General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy believed President Kennedy was killed by a conspiracy. [View all]AntiFascist
(12,792 posts)almost as if it was only the 3 autopists themselves who were compelled to draw the conclusions that they did. The entry wound is only estimated since the rear of the head had been pretty much blown out. Some mentioned an entry wound at the hairline of the scalp.
HSCA interview of Richard Lipsey, aid to General Wehlewho the Commanding General of the Military District of Washington, US Army:
"I feel that there was no real entrance wound --maybe I said that --in the rear of his head. There was a point where they determined the bullet entered the back of his head but I believe all of that part of his head was blown. I mean I think it just physically blew away that part of his head. You know, just like a strip right across there or may have been just in that area -- just blew it out..
Q: So you say the damage caused by the entrance and the exit of the bullet to the head caused one large hole?
LIPSEY: To the best of my recollection, yes it did."
Interview of Paul O'Connor, assistant in the morgue:
A :" Like I said, no definition showing entry or exit at all. It was like a
bomb went off in his head.."
Q: Because if you're saying there's no way to see the coning effect to know
that's where the entry or exit was.."
A: "Right. There was nothing like that at all "
Q "No coning?"
A :"No coning at all"
"Regarding commission exhibit 386, [ above ] O'Connor said
it did ..,not reflect what I saw. The little head
hole was not there."
Tom Robinson who performed the reconstruction of the head in HSCA interview:
Purdy: Were there any other wounds on the head other than the little one in
the right temple area, and the big one in the back?
Robinson: That's all
Purdy: Do you think it was possible that there was some other wound under
the hair? Did you look for other wounds?
Robinson: Oh, yes we would have found that.
Purdy: So you are satisfied in your professional experience that there were
no other significant wound of the head?
Robinson: I stayed on the left side of the body through out the whole thing.
James Silbert, FBI agent assigned to the morgue:
Q :So, now. the question is realIy no more complicated than did you hear the
doctors discusswhere the bullet wound - or where the bullet entered the back
of the head?
A: The specific place where it entered?
Q: Yes.
A: I don't recall that. Just that general statement.
Q: So, they said it entered the back of thehead.
A: Yes
Q: But nothing more specific.
A: Correct.
Q: Did they ever attempt, or did you hear any discussion about attempting to
measure the size of the entry wound?
A: No.
Q: Did you ever hear any discussion about beveling of the skull? Sound
familiar?
A: No.
Q: Did you hear any discussion about the estimated size of the bullet that
struck the head?
A: No.
Jan Rudnicki, lab assistant to Boswell, and Floyd Reibe, assisting the autopsy photographer, both could not recall and entry wound at the back of the head.
Francis O'Neill, FBI agent assigned to the morgue:
"I guess, the place where it went in would not be there, as far as the scalp
was concerned. " (arrb)
James Jenkins, Boswells assistant throughout the autopsy:
"One of the things I don't understand is they talk of bevelling of the
wounds in the skull. I don't remember the skull being that closely examined..I could hear what
they were saying & I remember no discussions about missile wounds beveled
in or bevelled out . That would be something I would remember"
Bill Greer, driver of the limo and present at autopsy:
Mr. Specter. Now, aside from that opening which you have described and you
have indicated a circle with a diameter of approximately 5 inches, would you
say that is about what you have indicated there?
Mr. Greer. Approximately I would say 5 inches; yes.
Mr. Specter. Did you observe any other opening or hole of any sort in the
head itself?
Mr. Greer. No, sir; I didn't. No other one .
Mr. Specter. Specifically did you observe a hole which would be below the
large area of skull which was absent? <ie the supposed eop 'entry'>
Mr. Greer. No, sir; I didn't .
John Ebersole, radiologist at the autopsy:
" Dr. Baden: Do you on examination of these films
opinion as to where the gunshot wound of entrance was
head radiologically?
Dr. Ebersole: In my opinion it would have come from the
side and the basis of the films. I guess that is all that
can be said about the films at this time." (FPP interview)
John Stringer, autopsy photographer:
Q: That's going to be my next question for you. Are you able to identify the
hole that the
doctors identified on the night of the autopsy as being the entrance wound
in the skull?
A: I think this was a piece of bone, but it was down near there - right
about in there.
Q: You're referring to what appears to be a piece of matter or something -
A: Yes.
Q: - that is near the hairline?
A: Mm-hmm. But it was near there.
Q: And you're certain that that's where the doctors identified the entrance
wound as being; is that correct?
A: Yeah. Yeah, I would think so. That's I what I remember. (ARRB)
" Q: Do you know what that red spot is that appears to be, in layman's terms, near the cowlick?
A: It looks like blood. I would say it was. There was blood all over the place. But I don't think it was anything out of the ordinary. I don't think there was a hole there for the bullet wound. You would have seen the hole." (ARRB)
4 witnesses reported a small entry wound through the scalp at the hairline.
Robert Karnei, resident pathologist but did not participate in the autopsy proper stated:
Dr. Kamei emphasized that he did not participate in the autopsy proper,
nor did he look inside the cranium. However, he did remember seeing one wound in the right side of the head approximately above the right ear, and another wound in the posterior skull, up high in the back of
the head, either in the center, or just left of center (which he associated in his mind with a right-front to
left-rear trajectory, or vice-versa). He also said that the upper posterior skull sagged a bit; i.e., was a bit
concave in shape." (Karnei, ARRB interview)
"In a different context, Dr. Kamei talked about photography in general by saying --
that it was controlled by the people controlling the autopsy. When asked what this meant, he replied that
the FBI and Secret Service (and then clarified that he meant Federal Agents in civilian clothes) were
controlling everything to do with pictures, including confiscation of all photographic and X-Ray film,
including unexposed X-Ray films, and unexposed (and unopened) rolls of photographic film. He said that
this control was so tight that he was surprised that the prosectors were allowed to take their notes with
them when they left the room after the autopsy."
David Osborne:
"It appeared that the bullet hit low in the occiput of the back of the head and entered the skull there and then traversed a portion of the brain and then hit the inside of the top of the skull toward the rear also and blew a good portion of that part of his skull right out
I asked: "Did you actually see the little entry at the bottom of the back of the head?"
"Couldn't see the entry," be replied. "That tissue was all pretty much blown away. . . ." I gathered that Osborne based his conclusion that the bullet struck from the rear on an interpretation of where it hit the inside of the skull on the way out I asked him how the bullet could enter from the rear and blow out the rear of the head. He said: ". . . he had to be leaning forward, and the bullet had to hit him in the lower-right behind, you know, that little lump in the back of your head there Osborne was referring to the external occipital protuberance, where Hurnes said there was an entrance wound. Again, I asked Admiral Osborne if he saw that wound. He replied: "Well, the pieces were all blown apart, so it didn't make one tiny little hole in the bone-no. . . . it blew that portion of the skull into several pieces.
L1FTON: I see. So you didn't actually see an entry wound, per se, but it's inferred that it was somewhere towards the bottom of that big hole-or something like that?
OSBORNE: It had to be. Otherwise it couldn't have hit the inside of the skull where it did."
(Lifton, "Best Evidence", pbk,656-657)