
Fatal Head Shot(Frame Z313)
Adolf Hitler, the Nazi dictator of Germany during World War II, once said "The bigger the lie, the more people will believe it" Although this may sound ludicrous, we can see many examples of this in the world's history. One example would have to be the John Fitzgerald Kennedy assassination.
For over thirty years the people of the United States were led to believe that a single gunman shot and killed Kennedy in Dallas on 22 November 1963 at 12.30 pm. However, I will dispute the facts that show a single gunman was involved, and try to show that a conspiracy must have been present.
According to the evidence surrounding the case of the JFK assassination, a single gunman killed Kennedy. On 22 November 1963 at 12.30 pm CST (Central Standard Time) Kennedy was riding in an open limousine through Dallas, Texas. At this time, Kennedy was shot in the head and neck by a sniper. He was then taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital, were he was pronounced dead. Later, police arrested Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine, at a nearby theatre. By the next morning, Oswald was booked for the murder of President John F Kennedy. Two days later, Jack Ruby, a Dallas night-club owner killed Oswald while he was being moved from the city to the county jail.
At a glance, the above story sounds as if this should be an open-and-shut case. After all, according th the "facts" above, Oswald must have killed Kennedy. However one must take a deeper look into this case. Many people who witnessed the murder of John F Kennedy dispute the "facts" above, saying that they heard shots from places besides the book depository, and other things that may contradict what has been stated above.
One of these witnesses, Abraham Zapruder, captured the entire assassination on his Bell and Howell eight millimetre movie camera. This movie, cleverly called the Zapruder Film, is the single best piece of visual evidence in this case. In order to more clearly understand the Zapruder Film, it is necessary to break it down into frames. The particular Bell and Howell movie camera that Zapruder was using ran at eighteen and three-hundredths (18.3) frames per second. When using this frame system, you must remember that all shots were actually fired several frames before the number that is assigned to them. For example, the fatal head wound, called Z313, was probably fired at Z310, since it took 2-3 frames at 18.3 frames per second for the bullet to reach the victim.
Also, it must be remembered that sound travels at about one thousand one hundred (1,100) feet per second, or a little over half as fast as the the Mannlicher Carcanos bullets. When keeping this in mind, it is expected that witnesses heard the shot at some point after the bullet passed. The Presidential limousine first comes into view at frame 133 (the starting point of this timeline) - The first shot at, or just before, Z187 would have passed through both Governer Connally and the President - The second shot, which passed above the limousine at Z284, missed the President and hit the curb near witness James Tague. This caused him a minor wound - At Z313, the fatal shot occurs, which blew out major portions of the Presidents brain and skull - A forth shot occurred at Z323 (slightly half a second after the fatal wound at Z313).
Due to the proximity of this report to the one at Z313, as well as its more distant origin, most witnesses were unable to hear this shot. Thus, the above is when the bullets hit either Kennedy or Connally, or passed through the frames of the Zapruder film (in the case of the second shot) Of the one hundred and seventy eight (178) witnesses at Daley Plaza, one hundred and thirty two (132) said that they heard exactly three shots. If Oswald were a single gunman it would have taken him at least 2.3 seconds to reload his Mannlicher Carcano rifle. However, the general consensus of the witnesses is that they heard a single shot, followed by silence, with the second and third shots bunched together.
Lee Bowers, one of the witnesses, testified that he heard three shots. One, then a slight pause then two very close together. Also, Warren W Taylor, a Secret Service agent said that as a matter of course he had opened the door and prepared to get out of the car. In the instant that his left foot touched the ground he heard two more bangs and realised that they must be gunshots. When Miss Willis, a witness, was asked if she heard any shots, she testified that she had heard one and a little while later there were two real fast bullets together. When the first one hit, the President turned from waving to the people, grabbed his throat and slumped forward, she could not tell where the second shot went.
Thus, it would have been impossible for one gunman to fire a shot with the Mannlicher Carcano rifle, reload, fire again and fire again in a very short space of time in order to make the shots sound close together. Also, when the fatal shot hit Kennedy, his head went back and to the left, implying that the bullet came from the front and right, not from the back, though many people dispute the single bullet theory, this may be true.
To understand why, one must understand the trajectory of the bullet and the angles involved. The bullet, if fired from the Texas Schoolbook Depository, should have hit Kennedy at a 21 degree angle, and in fact it did. Also, President Kennedy was sitting nearly six inches above the level of Connally's seat. Thus, when the bullet hit Connally the hole in his back was 5/8 inches wide by 1/4 inches high, or more than twice as wide as tall. This means that the bullet was partially turned sideways when it entered Connally's back. Thus, the bullet must have hit something before it hit Connally. Also the bottom of the bullet that was found was broken open and was extruding tiny prticles of lead. X-rays taken at Parkland showed precisely the type of particle embadded in the Governer's wrist and thigh wounds. However, even if the single bullet theory is true, it in no way lessens the fact that there were multiple gunmen and there was a conspiracy. (The "magic bullet" is thought to be bullet 1 on the Zapruder film).
Lastly, one has to consider what the biggest motives would be to kill the President. One motive has to deal with President Kennedy trying to get out of Vietnam. This war was the biggest business in America at the time. It brought in over eighty billion Dollars a year. Thus, since the President was trying to get out of the war, he would have been costing businessmen a lot of money. Vice-President Johnson would also have profited a lot because he was next to become President. Thus, people, including the Vice-President had motives to kill Kennedy.
It is therefore apparent that the killing of John F Kennedy was a conspiracy. There is no way a single gunman could have fired all the bullets that hit Kennedy and Connally in that short period of time. Also, since Kennedy's head went back and to the left, the bullet must have been fired from the front and right of Kennedy. This shows that there was another gunman, which makes this a conspiracy.
Perhaps someday the truth will be revealed about exactly who was responsible for this outrageous act of violence, the killing of JFK.
Time Will Tell
copyright©rossgundlach2002.