THE SINGLE BULLET THEORY

May 23, 2013

THE SINGLE BULLET THEORY

Knoxville, Tennessee (JFKASSASSINATION) Today we continue our look at "Enemy of the Truth:  Myths, Forensics, & the Kennedy Assassination" by Sherry P. Fiester.

                     www.sherryfiester.com

The book, published by JFK Lancer Productions & Publications, Inc. of Southlake, Texas,  includes a Foreward by Jim Marrs, & is available at www.amazon.com & www.jfklancer.com.

Introduction to Chapter 7.

We are going to do our report on this chapter a little differently.

Before reading and summarizing the contents of this chapter, we are going to give you our view of the Single Bullet Theory and then see how Sherry's take on it compares.

The Single Bullet Theory was the brainchild of a counsel for the Warren Commission named Arlen Specter.

The Commission was faced with the evidence from the Zapruder Film which showed that JFK and Connally were hit within 1.6 seconds of one another while the bolt action rifle that the alleged assassin used required a minimum time of 2.3 seconds to recycle.*

*A bolt action manual rifle requires the shooter, after 1 round has been fired, to pull up the bolt then pull it toward his face which then ejects an empty shell, push the bolt forward and downward which positions a new live round in the chamber.

The minimum time of 2.3 seconds reflects only the above process.  It does not allow time for the shooter to reacquire the target in the sight or scope of the rifle.

               Warren Commission Exhibit
                    Manlicher-Carcano Rifle

How, then,  could one shooter fire a rifle faster than humanly possible?

The answer is, he couldn't, and didn't.

So, Mr. Specter theorized that there were not 2 bullets, but only 1.

The one bullet supposedly fired from the 6th floor corner window of the Texas School Book Depository by Lee Harvey Oswald, according to the theory, entered the back of JFK's neck, exited out his throat then entered Governor Connally's right shoulder passing completely through his upper body while breaking a rib in the process, then exited under the right nipple continuing  on and entering the Governor's right wrist, breaking the radius bone and then deflecting into his left thigh where it fell out onto a stretcher at Parkland Hospital...and by the way, in virtually pristine condition.**

**CE399 had been fired because it was somewhat flattened, but otherwise it is whole and shows no signs of damage.  It bears the characteristics of a bullet which has been fired into water or soft material where it would not have hit anything solid.

Is it any wonder they call it the MAGIC BULLET?

There are a host of problems with this theory.

First, the bullet did not enter at a point in JFK's back at a downward trajectory where it would have exited from the front of the throat.

Evidence*** shows that the entry point was 5 1/2 inches below the collar line and at the level of the third thoracic vertebrae.  

***JFK's suit coat & shirt have bullet holes at these locations while the working autopsy data sheet shows the entry point in the back at the same place.

Secondly, autopsy surgeons were unable to track the path of this bullet more than one inch and could not directly connect it to the throat wound.

Third, the bullet found on a stretcher at Parkland Hospital was never DIRECTLY linked to either Connally or JFK.  It was from an empty stretcher parked in the hallway and when Darrell C. Tomlinson moved the stretcher the bullet fell onto the floor.

Now let's see what Sherry Fiester tells us in Chapter 7.

Chapter 7:  The Single Bullet Theory

Sherry's first words are...

"The remarkable flight of Commission Exhibit 399 is mysterious and convoluted."

Sherry tells us that this bullet...

"passed through fifteen layers of clothing, seven layers of skin, and approximately fifteen inches of tissue...removed 4 inches of rib...shattered a radius bone, and remained nearly in pristine condition when found..."

                                 CE399
                National Archives Image

We seem to be right on the money with Sherry so far.

She does remind us that there were members of the Commission (Boggs, Russell and Cooper) who were not convinced that the single bullet theory was correct and that the Report itself says that the theory "is not necessary to any essential findings of the Commission."

As to the placement by the Warren Report of the entry bullet into the back of JFK's neck rather than where it really entered, Miss Feister says...

"There can be no other explanation for adjusting the entry wound than to adjust height to accommodate the needed trajectory from the sixth floor of the TSBD.  Otherwise, the trajectory would be traveling upward, perhaps indicating a shot separate from Connally's wounding."

In other words, if you don't have ONE bullet causing all the non-fatal wounds in President Kennedy and Governor Connally, then you must have at least TWO bullets fired from at least TWO guns by TWO shooters.

OH NO, that would mean a CONSPIRACY....we can't have that!!!!

Sherry goes on to give a detailed account of JFK's throat wound.  She tells us that Parkland surgeon Dr. Malcolm Perry and "other Parkland doctors also believed the neck wound to be an entrance, not an exit."

And as far as JFK's suit coat and shirt, Sherry says that the FBI located the bullet hole in the coat 5 3/8 inches below the top of the collar and the bullet hole in the shirt 5 3/4 inches below the top of the collar.

Sherry goes on to discuss in depth Governor Connally's wounds and the trajectories of bullets fired from the TSBD hitting both the Governor as well as the President.

As to the MAGIC BULLET, Sherry says it was not only virtually undamaged, but also "displayed no blood or tissue on its surface."

And here is something that really catches my eye.  Sherry quotes from an affidavit submitted to the House Select Committee on Assassinations by FBI Special Agent Francis O'Neill, Jr. who had been present at the autopsy...

"The medical illustrator that the Commission employed DID NOT accurately depict the President's wounds.

I do NOT see how the bullet that entered below the shoulder in the back could have come out the front of the throat."

                                        CE 385
                    The Warren Report (1964)

O'Neill continued...

"It was, and (it) is my opinion, that the bullet that entered the back came out the back."

We will skip forward now to Sherry's conclusions.  She writes...

"The Single Bullet Theory is a manufactured resolution of problems stemming from a biased investigation that obviously attempted to manipulate the findings supporting a single shooter.

By its own admission, the Warren Commission did not demonstrate a trajectory that proves the Single Bullet Theory correct; yet, the Single Bullet Theory hinges on trajectory."

Sherry goes on to say...

"The rear wound in Kennedy...has enough contradictions to hamper belief in the Single Bullet Theory.  Combine the other variants and trajectory becomes a guess at best."

And we won't leave you guessing as to Sherry's final words of Chapter 7...

"The possibility of aligning the muzzle of a weapon in the TSBD 6th floor window with the 2 wounds in Kennedy and the back wound in Connally has not been proven because it is impossible.

Because it is impossible, the Single Bullet Theory remains a myth."

It seems to me that Sherry Feister and John White are in 100% agreement on the Single Bullet Theory.

We have one more posting on Sherry Feister's ENEMY OF THE TRUTH.  Come back next time for a look at "THE WITNESSES."