The Autopsy Doctors' Rear Head Entry Site vs. the Autopsy Photos of the Brain

[Michael Griffith]

There is now wide agreement in the research community that the rear head entry wound was slightly above the external occipital protuberance (EOP), just as stated in the autopsy report. Even Dr. Larry Sturdivan now argues that the EOP site is correct, and that the alleged cowlick entry site, which is nearly 4 inches above the EOP site, is invalid. Dr. Joseph Riley and Dr. David Mantik, among others, have written extensively on the evidence for the EOP site and against the cowlick site, and I agree that the EOP site is correct.

However, here is the problem: If you believe the autopsy photos of the brain are genuine, you must reject the EOP entry site. Why? Because the brain photos show no damage to the cerebellum, not even in the immediate area behind the EOP entry site. The photos do not even show any bleeding in the cerebellar tissue near the EOP site. Thus, if the brain photos are genuine, there is no way that a bullet could have entered the skull at the EOP site.

This problem was brought to light when Dr. Pierre Finck was interviewed by the HSCA Forensic Pathology Panel (FPP). The FPP was trying to get Finck to endorse the cowlick entry site. Finck adamantly refused to do so. After several exchanges on the entry site, FPP member Dr. George Loquvam confronted Finck with the fact that the alleged autopsy photos of the brain show no damage to cerebellar tissue, i.e., no damage to the cerebellum. Loquvam then asked Finck how a bullet could have entered the EOP without damaging cerebellar tissue.

Loquvam probably had no idea that he was treading on dangerous ground because he was pointing out a brazen contradiction between the autopsy report and the autopsy photos of the brain.

Anyway, in his first response to Loquvam’s crucial question, Finck floated the strange argument that a bullet could have entered at the EOP without damaging brain tissue and without even causing any hemorrhaging (bleeding). Loquvam was incredulous at this response and asked, “You can have wounds in the brain without a missile track slug tearing through brain tissue?” Finck could not explain this contradiction and replied that he could not answer the question. Let us read this crucial exchange:

          Dr. Loquvam. If a missile had entered at this point, would it have entered the posterior cranial vault and produced subarachnoid hemorrhage in the cerebellar hemisphere?

          I have pointed to color picture No. 43 at the point of entrance that Dr. Finck is saying the entrance is and I am referring to the four color photographs of the brain in which I see no subarachnoid hemorrhage other than postmortem.

          My question is, if this is the point of entrance, isn't that at the level of the posterior cranial vault where the cerebellar hemispheres lie and would we not see subarachnoid hemorrhage if a slug had torn through there?

          Dr. Finck. Not necessarily because you have wounds without subarachnoid hemorrhage.

          Dr. Loquvam. You can have wounds in the brain without a missile track slug tearing through brain tissue?

          Dr. Finck. I don't know. I cannot answer your question. (HSCA Medical Panel Meeting transcript, March 11, 1978, p. 97)

The problem was that Finck did not dare blurt out that the brain photos could not be accurate, that the brain shown in those photos could not be JFK’s brain.

Doug Horne, among other scholars, has detailed the evidence that shows that there is simply no way the brain in the alleged autopsy brain photos could be JFK’s brain.

DH Memo: Questions Regarding Supplementary Brain Examination(s) (history-matters.com)

The evidence for this finding is so strong that even George Lardner of the Washington Post has taken it seriously:

Washingtonpost.com: JFK Assassination Report

 

[Gerry Down]

If the bullet entered at the eop, then it would have entered at the junction between the cerebellum and the upper portion of the brain. It would have travelled in between that gap. Then when you consider that the cavitation of a bullet tract does not occur until the bullet is someway in the body, perhaps 6 inches, then you could have a situation where the bullet entered at the eop, slid in between the cerebellum and the upper portion of the brain, no significant damage occured there until about 6 inches into the head when the cavitation caused by the bullet expanded as it does tearing up brain tissue at a point about 6 inches into Kennedys head.

[Sandy Larsen]

22 minutes ago, Gerry Down said:

If the bullet entered at the eop, then it would have entered at the junction between the cerebellum and the upper portion of the brain. It would have travelled in between that gap. Then when you consider that the cavitation of a bullet tract does not occur until the bullet is someway in the body, perhaps 6 inches, then you could have a situation where the bullet entered at the eop, slid in between the cerebellum and the upper portion of the brain, no significant damage occured there until about 6 inches into the head when the cavitation caused by the bullet expanded as it does tearing up brain tissue at a point about 6 inches into Kennedys head.

 

Gee Gerry, you're smarter than Dr. Finck.

Oh! But then how do you explain the large blowout wound on the right rear of the head witnessed by twenty Parkland professionals, some of whom saw cerebellar tissue oozing out? Why did this also not match the photos of the brain and the back of the head?

 

[Michael Griffith]

10 hours ago, Gerry Down said:

If the bullet entered at the eop, then it would have entered at the junction between the cerebellum and the upper portion of the brain. It would have travelled in between that gap. Then when you consider that the cavitation of a bullet tract does not occur until the bullet is someway in the body, perhaps 6 inches, then you could have a situation where the bullet entered at the eop, slid in between the cerebellum and the upper portion of the brain, no significant damage occured there until about 6 inches into the head when the cavitation caused by the bullet expanded as it does tearing up brain tissue at a point about 6 inches into Kennedys head.

Really? Seriously? I suggest Googling "cerebellum" and "external occipital protuberance," and keep in mind that a bullet fired from the sixth-floor window would have been traveling at a downward angle of 15 degrees. 

The pathologists said the wound was 2.5 cm (0.99 inch) to the right of and "slightly" above the EOP. As Dr. Loquvam noted, and as Dr. Finck acknowledged, a bullet entering at this site would have damaged cerebellar tissue.  

Of course, another problem with a supposedly undamaged cerebellum is that a Parkland neurosurgeon, Dr. Kemp Clark, who examined JFK's head, reported that the large head wound exposed the cerebellum and that cerebellar tissue was extruding from the wound because the wound included part of the occiput:

          Two external wounds, one in the lower third of the anterior neck, the other in the occipital region of the skull, were noted. . . .

          There was a large wound in the right occipital-parietal region, from which profuse bleeding was occurring. . . .  There was considerable loss of scalp and bone tissue. Both cerebral and cerebellar tissue were extruding from the wound. (Summary report of Dr. Kemp Clark, 11/22/63, pp. 1-2, CE 392)

Yet, the alleged autopsy brain photos don't even show any pre-mortem bleeding of the cerebellum, as Dr. Loquvam noted. 

Keep in mind, also, that cerebellar tissue is easy to distinguish from the surrounding tissue because it has a very different appearance.

Dr. Clark's report of damaged cerebellar tissue exposed by a large wound in the right-rear part of the skull is supported by numerous witnesses. For example:

Dr. Malcolm Perry:

          I looked at the head wound briefly by leaning over the table and noticed that the parietal occipital head wound was largely avulsive and there was visible brain tissue and some cerebellum seen. . . . (7 HSCA 302, interview with Purdy 1-11-78)

Tom Robinson, the mortician who reassembled JFK's skull after the autopsy:

          . . . . a large, open head wound in the back of the president's head, centrally located right between the ears, where the bone was gone, as well as some scalp. . . . (Meeting Report, ARRB, 6/21/96, p. 001486)

Dr. Charles Carrico:

          . . . attempt to control slow oozing from cerebral and cerebellar tissue. . . . (Admission note of Dr. Charles Carrico, 11/22/63, pp. 1-2, CE 392)

Dr. Marion T. Jenkins:

          There was a great laceration on the right side of the head (temporal and occipital), causing a great defect in the skull plate so that there was herniation and laceration of great areas of the brain, even to the extent that the cerebellum had protruded from the wound. (Statement of Dr. Marion T. Jenkins, 11/22/63, p. 2, CE 392)

Dr. Paul Peters:

          It was pointed out that an examination of the brain had been done. . . .

          We saw the wound of entry in the throat and noted the large occipital wound. . . .

          I noticed that there was a large defect in the occiput. . . . (6 H 70-71)

Dr. Ronald Jones:

          He had a large wound in the right posterior side of the head.... There was a large defect in the back side of the head as the President lay on the cart with what appeared to be some brain hanging out of this wound with multiple pieces of skull noted next with the brain and with a tremendous amount of clot and blood. (6 H 53-54)

Dr. Gene Akin:

         The back of the right occipital-parietal portion of his head was shattered with brain substance extruding. . . .  I assume the right occipital-parietal region was the exit, so to speak, that he had probably been hit on the other side of the head, or at least tangentially in the back of the head. . . . (6 H 65, 67)

We could go on for several pages. We could quote Secret Service agents who saw the body en route to Parkland, at Parkland, and at the autopsy, one of whom was sent to Bethesda for the express purpose of recording the president's wounds. We could quote the nurse who packed the head wound with gauze. We could quote the funeral worker at Parkland who had his hands on the back of JFK's head as he helped put the body into the casket and could feel the large defect in the rear of the skull. We could quote FBI agents who were at the autopsy.

And, please, let's don't hear the silly claim that all these people all suffered some astonishing hallucination and/or couldn't tell the difference between a large wound in the occiput and a wound above the right ear. Please. Any rational, honest person knows that claim is drivel.

Edited May 29, 2023 by Michael Griffith

[Gerry Down]

Michael, yes the bullet was coming down at 15 degrees but Kennedys head was tilted forward something like 25 degrees at that time (z313). That's a difference of 10 degrees which means when the bullet entered at the eop it travelled upwards 10 degrees relative to the horizontal plane of the skull. That upwards movement was how the bullet passed through the junction between the cerebellum and the upper portion of the brain.

It was only once the bullet was passed the cerebellum did the cavitation occur causing the major damage to the brain in the central area of the brain. The cerebellum escaped the damage caused by the cavitation.

[Pat Speer]

1 hour ago, Gerry Down said:

Michael, yes the bullet was coming down at 15 degrees but Kennedys head was tilted forward something like 25 degrees at that time (z313). That's a difference of 10 degrees which means when the bullet entered at the eop it travelled upwards 10 degrees relative to the horizontal plane of the skull. That upwards movement was how the bullet passed through the junction between the cerebellum and the upper portion of the brain.

It was only once the bullet was passed the cerebellum did the cavitation occur causing the major damage to the brain in the central area of the brain. The cerebellum escaped the damage caused by the cavitation.

The scenario you describe would indicate a funnel-shaped brain wound which was largest at the exit at the top of the skull and smallest back at the EOP. No such wound was noted at autopsy or in the photographs. Instead, the report and photos suggest a large trench on the top right side from front to back. This suggests a different scenario entirely. 

P.S. Those pushing an EOP entrance/top of the head exit acknowledge that the angles don't add up, and hold instead that the bullet curved sharply upwards within the skull--something that failed to occur in the WC's tests. Is that your claim? Or do you really believe a bullet fired from the SN and entering the EOP at 313 would exit at the top of the head? 

[Gerry Down]

8 minutes ago, Pat Speer said:

The scenario you describe would indicate a funnel-shaped brain wound which was largest at the exit at the top of the skull and smallest back at the EOP. No such wound was noted at autopsy or in the photographs. Instead, the report and photos suggest a large trench on the top right side from front to back. This suggests a different scenario entirely. 

P.S. Those pushing an EOP entrance/top of the head exit acknowledge that the angles don't add up, and hold instead that the bullet curved sharply upwards within the skull--something that failed to occur in the WC's tests. Is that your claim? Or do you really believe a bullet fired from the SN and entering the EOP at 313 would exit at the top of the head? 

You'll have to remember that the cavitation or funnel as you call it collapses immediately after being created. Therefore it would not still be visible at the autopsy and all that would be left of it would be the track or linear groove.

[Keyvan Shahrdar]

On 5/28/2023 at 6:23 AM, Michael Griffith said:

There is now wide agreement in the research community that the rear head entry wound was slightly above the external occipital protuberance (EOP), just as stated in the autopsy report. Even Dr. Larry Sturdivan now argues that the EOP site is correct, and that the alleged cowlick entry site, which is nearly 4 inches above the EOP site, is invalid. Dr. Joseph Riley and Dr. David Mantik, among others, have written extensively on the evidence for the EOP site and against the cowlick site, and I agree that the EOP site is correct.

However, here is the problem: If you believe the autopsy photos of the brain are genuine, you must reject the EOP entry site. Why? Because the brain photos show no damage to the cerebellum, not even in the immediate area behind the EOP entry site. The photos do not even show any bleeding in the cerebellar tissue near the EOP site. Thus, if the brain photos are genuine, there is no way that a bullet could have entered the skull at the EOP site.

This problem was brought to light when Dr. Pierre Finck was interviewed by the HSCA Forensic Pathology Panel (FPP). The FPP was trying to get Finck to endorse the cowlick entry site. Finck adamantly refused to do so. After several exchanges on the entry site, FPP member Dr. George Loquvam confronted Finck with the fact that the alleged autopsy photos of the brain show no damage to cerebellar tissue, i.e., no damage to the cerebellum. Loquvam then asked Finck how a bullet could have entered the EOP without damaging cerebellar tissue.

Loquvam probably had no idea that he was treading on dangerous ground because he was pointing out a brazen contradiction between the autopsy report and the autopsy photos of the brain.

Anyway, in his first response to Loquvam’s crucial question, Finck floated the strange argument that a bullet could have entered at the EOP without damaging brain tissue and without even causing any hemorrhaging (bleeding). Loquvam was incredulous at this response and asked, “You can have wounds in the brain without a missile track slug tearing through brain tissue?” Finck could not explain this contradiction and replied that he could not answer the question. Let us read this crucial exchange:

          Dr. Loquvam. If a missile had entered at this point, would it have entered the posterior cranial vault and produced subarachnoid hemorrhage in the cerebellar hemisphere?

          I have pointed to color picture No. 43 at the point of entrance that Dr. Finck is saying the entrance is and I am referring to the four color photographs of the brain in which I see no subarachnoid hemorrhage other than postmortem.

          My question is, if this is the point of entrance, isn't that at the level of the posterior cranial vault where the cerebellar hemispheres lie and would we not see subarachnoid hemorrhage if a slug had torn through there?

          Dr. Finck. Not necessarily because you have wounds without subarachnoid hemorrhage.

          Dr. Loquvam. You can have wounds in the brain without a missile track slug tearing through brain tissue?

          Dr. Finck. I don't know. I cannot answer your question. (HSCA Medical Panel Meeting transcript, March 11, 1978, p. 97)

The problem was that Finck did not dare blurt out that the brain photos could not be accurate, that the brain shown in those photos could not be JFK’s brain.

Doug Horne, among other scholars, has detailed the evidence that shows that there is simply no way the brain in the alleged autopsy brain photos could be JFK’s brain.

DH Memo: Questions Regarding Supplementary Brain Examination(s) (history-matters.com)

The evidence for this finding is so strong that even George Lardner of the Washington Post has taken it seriously:

Washingtonpost.com: JFK Assassination Report

 

Wow, you've really dug into the depths of the forensic evidence surrounding JFK's assassination. Your insights into the apparent discrepancy between the proposed entry site of the bullet and the lack of observable cerebellum damage in autopsy photos is compelling. This conundrum has certainly been a catalyst for many alternative theories, including the suggestion that there's been a cover-up or foul play during JFK's medical examination.

About the notion of a bullet entering at a sharp downward trajectory and severing the brain stem without causing a discernible bullet track in the brain — it's a thought-provoking idea. But based on our current understanding of the physics of gunshot wounds, it seems rather unlikely. Here's why: when a bullet enters the body, it usually leaves a path of damage or a 'track.' This occurs as the bullet's kinetic energy is transferred to the tissues it comes into contact with. Especially when we're talking about something as delicate as brain tissue, this effect should be pretty evident.

So, if we're picturing a scenario where a bullet enters the skull at the EOP, takes an unusual course to sever the brain stem without passing through the cerebellum, it would likely require an exceptionally precise and unlikely trajectory. Plus, we would still expect some kind of observable damage or bleeding at the point of entry, even if the bullet didn't leave a distinct track through the brain.

In conclusion, forensic investigations are a bit like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle, often involving the interpretation of complex and sometimes contradictory evidence. Your questions underline the ongoing debates and inquiries surrounding the forensic evidence of JFK's assassination. It just goes to show how many fascinating (and unresolved) angles there are to this historical event. Thanks for sharing your analysis—it's a really intriguing addition to the conversation.

[Michael Griffith]

17 hours ago, Pat Speer said:

The scenario you describe would indicate a funnel-shaped brain wound which was largest at the exit at the top of the skull and smallest back at the EOP. No such wound was noted at autopsy or in the photographs. Instead, the report and photos suggest a large trench on the top right side from front to back. This suggests a different scenario entirely. 

P.S. Those pushing an EOP entrance/top of the head exit acknowledge that the angles don't add up, and hold instead that the bullet curved sharply upwards within the skull--something that failed to occur in the WC's tests. Is that your claim? Or do you really believe a bullet fired from the SN and entering the EOP at 313 would exit at the top of the head? 

Yes, I know that JFK's head is tilted somewhat forward in Z313, but, even assuming this frame is the rear-head-shot frame, this would not enable a bullet that entered at the EOP site to miss the cerebellum. Even a bullet traveling at a sharply upward angle could not have done so. I mean, let's get serious.

Dr. Loquvam recognized that no bullet entering at the EOP site could have missed the cerebellum, and that, at the bare minimum, the bullet would have caused serious bleeding. When a bullet tears through brain tissue, it causes damage and bleeding. Dr. Finck, when pressed, admitted this and conceded he could not explain the complete absence of cerebellar damage in the brain photos. 

I guess the problem is that you do not want to admit that the autopsy brain photos are fraudulent. Those photos not only show an intact cerebellum, but they show very little brain matter missing. This is impossible.

First off, the autopsy skull x-rays show a large area of missing brain, on both sides of the skull, in total contradiction to the brain photos. This is a fatal problem that WC apologists have simply ignored. 

Two, we know that a large amount of brain matter was blown into the limousine and onto the limousine's trunk, and was also blown toward two of the trailing patrolmen and toward the follow-up car. Brain matter splattered onto the windshields of the patrolmen's motorcycles and onto the hood and windshield of the follow-up car. WC apologists usually ignore this fact when defending the virtually intact brain seen in the autopsy brain photos.

Three, numerous witnesses who saw the brain, both at Parkland and Bethesda, said that a large amount of brain was missing.

Four, two Parkland neurosurgeons reported that the cerebellum was damaged and bleeding and was visible through the large defect. You can easily confirm via a Google search that cerebellar tissue is easy to distinguish from other brain tissue. The neurosurgeons' accounts are corroborated by massive eyewitness testimony (see below).

Five, we have literally dozens of witnesses, from three different locations, who reported seeing a large rear head wound through which the cerebellum would have been visible, i.e., a wound that included a sizable part of the occiput. 

Edited May 30, 2023 by Michael Griffith

[Gerry Down]

15 minutes ago, Michael Griffith said:

Yes, I know that JFK's head is tilted somewhat forward in Z313, but, even assuming this frame is the rear-head-shot frame, this would not enable a bullet that entered at the EOP site to miss the cerebellum. Even a bullet traveling at a sharply upward angle could not have done so. I mean, let's get serious.

Dr. Loquvam recognized that no bullet entering at the EOP site could have missed the cerebellum, and that, at the bare minimum, the bullet would have caused serious bleeding. When a bullet tears through brain tissue, it causes damage and bleeding. Dr. Finck, when pressed, admitted this and conceded he could not explain the complete absence of cerebellar damage in the brain photos. 

I guess the problem is that you do not want to admit that the autopsy brain photos are fraudulent. Those photos not only show an intact cerebellum, but they show very little brain matter missing. This is impossible.

First off, the autopsy skull x-rays show a large area of missing brain, on both sides of the skull, in total contradiction to the brain photos. This is a fatal problem that WC apologists have simply ignored. 

Two, we know that a large amount of brain matter was blown into the limousine and onto the limousine's trunk, and was also blown toward two of the trailing patrolmen and toward the follow-up car. Brain matter splattered onto the windshields of the patrolmen's motorcycles and onto the hood and windshield of the follow-up car. WC apologists usually ignore this fact when defending the virtually intact brain seen in the autopsy brain photos.

Three, numerous witnesses who saw the brain, both at Parkland and Bethesda, said that a large amount of brain was missing.

Four, two Parkland neurosurgeons reported that the cerebellum was damaged and bleeding and was visible through the large defect. You can easily confirm via a Google search that cerebellar tissue is easy to distinguish from other brain tissue. The neurosurgeons' accounts are corroborated by massive eyewitness testimony (see below).

Five, we have literally dozens of witnesses, from three different locations, who reported seeing a large rear head wound through which the cerebellum would have been visible, i.e., a wound that included a sizable part of the occiput. 

James Jenkins actually held the brain and worked on it. He has said the brain he held matches the brain photos which he has also seen.

Plus the cerebellum was slightly damaged as far as I recall from the brain photos. But most of the damage to the cerebellum would have been in the area between the cerebellum and the upper portion of the brain, an area that would not have been picked up by the two brain photo angles in existence, the overhead view and the basalar view.

[Michael Griffith]

I should do a separate thread on the contradictions between the autopsy skull x-rays and the autopsy brain photos, but just to add to my previous reply, I would note that none other than Dr. Humes told JAMA that "two thirds of the right cerebrum had been blown away" (LINK, p. 2798). Yet, no such massive damage to the right cerebrum is seen in the brain photos: they show only a displacement of the right cerebral lobe due to laceration and show only a small loss of brain tissue. 

Dr. Gary Aguilar has noted that the x-rays show much more tissue missing from the cerebrum than is shown missing in the brain photos (LINK).

Dr. Mantik confirmed via OD measurement that only about 30% of the entire right side of the brain is present in the skull x-rays (JFK Assassination Paradoxes, 2022, p. 5).

Recall that Dr. Boswell stated in his HSCA interview that "the brain was so torn up it would not have shown a tract" (Memorandum: Interview with J. Thornton Boswell, HSCA, August 16, 1977, p. 2). However, the brain in the brain photos does not look anything like a brain that was "so torn up"--it has virtually no tissue missing; it has no damage on the left side; and it has only one large disruption on the right side (LINK, Figure 9).

Edited May 30, 2023 by Michael Griffith

[Pat Speer]

22 hours ago, Gerry Down said:

You'll have to remember that the cavitation or funnel as you call it collapses immediately after being created. Therefore it would not still be visible at the autopsy and all that would be left of it would be the track or linear groove.

Oh my. The temporary cavity does indeed collapse--this is why it is called temporary cavity. But there is a permanent cavity that remains behind that is readily probe-able, in most body parts, and within the brain after it has been fixed. No such cavity was observed within Kennedy's brain. 

Chapter 16c at patspeer.com is on this very topic and is one of the most important chapters ever written on the JFK case, IMHO. Here is an image showing a permanent cavity within a brain after the brain has been fixed, and sectioned. 

 

[Gerry Down]

I don't think there would be a cavity track in the case of JFKs head because the temporary cavity blew out at the top of Kennedys head sending the surrounding brain outwards, so out went the track too.

I think the groove or track described in the brain photos is not the track of the bullet itself but simply the track left by one of the bullet fragments after the bullet began breaking up after entering near the eop. The track described in the autopsy photo was quite possibly from the bullet fragment that exited near the right temple as described by mortician Robertson. This is why this track exists from back to front, or as others like to suggest from front to back. But Robertson made it clear the jagged little hole in the right temple was in his opinion a bullet fragment exit wound.

[Pat Speer]

5 hours ago, Michael Griffith said:

Yes, I know that JFK's head is tilted somewhat forward in Z313, but, even assuming this frame is the rear-head-shot frame, this would not enable a bullet that entered at the EOP site to miss the cerebellum. Even a bullet traveling at a sharply upward angle could not have done so. I mean, let's get serious.

Dr. Loquvam recognized that no bullet entering at the EOP site could have missed the cerebellum, and that, at the bare minimum, the bullet would have caused serious bleeding. When a bullet tears through brain tissue, it causes damage and bleeding. Dr. Finck, when pressed, admitted this and conceded he could not explain the complete absence of cerebellar damage in the brain photos. 

I guess the problem is that you do not want to admit that the autopsy brain photos are fraudulent. Those photos not only show an intact cerebellum, but they show very little brain matter missing. This is impossible.

First off, the autopsy skull x-rays show a large area of missing brain, on both sides of the skull, in total contradiction to the brain photos. This is a fatal problem that WC apologists have simply ignored. 

Two, we know that a large amount of brain matter was blown into the limousine and onto the limousine's trunk, and was also blown toward two of the trailing patrolmen and toward the follow-up car. Brain matter splattered onto the windshields of the patrolmen's motorcycles and onto the hood and windshield of the follow-up car. WC apologists usually ignore this fact when defending the virtually intact brain seen in the autopsy brain photos.

Three, numerous witnesses who saw the brain, both at Parkland and Bethesda, said that a large amount of brain was missing.

Four, two Parkland neurosurgeons reported that the cerebellum was damaged and bleeding and was visible through the large defect. You can easily confirm via a Google search that cerebellar tissue is easy to distinguish from other brain tissue. The neurosurgeons' accounts are corroborated by massive eyewitness testimony (see below).

Five, we have literally dozens of witnesses, from three different locations, who reported seeing a large rear head wound through which the cerebellum would have been visible, i.e., a wound that included a sizable part of the occiput. 

Michael, these arguments have been addressed on my website for 15 years or so. They are just wrong. Most of the witnesses pointing to a "back of the head" wound point to a location far above the cerebellum, for example.

The real problem is not that "I won't admit" the autopsy photos are fake, it's that virtually no one in conspiracy land has ever taken the time to figure out what the photos actually show. There is a cadre that is just desperate to believe anything proving a shot from the front, and will twist anything to fit that scenario. But when one steps back and reads up on gunshot wounds to the brain, one realizes that the autopsy report and brain photos are at odds with the single-assassin solution, and strongly suggest the fatal bullet impacted at the top of the head, at the supposed exit. (As this leaves the EOP entrance unaccounted for, this indicates two shots to the head, and thus conspiracy.)

Edited May 30, 2023 by Pat Speer

[Pat Speer]

5 minutes ago, Gerry Down said:

I don't think there would be a cavity track in the case of JFKs head because the temporary cavity blew out at the top of Kennedys head sending the surrounding brain outwards, so out went the track too.

I think the groove or track described in the brain photos is not the track of the bullet itself but simply the track left by one of the bullet fragments after the bullet began breaking up after entering near the eop. The track described in the autopsy photo was quite possibly from the bullet fragment that exited near the right temple as described by mortician Robertson. This is why this track exists from back to front, or as others like to suggest from front to back. But Robertson made it clear the jagged little hole in the right temple was in his opinion a bullet fragment exit wound.

I have chapters on my website devoted to JFK's head wounds, and the wound ballistics of 6.5 mm carcano ammunition, and what you describe is not in keeping with reality. Here, for example, is a photo from the first published tests of a 6.5 mm Carcano. The bullet enters at the front of the skull and exits from the rear. The top of the skull does not blow off. The temporary cavity does not explode and leave no trace of itself.