THE TRAJECTORY
The cumulative evidence of eyewitnesses, firearms and ballistic experts and medical authorities demonstrated that the shots were fired from above and behind President Kennedy and Governor Connally, more particularly, from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building. In order to determine the facts with as much precision as possible and to insure that all data were consistent with the shots having been fired from the sixth floor window, the Commission requested additional investigation, including the analysis of motion picture films of the assassination and onsite tests. The facts developed through this investigation by the FBI and Secret Service confirmed the conclusions reached by the Commission regarding the source and trajectory of the shots which hit the President and the Governor. Moreover, these facts enabled the Commission to make certain approximations regarding the locations of the Presidential limousine at the time of the shots and the relevant time intervals.
Films and Tests
When the shots rang out the Presidential limousine was moving beyond the Texas School Book Depository Building in a southwesterly direction on Elm Street between Houston Street and the Triple Underpass.[C3-260] The general location of the car was described and marked on maps by eyewitnesses as precisely as their observations and recollections permitted.[C3-261] More exact information was provided by motion pictures taken by Abraham Zapruder, Orville O. Nix and Mary Muchmore, who were spectators at the scene.[C3-262] Substantial light has been shed on the assassination sequence by viewing these motion pictures, particularly the Zapruder film, which was the most complete and from which individual 35-millimeter slides were made of each motion picture frame.[C3-263]
Examination of the Zapruder motion picture camera by the FBI established that 18.3 pictures or frames were taken each second, and therefore, the timing of certain events could be calculated by allowing 1/18.3 seconds for the action depicted from one frame to the next.[C3-264] The films and slides made from individual frames were viewed by Governor and Mrs. Connally, the Governor’s doctors, the autopsy surgeons, and the Army wound ballistics scientists in order to apply the knowledge of each to determine the precise course of events.[C3-265] Tests of the assassin’s rifle disclosed that at least 2.3 seconds were required between shots.[C3-266] In evaluating the films in the light of these timing guides, it was kept in mind that a victim of a bullet wound may not react immediately and, in some situations, according to experts, the victim may not even know where he has been hit, or when.[C3-267]
On May 24, 1964, agents of the FBI and Secret Service conducted a series of tests to determine as precisely as possible what happened on November 22, 1963. Since the Presidential limousine was being remodeled and was therefore unavailable, it was simulated by using the Secret Service followup car, which is similar in design.[C3-268] Any differences were taken into account. Two Bureau agents with approximately the same physical characteristics sat in the car in the same relative positions as President Kennedy and Governor Connally had occupied. The back of the stand-in for the President was marked with chalk at the point where the bullet entered. The Governor’s model had on the same coat worn by Governor Connally when he was shot, with the hole in the back circled in chalk.[C3-269]
To simulate the conditions which existed at the assassination scene on November 22, the lower part of the sixth-floor window at the southeast corner of the Depository Building was raised halfway, the cardboard boxes were repositioned, the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found on the sixth floor of the Depository was used, and mounted on that rifle was a camera which recorded the view as was seen by the assassin.[C3-270] In addition, the Zapruder, Nix, and Muchmore cameras were on hand so that photographs taken by these cameras from the same locations where they were used on November 22, 1963, could be compared with the films of that date.[C3-271] The agents ascertained that the foliage of an oak tree that came between the gunman and his target along the motorcade route on Elm Street was approximately the same as on the day of the assassination.[C3-272]
The First Bullet That Hit
The position of President Kennedy’s car when he was struck in the neck was determined with substantial precision from the films and onsite tests. The pictures or frames in the Zapruder film were marked by the agents, with the number “1” given to the first frame where the motorcycles leading the motorcade came into view on Houston Street.[C3-273] The numbers continue in sequence as Zapruder filmed the Presidential limousine as it came around the corner and proceeded down Elm. The President was in clear view of the assassin as he rode up Houston Street and for 100 feet as he proceeded down Elm Street, until he came to a point denoted as frame 166 on the Zapruder film.[C3-274] These facts were determined in the test by placing the car and men on Elm Street in the exact spot where they were when each frame of the Zapruder film was photographed. To pinpoint their locations, a man stood at Zapruder’s position and directed the automobile and both models to the positions shown on each frame, after which a Bureau photographer crouched at the sixth-floor window and looked through a camera whose lens recorded the view through the telescopic sight of the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle.[C3-275] (See Commission Exhibit No. 887, [p. 99].) Each position was measured to determine how far President Kennedy had gone down Elm from a point, which was designated as station C, on a line drawn along the west curbline of Houston Street.[C3-276]
Based on these calculations, the agents concluded that at frame 166 of the Zapruder film the President passed beneath the foliage of the large oak tree and the point of impact on the President’s back disappeared from the gunman’s view as seen through the telescopic lens.[C3-277] (See Commission Exhibit No. 889, [p. 100].) For a fleeting instant, the President came back into view in the telescopic lens at frame 186 as he appeared in an opening among the leaves.[C3-278] (See Commission Exhibit No. 891, [p. 101].) The test revealed that the next point at which the rifleman had a clear view through the telescopic sight of the point where the bullet entered the President’s back was when the car emerged from behind the tree at frame 210.[C3-279] (See Commission Exhibit No. 893, [p. 102].) According to FBI Agent Lyndal L. Shaneyfelt, “There is no obstruction from the sixth floor window from the time they leave the tree until they disappear down toward the triple overpass.”[C3-280]
As the President rode along Elm Street for a distance of about 140 feet, he was waving to the crowd.[C3-281] Shaneyfelt testified that the waving is seen on the Zapruder movie until around frame 205, when a road sign blocked out most of the President’s body from Zapruder’s view through the lens of his camera. However, the assassin continued to have a clear view of the President as he proceeded down Elm.[C3-282] When President Kennedy again came fully into view in the Zapruder film at frame 225, he seemed to be reacting to his neck wound by raising his hands to his throat.[C3-283] (See Commission Exhibit No. 895, [p. 103].) According to Shaneyfelt the reaction was “clearly apparent in 226 and barely apparent in 225.”[C3-284] It is probable that the President was not shot before frame 210, since it is unlikely that the assassin would deliberately have shot at him with a view obstructed by the oak tree when he was about to have a clear opportunity. It is also doubtful that even the most proficient marksman would have hit him through the oak tree. In addition, the President’s reaction is “barely apparent” in frame 225, which is 15 frames or approximately eight-tenths second after frame 210, and a shot much before 210 would assume a longer reaction time than was recalled by eyewitnesses at the scene. Thus, the evidence indicated that the President was not hit until at least frame 210 and that he was probably hit by frame 225. The possibility of variations in reaction time in addition to the obstruction of Zapruder’s view by the sign precluded a more specific determination than that the President was probably shot through the neck between frames 210 and 225, which marked his position between 138.9 and 153.8 feet west of station C.[C3-285]
Commission Exhibit No. 887
Photograph taken during reenactment showing C2766 rifle with camera attached.
Commission Exhibit No. 889
PHOTOGRAPH FROM ZAPRUDER FILM
PHOTOGRAPH FROM RE-ENACTMENT
PHOTOGRAPH THROUGH RIFLE SCOPE
FRAME 166
Commission Exhibit No. 891
PHOTOGRAPH FROM ZAPRUDER FILM
PHOTOGRAPH FROM RE-ENACTMENT
PHOTOGRAPH THROUGH RIFLE SCOPE
FRAME 186
Commission Exhibit No. 893
PHOTOGRAPH FROM ZAPRUDER FILM
PHOTOGRAPH FROM RE-ENACTMENT
PHOTOGRAPH THROUGH RIFLE SCOPE
FRAME 210
Commission Exhibit No. 895
PHOTOGRAPH FROM ZAPRUDER FILM
PHOTOGRAPH FROM RE-ENACTMENT
PHOTOGRAPH THROUGH RIFLE SCOPE
FRAME 225
Commission Exhibit No. 697
Photograph of Presidential limousine taken during motorcade.
According to Special Agent Robert A. Frazier, who occupied the position of the assassin in the sixth-floor window during the reenactment, it is likely that the bullet which passed through the President’s neck, as described previously, then struck the automobile or someone else in the automobile.[C3-286] The minute examination by the FBI inspection team, conducted in Washington between 14 and 16 hours after the assassination, revealed no damage indicating that a bullet struck any part of the interior of the Presidential limousine, with the exception of the cracking of the windshield and the dent on the windshield chrome.[C3-287] Neither of these points of damage to the car could have been caused by the bullet which exited from the President’s neck at a velocity of 1,772 to 1,779 feet per second.[C3-288] If the trajectory had permitted the bullet to strike the windshield, the bullet would have penetrated it and traveled a substantial distance down the road unless it struck some other object en route.[C3-289] Had that bullet struck the metal framing, which was dented, it would have torn a hole in the chrome and penetrated the framing, both inside and outside the car.[C3-290] At that exit velocity, the bullet would have penetrated any other metal or upholstery surface of the interior of the automobile.[C3-291]
The bullet that hit President Kennedy in the back and exited through his throat most likely could not have missed both the automobile and its occupants. Since it did not hit the automobile, Frazier testified that it probably struck Governor Connally.[C3-292] The relative positions of President Kennedy and Governor Connally at the time when the President was struck in the neck confirm that the same bullet probably passed through both men. Pictures taken of the President’s limousine on November 22, 1963, showed that the Governor sat immediately in front of the President.[C3-293] Even though the precise distance cannot be ascertained, it is apparent that President Kennedy was somewhat to the Governor’s right. The President sat on the extreme right, as noted in the films and by eyewitnesses, while the right edge of the jump seat in which the Governor sat is 6 inches from the right door.[C3-294] (See Commission Exhibit No. 697, [p. 104].) The President wore a back brace which tended to make him sit up straight, and the Governor also sat erect since the jump seat gave him little leg room.[C3-295]
Based on his observations during the reenactment and the position of Governor Connally shown in the Zapruder film after the car emerged from behind the sign, Frazier testified that Governor Connally was in a position during the span from frame 207 to frame 225 to receive a bullet which would have caused the wounds he actually suffered.[C3-296] Governor Connally viewed the film and testified that he was hit between frames 231 and 234.[C3-297] According to Frazier, between frames 235 and 240 the Governor turned sharply to his right, so that by frame 240 he was too far to the right to have received his injuries at that time.[C3-298] At some point between frames 235 and 240, therefore, is the last occasion when Governor Connally could have received his injuries, since in the frames following 240 he remained turned too far to his right.[C3-299] If Governor Connally was hit by a separate shot between frames 235 and 240 which followed the shot which hit the President’s neck, it would follow that: (1) the assassin’s first shot, assuming a minimum firing time of 2.3 seconds (or 42 frames), was fired between frames 193 and 198 when his view was obscured by the oak tree; (2) President Kennedy continued waving to the crowd after he was hit and did not begin to react for about 1½ seconds; and (3) the first shot, although hitting no bones in the President’s body, was deflected after its exit from the President’s neck in such a way that it failed to hit either the automobile or any of the other occupants.
Viewed through the telescopic sight of the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle from the sixth-floor window during the test, the marks that simulated the entry wounds on the stand-ins for the President and the Governor were generally in a straight line. That alinement became obvious to the viewer through the scope as the Governor’s model turned slightly to his right and assumed the position which Governor Connally had described as his position when he was struck. Viewing the stand-ins for the President and the Governor in the sight of the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle at the location depicted in frames 207 and 210, Frazier testified: “They both are in direct alinement with the telescopic sight at the window. The Governor is immediately behind the President in the field of view.”[C3-300] (See Commission Exhibit No. 893, [p. 102].) A surveyor then placed his sighting equipment at the precise point of entry on the back of the President’s neck, assuming that the President was struck at frame 210, and measured the angle to the end of the muzzle of the rifle positioned where it was believed to have been held by the assassin.[C3-301] That angle measured 21°34’.[C3-302] From the same points of reference, the angle at frame 225 was measured at 20°11’, giving an average angle of 20°52’30” from frame 210 to frame 225.[C3-303] Allowing for a downward street grade of 3°9’, the probable angle through the President’s body was calculated at 17°43’30”, assuming that he was sitting in a vertical position.[C3-304]
That angle was consistent with the trajectory of a bullet passing through the President’s neck and then striking Governor Connally’s back, causing the wounds which were discussed above. Shortly after that angle was ascertained, the open car and the stand-ins were taken by the agents to a nearby garage where a photograph was taken to determine through closer study whether the angle of that shot could have accounted for the wounds in the President’s neck and the Governor’s back.[C3-305] A rod was placed at an angle of 17°43’30” next to the stand-ins for the President and the Governor, who were seated in the same relative positions.[C3-306] The wounds of entry and exit on the President were approximated based on information gained from the autopsy reports and photographs.[C3-307] The hole in the back of the jacket worn by the Governor and the medical description of the wound on his back marked that entry point.[C3-308] That line of fire from the sixth floor of the Depository would have caused the bullet to exit under the Governor’s right nipple just as the bullet did. Governor Connally’s doctors measured an angle of declination on his body from the entry wound on his back to the exit on the front of his chest at about 25° when he sat erect.[C3-309] That difference was explained by either a slight deflection of the bullet caused by striking the fifth rib or the Governor’s leaning slightly backward at the time he was struck. In addition, the angle could not be fixed with absolute precision, since the large wound on the front of his chest precluded an exact determination of the point of exit.[C3-310]
The alinement of the points of entry was only indicative and not conclusive that one bullet hit both men. The exact positions of the men could not be re-created; thus, the angle could only be approximated.[C3-311] Had President Kennedy been leaning forward or backward, the angle of declination of the shot to a perpendicular target would have varied. The angle of 17°43’30” was approximately the angle of declination reproduced in an artist’s drawing.[C3-312] That drawing, made from data provided by the autopsy surgeons, could not reproduce the exact line of the bullet, since the exit wound was obliterated by the tracheotomy. Similarly, if the President or the Governor had been sitting in a different lateral position, the conclusion might have varied. Or if the Governor had not turned in exactly the way calculated, the alinement would have been destroyed.
Additional experiments by the Army Wound Ballistics Branch further suggested that the same bullet probably passed through both President Kennedy and Governor Connally. (See app. X, [pp. 582-585].) Correlation of a test simulating the Governor’s chest wound with the neck and wrist experiments indicated that course. After reviewing the Parkland Hospital medical records and X-rays of the Governor and discussing his chest injury with the attending surgeon, the Army ballistics experts virtually duplicated the wound using the assassination weapon and animal flesh covered by cloth.[C3-313] The bullet that struck the animal flesh displayed characteristics similar to the bullet found on Governor Connally’s stretcher.[C3-314] Moreover, the imprint on the velocity screen immediately behind the animal flesh showed that the bullet was tumbling after exiting from the flesh, having lost a total average of 265 feet per second.[C3-315] Taking into consideration the Governor’s size, the reduction in velocity of a bullet passing through his body would be approximately 400 feet per second.[C3-316]
Commission Exhibit No. 902
PHOTOGRAPH FROM NIX FILM
PHOTOGRAPH FROM RE-ENACTMENT
PHOTOGRAPH FROM ZAPRUDER FILM
PHOTOGRAPH FROM RE-ENACTMENT
PHOTOGRAPH THROUGH RIFLE SCOPE
FRAME 313
PHOTOGRAPH FROM MUCHMORE FILM
PHOTOGRAPH FROM RE-ENACTMENT
Based upon the medical evidence on the wounds of the Governor and the President and the wound ballistics tests performed at Edgewood Arsenal, Drs. Olivier and Arthur J. Dziemian, chief of the Army Wound Ballistics Branch, who had spent 17 years in that area of specialization, concluded that it was probable that the same bullet passed through the President’s neck and then inflicted all the wounds on the Governor.[C3-317] Referring to the President’s neck wound and all the Governor’s wounds, Dr. Dziemian testified: “I think the probability is very good that it is, that all the wounds were caused by one bullet.”[C3-318] Both Drs. Dziemian and Olivier believed that the wound on the Governor’s wrist would have been more extensive had the bullet which inflicted that injury merely passed through the Governor’s chest, exiting at a velocity of approximately 1,500 feet per second.[C3-319] Thus, the Governor’s wrist wound suggested that the bullet passed through the President’s neck, began to yaw in the air between the President and the Governor, and then lost more velocity than 400 feet per second in passing through the Governor’s chest. A bullet which was yawing on entering into the Governor’s back would lose substantially more velocity in passing through his body than a pristine bullet.[C3-320] In addition, the bullet that struck the animal flesh was flattened to a greater extent than the bullet which presumably struck the Governor’s rib,[C3-321] which suggests that the bullet which entered the Governor’s chest had already lost velocity by passing through the President’s neck. Moreover, the large wound on the Governor’s back would be explained by a bullet which was yawing, although that type of wound might also be accounted for by a tangential striking.[C3-322]
Dr. Frederick W. Light, Jr., the third of the wound ballistics experts, who has been engaged in that specialty at Edgewood Arsenal since 1951, testified that the anatomical findings were insufficient for him to formulate a firm opinion as to whether the same bullet did or did not pass through the President’s neck first before inflicting all the wounds on Governor Connally.[C3-323] Based on the other circumstances, such as the relative positions of the President and the Governor in the automobile, Dr. Light concluded that it was probable that the same bullet traversed the President’s neck and inflicted all the wounds on Governor Connally.[C3-324]
The Subsequent Bullet That Hit
After a bullet penetrated President Kennedy’s neck, a subsequent shot entered the back of his head and exited through the upper right portion of his skull. The Zapruder, Nix and Muchmore films show the instant in the sequence when that bullet struck. (See Commission Exhibit No. 902, [p. 108].) That impact was evident from the explosion of the President’s brain tissues from the right side of his head. The immediately preceding frame from the Zapruder film shows the President slumped to his left, clutching at his throat, with his chin close to his chest and his head tilted forward at an angle.[C3-325] Based upon information provided by the doctors who conducted the autopsy, an artist’s drawing depicted the path of the bullet through the President’s head, with his head being in the same approximate position.[C3-326]
By using the Zapruder, Nix and Muchmore motion pictures, the President’s location at the time the bullet penetrated his head was fixed with reasonable precision. A careful analysis of the Nix and Muchmore films led to fixing the exact location of these cameramen. The point of impact of the bullet on the President’s head was apparent in all of the movies. At that point in the Nix film a straight line was plotted from the camera position to a fixed point in the background and the President’s location along this line was marked on a plat map.[C3-327] A similar process was followed with the Muchmore film. The President’s location on the plat map was identical to that determined from the Nix film.[C3-328] The President’s location, established through the Nix and Muchmore films, was confirmed by comparing his position on the Zapruder film. This location had hitherto only been approximated, since there were no landmarks in the background of the Zapruder frame for alinement purposes other than a portion of a painted line on the curb.[C3-329] Through these procedures, it was determined that President Kennedy was shot in the head when he was 230.8 feet from a point on the west curbline on Houston Street where it intersected with Elm Street.[C3-330] The President was 265.3 feet from the rifle in the sixth-floor window and at that position the approximate angle of declination was 15°21’.[C3-331]