Chapter 5b: Primary Pieces

Movements and Reactions

The principal piece of evidence used by single-assassin theorists to support the LPM scenario is the Zapruder film.  They claim that the reactions observed in the film, when matched up to the testimony of these witnesses before the Warren Commission, are clear-cut evidence for a first-shot miss.  They also claim that the jiggle analysis of the Zapruder film supports that this first shot miss was between frame 150 and 160.  Conveniently, a miss at so early a point provides a more than three second gap between the first and second shot in their scenario, which  allows Oswald plenty of time to re-aim.  What these theorists won’t tell you, however, is that the biggest jiggle or blur of the Zapruder film prior to Connally being wounded at frame 224 is not between frames 150 and 160, but between frames 190 and 200.  The jiggle or blur at this time, in fact, is far greater than the jiggle or blur apparent after the shot striking Connally at frame 224, so much so that the HSCA would conclude that only two jiggles could “reasonably be attributed to the photographer’s startle reaction to the sound of gunshots” --one at 189-197 and one at 312-334.  When one matches up Figure II-5 from the HSCA report of William Hartmann with a chart created by researcher Don Roberdeau reflecting the head turns of the Kennedys and Connallys, moreover, one finds that although all four of them turn to the right shortly before or after frame 160, President Kennedy alone jerks his head back to the left after frame 190.  This suggests he was hit at this point.  A discussion of the witnesses, and whether their testimony indicates a first shot miss at frame 160 or a first shot hit at frame 190, follows…

First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy sat directly next to the President. (11-29-63 interview with Theodore White, notes released 5-26-95) “They were gunning the motorcycles; there were these little backfires; there was one noise like that; I thought it was a backfire. Then next I saw Connally grabbing his arm and saying no no nononono, with his fist beating—then Jack turned and I turned—all I remember was a blue gray building up ahead, then Jack turned back, so neatly; his last expression was so neat; he had his hand out, I could see a piece of his skull coming off; it was flesh colored not white—he was holding out his hand—and I can see this perfectly clean piece detaching itself from his head; then he slumped in my lap.”  (When describing the immediate aftermath of the shots) "All the ride to the hospital, I kept bending over him saying, "Jack, Jack, can you hear me, I love you, Jack." I kept holding the top of his head down trying to keep the..."  (When describing her husband's condition upon arrival at the hospital) "From here down"--and here she made a gesture indicating her husband's forehead--"his head was so beautiful.  I'd tried to hold the top of his head down, maybe I could keep it in...I knew he was dead." (6-5-64 testimony before the Warren Commission, 5H178-181, with words deleted from the Warren Commission's transcript only to be re-discovered by Harold Weisberg and Mark Sobel presented in bold) “the car was very slow and there weren’t very many people around…I was looking to the left.  I guess there was a noise, but it didn’t seem like any different noise really because there is so much noise, motorcycles and things.  But then suddenly Governor Connally was yelling, “Oh, no, no, no”…I was looking this way, to the left, and I heard these terrible noises. You know. And my husband never made any sound.  So I turned to the right.  And all I remember is seeing my husband, he had this sort of quizzical look on his face, and his hand was up, it must have been his left hand.  And just as I turned to look at him, I could see a piece of his skull sort of wedge-shaped, like that, and I remember that it was flesh colored with little ridges at the top.  I remember thinking he just looked as if he had a slight headache. And I just remember seeing that. No blood or anything. And then he sort of did this (indicating), put his hand to his forehead and fell in my lap.  And then I just remember falling on him and saying, “Oh no, no, no,” I mean, “Oh my God, they have shot my husband.”  And “I love you, Jack,” I remember I was shouting. And just being down in the car with his head in my lap. And it just seemed an eternity. You know, then, there were pictures later on of me climbing out the back. But I don't remember that at all." (When asked if she remembered Secret Service Agent Clint Hill's climbing onto the limo after she climbed out the back.) "I don't remember anything. I was just down like that. And finally I remember a voice behind me, or something, and then I remember the people in the front seat, or somebody, finally knew something was wrong, and a voice yelling, which must have been Mr. Hill, "Get to the hospital," or maybe it was Mr. Kellerman, in the front seat. But someone yelling. I was just down and holding him. I was trying to hold his hair on.  But from the front there was nothing.  I suppose there must have been.  But from the back you could see, you know, you were trying to hold his hair on, and his skull on.”  (When asked how many shots were fired) “Well there must have been two because the one that made me turn around was Governor Connally yelling. And it used to confuse me because first I remembered there were three and I used to think my husband didn’t make any sound when he was shot. And Governor Connally screamed like a stuck pig. And then I read the other day that it was the same shot that hit them both. But I used to think if I only had been looking to the right I would have seen the first shot hit him, then I could have pulled him down, and then the second shot would not have hit him. But I heard Governor Connally yelling and that made me turn around, and as I turned to the right my husband was doing this (indicating with hand at neck). He was receiving a bullet. And those are the only two I remember.” Analysis: although Mrs. Kennedy turns her head to the right in the Zapruder film around the time the LPM scenario holds the first shot was fired, she states she turned her head to the right after hearing a backfire and hearing Governor Connally scream. Governor Connally doesn’t scream out until after frame 240. This suggests the first shot she heard was fiired between 190 and 224, and hit Governor Connally. Now, since she could only recall hearing two shots, one might try to claim she failed to hear the first shot, fired before the shot or shots fired between 190 and 224. But one can't automatically assume this. Since she fails to remember looking at her husband before she looked at Connally, moreover, and fails to remember climbing out on the trunk of the car after the shots, the most one can faithfully take from her statements is that at least two shots were fired and that Governor Connally was wounded before Kennedy was struck at Z-313. Only heard two shots.  First shot hit 190-224.

Texas Governor John Connally sat directly in front of the President. (11-22-63 report of CBS News' Walter Cronkite, quoting Connally's aide William Stinson as to Connally's response when asked from which direction the shots came) "I don't know. I guess from the back. They got the President, too."  (11-27-63 televised interview with Martin Agronsky, transcript printed in the 11-28-63 New York Times.) ”we had just turned the corner, we heard a shot; I turned to my left—I was sitting in the jump seat.  I turned to my left to look in the back seat—the President had slumped.  He had said nothing.  Almost simultaneously, as I turned, I was hit and I knew I had been hit badly.  I knew the President had been hit and I said, “My God, they are going to kill us all.”  Then there was a third shot and the President was hit again and we thought then very seriously.  I had still retained consciousness but the President had slumped in Mrs. Kennedy's lap and when he was hit the second time she said, or the first time—it all happened in such a brief span--she said “Oh,  my God, they have killed my husband—Jack, Jack.”  After the third shot, the next thing that occurred—I was conscious--the Secret Service man, of course, the chauffeur, had pulled out of the line--they said, “Get out of here…” (12-13-63 FBI report CD188, p. 3-5) “Governor Connally stated “First sense or realization of anything unusual I became conscious of a shot or what sounded like a gunshot.  I knew it came from my right rear. I instinctively turned to my right to look back and as I did so I sensed more than I saw that President Kennedy was hit. As I turned I realized something was amiss with President Kennedy and then I turned back to my left a little and as I did so I got hit with a bullet in my right shoulder…I believe I remarked “Oh my God, they are going to kill us all!”  Realizing I had been hit I crumpled over to Mrs. Connally and she pulled me over towards her…I was conscious of a third shot and heard it…we were all splattered with what I thought was brain tissue from President Kennedy.” …When Governor Connally was asked about the elapsed time between the first and last shot he remarked “Fast, my God it was fast.  It seemed like a split second.  Just that quick”   and he snapped his fingers three times rapidly to illustrate the time and said “unbelievably quick…Governor Connally felt the shots were fired so fast the assassin had hit him by accident on the second shot.” (4-21-64 testimony before the Warren Commission, 4H129-146)  “we had gone, I guess, 150 feet, maybe 200 feet, I don’t recall how far it was, heading down to get on the freeway…We had just made the turn, well, when I heard what I thought was a shot.  I heard this noise which I immediately took to be a rifle shot.  I instinctively turned to my right because the sound appeared to come from over my right shoulder, so I turned to look back over my right shoulder, and I saw nothing unusual except just people in the crowd, but I did not catch the President in the corner of my eye, and I was interested…the only thought that crossed my mind was that this is an assassination attempt.  So I looked, failing to see him, I was turning to look back over my left shoulder into the back seat, but I never got that far in my turn.  I got about the position I am in now facing you, looking a little bit left of center, and then I felt like someone had hit me in the back.  (When asked how long it was between the first shot and his feeling the impact)  “A very, very brief span of time…I just looked down and I was covered with blood, and the thought immediately passed through my mind that there were either two or three people involved or more in this or someone was shooting with an automatic rifle.  These were just thoughts that went through my mind because of the rapidity of these two, of the first shot plus the blow that I took…So I merely doubled up, and then turned to my right again and began to—I just sat there, and Mrs. Connally pulled me over to her lap…I reclined with my head in her lap, conscious all the time, and with my eyes open, and then, of course, the third shot sounded, and I heard the shot very clearly.  I heard it hit him.  I heard the shot hit something…I heard it hit.  It was a very loud noise, just that audible, very clear…Immediately, I could see on my clothes, my clothing, I could see on the interior of the car…brain tissue….on my trousers there was one chunk of brain tissue as big as almost my thumb, thumbnail and again I did not see the President at any time either after the first, second, or third shots, but I assumed always that it was he who was hit and no one else. I immediately, when I was hit, I said, “Oh, no, no, no.”  And then I said “My God they are going to kill us all.”  (When asked about the timing of the shots)  “It was a very brief span of time…so much so that again I thought that whoever was firing must be firing with an automatic rifle because of the rapidity of the shots…it just couldn’t conceivably have been the first (bullet which struck him) …when I heard the sound of that first shot, that bullet had already reached where I was, or it had reached that far, and after I heard that shot, I had the time to turn to my right, and start to turn to my left before I felt anything…I never heard the second shot, didn’t hear it…I think I heard the first shot and the third shot.”  Analysis:  Connally’s earliest statements do not support the LPM theory. While he states he turned to his right after hearing the first shot, he more specifically states he turned to look over his right shoulder, which never occurs until long after Z-160 and Z-190, around Z-270.

 

 Connally First Shot Analysis

On page 133 of Connally’s Warren Commission testimony there is a most important exchange. Here, counsel Arlen Specter hands the Governor an overhead photograph of Dealey Plaza and asks him to mark where he was “at the time the shooting first started.”  The Governor states “I would say it would be about where this truck is here.  It looks like a truck.  I would say about in that neighborhood.” He then marks the photo.  This marked photo was placed into evidence as Commission Exhibit 699.  When one compares this photo to the surveyor’s plat of Dealey Plaza, however, one can see that the area marked by Connally is nowhere near where the LPM theory holds Connally to have been when he heard the first shot. When one combines CE 699 with Connally’s testimony that he had gone 150-200 feet down Elm before he heard the first shot, in fact, one should realize the LPM theory is on very shaky ground.  At the time of Z-160, Connally was at best 115 feet down Elm (from the turning point in the middle of Houston). At Z-190, on the other hand, he was approximately 145 feet down Elm.  Ironically, the closest possible shot to the location marked by Connally was Z-224, where he appears to be hit.  The possibility exists, therefore, that Connally was simply confused, and marked CE 699 where he believed he was when first hit, and not where he was when he heard the first shot.

The possibility that Connally felt the first shot could have occurred as early as Z-160, however, is discounted by a Warren Commission memorandum for the record written by counsel Melvin Eisenberg. This memo, written on April 22, 1964, recounted a discussion with Governor Connally from the day before, just prior to Connally’s testimony, and after Connally had repeatedly viewed the Zapruder film.  The memo says, in part: “(d) After viewing the films and slides, the Governor was of the opinion that he had been hit by frame 231. (e) The Governor stated that after being hit, he looked to his right, looked to his left, and then turned to his right.  He felt the President might have been hit by frame 190.  He heard only two shots and felt sure the shots he heard were the first and third shots.  He is positive that he was hit after he heard the first shot, i.e. by the second shot, and by that shot only.”  Thus, we have the Governor giving numbers to the “very, very brief” interval between the first two shots he described in his testimony. While the LPM theory holds that there were almost 3 ½ seconds between the first two shots, the Governor was of the opinion that there were barely 2 seconds.  Since the Governor felt the first shot may have been around frame 190 and struck the President, and since this frame just so happens to correspond to a substantial blur on the Zapruder film and the President’s turning to his left, shouldn’t those supporting Connally as the most important witness, and building their theory around his testimony, hold that the first shot rang out around frame 190 and struck the President?  The problem with this, of course, is that it doesn’t leave enough time for Oswald to effectively re-aim for a second shot at frame 224.  The pre-determined conclusions of the LPM defenders therefore determined the direction of their analysis.  They built their theory around Connally’s testimony while ignoring most of what he said.  This would be acceptable if the bulk of the other witnesses corroborated a missed shot at frame 160. But, as we shall see, they do not.  Far from it.

As the Governor Turns

Still, defenders of the LPM theory will argue that, no matter what Connally’s estimation of the distance he traveled down Elm was, and no matter what time in the Zapruder film Connally felt Kennedy was hit, the four passengers in the back of the limousine all turned to their right shortly before or after frame Z-160, and that therefore there must have been a shot at that time.  Well, that’s quite a leap. Couldn’t there be another explanation for their turning their heads? Governor Connally sure thought so…

(6-22-64 interview on television station KRLD, most of which was re-broadcast on CBS 9-27-64) “just as we turned, down by the courthouse, Nelly turned around and said to the President--she was so impressed by the warmth of the reception-- she turned around and said to the President, ”Well, Mr. President, you can’t say that Dallas doesn’t love you, too” and he said “No I think that’s apparent” and or words to that effect...  The crowds began to thin, but we were only about 5 minutes from the Trade Mart where the luncheon was to be held.  Uh…so…we all more or less straightened up…uh, in the car …uh, I did I know and maybe I should explain that a little bit by sayin’ when you sit for a prolonged period of time as we were, facing one direction acknowledging the crowd why, when you get an opportunity where the crowd thins you kind of shift in the chair and straighten up.  We had just done that.  I had and I heard this shot and I say shot because I immediately thought it was a shot.  And I immediately thought it was a rifle shot. Why?  I don’t know but I immediately thought of an assassination attempt.  It’s the only thing that crossed my mind. Fear just swept through me and I immediately thought of him, of course. I was sitting on the seat in this seven passenger car, immediately in front of him. And I turned, thinking that the shot had come from back over my right shoulder.  And I turned to look in that direction I think motivated by two things, first to see if I could see where the shot came from, see if I could see anything unusual; but equally but more important to me in that moment in my thought processes was a desire to face him, see if anything had happened, see if he was all right.  So I turned and I obviously saw nothing but a tremendous crowd of people from where we had just come.  And I saw nothing unusual, nothing out of the way except people who also had startled looks on their faces, they were turning, they were looking.  And…and I didn’t catch him in the corner of my eye, so I was in the process of turning to my left to look back over my left shoulder, and that’s when I felt the impact of the bullet that hit me. There was no—there was no great pain associated with the bullet that hit me, notwithstanding it went into my back shoulder and came out my chest, right here.  I felt as if someone had just hit me in the back, a sharp blow with a doubled up fist.  It was an impact rather than any sort of searing pain.  It more or less knocked me over at least enough to where I looked down. And of course I was covered in blood, and frankly thought that I had been fatally hit. I said, as I recall “My God, they’re going to kill us all!”  So there was no thought in my mind, really, but that this was an assassination attempt. I did not hear the second shot, the one that hit me.  I understand there’s some question in the minds of the experts about whether or not we could both have been hit by the same bullet and that was the first bullet.  I just don’t happen to believe that.  I won’t believe it, never will believe, because, again, I heard the first shot, I recognized it for what I thought it was.  I had time to turn to try and see what happened.  I was in the process of turning again before I felt the impact of a bullet.  Obviously, if the bullet that hit me hit me before I could hear it, I was never conscious of the sound of the second bullet at all.  I never heard the second bullet.  After I said, “My God, they’re going to kill us all,” I, of course, didn’t know that they’d actually hit the President, because I had not seen him.  He had not said a word. And about that time Nellie pulled me down into—I had turned again in reaction to this bullet and had turned facing my right—and she pulled me down into her lap and put her head down on top of mine and just kept talking to me and saying “You’re going to be all right, you’re going to be all right.”  I was conscious the whole time.  I never lost consciousness and I was lying there and heard the third shot. Now it takes a long time to tell this, Eddie, but this all happened, as you well know, in matter of seconds.  I heard the third shot very distinctly.  I heard it hit.  I assumed that it hit the President. It obviously did.  I did not see it hit him, but I heard it hit.  And I knew obviously—again, if you’ve ever done any firing, even 200 or 300 yards, when you fire a rifle at a deer you know from the sound of that shell, the whine of it, whether or nit it hit its target or whether it didn’t.  Makes a different sound.  Well obviously the third shot hit something because the evidence was splattered all over the car and all over my clothes, all over Nelly. There was no question what had happened. My eyes were open.  I was conscious. “I saw the two Secret Service men in the front seat.  I heard what they said…Roy Kellerman, who was in the right front, between the second and the third shot—between the time I was hit and between the time of the third shot—both the driver and Roy were looking back into the seat to see what had happened.  This was all, again, happening in a matter of seconds and they both had a look of almost consternation on their face. Roy, in the right seat turned around, on a radio communication, obviously working something on the panel of the car, and said, “Get out of the line.”  And then he said, apparently over the radio, “Get us to a hospital quick.” So we immediately pulled out of the caravan and began picking up speed….No, the car never stopped.  And about this time I lost consciousness…It was a time of just unbelievable stark tragedy.  You, uh, so many things go through you mind at that moment that I think it’s probably impossible to relate at any future time all the things that you thought.  I know I thought, again I rather assumed without knowing that the president had been fatally wounded.  And I rather assumed that, uh, that I had been…”    

Analysis:  Connally is clearly telling us his sudden turn to the left prior to frame 160 and his sudden turn back to the right afterwards was him simply straightening out in the car. When one looks at the Croft Photo taken at Zapruder frame 161 and the Betzner photo taken at Zapruder frame 186 one can see that the north side of Elm was still lined with spectators, while a look at any of the Zapruder film frames in this time period shows the south side of Elm to be almost vacant.  It only makes sense then that the four political figures in the limousine would turn their heads to face the north side. This accounts for the sudden turn of all four people roughly at the same time. (It should also be noted that while Croft didn’t hear a shot until seconds after snapping his picture, Betzner heard one just after he clicked. This is undoubtedly supportive of the first shot coming at frame 190 and will be discussed in more detail on the pages to come.)

Should Connally’s words not be enough to convince one that the mass turn to the right of the limousine occupants preceded the first shot, there are also the words of Mary Woodward, who stood on the north side of Elm Street near the Thornton Freeway sign   In an eyewitness account published 11-23-63 she stated “After acknowledging our cheers, he (Kennedy) faced forward again and suddenly there was a horrible, ear-splitting noise.”  A 12-7-63 FBI report reflects she told the FBI much the same:  “she was watching President and Mrs. Kennedy closely, and all of her group cheered loudly as they went by.  Just as President and Mrs. Kennedy went by, they turned and waved at them. Just a second or two later, she heard a loud noise.”  (Kennedy is waving in her direction at frame 190.)

Should one doubt the words of both Governor Connally and Mary Woodward that the limousine occupants turned to the right before the first shot, there is also the testimony of Vickie Adams, who watched the motorcade from the fourth floor of the school book depository.  In her 4-9-64 testimony before the Warren Commission, she stated “I watched the motorcade...proceed around the corner on Elm, and apparently somebody in the crowd called to the late President, because he and his wife both turned abruptly and faced the building…Then we heard—then we were obstructed from the view…A tree.  And we heard a shot, and it was a pause, and then a second shot, and then a third shot.”

The 6-22-64 Connally interview is also important because it is one of the few times he talked about the actions of the Secret Service agents in the front seat, agents Kellerman and Greer. Connally’s assertions that he turned back to his right in reaction to the bullet strike and that he’d already been struck by the time the agents looked into the back seat are strong evidence he was hit long before Zapruder frame 285. This is a critical blow to the pet theory of those holding that Connally was first struck circa Z-285, or later. 

(11-21-65 interview with UPI found in the Brownsville Texas Herald) "'The first inkling I had that anything was amiss was when I heard a sound that I thought was a shot. I tried to turn around in front of the President. I felt a hard impact. ".. . the first lime I knew I had been hit was when I saw blood all over my clothing. 'I said lo Nellie, 'My God! They're going to kill us both.' She kept saying, 'Be still, be still. You're going to be all right.' 'I remember hearing the third shot and knew that someone had been hit a fatal blow. There was blood all over me and the car.' (Connally press conference, 11-23-66, as shown in Rush to Judgment) “Unquestionably, when the first shot was fired, I recognized it as a shot.  I thought of nothing else, but it was a rifle shot.  I turned to my right, I had time to think, I had time to react.  I turned to my right to look back over my right shoulder to see if I could see anything unusual and particularly to see if I could catch him out of the corner of my eye—the President—because I immediately thought it was an assassination attempt the moment I heard the shot.  I didn’t see anything but the general blur of waving, of people moving.  I did not see anything unusual—I did not see the President out of the corner of my eye and I was in the process of turning over to my left shoulder, and had about come to the point where I was looking straight forward again, when I felt the impact of the bullet that hit me...I am convinced beyond any question of a doubt that the first shot that was fired did not hit me. Then I was hit. I have no opinion or recollection of the sound of the shot that hit me. Beyond any question of a doubt the third shot did not hit me.” (11-25-66 article in Life magazine)  “Between the time I heard the first shot and felt the impact of the other bullet that obviously hit me I sensed something was wrong, and said “Oh, no, no, no”…When I heard that first shot and was starting to turn to my right to see what happened, Nellie saw the President’s hands reaching for his throat.  I started to look over my left shoulder, and somewhere in that revolution I was hit.” (Interview with CBS broadcast 6-25-67) “All the shots came from the same place, from back over my right shoulder…Beyond any question, and I'll never change my opinion, the first bullet did not hit me. The second bullet did hit me. The third bullet did not hit me. Now, so far as I'm concerned, all I can say with any finality is that if there is - if the single-bullet theory is correct, then it had to be the second bullet that hit President Kennedy and me.”    

(9-6-78 testimony before the HSCA Vol.1, p. 11-59) “we had just turned onto Elm. We had gone, I suspect, oh, 150, 200 feet when I heard what I thought was a rifle shot and I thought it came from--I was seated right, as you know, the jump seat right in front of the President, and they have a fairly straight back on them so I was sitting up fairly erect. I thought the shot came from back over my right shoulder, so I turned to see if I could catch a sight of the President out of the corner of my eye because I immediately had, frankly, had fear of an assassination because I thought it was a rifle shot. I didn't think it was a blowout or explosion of any kind. I didn't see the President out of the corner of my eye, so I was in the process of, at least I was turning to look over my left shoulder into the back seat to see if I could see him. I never looked, I never made the full turn. About the time I turned back where I was facing more or less straight ahead, the way the car was moving, I was hit. I was knocked over, just doubled over by the force of the bullet. It went in my back and came out my chest about 2 inches below and the left of my right nipple. The force of the bullet drove my body over almost double and when I looked, immediately I could see I was just drenched with blood. So, I knew I had been badly hit and I more or less straightened up. At about this time, Nelly reached over and pulled me down into her lap. I was in her lap facing forward when another shot was fired. I only heard two shots. I did not hear the shot that hit me. I wasn't conscious of it. I am sure I heard it, but I was not conscious of it at all. I heard another shot. I heard it hit. It hit with a very pronounced impact, just [slap of hands] almost like that. Almost that loud a sound; it made a very, very strong sound. Immediately, I could see blood and brain tissue all over the interior of the car and all over our clothes. We were both covered with brain tissue, and there were pieces of brain tissue as big as your little finger. It was something that was unmistakable. There was no question in my mind about what it was. About this moment in time, Roy Kellerman, who was the Secret Service agent sitting in the right-front seat, pushed, apparently was pushing some buttons on the panel, doing what, I don't know. I heard him say, "Let's get out of here fast," and the car lurched forward then. Bill Greer was the driver. He accelerated it tremendously.  When I was hit, or shortly before I was hit--no, I guess it was after I was hit--I said first, just almost in despair, I said, "no, no, no, just thinking how tragic it was that we had gone through this 24 hours, it had all been so wonderful and so beautifully executed. The President had been so marvelously received and then here, at the last moment this great tragedy. I just said, "no, no, no, no". Then I said right after I was hit, I said, "My God, they are going to kill us all. The shots came, in my judgment, the two shots I heard came from the same direction, back over my right shoulder, came from behind us. Very clear to me where they came from. I don't think any shots came from any other direction. I was conscious until we hit the Stemmons Freeway and then I faded into unconsciousness.  I would have to volunteer the very, very strong opinion, I know much has been written, much has been discussed, I was being a participant, I can only give you my impressions, but I must say to you, as I said to the Warren Commission, I do not believe, nor will I ever believe, that I was hit with the first bullet. I don't believe that. I heard the first shot. I reacted to the first shot and I was not hit with that bullet.  Now, there's a great deal of speculation that the President and I were hit with the same bullet. That might well, be, but it surely wasn't the first bullet and Nelly doesn't think it's the second bullet. I don't know, I didn't hear the second bullet. I felt the second bullet. We obviously weren't hit by the third bullet. I was down reclining in her lap at the time the third bullet hit.” (When asked how long it was between shots) “I think it is impossible for me to say with precision, but obviously a very short period of time, a matter of seconds, because it was, you know, I think undoubtedly a fairly fluid movement. I heard the shot, I reacted by looking, I saw nothing, and I was in the process of turning when I felt the impact. I guess 6, 8, or 10 seconds, in that range, but I certainly couldn't be more precise than that, but it wasn't long.” (When asked if the shots were instantaneous) “No, it was not. It could not have been 1 second.” 

(11-13-83 UPI article found in the Paris Texas News) "Connally was conscious, his eyes open, when the bullet hit Kennedy's head. "It hit with a loud bang." He illustrates now by smacking his left palm with his right fist. "And then blood and brain tissue were all over the car, all over us." (The Men Who Killed Kennedy, broadcast 1988) “I heard what I thought was a rifle shot.  I immediately reacted by turning to look over my right shoulder because that’s where the sound came from.  I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary and was in the process of turning to look over my left shoulder when I felt a blow in the middle of my back as if someone had hit me with a doubled-up fist about like that. The blow was of such force that it bent me over, and I immediately saw that I was covered with blood, and I knew I’d been hit.  And I said “Oh, my God, they’re going to kill us all.  And I heard another shot. There was a last shot almost like that, and I immediately saw blood and brain tissue all over the back of the limousine.” (Interview with Larry King on CNN, January, 1992) "I thought I heard a rifle shot...I turned to look over my right shoulder because that's where the sound came from. And I saw nothing out of the corner of my eye and I turned to look over my left shoulder. About the time I got square again, Larry, I felt a blow (slaps hands together) about like that, as if someone had hit me in the back with a closed fist. It knocked me over and as I looked down I was covered with blood... Conscious, and I said 'My God, they're gonna kill us all!'...I said it out loud...No pain, nope...just a thud. I felt no pain after that. Nellie then immediately pulled me down into her lap. And about that time ((slaps hands together) we heard another sound, another rifle shot. The loud smack was the bullet hitting the President's head... Immediately after that smacking sound the whole car was covered with blood and brain tissue. There were chunks of brain tissue as big as my little finger on my clothes." (CBS program "Who Killed JFK?," broadcast 1992) "To me, it's just inconceivable that the first shot that went through the throat, through the neck, entered my back.  I don't believe that. I don't wanna believe that. They can't run enough tests to make me believe that." (In History’s Shadow, 1993) “I happen to support the major findings of the Warren Commission.  I believe there were errors, including the so-called “magic bullet.”  My ear and my body told me that I was not wounded in three places by a bullet that hit President Kennedy. I remain convinced that he was hit twice, and I once, by three separate shots.”

Analysis: in late 1966, when public skepticism about the single-bullet theory became rampant, Connally was in a bit of a bind.  The Warren Commission had ignored his testimony that he had not been hit by the first shot and had instead presented that scenario as the most likely scenario.  Through his 1966 interviews and beyond, he let the powers-that-be know that he would agree that he may have been hit by the same bullet as Kennedy, as long as they decided that it wasn’t the first bullet fired. Shortly thereafter, CBS conducted its investigation concluding that this was indeed the case.  Since that point, until 2006, when Mark Fuhrman offered a single-assassin scenario which did not include a miss, all prominent single-assassin scenarios have taken as gospel a first shot miss and a second shot striking both Kennedy and Connally. Connally’s “playing ball” with the government after that point is made most clear by a subtle change between his Warren Commission and HSCA testimony.  While Connally initially testified the time difference between the first two shots was “very, very brief” and indicative of automatic rifle fire or more than one assassin; by 1978 this gap was now as much as 10 seconds.  Connally, a veteran, a hunter, and a former Secretary of the Navy, knew full well that a bolt-action rifle could be fired within 6 to 10 seconds, and that by stretching out the time span between the shots, he was helping to sell the single-assassin scenario.  

Beyond his insistence that he was not hit by the first shot, or the third shot, it’s difficult to take Connally’s testimony at face value. While he testified he turned to look over his right shoulder just prior to being struck and that he never saw the President during the shooting sequence, the Zapruder film shows him look back at the President after he was hit (at around frame 274).  From this, one can only assume that Governor Connally’s memory was negatively affected by his experience. A 2004 article in the Journal of Law and Psychiatry by Charles Morgan et al examined the impact of extreme stress on eyewitness testimony.  Morgan found that when military personnel were subjected to mock prisoner of war interrogations, and threatened with physical violence, and were asked the next day to identify the interrogators and guards, their identifications were only 30% accurate.  Conversely, those interrogated in a less stressful environment were able to identify their captors with 62% accuracy. This suggests we should pay less attention to Mrs. Kennedy’s and Governor Connally’s recollections and more attention to the recollections of those around them. Still, due to Governor Connally’s recollection of stretching before the first shot, his approximation of where the first shot occurred for the Warren Commission, and his initial approximation of the time span between the shots, we can safely put Connally in the first shot 190 category.  First shot 190-224. Was aware of two shots between 190 and 224.

 

Bodies in Motion, Time Standing Still

When one compares the Zapruder film to the testimony of the Mrs. Kennedy and Governor Connally, one can’t help but notice how fragile their memories were.  In frame 230, for example, we see Mrs. Kennedy looking at her husband.  This is before Governor Connally begins to yell.  Similarly, Governor Connally turns to look over his right shoulder in the frames between Z-270 and 288, and yet this is after he has obviously been hit.  Neither of them remembered looking at the President at these times.  Perhaps, by looking at the testimony and statements of the other three occupants of the limousine, the sequence of events will become more clear. (Perhaps not.)

First Lady of Texas Nellie Connally sat directly to the left of her husband and directly in front of Jackie Kennedy: (11-22-63 WFAA report on a press conference given by Connally aide Julian Read, who had just spoken to Mrs. Connally.) “The car had turned to the left on Elm Street and was getting ready to go under the Triple Underpass. At that moment, Mrs. Connally said she heard a shot. Instantly, when she heard the shot, her husband turned to see what had happened and at that instant he too was shot. Mrs. Connally says she believes the first shot was the one that struck President Kennedy in the head. There was a second shot. That shot struck Governor Connally in the back, and coming out of his body in the right chest. There are reports of a third shot and Governor Connally has a wound on his wrist and that could be the result of that third pistol shot, although Mrs. Connally is not certain whether there was a third shot or not.  She said immediately after the first shot Mrs. Kennedy grabbed her husband. After the second shot Mrs. Connally grabbed her husband.  All four of them ducked down into the car to escape any further fusillade of shots.”  (11-22-63 UPI article on Read’s press conference.) “Mrs. John Connally, wife of the wounded Governor of Texas, said today she thinks President Kennedy was shot first….(Quoting Read)'They got ready to go through the underpass. Mrs. Connally heard a shot. When the first shot was fired, Connally turned in his seat and almost instantly was hit.  She does not know about the third shot.  But it may have been the one that hit the governor’s wrist…Jackie grabbed the President and Mrs. Connally grabbed Connally and they both ducked down in the car…Mrs. Connally does not remember her husband saying anything.”  (Notes written on 12-2-63, as reprinted in her book From Love Field, 2003) “then I heard a loud, terrifying noise…I turned and looked toward the President just in time to see him clutch his neck and see him sink down in his seat. There was no utterance of any kind from him…I had no sure knowledge as to what the noise was…Quickly, there was a second shot, John had turned to the right at the first shot to look back and then whirled to the left to get another look…John said, “No, No, No,” was hit himself by a second shot and said “My God, they are going to kill us all,” wheeled back to the right, crumpling his shoulders to his knees…I reached over and pulled him to me…Then came a third shot.” (12-13-63 FBI report, CD188, p.6-7) “she was facing the front of the car when the first shot was fired and turned to her right towards President Kennedy and saw him with his hand at his throat and then slump down. …almost immediately Governor Connally recoiled in the opposite direction from her and was heard to remark “My God, they are going to kill us all.” She had feelings that buck shot was falling all around them and then she realized it was probably brain matter from President Kennedy’s head…When asked about the lapse of time between the first and last shots she replied “About like saying “crack, crack, crack.”  She sensed that Governor Connally had been hit when she heard the second shot and she turned to hold him…The direction of all shots were from somewhere to the rear of the car.” 

(4-21-64 testimony before the Warren Commission, 4H146-149) “When we got past this area I did turn to the President and said “Mr. President you can’t say Dallas doesn’t love you.” Then I don’t know how soon, it seems to me it was very soon, that I heard a noise…I turned over my right shoulder and looked back, and saw the President as he had both hands at his neck…he made no utterance, no cry.  I saw no blood, no anything.  It was just sort of nothing, the expression on his face, and he just sort of slumped down.  Then very soon there was the second shot that hit John.  As the first shot was hit, and I turned to look at the same time, I recall John saying, “Oh, no, no, no.”  Then there was a second shot, and it hit John, and as he recoiled to the right, just crumpled like a wounded animal to the right, he said, “My God, ,they are going to kill us all”…I never again looked in the back seat of the car after my husband was shot…I remember that he turned to the right and then just slumped down into the seat, so that I reached over to pull him toward me…The third shot that I heard I felt, it felt like spent buckshot falling all over us, and then, of course, I too, could see that it was the matter, brain tissue, or whatever, just human matter, all over the car and both of us...(The time between the first and second shot was) Very short.  It seemed to me that there was less time between the first and the second than between the second and the third.  (At the time of the first shot) The underpass was in sight…(When asked about the Zapruder film, she said she thought her husband was shot at frame) “229—it could have been through the next three to four frames.” (Article in McCall’s magazine, August, 1964) “in that instant the first shot rang out, I heard it and though I handle guns myself and am familiar with rifles, I did not in that split second realize it was gunfire…I looked directly at the President.  He clutched his throat with both hands, and I felt sure he was dead.  His face went blank.  There was no pain or shock or fear just nothingness.  His face was completely expressionless, as if the person had gone.  Sitting on my right, John, the Governor, turned very fast to his right trying to look around at the President.  Not getting him in his line of vision, he started turning to his left and the second bullet hit him.  I heard John say, “They’re going to kill us all”  He recoiled  to his right and slumped over, still upright in his seat…I pulled him down onto my lap and bent over him…I heard the third shot and the Secret Service command to pull out of the motorcade and drive to the nearest hospital, but after John was hit, I didn’t look back again.”  (11-25-66 article in Life magazine) “First I heard the shot, or a strange loud noise...back behind us. Then next I turned to my right and saw the President gripping at his throat.  Then I turned back toward John, and I heard the second shot that hit John…I must have been looking right at him because I saw him recoil to the right.” (Interview with CBS broadcast 6-25 and 6-26-67) “They all came from the same direction….behind us, over my right shoulder. You see the first one, the first sound, the first shot, I heard and turned and looked right into the President’s face. So the sound drew me to that direction and had a definite reaction…He was clutching his throat, and just slumped down. He just had a - a look of nothingness on his face. He-he didn't say anything. But that was the first shot.  The second shot, that hit John - well, of course, I could see him covered with - with blood, and his - his reaction to a second shot. The third shot, even though I didn't see the President, I felt the matter all over me, and I could see it all over the car.  So I'll just have to say that I think there were three shots, and that I had a reaction to three shots. And - that's just what I believe.” 

(9-6-78 testimony before the HSCA, Vol.1 p.11-59) “I heard a noise that I didn't think of as a gunshot. I just heard a disturbing noise and turned to my right from where I thought the noise had come and looked in the back and saw the President clutch his neck with both hands. He said nothing. He just sort of slumped down in the seat.  John had turned to his right also when we heard that first noise and shouted, "no, no, no," and in the process of turning back around so that he could look back and see the President--I don't think he could see him when he turned to his right--the second shot was fired and hit him.  He was in the process of turning, so it hit him through this shoulder, came out right about here. His hand was either right in front of him or on his knee as he turned to look so that the bullet went through him, crushed his wrist and lodged in his leg. And then he just recoiled and just sort of slumped in his seat.  I thought he was dead…the only thing I could think of to do was to pull him down out of the line of fire…So, I pulled him down in my lap… I never looked back after John was hit. I heard Mrs. Kennedy say, "they have shot my husband.”  Then, I heard a third shot and felt matter cover us and she said, "They have killed my husband, I have his brains in my hand". I thought John was dead, and I heard the Secret Service man say, "Let's get out of here quick." So, we pulled out of the motorcade and we must have been a horrible sight flying down that freeway with those dying men in our arms and going to no telling where.” (Interview with Diane Sawyer on 60 Minutes, 1988) "And then the shot. I looked right at the President cause I was in the seat in front of Jackie, and I saw it--saw him clutch his throat. Then I heard the second shot and John just collapsed. I pulled him down and tried to cover him." (11-22-88 Interview on KTRK TV, as reported in an 11-23-88 AP article) "Nellie Connally recalled that she heard a noise and turned, but didn't realize it was gunfire. "John knew that it was a shot," she said.  'I just heard a noise and turned and saw the president clutch his throat and sink into the part of the car where he was sitting. Then I knew something terribly bad had happened." Nellie Connally said she pulled her husband into her lap after he was shot and kept telling him "it's going to be all right." At first I thought he was dead." She said once her husband was in her lap and she was hovering over him, a third shot rang out. "Then there was matter all over us and all over the
car. I knew then that the president had to be — had to be dead."

(Interview with Larry King on CNN, January, 1992) "I turned at the first noise, but I didn't recognize it as a gunshot, just a noise. And I turned and I saw the President reach up and (unintelligible) clutch his throat. And he just sat down. He said nothing...Then there was the second shot--well, John was twirling around, and he was hit...He didn't hear the second bullet. You don't hear the one that hits you...All this happened in seconds. I reached over and grabbed him and pulled him down in my lap...I never looked back in the back again after I had John in my lap. But the third shot--all this matter and everything sprayed all over us." (Interview with Larry King on CNN, 7-4-2002, replayed 11-24-2002) “I heard this noise.  And it came from the back of me.  And I looked back toward the president and saw his hands just fly up to his neck and he slumped down.  He said not one word…I didn’t know for sure that it was a gunshot when I heard it…It was just a noise.  We had noises around.  John knew it was a gunshot.  And he turned to see the president…He couldn’t see him.  So he whirled to the other side and he still couldn’t see him.  And in the process of moving back, the second shot hit John…From the same place…Well, then we had a third shot…From the same place…bloody matter covered the car and covered all of us…Three shots, three reactions.” (When asked about the single-bullet theory) “That’s baloney.” (When asked about the possibility shots were fired from the knoll) “Well, maybe there was.  But in my mind, by the time we passed the grassy knoll, got to the grassy knoll, everything that happened in that car had already happened.”

(From Love Field, 2003) “A moment later, a terrifying noise erupted behind us.  Instinctively, I felt it was a gunshot.  I looked back and saw the President’s hands fly up to his throat…From the corner of my eye, I saw my husband, John, turn clockwise in his seat…”No, no, no!” he cried out.  Then—a second shot.  My husband spun in his seat.  He had been hit in the back by the second bullet.  “My God,” he blurted, “they are going to kill us all!”—then crumpled forward…I pulled him into my lap…A third shot rang out.” (Interview with Houston PBS, 2003) "I heard this loud noise...When I heard this noise, it came over my right shoulder, and I turned around. And I didn't know at first what it was because the motorcycles, you know, backfire and make all that noise,  But I knew it was not a good noise.  And I turned back just in time to see the president's hands fly up to his neck and then he just sunk down a few inches in the car.  John, who is seated in front of him...he knew that was a gunshot.  And he turned to his right but he couldn't see the President who was directly behind him.  So then he flipped to his left and he still couldn't see him and he said "No, no, no," and turned back.  And when he got about half-way back the second shot hit John Connally and he said "My God, they're gonna kill us all!"  And then just collapsed forward, blood everywhere.  Now I know this takes longer than six seconds but it happened, all happened in six seconds ....I just pulled him over...across my lap...While I had him down there was the third shot...Tiny bloody matter was all over whatever part of the interior of the car there was and all over our clothes so I knew that had been a pretty powerful shot.  That's the one that took the President's head...Jackie said, "They've killed my husband!  I have his brains in my hand." That's when I knew it was head." (Interview on The View, 11-21-2003) "I heard this noise. I didn't know what it was but I tried to look at the President and his hands flew up to his neck and he sort of sunk down in his seat. He didn't say a word, but his eyes looked so troubled. John, who was seated in front of the President, knew it was a gun shot. He turned to his right--to see the President--but he couldn't see him. So he turned to his left--and he couldn't see him. On the way back--about midway--he was shot with the second shot...The third shot came, and I couldn't turn around because the weight of my husband in my lap. But I heard Jackie say 'They've killed my husband. I have his brains in my hand.' And then all around us--all over the car--was a bloody mass of--it looked like buckshot is the best way--all over the car and all over us and our clothes--and that was when the President took the third shot in the head." (From an 11-22-03 WBAP radio program on Youtube) "And I heard this loud noise that I was not certain what it was. But I turned toward the noise. When I turned I could look right at the President. And I saw his hands fly up to his neck. John, who sitting in front of him, turns to his left, and this takes seconds. And the second shot went through John Connally. He said 'My God, they're going to kill us all.' There was a third shot. The car was covered. We were covered with a bloody matter that I assumed was the President's head." (Interview with Larry King on CNN, 11-22-2003) "I heard this noise...I wasn't sure it was a gunshot because the motorcycles had been , you know, backfiring all around us.  But I knew it was something and I turned and looked just in time to see his hands fly up to his face.  And he just sunk down in the car.  Said not a word.  He had just a strange look in his eyes and said nothing...(My husband) turned quick...to his right and he couldn't see him because he was directly in front of him.  And he said "No, no, no" and turned to his left and he still couldn't see him.  Now this is a second or two. Then as he whirled back, the second shot hit John...It went under his shoulder, out through--under the nipple. It went through--it took out five inches of his fifth rib and went through one of his lungs...It crushed this wrist and, you know, shot the cufflink off...And then it landed in his leg...John said, "My God, they're going to kill us all," and just fell over.  Blood everywhere.... There was a third shot...I heard the third shot and then, bloody matter, like buck shot, little pieces were all over the interior of the car, all over our clothes...(When asked about the single-bullet theory) "Well, let me ask you this, do you think a bullet that went through the president's neck can hang there in air between the two seats while John turned to the right, turned to the left and came back?  That's what I asked the Warren Commission.  I said, "I don't believe a bullet could do that." That bullet--the same bullet did not hit both of them." (11-23-2003 article in Dallas Morning News) “His hands flew up to his neck…and he sank down in his seat. He didn’t say a word…John…turned to his right, and couldn’t see him, so he flips to his left, and he still can’t see him.  And he says, “No, no, no.”  And when he was trying to turn back, the second shot came.  John said “My God they’re trying to kill us all!”…Then he collapsed…he fell forward…Then came the third, most damaging shot.”

Analysis:  Mrs. Connally’s statements are a hodgepodge of what she remembers mixed with what her husband told her he remembered, mixed with her inaccurate recollections of what he told her he remembered. Her latter-day statements that her husband yelled out “no, no, no” while turning to the left before he was hit, and that he was hit while spinning back around to his right are but one example. The Zapruder film shows that Connally yelled out both “no, no, no” and “my God” as he faced his right between Z-240 and 260, and never turned to his left in between. Furthermore, while the break between these utterances is around Z-250, Mrs. Connally testified before the Warren Commission that she felt her husband was hit by Z-229. These inconsistencies in her testimony make interpreting her words difficult. Even so, her testimony is clearly not supportive of the LPM theory. She insists that the President was hit by the first shot.  She also distinctly remembers her husband being hit after she witnessed Kennedy raise his arms to his throat. This is indicative that either she failed to actually hear a second shot or that she failed to immediately recognize that her husband had been hit. There is reason to believe, then, unless one is to assert that she is completely mistaken, that she witnessed a first shot hit on the President at approximately frame 190 and a second shot hit on her husband at frame 224…and that she was simply in error in her recollection of when her husband cried out in relation to the shots. Finally, while some might wish to present her remembrance of a last shot head shot as conclusive, her original thoughts as communicated by Read on 11-22-63 were, in fact, a blur. She was most likely too pre-occupied with pulling her husband to safety to accurately assess the locations of impact on Kennedy. She saw him reach for his neck, and originally believed this was in response to a first shot head shot. She later changed her mind about this, of course. But the point is that she initially did not know which shot struck Kennedy in the head, and only decided it was the third shot after thinking it over for a few days. First shot hit 190-224. Was aware of two shots between 190 and 224.

Another point worth making about Mrs. Connally’s statements is that, late in life, she was influenced or victimized by LPM theorists.  While in both her original notes and in her various testimony she stated that she saw President Kennedy clutch at his throat after the first shot, she described this clutching as his hands flying up to his throat in her final statements.. This feeds into the LPM theory that President Kennedy’s arms flew up after he was hit as a result of a neurological response and not as a conscious act.  This allows the LPM theorists to explain why President Kennedy appears to respond to the shot at 224 as early as 225, much faster than would normally be expected. While Mrs. Connally is totally within her rights to change her impressions of the President’s actions, this change of “clutch” to “flying up to” is more insidious than at first meets the eye, as the change not only takes place in the text of her 2003 memoir At Love Field, but in a transcription in the book made from her original notes. That’s right: in the transcription of her notes it is reported that the President’s hands flew up to his neck, but in the notes themselves, thankfully re-printed in her book for all to see, it is reported that she saw the President ‘”clutch” his neck. This indicates that either Mrs. Connally herself or her co-writer Mickey Herskowitz, was not above misrepresenting the evidence a little to help support the LPM theory.  This is disappointing.  Unfortunately, this is far from an isolated incident.  As one reads through the many eyewitness accounts one witnesses a great many such incidents, where witnesses under the influence of one theory or another subtly change their testimony to make it “fit.”  Another example of Mrs. Connally’s willingness to support the government line is her statement that all the shots came from the same location, behind her right shoulder.  As she was lying flat in the limousine at the time of the third shot, “behind us, over my right shoulder” would mean the third shot came from the south, and not the Texas School Book Depository.  Perhaps by reading the accounts of the two secret service agents in the car, we will come to a better understanding of what happened.

William Greer was the driver of the limousine. (12-10-63 FBI report, CD7 p.4, based upon an  11-22-63 FBI interview)  “He advised that the throngs of people were great and that he had just emerged from the congested area of people and was proceeding into an open area of the highway, which a short distance away passed beneath an overpass. Greer stated that he first heard what he thought was possibly a motorcycle backfire and glanced around and noticed that the President had evidently been hit.  He thereafter got on the radio and communicated with the other vehicles, stating that they desired to get the President to the hospital immediately. Greer stated that at the time this incident occurred, he was traveling at the rate of 12 miles per hour...” (11-27-63 FBI interview, CD7 p.9-11) “Greer estimated that the motorcade was traveling at a speed of 15-20 miles per hour down the main thoroughfare...The procession made a right turn, facing in the direction of the Book Depository Building, and then a left turn, bringing the motorcade in front of this building which was then on the right. The same speed was maintained as the motorcade passed in front of this building and Greer estimates that he had crossed the center line of the building when he heard a noise which sounded like a motorcycle backfire. On hearing this noise he glanced to his right toward Kellerman and out of the corner of his eye noticed that the Governor appeared to be falling toward his wife.  He thereafter recalls hearing some type of outcry after which Kellerman said, “Let’s get out of here!” (11-28-63 report, 18H 723) “There was a right turn for about half a block and then a left turn. At this point, I would say that the President's automobile was traveling about 12-15 miles per hour. A short distance ahead the street passed under a railroad or expressway. A building stood on the right side of us that would have been the last building we would have to pass before entering the underpass. The President’s automobile was almost past this building and I was looking at the overpass that we were about to pass under in case someone was on top of it, when I heard what I thought was the backfire of a motorcycle behind the President’s automobile. After the second shot, I glanced over my right shoulder and saw Governor Connally start to fall, I knew then that something was wrong and immediately pushed the accelerator to the floor and Mr. Kellerman said get out of here.” (3-9-64 testimony before the Warren Commission, 2H112-132) (When asked how far they were from the overpass when the first shot rang out) “I wouldn't have a distance recollection…It wasn't too far…Well, when we were going down Elm Street, I heard a noise that I thought was a backfire of one of the motorcycle policemen. And I didn't--it did not affect me like anything else. I just thought that it is what it was… And then I heard it again. And I glanced over my shoulder. And I saw Governor Connally like he was starting to fall. Then I realized there was something wrong. I tramped on the accelerator, and at the same time Mr. Kellerman said to me, "Get out of here fast." And I cannot remember even the other shots or noises that was.  I cannot quite remember any more. I did not see anything happen behind me any more, because I was occupied with getting away.” (When asked how many shots he heard) “I know there was three that I heard - three. But I cannot remember any more than probably three. I know there was three anyway that I heard…I knew that after I heard the second one, that is when I looked over my shoulder, and I was conscious that there was something wrong, because that is when I saw Governor Connally. And when I turned around again, to the best of my recollection there was another one, right immediately after.” (When asked how much time elapsed between the first and second shots.) “It seems a matter of seconds, I really couldn't say. Three or four seconds.”  (When asked how much time elapsed between the second and third shots.) “The last two seemed to be just simultaneously, one behind the other, but I don't recollect just how much, how many seconds were between the two. I couldn't really say.” (When asked to describe the sound of the second shot when compared to the first) "The second one didn't sound any different much than the first one but I kind of got, by turning around, I don't know whether I got a little concussion of it, maybe when it hit something or not, I may have gotten a little concussion that made me think there was something different to it. But so far as the noise is concerned, I haven't got any memory of any difference in them at all." (11-19-64 interview with author William Manchester RIF#180-10116-10119) "After the second shot I glanced back. I saw blood on the Governor's white shirt, and I knew we were in trouble. The blood was coming out of his right breast. When I heard the first shot, I had thought it was a backfire. I was tramping on the accelerator and at the same time Roy was saying, let's get out of here fast." (12-6-70 phone interview by Roy Ennis posted on Youtube by Vince Palamara) "I didn't know at first that, whether it was a shot or not. I thought it might be a motorcycle policeman's motorcycle. That's what I said. But then I said that when I looked over my shoulder and saw the blood on the governor's shirt, y'know, on his white shirt, then I knew it was blood coming out. And then I knew it was trouble. (When asked how many times he looked back) "Just the one time, after the governor was hit." (When asked if he saw the president hit) "I didn't really see the president at all...I had a car in front of me and couldn't see very much." (2-28-78 interview with HSCA investigator, file # 180-10099-10491) "The first shot sounded to him like a backfire. He did not react to it. After the second shot he turned to his right and saw blood on Governor Connally's shirt. At the same moment he heard Kellerman say 'We're hit. Let's get out of here,' or words to that effect. He said he immediately accelerated and followed the pilot car to Parkland Hospital...Greer does not recall the third and final shot. He heard nothing from the back of the car; his mind shut it out, and he concentrated on driving at a high rate of speed to Parkland Hospital." 

Analysis:  Greer may have heard four shots. While he repeatedly reported he turned around and saw Connally fall (an apparent reference to Connally’s collapsing into his wife’s arms between frames 287 and 303) after hearing the second shot, and he can be seen turned around in Zapruder frame 279, he testified before the Warren Commission that the last two shots were simultaneous. He couldn’t have heard two shots before he turned around and two shots after he turned back and still have heard three. As Greer, in his original statement, failed to mention how many shots he heard, and as he only told the Warren Commission he heard three shots after being asked a direct question, it seems possible he was trying to skirt the issue. Still, he let what was probably his true impressions sneak into his testimony.  He testified that after Kellerman told him to “take off,” he couldn’t remember how many “shots or noises” he heard--when officially there could be but one. He also let it slip that after he turned back around from looking at Connally, which he does not do till frame 318, he heard another shot “right immediately after.” Sounds like the man heard four shots. That he later told an HSCA investigator he could recall hearing but two shots suggests the possibility he heard two shots together at the time of the head shot, and was trying to avoid discussing as much.

Still, maybe he interpreted the sounds of the gun fire and impact within the car as separate shots. If so, his testimony regarding the second shot that " I got a little concussion of it, maybe when it hit something or not" would certainly suggest the second shot he heard was the head shot, followed closely by the sounds of the bullet fragments impacting the windshield and its frame. The 12-10 FBI report contributes to the confusion surrounding Greer. Here, Greer reportedly says he saw the President when he turned around and that he used the radio to contact the other cars.  From this, it seems likely the author of the report simply got his agents  confused, as Agent Kellerman, riding next to Greer, readily admitted to both seeing the President and using the radio.  The disparity between what Greer claims to remember and the Zapruder film, however, is not so easily explained. While Greer can be seen looking back into the limousine at frame 279, and turning back around at 292 after Connally begins to fall, he looks back again at frame 302 and appears to be looking directly at the President at the moment of the head shot. Only after this shot has struck the President, around frame 318, does Greer turn back around and accelerate the limousine.  This is in disagreement with his statement that he pressed down the accelerator just after seeing the Governor fall. Perhaps, as some suggest, Greer was part of the conspiracy. Just as likely, however, in light of his trying to avoid the issue of how many shots he heard (not exactly conspirator-like behavior), Greer simply blocked the explosion of the President’s skull out of his mind, or missed it while turning away.  Perhaps this was his guilty conscience at work, as he’d failed to take evasive action in a timely fashion.  In any regard, his testimony that the last two shots were “simultaneous” puts his statements at odds with the LPM scenario.  Probably heard four shots.  Was aware of two shots prior to frame 279.  Last two shots bunched together (with the last shot probably after the head shot).

Roy Kellerman sat on the passenger side of the front seat. (12-10-63 FBI report, CD7 p.3, based upon an 11-22-63 FBI interview) “he advised he heard a shot and immediately turned around, looking past Governor Connally…to the President.  He observed the President slump forward and heard him say “Get me to a hospital.”  Mr. Kellerman then heard Mrs. Kennedy say “Oh, no!” as the President leaned towards her…He stated he distinctly heard three shots. He advised he did not see the Governor get hit, nor did he observe the second bullet hit the President.” (11-27-63 FBI interview, CD p.5-8) “Towards the end of town, the vehicle came to a sharp right turn in the street. Few people were on either side at this time. In a matter of a block, the road veered to the left. There were extremely few people on either side of the road at this point. The vehicle was still going at the normal speed which Kellerman estimated to be approximately 15 miles per hour...Kellerman advised he does not recall passing the Texas State Book Depository Building. He advised the vehicle appeared to be going down a small decline at which time everybody in the car was seated. Kellerman said he heard a noise like a firecracker...Upon hearing a noise like a firecracker, he distinctly and positively heard the President say “My God, I’ve been hit.” Kellerman advised he immediately turned his head to the left rear and almost instantaneously heard two additional shots.  Upon turning his head to his left, he observed President Kennedy with his left hand in back of him appearing to be reaching to a point on his right shoulder. The President fell on Mrs. Kennedy’s lap. She stated, “My God, what are they doing to you?” Governor Connally never said a word.” (11-29-63 report, 18H724-727) “As the motorcade completed the main thoroughfare through Dallas, we made a sharp right turn for about 1 block, then a curved left turn into a slight downhill grade, entering an area with little or no spectators…Immediately I heard what I firmly believe was the President’s voice, “My God, I’m hit!”  I turned around to find out what happened when two additional shots rang out, and the President slumped into Mrs. Kennedy’s lap and Governor Connally fell into Mrs. Connally’s lap.   I yelled at William Greer to “Step on it! We’re hit!” and grabbed the mike from the car radio and called SA Lawson in the lead car.”  (3-9-64 testimony before the Warren Commission, 2H61-112) “As we turned off Houston onto Elm and made the short little dip to the left going down grade, as I said, we were away from the buildings, and where there was a sign on the side of the road which I don’t recall what it was and what it said, but we no more than passed that and you are out in the open, and there is a report like a firecracker, pop…as I turned my head to the right to view whatever it was or see whatever it was, I heard a voice from the back seat and I firmly believe it was the President’s 'My God! I am hit!,' and I turned around and he has got his hands up there like this (he put his hands up to his neck)…So, in the same motion I come right back and grabbed the speaker and said to the driver, 'Let’s get out of here, we are hit!,' and grabbed the mike and I said, 'Lawson, this is Kellerman… We are hit; get us to the hospital immediately.'  Now, in the seconds that I talked just now, a flurry of shells come into the car.” (When asked about his recollection of Kennedy speaking out) "This noise which I attribute as a firecracker, when this occurred and I am in the process of determining where it comes because I am sure it came off my right rear somewhere; the voice broke in right then" (When asked if he heard Mrs. Kennedy say anything) "after the flurry of shots, I recall her saying, 'What are they doing to you?'" (When asked how long the shooting lasted, in seconds) "Three or four" (When asked how many shots were in the flurry) "I am going to say two, and it was like a double bang--bang, bang." (When asked again if this meant there were two shots after the first noise)  “Yes, sir; yes, sir, at least.” (When asked the timespan between the first shot and the flurry) “I will estimate 5 seconds, if that.” (When asked to describe the second and third shots) “You have heard the sound barrier, of a plane breaking the sound barrier, bang, bang? That is it.” (When asked at what point Greer accelerated the limousine) “Our car accelerated immediately on the time—at the time—this flurry of shots came into it…Between the second and third shot.” (8-24-77 interview with HSCA investigator, ARRB Medical Document 56, p7) “Kellerman recalled that when he was in the car just moments after the shots there was '…a splattering of metal all around me.'  Kellerman said there had to be '…four or five metal fragments in the car.'”   

Analysis:  Kellerman’s assertion that he heard three shots and that the limousine was away from the buildings when the first shot rang out is undoubtedly indicative that the first shot came after frame 160.  His recollection of a sign being on the side of the road is possibly a reference to the Thornton Freeway sign, adjacent to the limo around Z-190, but also possibly a reference to the Stemmons Freeway sign, somewhat further down the road.  He is also quite clear that he heard two shots (or more) after the President was hit. In addition his assertion that the third shot occurred after Agent Greer began to accelerate the car is an indication that it may have been fired after frame 313.  If one is to defend the LPM line, then perhaps the best way to explain Kellerman’s testimony is to insist he mistakenly interpreted the sound of the bullet fragments hitting the windshield as a third shot, and missed the first shot entirely. While this is certainly possible, it seems unlikely a Secret Service Agent would make such a mistake. His statements to the HSCA argue against this as well, as here he remembers the shots and the sounds of the fragments bouncing around the car as separate events.  Kellerman was clearly incorrect on one point, however. While Kellerman felt quite sure he heard the President speak after being struck, and Mrs. Kennedy yell out just after, Kellerman didn’t turn to look at the President until Z-255, just after Governor Connally concluded his outbursts.  As Mrs. Kennedy, Governor Connally, and Mrs. Connally all failed to hear the President speak after he was shot, it should be obvious that Agent Kellerman heard the Governor, and mistakenly thought he heard the President and the First Lady. The FBI report’s assertion that the President told Kellerman to get him to a hospital is most probably an inaccurate paraphrase of Kellerman’s actual words. First shot hit 190-224.  Last two shots bunched together.  Last shot possibly after the head shot.

From comparing the words of the witnesses furthest away from the shots to the words of those actually in the limousine, a conflict has emerged.  While those furthest away heard the last two shots bunched together, three of the witnesses in the limousine were aware of two shots before these shots.  This raises the possibility that the second shot, the one not heard by Connally, rarely reported as being heard by Mrs. Connally, and only possibly heard by Greer, was a silenced shot.  Even a silenced shot, after all, makes some noise when impacting its target. That this second probably-silenced shot was not one of the two “bunched” shots heard by the furthest earwitnesses is confirmed by the words of Agents Greer and Kellerman, who heard two or more shots closely bunched together after Connally had been hit. When one reflects on the activities of Mrs. Kennedy and the Connallys during this period--staring at the President as his head explodes and ducking down in their seat as his brain showers down upon them--it should be no mystery as to why they might have missed hearing the second of these last two shots.  A pattern has also emerged from this comparison: so far NONE of the witnesses has given us any reason to believe the first shot missed. 

 

The Mounted Escorts 

B.J. Martin rode his motorcycle on the far left behind Jackie Kennedy. (4-3-64 testimony before the Warren Commission, 6H289-293):  “one of the agents got off of the car after the first shot…I looked to my right (after the first shot)…I looked at the President after I heard the (first) shot and he was leaning forward—I could see the left side of his face.  At the time he had no expression on his face” (Then I heard) “Two more shots…immediately after the first shot I saw him (the President) and after that I couldn’t see him.” (2-14-69 testimony in the trial of Clay Shaw) “after we turned onto Elm Street I heard what I thought was a shot and then I heard, I looked back to my right and two more shots or what I thought to be two more shots I heard…(Asked if he saw the effects of the third shot) “No, sir, I did not…All during the shots I was looking to my left and right trying to find out where the shots were coming from…it was after the third shot it had almost came to a stop, it was going very slow.” (As quoted by Fred Newcomb in an unpublished manuscript, Murder from Within, 1974) ""You could smell the gunpowder…you knew he wasn't far away. When you're that close you can smell the powder burning, why you - you've got to be pretty close to them…you could smell the gunpowder…right there in the street."  (The Kennedy Assassination Tapes, 1979) Officer D “I was looking at the President when the first shot was fired.  It missed. The second shot hit the President in the back, and the third shot hit him in the head.” Analysis:  As all the agents remained on the back-up car until after frame Z-255, (as demonstrated in the Altgens photo) and as Martin claims to have heard only one shot when an agent (Clint Hill) jumped off the back-up car,  he heard but one early shot.  Although he later said he thought the first shot missed, Martin’s original testimony that the President was leaning forward after the first shot (after 160, the President is smiling and waving) is a strong indication that the first shot hit and occurred after frame 190.  The last comments by Martin for The Kennedy Assassination Tapes are not to be trusted.  The book’s writer, J. C. Bowles, (who would become the long-time Sheriff of Dallas County) was determined to show everyone that the DPD did not stand by the HSCA’s conclusion that a second shooter was likely. After all, talk of conspiracy would inevitably turn to suspicion of the Dallas Police Department itself, seeing as they had helplessly stood by while Ruby killed Oswald.  Perhaps Martin, who is described in the book but not named, simply told Bowles what he wanted to hear.  Or perhaps Bowles added to his statements, which could explain why he published the statements without names.  First shot hit 190-224.  Last two shots probably bunched together.

Bobby W. Hargis rode to the right of Martin and to the left of Mrs. Kennedy. (11-22-63 article in Dallas Times-Herald) “About halfway down between Houston and the underpass I heard the first shot.  It sounded like a real loud firecracker.  When I heard the sound, the first thing I thought about was a gunshot.  I looked around and about then Governor Connally turned around and looked at the President with a real surprised look on his face…The President bent over to hear what the Governor had to say.  When he raised back up was when the President got shot…I felt blood hit me in the face…I racked (parked) my motorcycle and jumped off.  I ran to the North side of Elm to see if I could find where the bullets were coming from.  I don’t think the President was hit with the first shot….I felt that the Governor was shot first. (11-23-63 UPI article found in the Fresno Bee) “I saw flesh flying after the shot, and the president’s hair flew up,” Hargis said, “I knew he was dead.” (11-24-63 article in the New York Sunday News) "We turned left onto Elm St. off Houston, about a half block from where it happened. I was right alongside the rear fender on the left side of the President's car, near Mrs. Kennedy. When I heard the first explosion, I knew it was a shot. I thought that Gov. Connally had been hit when I saw him turn toward the President with a real surprised look. The President then looked like he was bent over or that he was leaning toward the Governor, talking to him. As the President straightened back up, Mrs. Kennedy turned toward him, and that was when he got hit in the side of his head, spinning it around. I was splattered with blood. Then I felt something hit me. It could have been concrete or something, but I thought at first I might have been hit. Then I saw the limousine stop, and I parked my motorcycle at the side of the road, got off and drew my gun. Then this Secret Service agent (in the President's car) got his wits about him and they took off. The motorcycle officer on the right side of the car was Jim Chaney. He immediately went forward and announced to the chief that the President had been shot." (11-24-63 interview in New York Daily News) "As the President straightened back up, Mrs. Kennedy turned toward him, and that was when he got hit in the side of his head, spinning it around. I was splattered with blood...then I felt something hit me. It could have been concrete or something, but I thought at first I might have been hit." (4-3-64 testimony before the Warren Commission, 6H293-296):  “I was next to Mrs. Kennedy when I heard the first shot, and at that time the President bent over, and Governor Connally turned around.  He was sitting directly in front of him, and (had) a real shocked and surprised expression on his face…I thought Governor Connally had been shot first, but it looked like the President was bending over to hear what he had to say, and I thought to myself then that Governor Connally, the Governor had been hit, and then as the President raised back up like that the shot that killed him hit him.” 

(8-7-68 interview with Tom Bethel and Al Oser, NARA #180-10096-10005) (When discussing how he could have been sprayed with blood, if the shot came from behind) "Well, that right there is what I've wondered about all along, but see there's ah -- you've got to take into consideration we were moving at the time, and when he got hit all that stuff went like this, and of course I run through it." (When discussing his interpretation of the direction of the shots) "Well, like I say, being that we know that the shot came from the School Book Depository, right then it was kind of hard to say what run through your mind. You know you pick up these little things. You don't know why you do it. You don't know why you do 'em, you just do 'em. It's just kind of instinct. But I had in my mind the shots you couldn't tell where they was coming, but it seemed like the motion of the President's head or his body and the splatter had hit me, it seemed like both the locations needed investigating, and that's why I investigated them. But you couldn't tell, there was -- it looked like a million windows on the Book Depository.You couldn't tell exactly if there was anyone in there with a gun." (When asked if the shots could have come from anywhere) "Uh huh. That's correct." (When asked if he saw the President's head jerk as a response to a bullet's impact) "Yes. Uh huh...To the left forward. Kind of that way...I couldn't see what part of it got hit...If he'd got hit in the rear, I'd have been able to see it. All I saw was just a splash come out on the other side." (Interview with NBC broadcast on the 1988 program That Day In November) "It sounded like a firecracker to me and I thought 'Oh Lord, let it be a firecracker. And it looked like the President was bending over, forward. And then when he raised back up is when that second shot hit him in the head." (1995 interview with Clint Bradford, reported online) " When [JFK] was shot in the head, it splashed up, and I ran into all that brain matter and all that. It came up and down, all over my uniform." (6-26-95 interview, posted on Youtube by Gil Jesus) "There was not three shots; there was only two. I only heard two...The facts was there was two shots--one that hit him in the back and one that hit him in the head. And the one that hit him in the head just busted his head wide open." (November 1998 interview with Texas Monthly) “About ten seconds after we made that left-hand turn, that first shot rang out…I remember Kennedy leaned forward to listen to what he had to say. And then when he raised back up, that second shot hit him in the head. But we figured out that he had got shot—that first bullet had gone through the upper part of his back, well through the seat, and hit Connally’s wrist and glanced off and went into his thigh.” (Interview from an 11-22-03 WBAP radio program found on Youtube) "Yeah I looked toward the President and I thought maybe John Connally was hit because he turned around to look at the President. He had a real surprised look on his face. Kennedy was bending over like he was listening to what Connally had to say. When he raised back up, that second shot hit him in the head. That's what killed him, There was only two shots fired."  (11-22-03 article in the Dallas Morning News) “Hargis differs with the Warren Commission and most eyewitnesses, insisting that only two shots were fired. With the first, “a thousand million things went through my mind,” he says. After the last, “there was a plume of blood and brains and plasma. It was just like a fog, and I ran right through it.” Analysis:  Hargis insists he heard only two shots. As he can be seen in the Zapruder film turning towards the President around frame 198, it seems likely the first shot he heard was just before this point. The fact that he heard only one more shot can be taken as an indication that one of the two shots heard by others was fired quite close to one of the two he heard, or that one came just after the head shot, while Hargis was driving through a cloud of blood. Only heard 2 shots.  First shot hit 190-224.

James Chaney rode to the right and rear of the President. Despite the fact he was the closest witness behind the President and that he had a private conversation with Jack Ruby on the day following the assassination, Chaney was not questioned by the Warren Commission. (11-22-63 interview on WFAA, as shown on Youtube)  “I was riding on the right rear fender...We had proceeded west on Elm Street at approximately 15-20 miles per hour. We heard the first shot. I thought it was a motorcycle backfiring and uh I looked back over to my left and also President Kennedy looked back over his left shoulder. Then, the, uh, second shot came, well, then I looked back just in time to see the President struck in the face by the second bullet.  He slumped forward into Mrs. Kennedy’s lap, and uh, it was apparent to me that we were being fired upon. I went ahead of the President’s car to inform Chief Curry that the President had been hit. And then he instructed us over the air to take him to Parkland Hospital and he had Parkland Hospital stand by. I went on up ahead of the, to notify the officers that were leading the escort that he had been hit and we're gonna have to move out." (When asked if he saw the person who fired on the President)  "No sir, it was back over my right shoulder.” (Note: some sources have it that Chaney also mentioned “a third shot that was fired that (he) did not see hit the President” and that he did see “Governor Connally’s shirt erupt in blood..” but I can not find a primary source for this part of the interview.) ((3-24-64 testimony of Mark Lane before the Warren Commission, 2H32-61) “James A. Chaney, who is a Dallas motorcycle policeman, was quoted in the Houston Chronicle on 11-24-63, as stating that the first shot missed entirely. He said he was 6 feet to the right and front of the President's car, moving about 15 miles an hour, and when the first shot was fired, "I thought it was a backfire." (12-8-63 AP article by Sid Moody) "His head erupted in blood" said Dallas patrolman James Chaney, who was 6 feet away from the president." (3-25-64 testimony of Marrion Baker before the Warren Commission, 3H242-270) “I talked to Jim Chaney, and he made the statement that the two shots hit Kennedy first and then the other one hit the Governor.” (9-12-75 FBI report) “Chaney stated that as the President’s car passed the…(TSBD), he was four to six feet from the President’s right shoulder. He heard three evenly spaced noises coming seconds apart, which at first he thought to be motorcycle backfire. Upon hearing the second noise, he was sure it was not a motorcycle backfire.  When he heard the third noise he saw the President’s head “explode” and realized the noises were gunshots.  He said that the shots did not come from his immediate vicinity and is positive that all the shots came from behind him.” (9-17-75 FBI report) “after making a left turn off Houston Street and shortly after the car had passed the School Book Depository, Chaney heard a noise which sounded like one of the motorcycles close to the President’s car had backfired…Chaney said he glanced to his left at the two motorcycles on the opposite side of the President’s car…Within a few seconds after Chaney heard the first noise, he heard a noise again and turned to his right to try and determine what the noise was and where it was coming from…Chaney said he then looked straight ahead to avoid colliding with the curb and presidential car and then looked at the President just as he heard a third noise. Chaney said while he was looking at President Kennedy, he saw his head “explode.”  Chaney said he was positive that all the noises he heard were coming from behind his motorcycle and none of these noises came from the side or the front of the position in which Chaney was located. Chaney said the noises were evenly spaced.” Analysis: it seems apparent that Chaney initially believed the first shot missed the President, the second shot hit the President in the face, and the third hit Connally. Chaney’s statement that Kennedy looked back over his left shoulder, however, indicates the first shot was a hit, as Kennedy only leaned to the left after being hit. Sure, enough, Baker's testimony indicates that Chaney himself came to believe the first shot was indeed a hit. That Chaney, the closest witness behind Kennedy at the time of the head shot, initially believed there was a shot after the head shot, is undoubtedly intriguing. As he saw no impact from this final shot on the President, perhaps his eyes strayed to Connally as Connally was being pulled down in the seat by his wife. If this is so, then Chaney’s initial statements are consistent with those of Greer, Kellerman, and Martin. In any event, it seems clear that by 1975 Chaney had changed his views again, and had tried to bring them in line with the "official" story. Here. the head shot is the third shot. As the Altgens photo, taken at Z-255, a second-and-a-half after what the LPM scenario holds was the second shot, shows Chaney to be looking to his left, and as Chaney's 1975 story specified that he looked back to his right after the second shot, however, his new story was still at odds with the LPM scenario. First shot hit 190-224.  Last shot after the head shot.

Douglas Jackson rode on the far right of the President. (Notes written on the night of 11-22-63 as reprinted in The Kennedy Assassination Tapes, 1979): Officer C “we turned west onto Elm Street.  Drove only a short way traveling very slowly.  About that time I heard what I thought was a car back fire and I looked around and then to the President’s car in time for the next explosion and saw Mr. Connally jerk back to his right and it seemed that he look right at me.  I could see a shocked expression on his face and I thought 'Someone is shooting at them.' I began stopping my motor and looking straight ahead first at the Railroad overpass and saw only one Policeman standing on the track directly over the street. I looked back toward Mr. Kennedy and saw him hit in the head; he appeared to have been hit just above the right ear. The top of his head flew off away from me.” (As quoted by Fred Newcomb in Murder from Within, an unpublished manuscript from 1974) ""Mr. Connally was looking toward me. And about that time then the second shot went off. That's the point when I knew that somebody was shooting at them because that was the time he [Connally] got hit - because he jerked. I was looking directly at him…he was looking…kind of back toward me and…he just kind of flinched." "…that car just all but stopped…just a moment." (9-17-75 FBI report)  “As the presidential vehicle was proceeding down Elm Street, and Jackson was turning the corner from Houston to Elm Street, he heard a loud (noise) which he first thought to be a motorcycle backfire. (He looked) at the Presidential car to see what the reaction was and observed Texas Governor John Connally turn to his right in the car. At the same time he heard a second noise and saw Connally jerk to his right.  At this point, Jackson had just rounded the corner from Houston to Elm Street and he recognized the second noise as a definite gunshot…At this point, he was 15 to 20 feet away from the Presidential vehicle and he stopped his motorcycle in the street and looked toward the railroad overpass, directly in front of the Presidential car. He observed a police officer with his hands on his hips, looking toward the Presidential car. As this appeared normal, he then looked to his right and rear in the direction of the Texas School Book Depository and the intersection of Houston and Elm Street and observed many bystanders falling to the ground. He looked toward the Presidential vehicle and at the same time heard a third shot fired.  He observed President Kennedy struck in the head above his right ear and the impact of the bullet exploded the top portion of his head, toward the left side of the Presidential vehicle. Jackson immediately knew that Kennedy had been hit and that the shot had been fired from his right rear.” Analysis:  while Jackson's statements suggest there was a first shot miss as they turned the corner, that Connally was hit by the second shot and looked to his right, and that there was a final headshot, there are holes in this.  First, at what point does Connally turn far enough to his right to look at Jackson? Not until Z-280 or so. Is that when Jackson heard the second shot? And, at what point does Jackson stop his motorcycle?  While Jackson says it was after the second shot, the Nix film shows that Jackson only slowed his motorcycle after Kennedy was struck in the head! This could indicate that Jackson heard a shot (a first shot hit) looked around, looked back to Connally, heard the head shot, slammed on his brakes, and heard the third shot as he looked up and saw the President’s wounds.  Still, since he distinctly remembered seeing a piece of the President’s skull fly away, it would seem he saw the actual impact. This raises the possibility that he heard a shot, looked around, saw Connally jerk to his right and then fall back into the car after being hit by a silent bullet, saw the President’s head explode, heard a shot, slammed on his brakes, and looked back to the President as a third shot rang out, but then got himself mixed-up when he tried to make sense of the movements and the shots. Another possibility is that he was simply mistaken about when he stopped his motorcycle in relation to the shots. In any event, one can not honestly say Jackson's statements clearly support the LPM theory, or any other theory. Even so, his notes are intriguing in that his initial impression of the fatal shot was that Kennedy had been hit above the right ear, and not on the back of the head. Curiously, Jackson was not interviewed by Hoover’s FBI after the assassination, nor was he called before the Warren Commission. Possible LPM scenario. Possible first shot hit 190-224.  Last two shots possibly bunched together (with the last shot after the head shot).

 

The Changing of the Guards

In order to place the statements of the occupants of the Presidential follow-up car in context, one first needs to familiarize oneself with the photographs of Hugh Betzner, Phil Willis, and James Altgens.  Betzner’s photograph, taken just before he heard a shot, was later shown to correspond to Z-186; Willis’ photograph, taken just after he heard a shot, was shown to correspond to Z-202; and Altgens’ photograph, taken a few second after he first heard a shot, was shown to correspond to Z-255.  (The memories of all three photographers are therefore consistent and suggestive that the first shot came at Z-190.)  In these photos, the reactions of the President’s guards, or lack thereof, are made clear.

Sam Kinney was the driver of the Presidential back-up car. (11-22-63 report, 18H732) “The first shot was fired as we were going into an underpass…it appeared that he (the President) had been shot because he slumped to the left.  Immediately, he sat up again.  At this time, the second shot was fired and I observed hair flying from the right side of his head…I did hear three shots but do not recall which shots were those that hit the President.” (11-30-63 report, 18H730-731) “As we completed the left turn and on a short distance, there was a shot….I saw the President lean toward the left and appeared to have grabbed his chest with his right hand.  There was a second of pause and then two more shots were heard.  Agent Clint Hill jumped from the follow-up car and dashed to the aid of the President and first Lady in the President’s car.  I saw one shot strike the President in the right side of the head.” (2-26-78 interview with HSCA investigator, file # 180-10078-10493) “Kinney immediately recognized the first sound as that of gunfire, realizing that it was a 'shot from over our right shoulder' which hit the president in the throat. The President, his movement (in Kinney's opinion) affected by the brace he wore, fell toward Jackie, who, 'after catching him, set him back'…'While Jackie was setting him back up, Connally turns right, then left, then pow, pow. The second shot' (hit Connally and) 'left Connally’s back open.' 'The third shot hit the President.' As the third shot landed, SA Kinney was able to see 'hair coming up.'” (1992-1994 interviews with Vince Palamara, as reported in the Summer 1997 Kennedy Assassination Chronicles) (Kennedy) “Would have survived the first one, probably. The second shot hit Connally right in the back…I saw all three shots hit.” (11-22-93 interview on the Today Show put up on Youtube by Vince Palamara) "I saw the President grab his neck. And then by that time there was two following shots, just like a pow...pow." Analysis: Kinney’s words are very damaging to the LPM theory. His initial statement is that the second shot caused the President’s hair to fly up.  He then backtracks and says he’s not sure if it was the second or third.  In his next report he simply states that after a second of pause two more shots were heard. He thereafter tries to connect the second shot to Connally’s wounds, not realizing that Connally had been hit long before JFK fell toward Jackie. First shot hit 190-224. Last two shots bunched together (with the last shot probably after the head shot).  

Emory Roberts sat next to Kinney in the front seat of the back-up car.  He was directly behind the President. (11-22-63 report, 18H739) “at 12;30 PM, two or three shots were fired, at which time I saw the President lean over on Mrs. Kennedy.  I knew he was hit.  Just as the second or third shot was fired, Hill ran from follow-up car to president’s car.” (11-29-63 report, 18H733-738) “12:30 PM: First of three shots fired, at which time I saw the President lean toward Mrs. Kennedy.  I do not know if it was the next shot or third shot that hit the President in the head, but I saw what appeared to be a small explosion on the right side of the President’s head, saw blood, at which time the President fell further to his left….Just after the third shot was fired, I picked up the car radio and said “Halfback (code name for SS. follow-up car) to Lawson, the President has been hit.” (12-4-64 and/or 4-26-65 interview with William Manchester, as reported in the TV documentary "The Kennedy Assassination: 24 Hours After," 2009) "I looked at the President. He was leaning to the left, toward Mrs. Kennedy. Then the other shot hit him in the back of the head. I saw what appeared to be a small explosion on the right side of the President's head. And there was never any doubt in my mind that he was dead." Analysis:  Roberts, as Kinney, is being deliberately vague.  If there had been a five second gap between the second and third shots, he would certainly have noted it and remembered. He knew that it was after the third shot that he picked up the radio. For him to express any confusion about the second and third shots is therefore an indication that the shots were bunched together. His interview with Manchester certainly suggests as much; for there, he only described two shots.  First shot hit 190-224. Last two shots bunched together (with the last shot possibly after the head shot).

By now, what we first described as a pattern has become the dominant scenario. This dominant scenario is in direct opposition to the LPM scenario on a number of points; 1) The first shot did not miss, but, instead, hit the President; 2) The second and third shots were fired close together; and 3) The last shot quite possibly was fired after Kennedy had already been struck in the head.

Clint Hill rode on the outside of the back-up car by the driver’s door. (11-30-63 report, 18H740-745) “On the left hand side was a grass area with a few people scattered along it observing the motorcade passing, and I was visually scanning these people when I heard a noise similar to a firecracker. The noise came from my right rear and I immediately moved my head in that direction.  In so doing, my eyes had to cross the Presidential automobile and I saw the President hunch forward and then slump to his left.  I jumped from the follow-up car and ran toward the Presidential automobile.  I heard a second firecracker type noise but it had a different sound—like the sound of shooting a revolver into something hard.  I saw the President slump more toward his left. I jumped onto the left rear step of the Presidential automobile. Mrs. Kennedy shouted, "They've shot his head off;" then turned and raised out of her seat as if she were reaching to her right rear toward the back of the car for something that had blown out. I forced her back into her seat and placed my body above President and Mrs. Kennedy. SA Greer had, as I jumped onto the Presidential automobile, accelerated the Presidential automobile forward. I heard ASAIC Kellerman call SA Lawson on the two-way radio and say, "To the nearest hospital, quick." I shouted as loud as I could at the Lead car, "To the hospital, to the hospital." As I lay over the top of the back seat I noticed a portion of the President's head on the right rear side was missing and he was bleeding profusely. Part of his brain was gone. I saw a part of his skull with hair on it lieing in the seat...At approximately 2:45 A.M., November 23, I was requested by ASAIC to come to the morgue to once again view the body. When I arrived the autopsy had been completed and ASAIC Kellerman, SA Greer, General McHugh and I viewed the wounds. I observed a wound about six inches down from the neckline on the back just to the right of the spinal column. I observed another wound on the right rear portion of the skull. Attendants of the Joseph Gawler Mortuary were at this time preparing the body for placement in the casket.” (3-9-64 testimony before the Warren Commission, 2H132-144) “Well, as we came out of the curve, and began to straighten up, I was viewing the area which looked to be a park. There were people scattered throughout the entire park. And I heard a noise from my right rear, which to me seemed to be a firecracker. I immediately looked to my right and, in so doing, my eyes had to cross the Presidential limousine and I saw President Kennedy grab at himself and lurch forward and to the left... I jumped from the car, realizing that something was wrong, ran to the Presidential limousine. Just about as I reached it, there was another sound, which was different than the first sound. I think I described it in my statement as though someone was shooting a revolver into a hard object--it seemed to have some type of an echo.” (On what he saw upon arrival at Parkland) "The right rear portion of his head was missing. It was lying in the rear seat of the car. His brain was exposed. There was blood and bits of brain all over the entire rear portion of the car. Mrs. Kennedy was completely covered with blood. There was so much blood you could not tell if there had been any other wound or not, except for the one large gaping wound in the right rear portion of the head." (When asked if he saw any wound other than the head wound at the autopsy) "I saw an opening in the back, about 6 inches below the neckline to the right-hand side of the spinal column." (When asked if had an impression of the direction from which the second shot had been fired) "It was right, but I cannot say for sure that it was rear, because when I mounted the car it was--it had a different sound, first of all, than the first sound that I heard. The second one had almost a double sound--as though you were standing against something metal and firing into it, and you hear both the sound of a gun going off and the sound of the cartridge hitting the metal place, which could have been caused probably by the hard surface of the head. But I am not sure that that is what caused it." (Television interview found on Youtube as Clint Hill Interview 1, apparently taken from the History Channel program The Secret Service, 1995) "I heard a sound from my right rear. I was on the left-hand front of the follow-up car. As I began to turn to my right toward that sound, my eyes crossed the back of the presidential car. And I saw the president grasp at his throat and lurch a bit to his left. And I realized something had happened. And I got off the car as quickly as I could and ran to the presidential car. By the time I got there two more shots had been fired and he had been hit in the head." (Television interview found on Youtube as Clint Hill interview 2, apparently taken from the Discovery Channel program Inside the Secret Service, 1995)) "We made a left-hand turn, and shortly after we made a left-hand turn there was an explosion to my right rear that sounded a bit like a gun shot or a firecracker. And I responded by looking to my right and as I did so my eyes went across the back of the presidential car. And I saw the president grab at his throat and lurch to the left. And I jumped from the car and ran to the presidential car. Before I got there he had been shot again in the head." (Interview conducted for the National Geographic Channel program Inside the Secret Service, first broadcast 10-24-2004. Note that this is, in fact, a compilation of two different edits of the interview as found on Youtube ) "We traveled along this open area which was on my left and then made a left turn, but it wasn't a 90 degree left turn, it was like a 120 degree left turn. The open area was still on my left, and shortly after we got into that turn and started on that street, I heard a sound--which I wasn't sure what it was--whether it was a gunshot or a firecracker. I turned to see what was happening, and as I did I saw President Kennedy grab at his throat and lurch forward. I knew something was wrong. Before I could get to the presidential limousine, another shot had been fired and hit President Kennedy in the head.  About that time I reached the back of the presidential limousine and tried to get on. I was trying to get my foot up on the back of the car. And I slipped. I had to run three or four more steps before I could get up. By that time Mrs. Kennedy had come out onto the trunk. It appeared to me she was searching for something, trying to retrieve something. But I got up on the back of the car and placed her back in the seat. The President at that time had slumped down into her lap. And I could see the back of his head, And there was a gaping hole above his right ear about the size of my palm. And there was white brain matter and red blood throughout the entire car." Analysis:  Hill’s description of the second shot’s strange sound is suggestive that he heard the third shot, but processed it as an echo of the second shot. When one reflects that Hill was running past Bobby Hargis towards Jacqueline Kennedy at the time of the head shot, and that they also only heard two clear shots, it should make us suspicious that all three heard the third shot, but processed it as an echo of the second shot. If one makes that jump, then all three of these witnesses can be added into the first shot hit 190 (or afterwards) category.  There is certainly nothing in their statements to make us believe there the first shot missed. Hill, in particular, states that he heard the first shot while he was looking to his left and that he saw the President react to this shot after he looked to his right.  Between the Betzner photo at Z-186 and the Willis photo at Z-202, Hill seems to have begun to look to his right. By Zapruder frame 223, he is clearly looking at the President. By the Altgens photo at Z-255, he has turned to the President.  That he recalls hearing only one shot by this time is a strong argument against the LPM scenario."  Only heard two shots. First shot hit 190.

Kenneth O’Donnell, a Kennedy assistant, rode in the back-up car in the middle seat behind the driver.  (5-18-64 testimony before the Warren Commission, 7H440-457) “We turned—I remember the overpass.  And then the shots occurred--which, at that time, I did not know were shots. My first impression was it was a firecracker.  And then either somebody said “He has been hit,” or I noticed the slump—he had been waving out the right side of the car and I noticed him slump over toward Mrs. Kennedy, and I realized then that they had been shots.  But as fast as that realization occurred, I saw the third shot hit.” (When asked how close the back-up car was to the limousine)  “My guess would be 5 to 8 feet…I would presume they were just about turning to step up the speed a little bit, because there would be no crowds from there. (When asked if the Secret Service car had completed its turn onto Elm Street) “My recollection is they had, just about.  I don’t recollect a separation of this nature.  It was a slight sloping turn, as I remember, and I thought we were right together.” (When asked what Kennedy was doing with his hands prior to the time of the shooting)  “He was waving.  We had just left the mass of crowds. But as we turned on the grass plot, there were four or five people there, and I believe he waved to them.” (When asked how many shots he heard) “Three” (When asked the time span of the shots) “I would say 5-6 seconds.”  (When asked if the shots came in a pattern) “Yes.  The first 2 came almost simultaneously, came one right after the other.  There was a slight hesitation, then the third one.” (Asked his reaction) “My reaction is in part a reconstruction and is that they came from the right rear.  That would be my best judgment.”  (When asked how others reacted)  “The agents all turned to the rear…I would think watching the President when the shot—the first shots hit—that it would be automatic it would have to have come from the rear. (When asked again about the agents’ reactions)  “The reaction I note would be right rear.  And again, looking at the manner of the President’s movement I would think you would have to feel  the thrust of the shot was from the right rear…He was leaning out waving.  He may have just been withdrawing his hand.  And the shot hit him, and threw him to the left.  He slumped on Mrs. Kennedy.  (When asked which shot this was) “It was not the third shot. Whether it was the first or second, I would not know…If I had to pick one of the two, I think it might have been the second shot.” (A 1968 conversation with Congressman Tip O'Neill, as recounted in O’Neill’s autobiography Man of the House, 1987) “I was surprised to hear O’Donnell say that he was sure he had heard two shots that came from behind the fence. 'That's not what you told the Warren Commission,' I said. 'You're right,' he replied. “I told the FBI what I had heard, but they said it couldn't have happened that way and that I must have been imagining things. So I testified the way they wanted me to. I just didn't want to stir up any more pain and trouble for the family…The family--everybody wanted this thing behind them.” (Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye, co-written with Dave Powers, 1970) "I had just finished speaking when we heard shots, two close together and then a third one. There must have been an interval of at least five seconds before the third and last shot because, after the second shot, Dave said to me, "Kenny, I think the President's been shot."  I made a quick sign of the cross and said "What makes you think that?" "Look at him!"  Dave said. "He was over on the right, with his arm stretched out.  Now he's slumped over toward Jackie, holding his throat."  While we both stared at the President, the third shot took the side of his head off.  We saw pieces of bone and brain tissue and bits of his reddish hair flying through the air...I said to Dave, "He's dead." (6-15-75 article in the Chicago Tribune. This article reported that a source within the CIA had told the Church Committee that Kennedy aides Kenneth O'Donnell and David Powers had been pressured by the FBI into leaving their suspicions that shots came from the front out of their statements. It also quoted O'Donnell's response to this allegation.)  "The story is an absolute lie," O'Donnell declared in a phone interview. "I'm not accusing the reporter, but whoever gave that story is lying. It's an absolute, outright lie." (Later in the article) "I spent four hours before the commission and my testimony is quite clear," O'Donnell said in the phone interview. "I told them exactly what I saw. I was in charge of the whole operation so I know what happened. I arranged the whole trip..."I testified under oath and I stand by it." O'Donnell recalled he told the Warren Commission he heard two shots, the first of which he initially thought was a firecracker. Both came from behind, he said. And Powers, O'Donnell said, recalled hearing three shots, all from the same direction. He denied that either he or Powers ever had suspicions that the shots came from anywhere but the depository. Further, O'Donnell asserted he was never pressured or asked to change or omit anything from his testimony, either by the FBI or CIA. "I met with them every day (while working for President Johnson on the investigation)" O'Donnell said. "Not one of them ever even raised the question. They worked for me. I didn't work for them." (Interview with O'Donnell's son, Kenneth O'Donnell, Jr. by David Talbot, as reported in Brothers, published 2007) (On the source of the shots heard by his father) "He said there was fire from two different directions." (Quoting his father on his father's impressions of the Warren Commission) "I'll tell you this right now, they didn't want to know"...(It was) "the most pointless investigation I've ever seen."

Analysis: from his jumping to the third shot in his testimony, it seems likely that O’Donnell decided that the “firecracker” he heard was in fact two separate shots. His subsequent statements that the first two shots rang out "simultaneously" and "one after another," and that there was a space of five seconds before the head shot, confirm this suspicion. That the quickness of these first two shots troubled O'Donnell, furthermore, is suggested by his subsequent recollection that he'd only testified to hearing two shots.His testimony that he thought Kennedy may have been hit by the second shot--a shot fired only a split second after the first shot, mind you--is therefore of little help to the LPM scenario. It is, in fact, an argument against it. More concretely, O'Donnell's recollection that Kennedy was waving to a small group of people at the time he was hit, and that this happened near a "grass plot," suggests the first shot was heard around frame 190. Since Powers later confirmed O'Neill's recollection about O'Donnell's impression of the source of the shots, moreover, we should suspect O'Donnell's denial of this to the Chicago Tribune in 1975 was, in fact, a lie. His misrepresentation of Powers' impression of the shots--that they all came from behind, when Powers from the earliest claimed he'd had an impression the final shot came from the front--suggests, unfortunately, that he was not above such behavior. First shot hit 190.  First two shots may have been bunched.

David Powers, another Kennedy assistant, rode in the middle seat to the right of O’Donnell. (4-8-64, 8-10-64, 10-21-64, 3-17-65, and 5-24-65 interviews with William Manchester, as reported in the TV documentary "The Kennedy Assassination: 24 Hours After," 2009) "I am looking at the Presidential car. His hand was waving and now he put his hands slowly to his throat and slumps towards Jackie. And I say to Kenny 'I think the President's been hit.' Kenny and I not only saw the next one we heard it. We just saw that handsome head get blown off. We heard the shot and we heard the impact of the shot. It was the most sickening thing--like a grapefruit being thrown against a brick wall." (5-18-64 affidavit, 7H472-474): “the first shot went off and it sounded to me as if it were a firecracker. I noticed then that the President moved quite far to his left after the shot from the extreme right hand side where he had been sitting. There was a second shot and Governor Connally disappeared from sight and then there was a third shot which took off the top of the President’s head and had the sickening sound of a grapefruit splattering against a wall…My first impression was that the shots came from the right and overhead, but I also had a fleeting impression that the noise appeared to come from the front in the area of the triple overpass.” (A 1968 conversation with Tip O’Neill recounted in O'Neill's memoir Man of the House, 1987) “Dave Powers was with us at dinner that night, and his recollection of the shots was the same as O’Donnell’s. Kenny O'Donnell is no longer alive, but during the writing of this book I checked with Dave Powers. As they say in the news business, he stands by his story.” (A 1980 conversation with Gary Mack, as recounted in a series of emails from Mack to John McAdams, posted online by John McAdams, 4-9-03) ""Powers told me he and O'Donnell both thought one of the shots might have come from the front. When they told the FBI, the agents didn't take them seriously. Dave was quite insistent on that." (In a follow-up email posted by McAdams at the same time, Mack clarified) "Powers may have told me one or two of the shots might have come from the front--my note to you was not taken from any notes I took at the time. This was a long conversation we had by phone around 1980.  Powers told me they didn't know that shots came from the front, just that they thought one or two might have. He never said or hinted they were intimidated to change their story or to keep quiet.  But they were disappointed that no one they told the story to seemed very interested in what they thought." (6-5-91 interview with Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartmann, as recounted in Ultimate Sacrifice, 2005) "We were shocked when Dave Powers, head of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston and a close aide to JFK, vividly described seeing the shots from the "grassy knoll." Powers said he and fellow JFK aide Kenneth O'Donnell clearly saw the shots, since they were in the limo right behind JFK. Powers said they felt they were "riding into an ambush"--explaining for the first time why the driver of JFK's limo slowed after the first shot. Powers also described how he was pressured to change his story for the Warren Commission." (Television interview posted on youtube as Dave Powers interview 2, presumably from the 1990's) "Coming down from that short flight from Fort Worth to Dallas, I'm talking to the President and Jackie in the back of the plane and I said 'Mr. President, you wave to the Texans on the right, and Jackie'll wave to the ones on the left.' And this is exactly what's happening when the first shot was fired. I had heard the noise. I'm looking at the President at the same time, and he had pulled his hand up toward his throat and he fell over toward Jackie. There's a second shot, and now Governor Connally is out of sight. The first two sort of came close together, but now we're riding and praying. And now we see the shot that hit the President in the head." Analysis: as the leftward shift of the President noted by Powers as a response to the first shot occurred just after frame 190, it is clear he felt the first shot hit. That this shot occurred seconds before and that a second one was fired around 224, as in the LPM scenario, however, is made unlikely by Powers' associating the second shot with Connally disappearing from sight, which did not happen till just before the head shot. Since Powers associated the second shot with an occurrence just before the head shot, moreover, he may have heard the last two shots bunched together. His statements to Manchester certainly suggest as much, for there he described but two bursts of gunfire. Although O'Donnell clearly lied about his own impression of the shots, that Powers' original statement suggests there may have been a shot from the front, suggests that neither of them were actually pressured to change their impression. It seems likely then that O'Donnell changed his story on his own, for reasons all his own. That Powers told Waldron he'd been pressured into changing his story as well, however--when his story doesn't appear to have actually been changed--outside his addition of a shot that hit Connally--is indeed a bit curious. Perhaps he'd said they were uninterested in what he had to say, and Waldron had misinterpreted his words. Or perhaps he was simply exaggerating. First shot hit 190-224. Last two shots possibly bunched together.

John Ready rode on the outside of the right side of the back-up.(11-22-63 report, 18H750) “I heard what sounded like firecrackers…The shooting occurred as we were approaching the Thornton Freeway…There appeared to be no spectators on the right side of the roadway…After the initial shot I attempted to locate the area from where they had come from but was not able to.  It appeared that the shots came from my right-rear side.”(Undated report, 18H 749) “I heard what sounded like firecrackers going off…I immediately turned to my right rear trying to determine the source but was unable to determine the exact location.” (3-1-78 interview with HSCA investigator, file #180-10071-10165 ) “He thought the first shot was a firecracker thrown from behind them. He said that the second and third shots were closer in time than the first and second shots.  He heard someone say either “He’s hit,” or “He’s shot,” but doesn’t remember when it was said, relative to the second or third shot.” Analysis: while Ready’s statement is incredibly vague, the Zapruder film shows his head begin to turn to its right after frame 190. By the time of the Altgens photo, Z-255, he is totally turned around. His grouping of the last two shots completes the picture. First shot hit 190-224. Last two shots bunched together.

William McIntyre rode on the outside of the driver’s side of the limousine, behind Clint Hill. (11-22-63 report, 18H748):  “As we approached the underpass leading to the Thornton Freeway, there was little if any crowd present.  I heard three shots fired…I recall a rolling lawn to the right of the area where the President was shot, and seem to also recall an expanse of lawn to the left of the Presidential vehicle.” (11-29-63 report, 18H746-747) “The Presidential vehicle was approximately 200 feet from the underpass when the first shot was fired, followed in quick succession by two more.  After the second shot, I looked at the President and witnessed his being struck in the head by the third and last shot.  By that time, Mr. Roberts had used the radio in our car to direct the vehicles to a hospital.” (1-31-78 interview with HSCA investigator, file # 180-10082-10454) “As they were approaching the overpass, McIntyre heard the first report, which he described as “very loud.”  He said that he had no doubt that it was a shot. There was a pause and then two more shots in succession. Mcintyre stated that at the first two shots, he was scanning the area to try to determine where they were coming from. He stated that the President was directly in his vision when the third shot was fired and he saw the President struck in the head. He remembers saying to Jack Ready 'What the hell was that?' He feels certain that Clint Hill left the running board and ran to the limousine before the third shot was fired.” Analysis: the limousine was far more than 200 feet from the underpass at the time of the first shot under any scenario, but McIntyre’s statement is particularly damaging to the LPM theory, which holds the President was barely off of Houston Street. His description of the rolling lawn is certainly more in line with the first shot occurring at frame 190 or afterwards than frame 160. First shot hit 190-224.  Last two shots bunched together.

George Hickey sat on the driver’s side of the rear seat of the back-up car. (11-22-63 report, 18H765) “As 100-X made the turn and proceeded a short distance, I heard what seemed to me that a firecracker exploded to the right and rear.  I stood partially up and turned to the rear to see if I could observe anything.  Nothing was observed and I turned around and looked at the President’s car.  The President was slumped to the left in the car. I heard what appeared to be two shots and it seemed as if the right side of his head was hit and his hair flew forward.”(11-30-63 report, 18H761-764) “Just prior to the shooting the Presidential car turned left at the intersection and started down an incline toward an underpass followed by 679x.  After a very short distance I heard a loud report which sounded like a firecracker…I stood up and looked to my right and rear in an attempt to identify it. Nothing caught my attention except people shouting and cheering.  A disturbance in 679X caused me to look forward to the President’s car.  Perhaps 2 or 3 seconds elapsed from the time I looked to the rear and then looked at the President.  He was slumped forward and to his left, and was straightening up to an almost erect sitting position as I turned and looked.  At the moment he was almost sitting erect I heard two reports which I thought were shots and that appeared to me completely different in sound from the first report and were in such rapid succession that there seemed to be practically no time element between them.  It looked to me as if the president was struck in the right upper rear of the head.  The first shot of the second two seemed as if it missed because the hair on the right side of his head flew forward and there didn’t seem to be any impact against his head.  The last shot seemed to hit his head and cause a noise at the point of impact which made him fall forward and to his left again.  Possibly four or five seconds elapsed from the time of the first report and the last. At the end of the last report I reached to the bottom of the car and picked up the AR 15 rifle, cocked and loaded it, and turned to the rear. At this point the cars were passing under the over-pass and as a result we had left the scene of the shooting. I kept the AR 15 rifle ready as we proceeded at a high rate of speed to the hospital.” (6-15-78 HSCA interview, as reported by Joe Backes in his 1-30-96 article The 12^th Batch) "After they made the turn from Houston onto Elm, the Presidential limousine was about 20 feet ahead when Hickey heard what he thought sounded like a firecracker coming from his right rear. He stood up and looked towards the right rear but observed nothing. He heard excited talking in the front of his car and turned to the front. He observed that the President had slumped forward and to the left. Mrs. Kennedy appeared to be aiding him and he was coming to an upright position. Hickey then heard two reports sounding like gunfire and saw what he described as a cloud of dust appear from the right rear of President Kennedy's head. Hickey stated that he would guess at about 3 to 4 seconds between the first and second shots. He stated that the second and third shots were almost simultaneous." Analysis:  As Hickey makes a rapid turn to his right in the split second between the Betzner photo (z-186) and the Willis photo (z-202), and as he states he turned to the right after hearing the first shot, his statements are exceptionally helpful. His statement that the last two shots came in together but that he thought the first one merely brushed past Kennedy’s hair is also informative, and is indicative that the first of these two shots struck the President.  Hickey, not surprisingly, was not called to testify by the Warren Commission.  First shot hit 190.  Last two shots bunched together (with the last shot probably after the head shot).

Glen Bennett sat on the right side of the rear seat of the back-up car. (notes written on 11-22-63, 24H541-542) "We made a left hand turn and then a quick right. The President's auto moved down a slight grade and the crowd was very sparse. At this point I heard a noise that immediately reminded me of a firecracker. I immediately, upon hearing the supposed firecracker, looked at the boss's car. At this exact time I saw a shot that hit the boss about 4 inches down from the right shoulder. A second shoot followed immediately and hit the right rear high of the boss's head. I immediately hollered to Special Agent Hickey, seated in the same seat, to get the AR-15. I drew my revolver and looked to the rear and to the left--high left--but was unable to see any one person that could have rendered this terrible tragedy." (11-23-63 report, 18H760) “The motorcade entered an intersection and then proceeded down a grade. At this point the well-wishers numbered but a few, the motorcade continued on down this grade en route to the trade mart. At this point I heard what sounded like a firecracker. I immediately looked from the right/crowd/physical area and looked towards the President who was seated in the right rear seat of his limousine open convertible, At the moment I looked at the back of the President I heard another firecracker noise and saw the shot hit the President about four inches down from the right shoulder. A second shot followed immediately and hit the right rear high of the President’s head.  I immediately hollered “he’s hit” and reached for the AR-15 located on the floor of the rear seat. Special Agent Hickey had already picked-up the AR-15. We peered towards the rear and particularly the right side of the area. I had drawn my revolver when I saw SA Hickey had the AR-15. I was unable to see anything or one that could have fired the shoots.” (1-30-78 interview with HSCA investigator, file # 180-10082-10452) “He remembers hearing what he hoped was a firecracker. He then heard another noise and saw what appeared to be a nick in the back of President Kennedy’s coat below the shoulder. He thought the President had been hit in the back…he believes the first and second shots were close together and then a longer pause before the third shot…he does not recall any agents reacting before the third shot. He believes he called out to no one in particular, after the third shot, 'he's been hit'.… he believes he saw the nick in the President’s coat after the second shot.”  Analysis:  due to Bennett's suggestion, in his 11-23 report, that the President was hit in the back by the second shot, Bennett is a star witness for LPM theorists. He is not deserving of this star status, however. One problem is that he said the bullet struck Kennedy 4 inches below his shoulder—too low to support the single-bullet theory. He also said the limo was heading down a grade when the first shot rang out, and that the crowd was very sparse--a description far more in line with a shot at 190-224 than at 160. He also said the third shot immediately followed the second. While Bennett was later to tell the HSCA that there was more space between the second and third than between the first and second, there is reason to believe this was simply his adjusting his memory to fit the single-assassin scenario. After all, if he’d really witnessed the second bullet striking Kennedy at Z-224 but didn’t yell “he’s hit!” until after the President was shot in the head five seconds later, he would have to have been the worst secret service agent in history. There’s also the problem that the Willis photo at Z-202 shows Bennett just starting to turn to his left. If there’d been a shot at Z-160 and had Bennett immediately turned to his left, as stated, he should already be looking at Kennedy in the Willis photo. This suggests instead that Bennett heard a shot at 190, not 160. Another problem, as pointed out by researcher Robert Harris, is that the Altgens photo shows Bennett to still be looking to his right as late as Z-255.  This might make one suspect he heard an early shot, turned to face the President after Z-255, noticed the blood on Kennedy’s jacket, and heard two more shots ring out, associating the first shot with the back wound, and the second with the head wound. There's another possibility, however. In Bennett's original notes he does not say that he saw the second shot hit the president, or that he heard a shot when he looked at the President and noticed his back wound. He says he saw "a shot that hit the boss". He then writes that "A second shoot followed immediately and hit the right rear high of the boss's head". This suggests the possibility that when Bennett looked at the President he saw "that a shot had hit the boss" and that he then saw a second shot hit Kennedy in the head. This would mean that he'd heard but two shots, which puts his words in line with fellow Secret Service agents Clint Hill and Paul Landis. Should one doubt that Bennett would change his impressions overnight, and go from hearing two shots to the by-then politically-correct three shots, one should consider that in his original notes, Bennett asserted that he'd yelled to Hickey to get the AR-15 rifle, and that only a day later he reported that he tried to get the rifle himself, but Hickey beat him to it. The notes written before Bennett  knew the official story also reflect that he turned to his left upon hearing the shots, while the typed up report the next day leaves this out, and says instead that he looked at "particularly the right side of the area." These changes reflect either Bennett's confusion or his desire to bring his story in alignment with what he'd been told. Maybe someone typed-up Bennett's 11-23 report based on his notes, and made a few changes. No matter what, we just can't be sure what he saw.  Possible LPM scenario. Possible first shot hit 190, with the last two shots bunched together. Possibly heard but two shots. 

Paul Landis stood along the right side of the back-up car behind John Ready. (11-27-63 report, 18H758-759) “At this point the President’s car and follow-up car had just completed its turn and both were straightening out.  At this moment, I heard what sounded like the report of a high powered rifle behind me.  My first glance was at the President, as my eyes were almost straight ahead at that time. I did not realize that the President was hit at that point.  I saw him moving and thought he was turning in the direction of the sound.  I immediately returned my gaze to the building which I had observed before, at a quick glance saw nothing and dropped my eyes to the crowd, scanning it quickly from right to left. . . .I think I recall Special Agent Jack Ready saying, “What was it?  A firecracker?” I remarked “I don’t know.  I don’t see any smoke.” All during this time I was returning my gaze to the President’s car. …I looked at the front right tire of the President’s car and saw it was alright…I glanced back towards the President, he still appeared upright in his seat, leaning slightly towards Mrs. Kennedy.   It was at this moment that I heard a second report and saw the President’s head split open and pieces of flesh and blood flying through the air.” (11-30-63 report, 18H751-757) “As the President's car continued around the corner, I continued to survey the crowd along the righthand side of the road and noticed that it was fairly scattered, with hardly enough people to form a single line.  I continued to look ahead to an overpass over the route we were traveling.  At approximately this point, I would say, the President's car and the Follow-up car had just 'completed their turns and both were straightening out.  At this moment I heard what sounded like the report of a high-powered rifle from behind me, over my right shoulder. When I heard the sound there was no question in my mind what it was. My first glance was at the President, as I was practically looking in his direction anyway. I saw him moving in a manner which I thought was to look in the direction of the sound.  I did not realize that President Kennedy had been shot at this point.  I immediately returned my gaze, over my right shoulder, toward the modernistic building I had observed before. With a quick glance I saw nothing and immediately started scanning the crowd at the intersection from my right to my left.  I observed nothing unusual and began to think that the sound had been that of a fire cracker but I hadn't seen any smoke.  In fact, I recall Special Agent Jack Ready saying, "Oh, what was it? A fire cracker?"  I remarked, "I don't know; I don't see any smoke."  So far the lapsed period of time could not have been over two or three seconds.  All during this time I continued to scan the crowd, returning my gaze towards the President's car. It must have been another second or two before the next shot was fired because, as I recall having seen nothing out of the ordinary, I then thought that maybe one of the cars in the motorcade had had a blowout that had echoed off the buildings.  I looked at the right front tire of the President’s car and saw it was all right.  I then glanced to see the right rear tire, but could not because the Follow-up car was too close.  I also thought of trying to run and jump on the President's car but did not think I could make it because of the speed at which we were traveling.  I decided I had better stay where I was so that I would at least be near the First Lady, to whom I am assigned. I think that it was at this point that I thought, "Faster, Faster, Faster," thinking that we could not get out of the area soon enough . However, I don't have any idea as to how fast we were then moving.  I had drawn my gun, but I am not sure exactly when I did this.  I did leave my suit unbuttoned all during the motorcade movement, thinking at the time that I could get to my gun faster this way, if I had to. I glanced towards the President and he still appeared to be fairly upright in his seat, leaning slightly toward Mrs. Kennedy with his head tilted lightly back. I think Mrs. Kennedy had her right arm around the President's shoulders at this time. I also remember Special Agent Clinton Hill attempting to climb onto the back of the President's car. It was at this moment that I heard a second report and it appeared that the President's head split open with a muffled exploding sound.  I can best describe the sound as I heard it, as the sound you would get by shooting a high powered bullet into a five gallon can of water or shooting into a melon.  I saw pieces of flesh and blood flying through the air and the President slumped out of sight towards Mrs. Kennedy.  The time lapse between the first and second report must have been about four or five seconds.  My immediate thought was that the President could not possibly be alive after being hit like he was.  I still was not certain from which direction the second shot came, but my reaction at this time was that the shot came from somewhere towards the front, right-hand side of the road. I did not notice anyone on the overpass, and I scanned the area to the right of and below the overpass where the terrain sloped towards the road on which we were traveling.” (11-20-83 AP article found in the  Elyria Ohio Chronicle-Telegram) "I used to hunt a lot and you know a gunshot sounds pretty familiar. You know what that's like. I knew it came from over my right side, or right shoulder" Landis, who was assigned to protect Jacqueline Kennedy, did not see the first shot hit the President...He recalls seeing fellow agent Clint Hill, also on the First Lady detail, jump from the left front bumper and run forward..."I turned and just as I turned to look at the President's car, that's when I heard the second shot, and saw him get hit in the head," Landis said. "I saw the piece of flesh or head fly off. It was right all about that point that the cars were accelerating and a lot going on. People were diving all over the place." Analysis:  Landis only heard two shots: one early shot striking the President, and the head shot, which he thought may have come from the knoll.  As Hill, he makes note of the unusual sound of the last shot. Was this the two shots heard by others heard as one?  Only heard two shots.  First shot hit 190-224.

After looking at the testimony of but 19 motorcade witnesses--5 in the limousine, 4 on motorcycles, 10 in the follow-up car, we can notice that the pattern established by the earwitnesses is continuing. There are 10 motorcade witnesses now whose statements confirm there was an early hit followed by two shots bunched together. There are 3 others who failed to comment on the bunching but who described the first shot in such a manner that we can conclude that it hit. There are 4 others whose statements fit this same scenario provided they heard the last two shots as one, or missed hearing the last shot. While an LPM theorist might say that the statements of these last four are also consistent with there being a first shot miss at frame 160, the fact is that this would mean speculating that these witnesses didn’t hear a shot that NO ONE who heard three shots has yet described. It is undoubtedly much more logical, when comparing those who heard two shots against those who heard three shots, to assume that those who heard only two shots missed hearing a shot that was heard by those who heard three shots. It is also much more logical to conclude that those witnessing a man’s head explode would not make note of a sound a second or two later, than that 13 of the closest witnesses, men all well familiar with guns, would believe they heard two shots after Kennedy was first hit when there was but one. It is also significant that there are convincing reasons to doubt the accuracy of the statements of the only two witnesses to suggest the first shot missed. For these reasons and more, I submit that the LPM theory is garbage and should be buried. Those already convinced and bored with this may want to jump ahead a few chapters. Those still curious or still subscribing to the LPM scenario should read on.