Eleven early print descriptions of the Zapruder film

[Paul Rigby]

1) Staff Special, “Dallas Man Films Movie of Shooting,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, (morning edition), November 23, 1963, section 1, p.10:

Dallas, Nov. 22 – One of the very few – perhaps two – pictures of the President’s assassination here Friday was in the possession of a business man who was isolated with the FBI here Friday night.

Abraham Zapruder, owner of a dress factory at the intersection near where the tragic shooting occurred, photographed the incident with his movie camera.

Zapruder, who remained in communicado from shortly after the occurrence, had filmed the assassination attack from near the scene, persons close to him said.

As far as the crush of reporters covering the tragedy knew, there was only one still photograph actually showing Kennedy slumped over, a Polaroid camera picture taken by a young woman. She allowed the print to be shown on a television account of the assassination.

Zapruder's office told the Star-Telegram he was out of the office all afternoon with the FBI. His wife confirmed late Friday night that he was still with the agents.

2) “Photographer Sells Pictures of Assassination for $25,000,” Dallas Morning News, November 24, 1963, p.?

President Kennedy flinches as the first shot strikes him.

Mrs. Kennedy takes her husband in her arms.

The second shot strikes the President in the side of his head, toward the back. His head becomes a blur.

Mrs. Kennedy crawls out over the trunk compartment in the rear of the car trying to escape the line of fire. Her husband slumps to the floor. A Secret Service agent runs to aid Mrs. Kennedy.

This historic picture of the assassination of President Kennedy is recorded on 8-millimeter color movie film shot by Abraham Zapruder, dress manufacturer of 3909 Marquette.

Perched on a concrete pillar in a plaza a few feet away, Zapruder took perfect pictures of a terrible tragedy.

Saturday, Dick Strobel of the Associated Press, Los Angeles; Jack Klinge of United Press International, Dallas, and Dick Strolle, Los Angeles representative of Life Magazine, negotiated with Zapruder for still picture rights to his film.

Rights finally were sold to Life for more than $25,000, Zapruder told one of the other men who were bidding for the film.

3) Richard J. H. Johnston, “Movie Amateur Filmed Attack; Sequence Is Sold to Magazine” New York Times, November 24, 1963, p.5:

An amateur movie camera enthusiast in Dallas recorded a 15-second close-up sequence showing the actual impact of the assassin’s fire on President Kennedy.

The 8-millimeter film clip in color was sold by the photographer, Abraham Zapruder, for about $40,000 to Time-Life, Inc.

Life magazine will publish the pictures in its issue dated Friday, Nov. 29. The issue will be on the streets next Tuesday.

The editors said that time limitations did not permit reproduction in color. The pictures will be printed in black and white.

Mr. Zapruder, president of Jennifer Juniors, Inc., a dress shop in downtown Dallas, declined yesterday in a telephone conversation, to discuss the film or the arrangement for its sale.

A secretary to Mr. Zapruder, speaking from the offices of the dress shop, said that the Secret Service had sent agents to examine Mr. Zapruder’s film and had permitted him to keep or sell it.

The film was developed Friday night. Time-Life editors said yesterday that it had been studied by their Dallas representatives, who were authorized to make the purchase. The film was sent by air to the Chicago laboratories of the magazine.

From a description give by the Life representative in Dallas, the editors said, it appears that the pictures were taken with a telephoto lens.

Mr. Zapruder’s secretary said that Mr. Zapruder was “one of hundreds” who were taking pictures of the Presidential motorcade.

Life editors here said that they were unable last night to give precise details as to what the film showed, but that they were assured that it depicted the impact of the bullets that struck Mr. Kennedy.

The photographic department of The Associated Press in New York acknowledged late yesterday that the AP had bid for the pictures but that Mr. Zapruder had sold the film to Time-Life, Inc. A spokesman said he understood the price was in the vicinity of $40,000.

Mr. Zapruder’s secretary would neither confirm nor deny the figure, nor would Time-Life spokesmen discuss it. The AP spokesman, however, said the figure was “well over $25,000 and close to $40,000.”

4) AP, "Movie Film Depicts Shooting of Kennedy,” Milwaukee Journal, November 26, 1963, part 1, p.3

Dallas, Tex.-AP - A strip of color movie film graphically depicting the assassination of President Kennedy was made by a Dallas clothing manufacturer with an 8 millimeter camera.

Several persons in Dallas who have seen the film, which lasts about 15 seconds, say it clearly shows how the president was hit in the head with shattering force by the second of two bullets fired by the assassin.

Life magazine reportedly purchased still picture rights to the material for about $40,000.

("The film also was being distributed by United Press International Newsfilms to subscribing stations. WITI-TV in Milwaukee is a subscriber, but will reserve judgment on whether to show the film until after its officials have viewed it.")

This is what the film by Abe Zapruder is reported to show:

First the presidential limousine is coming toward the camera. As it comes abreast of the photographer, Mr. Kennedy is hit by the first bullet, apparently in the neck. He turns toward his wife Jacqueline, seated at his left, and she quickly begins to put her hands around his head.

At the same time, Texas Gov. John Connally, riding directly in front of the president, turns around to see what has happened.

Then Mr. Kennedy is hit on the upper right side of the back of his head with violent force. His head goes forward and then snaps back, and he slumps down on the seat.

At this time, Gov. Connolly is wounded and drops forward on his seat.

Mrs. Kennedy then jumps up and crawls across the back deck of the limousine, apparently seeking the aid of a secret service man who has been trotting behind the slowly moving vehicle. He jumps onto the car and shoves Mrs. Kennedy back into the seat. Then he orders the driver to speed to the hospital where the president died.

The elapsed time from the moment when Mr. Kennedy is first struck until the car disappears in an underpass is about five seconds."

5) AP (Dallas), “Amateur captures death shot,” The Province (Vancouver, BC), 26 November 1963, p.1:

A strip of color movie film showing the assassination of President Kennedy was made by a Dallas clothing manufacturer with an eight millimetre camera.

Several persons in Dallas who have seen the film sat it clearly shows how the president was hit in the head with shattering force by the second of two bullets fired by the assassin.

Life magazine is reported to have purchased still picture rights to the material for about $40,000.

The film, made by Abe Zapruder, is reported to show how, as the presidential limousine comes abreast of the photographer, Kennedy is hit by the first bullet, apparently in the neck.

Then Kennedy is hit on the upper right side of the back of his head with violent force.

6) Express Staff Reporter (New York, Monday), “The Man Who Got the Historic Pictures,” Daily Express, Tuesday, 26 November 1963, p.10:

Amateur photographer Abraham Zapruder, owner of a Dallas dress manufacturing business, took the assassination pictures in 8mm colour with a normal lens.

When Mr. Zapruder went to work on Friday he had no intention of watching President Kennedy drive through Dallas. So he left at home his new camera. But his secretary urged Mr. Zapruder to go out and take movies.

Position

He was not very keen, but she pressed him and he drove home to collect his camera.

He returned to the route and took up a position overlooking the road standing on a concrete parapet eight feet above the pavement.

When the procession came into sight he began filming. Just before the President’s car got to him he heard the rifle shots and saw that Kennedy was hit.

Shock

Zapruder said that he stood absolutely transfixed. He knew what was happening and yet he continued to go on filming.

He remembers screaming: “My God! He’s dead!”

Zapruder was in a state of complete shock. He remembers going back to the office, but for a while he was not really aware of what he had recorded. But when the film was hurriedly processed and when he had screened it on Friday evening, he realised its importance and value.

The secret service sent agents to examine the film and permitted him to keep it.

C 1963 Life Magazine Time Incorporated. All rights reserved.

On same page, 4 stills from Z-film; on opposite, a further 7.

7) UPI (Dallas), “Movie Film Shows Murder of President,” Philadelphia Daily News, Tuesday, 26 November 1963, p.3 (4 star edition):

An amateur photographer shot an 8-MM movie film that clearly shows, step-by-step, the assassination of President Kennedy.

The film was made by Abraham Zapruder, a Dallas dress manufacturer. He is selling rights to the film privately. It has been seen by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service and representatives of the news media.

It is seven feet long, 35 seconds in colour, a bit jumpy but clear.

It opens as the Kennedy motorcade rounds the corner from Houston Street and turns into Elm Street.

Then it picks up the President’s car and follows it down toward the underpass. Suddenly, in the film, Kennedy is seen to jerk. It is the first shot.

Mrs. Kennedy turns, puts her arms around him. A second later, the second shot. The President’s head becomes a blur on the film, lunged forward and up. The second bullet has torn into the back of his head.

He rolls towards Mrs. Kennedy and disappears from sight. Mrs. Kennedy lurches onto the flat trunk deck of the Presidential car as a Secret Service man races to their aid. She is on her hands and knees. She reaches for him. He leaps up on the bumper. She pulls him up on the bumper or he pushes her back as the film ends.

Other films show the car never stopped, but raced to the Parkland Memorial Hospital with Mrs. Kennedy cradling the President.

NB:

UPI (Dallas), “Movie Film Shows Murder of President,” Philadelphia Daily News, Tuesday, 26 November 1963, p.3 (4 star edition):

On page 1, under the headline “Man Who Came to See JFK Makes Tragic Movie,” there is the following blurb above 4 stills: “These dramatic pictures are from an 8mm ‘home movie’ reel, shot by Dallas dressmaker Abraham Zapruder who went to see President Kennedy ride through cheering throngs in Texas city. His camera recorded one of the most tragic moments in American history. Story page 3.”

Below are 4 stills from…the Muchmore film!

8) Arthur J. Snider (Chicago Daily News Service), “Movies Reconstruct Tragedy,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, (Evening edition), November 27, 1963, section 2, p.1:

Chicago, Nov. 27 – With the aid of movies taken by an amateur, it is possible to reconstruct to some extent the horrifying moments in the assassination of President Kennedy.

As the fateful car rounded the turn and moved into the curving parkway, the President rolled his head to the right, smiling and waving.

At that instant, about 12:30 p.m., the sniper, peering through a four-power telescope sight, fired his cheap rifle.

The 6.5 mm bullet – about .25 caliber – pierced the President’s neck just below the Adam’s apple. It took a downward course.

“If you were wearing a bow tie, the position is just about where the knot is,” said a Dallas neurosurgeon who saw the wound.

The President clutched his throat for a bewildered instant, then began to sag.

A second blast from the high-powered rifle ripped into the right rear of his head at about a 4 o 'clock position.

It was a violent wound. As a motorcycle officer described it: “It just seemed as if his head opened up.”

The President swerved to his left and collapsed into the arms of his wife.

Mrs. Kennedy climbed onto the trunk to beseech aid from a Secret Service man. The President slumped against her leg, bloodying her skirt and stocking.

Meanwhile, Gov. John Connally had turned to see what happened. A third shot rang out.

It struck the governor in the back. The bullet was deflected to his right wrist and lodged in his left thigh. A fragment of rib, fractured by the bullet, punctured a lung.

Sequence pictures of the tragedy were taken by an amateur Dallas photographer and were purchased by Life Magazine. They were published in this week’s Life.

They serve to deny a rumor that the President may have sustained the throat wound from a shot fired at ground level.

They also indicate the President was shot first. It had been conjectured by some that Connally was the prime target.

Identification of two points of entry, the throat and the skull, was made by Dr. Kemp Clark, neurosurgeon, and Dr. Tom Shires, chief of surgery at Parkland Hospital.

They said neither bullet was recovered in the hospital emergency room. One bullet was said to have emerged from the left temple.

If any bullets were lodged in the body, they would have been removed at an autopsy in the Bethesda Navy Hospital, where the President’s body was taken immediately on the return to Washington.

White House Assistant Press Secretary, asked if an autopsy had been performed, said: “The question has been deferred for reply later.”

Officials at Bethesda Naval Hospital declined to comment.

Medical personnel at Parkland Hospital said, however, that a post-mortem examination was performed at Bethesda but no report had yet been received there.

Pathologists in Chicago also expressed the “virtual certainty” that an autopsy was performed.

“It would have been necessary for medical-legal reasons,” one said. “In a trial for murder, it is necessary to state in court how death came about, whether by massive haemorrhage , cell destruction, or whatever.”

“Permission from the family is not needed, although in this case it might have been sought.”

9) John Herbers, “Kennedy Struck by Two Bullets, Doctor Who Attended Him Says,” New York Times, November 27, 1963, p.20:

“…The known facts about the bullets, and the position of the assassin, suggested that he started shooting as the President’s car was coming toward him, swung his rifle in an arc of almost 180 degrees and fired at least twice more.

A rifle like the one that killed President Kennedy might be able to fire three shots in two seconds, a gun expert indicated after tests.

A strip of color movie film taken by a Dallas clothing manufacturer with an 8-mm camera tends to support this sequence of events.

The film covers about a 15-second period. As the President’s car come abreast of the photographer, the President was struck in the front of the neck. The President turned toward Mrs. Kennedy as she began to put her hands around his head.

Connally Turns Around

At the same time, Governor Connally, riding in front of the President, turned round to see what had happened. Then the President was struck on the head. His head went forward, then snapped back, as he slumped in his seat. At that time, Governor Connally was wounded.

The elapsed time from the moment Mr. Kennedy was first struck until the car disappeared in an underpass was five seconds.”

10) Rick Freedman, “Pictures of Assassination Fall to Amateurs on Street,” Editor & Publisher, November 30, 1963, pp.16 & 17:

$40,000 Film Clip

“…It was an amateur movie camera enthusiast in Dallas who recorded a 25-second close-up sequence showing the actual impact of the assassin’s fire on President Kennedy.

Abraham Zapruder, president of a dress shop in Dallas, sold the 8-millimeter color film clip to Time-Life Inc. for about $40,000. Life editors said that deadline limitations did not permit reproduction in color and the pictures were printed in black and white.

Harry McCormick, police reporter of the Dallas Morning News, rushed to the scene of the assassination. He found Abe Zapruder , who said he had taken movies. Seeing a Secret Serviceman he knew, McCormick tried to get the films confiscated, hoping thus they might become public property. Zapruder refused to give them up, and with the S.S. man and McCormick went to the Eastman Kodak plant were the films were processed.

Others by now had heard about the film. Spirited bidding for the rights started McCormick went up to $1,000 for one of the still frames. It showed that terrible second when the bullet hit the President’s head. Time outbid everyone and gained rights to the film.

‘In Zapruder’s room he has a placard on the wall with “Think” but that word is marked out by “Scheme,”’ McCormick said.

‘I’m going to get me one like it,’ the reported remarked.

The picture sequence ran as a four-page spread in Life’s Nov. 29 issue, which came out Nov.26. Taken from about 40 feet away with a normal lens, according to Life, most of the sequence is slightly dark and out-of-focus. But it does show in dramatic fashion the entire fatal few seconds – the President and Mrs. Kennedy riding in the car, the President getting hit, Governor Connally getting hit, Mrs. Kennedy cradling the fallen Chief Executive in her arms, and Mrs. Kennedy jumping up to help a Secret Service man into the President’s limousine.”

Later in the same piece, we find the following description of an untitled/unattributed film shown presumably on Tuesday, 26 November:

“By Tuesday, numerous pictures, both still and movie, were being offered to news media. At least one television station was besieged with protests after it had shown scenes of the President’s motorcade at the moment of the shooting. Many viewers considered them to be too gruesome.”

11) “The Man Who Killed Kennedy,” Time, December 6, 1963, p.29:

The Murder

“…At 12:31 the President’s Lincoln limousine passed by at a speed of 12 to 15 m.p.h. In the car, Texas Governor Connally, who was seated directly in front of Kennedy, heard a shot. ‘I turned to my right,’ he recalled later, from his hospital bed. ‘The President had slumped…Then I was hit, and I knew I’d been hit badly. I thought, my God, they’re going to kill us all.’

What actually happened was made horrifyingly clear in color films taken by Abraham Zapruder, a Dallas clothing manufacturer and an amateur movieman. The strip runs for about 20 seconds – an eternity of history. Kennedy was waving to a friendly crowd. Then came the first shot, and he clutched at his throat with both hands. Connally turned around, raised his right hand toward the President, then fell backward into his wife’s lap as the second shot struck him. The third shot, all too literally, exploded in Kennedy’s head. In less than an instant, Jackie was up, climbing back over the trunk of the car, seeking help. She reached out her right hand, caught the hand of a Secret Service man who was running to catch up, and in one desperate tug pulled him aboard. Then, in less time than it takes to tell it, she was back cradling her husband’s head in her lap.”

[Paul Rigby]

1) Staff Special, “Dallas Man Films Movie of Shooting,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, (morning edition), November 23, 1963, section 1, p.10:

Dallas, Nov. 22 – One of the very few – perhaps two – pictures of the President’s assassination here Friday was in the possession of a business man who was isolated with the FBI here Friday night.

Abraham Zapruder, owner of a dress factory at the intersection near where the tragic shooting occurred, photographed the incident with his movie camera.

Zapruder, who remained in communicado from shortly after the occurrence, had filmed the assassination attack from near the scene, persons close to him said.

As far as the crush of reporters covering the tragedy knew, there was only one still photograph actually showing Kennedy slumped over, a Polaroid camera picture taken by a young woman. She allowed the print to be shown on a television account of the assassination.

Zapruder's office told the Star-Telegram he was out of the office all afternoon with the FBI. His wife confirmed late Friday night that he was still with the agents.

2) “Photographer Sells Pictures of Assassination for $25,000,” Dallas Morning News, November 24, 1963, p.?

President Kennedy flinches as the first shot strikes him.

Mrs. Kennedy takes her husband in her arms.

The second shot strikes the President in the side of his head, toward the back. His head becomes a blur.

Mrs. Kennedy crawls out over the trunk compartment in the rear of the car trying to escape the line of fire. Her husband slumps to the floor. A Secret Service agent runs to aid Mrs. Kennedy.

This historic picture of the assassination of President Kennedy is recorded on 8-millimeter color movie film shot by Abraham Zapruder, dress manufacturer of 3909 Marquette.

Perched on a concrete pillar in a plaza a few feet away, Zapruder took perfect pictures of a terrible tragedy.

Saturday, Dick Strobel of the Associated Press, Los Angeles; Jack Klinge of United Press International, Dallas, and Dick Strolle, Los Angeles representative of Life Magazine, negotiated with Zapruder for still picture rights to his film.

Rights finally were sold to Life for more than $25,000, Zapruder told one of the other men who were bidding for the film.

3) Richard J. H. Johnston, “Movie Amateur Filmed Attack; Sequence Is Sold to Magazine” New York Times, November 24, 1963, p.5:

An amateur movie camera enthusiast in Dallas recorded a 15-second close-up sequence showing the actual impact of the assassin’s fire on President Kennedy.

The 8-millimeter film clip in color was sold by the photographer, Abraham Zapruder, for about $40,000 to Time-Life, Inc.

Life magazine will publish the pictures in its issue dated Friday, Nov. 29. The issue will be on the streets next Tuesday.

The editors said that time limitations did not permit reproduction in color. The pictures will be printed in black and white.

Mr. Zapruder, president of Jennifer Juniors, Inc., a dress shop in downtown Dallas, declined yesterday in a telephone conversation, to discuss the film or the arrangement for its sale.

A secretary to Mr. Zapruder, speaking from the offices of the dress shop, said that the Secret Service had sent agents to examine Mr. Zapruder’s film and had permitted him to keep or sell it.

The film was developed Friday night. Time-Life editors said yesterday that it had been studied by their Dallas representatives, who were authorized to make the purchase. The film was sent by air to the Chicago laboratories of the magazine.

From a description give by the Life representative in Dallas, the editors said, it appears that the pictures were taken with a telephoto lens.

Mr. Zapruder’s secretary said that Mr. Zapruder was “one of hundreds” who were taking pictures of the Presidential motorcade.

Life editors here said that they were unable last night to give precise details as to what the film showed, but that they were assured that it depicted the impact of the bullets that struck Mr. Kennedy.

The photographic department of The Associated Press in New York acknowledged late yesterday that the AP had bid for the pictures but that Mr. Zapruder had sold the film to Time-Life, Inc. A spokesman said he understood the price was in the vicinity of $40,000.

Mr. Zapruder’s secretary would neither confirm nor deny the figure, nor would Time-Life spokesmen discuss it. The AP spokesman, however, said the figure was “well over $25,000 and close to $40,000.”

4) AP, "Movie Film Depicts Shooting of Kennedy,” Milwaukee Journal, November 26, 1963, part 1, p.3

Dallas, Tex.-AP - A strip of color movie film graphically depicting the assassination of President Kennedy was made by a Dallas clothing manufacturer with an 8 millimeter camera.

Several persons in Dallas who have seen the film, which lasts about 15 seconds, say it clearly shows how the president was hit in the head with shattering force by the second of two bullets fired by the assassin.

Life magazine reportedly purchased still picture rights to the material for about $40,000.

("The film also was being distributed by United Press International Newsfilms to subscribing stations. WITI-TV in Milwaukee is a subscriber, but will reserve judgment on whether to show the film until after its officials have viewed it.")

This is what the film by Abe Zapruder is reported to show:

First the presidential limousine is coming toward the camera. As it comes abreast of the photographer, Mr. Kennedy is hit by the first bullet, apparently in the neck. He turns toward his wife Jacqueline, seated at his left, and she quickly begins to put her hands around his head.

At the same time, Texas Gov. John Connally, riding directly in front of the president, turns around to see what has happened.

Then Mr. Kennedy is hit on the upper right side of the back of his head with violent force. His head goes forward and then snaps back, and he slumps down on the seat.

At this time, Gov. Connolly is wounded and drops forward on his seat.

Mrs. Kennedy then jumps up and crawls across the back deck of the limousine, apparently seeking the aid of a secret service man who has been trotting behind the slowly moving vehicle. He jumps onto the car and shoves Mrs. Kennedy back into the seat. Then he orders the driver to speed to the hospital where the president died.

The elapsed time from the moment when Mr. Kennedy is first struck until the car disappears in an underpass is about five seconds."

5) AP (Dallas), “Amateur captures death shot,” The Province (Vancouver, BC), 26 November 1963, p.1:

A strip of color movie film showing the assassination of President Kennedy was made by a Dallas clothing manufacturer with an eight millimetre camera.

Several persons in Dallas who have seen the film sat it clearly shows how the president was hit in the head with shattering force by the second of two bullets fired by the assassin.

Life magazine is reported to have purchased still picture rights to the material for about $40,000.

The film, made by Abe Zapruder, is reported to show how, as the presidential limousine comes abreast of the photographer, Kennedy is hit by the first bullet, apparently in the neck.

Then Kennedy is hit on the upper right side of the back of his head with violent force.

6) Express Staff Reporter (New York, Monday), “The Man Who Got the Historic Pictures,” Daily Express, Tuesday, 26 November 1963, p.10:

Amateur photographer Abraham Zapruder, owner of a Dallas dress manufacturing business, took the assassination pictures in 8mm colour with a normal lens.

When Mr. Zapruder went to work on Friday he had no intention of watching President Kennedy drive through Dallas. So he left at home his new camera. But his secretary urged Mr. Zapruder to go out and take movies.

Position

He was not very keen, but she pressed him and he drove home to collect his camera.

He returned to the route and took up a position overlooking the road standing on a concrete parapet eight feet above the pavement.

When the procession came into sight he began filming. Just before the President’s car got to him he heard the rifle shots and saw that Kennedy was hit.

Shock

Zapruder said that he stood absolutely transfixed. He knew what was happening and yet he continued to go on filming.

He remembers screaming: “My God! He’s dead!”

Zapruder was in a state of complete shock. He remembers going back to the office, but for a while he was not really aware of what he had recorded. But when the film was hurriedly processed and when he had screened it on Friday evening, he realised its importance and value.

The secret service sent agents to examine the film and permitted him to keep it.

C 1963 Life Magazine Time Incorporated. All rights reserved.

On same page, 4 stills from Z-film; on opposite, a further 7.

7) UPI (Dallas), “Movie Film Shows Murder of President,” Philadelphia Daily News, Tuesday, 26 November 1963, p.3 (4 star edition):

An amateur photographer shot an 8-MM movie film that clearly shows, step-by-step, the assassination of President Kennedy.

The film was made by Abraham Zapruder, a Dallas dress manufacturer. He is selling rights to the film privately. It has been seen by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service and representatives of the news media.

It is seven feet long, 35 seconds in colour, a bit jumpy but clear.

It opens as the Kennedy motorcade rounds the corner from Houston Street and turns into Elm Street.

Then it picks up the President’s car and follows it down toward the underpass. Suddenly, in the film, Kennedy is seen to jerk. It is the first shot.

Mrs. Kennedy turns, puts her arms around him. A second later, the second shot. The President’s head becomes a blur on the film, lunged forward and up. The second bullet has torn into the back of his head.

He rolls towards Mrs. Kennedy and disappears from sight. Mrs. Kennedy lurches onto the flat trunk deck of the Presidential car as a Secret Service man races to their aid. She is on her hands and knees. She reaches for him. He leaps up on the bumper. She pulls him up on the bumper or he pushes her back as the film ends.

Other films show the car never stopped, but raced to the Parkland Memorial Hospital with Mrs. Kennedy cradling the President.

NB:

UPI (Dallas), “Movie Film Shows Murder of President,” Philadelphia Daily News, Tuesday, 26 November 1963, p.3 (4 star edition):

On page 1, under the headline “Man Who Came to See JFK Makes Tragic Movie,” there is the following blurb above 4 stills: “These dramatic pictures are from an 8mm ‘home movie’ reel, shot by Dallas dressmaker Abraham Zapruder who went to see President Kennedy ride through cheering throngs in Texas city. His camera recorded one of the most tragic moments in American history. Story page 3.”

Below are 4 stills from…the Muchmore film!

8) Arthur J. Snider (Chicago Daily News Service), “Movies Reconstruct Tragedy,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, (Evening edition), November 27, 1963, section 2, p.1:

Chicago, Nov. 27 – With the aid of movies taken by an amateur, it is possible to reconstruct to some extent the horrifying moments in the assassination of President Kennedy.

As the fateful car rounded the turn and moved into the curving parkway, the President rolled his head to the right, smiling and waving.

At that instant, about 12:30 p.m., the sniper, peering through a four-power telescope sight, fired his cheap rifle.

The 6.5 mm bullet – about .25 caliber – pierced the President’s neck just below the Adam’s apple. It took a downward course.

“If you were wearing a bow tie, the position is just about where the knot is,” said a Dallas neurosurgeon who saw the wound.

The President clutched his throat for a bewildered instant, then began to sag.

A second blast from the high-powered rifle ripped into the right rear of his head at about a 4 o 'clock position.

It was a violent wound. As a motorcycle officer described it: “It just seemed as if his head opened up.”

The President swerved to his left and collapsed into the arms of his wife.

Mrs. Kennedy climbed onto the trunk to beseech aid from a Secret Service man. The President slumped against her leg, bloodying her skirt and stocking.

Meanwhile, Gov. John Connally had turned to see what happened. A third shot rang out.

It struck the governor in the back. The bullet was deflected to his right wrist and lodged in his left thigh. A fragment of rib, fractured by the bullet, punctured a lung.

Sequence pictures of the tragedy were taken by an amateur Dallas photographer and were purchased by Life Magazine. They were published in this week’s Life.

They serve to deny a rumor that the President may have sustained the throat wound from a shot fired at ground level.

They also indicate the President was shot first. It had been conjectured by some that Connally was the prime target.

Identification of two points of entry, the throat and the skull, was made by Dr. Kemp Clark, neurosurgeon, and Dr. Tom Shires, chief of surgery at Parkland Hospital.

They said neither bullet was recovered in the hospital emergency room. One bullet was said to have emerged from the left temple.

If any bullets were lodged in the body, they would have been removed at an autopsy in the Bethesda Navy Hospital, where the President’s body was taken immediately on the return to Washington.

White House Assistant Press Secretary, asked if an autopsy had been performed, said: “The question has been deferred for reply later.”

Officials at Bethesda Naval Hospital declined to comment.

Medical personnel at Parkland Hospital said, however, that a post-mortem examination was performed at Bethesda but no report had yet been received there.

Pathologists in Chicago also expressed the “virtual certainty” that an autopsy was performed.

“It would have been necessary for medical-legal reasons,” one said. “In a trial for murder, it is necessary to state in court how death came about, whether by massive haemorrhage , cell destruction, or whatever.”

“Permission from the family is not needed, although in this case it might have been sought.”

9) John Herbers, “Kennedy Struck by Two Bullets, Doctor Who Attended Him Says,” New York Times, November 27, 1963, p.20:

“…The known facts about the bullets, and the position of the assassin, suggested that he started shooting as the President’s car was coming toward him, swung his rifle in an arc of almost 180 degrees and fired at least twice more.

A rifle like the one that killed President Kennedy might be able to fire three shots in two seconds, a gun expert indicated after tests.

A strip of color movie film taken by a Dallas clothing manufacturer with an 8-mm camera tends to support this sequence of events.

The film covers about a 15-second period. As the President’s car come abreast of the photographer, the President was struck in the front of the neck. The President turned toward Mrs. Kennedy as she began to put her hands around his head.

Connally Turns Around

At the same time, Governor Connally, riding in front of the President, turned round to see what had happened. Then the President was struck on the head. His head went forward, then snapped back, as he slumped in his seat. At that time, Governor Connally was wounded.

The elapsed time from the moment Mr. Kennedy was first struck until the car disappeared in an underpass was five seconds.”

10) Rick Freedman, “Pictures of Assassination Fall to Amateurs on Street,” Editor & Publisher, November 30, 1963, pp.16 & 17:

$40,000 Film Clip

“…It was an amateur movie camera enthusiast in Dallas who recorded a 25-second close-up sequence showing the actual impact of the assassin’s fire on President Kennedy.

Abraham Zapruder, president of a dress shop in Dallas, sold the 8-millimeter color film clip to Time-Life Inc. for about $40,000. Life editors said that deadline limitations did not permit reproduction in color and the pictures were printed in black and white.

Harry McCormick, police reporter of the Dallas Morning News, rushed to the scene of the assassination. He found Abe Zapruder , who said he had taken movies. Seeing a Secret Serviceman he knew, McCormick tried to get the films confiscated, hoping thus they might become public property. Zapruder refused to give them up, and with the S.S. man and McCormick went to the Eastman Kodak plant were the films were processed.

Others by now had heard about the film. Spirited bidding for the rights started McCormick went up to $1,000 for one of the still frames. It showed that terrible second when the bullet hit the President’s head. Time outbid everyone and gained rights to the film.

‘In Zapruder’s room he has a placard on the wall with “Think” but that word is marked out by “Scheme,”’ McCormick said.

‘I’m going to get me one like it,’ the reported remarked.

The picture sequence ran as a four-page spread in Life’s Nov. 29 issue, which came out Nov.26. Taken from about 40 feet away with a normal lens, according to Life, most of the sequence is slightly dark and out-of-focus. But it does show in dramatic fashion the entire fatal few seconds – the President and Mrs. Kennedy riding in the car, the President getting hit, Governor Connally getting hit, Mrs. Kennedy cradling the fallen Chief Executive in her arms, and Mrs. Kennedy jumping up to help a Secret Service man into the President’s limousine.”

Later in the same piece, we find the following description of an untitled/unattributed film shown presumably on Tuesday, 26 November:

“By Tuesday, numerous pictures, both still and movie, were being offered to news media. At least one television station was besieged with protests after it had shown scenes of the President’s motorcade at the moment of the shooting. Many viewers considered them to be too gruesome.”

11) “The Man Who Killed Kennedy,” Time, December 6, 1963, p.29:

The Murder

“…At 12:31 the President’s Lincoln limousine passed by at a speed of 12 to 15 m.p.h. In the car, Texas Governor Connally, who was seated directly in front of Kennedy, heard a shot. ‘I turned to my right,’ he recalled later, from his hospital bed. ‘The President had slumped…Then I was hit, and I knew I’d been hit badly. I thought, my God, they’re going to kill us all.’

What actually happened was made horrifyingly clear in color films taken by Abraham Zapruder, a Dallas clothing manufacturer and an amateur movieman. The strip runs for about 20 seconds – an eternity of history. Kennedy was waving to a friendly crowd. Then came the first shot, and he clutched at his throat with both hands. Connally turned around, raised his right hand toward the President, then fell backward into his wife’s lap as the second shot struck him. The third shot, all too literally, exploded in Kennedy’s head. In less than an instant, Jackie was up, climbing back over the trunk of the car, seeking help. She reached out her right hand, caught the hand of a Secret Service man who was running to catch up, and in one desperate tug pulled him aboard. Then, in less time than it takes to tell it, she was back cradling her husband’s head in her lap.”

Richard K. Doan, "Now the Task of Righting Upset Schedules," New York Herald Tribune, Wednesday, 27 November 1963, section 1, p.21:

"WNEW-TV (Channel 5) claimed it was the first TV station in the country to televise an amateur photographer's film footage of the President Kennedy's assassination. The film was distributed by United Press International and aired by Channel 5 at 12:46 a.m. yesterday."

a.m. or p.m.? The latter, presumably.

See 4. and 10. above to place this piece in the jigsaw.

[John Dolva]

Lancer:

"Reporter Harry McCormack takes Sorrels to Jennifer Juniors, Inc., in the Dal-Tex Building, 501 Elm St., the office of Abraham Zapruder. Zapruder was emotionally upset; agreed to furnish a copy of the film to Sorrels with the understanding that it was strictly for official use of the Secret Service and that it would not be shown or given to any newspapers or magazines, as he expected to sell the film for as high a price as he could get for it. Mr. McCormack had offered $1,000 for it, but others were also interested.(Memo from Forrest Sorrels to Thomas Kelley)

WFAA-TV calls Eastman Kodak, which agrees to process the film right away. A police cruiser took the men to Kodak on Manor Way. There, Sorrels also met Phil Willis, there with his film for processing. Sorrels left. Dan Rather later claimed credit for arranging for the film's processing. Zapruder had 3 copies made (possibly at Jamieson). The film was previewed at the lab just after being developed. Zapruder was assured no bootlegs had been made. Sorrels later picked up two of the copies.*(Trask)

After selling the original and one copy to LIFE, Zapruder seems to have retained an unexplained# 4th copy, which Sorrels brought people over to view, being without his copies Nov. 23-26.(Trask)

Nov. 23: With Zapruder at the projector, the film is viewed by Richard Stolley, LIFE's Los Angeles Bureau Chief, the only reporter among a small group of Secret Service agents in a small room of Jennifer Juniors, early in the morning. Zapruder ran the film again and again as newsmen from AP and UPI and other magazines showed up. When the lights were turned on, Zapruder looked ill. Stolley convinces Zapruder to talk with him first. (Richard Stolley, 1973)"

*Vince Palamera:

"Also on Friday evening, November 22nd, [Forrest] Sorrels did a frame-by-frame study of the Zapruder film~ in his Dallas office. According to Dallas Postal Inspector Harry D. Holmes who was present, "...we thumbed (through) that thing for an hour or more...push (ing) it up one frame at a time."

~[b]This, plus the copy sent to washington, is the Z film that should be available[/b].

It's not. (AFAIK).

The one used today is the copy(ies) of the Zfilm made after the film was broken and respliced. And of that film genealogy, the most readily available is the most altered, the Costella hoax. It's based on a version that was already altered, not only in splicing but in aspect changes and format that through inter/extra polation alters data.

The making of a copy of the original itself is an alteration as the color values are by the nature of the process compromised. The same process applies to subsequent generation copies.

#I don't know if it has been established whether or not there was a fourth first generation, pre splice copy made. It may be that Sorrels sent one of his two copies to Washington and retained one that was viewed over the following 3 days. It is very possible that further copies were made of this and exist somewhere. Also, the copy sent to Washington, has likely been copied but witheld.

The splices, while obvious to scrutiny were apparently for some time not acknowledged. One prime pair is at 207 where a careful measurement of the length of the limo shows that the frame is a composite of at least two frames. This is the film that is used today, and because of the missing information is likely a cause of much of the susequent controversy.

IMO. The 'blurring' described in the first post could be a result of the Holmes/Sorrels thumbing of the copy they had. ie possibly the first possible proof of an attempt at alteration.

A thorough comparison of the three likely initial copies, and the original, would, if available, quite possibly solve many issues. including 'who'.

I suspect that the copy sent to Washington by Sorrels is the most important one, and it is not the one that the WC used, They used frames derived from the post-break Life copy. And then published a limited grayscale selection in 1964. This was for many initial researchers the only copy available and there were attempts to reconstruct the film from this. Most main libraries all over the world are likely to have this copy in the form of the 26 volume WC hearings and exhibits.

Edited May 12, 2007 by John Dolva

[Thomas H. Purvis]

First off! I for one would make an attempt to read and consider the potential validity of some of this "first/second" day statements which repeatedly state that it was the SECOND shot which struck JFK in the head.

Since I personally was not in Dealy Plaza on 11/22/63, I find it best to accept as fact what the evidence as well as a large number of eyewitnesses have stated, is what actually happened.

With that tidbit of information, then I do not have to waste a lot of time lost down some rabbit hole looking for some shot which was supposedly fired in between the first shot and the Z312/313 shot, and which in fact never existed to begin with.

Also, since the time delay was in fact approximately 5.9 seconds between the first and second shot, then I really do not have to waste a great amount of cerebral effort as to whether or not the shooter/aka LHO, had sufficient time to operate the weapon, secure the target, and thus blow the top of JFK's head off.

Tom

P.S. Of course, Time/Life as well as the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI, also had little difficulty in placement of the position of JFK at the time of the first shot.

It was ONLY the WC who decided that this was difficult and could not be done.

And thankfully, I was never gullible enought to accept as fact anything which they claimed, without first checking it out for myself.

[David G. Healy]

First off! I for one would make an attempt to read and consider the potential validity of some of this "first/second" day statements which repeatedly state that it was the SECOND shot which struck JFK in the head.

Since I personally was not in Dealy Plaza on 11/22/63, I find it best to accept as fact what the evidence as well as a large number of eyewitnesses have stated, is what actually happened.

With that tidbit of information, then I do not have to waste a lot of time lost down some rabbit hole looking for some shot which was supposedly fired in between the first shot and the Z312/313 shot, and which in fact never existed to begin with.

Also, since the time delay was in fact approximately 5.9 seconds between the first and second shot, then I really do not have to waste a great amount of cerebral effort as to whether or not the shooter/aka LHO, had sufficient time to operate the weapon, secure the target, and thus blow the top of JFK's head off.

Tom

P.S. Of course, Time/Life as well as the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI, also had little difficulty in placement of the position of JFK at the time of the first shot.

It was ONLY the WC who decided that this was difficult and could not be done.

And thankfully, I was never gullible enought to accept as fact anything which they claimed, without first checking it out for myself.

The other day I was looking at a few pictures of the Dealey Plaza 'model' made up for the WCR, I believe the model was entered/shown as evidence, evidence of where the shots occurred/limo location on Elm Street. The 2nd shot as shown on the model appears much closer the Zapruder pedestal than what I see on the Zapruder film. The model indicator, third shot as shown, location appears near direct across from the steps ascending the knoll. Which definitley does NOT appear on the Zapruder film.

The model shows strings (one for each of the three shots) are attached to the TSBD 6th floor east window, the other end where the limo was located on Elm Street when the rounds were fired.... (History Matters I think, there were 5-6 photos of the model....)

David

Edited May 13, 2007 by David G. Healy

[Thomas H. Purvis]

First off! I for one would make an attempt to read and consider the potential validity of some of this "first/second" day statements which repeatedly state that it was the SECOND shot which struck JFK in the head.

Since I personally was not in Dealy Plaza on 11/22/63, I find it best to accept as fact what the evidence as well as a large number of eyewitnesses have stated, is what actually happened.

With that tidbit of information, then I do not have to waste a lot of time lost down some rabbit hole looking for some shot which was supposedly fired in between the first shot and the Z312/313 shot, and which in fact never existed to begin with.

Also, since the time delay was in fact approximately 5.9 seconds between the first and second shot, then I really do not have to waste a great amount of cerebral effort as to whether or not the shooter/aka LHO, had sufficient time to operate the weapon, secure the target, and thus blow the top of JFK's head off.

Tom

P.S. Of course, Time/Life as well as the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI, also had little difficulty in placement of the position of JFK at the time of the first shot.

It was ONLY the WC who decided that this was difficult and could not be done.

And thankfully, I was never gullible enought to accept as fact anything which they claimed, without first checking it out for myself.

The other day I was looking at a few pictures of the Dealey Plaza 'model' made up for the WCR, I believe the model was entered/shown as evidence, evidence of where the shots occurred/limo location on Elm Street. The 2nd shot as shown on the model appears much closer the Zapruder pedestal than what I see on the Zapruder film. The model indicator, third shot as shown, location appears near direct across from the steps ascending the knoll. Which definitley does NOT appear on the Zapruder film.

The model shows strings (one for each of the three shots) are attached to the TSBD 6th floor east window, the other end where the limo was located on Elm Street when the rounds were fired.... (History Matters I think, there were 5-6 photos of the model....)

David

http://jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/gauthier.htm

Mr. SPECTER. Did you have occasion to reconstruct certain models to scale in connection with the investigation on the assassination of President Kennedy?

Mr. GAUTHIER. Yes; I did.

Mr. SPECTER. And what model reproduction, if any, did you make of the scene of the assassination itself?

Mr. GAUTHIER. The data, concerning the scene of the assassination, was developed by the Bureau's Exhibits Section, including myself, at the site on December 2, 3, and 4,. of 1963. From this data we built a three-dimensional exhibit, one-quarter of an inch to the foot. It contained the pertinent details of the site, including street lights, catch basin, concrete structures in the area, including buildings, grades, scale models of the cars that comprised the motorcade, consisting of the police lead car, the Presidential car, the followup car, the Lincoln open car that the Vice President was riding in, and the followup car behind the Vice-Presidential car

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It is nice that the WC decided that it wanted to play with a "model". However, the model is nothing more than another ruse.

"at the site on December 2, 3, and 4,. of 1963"

This is the survey work conducted by Mr. West for the U.S. Secret Service assassination re-enactment in which the generated survey play demonstrates the impact point of each of the three shots fired.

http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/...Vol17_0449a.htm

This also happens to be when the great majority of the survey information/data for Dealy Plaza was generated.

Not likely that anyone would just forget about three full days of assassination re-enactment survey and filming by the U.S. Secret Service.

Ergo!---------------Explain it off that it was all done to make a scale model in which to assist in an understanding of this on so complex subject matter.

And, as those who have been following the bouncing ball/aka third shot are now fully aware, stationing 4+95 happens to be some 30 feet farther down Elm St. than was the impact of the second shot at Z312/313, which places it directly in front of the position of James Altgens, and almost directly across from where the concrete steps which lead from the stockade to Elm St. intersect the street.

[Bill Miller]

First off! I for one would make an attempt to read and consider the potential validity of some of this "first/second" day statements which repeatedly state that it was the SECOND shot which struck JFK in the head.

Since I personally was not in Dealy Plaza on 11/22/63, I find it best to accept as fact what the evidence as well as a large number of eyewitnesses have stated, is what actually happened.

With that tidbit of information, then I do not have to waste a lot of time lost down some rabbit hole looking for some shot which was supposedly fired in between the first shot and the Z312/313 shot, and which in fact never existed to begin with.

Food for thought - What ever numbered shot that hit JFK in the head depends on what a particular witness recognized as a gunshot. It was also discovered during the test firings done during the making of the movie "JFK" that depending on where a witness was standing during the shooting would determine how many shots the witness heard. For example: Some people were oblivious that an assassination had been underway even as late as when Altgens took his #6 photo. Altgens 6 - see Yarborough smiling - Brehm Clapping - etc.

Bill Miller

[Pat Speer]

I examine the Dealey Plaza surveys and their role in the investigation in Chapters 2 and 3 at patspeer.com. Photos of the SS and FBI exhibits included. While Tom believes that the SS and FBI surveys demonstrate that they KNEW there was a shot after the headshot, and that the WC covered this up, I've concluded the reverse is true. I conclude that, in order to stretch out the shooting scenario, to make it appear that Oswald could have fired all the shots, both the SS and FBI lied about the head shot location. The WC discovered these lies and tried to cover it up by performing a new survey on May 24.

[Paul Rigby]

What ever numbered shot that hit JFK in the head depends on what a particular witness recognized as a gunshot. It was also discovered during the test firings done during the making of the movie "JFK" that depending on where a witness was standing during the shooting would determine how many shots the witness heard. For example: Some people were oblivious that an assassination had been underway even as late as when Altgens took his #6 photo. Altgens 6 - see Yarborough smiling - Brehm Clapping - etc.Bill Miller[/b]

Your problem is, Bill, that we have early eyewitness descriptions of the film which match the first survey, but are not compatible with the film we have been offered since circa the Garrison bootlegs. The obvious answer is that the film has been edited. And if it was, as there is every rational ground for believing, the changes to it cannot have ended with mere excision.

A second point. The purpose of this thread was to make readily accessible to anyone interested as many of the early print descriptions as I could find, for many of them, as you well know, are hard to find, and then only at some cost. I have every confidence Gary Mack has more. How about persuading him to add to the list? If our object is the truth, let's put all the evidence we can in the public domain so that both observers of and participants in the authenticity debate can see why we argue for our respective positions.

I believe in a free flow of information, for better or worse, and have tried, however imperfectly, to practice what I preach. The question is, does Mack believe in open, informed debate?

Paul

[Thomas H. Purvis]

I examine the Dealey Plaza surveys and their role in the investigation in Chapters 2 and 3 at patspeer.com. Photos of the SS and FBI exhibits included. While Tom believes that the SS and FBI surveys demonstrate that they KNEW there was a shot after the headshot, and that the WC covered this up, I've concluded the reverse is true. I conclude that, in order to stretch out the shooting scenario, to make it appear that Oswald could have fired all the shots, both the SS and FBI lied about the head shot location. The WC discovered these lies and tried to cover it up by performing a new survey on May 24.

Your "conclusion" appears to have neglected to mention those witnesses, such as James Altgens, who stated accurately where the Presidential limo/JFK was at the time that the LAST shot fired struck him.

As well as those other witnesses who stated where the Presidential Limo was at the time that the third/last shot was fired.

And, since the Secret Service accurately surveyed in, and had drawn onto the survey plat, the location of the Z312/313 (stationing 4+65) shot as well as the last shot at 4+95, you conclusion has additional errors or rationalization.

The FBI lied and left the third shot IN PLACE at stationing 4+95. It was the Z312/313 shot which they attempted to move back up Elm St, closer to where JBC was seen "reacting".

Lie Caught!-------------yellow mark on curb pretty well threw this one out the window.

P.S. What about all of those earwitnesses who also accurately reported that there was a longer delay between the first and the second shot than there was between the second shot and the third/last/final shot?????

What about the SS Agents who observed the shot to the head at Z312/313 and accurately reported it as having been the SECOND SHOT!

Edited May 14, 2007 by Thomas H. Purvis

[Pat Speer]

Tom, Gauthier wrote a report which accompanied his exhibits. The pertinent section is available at the beginning of Chap. 3 of patspeer.com. While the exhibits showed the limousine in the location of the Z-film head shot at the second shot, his report summarized the z film with an assertion that the head shot was the last shot. The distance between the first shot in the FBI's study and the last shot, was nearly TWICE as long as originally determined by the SS, and as eventually determined by the WC. I think this is more than a coincidence. I suspect they were trying to stretch out the shooting scenario to help sell that Oswald was the lone shooter. Another possibility is that Gauthier worked out the shots under the assumption the head shot was the second shot (he normally built his exhibits in order to support EYEWITNESS testimony) but was then over-ruled by Rosen or some other jackass who told him that the head shot had to be the last shot. Either way, the FBI was guilty of deliberate deception and/or incompetence.

[Bill Miller]

I believe in a free flow of information, for better or worse, and have tried, however imperfectly, to practice what I preach. The question is, does Mack believe in open, informed debate?

Paul, It doesn't matter how many copies Zapruder had made of his film ... how many copies any Federal branch made ... or how many bootlegs Garrison and others made - they all show the same event. And while I too, believe in a free flow of information ... it seems that some folks do not see it as free flowing information when it doesn't support their position. Then what seemingly soon follows with them is a free flow of disinformation.

Bill Miller

[David G. Healy]

I believe in a free flow of information, for better or worse, and have tried, however imperfectly, to practice what I preach. The question is, does Mack believe in open, informed debate?

Paul, It doesn't matter how many copies Zapruder had made of his film ... how many copies any Federal branch made ... or how many bootlegs Garrison and others made - they all show the same event. And while I too, believe in a free flow of information ... it seems that some folks do not see it as free flowing information when it doesn't support their position. Then what seemingly soon follows with them is a free flow of disinformation.

Bill Miller

Sounds like your working a apprenticeship at the 6th floor museum

[Thomas H. Purvis]

Tom, Gauthier wrote a report which accompanied his exhibits. The pertinent section is available at the beginning of Chap. 3 of patspeer.com. While the exhibits showed the limousine in the location of the Z-film head shot at the second shot, his report summarized the z film with an assertion that the head shot was the last shot. The distance between the first shot in the FBI's study and the last shot, was nearly TWICE as long as originally determined by the SS, and as eventually determined by the WC. I think this is more than a coincidence. I suspect they were trying to stretch out the shooting scenario to help sell that Oswald was the lone shooter. Another possibility is that Gauthier worked out the shots under the assumption the head shot was the second shot (he normally built his exhibits in order to support EYEWITNESS testimony) but was then over-ruled by Rosen or some other jackass who told him that the head shot had to be the last shot. Either way, the FBI was guilty of deliberate deception and/or incompetence.

Leo Gauthier was nothing more than a "stooge" for the FBI in their cooperation with Arlen Specter in obfuscation of the evidence as relates to the US Secret Service directed survey and assassination re-enactment of December 1963.

Gauthier was utilized to:

1. Divert attention from the fact that it was a survey and re-enactment of the assassination, and make it appear that the survey work was for making the "Model".

Mr. SPECTER. Did you have occasion to reconstruct certain models to scale in connection with the investigation on the assassination of President Kennedy?

Mr. GAUTHIER. Yes; I did.

Mr. SPECTER. And what model reproduction, if any, did you make of the scene of the assassination itself?

Mr. GAUTHIER. The data, concerning the scene of the assassination, was developed by the Bureau's Exhibits Section, including myself, at the site on December 2, 3, and 4,. of 1963

2. Divert attention to the WC Survey as if it represented something which was accurate.

Mr. SPECTER. Was a survey made of the scene used to record some of the results of that onsite testing?

Mr. GAUTHIER. Yes.

Mr. SPECTER. And by whom was the survey made?

Mr. GAUTHIER. The survey was made on May 24, 1964, by Robert H. West, county surveyor, a licensed State land surveyor, located at 160 County Courthouse, Dallas, Tex.

3. Assist in the "Slight/Sleight-of-Hand" in admission of the May 24, 1964 WC Survey Plat in an un-opened envelope, while "slipping" in the altered survey data block.

Mr. SPECTER. Would you produce the tracing at this time, please?

Mr. GAUTHIER. Yes; the tracing is wrapped, and sealed in this container.

Mr. SPECTER. Without breaking the seal, I will ask you if the cardboard which has been set up here--may the record show it is a large cardboard. I will ask you for the dimensions in just a minute.

Does the printing on the cardboard represent an exact duplication of the tracing which you have in your hand?

Mr. GAUTHIER. Yes.

Mr. SPECTER. May it please the Commission, we will mark the tracing Commission Exhibit No. 882, and not take it out, since the cardboard represents it, and place Commission Exhibit No. 883 on the cardboard drawing itself, and I would like to move for the admission into evidence of both Exhibits Nos. 882 and 883.

The CHAIRMAN. They may be admitted.

As anyone who has followed the bouncing ball of my previous work is aware, what is shown on CE884 IS NOT completely accurate and three of the surveyed in positions have been altered on this exhibit.

161/166/ & 210

http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/...Vol17_0464b.htm

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the WC "slipped" the actual Secret Service Survey Plat, complete with all three impact positions drawn in, in on all off you while you were not looking.

It can be found as CE585 and was admitted during the questioning of Ronald Simmons.

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/simmons.htm

Of course, who would look for it here? And, who would recognize that the three angular lines drawn on this survey plat represent the downward angle of fire for each of the three shots fired, as determined by the US Secret Service in December 1963, prior to the FBI or the WC sticking their nose into this business in order to "clarify" it for all of us poor ole dummies.

Mr. SIMMONS. The marksmen were instructed to take as much time as they desired at the first target, and then to fire--at the first target, being at 175 feet--to then fire at the target emplaced at 240 feet, and then at the one at 265 feet.

Mr. EISENBERG. Can you state where you derived these distances?

Mr. SIMMONS. These distances were the values given on the survey map which were given to us.

Mr. EISENBERG. Are you sure they were not the values I gave to you myself?

Mr. SIMMONS. I stand corrected. These are values--we were informed that the numbers on the survey map were possibly in error. The distances are very close, however.

Mr. EISENBERG. Could you explain your reference to a map? You have made several references to that.

Mr. SIMMONS. I refer to the survey plat which is dated December 5, 1963.

Mr. EISENBERG. That would be Commission 585.

(The document referred to was marked Commission Exhibit No. 585 and received in evidence.)

http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/...Vol17_0144b.htm

Were it not for the screw up of Melvin Eisenberg in asking the wrong question, in which Ronald Simmons answered and revealed the existence of the December 5, 1963 Survey Plat, one can rest assured that this piece of evidence would never have been admitted and would have never existed within the WC documents.

And even then, the first that most had ever heard of this document was when I revealed it's existence, along with some of that information from the survey notes of Mr. Robert West, as determined during this assassination re-enactment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. SIMMONS. Yes; we did. We placed three targets, which were head and shoulder silhouettes, at distances of 175 feet, 240 feet, and 265 feet, and these distances are slant ranges from the window ledge of a tower which is about 30 feet high. We used three firers in an attempt to obtain hits on all three targets within as short a time interval as possible.

Mr. SIMMONS. These distances were the values given on the survey map which were given to us.

Mr. EISENBERG. Are you sure they were not the values I gave to you myself? Mr. SIMMONS. I stand corrected. These are values--we were informed that the numbers on the survey map were possibly in error. The distances are very close, however.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/...Vol17_0464b.htm

Line of sight distance: K-R (Kennedy to Rifle) Z313--265 ft.

Those figures which Melvin Eisenberg gave to Ronald Simmons ARE NOT the distances as shown own the U.S. Secret Service Survey Plat of 21/5/63.

The 175 feet------first shot distance is the same.

The 265 feet------Z313 distance is the same.

However, the 240 feet distance which Melvin Eisenberg gave to Ronald Simmons is in fact the position at which the FBI attemted to move a shot impact back up Elm St. some 25 feet, during the first stages of the progressive lies.

This lie of course only gave a ground distance of less than 25 feet which the Limo would have traversed, through an area in which it had not slowed down.

This short distance is also what created some of the later problems in attempts to accurate fire the rifle in these short time spans.

The U.S. Secret Service slant distance for the impact point of the third/last/final shot, was 294 feet.

The slant distance for the second shot/aka Z312/313 was 267 feet.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lastly, when speaking of the "impact to the head" of JFK, one should qualifiy their statement in order to delete as much confusion as possible.

Therefore, one should refer to either the impact of the second shot fired, which struck JFK in the head at approximately Z312/313, or else one should refer to the impact to the head of JFK by the third/last/final shot fired, which occurred some 30-feet farther down Elm St., directly in front of James Altgens.

Z313------Stationing 4+65.3 aka SECOND SHOT

http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/...Vol17_0464b.htm

http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/...Vol17_0449a.htm

4+95-------impact point of third shot. (4+95 gained from Mr. West's survey notes)

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"Quickly there was a second shot (John had turned to the right at the first shot to look back & had then whirled to the left to get another look---realized the President had been shot said "No, No, No)

Was hit and said "My God, they are are going to kill us all"--Wheeled back to the right crumpling his shoulders and his knees in the most unpleasant & pitiful position a tall big man could be in.

I reached over and pulled him to me & tried to get us both down in the car. Then came a third shot.

With John in my arms and still trying to stay down I did not see the third shot hit--but I felt something falling all over me. My sensation was of spent buckshot. My eyes saw bloody matter in tiny bits all over the car."

Nellie Connally, handwritten notes made 10 days after the event.

http://www.assassinationresearch.com/zfilm/z313.jpg

Certainly would appear that JBC is a long way from being over in Nellie's lap at this point!

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There is little that is complicated about any of this. Other than finding the "Magic Bullet"/aka the third/last/final shot which also struck JFK in the head down in front of James Altgens, at a point some 30 feet past the impact point of the Z312/313 aka/Second shot impact to the head.

Altgens told us of having seen it strike JFK in the head as well as the blood/brain matter being blown in his direction.

Nellie told us of having seen the resulting blood/brain matter being blown all over herself and JBC, AFTER JBC was down in the car across her lap.

Other witnesses told us the approximate location of the Presidential Limo at the time of the last shot.

SS Agents as well as several spectators told us of the impact of the second shot to the top rear of JFK's head.

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The U.S. Secret Service survey work and assassination re-enactment of December 1963 is, for all practical purposes, accurate.

Three shots were fired, the last two of which struck JFK in the head. One at Z312/313 and the last shot some 30-feet farther down the road in front of James Altgens.

It is that simple!

[Pat Speer]

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The U.S. Secret Service survey work and assassination re-enactment of December 1963 is, for all practical purposes, accurate.

Three shots were fired, the last two of which struck JFK in the head. One at Z312/313 and the last shot some 30-feet farther down the road in front of James Altgens.

It is that simple!

Not remotely!!!

While you keep looking at the shot distances, you miss that the SS and FBI, almost from day one, insisted the last shot was the head shot. They were claiming the head shot at 313 was out by the steps. Eisenberg caught them in their "mistake." Gauthier, furthermore, turned in his exhibits before Specter had begun his work. It was up to Specter to clean up his mess... and make a mess of his own.