Why the SBT (Single Bullet Theory) is BS

[David Von Pein]

33 minutes ago, Pat Speer said:

He [Bill Newman] specified many times that he didn't hear a shot from his right--the picket fence. 

Exactly correct. --- https://jfk-archives.blogspot.com/2010/11/bill-and-gayle-newman.html

 

[Matthew Koch]

2 hours ago, Pat Speer said:

Selective quotes? What the heck are you talking about it? 

As far as the Newmans, you are 100% incorrect. As shown in the quotes...Bill thought the shots came from behind him--the arcade area. He specified many times that he didn't hear a shot from his right--the picket fence. 

That is the blow out they are describing. Which; can't come from a shot from the back if the president is hit in the temple. 

The quote from that day is "a shot from the knoll hit the president in the side of the temple" And he said it more than once that day. 

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/kennedy-assassination-witnessed-texas-family-20539643

 

[Denise Hazelwood]

17 hours ago, Pat Speer said:

Both Newmans have specified many many times that they saw an explosion from the temple or side of the head by the ear--exactly what is shown in the Zapruder film. 

 

Actually, Gayle Newman specified (in “JFK Lancer 2016: A Conversation with Bill and Gayle Newman” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GcJnww6pxw&t=831s GN = Gayle Newman, SF = Stephen Fagin):

About 25:20 

Quote

 

SF: (to GN) tell us what you observed, and where you think they (the shots) came from, at that moment.

GN: Okay, mine was actually visual. I’m sure that I was leaning down, talking to my children, you know, saying, The President’s car’s going to be coming, you know, right here. And just seeing him fall over into Mrs. Kennedy’s lap, per se, I assumed that the shots had come from behind us, because of the way he fell. 

 

So, the way Kennedy fell, not any sort of blow-out. I think Bill Newman said something similar in a different interview, which I will look for and post if/when I find it. In the meantime, a couple of points:

1. Bill Newman's accounts are not always consistent. Sometimes it's how far away the car was when he heard the "first" shot--varies from 150' to 50'. But it's also number of shots, from "2" to "at least 3." Then there is the account where I distinctly remember him saying that he only thought JFK was struck on the right side because of the way he fell ("like he was struck with a baseball bat.") I think his memory is more malleable than that of other witnesses--like his wife. He does mention seeing brain matter fly out of JFK's head, but since I contend the first head shot occurred as soon as the limo had turned the corner, stuff could have ejected out of Kennedy's head at any time. (There are hints of such ejection in the Hofeling .gif before Z313. If you're looking for it, you can see it.)
2. Bill Newman was heavily into JFKA research. Given his malleable memory, I believe that his "front-of-the-head" blow-out accounts may have been influenced by the Z-film, rather than what he actually saw that day. A lot depends on where he was actually standing on 11/22/63. Photographs seem to show him directly across Elm from Moorman and Hill, but other images seem to show him halfway between the lamp post and the stairs. (I'd really like a crack at interviewing the Newman's myself to ask them the questions I want to ask them, but travel has not been in the budget as of late. Maybe I can get to Dallas this November?)
3. Newman also thought that JFK's "ear blew off." Which would put his blow-out lower than the top of the head, probably about even with the back of the head blow-out.
4. Since you like Bill Newman as a witness, here is something that he says is a "confusing point" to him, because he "swear(s) to God" that the car stopped. From same interview where I quote Gayle above, about 11:20:

Quote

BN: I can remember looking back, and also I can recall when President Kennedy was hit, that he went over and back in the car more or less in her (Mrs. Kennedy’s) direction, in her arms. And in looking back, whether this is the truth or not, I swear to God I believe it, the car momentarily stopped. Now, when I say ‘momentarily stopped’ I mean I saw the tail lights, and kind of how the car rocks when you hit the brakes a little sudden, and the Secret Service man who was on the passenger side, it would seem to me like he was trying to talk to somebody, it would seem it was on the—I’m sure it was a two-way (radio), but it looked like a telephone in his hand. And as the Secret Service man (Clint Hill) got aboard the car and pushed Mrs. Kennedy back, the driver must have floorboarded the car, and it just shot out, and left, and it went under the Triple Underpass. When you look at the Zapruder film, to me, it always is a confusing point, because I just see the motion of the car go by,  and it looks like it's going at a constant speed and never stops. And if that’s a fact, well then I’m just imagining what I just got through telling you. Now, if you quote me that I said the car stopped, I don’t mean it stopped for no 15 seconds. It was just a very momentarily action (demonstrating a stop with a rocking motion), and then it shot off. But I’ll still always make that statement, and I’m not trying to create anything when I say that.

So, if Newman is correct, then the Z-film is wrong, because the "confusing point" for Newman is having seen the car stop, but that stop not appearing in the film--an indication of alteration. Or if Newman was wrong and the car never stopped, then the 60 or so witnesses who described the limousine as stopping were also wrong. (Hint: I don't think Newman was wrong about the limo stop.)

Also: Both Newmans described "men in suits" running up the Knoll. In different interviews, Bill Newman describes them variously as having come from the President's follow-up car (as in this interview), or "several cars back" (the VP follow-up car, as in a different interview). Along with the limo stop, this is also not seen in the Z-film, of course.

So I contend that the Newman statements support the limo stop. On the question of whether Bill Newman actually saw a front of the head blow-out or not, you're arguing that he did. I'm pointing out that the Parkland and Bethesda people did not. How to reconcile the difference?

1. Well, I don't trust the Zapruder film, obviously, but it may have had an effect on Bill Newman's memory. Or:
2. A "bone flap" or some such opened up, then lay back down against the head, so that there was no real blow-out hole at that front-of-the-head location, thus explaining why the Parkland/Bethesda people didn't see it. Or:
3. A sudden head turn caused by the shot (see an account by James Chaney, I think it was) fooled Bill Newman into thinking the blow-out was at the side or front of the head. Or
4. A sudden flapping of scalp fooled Newman into thinking there was a front-of-the-head blow-out.

Again, Bill Newman thinking that Kennedy's "ear blew off" is telling, because it places his blow-out lower than the front-of-the-head blow-out.

And let's not forget, as Gayle Newman points out, that "it all happened very quickly."

 

[Pat Speer]

1 hour ago, Denise Hazelwood said:

Actually, Gayle Newman specified (in “JFK Lancer 2016: A Conversation with Bill and Gayle Newman” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GcJnww6pxw&t=831s GN = Gayle Newman, SF = Stephen Fagin):

About 25:20 

 

So, the way Kennedy fell, not any sort of blow-out. I think Bill Newman said something similar in a different interview, which I will look for and post if/when I find it. In the meantime, a couple of points:

1. Bill Newman's accounts are not always consistent. Sometimes it's how far away the car was when he heard the "first" shot--varies from 150' to 50'. But it's also number of shots, from "2" to "at least 3." Then there is the account where I distinctly remember him saying that he only thought JFK was struck on the right side because of the way he fell ("like he was struck with a baseball bat.") I think his memory is more malleable than that of other witnesses--like his wife. He does mention seeing brain matter fly out of JFK's head, but since I contend the first head shot occurred as soon as the limo had turned the corner, stuff could have ejected out of Kennedy's head at any time. (There are hints of such ejection in the Hofeling .gif before Z313. If you're looking for it, you can see it.)
2. Bill Newman was heavily into JFKA research. Given his malleable memory, I believe that his "front-of-the-head" blow-out accounts may have been influenced by the Z-film, rather than what he actually saw that day. A lot depends on where he was actually standing on 11/22/63. Photographs seem to show him directly across Elm from Moorman and Hill, but other images seem to show him halfway between the lamp post and the stairs. (I'd really like a crack at interviewing the Newman's myself to ask them the questions I want to ask them, but travel has not been in the budget as of late. Maybe I can get to Dallas this November?)
3. Newman also thought that JFK's "ear blew off." Which would put his blow-out lower than the top of the head, probably about even with the back of the head blow-out.
4. Since you like Bill Newman as a witness, here is something that he says is a "confusing point" to him, because he "swear(s) to God" that the car stopped. From same interview where I quote Gayle above, about 11:20:

 

So, if Newman is correct, then the Z-film is wrong, because the "confusing point" for Newman is having seen the car stop, but that stop not appearing in the film--an indication of alteration. Or if Newman was wrong and the car never stopped, then the 60 or so witnesses who described the limousine as stopping were also wrong. (Hint: I don't think Newman was wrong about the limo stop.)

Also: Both Newmans described "men in suits" running up the Knoll. In different interviews, Bill Newman describes them variously as having come from the President's follow-up car (as in this interview), or "several cars back" (the VP follow-up car, as in a different interview). Along with the limo stop, this is also not seen in the Z-film, of course.

So I contend that the Newman statements support the limo stop. On the question of whether Bill Newman actually saw a front of the head blow-out or not, you're arguing that he did. I'm pointing out that the Parkland and Bethesda people did not. How to reconcile the difference?

1. Well, I don't trust the Zapruder film, obviously, but it may have had an effect on Bill Newman's memory. Or:
2. A "bone flap" or some such opened up, then lay back down against the head, so that there was no real blow-out hole at that front-of-the-head location, thus explaining why the Parkland/Bethesda people didn't see it. Or:
3. A sudden head turn caused by the shot (see an account by James Chaney, I think it was) fooled Bill Newman into thinking the blow-out was at the side or front of the head. Or
4. A sudden flapping of scalp fooled Newman into thinking there was a front-of-the-head blow-out.

Again, Bill Newman thinking that Kennedy's "ear blew off" is telling, because it places his blow-out lower than the front-of-the-head blow-out.

And let's not forget, as Gayle Newman points out, that "it all happened very quickly."

 

What??? The explosion is from the right side of the head by the ear. Where both Newmans recalled seeing it. 

They were looking at the back of the head as the President passed by, yet noticed an explosion from the side of the head, and not the middle of the back the head.

Since the President had just passed them and was essentially still in front of them, and was knocked to his left, they assumed the force knocking him over (the bullet) had come from behind them. 

Since almost the beginning some have taken their words and pretended that "behind them" means the picket fence. So Bill Newman began specifying that "behind them" meant up by the white pergola, or whatever you want to call it.. And he even marked an exhibit showing this during the 1986 mock trial. 

There are a lot of myths perpetuated by both sides of the conspiracy/no conspiracy argument.

An example of a "no conspiracy" myth is that the trajectory proposed in the single-bullet theory (the original topic of this thread) is supported by the photographic record. It is not. 

An example of a "conspiracy" myth is that Bill and Gayle Newman heard shots from the picket fence and saw the middle of the back of Kennedy's head explode out on the street. They did not. 

 

[David Von Pein]

As the Charles Bronson photograph shown below illustrates, "directly behind" Bill Newman would have put a shooter a little to the EAST of Abraham Zapruder in the pergola area. And nobody I've ever encountered thinks any shots came from there:



Obviously, Bill Newman was confused and was wrong about two major things: The number of shots that were fired and the location of the gunman who was firing those shots that he heard.

In addition, both Bill and Gayle Newman are very good witnesses when it comes to supporting the truth about the location of where the large exit wound was located on President Kennedy's head. And as far as I am aware, Bill and Gayle Newman are the only witnesses who ever provided this much first-hand detail about the key issue of WHERE on JFK's head the large wound was located.

Both Bill and Gayle stated on live WFAA-TV on 11/22/63 (within literally minutes of the assassination) that they both saw blood coming from the RIGHT SIDE of JFK's head, with Gayle Newman providing even more graphic details during the second of her two interviews with WFAA's Jay Watson:

"President Kennedy reached up and grabbed--looked like grabbed his ear--and blood just started gushing out." -- Gayle Newman; 11/22/63

Abraham Zapruder was another witness who, on the day of the assassination, clearly indicated that the President had a big hole in the right SIDE portion of his head, and not the right REAR part of his head.

 

Edited June 17 by David Von Pein

[Denise Hazelwood]

6 hours ago, David Von Pein said:

As the Charles Bronson photograph shown below illustrates, "directly behind" Bill Newman would have put a shooter a little to the EAST of Abraham Zapruder in the pergola area.

Perspective. Newman said that TSBD people photographed him with the TSBD behind him. Picket fence people photographed him with the picket fence behind him. It's the same with this picture. If it had been taken from the intersection of Houston and Elm, no doubt "behind him" would have been in the region of the Triple Underpass. Newman himself, in the interview I reference above, described "behind him" as somewhere between the picket fence and the TSBD. My thought is that he thought a ricochet off the Stemmons sign would have been the cause of the shot that sounded like it came from "behind" him. There is also a phenomenon of "Front-Back reversal," which may have caused him to think that the AR-15 shot came from "behind him."

[Denise Hazelwood]

6 hours ago, David Von Pein said:

Both Bill and Gayle stated on live WFAA-TV on 11/22/63 (within literally minutes of the assassination) that they both saw blood coming from the RIGHT SIDE of JFK's head, with Gayle Newman providing even more graphic details during the second of her two interviews with WFAA's Jay Watson:

"President Kennedy reached up and grabbed--looked like grabbed his ear--and blood just started gushing out." -- Gayle Newman; 11/22/63

Bill Newman pointed to the left (but since he was holding a child with his right hand, we'll assume he meant "right") front of his head to indicate where he thought a bullet had entered Kennedy, not as an indication of a blow-out.

Gayle was talking about blood "gushing" from his ear. Bleeding from the ear is a common occurrence with head trauma. My brother once fell and hit his head on the floor, and after a few seconds started bleeding from his ear--and that was a mild head injury. In this case, the first shot of my scenario (a head shot) could have caused blood to "gush" from Kennedy's ear in a momentarily delayed reaction. (Hint: the "chest-grab" and "rising in his seat" was his going into decorticate posture within the confines of the limousine. In decorticate posture, the knuckles are drawn into the chest, and the knees are locked. Decorticate posture is indicative of severe neurological trauma.

 

6 hours ago, David Von Pein said:

Abraham Zapruder was another witness who, on the day of the assassination, clearly indicated that the President had a big hole in the right SIDE portion of his head, and not the right REAR part of his head.

Actually, Zapruder is the only same-day witness who indicated the front of the head "blow-out." (Bill Newman indicated that front-of-the-head area as where he thought an entrance bullet had hit, not indicating a "blow-out.") But again, Zapruder possibly saw a bone flap that fell back into place before the Parkland doctors and Bethesda witnesses saw Kennedy, possibly a scalp lift, possibly a rapid head turn fooling him into dislocating the blow-out. 

We agree that Zapruder was indicating something like a "blow-out." But I don't think it was an actual blow-out.

Because again, the Parkland doctors and Bethesda witnesses did not see a frontal blow-out. The closest was one doctor describing "scalp lacerations" that extended to the front of the head. So possibly a scalp lift is what Zapruder saw. Would possibly agree with Mary Moorman's "hair lift."

 

Doesn't anyone want to talk about Bill Newman's limo stop--which is indicative of film alteration? Or the armed SS agents he and Gayle saw running up the hill?