civilian forensic pathologists weren't called in, they would have balked when told how to do their jobs.

Also, a couple of other irregularities, from Finck's testimony:

They didn't examine JFK's clothing. Obviously examining the clothing would offer clues such as bullet damage.  Reasons varied from they weren't available or that Finck was denied access because "One officer who outranked me told me that my request was only of academic interest." (1965 written report).

They didn't X-ray the President's brain for bullet fragments  or weigh it during the autopsy.  The weight we have on record is after it was fixed in formalin.

Dallas medical examiner Earl Rose would have probably done a better autopsy.

 

[Rich Taylor]

One wonders what could have been if they had been allowed to do the autopsy in Dallas as was law at the time.

[Henry Frost]

53 minutes ago, Rich Taylor said:

One wonders what could have been if they had been allowed to do the autopsy in Dallas as was law at the time.

Dr. Earl Rose was definitely qualified to do the autopsy, and had all the related evidence close by.

In a 2003 interview, he said that many conspiracy theories surrounding the death of JFK might have been avoided if he had been able to do his job.

“We had the routine in place to do it,” he said. “It was important for the chain of evidence to remain intact. That didn’t happen when the body was taken to Bethesda.”

Related to the JFK assassination, Dr. Rose did conduct the autopsies on J.D. Tippit, Oswald and Jack Ruby.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/earl-rose-dallas-medical-examiner-when-kennedy-was-assassinated-dies-at-85/2012/05/01/gIQAb1iSvT_story.html

 

 

Edited September 8, 2022 by Henry Frost

[Pat Speer]

On 9/7/2022 at 7:14 AM, Ron Ege said:

So Finck is performing an autopsy on the POTUS/leader of the free world, and he is told to not perform his duty as he should because person X is "relaying the wishes of the family".  Hm-m.

The family, especially AG Robert Kennedy, the US CLEO, really does not want to know exactly how JFK died?

Seems like post autopsy, Finck might have asked someone, "Who was that guy?"

Guess that wouldn't have fit in with the "scheme" that directed autopsy participants to sign paperwork that they would not divulge events of that evening, lest they be court martialed.

Nothing to see here folks.

 

It's a complicated issue. At that time, and still today, the vast majority of Americans did not receive autopsies. In the eyes of the military and Johnson Administration, the autopsy was simply a formality--he'd had his brains blow out...duh... As such they may very well have thought they were being patriotic in restricting the autopsy. But some of the restrictions are indeed quite suspicious. Most suspicious...to me...is that the doctors were prohibited from examining the neck. This is quite the screw-up. Hours before the first incision, the Parkland doctors had discussed the possibility the head wound and throat wound were connected. It was SOP to examine the neck organs, and in this case it was absolutely necessary. But apparently they did not inspect the neck organs at the autopsy. This then allowed them to assume the bullet creating the back wound had exited the throat. The possibility exists moreover that this was no coincidence. IF those in charge had already decided that three shots were fired (and only three shots were fired) before Humes was to examine the neck, they may have realized that "Well, one bullet hit Kennedy in the head, and one bullet hit Connally, and that leaves but one bullet to have created the back wound and throat wound...IF Humes examines the neck and finds the bullet traveled down the neck from the head, or up the neck from the throat, well, that's too many bullets, or even worse a bullet fired from the wrong direction. Well, we can't have that...So, no, let's not let him examine the neck..." 

That Humes chose not to section the brain when conducting the supplemental autopsy, moreover, only adds to the possibility he was under orders to restrict his findings to two bullets striking Kennedy, and two bullets only...

Edited September 8, 2022 by Pat Speer

[Ron Ege]

Pat,

Thanks for adding the detail and the rationale.  As usual, you are dead on.  Ergo, the "family" did nothing of the sort.

In your opinion, had RFK not been assassinated and elected president, do you think he would've "uncovered the coverup"?