WOUND BALLISTICS EXPERIMENTS
Purpose of the Tests
During the course of the Commission’s inquiry, questions arose as to whether the wounds inflicted on President Kennedy and Governor Connally could have been caused by the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building and Western Cartridge Co. bullets and fragments of the type found on the Governor’s stretcher and in the Presidential limousine. In analyzing the trajectory of the bullets after they struck their victims, further questions were posed on the bullet’s velocity and penetration power after exiting from the person who was initially struck. To answer these and related questions, the Commission requested that a series of tests be conducted on substances resembling the wounded portions of the bodies of President Kennedy and Governor Connally under conditions which simulated the events of the assassination.
The Testers and Their Qualifications
In response to the Commission’s request, an extensive series of tests were conducted by the Wound Ballistics Branch of the U.S. Army Chemical Research and Development Laboratories at Edgewood Arsenal, Md. Scientists working at that branch are engaged in full-time efforts to investigate the wound ballistics of missiles in order to test their effects on substances which simulate live human bodies.[A10-255] The tests for the Commission were performed by Dr. Alfred G. Olivier under the general supervision of Dr. Arthur J. Dziemian with consultation from Dr. Frederick W. Light, Jr.[A10-256] Dr. Olivier received his doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of Pennsylvania in 1953. Since 1957 he has been engaged in research on wound ballistics at Edgewood Arsenal and is now chief of the Wound Ballistics Branch.[A10-257] His supervisor, Dr. Dziemian, who is chief of the Biophysics Division at Edgewood Arsenal, holds a Ph. D. degree from Princeton in 1939, was a national research fellow in physiology at the University of Pennsylvania and was a fellow in anatomy at Johns Hopkins University Medical School.[A10-258] Since 1947, Dr. Dziemian has been continuously engaged in wound ballistics work at Edgewood Arsenal.[A10-259] In 1930, Dr. Light was awarded an M.D. degree from Johns Hopkins Medical School and in 1948 received his Ph. D. from the same institution.[A10-260] After serving a residency in pathology, he worked as a pathologist until 1940 when he returned to Johns Hopkins University to study mathematics. Since 1951, Dr. Light has been engaged in the study of the pathology of wounding at Edgewood Arsenal.[A10-261] All three of these distinquished scientists testified before the Commission.
General Testing Conditions
The Commission made available to the Edgewood Arsenal scientists all the relevant facts relating to the wounds which were inflicted on President Kennedy and Governor Connally including the autopsy report on the President, and the reports and X-rays from Parkland Hospital.[A10-262] In addition, Drs. Olivier and Light had an opportunity to discuss in detail the Governor’s wounds with the Governor’s surgeons, Drs. Robert R. Shaw and Charles F. Gregory.[A10-263] The Zapruder films of the assassination were viewed with Governor and Mrs. Connally to give the Edgewood scientists their version.[A10-264] The Commission also provided the Edgewood scientists with all known data on the source of the shots, the rifle and bullets used, and the distances involved. For purposes of the experiments, the Commission turned over to the Edgewood testers the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found on the sixth floor of the Depository Building.[A10-265] From information provided by the Commission, the Edgewood scientists obtained Western bullets of the type used by the assassin.[A10-266]
Tests on Penetration Power and Bullet Stability
Comparisons were made of the penetrating power of Western bullets fired from the assassination rifle with other bullets.[A10-267] From the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, the Western bullet was fired through two gelatin blocks totaling 72½ centimeters in length.[A10-268] As evidenced by Commission Exhibit No. 844, which is a photograph from a high-speed motion picture, the Western bullets passed through 1½ blocks in a straight line before their trajectory curved.[A10-269] After coming out of the second gelatin block, a number of the bullets buried themselves in a mound of earth.[A10-270]
Under similar circumstances, a bullet described as the NATO round M-80 was fired from a M-14 rifle.[A10-271] The penetrating power of the latter is depicted in Commission Exhibit No. 845 which shows that bullet possesses much less penetrating power with a quicker tumbling action. Those characteristics cause an early release of energy which brings the bullet to a stop at shorter distances.[A10-272] A further test was made with a 257 Winchester Roberts soft-nosed hunting bullet as depicted in Commission Exhibit No. 846. That bullet became deformed almost immediately upon entering the block of gelatin and released its energy very rapidly.[A10-273] From these tests, it was concluded that the Western bullet fired from the Mannlicher-Carcano had “terrific penetrating ability” and would retain substantial velocity after passing through objects such as the portions of the human body.[A10-274]
Tests Simulating President Kennedy’s Neck Wound
After reviewing the autopsy report on President Kennedy, the Edgewood scientists simulated the portion of the President’s neck through which the bullet passed. It was determined that the bullet traveled through 13½ to 14½ centimeters of tissue in the President’s neck.[A10-275] That substance was simulated by constructing three blocks: one with a 20-percent gelatin composition, a second from one animal meat and a third from another animal meat.[A10-276] Those substances duplicated as closely as possible the portion of the President’s neck through which the bullet passed.[A10-277] At the time the tests were conducted, it was estimated that the President was struck at a range of approximately 180 feet, and the onsite tests which were conducted later at Dallas established that the President was shot through the neck at a range of 174.9 feet to 190.8 feet.[A10-278] At a range of 180 feet, the Western bullets were fired from the assassination weapon, which has a muzzle velocity of approximately 2,160 feet per second, through those substances which were placed beside a break-type screen for measuring velocity.[A10-279] The average entrance velocity at 180 feet was 1,904 feet per second.[A10-280]
To reconstruct the assassination situation as closely as possible both sides of the substances were covered with material and clipped animal skin to duplicate human skin.[A10-281] The average exit velocity was 1,779 feet from the gelatin, 1,798 feet from the first animal meat and 1,772 feet from the second animal meat.[A10-282] Commission Exhibit No. 847 depicts one of the animal meats compressed to 13½ to 14½ centimeters to approximate the President’s neck and Commission Exhibit No. 848 shows the analogous arrangement for the gelatin.[A10-283] The photograph marked Commission Exhibit No. 849 shows the bullet passing through the gelatin in a straight line evidencing very stable characteristics.[A10-284]
Commission Exhibit No. 850 depicts the pieces of clipped animal skin placed on the points of entry and exit showing that the holes of entrance are round while the holes of exit are “a little more elongated.”[A10-285] From these tests, it was concluded that the bullet lost little of its velocity in penetrating the President’s neck so that there would have been substantial impact on the interior of the Presidential limousine or anyone else struck by the exiting bullet. In addition, these tests indicated that the bullet had retained most of its stability in penetrating the President’s neck so that the exit hole would be only slightly different from the appearance of the entry hole.[A10-286]
Tests Simulating Governor Connally’s Chest Wounds
To most closely approximate the Governor’s chest injuries, the Edgewood scientists shot an animal with the assassination weapon using the Western bullets at a distance of 210 feet.[A10-287] The onsite tests later determined that the Governor was wounded at a distance of 176.9 feet to 190.8 feet from the sixth-floor window at the southeast corner of the Depository Building.[A10-288] The average striking velocity of 11 shots at 210 feet was 1,929 feet per second and the average exit velocity was 1,664 feet per second.[A10-289]
One of the shots produced an injury on the animal’s rib very similar to that inflicted on Governor Connally.[A10-290] For purposes of comparison with the Governor’s wound, the Edgewood scientists studied the Parkland Hospital report and X-rays, and they also discussed these wounds with Dr. Shaw, the Governor’s chest surgeon.[A10-291] The similar animal injury passed along the animal’s eighth left rib causing a fracture which removed a portion of the rib in a manner very similar to the wound sustained by the Governor.[A10-292] The X-ray of that wound on the animal is reproduced as Commission Exhibit No. 852.[A10-293] A comparison with the Governor’s chest wound, shown in X-ray marked as Commission Exhibit No. 681, shows the remarkable similarity between those two wounds.[A10-294]
The bullet which produced the wound depicted in Commission Exhibits Nos. 851 and 852 was marked as Commission Exhibit No. 853 and possessed characteristics very similar to the bullet marked as Commission Exhibit No. 399 found on Governor Connally’s stretcher and believed to have been the bullet which caused his chest wound.[A10-295] Those bullets, identified as Commission Exhibits Nos. 399 and 853, were flattened in similar fashion.[A10-296] In addition, the lead core was extruded from the rear in the same fashion on both bullets.[A10-297] One noticeable difference was that the bullet identified as Commission Exhibit No. 853, which penetrated the animal, was somewhat more flat than Commission Exhibit No. 399 which indicated that Commission Exhibit No. 853 was probably traveling at somewhat greater speed than the bullet which penetrated the Governor’s chest.[A10-298] After the bullet passed through the animal, it left an imprint on the velocity screen immediately behind the animal which was almost the length of the bullet indicating that the bullet was traveling sideways or end over end.[A10-299] Taking into consideration the extra girth on the Governor, the reduction in the velocity of the bullet passing through his body was estimated at 400 feet.[A10-300] The conclusions from the animal shots are significant when taken in conjunction with the experiments performed simulating the injuries to the Governor’s wrist.
Tests Simulating Governor Connally’s Wrist Wounds
Following procedures identical to those employed in simulating the chest wound, the wound ballistics experts from Edgewood Arsenal reproduced, as closely as possible, the Governor’s wrist wound. Again the scientists examined the reports and X-rays from Parkland Hospital and discussed the Governor’s wrist wound with the attending orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Charles F. Gregory.[A10-301] Bone structures were then shot with Western bullets fired from the assassination weapon at a distance of 210 feet.[A10-302] The most similar bone-structure shot was analyzed in testimony before the Commission. An X-ray designated as Commission Exhibit No. 854 and a photograph of that X-ray which appears as Commission Exhibit No. 855 show a fracture at a location which is very similar to the Governor’s wrist wound depicted in X-rays marked as Commission Exhibits Nos. 690 and 691.[A10-303]
The average striking velocity of the shots was 1,858 feet per second.[A10-304] The average exit velocity was 1,786 feet per second for the 7 out of 10 shots from bone structures which could be measured.[A10-305] These tests demonstrated that Governor Connally’s wrist was not struck by a pristine bullet, which is a missile that strikes an object before hitting anything else.[A10-306] This conclusion was based on the following factors: (1) Greater damage was inflicted on the bone structure than that which was suffered by the Governor’s wrist;[A10-307] and (2) the bone structure had a smaller entry wound and a larger exit wound which is characteristic of a pristine bullet as distinguished from the Governor’s wrist which had a larger wound of entry indicating a bullet which was tumbling with substantial reduction in velocity.[A10-308] In addition, if the bullet found on the Governor’s stretcher (Commission Exhibit No. 399) inflicted the wound on the Governor’s wrist, then it could not have passed through the Governor’s wrist had it been a pristine bullet, for the nose would have been considerably flattened, as was the bullet which struck the bone structure, identified as Commission Exhibit No. 856.[A10-309]
Conclusions From Simulating the Neck, Chest, and Wrist Wounds
Both Drs. Olivier and Dziemian expressed the opinion that one bullet caused all the wounds on Governor Connally.[A10-310] The wound to the Governor’s wrist was explained by circumstances where the bullet passed through the Governor’s chest, lost substantial velocity in doing so, tumbled through the wrist, and then slightly penetrated the Governor’s left thigh.[A10-311] Thus, the results of the wound ballistics tests support the conclusions of Governor Connally’s doctors that all his wounds were caused by one bullet.[A10-312]
In addition, the wound ballistics tests indicated that it was most probable that the same bullet passed through the President’s neck and then proceeded to inflict all the wounds on the Governor. That conclusion was reached by Drs. Olivier and Dziemian based on the medical evidence on the wounds of the President and the Governor and the tests they performed.[A10-313] It was their opinion 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. Thus, the Governor’s wrist wound indicated that the bullet passed through the President’s neck, began to yaw in the air between the President and the Governor, and then lost substantially more velocity than 400 feet per second in passing through the Governor’s chest.[A10-314] 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.[A10-315] In addition, the greater flattening of the bullet that struck the animal’s rib (Commission Exhibit No. 853) than the bullet which presumably struck the Governor’s rib (Commission Exhibit No. 399) indicates that the animal bullet was traveling at a greater velocity.[A10-316] That suggests that the bullet which entered the Governor’s chest had already lost velocity by passing through the President’s neck.[A10-317] 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.[A10-318]
Dr. Frederick W. Light, Jr., the third of the wound ballistics experts, testified that the anatomical findings alone were insufficient for him to formulate a firm opinion on whether the same bullet did or did not pass through the President’s neck first before inflicting all the wounds on Governor Connally.[A10-319] Based on the other circumstances, such as the relative positions in the automobile of the President and the Governor, Dr. Light concluded that it was probable that the same bullet traversed the President’s neck and inflicted all the wounds on Governor Connally.[A10-320]
Tests Simulating President Kennedy’s Head Wounds
Additional tests were performed on inert skulls filled with a 20 percent gelatin substance and then coated with additional gelatin to approximate the soft tissues overlying the skull.[A10-321] The skull was then draped with simulated hair as depicted in Commission Exhibit No. 860.[A10-322] Using the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle and the Western bullets, 10 shots were fired at the reconstructed skulls from a distance of 270 feet which was the estimated distance at the time those tests were conducted.[A10-323] It was later determined through the onsite tests that President Kennedy was struck in the back of the head at a distance of 265.3 feet from the assassination weapon.[A10-324]
The general results of these tests were illustrated by the findings on one skull which was struck at a point most nearly approximating the wound of entry on President Kennedy’s head.[A10-325] The whole skull, depicted in Commission Exhibit No. 860, was struck 2.9 centimeters to the right and almost horizontal to the occipital protuberance or slightly above it, which was virtually the precise point of entry on the President’s head as described by the autopsy surgeons.[A10-326] That bullet blew out the right side of the reconstructed skull in a manner very similar to the head wounds of the President.[A10-327] The consequences on that skull are depicted in Commission Exhibits Nos. 861 and 862, which illustrate the testimony of Dr. Alfred G. Olivier, who supervised the experiments.[A10-328] Based on his review of the autopsy report, Dr. Olivier concluded that the damage to the reconstructed skull was very similar to the wound inflicted on the President.[A10-329]
Two fragments from the bullet which struck the test skull closely resembled the two fragments found in the front seat of the Presidential limousine. The fragment designated as Commission Exhibit No. 567 is a mutilated piece of lead and copper very similar to a mutilated piece of copper recovered from the bullet which struck the skull depicted in Commission Exhibit No. 860. The other fragment, designated as Commission Exhibit No. 569 which was found in the front seat of the Presidential limousine, is the copper end of the bullet.[A10-330] Commission Exhibit No. 569 is very similar to a copper fragment of the end of the bullet which struck the test skull.[A10-331] The fragments from the test bullet are designated as Commission Exhibit No. 857 and are depicted in a photograph identified as Commission Exhibit No. 858.[A10-332] A group of small lead particles, recovered from the test bullet, are also very similar to the particles recovered under the left jump seat and in the President’s head. The particles from the test bullet are a part of Commission Exhibit No. 857 and are depicted in photograph designated as Commission Exhibit No. 859.[A10-333] That skull was depicted as Commission Exhibit No. 862.[A10-334]
As a result of these tests, Dr. Olivier concluded that the Western bullet fired from the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle at a distance of 270 feet would make the same type of wound found on the President’s head.[A10-335] Prior to the tests, Dr. Olivier had some doubt that such a stable bullet would cause a massive head wound like that inflicted on the President.[A10-336] He had thought it more likely that such a striking bullet would make small entrance and exit holes.[A10-337] The tests, however, showed that the bones of the skull were sufficient to deform the end of the bullet causing it to expend a great deal of energy and thereby blow out the side of the skull.[A10-338] These tests further confirmed the autopsy surgeons’ opinions that the President’s head wound was not caused by a dumdum bullet.[A10-339] Because of the test results, Dr. Olivier concluded that the fragments found on and under the front seat of the President’s car most probably came from the bullet which struck the President’s head.[A10-340] It was further concluded that the damage done to Governor Connally’s wrist could not have resulted from a fragment from the bullet which struck President Kennedy’s head.[A10-341]