1988 3003
SUBJECT : AUTOPSY OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY
TO : Brigadier General J. M. BLUMBERG, MC, USA
FROM : Lieutenant Colonel P. A. FINCK, MC, USA
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BULLET SIMILAR TO PROJECTILE STRIKING PRESIDENT KENNEDY
obtained from the Federal Bureau of Investigation
by Lt. Colonel Pierre A. FINCK, MC, USA.
Full-patch copper- jacketed bullet.
Caliber 6.5-inillimeter Mannlicher-Carcano. _
Weight : approximately 160 grains ( 10 grams ) .
Muzzle velocity : approximately 2100 feet per second ( 640 meters per second ),
Muzzle energy : approximately 1600 foot-pounds ( 220 kilogram-meters ) .
Manufacturer : Western Cartridge Company, USA.
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Autopsy of
President Kennedy
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1 February 1965
SUBJECT : Personal notes on the Assassination of President Kennedy.
TO : Brig. Gen. J. M. Blumberg, ¥.C, USA
The Director
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Washington, DC 2030$
1. In compliance with your request, attached are Subject notes.
2. Before the '» VJarren Report " was published, in September 196U,
I received Directives by telephone, from the VJhite House, through
your Office and through the Naval Medical School in Bethesda,
not to discuss Subject autopsy beyond the contents of the
Warren ^^eport,
3. I wish to take this opportunity to thank you for the confidence
you have shown in my behalf by giving my name to Cdr. Humes,
appointing me as representative of your Institute in the autopsy
of President Kennedy.
.^^.^ CJ^-^^'<-
Lt. Colonel Pierre A. FINCK, MC, USA
Chief, Military lihvironmental Pathology Division &.
Chief, Wound Ballistics Pathology Branch
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
VJashington, DC 20305
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THE AUTOPSY OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY
by Lt. Colonel Pierre A. FINCK, MC, USA.
Conmiander Humes, MC, USN, Director of Laboratories, Naval Medical School.
National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, called me at home by
telephone on 22 Nov 1963, 2000 hours. He told me to go Immediately to the
Naval Hospital. Brigadier General Blumberg, MC, USA, Director of the Armed
Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, D. C., had given my name.
I arrived at the Naval Hospital at 2030 hours. I saw a helicopter on the
ground. A seaman escorted me to the autopsy room, guarded^utside by
military personnel and inside by Agents of the U. S. Secret Service.
Rear Admiral Galloway, Commanding the Naval Center, Cdr Humes and Cdr
Boswell, MC, USN, Chief of Pathology, showed me the wounds in the President's
head. The brain, the heart and the lungs had been removed before my arrival.
X ray films of the head and chest had been taken.
Also present in the autopsy room were : Rear Admiral Kenney, Surgeon General
of the Navy; Rear Admiral Burkley, White House Physician; one Army Major
General; a Brigadier General, Air Force Aid to the President; Capt Stover,
MC, USN, Commanding the Haval Medical School; Capt Osborne, MC, USN,
Chief of Surgery; Cdr Ebersole, MC, USN, a radiologist; a Navy photographer;
Navy officers and enlisted men; Agents of the U. S. Secret Service and
Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ).
I The Autopsy number assigned tt to the President by the Naval Hospital was :
K A - 63 - 272.
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THE WOUNDS
The scalp of the vertex is lacerated. There is an open comminuted fracture
of the cranial vault, many portions of which are missing.
The autopsy had been in progress for thirty minutes when I arrived.
Cdr Humes told me that he only had to prolong the lacerations of the scalp
before removing the brain. No sawing of the skull was necessary.
The opening of the large head wound, in the right fronto-parieto-occipital
region, is 130 millimeters ( mm ) in diameter.
I also noticed another scalp wound, possibly of entrance, in the right
occipital region, lacerated and transversal, 15 x 6 mm. Corresponding to
that wound, the skull shows a portion of a crater, the beveling of which is
obvious on the internal aspect of the bone; on that basis, I told the
prosectors and Admiral Galloway that this occipital wound is a wound of
ENTRANCE. No EXIT wound is identifiable at this time in the skull, but close
Vjortions o f cranial vault y
to midnight, Ixat^BUuuSjfare received from DALLAS, Texas. X ray films of these
bone specimens reveal numerous metallic fragments. Two of the bone specimens,
50 mm in diameter, reveal BEVELING when viewed from the external aspect,
thus indicating a wound of EXIT. Most probably, these bone specimens are part
of the very large right skull wound, 130 mm in diameter and mentioned above.
This right fronto-parieto-occipital wound is therefore an EXIT.
There is another wound, in the region of the right trapezius muscle, at
140 mm from the right acromion and at 140 mm from the tip of the right
mastoid process ( I took these measurements ) . The wound is OVAL, 7x4 mm,
and shows well demarcated edges.
^.
This wound cannot be probed with the soft probe available. There is
subpleural hemorrhage in the right apical mesial region. The apex of the
right lung is hemorrhagic, without laceration of the pleura.
On the basis that there is a wound possibly of entrance, which cannot be
probed through the body, I SUGGEST X RAY FILMS BE TAKEN, ANTEROPOSTERIOR
AND LATERAL, OF THE ENTIRE BODY, BEFORE GOING ANY FURTHER WITH THE AUTOPSY.
This radiologic survey does not reveal any major missile in the President's
cadaver. There are only numerous metallic fragments in the head, in the sagittal
Slt^ plane. Some of these are recovered and are turned over to FBI Agents
against receipt. I help the Navy photographer to take photographs of the
occipital wound ( external and internal aspects ) as well as of the wound in
the back.
There is a recent TRACHEOTOMY wound ( transversal incision ) with moderate
hemorrhage in the subcutaneous tissue. Thanks to a telephone call from
Cdr Humes to Dallas, I found out later that the surgeoni^ in Dallas had
EXTENDED THE EXIT WOUND in the anterior aspect of the neck to make his
tracheotomy. The tracheotomy wound was examined by the three prosectors.
None of us noticed a bullet wound along its course. THE ORGANS OF THE NECK
WERE NOT REMOVED : THE PRESIDENT'S FAMILY INSISTED TO HAVE ONLY THE HEAD EXAMINED,
Later, the permission was extended to the CHEST.
Three civilian embalmers from GAWLER FUNERAL HOME prepared the body for burial.
It took four hours to clean, embalm and dress the body of the President.
The cadaver left the Naval Hospital at 0400 hours, 23 November 1963, in a
casket of African mahogany. The officers present saluted the casket,
covered with a flag.
4
After the body was placed into a USN ambulame, to be brought to the White House.
I saw Mrs Jacoueline Kennedy come out of the hospital and get into her car,
protected by the Secret Service. She had the same pink dress she was wearing
in Dallas at the time of the assassination.
On Sunday 24 November 1963, I went to the Naval Hospital to help Cdr Humes
who had written an autopsy report. Humes, Boswell and Finck, the three
prosectors, signed the Autopsy report in the Office of Admiral Galloway.
( I had suggested several corrections in the autopsy report. ^HJBllflHlB^ *
While we were checking the autopsy report in the Admiral's office, the Television
announced the murder of Oswald by Ruby ) .
In my discussion with Cdr Humes, I stated that we should not check the block
" complete Autopsy " in the Autopsy Report Form. In compliance with the
wishes of the Kennedy family, the prosectors had ^confined their examinatiorjLo the
head and chest. Humes declared that the block " complete Autopsy " should be
checked.
Cdr Humes called me on 29 Nov 63 that the three prosectors would examine the
brain at the Naval Hospital. I asked if a representative of the Neuropathology
Branch of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology would be invited to the gross
examination of the brain. Humes told me that no additional persons would be
admitted. Humes, Boswell and myself examined the formalin fixed brain. A US Navy
photographer was present.
DESCRIPTION : The formalin fixed brain weighs 1500 grams. The arteries of the base
show no arteriosclerotic plaques. The left hemisphere shows minimal frontal
and parietal subarachnoid hemorrhage.
* Original reads: "Cdr Humes agreed."
■i^
There is a parasagittal laceration of the right cerebral hemisphere, extending
from the frontal to the occipital lobes and exposing the Thalamus.
The Corpus Callosum is lacerated. No metallic fragments are identified but
there are numerous small bone fragments, between one and ten millimeters
in greatest dimension, in the container where the brain was fixed.
The CONVOLUTIONS of the brain are flat and the SULCI are narrow, but this
is interpreted as a fixation artefact because the change was not observed at
the time of autopsy.
COLOR AND BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS are taken by the US Navy photographer :
superior and inferior aspects of the brain.
Cdr Humes takes SECTIONS from the subarachnoid hemorrhage of the left
cerebral hemisphere and from the laceration of the right cerebral hemisphere
but does not ^akx make coronal sections in order to preserve the specimen.
On 13 Dec 1963, I had the opportunity to examine the weapon used to kill
President Kennedy. I saw the 6.5 mm Carcano Italian Short Rifle in the
Firearms Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI Laboratory ).
I
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The President's Corranission on the
Assassination of President Kermedj
( '• Yarrcn Conirission '• )
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THE WARREN COMMISSION
On 16 March 1964, I went to the Veterans of Foreign Wars ( VFW ) Building,
200 Maryland Avenue NE, Washington, DC, with Humes and Boswell, to
appear before the Warren Commission. We reported at 1100 hours to
Mr Arlen Specter, Attorney at Law from Philadelphia, who was Counsel
to the Warren Commission appointed by President Johnson to investigate
the assassination of Kennedy.
Mr Specter told us that the Attorney General, Robert Kennedy, brother of
the assassinated President, did not make available to the Commission
the X Ray films and the Photographs taken before and during the autopsy.
I had seen the X ray films in the Autopsy room of the Bethesda Naval Hospital.
The autopsy photographs, taken before and during the -aX autopsy were turned
over to the US Secret Service in the autopsy room and none of the prosectors
ever saw the processed photographs.
Mr Specter showed us the CLOTHING khtj worn by the President, the bullet
recovered from the strtcher of Governor Connally and two fragments of bullets,
all showing a copper jacket and all fired by Oswald's rifle. I also
had the opportunity to see the ballistics report k addressed by
J Edgar HOOVER, FBI Director to the President of the Commission, dated
II March 1964.
CLOTHING : There is a hole in the back in of the Predident's coat,
a portion of which kk was removed by the FBI Laboratory for fibers
study. The hole is approximately 15 cm below the upper k^^ edge of the
collar to the right. Another hole is found immediately below the collar
taken by the FBI Lab agents, for fiber control study.
5ffeftiik*Sfoc The shirt of the President, white with brown stripes, and
a Park Avenue shirt shop label, showed abundant blood in the back and
front. There is a bullet hole, in the back and to the right, at 15 cm
from the upper edge of the collar.
Immediately below the upper button of the front is a bullet hole
perforating both fk flaps of the shirt, right and left. There is dry
blood on the margins of both holes. The innermost hole reveals fibers
directed outward, which indicates an EXIT PERFORATION, The wcikx. outermost
hole also shows this outward orientation of the fatmlely bloody shirt fibers,
but to a lesser extent. These two anterior holes below the collar button
correspond to the exit wound found by the Dallas surgeons at Parkland
Hospital and which was extended for tracheotomy purposes. Dallas records
show that the trachea had been lacerated by the bullet. WE DID NOT HAVE
THIS INFORMATION AT THE TIME OF AUTOPSY.
The TIE worn by Kennedy, a blue silk tie labeled " Monsieur " Christian Dior,
shows a tear of the cloth to the left side of the knot and corresponding
to the two anterior holes in the shirt. The tie knot was not perforated
but GLANCED by the bullet, which is indicated by the fact that the white
padding of the tie is visible and that the blue cloth on the internal
aspect of the knot is intact, which indicates a tangential path on the left
side in relation to the knot.
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BALLISTICS REPORT FROM FBI : Ainmunition used by Oswald is 6.5-imn
>iannlicher.Carcano copper jacketed bullet, tnade by Western Cartridge Co.
Bullet weight : approximately 160 grains. Muzzle velocity approximately
2100 feet per second, kinetic energy approximately 1600 foot-pounds.
FBI Report on CLOTHING : Perforations of the shirt in the anterior
portion below the collar button are typical for an EXIT WOUM).
My EXAMINATION OF THE MISSILES :
1. One copper jacketed bullet, consistent with 6.5 mm caliber.
Approximate length : 30 mm. I was told not to touch these missiles beaause
the FBI wanted to run more tests. The bullet shows rifle markings with twist
to the right. The bullet is fully jacketed and kept its original shape :
round nose and parallel edges. There is only one area of discoloration of the
jacket on the nose, showing a questionably flattened area, possibly
corresponding to impact with some hard surface.
2. one portion of distorted copper jacket, approximately 20 mm in diameter.
3. one portion of copper jacketed bullet, approximately 6.5 mm in diameter.
r
MEMBERS OF THE PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION PRESENT IN THE ROOM
at the time of my testimony :
Chief Justice Earl Warren, age 72.
Allen Dulles, 70, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
J.S. Cooper, 62, Republican senator from Kentucky.
G. Ford, 50, Republican RKpxKiKHi Representative from Michigan.
J.J. McCloy, 68, one time US High Commissioner in West Germany.
MY TESTIMONY : Chairman
I was sworn in by Earl Warren, rmooidant ^of the Commission .
My testimony lasted for thirty minutes.
I testified that Kennedy was shot from behind.
One bullet entered the back at 14 cm from the right acromion and at
14 cm from the right mastoid process, produced ecchymosis of the dome
of the parietal pleura on the right and came out in the anterior neck
below the larynx without injuring bones. X ray films had ruled tkatoc
out bone injuries along the bullet path.
Another bullet struck Kennedy in the back of the head, at 25 mm to the right
of the external occipital protuberance and slightly above. The bullet produced
many fragments and an exit wound of i^xfi 130 mm in the right temporo-
parieto-occipital bone. Many metallic fragments were seen on X ray films,
<L two were,^ , , . ^ ,
but only^;^;^;^overed in the right frontal cerebral hemisphere, elongated
f^ C approximately^
, , ^j ^-E^ElIZ^^ZSv^XnP tenth of the bullet mass,
and black, representing - ati »h e-a»cyone centn
These fragments measured 7 X 2 and 3 X 1 mm.
I
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I explained to the Co^nnission on what basis I could identify ENTRY and
EXIT wounds in the skull. I brought with me a scheme I had prepared
before the Assassination of Kennedy. I had been working on this
diagram for three years, on and off, bringing modifications and
simplifications to it. This diagram applies to bones as well as to
a pane of glass or^^. My scheme was admitted by Chief Justice Warren
as Exhibit AOO of the Commission. ( A copy is attached ).
I also testified that, in my opinion, the oval wound in the right
posterior superior aspect of the chest of Kennedy was an ENTRY.
The edges were fairly regular and there was black fouling of the edges.
PERFORATING MISSILE WOUND OF THE SKULL
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A - Cranial vault. B » Cranial cavity. C = Entrance. D ■ Exit.
Arrows Indicate missile path.
Entrance is often smaller than exit because of bullet "mushrooming- or tumbling and/or secondary missiles.
Note "coning," "cratering," or "beveling" of the bone.
The diameter of the hole is smaller on the impact side . (The same differences of diameter apply to a glass pane .
(Scheme by Scientific Illustration Division, ATIP,
from data provided by Lt Col Pierre A. Finck, MC, USA. AFIP Neg. 63-4825.)
Scheme prepared before the assassination of Kennedy,
for teaching purposes.
Admitted as Commission lixhibit No. liOO,
by Chief Justice Earl V/arren, on 16 March 196k.
Reproduced in Volume XVII, page 50, of
HEARINGS before the President's Commission on the
Assassination of President Kennedy,
On 16 March 1964, I also had the opportunity to examine COLOR PRINTS,
approximately 10 X 20 cm, stamped " US Secret Service, Washington, DC "
<vs a ti sf a c torz )
on the back and made from the only^'color film taken at the time of the
Assassination of Kennedy. An amateur had taken for a g few seconds
the scene of the murder and sold it to LIFE MAGAZINE ^■■■■||HMflH ^
COLOR PRINTS, made from this 8 mm color motion picture, clearly show
how Kennedy slumped forward from a sitting position in the Presidential
car. The last frame does not show Kennedy, completely slumped forward
but his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, climbing on the trunk of the
car ( a Lincoln, made by the Ford Motor Company ), seeking help for
her husband. This sequence of photographs is compatible with a bullet
hitting Kennedy in the back and with another bullet striking him in the
head, both from behind.
On 16 March 196h, I had spent approximately seven hours with the
V/ARxTEN Ca^TISSIGN.
* Original reads: "for $40,000. (?)"
/
On 23 March 1964, I learned from an FBI Agent that the Warren
Commission had asked the FBI to keep all the Exhibits of the Commission,
due to lack of storage facilities on the floor occupied by the
Commission in the VFW Building. The agent told me that he was in
possession of the drawings made in two days by a US Navy enliste/ man at
the National Naval Medical Center, before the testimony of the prosectors
and showing the wounds of Kennedy. He also had Commission Exhibit 400,
the scheme demonstrating a perforating missile wound of the skull,
that I had submitted to the Commission.
All evidence and related material connected with Kennedy's Assassination
and kept by the Firearms Unit of the FBI Laboratory occupied four
cabinets, each 77 X 36 X 18 inches ( 195 X 91 X 45 centimeters ).
On 14 April 1964, I appeared again before the Warren Commission
for a hearing. I spent five hours at the Veterans of Foreign Warj^s
Building, 200 Maryland Avenue, NE.
INDIVIDUALS PBIESENT were : Mr Specter, Mr Rankin, Mr Eisenberg,
Counsels of the Commission; FBI and Secret Service Agents;
Cdrs Humes and Boswell; Drs F.W. Light and Olivier, from the US Army
Arsenal, Edgewood, Md.
I saw a copy of the 8 millimeter oihxxk color motion picture
*
film taken by an amateur and sold to LIFE magazine iflHHHHMB f.\
1 saw the movie several times, at 18 frames per second and at slow motion.
I also saw the 35 millimeter color lantern slides made from this movie,
frame by frame. The movie and the slides show the President slumping
forward after being hit in the back. Then it seems that Governor Connally
has a spastic expression on his face, as he had been hit. His thigh is
not visible and there is no evidence that blood appeared on his xicxiiKk
injured right wrist. THEN CAME THE SHOT THROUGH KENNEDY'S HEAD.
I had the opportunity to examine the clothing of Governor Connally.
The Governor was scheduled to come to Washington during April, we were
told. The COAT showed one hole in the back, on the right, at mid-distance
between the upper edge and the lower edge of the right shoulder seem,
close to the seem, at approximately 20 centimeters from the upper edge of the
collar. One hole in the right anterior portion, at approximately 30 cm
from the collar. One hole in the anterior edge of the h right wrist.
The TROUSERS revealed one hole in the anterior portion of the knee.
The SHIRT disclosed dry brown discoloration, probably blood. We were told
that the shirt was sent to a Texan Senator, and had been cleaned and pressed
faE±iig before being submitted to the Investigators .'Holes in back and front
• r-; Irr^rcr ('-■an ir. ccnr. Some holes seemed to have been enlarged by scissors
* OriginaPreads: "for $40,000."
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The shirt of Texas Governor Connally also showed a hole in the
right cuff.
( I did not have the opportunity to make exact measurements of these holes
in the clothing of Connally. I wrote this description from memory,
within two hours following my return from the Commission ).
I also examined the REPLICA of the 6.5-mm Italian
short rifle that killed Kennedy. Attached to the rifle was a, Japanese
optical device, magnifying four times and similar to the one used by
Oswald.
The FBI made an excellent small scale reproduction
of the buildings of Dallas, representing the scene of the assassination.
I
summary'
b,7 Lt. Col. Finck
SUMMARY
On the recommendation of Brigadier General Blumberg, Director
of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and at the request of
Commander Humes, MC, USN, Director of Laboratories, Naval Medical
School, who called me at home by telephone, I went to the National
Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, where I arrived at
approximately -3©©©- hours on 22 November 1963, The autopsy of
President Kennedy was in progress. The radiologist had studied the
radiographs of the head revealing numerous small metallic fragments,
I examined the wounds. The scalp of the back of the head
showed a small laceration, 15 X 6 mm. Corresponding to this lesion,
I found a through- and- through wound of the occipital bone, with a
crater visible from the inside of the cranial cavity. This bone
wound showed no crater when viewed from outside the skull. On the
basis of this pattern of the occipital bone perforation, I stated
that the wound in the back of the head was an entrance. Later in
the evening, I examined three bone fragments sent from Dallas and
corresponding to the large head wound approximately 130 mm, in
diameter in the right side of the cranial vault. After identifying
their anatomic external and internal surfaces, I noticed that the
beveling of the fragments was apparent when viewed from outside. I
stated then that these portions of bone were part of a wound of exit.
Therefore, the large irregular wound in the right side of the cranial
vault was a wound of exit.
u
The wound in the upper back of the President, to the right of
the mid-line was oval and had a regular, soiled inverted margin. I
stated that this was an entrance, ^fy attempt to probe the path of
the bullet was unsuccessful. I examined the tracheotomy skin wound
and the trachea and did not find evidence of a bullet wound. Having
a wound of entrance in the back and no corresponding exit, I requested
a whole body radiographic survey, the results of which were negative.
There was no bullet in the President's cadaver except the metallic
fragments seen in the head. It was only after the autopsy that the
prosectors learned, thanks to a telephone call of Cdr. Humes to Dallas,
that the small wound of exit in the front of the neck had been extended
by the Dallas surgeons at the time of their tracheotomy.
I testified before the Warren Commission on 16 March 1964.
Chief Justice Warren swore me in. The Commission admitted as Exhibit
400 the schematic representation of a perforating missile wound of
the skull that I had prepared for teaching purposes at the Armed
Forces Institute of Pathology before the assassination.
When the 'Warren Report" became public on 28 September 1964,
I learned that independent experiments made without my knowledge at
the U. S. Army Arsenal, Edgewood, Maryland with the 6.5-mm. rifle of
Lee Harvey Oswald and ammunition similar to that of the assassination,
had confirmed my opinion regarding the perforating wound of the head
and the entrance wound of the back.
/
After the publication of the Warren Report, numerous physicians
criticized the autopsy protocol that did not describe the adrenal glands
of Kennedy who suffered from adrenal insufficiency. The prosectors
complied with the autopsy permit and its restrictions. I was told that
the Kennedy family first authorized the autopsy of the head only and then
extended the permission to the chest. Organs of the neck were not removed,
because of the same restrictions. I feel that the prosectors accomplished
their MISSION that was to determine the direction of the shots and the
cause of death. The head wound was definitely fatal. There were zsm rumors
- and even testimonies - that the President had been shot from behind and
from the front. I established that Kennedy had two wounds of entrance in the
back : one in the back of his head and one in his upper back at the base of
the neck. After the completion Ah of the post mortem examination, the
Suj^on General of the Navy told us not to discuss the autopsy with anyone,
even among prosectors or with the investigators involved.
I was denied the. opportunity to examine the clothing of
Kennedy .
»
I
I waw the clothing of Kennedy, for the first time, on 16 March 1964, at
the Warren Commission, before my testimony, more than three months after the
autopsy.
* Original reads: "One officer who out-ranked me told me that my request was
only of academic interest. The same officer did not agree to state in the
autopsy report that the autopsy was incomplete, as I had suggested to indicate."
I?
I saw the x-ray films of the body but I never saw the
photographs of the wounds that I had helped to take. They were turned
over to the U. S. Secret Service. Agents of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation took custody of the two metallic fragments recovered
from the cerebral cortex.
Despite the incomplete or the inaccurate information we had
at the time of the autopsy ( for example, we were told that a bullet
had been found on Kennedy's stretcher whereas it was on Connally's ),
the autopsy conclusions were verified by other examinations, such as
gross, microscopic and spectrographic study of the clothing ( FBI ),
and by independent experiments such as those conducted by scientists
in Wound Ballistics at the U. S. Army Arsenal, Edgewood, Maryland.
More details are available in the Report of the President's
Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy ( " Warren Report " )
and in the 26 volumes of hearings and testimonies, all published by
the U. S. Government Printing Office. See Mail Order Forms attached.
Lt. Colonel Pierre A. FINCK, MC, USA
04 043 322
Chief, Military Environmental Pathology Division and
Chief, Wound Ballistics Pathology Branch
ARMED FORCES INSTITUTE OF PATHOLOGY
Washington, D.C.
'f
COMMENT:
From the viewpoint of wound ballistics, the assassination
of President Kennedy illustrates the role of the tissue
in. the wounding power of a projectile.
The first bullet that struck Kennedy in the back at a distance
of approximately 180 feet (55 meters) and came out in the anterior
portion of his neck did not strike bone and did not disintegrate.
The second bullet that struck Kennedy in the back of the head at
a distance of approximately 270 feet (82 meters) disintegrated
into numerous metallic fragment^.
The two bullets were within the seime range of kinetic energy.
The muzzle energy was approximately 1600 foot-pounds (220
kilogram-meters) .
The first bullet produced small entrance and exit wounds.
The second bullet made a small entry and a very large exit in
the head.
The 6.5-millimeter Mannlicher-Carcano bullet made by the Western
Cartridge Company is approximately 30 mm. in length and 160 grains
(10 grams) in weight. It has a full copper- jacket, a round nose
and parallel edges. It has great stability.
PIERRE A. FINCK '
Lt Colonel, MC, USA
Chief, Wound Ballistics Pathology Branch
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Washington, D.C. 20305
U. S. Government Printing Office
( GPO )
( 1
vail
By 1$ Feb 1965
V/arren Report ( paper cover and cloth bound )
more than lljO,000 volumes sold.
Twenty-six Volumes of Hearings :
more than 1300 sets sold.
idin
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T/
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BKR
MAIL ORDER FORMS printed by the U. S. Government Printing Office ( 1964 )
Over 125.000 copies sold!
Complete 900-pafee official Government edition
Limited supply available
REPORT ON THE ASSASSINATION OF
PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY
Popularly referred to as the WARREN REPORT, this is the report of the President's Com-
mission on the assassination of President Kennedy.
The Commission, after an exhaustive and intensive investigation, presents here its findings
and conclusions concerning the assassination of the 35th President of the United States,
John F. Kennedy.
Cloth Binding, S3>Zd
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Seal and Title Stamped in Gold
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$2. 50 1 Paper Binding
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INVESTIGATION OF THE ASSASSINATION
OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY
I • HEARINGS • EXHIBIT MATERIALS • DEPOSITIONS
^ . . . published in connection with the report of the Preiident's Commission on the Assassination of
President John F. Kennedy and which form the basis for the Report.
!'
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Letters of
Appreciation
ARMS) FORCES INSTITUTE OF PATHOLOGY
WAMNNOTOM, 0.C IMM
JMB/bmk
MMnf • tot* *• 1
MINI ■■■!■
11 January 1965
SUBJECT: Letter of Appreciation
TO:
Lt. Colonel Pierre A. Flnck, MC
1, I have known for many months of the Invaluable
service that you rendered to the United States Government
on the tragic night in which you served so well at the
autopsy of the late President Kennedy. I am sure that no
fact was left undone as regards the forensic aspects in
this tragedy. With your full knowledge in the field of
wound ballistics and medical legal science you have ren-
dered a real service.
2. It is a pleasure for me to once again commend you
personally for your role.
5 Incl
1. Cy of Itr from
General Counsel,
President's Com,
on Assassination of
President Kennedy
2. Cy of Itr from Sec'y
of Defense
3. Cy of 1st Ind. Chief, PRNC
4. Cy of Ltr from Chief, BUMED
5. Ltr from CO, MNMC
Copies furnished:
Personnel
AFIP Historical File
^4:AA>.«^>o
JOE M. BLUMBERG \^
Brigadier General, M^ USA
The Director
NATIONAL NAVAL MEDICAL CENTER
BETHCSDA t4. MARYLAND
M liivt.* mtrtm «•
NNMC-C-05-<in
1650
JAN 4 1965
From: Conunandlng Officer, National Naval Medical Center
To: LTCOL P. A. FINCK, USA
Via: The Director, Armed Forcea Institute of Pathology,
Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Vaahingtoiv D. C, 203O5
SubJ: Letter of appreciation
End: (1) Copy of subject letter
1. It is vlth pleasure that I forward a copy of enclosure (l)
vlth BV added thanks and sincere appreciation of the difficult
and delicate tasks cited*
1^
ir
C. B.
t
9
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
•wuAW w maoi a m am* mmmit
WAMNN«rOM, ».C
M unr unm fo
BUMD>OI75-«s
10 OM«db«r 1964
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Fran: Chlaf, ButMu of Madlcla* and Surgery
To: CocsDwndlng Offlcar, HatiooAl Naval Kadlcal CenCar,
B«Cb«ad«, MaryUad /
Via: Cooaandanc. PeCooMu: Rivar Naval Conand, WaahlagCon Navy Yard.
Washlnston, D. C.
Subj: Lattar of appraclacloo '
Xocl; (1) Copy of J. Ua Rankin. General Counaal, Prealdant'a
Coraalaaioo on Cha Aaaaaainatloa of Prealdcnt Kennedy.
Icr dcd 13 Nov 1964
(2) Copy of Koaorandua from Che Secretary of Defenae dcd
24 Nov 1964
1. Your Staff and you are coograCulaCed on your excellcoC aCClCude
and efficiency that has itade aoch an lapreaaloo on Che Honorable J. Lee
Rankin as to varrant hla fine remarks. I vould also like to take thla
opportunity to expresa «y apprecUtlon for tboae who participated In
the work of Che CoaiMlaalon on the aasassinatloB of Prealdent Kennedy.
2. A copy of encl9«ures <1) and (2) are being aenC to the Bureau of
Naval Pereoonel for Inclualoa la your official record.
I. c. KBontr
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1650(269)
9B53
FIRST ENDORSEMENT on Chief, DuMed Itr BUMEI>-3l75-i8 of 10 Dec W*^
Front CofwMndant, Potonac River N«v«l Cownand
Toi Conicunding Officer, National Naval Medical Center
Subjt Letter of appreciation
1. Delivered noting with pleasure the coovMnta bv the Honorable J. Lee
Rankin on the outatanding aasiatanca provided by the National Naval
Medical Center to the Warren Commiaaion in the preparation of the report
on the assassination of the late President Kennedy.
2. A "Well Done** to all personnel who assisted the Warren Connission
>in the preparation of its report*
Copy tot
BIMED
Lxim,
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M£:morandum for
The Socroury o/ the Arm/
The Socrotary of the Navy •*
The Secretary o£ the Air Force
Comznandant of thd Marine Corp*
Aaslotcmt Secretary of Defense (Adminietr«tioa)
Acttn(; Condral Counsel
Attdchod hereto la A lotter from the Honorable J. Lco.Rankin,
Gonoral Counsel of the Preoldcnt's Conunlsoion on the Assassi-
T>acion of President Kennedy. In that letter >ie generously ex-
pro o so s his and the Commioslon's appreciation for the cooperation
of the many persons in the Dopartmont of Dofeneo who particlpatod
in the work of the ConAmioston.
■'■1
f:tl|
To Mr. Rankings commendation I add my own for^the wholehearted
9upport oX the work o£ the Commission by all in Defense who w«r«
fortunate -enough to be callod upon to aooist in this hiatoric and
qritlcAlly Important •ndaavoy.
•^^-c:.,-^^
ifil
Attachmoat
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t.\KL WARREN.
C'neirmsn
RICHARD B. RUSSELL
^ JOHN SHERMAN COOPER
HALE BOCCS
GERALD R. FORD
JOHN J. McCLOY
AUEN W.DULLES
President's Commission
ON THE
Assassination of President Kennedy
200 Maryland Ave. N.S.
Waahington, D.C 20003
Tacphonc 543-1400
WOV 1 3 1£54
J.U2 RANXrN.
3i
The Honorable ^
The Secretary of Defense
1'^ dear Mr. Secretary:
Cn laehalf of the Coimaission and myself I -vrish to thank
you for the assistance the Cocsaission received from. the Department
of Defense in the investigation of the assassination of President
John_F._IfeEll2di£
In the vorlc, because of the special skills that -vrere
possessed "by persons in various sections or agencies of the Department,
TO freely ranged from the Air Rsrce for transportation and historians
to other areas for secretaries and clerical personnel, to USA for
help on cryptography problems, the ^fe^rine Corps' end Army for marks-
manship and Around ballistics assistance, the Kaval Ifedical Center
for autopsy records and the skill of medical experts, and many others
too nuii'-erous to list in this manner. In every case, a mere request
ira.s sufficient to obtain full and vmlimited cooperation and assistance.
\J<2 even imposed upon the Depbrtment by obtairiins numerous extensions
irith regard to stenographic and clerical help because of our inability
to complete the investigation vithin the various time limits that
■vre had set for ourselves and hoped to achieve.
\IQ are especially grateful to you and all of your good
people for bearing vith us and being so generous in your help, all
of which became so necessary to the success of our endeavors.
c It vould be greatly appreciated if you vould convey
the Commission's deep sense of gratitude to the Secretaries of the
.3CCS
HI III III! II
- 2 -
three services, the Corir^andant of the Varirji Corps, and yoxir own
General Counsel and Director of Personnel.
"With kindest personal regards, I reniain
Sincerely,
^'
yA* V
.,_/ L^i;t^>^
J. Lee Ranlcin
General Counsel
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Articles from the Press
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The Waihington Poit
2 Jun« 1964
^ Report Due to Name
: Oswald Lone Killer
I-
t
The Warrcrt commlsKion's
report on President Kcnne-
' dy'a assassination is expected
to substantiate .the original
FBI finding that Lee Harvey
;. Oswald, acting alone, mur
dercd Mr. Kennedy.
The commission has com'
' pleted iU basl^ work and set
^ the end of the month as the
target date for a report ex-
pected to deUil the evidence
that Oswald was the assaaaio
And acted Alone. >.
AtiMittM rr«u
The rommis.sion plans to
call several more witnesses.
Including Mr. Kennedy's wid-
ow, who will testify at a
secret time and place.
The commission has heard
some 400 witnesses, mong
with having examined thou-
sands of investigative reports
and at least 800 pieces - of
physical evidence. They are
said to hav« overwhelmingly
substantiated the FBI finding
that put the, finger on Oswald
•lone.
•c.
:%-•:*•
§
m.
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L-
HISTORICAL NOTES
A Compendium of
> Curious Coincidences
Wherever collectors of odd facts con-
. gregate these days, the conversation
almost invariably turns to the uncanny
parallels in the lives — and deaths—of
Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kenne-
dy. How ever it started, it has added up
to a compendium of curious coinci-
dences. Last week even the G.O.P, Con-
gressional Committee Newsletter, with
Li'
■ -V
;■'. -:
"^ ■
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f
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U
OSWALD BOOTH
; Two assassim, 15 letters each.
ia circulation among 15,000 Republi-
cans, joined in the game with its own
. list. There were no political motives,
explained Newsletter Editor Edward
Neff. "We just thought of them as in-
teresting." Among the fascinating facts:
Lincoln was elected in 1860, Ken-
nedy in 1960. Both were deeply in-
volved in the civil rights struggle. The
names of each contain seven letters.
The wife of each President lost a son
when she was First Lady. Both Presi-
dents were shot on a Friday. Both were
shot in the head, from behind, and in
the presence of their wives. Both presi-
dential assassins were shot to death be-
fore they could be brought to trial. The
names John Wilkes Booth and Lee Har-
vey Oswald each contain 15 letters. Lin-
coln and Kennedy were succeeded by
Southerners named Johnson. Tennessee's
Andrew Johnson, who followed Lincoln,
was born in 1808; Texan Lyndon John-
son was born in 1908.
As these coincidences have been cir-
culated, the facts have been embellished
■ more than a little to fit. Many of the
lists have it that Booth was born in 1839
and Oswald in 1939. Booth, in fact,
was born in 1838. Some accounts point
out that Lee Oswald shot Kennedy from
a warehouse and ran to a theater, while
Booth shot Lincoln in a theater and
ran to a warehouse. But Booth's refuge,
where he was killed twelve days after
shooting Lincoln, was in fact a tobacco-
curing barn. Beyond this the twists have
gotten ridiculous. It has been noted that
Kennedy was shot while riding in a Lin-
coln made by Ford. Lincoln of course
was shot in Ford's Theater. In the end
there is one fillip that has caused some
political eyebrows to swivel: Andrew
Johnson, after he filled out the rcmain-
"•'•'r of Lincoln's second term, was fol-
lowed in the While House by a Repub-
lican whose last name began with G.
<
o
H
NOTE t 1964 Republican Presidential
candidate was Senator Goldvater.
( Source t TIMS Magazine 21 Aug I964 )
19
ISftr
?.i^*:f?
2CC3rr-
§
Report on the Assassination of
President John F. Kennedy
Popiilarly referred to as the "Warren Report"
I (
I !
m.
u\
REPORT OF
THE PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION ON THE
ASSASSINATION OF
President John F. Kennedy
o
. I— I
L
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WA8BIMOTON, D.C.
iggyyBhifAiAAAaDaAa*
1.!
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D.8. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OPFICB. WASHINGTON: 1964
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Ciovernmcnt Trlntlng OITloe, Wuhlnijton, D.C., 2(H0J
i'ricc Sl'.iO Pup^T Covets; SSJiS Cioih Bound
PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION
ON THE
ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY
CaiEr Justice Rarl Warben, Chairman
SCRATOB RlCBARO B. RUSSEIX
SEirATOB John Shbbmar Coopeb
BimSKNTATIVS Halx Booos
HePBEBEH TATITK OKRALO R. F0H>
Mb. AixEir W. DmxBs
Mb. John J. MoClot
J. Lex Rankin, Oeneral Counsel
AttUtant Ooutuel
Francis W. H. Adams
Joseph A. Ball
David W. Beun
WiuxAM T. Coleman, Jr.
MCLTIN ABON EiSENBEBO
Bubt W. Obiitin
Leon D. Hubert. Jr.
Albebt B. Jenneb, Jr.
WESLET J. LlEBELm
Norman Reduoh
W. Datid Slawbon
Arlen Bpecteb
Samuel A. Stebn
Howard P. Willens*
Staff Uembers
Phillip B arson
Edward A. Ck>NBOT
John Hart Elt
Alfbeo Qoldbebo
Murray J. Lauliobt
Arthur Marmor
RiCHABo M. Mosk
John J. O'Brieh
Stuabt Pollak
Alvbedda Scobet
Chables N. Shaffer, Jr.
LLOTD L. WEIlfBEB
*Ur. Wlllenf aim acted at llalaon between tbe Commlulon and the Department of
■ 'WJee.
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lAUWMUR
tUCMAtOaitUIHU
JOHMIKUUAN
HAUIOOOI
CCRAIOR-POHO
(OKN^MrCtOr
AUIM V.DUIB
PuMIDINT't COHUIMIOM
OH THI
AmaUIHATIOH op PtMIOIMT KiMHIDT
Xn Manrhad Am. N J.
WMlnfUii, 0.C nxn
T<kpkn> >4>-l«a
Septeober 2<», 196l»
|.IJiMM<IH.
The President
The White House
VashlqgtoD, 0. C.
Dear Kr. President:
Your ComlsBlOQ to investigate the sssasslnatloa
of President Kennedy on Koveober 22, I963, bsvln« co^leted
Its assignment in sccordsnce vlth Executive Order Ho. III30
of Boveaiber 29, I963, herovith submits its flnsl report.
RespectfuUjr,
ihn J. McCloy •^
IS'
L
John J. McCloy
to the exclusion of all other wcajwiis. Similarly, firearms identifica-
tion experts are able to compare the markings left upon the base of
cartridge cases and thereby determine whether both cartridges were
fired by the same wejipon to the exclusion of all other weapons.
According to Frazier, such an identification "is made on the presence
of sufficient individual microscopic characteristics so that a very defi-
nite pattern is formed and visualized on the two surfaces.'* "" Under
some circumstances, as where the bullet or cartridge case is seriously
mutilated, there are not sufllcient individual characteristics to enable
the expert to make a firm identification."'
After making independent examinations, both Frazier and Nicol
positively identified the nciirly whole bullet from the stretcher and
the two larger bullet fragments found in the Presidential limousine
as having been fired in the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found
in the Depository to tlie exclusion of all other weapons.'" Each of
the two bullet fragments had sufficient unmutilated area to provide
the basis for an identification.'" However, it was not possible to
determine whether the two bullet fragments were from the same bullet
or from two different bullets.'^* With regard to the other bullet frag-
ments discovered in the limousine and in the course of treating Presi-
dent Kennedy and Governor Connally, however, expert examination
could demonstrate only that the fragments were "similar in metallic
composition" to each other, to the two larger fragments and to the
nearly whole bullet.'" After examination of the three cartridge cases
found on the sixth floor of the Depository, Frazier and Nicol concluded
that they had been fired in the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle to
the exclusion of all other weapons."' Two other experts from the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, who made independent examinations
of the nearly whole bullet, bullet fragments and cartridge cases,
reached the identical conclusions.'*'
THE BULLET WOUNDS
In considering the question of the source of the shots fired at Presi-
dent Kennedy and Governor Connally, the Commission has also eval-
uated the expert medical testimony of the doctors who observed the
wounds during the emergency treatment at Parkland Hospital and
during the autopsy at Bethesda Naval Hospital. It paid particular
attention to any wound characteristics which would be of assistance
in "identifying a wound as the entrance or exit point of a missile.
Additional information regarding the source and nature of the in-
juries was obtained by expert examination of the clothes worn by the
two men, particularly those worn by President Kennedy, and from
the results of special wound ballistics tests conducted at the Commis-
sion's request, using the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle with am-
munition of Uie same type as that used and foimd on November 22,
1963.
85
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The President's Head Wounds
The detailed autopsy of President Kcnnctly performed on the night
of November 22 at the Bethesda Naval Hospital led the three examin-
ing pathologists to conclude that the smaller hole in the rear of the
President's skull was the point of entry and that the large opening
on the right side of his head was the wound of exit."* The smaller
hole on the back of the President's head mcasurcfJ one-fourth of an
inch by five-eighths of an inch (6 by 15 millimeters).'" The dimen-
sions of that wound were consistent with having been caused by a
6.5-millimeter bullet fired from behind and above which struck at a
tangent or an angle causing a 15-millimeter cut. The cut reflected a
larger dimension of entry than the bullet's diameter of 6.5 millimeters,
since the missile, in effect, sliced along the skull for a fractional dis-
tance until it entered.'" The dimension of 6 millimeters, somewhat
smaller than the diameter of a 6.5-millimeter bullet, was caused by
the elastic recoil of the skull which shrinks the size of an opening after
a missile passes through it'"
Lt. Col. Pierre A. Finck, Chief of the Wound Ballistics Pathology
Branch of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, who has had
extensive experience with bullet wounds, illustrated the characteris-
tics which led to his conclusions about the head wound by a chart
prepared by him. This chart, based on Colonel Finck's .studies of
more than 400 cases, depicted the effect of a perforating missile wound
on the human skull.'" When a bullet enters the skull (cranial vault)
at one point and exits at another, it causes a beveling or cratering
effect where the diameter of the hole is smaller on the impact side than
on the exit side. Based on his observations of that beveling effect
on the President's skull. Colonel Finck testified : "President Kennedy
was, in my opinion, shot from the rear. The bullet entered in the
back of the head and went out on the right side of his skull * * * he
was shot from above and behind." ^
Comdr. James J. Humes, senior pathologist and director of
laboratories at the Bethesda Naval Hospital, who acted as chief
autopsy surgeon, concurred in Colonel Finck's analysis. He com-
pared the beveling or coning effect to that caused by a BB shot
which strikes a pane of glass, causing a round or oval defect on the
side of the glass where the missile strikes and a belled-out or coned-out
surface on the opposite side of the glass.'" Referring to the bullet
hole on the. back of President Kennedy's head, Commander Humes
testified: "The wound on the inner table, however, was larger and
had what in the field of wound ballistics is described as a shelving or
coning effect." '"* After studying the other hole in the President's
skull, Commander Humes stated : "♦ • ♦ we concluded that the large
defect to the upper right side of the skull, in fact, would re.present
a wound of exit" "^ Tliose characteristics led Commander Humes
and Comdr. J. Thornton Boswell, chief of pathology at Bethesda
Naval Hospital, who assisted in the autopsy, to conclude that the bullet
86
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S9
penetrated the rear of the President's head and exited through a
large wound on the right side of his head."'
Ballistics experiments (discussed more fully in app. X, pp. 585-586)
showed that the rifle and bullets identified above were capable of
pi-oducing the President's head wound. The Wound Ballistics Brancii
of the U.S. Army laboratories at Edgewood Arsenal, Md., conducted
an extensive series of experiments to test the effect of Western Car-
tridge Co. 6.5-millimeter bullets, the type found on Governor Con-
nally's stretcher and in tlie Presidential limousine, fired from the
C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found in the Depository. The Kdge-
wood Arsenal tests were performed under the immediate supervision
of Alfred G. Olivier, a doctor who had spent 7 years in wounds bal-
listics research for the U.S. Army.*"
One series of tests, performed on reconstructed inert human skulls,
demonstrated that the President's head wound could have been caused
by the rifle and bullets fired by the assassin from the sixth-floor
window. The results of this series were illustrated by the findings on
one skull which was struck at a point closely approximating the
wound of entry on President Kennedy's head. That bullet blew out
the right side of the reconstructed skull in a manner very similar to
the head wound of the. President."' As a result of these tests, Dr.
Olivier concluded that a Western Cartridge Co. 6.5 bullet fired from
the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle at a distance of 90 yards would
make the same type of wound as that found on the President's head.
Referring to the series of tests, Dr. Olivier testified :
It disclosed that the type of head wounds that the President
received could be done by this type of bullet. This surprised
me very much, because this type of stable bullet I didn't think
would cause a massive head wound, I thought it would go
, through making a small entrance and exit, but the bones of the
skull are enough to deform the end of this bullet causing it to
expend a lot of energy and blowing out the side of the
skull or blowing out fragments of the skull.'**
After examining the fragments of the bullet which struck the recon-
structed skull, Dr. Olivier stated that —
the recovered fragments were very similar to the ones recovered
on the front seat and on the floor of the car.
This, to me, indicates that tliose fragments did come from the
bullet that wounded the President in the head.'"*
The President's Neck Wounds
During the autopsy at Bethesda Naval Hospital another bullet
wound was observed near the base of the back of President Kennedy's
neck slightly to the right of his spine which provides further enliglit-
enment as to the source of the shots. The hole was located approxi-
87
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mately 5y2 inches (14 centimeters) from the tip of the right shoulder
joint and approximately the same distance below the tip of the right
mastoid process, the bony point immediately beliind the ear,'" The
wourid was approximately one- fourth by one-seventh of an inch (7 by
4 millimeters), had clean edges, was sharply delineated, and had
margins similar in all respects to those of the entry wound in the
skull.'" Commanders Humes and Boswell agreed with Colonel
Finck's testimony that this hole —
• • 'is a wound of entrance. * • * The basis for that con-
clusion is that this wound was relatively small with clean edges.
It was not a jagged wound, and that is what we see in wound of
entrance at a long range.*^
The autopsy examination further disclosed that, after entering the
President, the bullet passed between two large muscles, produced a
contusion on the upper part of the pleural cavity (without penetrating
that cavity), bruised the top portion of the right lung and ripped the
windpipe (trachea) in its path through the President's neck."" The
examining surgeons concluded that the wounds were caused by the
bullet rather than the tracheotomy performed at Parkland Hospital.
The nature of the bruises indicated tliat the President's heart and
lungs were functioning when the bruises were caused, whereas there
was very little circulation in the President's body when incisions on
the President's chest were made to insert tubes during the tracheot-
omy.^*' No bone was struck by the bullet which passed through the
President's body."' By projecting from a point of entry on the rear
of the neck and proceeding at a slight downward angle through the
bruised interior portions, the doctors concluded that the bullet exited
from the front portion of the President's neck that had been cut away
by the tracheotomy.'"
Concluding that a bullet passed through the President's neck, the
doctors at Bethesda Naval Hospital rejected a theory that the bullet
lodged in the large muscles in the back of his neck and fell out through
the point of entry when external heart massage was applied at Park-
land Hospital. In the earlier stages of the autopsy, the surgeons were
unable to find a path into any large muscle in the back of the neck.
At that time they did not know that there had been a bullet hole in the
front of the President's neck when he arrived at Parkland Hospital
because the tracheotomy incision had completely eliminated that evi-
dence.'** While the autopsy was being performed, surgeons learned
that a whole bullet had been found at Parkland Hospital on a stretcher
which, at that time, was thought to be the stretcher occupied by the
President. This led to speculation that the bullet might have pene-
trated a short distance into the back of the neck and then dropped out
onto the stretcher as a result of the external heart massage,"'
Further exploration during the autopsy disproved that theory. The
surgeons determined that the bullet had passed between two large strap
muscles and bruised them without leaving any channel, since the bullet
88
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merely passed between them,'" Commander Humes, who believed
that a tracheotomy had been performed from his observations at the
autopsy, talked by telephone with Dr. Perry early on the morning of
November 23, and learned that his assumption was correct and that
Dr. Perry had used the missile wound in the neck as the point to make
the incision.*" This confirmed the Bcthesda surgeons' conclusion
that the bullet had exited from the front part of the neck.
Tlie findings of the doctors who conducted the autopsy were con-
sistent with the observations of the doctors who treated the President
at Parkland Hospital. Dr. Charles S. Carrico, a resident surgeon at
Parkland, noted a small wound approximately one-fourth of an inch
in diameter (5 to 8 millimeters) in the lower third of the neck below the
Adam's apple."* Dr. Malcolm O. Perry, who performed the trache-
otomy, described the wound as approximately one-fifth of an inch in
diameter (5 millimeters) and exuding blood which partially hid edges
that were "neither cleancut, that is, punched out, nor were they very
ragged." "* Dr. Carrico testified as follows :
Q. Based on your 6bservations on the neck wound alone did you
have a sufficient basis to form an opinion as to whether it was an
entrance or an exit wound ?
A. No, sir; we did not. Not having completely evaluated all
the wounds, traced out the course of the bullets, this woimd would
have been compatible with either entrance or exit wound depend-
ing upon the size, the velocity, the tissue structure and so forth."'
The same response was made by Dr. Perry to a similar query :
Q. Based on the appearance of the neck wound alone, could it
have been either an entrance or an exit wound ?
A. It could have been either."*
Tlien each doctor was asked to take into account the other known facts,
such as the autopsy findings, the approximate distance the bullet
traveled and tested muzzle velocity of the assassination weapon. With
these additional factors, the doctors commented on the wound on the
front of the President's neck as follows :
Dr. Carrico. With those facts and the fact as I understand it
no other bullet was found this would be, this was, I believe, was an
exit wound."'
Dr. Perrt. a full jacketed bullet without deformation passing
through skin would leave a similar wound for an exit and entrance
wound and with the facts which you have made available and with
these assumptions, I believe that it was an exit wound."*
Other doctors at Parkland Hospital who observed the wound prior
to the tracheotomy agreed with the observations of Drs. Perry and
Carrico."* The bullet wound in the neck could be seen for only a short
time, since Dr. Perry eliminated evidence of it when he performed
"^
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89
730-900 0-64— 8
■M«MpM«!«lip«m
the tracheotomy. He selected that spot since it was the point where
sucli an operation was customarily performed, and it was one of the
safest and easiest spots from which to reach the trachea. In addition,
there was possibly an underlying wound to the muscles in the neck, the
carotid artery or the jugular vein, and Dr. Perry concluded that the
incision, therefore, had to be low in order to maintain respiration.**'
Considerable confusion has arisen because of comments attributed
to Dr. Perry concerning the nature of the neck wound. Immediately
after the assassination, many people reached erroneous conclusions
about the source of the shots because of Dr. Perry's observations to
the press. On the afternoon of November 22, a press conference
was organized at Parkland Hospital by members of the White House
press staff and a hospital administrator. Newsmen with microphones
and cameras were crowded into a room to hear statements by Drs.
Perry and William Kemp Clark, chief neurosurgeon at Parkland,
who had attended to President Kennedy's head injury. Dr. Perry de-
scribed the situation as "bedlam." *'* The confusion was compounded
by the fact that some questions were only partially answered before
other questions were asked.*"
At the news conference, Dr. Perry answered a series of hypothetical
questions and stated to the press that a variety of possibilities could
account for the President's wounds. He stated that a single bullet
could have caused the President's wounds by entering through the
throat, striking the spine, and being deflected upward with the point
of exit being through the head.*" This would have accounted for the
two wounds he observed, the hole in the front of the neck and the
large opening in the skull. At that time, Dr. Perry did not know
about either the wound on the back of the President's neck or the
small bullet-hole wound in the back of the head. As described in
chapter II, the President was lying on his back during his entire
time at Parkland. The small hole in the head was also hidden from
view by the large quantity of blood which covered the President's head.
Dr. Perry said his answers at the press conference were intended to
convey his theory about what could have happened, based on hb lim-
ited knowledge at the time, rather than his professional opinion about
what did happen.*'* Commenting on his answers at the press confer-
ence. Dr. Perry testified before the Commission :
I expressed it [his answers] as a matter of speculation that this
was conceivable. But, again. Dr. Clark [who also answered
questions at the conference] and I emphasized that we had no way
of knowing.*"
Dr. Perry's recollection of his comments is corroborated by some of
the news stories after the press conference. The New York Herald
Tribune on November 23, 1963^ reported as follows:
Dr. Malcolm Perry, 34, attendant surgeon at Parkland Hos-
pital who attended the President, said he saw two wounds —
90
W
■nnppOTlMiaiiH
ii uuLnjim i njii fwmmmmimmimnmmmmm
I ! •
one below the Adam's api>le, the other at the back of the head.
He said he did not know if two bullets were involved. It is
possible, he said, that the neck wound was the entrance and the
other the exit of the nussilc.""
According to this rcpoit, Dr. Pony stated merely that it was "possible"
that the neck wound was a wound of entrance. This conforms with
his testimony before the Commission, where he stated that by them-
selves the characteristics of the neck wound were consistent with
being either a point of entry or exit.
W<»ind ballistics <es<«.— Experiments performed by the Army
Wjound Ballistics experts at Edgewood Arsenal, Md. (discussed in
app. X, p. 582) showed that under simulated conditions entry and
exit wounds are very similar in appearance. After reviewing the path
of the bullet through the President's neck, as disclosed in the autopsy
report, the experts simulated the neck by using comparable material
with a thickness of approximately 51/2 inches (13^^ to 141/2 centi-
meters) , which was the distance traversed by the bullet. Animal skin
was placed on each side, and Western Cartridge Co- 6.5 bullets were
fired from the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle from a distance of 180
feet. The animal skin on the entry side showed holes which were
regular and round. On the exit side two holes were only slightly elon-
gated, indicating that the bullet had become only a little unstable at
the point of exit."' A third exit hole was round, although not quite
as regular as the entry holes.'** The exit holes, especially the one most
nearly round, appeared similar to the descriptions given by Drs. Perry
and Carrico of the hole in the front of the President's neck."'
The autopsy disclosed that the bullet which entered the back of
the President's neck hit no bony structure and proceeded in a slightly
downward angle. The markings on the President's clothing indicate
that the bullet moved in a slight right to left lateral direction as
it passed through the President's body.»" After the exammmg doc-
tors expressed the thought that a bullet would have lost very little
velocity in passing through the soft tissue of the neck, wound ballistics
experts conducted tests to measure the exit velocity of the bullet.'"
The tests were the same as those used to create entry and exit holes,
supplemented by the use of break-type screens which measured the
velocity of bullets. The entrance velocity of the bullet fired from the
rifle averaged 1,904 feet per second after it traveled 180 feet The
exit velocity averaged 1,772 to 1,798 feet per second, depending upon
the substance through which the bullet passed. A photograph of the
path of the bullet traveling through the simulated neck showed that it
proceeded in a straight line and was stable."*
ExanUnation of clothing— Tha clothing worn by President Kennedy
on November 22 had holes and tears which showed that a missile
entered the back of his clothing in the vicinity of his lower neck
and exited through the front of his shirt immediately behind his tie,
nicking the knot of his tie in its forward flight'" Although the caliber
of the bullet could not be determined and some of the clothing items
91
.M^M^AJ'iM
■-^
precluded a positive determination that some tears were made by
a bullet all the defects could have been caused by a e-S-mniimeter
th"«l'''*?T^i.'^' ""^'^ °^ '^' President's lower neck and^x ting n
the area of the knot of his tie.'" ^
A^fT'"'''''''°" °^ ^''^ ^"^^ ^"""^^^ '^^'•" ^y the President by FBI
W] nfT"" r'^'J'^ " '■^"^'^'^ '=''"<="^'^'- h«l« approximately one-
fourth of an incli m diameter on the rear of the coat, 53/« inches below
of ir/t »" xtLT' '"'^ '^tr ^° ?^ "^^^ °^ '^^ ceierbacttm
ot the coat The hole was visible on the upper rear of the coat slightly
yX K^^ ""^f"^'^'; ^"^'^ «^ *=°PP«'- ^«™ found in the maSins
ward. Those characteristics established that the hole was caused
^IZTr""^- ^"."f" ^^'^°"S^^ th« P««i^ size of the bulTet could
r^L\ T.'''V''°"' '^'' ^°'^' '' '""^^ <=°"«istent with hav nlTen
made by a 6.5-millimeter bullet."* "
^aJ^n f '"l^i*""" ?y ^^^ President contained a hole on the back side
5% mch^ below the top of the collar and H/s inches to the right of
^B middle of the back of the shirt."- The hole on the rear S the
shirt was approximately circular in shape and about one foTrth of an
f Kr\'^i^'"''^'"v'''^^ ^^ ^^^^ P'-essed inward.">o ThesTfactore
published It as a bullet entrance hole.- The relative posiSn oUh^
hole m the back of the suit jacket to the hole in the 'back of the shirt
indicated that both were caused by the same penetrating ^t^l^?^
On the front of the shirt, examination revealed a hole seven-eighths
of an mch below the collar button and a similar opening seven-eighths
of an inch below the buttonhole. These two holes fell into alinement
on overlapping positions when tlie shirt was buttoned."' Each hole
Z^hMTl'fl'^u^^^^ '"^ approximately one-half of an inch in height,
rffV,i!l . tv'1P^''^u"*^'".^°"''"'''^- Although thecharacteristics
of the sht established that the missile had exited to the front the
irregular nature of the slit precluded a positive determination that it
rrnS k" w M'-" A°"T''' '^' ^^°'^ *=°"'d h«^-« been caused by a
Zhi^f ''^'^''"^^ '^^ characteristics were not sufficiently clear to
enable the examining expert to render a conclusive opinion^"
men the President's clothing was removed at Parkland Hospital,
left of rV" f ^^ ""T'?^ '^'^ ^°°P immediately to the wearer's
wS „ n- 1 Iv^^T^ ^^^ ^°^ '" *ts original condition."" The tie
hori.on/'ll °" '^' i'^' '•?' °{'^^ ^"°^"' The nick was elongated
horizontally, indicating that the tear was made by some object mov^
mg horizontally, but the fibei^ were not affected in a marmeTwrch
would shed light on the direction or the nature of the mSe'-
The Governor's Wounds
on™L'w"f2"r''' "^''^^"'"Pr' °^ '•»" Presidential limousine
on JNovember 22, Governor Connally sustained wounds of the back
tT^\ '•'"•'Vr,'""' ""^i"^' '''■«''• "<^^-'^"«« °f the small size and clean
c udcSL^'it :r"^ T '•" ^''?"''^'''^ '''^^^' ^'•- ^^'^••t Shaw con-
cJucIcd that It was an entry wound."" The bullet traversed the Gov-
92
OoumssiON Exhibit No. 887
Pbotosraph taken daring reenactment showing CS768 rifle wltb camoa attached.
M
89
mm
'^ ^*r?Tv??*!^\; ':
APPENDIX I
amCDUTC RELKASE NOVCMSCK JO. IHl
Offic* of Um WfcU* HooM Pnti SacraUrr
THE WHtTE HOUSE
cxcctrrivE order
IO.lU)0
APPOmriNO A COMMBf »N TO RCfVRT UFON THE
ASSAMMATION Or PRESmENT JOHN T. KENNEOT
Plwniuit to th* autliarUr rfUi to m* *• Pnildaal al lb* UalMd
SUU«. I hareby aiipalBt * CommlMtos lo u«rUla, •rttamU ul npoH
opoB Um UcU nUtlnt to tb* Hau«ia*Un o( Um Uia PrMldam Joto r.
RtBMdy ud Um nbis^ual v«at<al d«(lk of Um mu cbwt«4 «Uk Um
uauitoatloa. TIm Cvmmltiloa alull eeetlM of ••
Tba CU«C laitlc* o< Um Ualud Suiat, Ch*lrnua|
S*iMtaT RIchud B. Rua*U|
SaaalsT John StMrman Coopari
Coagreaaman H*l« Boggtl
CoofrMinuB Oarald R. Fardi
Tb* HonoraM* Allan W. Oullaa)
Tba Hoooiabla Joba J. McClay.
Tba parpoaaa of Um Commlaalon ara lo avamioa tba avtdanca
tfavalopad by tba Fadaral Baraau of InraaUf atlon and aay addlUaaal
aridanca Uial may haraafur co«na to light or ba tmcovarad by fadaral
or ataU aatborltiaa: to maka ancb fartbar bnraaUgalioa aa Um Conunla-
aloa flnda daalrabla: to avaluaU all Iba tacU and circumatancaa aur-
rouadlng aucb aaaaaalnatlon. Including Iba aabiaqMat violant daatb ot
Iba man ebargad arltb tba aaaaaalnatloD, and lo raport to ma lla Ondl^a
and €ooclaalona«
Tba Commlaalon la ampowarad lo praacrlba lu own procadoraa
and to ampler ancb aaalatania aa It daama Dacaaaary*
Nacaaaary axpanaaa of Iba Commlaalon may ba paid from tba
Tmargaaey FoDd (or Um Praaldam".
All ExaenU«a da p a itu MKa and agaoclaa ara dlraclad to ftmdab
Um CommUalen wilb aacb <te(UtUa, aarrtcaa and cooparatloa aa U
may ra^aaal from Uma le lima.
LTNDOM B. J0W4SCM
THE WHITE HOUSE.
Norambar tt, I9t>.
Iff
:
,<
o
H
471
mmmm
Mipi
(a/
C\A-'U
g'lf.t^ili
- fgapa
Wp-'
12.1. 3 H 303 (Dr. Chorlcs J. Carrico) ;
6 H 137 (DIann U. Bowron).
124. Id. nt 137-138 : H 141 (Margaret
M. IIcncliclllTe) ; 6 H 146 (Doris M.
Nelson).
123. 1(1. nt 145-140: 6 H 142 (Heoch-
cllffc) : II 1.17-138 (Bowron).
120. 3 H 302-304 (Frnzler) : 4 H 260
(Day) : CE 130.
127. 3 H 303-304 (Frailer) ; CB 641.
128. 3 H 302-303 (Frailer).
120. Id. at 302 ; CE 640.
130. 3 II 302-303 (Frailer).
131. 7 H 108-100 (WelUmao).
132. 3 II 303 (Frailer).
133. Ibid.
134. Id. nt 306-300; 4 H 260 (Day).
133. 3 H 307 (Frnxler).
130. Id. at 301.
137. Id. at 301. 421.
138. 3 H 400 (Joseph D. Nlcol).
130. See gencrnlly 3 H 417-410, 420-430
(Frnr.ler).
140. Id. at 424.
141. Sec npp. X.
142. 3 H 420. 432, 435 (Frailer) ; 3 H
408, 500-502 (Nlcol) : CE 300. 607, 600.
143. 3 H 602 (Nlcol) ; 3 H 434, 436
(Frailer).
144. 3 H 407 (Nlcol) ; 3 B 435 (Fra-
iler).
145. 5 H 73-74 (Frailer).
146. 3 H 415 (Frailer) ; 8 H 605
(Nlcol) : CE 543-545.
147. 3 H 440 (Frailer) ; 7 H 601 (Cort-
landt Cunningham) ; 7 H 691 (Charles L.
Killlon).
148. 2 H 352-.333 (Comdr. James J.
Humes) ; 2 H 377 (Comdr. J. Thornton
Boswell) : 2 H 380 (Lt. Col. Pierre A.
Flnck).
149. 2 H .352 (Humes).
150. Id. at 357-359.
151. Id. at 350-361.
i— 152. CE 400.
153. 2 H 370-380 (Flnck). »
154. 2 H 352 (Humes).
153. Ibid.
156. Ibid.
157. Ibid. : 2 H 377 (Boswell) ; CB 388.
158. 5 H 75-77 (Dr. Alfred O. Olivier).
159. Id. at 89 : CE 861, 862.
160. 6 H 87 (Olivier).
10'. I-i. at 80.
162. 2 H 361 (Humes) ; CB 387, 301.
163. 2 H 364 (Humes) ; 2 H 380
(Flnck).
164. Ihld. : 2 H 364 (Humes) : 2. H 377
(Boswell).
163. 2 H 363 (Humes).
160. Id. at 367-868.
107. Id. at 364.
108. Ibid.: 2 H .380 (Flnck); CB 886.
109. 2 H 368-369 (Humes).
170. Id. at 367.
171. Id. at .363.
172. Id. at 361-362.
173. 3 H 301 (Carrico).
174. 3 H 388 (Dr. Malcolm O. Perry) ;
Id. at 372.
175. 3 H 362 (Carrico).
176. 3 H .373 (Perry).
177. :< H .362 (Carrico).
178. 3 H 373 (Perry).
179. 6 H 42-43 (Dr. Charles R. Baxter) ;
6 H 35 (Dr. Robert N. Mcaelland) ; 6 H
48-60 (Dr. Marlon T. Jenkins) ; 6 H 65
(Dr. Ronald C. Jones).
180. 3 H 860 (Perry).
181. Id. at 376.
182. Id. at 375-376.
183. Id. at 376.
184. Id. at 368. 372, 376.
185. Id. at 876.
186. CE 14' 6. "The Doctors' Hard Fleht
To Save HIro," New York Herald Tribune,
Not. 23, 1068.
NOTES TO PAGES 81^6
187. 5 H 7C-78 (Olivier).
188. Id. nt 78; CE 850.
180. Sec 3 H 362 (Carrico) ; 8 H 868
(IVrryl.
100. 2 H 364 (Humes) ; CE 385 ; see 6 H
0(Mil (Frailer) ; CE 304.
11)1. 2 H 375 (Humes).
■"" 3 II 77-78 (Olivier) ; CE 840.
5 H 50-62 (Frailer) ; CB 893, 894,
10
103
305.
101
105
5 H 59-62 (Frailer).
Id. at 60.
ion. Ihld.
107. Id. at 60-60.
lO.S. Id. at 60.
100. Ibid.
200. Ibid.
201. Ibid.
202. Ihld.
203. Ihld.
204. Id. at 61.
2n.-|. Ihld.
200. CE 305.
207. 5 H 62 (Frailer).
208. Ihld.
200. 4 H 104 (Dr. Robert R. Shaw).
210. Id. at 104-103; CK 670. 680.
211. 4 H 104 (Shaw) ; 6 H 83 (Shaw).
212. 4 H 136-138 (Gov. John B. Con-
nnlly. Jr.).
213. Id. nt 135.
214. 4 H 118,
OreRory).
124 (Dr. Charles 7.
6 H 106 (Dr.
6 B loe
Id. at 118-110.
210. Id. at 110-120.
217. Id nt 120-121.
218. Id at 124.
210. H 80 (Shaw).
220. 4 H 100 (Shaw).
221. 4 H 138 (Connally) ;
Oeorce T. Shires).
222. See 6 H 87 (Ollrter) ;
(Shires).
223. Ihld. ; 4 H 125 (Gregory).
224. 6 H 106. 109 (Shires) ; 4 H 118
(Shaw) : 4 H 125 (Gregory).
225. CE 084 ; 5 H 63 (Frailer).
226. Ibid.
227. Ibid. : CE 683.
228. 3 H 64 (Frailer).
229. Id. at 63-64.
230. Id. at 64 : CE 686.
231. 5 H 64 (Frailer).
232. Ibid.
233. Ibid. : CB 686.
234. 5 H 64-65 (Frailer).
235. Ibid.
230. Id. at 65.
237. Ibid.
238. CE 687, 688 ; 6 B 65-66 (Frailer).
239. Ibid.
240. 5 H 03 (Dr. Arthur J. Dzlemlan).
241. Ihld.
242. Ihld. ; see 5 H 82-83 (Olivier).
243. Id. at 81.
244. Ibid. : CE 854. 855.
. 245. 5 H 82 (Olivier) ; CE 856.
246. 5 H 82 (Olivier).
247. Id. at 82-83.
248. Ibid.
240. 4 H 121-122 (Gregory).
250. See Id. at 124.
231. See 6 H 82 (Olivier).
252. Id. at 87 : see Id. at 82.
253. 3 H 430 (Frailer).
2.Vt. 6 H 08 (Gregory).
235. Id. at 08-99.
250. 6 H 91 (Shaw) ; 6 H 101-102
(Greeory) : 6 H 100-110 (Shires)..
257. 4 H 130-140 (Connally).
258. Id. at 188-130 : CB 680.
259. 5 H 92 (Dilemlan) ; sec 5 H 84-
87 (Olivier) ; 6 B 95-97 (Dr. P. W. Ught,
Jr.).
260. 2 B 71-73 (Kellerman) ; 2 B 110-
117 (Greer) ; 4 B 182-188 (Connally).
821
Mi$
11
k
HEARINGS OF THE WARREN COMMISSION
( 26 Volumes )
^
H
•MMM
Volxnne II
Testimony of Cdr Hvunes
Cdr Bo swell
LtCol Finck
Prosectors In the Autopsy
of
President Kennedy
, -. 1-
m^M
^^■■>;^
I*
I&
I
INVESTIGATION OF
THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY
HEARINGS
Before the President's Commission
on the Assassination
of President Kennedy
Pursuant to Executive Order 11130, an Executive order creating a
Commission to ascertain, evaluate, and report upon the facts relating
to the assassination of the late President John F. Kennedy and the
subsequent violent death of the man charged with the assassination
and S.J. Res. 137, 88th Ck)N0RES8, a concurrent resolution conferring
upon the C!ommission the power to administer oaths and affirmations,
examine witnesses, receive evidence, and issue subpenas
Volume
II
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON. D.C.
r
■-q
K?
Preface
'■■il
m
IS"
The testimony of the followine witnesses is contained in volume II: James
Herbert Martin, wlio acted for n brief period as the business mnnncer of Mrs.
Marina Oswold ; Mark T^ane, a New York attorney: Wllllnm Ilobert Orcpr,
\vj¥» was drivint; the President's car at the time of the nssasslnation ; Roy H.
Kelierman, a Secret Service aecnt who sat to the right of Greer; Ciinton J.
Hill, a Secret Service agent who was in the car behind the President's car;
Rufas Wayne Youngblood, a Secret Service agent who rode in the car with
then Vice President Johnson ; Robert Hill Jackson, a newspaper photographer
who rode In a car at the end of the motorcade; Arnold l/ouls Rowland, James
Richard Worrell, Jr., and Amos Lee Euins, who were present at the assassination
scene; Buell Wesley Frozier, who drove Lee Harvey Oswald home on the
evening of November 21, and back to work on the morning of November 22;
Linnie Mae Randle, Buell Wesley Frazier's sister; Cortlandt Cunningham, a
firearms identification expert with the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Wil-
liam Woyne Whaley, a taxicab driver, and Cecil J. McWatters, a busdriver, who
testified concerning Oswald's movements following the assassination; Mrs.
Katherlne Ford, Declan V. Ford, and Peter Paul Gregory, acquaintances of
Lee Harvey Oswald and his wife; Comdr. James J. Humes, Comdr. J. Thornton
Boswell, and Lt Col. Pierre A. Finck, who performed the autopsy on the Presi-
dent at Betbesda Naval Hospital ; and Michael R. Paine and Ruth Hyde Paine,
acqualntancea of Lee Harvey Oswald and bis wife.
'M
s
'T
':■
- ?->
fe's
:-t;s
Contents
Page
V
Prefnce
Testimony of — 1
James Herbert Martin (resumed) .■■■ ^^
Mark Lane gl
Roy H. Kellerman ^^2
WilUam Robert Greer ^^^2
Clinton J. Hill 144
Kufus Wayne Youngblood ^j.,.
Robert Hill Jackson jg.
Arnold Louis Rowland ^^^
James Richard Worrell, Jr 2oi
Amos Lee Eulns ' 210
Buell Wesley Frazler ' 245
Llnnle Mae Randle 251
Cortlandt Cunningham 253, 202
William Wayne Whaley '252
Cecil J. McWatters 295
Katherlne Ford 322
Declan P. Ford 337
Peter Paul Gregory 34g
James J. Humes 3.^5
J. Thornton Boswell 3^^
Pierre A. Finck 3g4
Michael R. Paine 43Q
Ruth Hyde Paine '
COMMISSION EXHIBITS INTRODUCED
Exhibit No.
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
841
842
Page
1
2
2
15
. 22
. 29
. 88
. 38
. 38
. 38
. 38
. 38
. 38
,. 38
.. 38
Exhibit No.
343.:
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
857
Page
. 54
. 64
. 04
. 65
. 72
. 72
. 85
. 86
. 92
. 95
. 95
. 155
. 155
.. 189
.. 189
Exhibit No.
358
359
■ 360
361
362
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
874
Page
. 189
. 198
. 198
. 198
. 198
. 210
. 210
. 210
. 257
. 257
. 261
. 257
. 268
. 273
. . 274
Vll
■VP!<*!^^
■«■*•
Exhibit No.: P«K«
876 274
876 275
877 279
878 282
870 280
380 280
881-A 287
382 202
383-A 292
384 340
885 853
880 858
887 853
388 853
889 863
800 868
801 869
892 862
Exhibit No.: *"•«•
303 86r.
304 885
805 805
300 887
807 874
808 ; 874
800 874
400 880
40i 445
402 455
403 477
404 479
404-A 479
405 480
406 480
407 488
408 488
408-A 488
Exhibit No.: *"•«•
409 400
400-A 400
400-B 400
410 494
411 406
412 406
413 406
414 406
415 408
416 408
417 498
418....; 408
419 '. 600
420 601
421 601
422 602
428. 602
424........ 602
Vlll
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Mr. Greoort. No.
Mr LiEBELER. Would It be fair to say. Mr. Gregory, that it was through
Oswald's contact with you that he subsequently made the association with and
contact with the other members of the Russian community in Dallas and Fort
Worth?
Mr. Gkegorv. I think that would be n fair statement, yes.
Mr. LiEBELER. I have no more questions.
Tlie Chairman. ConKre.s»iuiiii?
Representative Ford. I have one more, Mr. Gregory.
I believe Marina has testified when she first met Lee Harvey Oswald it was
approximately 17 months after lie bad arrived in the Soviet Union. She testi-
fied, also, that she could not tell wheHier he was a native born resident of the
Soviet Union or a foreigner by the way he spoke.
Mr. Gregory. Yes.
Representative Ford. Is that unusual?
Mr Gregory. Well, frankly. I don't know. You see. Congressman, the citj?
of Minsk is what we call, they call it, not we call, they call It in the White Russia
Republic. You know they called this the Union of Republics, you know, in
the White Russian Reimblic, and Minsk. I guess, is the capital of it.
It is fairly close to Poland, and there are all sorts of people. Poles. Lithuanians,
probably Latvians, that lived In that part of the country, and none of those
people speak pure Russian.
Now. whether she had reference, whether that had anything to do with her
statement
Representative Ford. Her observations?
Mr. Gregory. Right ; I don't know.
Now, I thought that Lee Oswald spoke with a Polish accent, that Is why I
asked him If he was of Polish descent.
Representative Ford. But leaving
Mr Gregory. But. otherwise, I would say it would be rather unusual, rather
unusual for a person who lived in the Soviet Union for 17 months that he would
speak 80 well that a native Russian would not be sure whether he was bom
In that country or not
Representative Ford. That would be a very unusual kind of a person?
Mr. Gregory. It would be, yes.
Representative Ford. Or a person who had unusual training?
Mr. Gregory. Right, or unusual ability or training, yes. that is right.
Reprepentatlve Ford. That is all, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you very much. Mr. Gregory. You have been very
helpfuL
(Whereupon, at 1 pjn., the President's Commission recessed. )
Monday, March 16, 1964
TESTIMONY OF COMDR. JAMES J. HUMES, COMDR. J. THORNTON
BOSWELU AND LT. COL. PIERRE A. FINCK
The President's Commission met at 2 p.m. on March 16. 1964. at 200 Maryland
Avenue NE.. Washington. D.C. t v ok ..™a„
Present were Chief Justice Earl Warren. Chairman; Senator John Sherman
Cooper. Representative Gerald B. Ford, John J. McCloy, and Allen W. Dulles,
members. ^r, n « j
Also present were J. Lee Rankin, general counsel; Francis W. H. Adams,
assistant counsel; Norman Redllch. assistant counsel; Arlen Specter, assist-
ant counsel ; and Charles Murray, observer.
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TESTIMONY OF COMDR. JAMES J. HUMES
The Chairman. The Commission will be In order.
Commander Humes, will you please step up. You know. Commander, what
we hove met for today to take your testimony c<mcernlnK the autopsy and
anytUlnK else you might know contcrnlnc the ntwasNlnaUon of the I'rexidirii.
Would you rai.se your rlRht hand, please? , ^ , i
Do you solen.nlv swear the testimony you give before this Commission win !
be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God? ;
Commander Homes. I do.
The Chairman. Will you be seated?
You may proceed. «... , . i
Mr. Specter. Dr. Humes, will you state .vour full name for the record, please?
Commander Homes. James Joseph Humes.
Mr Specteh. And what Is'your profe.sslon or occupation, please/
Commander Humes. I am a physician and employed by the Medical Depart-
ment of the United States Navy.
Mr. Specter. What Is your rank In the Navy?
Commander Hvmes. Commander, Medical Corps. United States Navy.
Mr. Specter. Where did you receive your education. Commander Humes,
Commander Homes. I had my undergraduate training at St. Jo.seph's College
at Villanova University In Philadelphia. I received my medical degree in 104S
from the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia.
I received my internship and my postgraduate training in ray special field of
interest in Pathology in various Naval hospitals, and at the Armed Forces Insti-
tute of Pathology at Walter Reed in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Specter. \Vhat do your current duties involve?
Commander Homes. My current title is Director of Laboratories of the Naval
Medical School at Naval Medical Center at Bethesda. I am charged with the
responsibility of the overall supervision of all of the laboratory operations In
the Naval medical center, two broad areas, one In the field of anatomic path-
ology which comprises examining surgical specimens and postmortem examina-
tions and then the rather large field of clinical pathology which takes In exami-
nation of the blood and various body fiulds.
Mr. Specter. Have you been certified by the American Board of Pathology?
Commander Homes. Yes, sir; both In anatomic pathology and In clinical
pathology In 1055.
Mr. Specter. What specific ex^ierlence have you had. If any, with respect to
gunshot wounds?
Commander Homes. My type of practice, which fortunately has been in
peacetime endeavor to a great extent, has been more extensive In the field of
natural disease than violence. However, on several occasions In various places
where I have been employed, I have had to deal with violent death, accidents,
suicides, and so forth. Also I have had training at the Armed Forces Institute
of Pathology, I have completed a course in forensic pathology there as part of
my training In the overall field of imthology.
Mr. Specter. Did you have occasion to participate In the autopsy of the late
John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963?
Commander Homes. Yes. sir; I did.
Mr. Specter. What was your specific function in connection with that autopsy?
Commander Homes. As the senior pathologist assigned to the Naval Medical
Center, I was called to the Center by my superiors and Informed that the Presi-
dent's body would be brought to our laboratories for an examination, and I
was charged with the responsibility of conducting and supervising this exami-
nation; told to also call upon anyone whom I wished as an assistant in this
matter, that I deemed necessary to be present.
Mr. Specter. Who did assist you. If anyone. In the course of the autopsy?
Commander Homes. My first assistant was Commander J. Thornton Boswell.
whose position is Chief of Pathology at the Naval Medical School, and my other
assistant was Lt Col. Pierre Finck, who is in the wound ballistics section of
the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.
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When I ascertained the nature of the President's wounds, having had the
facilities of the Amicd Forces InHtltnte of I'atholoKy offered to me by General
Blumberg. the conni.nndlnK offlcvr of that Insfltutlon. I felt It adviKnble and
would be of help to nie to have the wr^lces of an exi>ert In the field of wound
ballistics and forUiat reason I rtsiuwted Colonel Klmk to api»car.
Mr. Spectbr. Tell \ik who else In a Kcneral way was iHCKont at the time the
autoiisy was conductetl In additiim to you tiiree doctorK. please?
Commander Humes. This. I must preface by s4>yinj; it will be somewhat in-
complete. My imrUculnr Interest was on the examination i,t tlie President and
not of the security measures of the other i»oople who were present.
However, the Surgeon General of the Navy was present at one time or an-
other. Admiral Galloway, the ConunandiuK Officer of the Xalional Naval
Medical Center; my own commanding offii-er, Captiiln John H. Stover of the
Naval Medical School, Dr. John Kbersole, one of the radiologists assigned
to the Naval Hospital, Befhesda, who asslstwl with X-ray examinations which
were made. These are the chief names, sir; that I can recall.
Mr. Specter. What time did the autopsy start approximately?
Commander HuMEa The president's body was received at 2r> minutes be-
fore 8, and the autopsy began at approxinmtely 8 p.m. on that evening. You
must Include the fact that certain X-rays and other examinaUons were mad«
before Uie actual beginning of the routine tyi)e autopsy examination.
Mr. Specteb. I'reclsely what X-rays or photographs were taken before the
dissection started?
Commander Humes. Some of these X-rays were taken before and some dur-
ing the examinaHon which also maintains for the photographs, which were
made as the need became apparent to make such.
However, bef<»re the iKwUnortem examination was begun, anterior, posterior
and lateral X-r«y8 of the head, and of the torso were made, and idenUficaUon
type photographs, I recall having been made of the full face of the late Presi-
dent A photograph showing the massive head wound with the large defect
that was associated with it. To my recoUecUon all of these were made before
the proceedings began.
Several others, approximately 15 to 20 In number, were made In total before
we finished the proceedings.
Mr. Specter. Now were those X-rays or photographs or both when yon
referred to the total number?
Commander Humes. By the niunber I would say they are in number 15 to
20. There probably was ten or 12 X-ray films exposed In addiUon.
Mr. Specter. What time did this autopsy end?
Commander Humes. At approxlmaitely 11 p.m.
Mr. Specter. What wounds did you observe on the late President, If any?
Commander Humes. The wounds which we observed on the President were—
excuse me, at this point might I use the charts which I have prepared?
Would that be appropriate?
Mr. Specter. Yes ; would you like to start with the neck wound?
Commander Humes. All right, sir.
I might preface my remarks by stating that the President's body was re-
ceived In our morgue In a closed casket. We opened the casket. Dr. Boswell
and I, and the President's body was unclothed In the casket, was wrapped In
a sheet labeled by the Parkland Hospital, but he was unclothed once the sheet
was removed from his body so we do not have at that time any clothing.
Mr. Specter. Dr. Humes, before you identify what that represents let me
place Commissdon Exhibit No. 385 on it so it may be identified.
(The drawing was marked Commission Exhibit No. 385 for Identification.)
Commander Humes. When appraised of the necessity for our appearance
before this Commission, we did not know whether or not the photographs which
we had made would be available to the Commission. So to assist in making
our tesUmony more understandable to the Commission members, we decided
to have made drawings. schemaUc drawings, of the situaUon as we saw it,
as we recorded it and as we recall It These drawings were made under my
supervision and that of Dr. Boewell by Mr. Rydberg. whose inlUaU are H. A.
349
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He l8 a hospital corpemnn. second class, and a medical Illustrator In otir com-
mand at Naval Mc<llcnl School. ., , v. ,.
Mr. SrLrER. Did you provide Mm with the basic Information from which
these drawings were made?
Coiinnnndpr Humes. Yes, sir.
Mr. Spectkk. DlKtancw. that fwrt of thins? ^ . ,
Oomnmudcr llv.tF.s. Yes. sir. We hn.l made certain physical mensuremenu
of rtTwoiuMlM. and of their position on the body of the late Prt.sldent and we
provided those and su,«rvisc<l directly Mr. Uydberg la making these drawings.
Mr. SnxTF.n. Have you cliecked the drawings subsequent to their prepara-
tlon to verify their accuracy?
Conimnndcr Humes. Yes, sir.
Mr SwMTER. And proportion? _.. v ••
Som^mnder Hum^. I must state these drawings are In part schematic
The artist had but a brief p6rio<l of some 2 days to prepare these. He had
no phWaphs from which to work, and had to work under our descripUon.
verbal description, of what we had observed. ,,. ^
Mr <?7rcrFi^ Would it be helpful to the artist, in redefining the drawings
If that r^^bec^me necessary.'^ to have available to him the photographs or
''■Sm„mnde'r''^M'^°'lf it were necessary to have tbem absolutely true to
BcaS I S It would be virtually impossible for him to do this without the
'^Mr'^S^ And what Is the reason <or the necessity for having the
^X^iSJr HUMES. I think that It is most difficult to transmit [''to Physical
mSrement^ Uie-bv word the-exact sItuaUon as It was seen to the naked
measurement U. ^^^^^„^ ,3 „„ problem of scale there because tte
wounds. !f they are changed In size or changed In size and P«>^^^'°° ^„^!
Ttrac^res of the body and so forth, when we attempt to give a description of
S^ flnTmi. It 18 the bony prominences. I cannot, which we used «« I«l»^ «<
relTren^; I cannot, transmit completely to the illustrator where they were
'' Mr^PECTEB. Is the taking of photographs and X-rays rouUne or is this
something out of the ordinary?
Commander Humes. No. sir; this Is quite routine in cases of this sort of
vloS death in our training, in the field of forensic pathology we have found
riat tL photograSs and X rays are of most value, the X-rays Particularly in
finding miiurwWch have a way of going In different directions «?'°e"mes. and
particulars as documentary evidence these are considered Invaluable In the field
"^rrP^fwiU you now proceed to show us what Commission Exhibit 380
'"^SmanTr'nuMES. Actually, I think, sir. at this Ume the view from the
posterior aspect would also be of value to the Commission.
Mr.'s^^. Doctor. I hand you the second exhibit which Is marked Com-
mission Exhibit No. 386. ..,.., Mfl-.«n,,„ \
/rtnmmlHsion Exhibit No. 386 was marked for Identification.)
i^^l^n^erHuMM I believe at this point I would like to have. If you have
my'l^r au^psy dCript^Sause I wm give the dimensions of these wounds
"*Mr 'sl^^ We will use the Commission Exhibit No. 387 and I will ask you
flr^t of al^the record, to Identify what this document !«• Dr H„^«»-
(The d^ument referred to was marked Commission Exhibit No. 387 for
"Smmand°er Humes. This document Is a copy of the gross autopsy report
wh^h was prepared by myself. Dr. Boswell. and Dr. Finck. and completed within
rp"^x7m:teS^8 Su^ after the assassinaUon of the Prudent.
Mr Specter. Does that report bear your signature at ite end?
Smman^H^ES. It bTrs my signature on the first or covering page as weU
as on my last i>age, sir.
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Mr Spbcter. Will you now protecU to tell U8 what y<.u observed with rfsiK.^t
to the xvouiiU which IH ninrkiMl ns apiKMiriiiK In the upi-er biuk or lower i.eck?
Mr. McCloy. Hnve you Idciitllied that? , , nop
Jlr Si'ECTEB. The one on the side 1h :»» and the one of the rear view Ih .UM,.
Vnd that one Ih 387. For imritoses (»f our record. If y<.u will, put theni in as .».
ami 3W for our printed re<rord. You n.ight want to put them in chalk above them
so you will see the one on the left Ik :{85 and on the right is 380.
Connnander Humes. These exhibits again are schematic representations of
what we obser%e.l at the time of examining the body of the late President.
Exhibit 38r, shows m the low neck an oval wound which-excusc roe I wish to
get the n.en8urements correct. This wound was situated Just above the upper
^rder of the scapula, and measureil 7 by 4 mllimcters. with its long axis roughly
imrallel to the long axis of vertical column. „,, „, »ki<,
We saw-I would rather not discuss the situation of the anterior neck at this
time or would you prefer It? , , ^ „ ,
Mr Specter. How would you prefer to do it. Dr. Humes/
Commander Humes. I would prefer to discuss the wounds, two wounds, we
«a?j:,™ erSy and the wound, other wound, of the skull ^-f « ^oing to that
Mr SrECTER. That is line. Dr. Humes, do it any way you find convenient I
will give you the other drawing and you can do them both together. Let the
''';i^rs:^Z'^r':^.r::'T^^^ Exhibu no. ssa for
"corand"er HUMES. The wound in the low neck oJ^^-^io^l^^^V^^^-^sly
begun to speak is now posteriorly-Is now depicted n 38;., n 380 «nd 'o 388.
TUe second wound was found in the right posterior por ion of the «ca IP^ ™s
wound was situated approximately 2.5 centimeters to the right, ^n*! «"6^"y """'^
the external occiptal protuberance which is a bony prominence situated in the
I«sterW,r portion of everyone's skull. This wound was then 2% centimeters to
'"^^Siro?ru?wrd\'uhe^ire of the examination was a huge defect over
the right side of the skull. This defect Involved both the scalp and the underlying
KkuU and from the brain substance was protruding.
Ss wound measured approximately 13 cenUmeters In greatest diameter. It
was difficult to measure accurately because radlaUng at V' f"« P°'°»«/'T.'^^
Trge defect were multiple crisscrossing fractures of the skull which extended in
TLavfn^^^n my report that a detailed description of the »- of^hese
fractures and of the types of fragments that were thus made were very difficult
S vSbal d^rlption, and it was precisely for this reason that the Photographs
were made so one might appreciate more clearly how much damage had been
'Tr.%pE^""vere the photographs made available then. Dr. Humes, when
Exhibit 388 was prepared?
Commander Humes. No, sir.
CommaX''Hl,"ME'f ^e photographs, to go back a moment, the Photographs
nnd Z X ravs were exposed in the morgue, of the Naval Medic-al Center on this
n^ht and they wer^ developed. Ser the X-rays or the photographs.
Sey were submitTrto the. and her.. If I make a mistake I am -ot «rta.n. to
either thp Fe<leral Bureau of InvestlgaUon or to the Secret Service. I am not sure
"'Mr°1pECTEB. Did you submit those yourself Immediately after they were
'"SmmlnrerTuMES. Again, one of the senior people present, I believe my own
Co^mand"n^Offl^rCa,rtaln Stover, took care of turning this material oyer to
SeautSuS^nd reaving a r^ipt for this information, for this material.
STaTl supe^lsed the positioning of the body for various of th«se exnmlm.-
»„r=Trr«B fnr as bevond that I did not consider that my responsibility.
".J^ese ^en w/reT i-S^wounds which were quite obvious at the time of
*^\ Z7d»Z'i further on the general appearances of these wounds or I could
351
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turn to the anterior portion of the borty and de«crit>e Tariouti other wound*
which were present.
Mr. SrecTKR. You were fociuwlng on 3SS J)ofore I last aKkctl a (luoRtlon, Dr
HuinoH. Why don't you desorlbe In general teniiK the nature of the wound
which was present at the top of the head of the late President?
Coninmnder Humes. With your itermisslon, sir, and Mr. Chief Justice, I
think I nilRht descril)c those two wounds together, and describe the defects in
the scalp and in tJie skull In each Instance.
Mr. Specter. Tliat would be flne.
Commander Humes. Would that be appropriate?
Mr. Specter. Yes.
Commander Humes. TuminR now to Commission Exhibit 3ft8, where we hare
depicted in the |H>sterior right portion of the skull a wound which we hare
. labeled "In" or a wound of entrance and a large roughly 13 cm. diameter defect
In the right lateral vertex of the skull. I would go into some further detail in
describing these wounds.
The scalp, I mentioned previously, there was a defect in the scalp and some
scalp tissue was not available. However, the scalp was intact completely past
this defect. In other words, this wound in the right posterior region was In
a portion of scalp which had remained Intact.
So, we could see that it was the measurement which I gave before, I believe
16 by C millimeters.
When one reflected the scalp away from the skull in this region, there was a
corresponding defect through both tables of the skull In this area.
Mr. Specter. Will you describe what you mean by both tables. Dr. Humes?
Commander Humes. Yes, sir.
The skull is composed of two layers of bone. We will put the scalp In In
dotted lines.
The two solid lines will represent the two layers of the skull bone, and In
between these two layers is loose somewhat Irregular bone.
When we reflected the scalp, there was a through and through defect corres-
ponding with the wound in the scalp.
This wound bad to us the characteristics of a wound of entrance for the
following reason : The defect in the outer table was oval In outline, quite similar
to the defect in the skin.
Mr. Specter. You are referring there. Doctor, to the wound on the lower part
of the neck?
Commander Humes. No, sir; I am speaking here of the wound in the occiput
The wound on the inner table, however, was larger and bad what In the field
of wound ballistics is described as a shelving or a coning effect To make an
analogy to which the members of the Commission are probably most familiar,
when a missile strikes a pane of glass, a typical example, a B-B fired by a child's
air rifle, when this strikes a pane of glass there will be a small, usually round
to oval defect on the side of the glass from whence the missile came and a
belled-out or coned-out surface on the opposite side of the glass from' whence the
missile came.
(At this point, Mr. Dulles entered the bearing room.)
Commander Humes: Experience has shown and my associates and Colonel
Finck, in particular, whose special field of interest Is wound ballistics can give
additional testimony about this scientifically observed fact
This wound then had the characteristics of wound of entrance from this di-
rection through the two tables of the skull.
Mr. Speoteb. When you say "this direction," will you specify that direction
in relationship to the skull?
Commander Humes. At that point I mean only from without the skull to
within.
Mr. Specter. Fine, proceed.
Commander Humes. Having ascertained to our satisfaction and incidentally
photographs illustrating this phenomenon from l>oth the external surface of the
skull and from the internal surface were prepared, we concluded that the large
defect to the upper right side of the.skoll, in fact, would represent a wound of
exit
352
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A cnreful cxnmiiintlon of the mnrclns of tho Innse bono dofwt nt that point,
however fnile<l to .liwiose n i>ortloii of the Kk.ill bcnrlnc ncaln ii wound of— a
nolnt of impact on the bUuH of this fraRincnt of the n.lRMile. ronioniberinc. of
course, tliat this area was devoid of any scalp or skull at this present time.
We did not have the bone.
lu furtlicr evnlnatinp this head wound. I will refer back to the X-rays which
we had previously pn-parwl. These had disclost^l to us multiple minute frajc-
ments of radio opaque material traversing a line from the wound in the occiput to
just above the ripht eye. with a rather sizable fragment visible by X-ray Just
above the richt eve. Those tiny frnRments that were sei-n dlsiM;rse<l throuKh the
substance of the brain in between were. In fact. Just that extremely minute, less
I than 1 mm. In size for the most |>art.
(At this i>oint. Senator Cooler entereil the hearinc room.)
Mr. Specter. Dr. Humes, this would l>e a goml juncture to pro<lu<e two
I photographs. , , ,,.,/,,
1 May it please the Commission. Mr. Chief Justice Warren. I have identinwl as
I Commission Exhibits 380 and 3!K) which will at n later time Ik; identified as being
'two frames from the motion picture camera oiK>rato<l by one Abraham /apruder.
being the amateur photographer who was on the scene, which I ""'"k would as-
sist In evaluating the angle of the President's head corresponding to that exhibit
designated as 388. . , . * .u
. I will hand those to you. Dr. Humes, and ask you if you would state for the
record the relative position of the President's head in 389 which is a frame about
one-sixteenth of a second before the point of impact shown in Kxhibit 300.
; (The frames referred to were marked C.mnnlssion Exhibits Xos. 38!> and 3!)0
for identification.) ». w „ i
; commander Humes. It will be noted in Fxhiblt 389 that |h« rresident s head
1 18 bent considerably forward and .K-rhaps somewhat to the left .n this frame of
i the photograph 389. , » .w
Mr. Specter. Is that In approximately the same position as the angle of the
head depicted in Commission Exhibit No. .388?
Commander Humes. Yes. sir; it Is.
Mr. Specter. Mr. Chief Justice, at this time I would like to move for admis-
sion In evidence of Exhibits 38r, through 390.
The Chairman. They iraybeadmittedundertho.se numbers.
(Commission Exhibits Nos. 385. .380. 38T. 388. .389. and 300. previously marked
for Identification, were received In evidence.) , , _.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you proceed now. Dr. Humes, to continue in your descrip-
tion of the head wound? , . , , j ,„„» ■„
Commander Humes. Head wouud-a careful Inspection of this large defect In
the scalp and skull was made seeking for fragments of n,ls.s.le bf^""^ "/»«"»
detection was begun. The brain was greatly lacerated and torn, and In this area
of the large defect we did not encounter any of these minute particles.
I might say at this time that the X-ray pictures which were made would have
a endenJy to magnify these minute fragments son.ewhat In size and we were
'ot too surprised in not being able to find the tiny fragments depicted in the
^'Mr' Specter. Approximately how many fragments were observed. Dr. Humes.
"commander Humes. I would have to refer to them again, but I w-ould say
between 30 or 40 tiny dustlike imrticle fragments of radio opaque material, with
Se e^J^ption of this one I previously mentlone.1 which was seen to be abo>e
and very slightly behind the right orbit ,.. , „ v- »>.-.
Mr. Du!!.^. Were these all fragments that were Injected into the skull by the
'"Smmander Humes. Our interpretation Is. sir. that ^^e ->-i;e;truck the
rieht occipital region. i>enetrated through the two tables of the skull making
ie characteristic coning on the inner table which I have P-''""/'^ ? thus o^
That one portion of the missile and Judging by the size of '^e defect thus pro-
du^. the major portion of the missile, made iU exit through this large defect
Tsecond portiorof the missile or multiple second portions were deflected, and
353
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traveraod a distance as cnnnipratcd by this lntrrrtipto<I line, with the major por.
tion of that fraKiiieiit coining to Imlcp In the inisltlon In<lifatc<l.
Perhaps some of these minor frncnients were rtlslortcwl from the ninjor one a,.
It travcrse<l this course.
To better examine the situation with recnrd to the skull, nt this time. Dr.
Boswell and I extcnde<l tlie lac-eratl<uis of the scalp which were at the innrKins
of this wound, down in the dlre<tion of Isith of the President's ears. At that
point, we had even a better appreciation of the extensive damage which had
been done to the skull by this injury.
We had to do virtually no work with a saw to remove these rs>rtlons of the
skull, they came apart in our hands very easily, and we attempted to further
examine the brain, and seek s|»e<ilically this fragment which was the one we
felt to be of a size which would i)crnilt us to recover It.
Mr. Specter. When you refer to this fragment, and you are pointing there.
are you referring to the fragment depicte<l right aJiove the President's right eye?
Ck>mmander Humes. Yes. sir; al)ove and somewhat behind the President's
eye.
Mr. Specter. Will you procee<l. then, to tell us what you did then?
Commander Humes. Yes, sir. We dl.s.sected carefully tn this region and
in fact located this small fragment, which was in a defect In the brain tiiwue
in just precisely this location.
Mr. Specter. Hdw large was that fragment. Dr. Humes?
Commander Humes. I refer to my notes for the measurements of that
fragment
I find In going back to my report, sir. that we found, in fact, two small frag-
ments in this approximate location. The larger of these measured 7 by 2 mm.,
the smaller 3 by 1 mm.
To make my presentation of this wound of the skull more logical to the Com-
mission, I would like to go forward In time that evening to at a later hour.
I apolo{:ize — time and what happened exactly at what moment escapes me at
this time.
I mentioned previously that there was a large bony defect. Some time later
on that evening or very early the next morning while we were all still engaged
In continuing our examination, I was presented with three portions of bone
which had been brought to Washington from Dallas by the agents of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation.
These were
Mr. Specter. Might that have been by a Secret Service agent?
Commander Humes. It could be, sir; these things
Mr. Specter. At any rate, someone presented these three pieces of bone to you?
Commander Humes. Someone presented these three pieces of bone to me,
I do not recall specifically their statement as to where they had been recovered.
It seems to me they felt It had been recovered either in the street or In the
automobile, I don't recall specifically.
We were most Interested in these fragments of bone, and found that the
three pieces could be roughly put together to account for a portion of this defect
Mr. Specter. How much remained unaccounted for. Dr. Humes?
Commander Humes. I would estimate that approximately one-quarter of that
defect was unaccounted for by adding these three fragments together and seeing
what was left
This is somewhat difficult because as back to when we were actually looking
for the fragments of metal, as we moved the scalp about fragments of various
sizes would fall to the table, and so forth, so it was difficult to put that exact
figure into words.
However, the thing which we considered of importance about these three frag-
ments of bone was that at the margins of one of them which was roughly pyram-
idal in shape, there was a portion of the circumference of what we interpreted
as a missile wound. We thus interpreted it this because there was, the siie
was, sufficiently large for us, for it to have the curve of the skull still evident
At the point of this defect and I will draw both tables of the bone in this
defect, at the area which we interpreted as the margin of a missile wound,
there was a shelving of the margin.
354
^IP
THIS would, to ns, moan thnt n mlRsllc had mndc this wound from within the
skuU to the exterior. To conOrra that this was n missile wound, X-roys were
made of that fraRiiient of bone, which showe*! riirtlo-opaque material conKlstcnt
and similar in character to the particles seen witliin tlie slcull to l>e deiKisite<l
in the margins of this defect, in tliis portion of the bone.
Mr. Specter. Then what conclusion did you reach as to what caused that
hole rcconstructcil from the three i)ortlons of tiie late President's scalp?
Commander Hujies. We reached the conclusion a missile entcre<l the left —
the right posterior inferior portion
Mr. Specter. Doctor, iwrlmps it would l)e helpful if you would refer to that
as letter "A" and tlic exit as letter "»", so that tlie rc<-ord is clear on tli«.xe two
points and perhaps It will he helpful to your dCMcrlption as well.
And would you mark them ns well, with a jieiicll?
Commander Humes. Thnt is not entry for the second.
Mr. Specter. Exit for the second?
Commander Humes. I will label .188 with the letter "A" to indicate our opin-
ion as to the wound of entrance Into the skull.
I will label ns Point "B" the area of exit of a imrtion of the missile that
enteretl posteriorly, I say a i»ortion because a small fragment was nw.n in the
position previously noted which was recovered.
However, we conclude<l that a very slgniflcnnt portion, i>erhaps the largest
portion, made its exit and ac-counted for this very large defect for the multiple
fractures of the skull and for the loss of brain and scalp tissue at this point.
Mr. Specter. Will you describe at this Juncture the damage which was
inflicted upon the brain, please?
Commander Humes. May I refer at this |K)lnt to the gro.ss description of
the brain prepared separately?
Mr. Specter. Certainly, Dr. Humes, if you prefer to do it In that order.
Commander Humes, i believe you have that. It is the second portion of
the report.
Mr. Specter. Yes, sir. I can make that available to you here.
Commander Humes. While that is being provided, when we reflectc<l the scalp
away from the badly damaged skull, and removed some of these loosened
portions of skull bone, we were able to see this large defect in the right cerebrol
hemisphere. It corresponde<l roughly hi siic with the greatest diameter of the
defect in the scalp measuring .some 13 cm.
Mr. Specter. Jlay the record now show I am handing to you. Dr. Humes,
en exhibit marked Commission Exhibit 301, nnd will you identify what that
is, please. Doctor?
Commander Humes. Exhibit .391 Is listed as a supplementary report on the
autopsy of the late President Kennedy, nnd was prepared some days after the
examination.
This delay necessitated by, primarily, our desire to have the brain better
fixed with formaldehyde before we procee<led further with the examination of
the brain which is a standard means of approach to study of the brain.
The brain in its fresh stote does not lend itself well to examination.
From my notes of the examination, at the time of the post-mortem examina-
tion, we noted that clearly visible In the large skull defect and exuding from
it was lacerated brain tissue which, on close inspection proved to represent
the major portion of the right cerebral hemisphere.
We also noted at this point that the flocculus cerebri was extensively lacerated
and that the superior sagittal sinus which is a venous blood containing channel
in the top of the meninges was also lacerated.
To continue to answer your question with regard to the damage of the brain,
following the formal Inflxation, Dr. Boswell, Dr. Finck and I convened to ex-
amine the brain in this otate.
We also prepared photographs of the brain from several aspects to depict
the extent of these injuries.
We found that the right cerebral hemisphere was markedly disrupted. There
was a longitudinal laceration of the right hemisphere which was parasagittal
in position. By the saggital plane, as you may know, is a plane in the midline
which would divide the 1)rain into right and left halves.
355
w^mfim^mt^
■ ;X'.-i:t
«
This Inoorntlon was pnrasaglttnl. It was Kltiiatod npproxlmatply 2.5 cm.
to the right of the midline, and oxtendpd from tlie tip of rK-r-lplral lobe.
which is tlie posterior portion of the brain, to the tip of tlie frontal lobe which
is the most anterior itortion of the brain, and It cxtende<l from the top down tn
tlic sidislaiute of the brain a distiiiiiH' of npproximalcl.v 5 or <-m.
The iiase of the laceration was Hituutod api)roximat<!ly 4.5 <-m. Ix-low the
vertex in the white matter. Uy the vertex we meiin — Ibe lilKbcNt jKiInt oii
the skull is referred to as the vertex.
Tlie area in which the greatest 1os.m of brain substan*-*; was p:irti<-nlarl.v in
the parietal \obc, whidi is the major portion of tlie ri;.'lit cerebral liciiii.splicrc.
The iiiarKins of this latreration at all point.s were JngKcd and irrcKiilar, with
additional incerntions extending in var.ving directionH and for var.vlng diHtanrw
from the main laceration.
In addition, tliere was n laceration of the corpus callosum which is a body
of fit>crs which connects the two beniispberes of the brain to each other, which
extended from the posterior to tlie anterior portion of this stnicture, that in
the corpus callosum. ELxposcd in tills laceration were portions of the ventricu-
lar system in which the spinal fluid normally is dlKi>osed within the brain.
When viewed from above the left cerebral hemi.sphere was Intact There was
engorgement of blood ves.sels in the meninges covering the brain. We note that
the gyri and sulci, which are the convolutions of the brain over the left hemi-
sphere were of nonnal size and distribution.
Those on the right were too fragmented and distorted for satisfactory de.scrip-
tiOD.
When the brain was turned over and viewed from its basular or inferior
aspect, there was found a longitudinal laceration of the mid-brain through
the floor of the third ventricle. Just l>ehind the optic chiasma and the mam-
miUary bodies.
This laceration partially communicates witli an oblique 1..5 cm. tear throu;:h
the left cerebral peduncle. This Is a itortion of the brain which connects the
higher centers of the brain with the spinal cord which is more concerned with
reflex actions.
There were irregular superficial lacerations over the basular or inferior as-
I)ect8 of the left temporal and frontal lobes. We interpret that these later
contusions were brought about when the disruptive force of the injury pushed
that portion of the brain against the relative intact sliull.
- This has been descril>ed as contre-coup injury in that location.
This, then, I believe, Mr. Specter, are the major points with regard to the
President's head wound.
Mr. Specter. Do you have an opinion. Dr. Humes, as to whether there were
dumdum bullets used sitecifically on this wound which strucls point "A" of
the head, on 3887
Commander Humes. I believe these were not dumdum bullets, Mr. Specter.
A dumdum bullet is a term that has been used to describe various mi.<;siles
which have a common characteristic of fragmenting extensively upon striking.
Mr. Specter. Would you characterize the resultant effect on this bullet as
not extensirb fragmenting?
Commander Humes. Yes. Had. this wound on point "A" on Exhibit 3SS
been inflicted b.v a dumdum bullet, I would anticipate that it would not have
anything near the regular contour and outline which It had. I also would
anticipate that the skull would have been much more extensively disrupted,
and not have, as was evident in this case, a defect which quite clo.sely corre-
sponded to the overlying skin defect because that type of a missile would
fiagment on contact and be much more disruptive at this point
Mr. Specter. At this point would you state for the record the size and approx-
imate dimension of the major wound on the top of the head which you have
marked wound "B"?
Commander Humes. This was so large, that localization of It in a descrip-
tive way is somewhat difficult
However, we have mentioned that its major — Its greatest dimension was
approximately 13 cm. The reason it was difficult to measure Is that various
356
■iS--^
^^Jfe^'-'S
14
M^'^i^'^iCm
TV'^'i
I^S
^B
f-jj(^46ltfJHEii
frncturc lines extend out from it In n quite Irregular fnHliinn. but It wnn opproxi-
inntely 13 cm. ^ ^ . .^ , .. ■
Mr. McCu)Y. This red that Is marked on 388 on the base of the skull. Is
that seepage or what? ^ w »
Commander Humes. No, sir ; that Is to depict the musculature at the base of
the neck.
Mr. McClov. I see.
Commander Humes. That Is not taken to depict the blood, sir.
Jlr. Specter. On the reconstruction of the three portions of the scalp which
you described
Commander Humes. Skull, sir.
Mr. Specter. Skull, which enabled you to reconstruct a point of exit of the
bullet, will you state at this i>olnt of the record that size of opening or exit
path of the bullet? , . « w. , »
Commander Humes. As I mentioned previously, at one angle of this largest
pyramidal shaped f rngroonts of bone which came as a separate specimen, we had
the portion of the perimeter of a roughly what we would Judge to have l>cen
a roughly circular wound of exit. Judging from that portion of the perimeter
which was available to us. we would have Jwdge<l the diameter of that wound
to be between 2.5 and 3 cm.
Mr. Specter. Doctor Humes, have you now described the major character-
istics and features of the.wounds to the late President's head ?
Commander Humes. I believe that I have, sir.
Mr. Specter. All right. Will you now turn your attention, please to the wound
which Is noted on 383 and 386 being at the
Mr. McClot. Before we leave that, could I ask a question?
When you talk al>out dumdum bullets, do you include the ordinary tyiK; of
soft nose sporting bullets, maybe this Is something that Colonel Finck would
be more expert on, but was that, was the bullet, could It possibly have been
a sporting type of hunting bullet that has a soft nose but Is still somewhat
"^Commander Humes. From the characteristics of this wound, Mr. McCloy.
I would believe that It must have had a very firm head rather than a soft head.
Mr McCloy. Steel jackete<l, would you say, copper Jacketed bullet?
Commander Humes. I believe more likely a Jacketed bullet because of the
regular outline which was present.
Mr. McCloy. All right.
Mr. Dulles. Could I ask a question?
The Chairman. Mr. Dulles.
Mr Dulles. Believing that we know the type of bullet that was usable in
this gun, would this be the type of wound that might result from that kind of
a bullet?
Commander Humes. I believe so, sir.
Mr. Dtn.LE8. If my question Is clear
Commander Humes. Yes, sir ; It Is.
Mr Dulles. We think we know what the bullet is. we may be wrong hut we
think we know what it was. Is this wound consistent with that type of bullet.
Commander Humes. Quite consistent, sir. ^ ^ „ . u . 1.
Mr. McCloy. There Is no evidence of any keyhollng of the bullet before it
hit, before the point of Impact?
Commander Humes. I don't exactly follow your question.
Mr. McCloy. Was the bullet moving in a direct line or had It begun to
tumble?
Commander Humes. To tumble?
That is a difficult question to answer.
was more likely moving In a direct line. -—
posterior portion of the occiput on Exhibit 388 Is somewhat longer than the
other missile wound which we have not yet discussed In the low neck. We
believe that rather than due to a tumbling effect, this Is explainable on the
fact that this missile struck the skin and skull at a more tongential angle than
did the other mlss'le, and, therefore, produced a more elongated defect, sir.
Senator Coopm. May I ask a question there? Perhaps yon have done this,
357
I have the opinion, however, that It
You will note that the wound In the
H»!W«ip*«WW«^!I^W»^«N*
•mat
.^mm
':m ^i
"^m
but If not, liow would you explniii the difrcrence of the courses of the frog.
mpnts which you traced nnd dp)«-ribc<l nn, I think, being discovered behind the
rlglit eye?
Commander Humes. Yes. sir.
Senator (Toopf.r. And the course of the fragment which wns believed cauHed
the large defect?
Commander Humes. Caused the large defect?
Senator Cooper. How do you explain
Commander Humes. The discrepancy?
Senator Cooper. The difference in the courses.
Commander Humes. Yes, sir.
As this missile penetrated the scalp, it then came upon n very Arm Kulistanct-,
the hard situll, and I believe timt tliis trurlc depir((><l by the doited lines on
Exhibit .388 was a portion of tliat missile which was dislodged as it made its
defect in the skull. And that'— that another portion, and. as I say, presumably,
by the size of the defect, a more major portion made its exit through the right
lateral side of the skull.
Mr. McCloy. Is this piece of pyramidal bone that was brought In to yon
subsequently as I understand it
Commondor Huxies. Yes, sir.
Mr. McCloy. Was tliat part of tlie outer table or the inner table?
Commander Humes. It was both tables, sir.
Mr. McCloy. Both tables?
Commander Humes. Yes, sir; had It only been one It might have been diffi-
cult to ascertain whether it was.
Mr. McCloy. Shelving or not?
Commander Humes. Yes, sir; in or out, but It encompas.sed both tables, sir.
Mr. Dulles. Is the angle of declination that you — one sees there from in and
out approximately tlie ang'e yon think at which the bullet wos traveling at
the time of impact and exit?
Commander Humes. That is our impression, sir..
Mr. Dulles. So then the shot would have been fired from some i>oint above
the head of the person hit?
Commander Humes. Yes, sir.
Mr. Specter. Dr. Humes, would you elaborate a bit on the differences in the
paths, specifically why the bullet went In one direction in part and in part in
the second direction, terminating with the fragment right over the right eye?
Commander Humes. Yes, sir.
I will make a drawing of the posterior portion of the skull showing again
this beveling which we observed at the inner table of the skull.
Our Impression is that as this projectile impinged upon the .skull in this
fashion, a small portion of it was dislodged due to the energy expended In that
collision, If you will, and that it went off at nn angle, and left the track which
Is labeled 388, which is labeled on Exhibit 388 from "A", point "A" to the
point where the fragment was found behind the eye.
Why a fragment takes any particular direction like that Is something which
is difficult of scientific explanation. Those of us who have seen missiles strike
bones, be it the skull or a bone in the extremity, have long since learned that
portions of these missiles may go off in various directions and the preci.se
physical laws governing them are not clearly understood.
Mr. .Specter. Would the angle be accentuated in any way If you were to as-
sume the President was in a moving automobile going in a slight downhill
direction?
Commander Humes. There are many variables under these circumstances.
The most — the crucial point, I believe, to be the relative position of tlie Presi-
dent's head in relation to the flight of the missile.
Xow, this would be influenced by how far his head was bent, by the situation
with regard to the level of the seat in the vehicle, off of the horizontal, and so
forth.
Mr. Specter. How about a decline in the path of the road Itself?
Commander Humes. I think that that would have a tendency to accentuate this
angle, yes, sir.
358
■.?f ■ i
fm
Mr. Specter. Mr. Chief Justice, I would like to move for the ndmlRslon In
evidence now of Exhibit 391, which Ik the exhibit on the brnln rcixirt.
The Chairman. It may be admitted.
(The document heretofore nmrkcd for Identiflcntlon an Commission Exhibit
No. 301 wng received In evidence.)
Mr. Specteb. Dr. Humes, would you now nmve over to the wound which
apiwars on the lower part of the no<'k and uiii>cr i»nrt of tho l)ii(;kV
Mr. Dulles. Could I ask one more question lieforc we Ket to that, I am sorry.
Mr. Specter. Certainly.
Mr. Dulles. Could one say as to what pfirtlon of the bullet was found In all
these fragments, I mean arrive at an estimate, was It a tenth of the bullet, was
it, how much was It, assuming the type of l)ullcl that we l>clieve was used In this
particular rifle.
Commander Humes. Sir, I have not had tlie opiwrtunity to pjir.sonally ex-
amine the type of bullet which is believed to have been represented by this
injury.
However, I wotild estimate — If I understand you correctly the total amount
that was present In the Pn^sident's skull and brnln?
Mr. Dulles. Yes.
Commander Humes. Includinp the fragment?
Mr. Dulles. Including all the fragments.
Commonder Humes. Including nil these minute particles. I would say there
was something less than one-tenth of the total volume of the mis.sile.
Mr. Specter, Dr. Humes, do you make that calculation on the assumption
that the bullets used here were O.'i mm. Mannllcher-Carcano rifle bullet weighinc
158.6 grams?
Commander Humes. Yes, I do; sir.
Mr. Specter. Had I brought that particular fact to your attention prior to the
time you started testifying here today?
Commander Humes. Yes, sir. One point I intended to make clear these frag-
ments which I recovered from this position were turned over, to the Secret
Service.
I presume that they have made-physical measurements Including the weight
of them, and could give a much more intelligent estimate of the proportion than I.
I would say, however, that we did not deliver these minute fragments because
they were so small as to be essentially unrci-overable.
So, obviously they were of a very small portion of the major missile.
Mr. Dulles. These minute fragments were part of the bullet, emanations
from the bullet?
Commander Humes. Yes, sir.
Mr. Dulles. They were not from the head?
Commander Humes. No, sir, they were small, dust, of the size of dust particles.
however. ,. , ,= ^.
Mr. Dulles. Is the posture of the head of that figure there, the Inclination
of it, rorghly the inclination that you think the President's head had at the time
from the other photographs?
Commander Humes. Yes, sir. From the photographs and based on the physi-
cal examination of this wound, yes, sir.
Mr. Dulles. That is all I have.
Mr McCloy. Perhaps this was something that Colonel Kinck could te.stify to
exactly, but, he would be quite competent. Is there anything to indicate thot
this was, might have been a larger than a 6.5 or smaller than a 6.5?
Commander Humes. The size of the defect in the scalp, caused by a projectile
could vary from missile to missile because of elastic recoil and so forth of the
tlSSUGS*
However, the size of the defect in the underlying bone is certainly not likely
to get smaller than that of the missile which perforated It, and in this case,
the smallest diameter of this was approximately to 7 mm., so I would feel that
that would be the absolute upper limit of the size of this missile, sir.
Mr. McClot. Seven would be the absolute upper limit?
Commander Humes. Yes, sir; and, of course. Just a little tilt could make It a
little larger, you sec.
359
II II I| I HUI I I III U W»WWW^WW
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Mr DuLiJis. I have one other question. If I niny.
Is the Incidence of clenn entry ns Inrtlcnted there, ond then Rrcnt frnementatlon
on exit, is thnt a normal conHOfiiienc-c of Ihin ty|K- of wound?
Commander Humes. Sir. we feel that there are two potential explanations
' °One Ravine traversed the skull In entrance In the occiput as depleted on 3«fi. the
n.Wsilc hoclns to tumble, and In that fashion It jirescnts a preater proiK.rtlon of
Its" surface to the brain substance and to the skull ns It makes Its cffrcss-
The other and somewhat more dlfllcult to measure and perhaps Colonel F.nck
will be able to testify In grenter detail on this. Is that a high velocity missile
has tremendous kinetic energy, and this energy Is expandc<l against the struc-
tures which It strikes, and so that much of this defect could be of the noture of
blast, ns this kinetic energy is dissipated by traversing the skull.
Is that the sense of the question, sir?
Senat^^PEr'l will ask a question, and perhniw this isn't in your field
But assuming thnt the shot which struck President Kennedy at point A
was flred by a gun from the window of the Texas School Book Depository, and
which has been testified to. an.l assuming thnt you could l«>«»te the position
of the President at the time he was struck by a bullet, you could then, could
you not, establish the degree of the missile?
Commander Humes. The degree of angle? , . ,^ , „ ,,„„ t-
Senator Coopeu. The angle, yes. the degree of angle of the missile from the
""Sander Humes. Yes. sir; there is one dlfllculty. and that Is the defect of
exit was so broad that one has to rely more on the Inclination of the entrance
than they do connecting in this instance entrance and exit because so much
of the skull was carried away In this fashion.
Senator Coopeh. Thnt was my second question. , „ ^ ... ^
My first question was would It be possible physically to esUbllsh the degree
of angle of the trajectory of the bullet?
Commander Humes. Within limited accuracy, sir.
Senator Cooper. Within limited accuracy. ,,.,'»
That being true then my second question was whether the point of entry
of the bullet, point A, and the. what you call the exit
Commander Humes. Exit. .^ . .u ^ ,i.i k» «.
Senator Cooper. Did you establish them so exactly that they could be re-
lated to the degree of angle of the trajectory of the bullet? ... , , ^
Commander Humes. Yes, sir; to our satisfaction we did ascertain that fact
Mr. DuuJis. Just one other question.
Am I correct in assuming from what you have said that this wound s
entirely inconsistent with a wound that might have been administered If
the shot were flred from In front or the side of the President: It had to be
flred from behind the President? . .^ . ^ k„
Commander Humes. SclentiOcally, sir. It Is Impossible for it to have been
flred from other than behind. Or to have exited from other than behind^
Mr. McClot. This Is so obvious that I rather hesitate to ask It. There is
no ouestion In your mind that It was a lethal bullet?
(>>mmander HUMES. The President, sir. could not possibly have survived
the effect of that Injury no matter what would have been done for him.
The Chairman. Mr. Specter.
Mr Specter. What conclusions did you reach then as to the trajectory or
point of origin of the bullet. Dr. Humes, based on 388?
Con:mnnder Humes. We reached the conclusion that this missile was fired
toward the President from a point above and behind hlm^ir.
Mr Specteb. Now. on one detail on your report. Dr. Humes, on page 4. on the
third'llne down, you note thnt there Is a lacerated wound measuring 15 by 6 mm.
which on the smaller size Is, of course, less than 6.5 mm.?
Commander Humes. Yes. sir. , ., ,
Mr Specter. What would be the explanation for that variation.
Commander Humes. This Is In the scalp, sir. and I believe that this Is ex-
plainable on the elasUc rccoU of the tissues of the skin. sir. It Is not Infre-
M
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v^-^
■m
m
m
m
rr^'m
aucnt In mlmlle .-""ni. «t IW tyPO IHM tl.o m,.n.»™i wound 1. .Ilulitl;
•"ry;sr%v",r jrprsrrrj^'r !L „«„ n,*, w.- «,
entry whicli you linvc nlrendy noted nnd described?
Coramnnder IIuxtES. Yes. sir. • ^ „ , , „*
Air <?Pi.-^TEn Its iHiint of origin, where It hit the President.
ComSX i£m1 I-o„rVv.o«s.y -^">'"f /^^^J Vt'e'p ^sSnT'*''
oinn Xo 187 identiflcd a wound In the low posterior neck of the rresiacni.
The sizfoi his wrnd was 4 by 7 mm., with the long axis iK^inB In accordance
with thTtong axis of the body. 44 mm. wide. In other words. 7 mm. ong^
we nuenmtotl to locate such wounds in soft tissue hy making reference to
boiystrSes which do not n>ove and are. therefore, good reference po.nU for
^'weTen^VrrmlCwe chose the two. bony points of re^erenc*_w. chose
~z ZsSd;^^:sr =rwSV^K? n^
SbsTSn'^r^t!.;rr=^i ^r^iitr n^;:
acromion was its central point-
Mr. Specter. That is the right acromion?
Conunander Humes. The tip of the right acromion, yes. sir. and that Is why
we have depicted It in figure SKi In this location. ^ ^, », v„„„
liu wound appeared physically quite similar to the wound which we have
This ^^°"°° "P^"\^ .r.i „.|,h the exception that its long axis was shorter
o r/»nt nf ronrse and here I must say that as I describe something to you
Attempts to probrin the vicinity of this wound were unsuccessful without
fear of making a false passage. \^
Mr "SpprTER. What do you mean by that. Doctor?
n 1„^ HUMES Well the defect In the fascia was quite similar, which
,s^e first firm "issue ^er the ".uscle beneath the skin, was quite similar to
'^is we w'erT unabfe. h'owever. to take probes and have them sat.sfnctorlly
fall through any definite path at this point,
ess^ -.rr m^rrr ^1;^ ^ Se^e te ^^r 11 ^r.".
JLm^a^eTH^r Tw.t rPreSenfs body was viewed -^nt^-^.
rrrwraTec:nn."^;ardStt^^^^^^^
Sme 7 or 8 c^ln lengfh or lefs say a recent wound was present in this area.
This wound was through the skin, through the subcutaneous tissues and Into
the larynx, br rather Into the trachea of the President.
Mr Specter. To digress chronologically
SrS^^'SHou'^ve occasion to discuss that wound on the front side
of the P^S'nt with Dr. Malcolm Perry of Parkland HosplUl In Dallas?
/i If^or Hn«F^ Yes sir- I did. I had the Impression from seeing the
361
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the Prcsl.loiit. an<l nskwl him hnd he In fnct <lonc n trachf^tomy whUh wn«
Ronifwhnt roUundnnt l>ccau«c I wnn Komowhnt corlnin he hnd.
lie s:.i(l vos; he hnd done n trnohectoiny and lh«t ns the iK.ir.t to iK-rforn.
his tnichootomy he used n wound which he had It.terprete<l ns a missile wound
in the low neck, ns the point throuRh which.lo make the tn.oh.-otomy in.-.s.on^
Mr Spkcteii. When did you Imve that conversntlon with him, I>r. HumcH.
Commander IIumf.b. I had tJint conversation early on Saturday morninc. sir.
Mr. Spkctkk. On Saturday morning, November 2.3d?,
Commander Humes. That Is correct, sir. „ . ^,
Mr. Spkctt;r. And have you had occasion since to examine the report or
Parkland Hospital which I made avnilable to you?
Commander Hu.\iE8. Yes, sir; I have.
Mr. Specte.^ May it please the Con.mission, I would hke to note this .is 0>m-
roission Exhibit No. 302, nn.l subject to later technical proof, to have It admitted
Into evidence at this time for 'the purjwse of havtnR the dwtor comment about It.
The Chairman. It may be so marked.
(The document referred to was mnrked Commission Kxhlblt No. .U2, for
identiflcat mi^ What did your examination of the Pnrkland Hospital records
disclose with resiK^ct to this wound on the front .side of the ITesidenls body |
Commander Humes. The examination of this record from Parkland Hobpitiil
revealed that Doctor Perry had observed this wound as had other physicians
m attendance upon the President, and actually before a tracheotomy was per-
formed surpicalLv. an endotracheal tube was placed throuRh the Presidents
mouth and down his larynx and into his trachea which Is the first step in giving
satisfactory airway to a person Injured In such fashion and uncon.scious.
The President was unconscious and it is most difficult to pass such a tube when
the uerson Is unconscious. , . .
The person who performed that procedure, that Is Instilled the endotrachea
tube noted that there was a wound of the trachea below the larynx which
corresponded In essence with the wound of the skin which they had ob.served
''»li.*SreCTEl*How Is that wound de«orlbe<l, while you are mentioninj; the
wound?
Commander Humes. Yes, sir.
Mr. Specter. I think you will find that on the first imge of the summary
sheet. Dr. Humes.
Coflimander Humeb. Yes, sir. Thank you. .^^ ^ ^,^
This report was written by doctor-or of the activities of Dr. James Carrico.
Doctor Carrico in inserting the endotrachenl tube noted n ragged w<mnd of
trachea Immediately below the larynx.
The report, as I recall it. and I have not studied It in minute detail, would
indicate to me that Doctor Perry realizing from Doctor Carrlco's observation
that there was a wound of the trachea would quite logically use the wound
•which he had observed as a point to enter the trachea since the trachea was
almost damaged, that would be a logical place in which to put his incision.
In speaking of that wound in the neck. Doctor Perry told me that before he
enlarged it to make the tracheotomy wound It was a "few millimeters in
diameter." , i. j i*
Of course by the time we saw it, as my associates and as you have heard, it
was considerably larger and no longer at all obvious as a missile wound.
The report states, and Doctor Perry told me in telephone conversation that
there was bubbling of air and blood in the vicinity of this wound when he made
the tracheotomy. This caused hijn to believe that perhaps there had been a
violation of one of the-one or other of the pleural cavities by a missile. He,
therefore, asked one of his associates, and the record is to me somewhat confused
as to which of his associates, he asked one of his associates to put in a chest
tube This U a maneuver which Is, was quite logical under the circumstances,
and which would, if a tube that were placed through all layers of the wall of
the chest, and the chest cavity had been violated one could remove air that
had gotten in there and greatly assist respiration.
So when we examined the President in addlUon to the large wound which
362
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wc found In conversation with Doctor Perry wuk the tracheotomy wound, there
were two snmller wounds on the ui)iK'r anterior diest.
Mr. Dulles. These are appnrentlj' exit wounds?
Coniniandor Humes. Sir. these were knife wounds, thcs*- were incised wf.unds
on eltlier side of the chest, and I will K'ive llieni In soniewliut kip"I«t detail.
These wounds were bilateral, they were sltuiite<l on the anterior <hest wall
In the nipple line, and each were 2 cm. lonR in the transverse axi.s. The one <m
the right was situated 11 cm. above the nipple— the one on the left was sltuatwl
11 cm on the nipi>le, and the one on the right was 8 cm. above the nipple. Their
intention was to Incise through the President's chest to place tubes Into bis chest.
We exaniinetl those wounds very carefully, and found that they, however,
did not enter the chest cavity. They only went through the skin.
I presume that as they were jierforming that pro<-edure It was obvious that
the President had died, and they didn't pursue this.
To complete the examiimtion of the area of the neck and the chest, I will
do that together, we made the customary incision which we use m a routine
postmortem examination which Is a Y-shaped incision from the shoulders over
the lower portion of the breastbone and over to the opposite shoulder and
reflected the skin and tissues from the anterior portion of the chest
We examined In the region of this incised .surgical wound which was the
tracheotomy wound and we saw that there was sonu- bruising of the nmscles of
the neck in the depths of this wound as well as Incerathm or defect in the trachea.
At this point, of course, I am unable to say how much of the defect In the
trachea was nmde by the knife of the surgeon, and how m>uh of the defect
was made by the missile wound. That would have to be ascertaine<l from the
surgeon who actually did the tracheotomy.
There was however, some ecchymosis or contusion, of the muscles of the
right anterior neck Inferlor'.y, without, however, any disruption of the muscles
or any significant tearing of the muscles. , , . ,
The muscles In this area of the body run roughly, as you see us he depicted
them here We have removed some of thejn for a point I will make in a moment,
but it Is our opinion that the missile traversed the neck and slid iK-tw.-en these
muscles and other vital structures with a course in the neck such as the carotid
artery, the jugular vein and other structures be<nuse there was no ma.ssive
hemmorhage or other massive injury in this iwrtion of the neck.
In attempting to relate findings within the President's body to this wound
which we had obsened low In his neck, we then oitened his chest cavity, and
we very carefully examined the lining of his chest cavity and both of his lungs.
We found that there was. In fact, no defect in the pleural lining of the President's
chest.
It was completely Intact.
However, over the apex of the right pleural cavity, and the pleura now has
two layers. It has a parietal or a layer which lines the chest cavity and it has a
visceral layer which is intimately In association with the lung.
As depicted In figure 383, in the apex of the right pleural cavity there was
a bruise or contusion or eccmymosls of the parietal pleura as well as a bruise
of the upper portion, the most apical portion of the right lung.
It therefore, was our opinion that the missile while not penetrating physically
the pleural cavity, as it passed that point bruised either the missile Itself, or
the fore© of Its passage through the tissues, bruised both the parietal and the
visceral pleura. , , ^. ,
The area of discoloration on the apical portion of the right upper lung
measured five centimeters In greatest diameter, and was wedge shaped In con-
figuration, with its base toward the top of the chest and its apex down towards
the substance of the lung.
Once again Kodachrome photographs were made of this area In the Interior
of the President's chest
Mr. Specter. Would you mark the point on Exhibit 385, the one on the rear
of the President as point "C" and the one on the front of the President as
point "D" so we can discuss those, Dr. Humes?
Now, what conclusion did you reach, If any, as to whether point "C" was the
point of entry or exit?
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Commander Uumes. We reached the conclUHion that point "C" wbh a iwlnt
of entry.
Mr. SrECTKB. What chnnicterlstlcB of that wound lc<l you to thiit ooncluHlon':
Comuinnder IIumm. The characterislicH here were hasicall.v Kiiiiilar to the
characteristics alwve, lacl<iiiK one very valualile clue or |»le<e of evidence ratlier
than clue, hecausc It is more truly a pie<'c of evidence In the skull. The skull
as I nientionc<I liefore had the hone with the characteristic defect made as n
missile traverses hone.
This missile, to the best of our ability to ascertain, struck no Ikimc pro-
tuherances, no hoiiy proniinonces, no iM.nes as it traversed the I'resi<lent's Uwly.
But it was a sharply delineated wound. It was quite regular in its outline.
It mca.sure<l, as I mentioned, 7 hy 4 mm. Its margins were similar in all
respects when viewed with the naked eye to the wound In the skull, which we
feel incontrovertihiy was a wound of entrance.
The defect in the fascia which is that layer of connective tissue over the
muscle just beneath the wound corresponded virtually exactly to the defect in
tbe skin.
And for these reasons we felt that this was a wound of entrance,
air. Spector. Did you search the body to determine if there was any bullet
inside the body?
Commander Humes. Before the arrival of Colonel I-lnck we had nuidc X-rays
of tbe head, neck and torso of the I'resident, and the upper iK.rtions of bis
major extremities, or both his upjwr and lower extremities. At Colonel Finck's
suggestion, we then completed the X-ray examination by X-raying the I'rcsl-
dent's body in toto, and those X-rays arc available.
Mr. Specter. What did those X-rays disclose with resi>ect to the possible
presence of a missile in the President's body?
Commander Humes. They showed no evidence of a mlHsiie In the President's
body at any point. And these were examined by ourselves and by the radiologist,
who assisted us in this endeavor.
Mr. Specter. What conclusion, if any, did you reach as to whether iwint -D"
on 385 was the point of entrance or exit?
Commander Humes. We concluded that this missile depicted in 38i> "C"
which entered the President's body traversed the President's body and made
its exit through the wound observed by tbe physicians at Parkland Hospital
and later extended as a tracheotomy wound.
Mr. Specter. Does tlie description "ragged wound" which is found in tbe
Parkland report shed any light in and of itself as to whether i>oint "D" is an
exit or entry wound?
Commander Humes. I believe, sir, thot that statement goes on, ragged wound
in the trachea. I don't believe that refers to the skin. And you might say
that it is a ragged wound is more likely to be a wound of exit.
However, the trachea has little cartilaginous rings which have a tendency,
which would be disrupted by this, and most wounds of the trachea unless very
cleverly incised would perhaps appear slightly ragged.
Mr. Spector. Now, what was the angle. If any, that you observed on the path
of the bullet, as you outlined it?
Commander Humes. The angle which we observed In measuring, in compar-
ing the point of entrance, our iwint of entrance labeled "C" on 38.1 and "D"
point of exit is one that the point of exit is below the point of entrance compared
with the vertical.
Mr. SPECTOa. Have you had an opportunity to examine the clothing which
has been identified for you as being that worn by the President on the day of
the assassination?
Commander Humes. Yes ; yesterday, just shortly before the Commission hear-
ing today was l>egun, Mr. Chief Justice, we had opportunity for the first time
to examine the clothing worn by the late President
In private conversation among ourselves before this opportunity, we pre-
dicted we would find defects in the clothing corresponding with the defects
which were found, of course, on the body of the late President.
Mr. Specter, Mr. Chief Justice, may it please the Commission, I would like
to have Identified for the record three arUcles on which I have placed Com-
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mission Exhibits Nos. 3ai twlng the cont worn by the rroHidcnt, .TM bclnc the
shirt, and 305 being the President's tie, and at this time move for their adinission
into evidence.
The CuAinMAN. It may be admitted.
(The articles of clothing referred to were marltcd Coinmitwion Exhibits
Nos. 303, 304 and 3.05 for identification, and received In evidence.)
Mr. Specter. Taking 303 at the start. Doctor Humes, will you describe for
the record what hole, if any, is observable in the back of that garment which
would be at or about the spot you have described as being the point of entry
on the rrcsid'cnt's back or lower neck.
Commander IIu.mks. Yes. sir. This cxliil)it is a grey suit cont stated to
have been worn by the PrcHldent on the day of his doath. Situated to the
right of the midline liigli in the back portion of tlie coat is a defect, one margin
of which is semicircular.
Situated above it just below the collar is an additional defect. It Is our
opinion that the lower of these defects corresponds es.sentially with the point
of entrance of the missile at Point C on Exhibit 38.'>.
Mr. Specter. Would it be occurate to state that the hole which you have
identified as being the point of entry is approximately C Indies l)elow the top
of the collar, and 2 Indies to the riglit of the middle scam of the coat?
Commander Humes. That is approximately correct, sir. This defect, I miglit
say, continues on through tlie material.
Attached to this garment is the memorandum which states that one half of
the area oround the hole which was presented had been removed by exjierts,
I believe, at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and also that a control area
was taken from under the collar, so it is my interpretation that this defect at
the top of this garment is the control area taken by the Bureau, and that the
reason the lower defect is not more circle or oval in outline is because a por-
tion of that defect has been removed apparently for physical examinations.
Mr. Specter. Now, does the one which you have described as the entry of the
bullet go all the way through?
Commander Humes. Yes, sir; it goes through both layers.
Mr. Specter. IIow about the upper one of the collar you have described, does
that go all the way through?
Commander Humes. Yes, sir; It goes all the way through. It Is not — wait a
minute, excuse me — It Is not so clearly a puncture wound as the one below.
Sir. Specter. Does the upper one go all the way through in the same course?
Commander Humes. No.
Mr. Specter. Through the inner side as It went through the outer side?
Commander Humes. No, in an Irregular fashion.
Mr. Specter. Will you take ("ommis.sion Exhibit 3.04 and describe what that Is,
first of all, please?
Commander Humes. This is the shirt, blood-stained shirt, purportedly worn
by the President on the day of his assassination. When viewed from behind
at a point which corresponds essentially with the point of defect on the jacket,
one sees an irregularly oval defect.
When viewed anteriorly, with the top button buttoned, two additional defects
are seen. Of course, with the shirt buttoned, the fly front of the shirt causes two
layers of cloth to be present In this location, and that there is a defect In the
Inner layer of cloth and a corresponding defect in the outer layer of the cloth.
Mr. Specter. Is there any observable Indication from the fibers on the front
side of the shirt to Indicate in which direction a missile might have passed
through those two tears?
Commander Humes. From an examination of these defects at this point. It
would appear that the missile traversed these two layers from within to the
exterior.
Mr. Specter. Would It be accurate to state that the hole in the back of the
shirt Is approximately Inches below the top of the collar and 2 inches to the
right of the middle seam of the shirt?
Commander Humes. That is approximately correct, sir.
Mr. Specter. Now, how, if at all, do the holes in the shirt and coat conform
365
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to the wound of entrance which you described ns ixjlnt "C" on Commission Ex-
hibit 385?
Commnndcr Humes. We believe thnt they conform quite well. When view-
ing— first of all, the wounds or the defects in 303 and 304 coincide virtually
exactly with one another.
They give the apitenrnnce when viewed scimrotcly and not as imrt of the
clothing of a clothed iierson as being perhaps, somewhat lower on the Exhibits
303 and 304 than we have depicted tliem In Exhibit No. 38.1. We believe there are
two reasons for this.
380 is a schematic representation, and the photographs would be more accurate
as to the precise location, but more particularly the way in which these defei.U
would confornj with such a defect on the torso would depend on the girth of the
shoulders and condguriition of the base of the neck of the individual, and the
relative position of the shirt and coat to the tissues of the body at the time of
the impact of tin; missile.
Mr. SrECTER. As to the muscular status of the President, what was it?
Commander Humes. The President was extremely well-develoiwd, an ex-
tremely well-develoix!d, muscular young man with a very weIl-dcveloi»ed set of
muscles in his thoraco and shoulder girdle.
Mr. Specter. What effect would that have on the iwsitloning of the shirt and
coat with res|)ect to the position of the neck in and alwut the seam?
Commander Humes. I believe this would have a tendency to pu.sh the jwrtions
of the coat which show the defects here somewhat higher on the back of the
President than on a man of less mu.scuiar de^'elopment.
Mr. Specter. Mr. Chief Justice, may It please the Commission. I would like to
mark for identification Exhibit 306, which later proof will show is a picture of
President Kennedy shortly before the first bullet struck him, and ask the dtjctor
to take a look at that
Will you describe. Doctor Humes, the position of President Kennedy's right
hand In that picture?
Commander Humes. Yes. This exhibit. Commission Exhibit Xo. 300, allegedly
taken just prior to the wounding of the late President, shows him with his hand
raised, his elbow bent, apjiarently in saluting the cro.wd. I believe that this
action
Mr. Specter, Which hand was that?
Commander Humes. This was his right hand, sir. I believe that this action
would further accentuate the elevation of the coat and the shirt with respect
to the back of the Presideent.
Mr. Specter. Now, Doctor Humes, will you take Commission Exhibit No.
305
Mr. McCloy. Before you go, may I ask a question? In your examination of
the shirt, I just want to get it in the record, from your examination of the shirt,
there is no defect in the collar of the shirt which coincides with the defect in
the back of the President's coat, am I correct?
Commander Humes. You are correct, sir. There is no such defect.
Mr. Specter. As to Commission Exhibit 395, Dr. Humes, will you identify
what that is, please?
Commander Hu>ie8. We had an opportunity to examine this exhibit before
the Commission met today, sir. This Is Commission Exhibit No. 39i5, and Is the
neck tie purportedly worn, purportedly to have been worn, by the late ['resident
on the day of his assassination.
Mr. Specter. What defect, if any. Is noted on the tie which would correspond
with the path of a missile apparently passing through the folds of the shirt
which you have already described?
Commander Humes. This tie is one of those— this tie Is still In its knotte<l
state, as we examine It at this time. The portion of the tie around the neck
has been severed apparently with scissors or other sharp Instrument account-
ing for the loop about the neck.
The tie Is tied in four-in-hand fashion but somewhat askew from the way
a person would normally tie a four-in-hand knot
Situated on the left anterior aspect of this knotted portion of the tie at a
point approximately corresponding with the defects noted previously In the
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portion of the tic by a "'Is^"'; ,„,g ,„„e f„r the nrt.ulsHion into
the photograph which we have Just used.
In the Commission nics.) ,,„h»,
Mr. McCLOT. Comnmndcr did you say left or i.h J ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^^
ap?rTot"oSMert^"i th(s t\"e. t^!' .Mr.in^d of .wi.ted out of .hape.
M, xToPinv Yps It is twisted. It is not too clear.
JLmman'erH^MP-B It L not too clear, it is not clear how .hat u.iKht hav.
^Mr'sP^^rx^ n::to;'His. at one point in your examination of t.e
Presiden^X you n.kke an effort to probe O.e point of entry with your nnger?
Commander Humes. Yes, sir; 1 did. „,»„i,.
Mr. Specteu. And at or about that tln.e when you -^ ,7 U^ ^^of th';
0= vnn nrpvlouslv testincd. wliethcr there was any missile In the bouy 01 me
President lid omo^.^^^^^^ «»«-' ^--^ Service call your at.enti.m to .he fact
fhat a bullet had been found on a stretcher at Parkland Hospital?
Commander Humes. Yes, sir; they did. ... » ,„..,„«„i
Mr Specter. And In that posture of your examination, having just le.rne^l
of tl^e presence of a bullet on a stretcher, did that call to your "'Ind any tenta
UvfexSlaTatory theory of the point of entry or exit of the bullet which you have
described as entering at Point "C" on Exhibit 38a?
^.m^a-^er HumL. Yes, sir. We were able '» f--"'" ^'^.^^J^^j^i^^^^^^^
talnty that the bullet had passed by the apical portion of the right lung produc
Inc the injury which we mentioned. , » .i,„
I did not at that point have the Information from Doctor Perry about he
wound in the anterior neck, and while that was a p<«»lble e«Plan"' on/<" the
Tint of exl^ we also had to consider the possibility that the nUss, le In some
^Sr fnexpUcable fashion had been stopped in its path through .he President s
bodv and In fact, then had fallen from the body onto the stretcher,
^r Sp'ect«u And what theory did you think possible, at tbat Juncturejo
explain thrSsslng of the bullet back out the point of entry: or had you been
prolwed wUh the fact that external hear, massage had been ,K.rforme<l on
^^'Lmmlindel'HuMES. Yes, sir; we had. and we considered the Po-l^iUty tha.
someTf the physical maneuvering performed by the doctors nnght have in
Bnmc wav caused this event to take place. ^ ,, ,
Mr Si^nC have you since discounted that possibility. Doctor Humes?
Mr. Si^R- J^oy- °" ^^ essence we have. When examining the wonnds
inThrbase^f^he" Pres'^lTent-s ^''a'nreHorly. the region of the tracheotomy
Mrformed at Parkland Hospital, we noted, and we noted in our record, some
^nSn and bruising of the muscles of the neck of the President. We noted
that at the time of the postmortem examination.
Now. we al made J^te of the types of wounds which I mentioned to you
beforl m this testimony on the chest which were going to be used by the
d^tors there to place chest tubes. They also made other wounds one on the
fett a™ and a wound on the ankle of the President with the Idea of administer,
ing tntrivenous blood and other fluids In ho,.e of replacing the blood which
the President had lost from his extensive wounds. ^ , , ,
Those wounds showed no evidence of bruising or contusion or Pl»;«ica Ivlo
lence. which made us reach the conclusion that they 'T"^ l'^'^"""f ^^^'^/'"^
the agonal moments of the late president, and when the circulation was. in
essence, very seriously embarrassed. If not nonfunctional. So that the«e wounds,
the wound of the chest and the wound of the arm and of the ankle were per-
formed about the same time as the tracheotomy wound because only a very few
moments of time elapsed when all this was going on.
367
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So, thorcforc, wo reached the conclusion that the rtnmnce to thfse inuscl(>s
on (he anterior neck Just below this wound were rwohcMl m apiinixiiii.iicl.v the
same time that the wound here on the top of the pleural i-avley was. wliii,.
the President still lived and while his heart and lunss were o|MTalinc In siicji
a fashion (o i>erniit hlni to have a bruise in the vicinity, l<e<aus<' that he did
have In these strap ninK<les in the iie<k. but h<r didn't have in the areiis of tin-
other incisions that were made at I'arkland H.ispllal. ^^o we fe«-I that, had this
missile not made its path in that faslilon, the wound made by Ixntor IVrry in
the neck would not liavc been able to produce, wouldn't have been able to produce,
these contusions of the musculature of the neck.
Mr. Dui.i.ES. Coidd I ask a (|uesti<in al>out the missile, I am a little bit— tlic
bullet, I am a little bit — <ronfus«'<l. It was found on the stretcher. Did the
rresident's bod.v remain on the stretcher while it was In the hospital?
Commander Humes. Of that jmint I have no knowledge. TIk; only
Mr. Dulles. Why would it — would this ojieratinK have anythinc to do with
the bullet being on the stretcher unles.s the Pr«>si(lenf« Ixidy reniaine<l on the
stretcher after he was taken into the hospital; is that po.ssiblc'/
Commander Humes. It l.s quite itossible, sir.
Mr. Dulles. Otherwise it seems to me the bidlet would have to have been
ejected from the body before he was taken or put on the l>ed In the hospital.
Commander Hu.mes. RiKht, sir. I, of course, was not there. I don't know
how he was handled In the hospital, in what conve.vance. I do know he was
on his back during the period of his stay In the hospital : Doctor I'errv told me
that
Mr. Dulles. Yes; and wasn't turne<I over.
Commander Humes. That Is right.
Mr. Dulles. So he might have l>een on the .stretcher the whole time, is that
your view?
The Chairman. He said he had no view. He wasn't there, he doesn't know
anything about it.
Mr. Dulles. Yes. I wonder If there is other evidence of t his.
Mr. Specter. There has been other evidence. Mr. Dulles. If I may say at
this point, we shall produce later, subje<t to sequential proof, evidence that
the stretcher on which this bullet was found was the stretcher of Goverhor
Connally. We have a sequence of events on the transml.ssion of that stretcher
which ties that down reasonably closely, so that on the night of the autopsy
Itself, OS the Information I have been developing indicates, the thought pre-
liminarily was that was from President Kennedy's stretcher, and that Is what
led to the hypothesis which we have been exploring about, but which has since
been rejected. But at any rate the evidence will show that It was from Governor
Connally'a stretcher that the bullet was found.
Mr. Dulles. So this bullet is still missing?
Mr. Specter. That is the subject of some theories I am about to get Into.
That is an elusive subject, but Dr. Humes tias some views on it, and we might
Just as well go into those now.
Mr. McCloy. Before he gets into that, may I ask a question?
The Chairman. Surely, go right ahead.
Mr. McCloy. Quite apart from the President's clothing, now directing your
attention to the flight of the bullet, quite apart from the evidence given by the
President's clothing, you, I believe, indicated that the flight of the bullet was
from the back, from above and behind. It took roughly the line which is shown
on your Exhibit 385.
Commander Humes. Yes, sir.
Mr. McCloy. I am not clear what induced you to come to that conclusion if
you couldn't find the actual exit wound by reason of the tracheotomy.
Commander Humes. The report which we have submitted, sir, represents our
thinking within the 24-^8 hours of the death of the President, all facts taken
into account of the situation.
The wound in the anterior portion of the lower neck is physically lower than
the point of entrance posteriorly, sir.
Mr. McCloy. That is what I wanted to bring out.
Commander Humes. Yes, sir.
368
\
Mr. McCix>T. Mny T nsk thin : In spite of the Incision mndc by the tracheotomy,
wns there nny evidence left of the exit aperture?
Commnnder Humeb. Unfortunately not that we could ascertain, sir.
Mr. McClot. I see.
Mr. DoixES. There Is no evidence In the coat or the shirt of an exit throuRta
the cont or shirt
Commnndor Humes. There la no exit throuch the coat, sir. Rut these two.
In the shirt, of course — excuse me, sir— there Is. The entrance by our
calculations —
Mr. Dor.i,BM. The entrance I know.
Commander Humes. Posteriorly.
Mr. Dui.i.ES. What about the exit?
Commander Huxies. The exit wounds are Just below.
Mr DuixES. nut there was no coat to exU throuRh.
Commander Humes. No ; anteriorly the cont was quite open.
Senator Cooper. May I ask a question?
Commander Humes. Yes, sir. Senator.
Senator Cooper. As-wmlnc that we draw n straight line from Point "C" which
you have described as o poswlble point of entry of the missile, to Point "D"
where you saw an Incision of the tracheotomy
Commander Humes. Yes, sir.
Senator Cooper. What would be the relation of the bruise at the apex of the
pleural sac to such a line?
Commander Humf.8. It would be exactly In line with such a line, sir. exactly.
Senator Cooper. What was the character of the bruise that yo\i sow there?
Commander Humes. The bruise here, photoRraphs are far superior to my
humble verbal description, but If I let my hand in cup shaped fashion represent
the apical parietal pleura, it was an area approximately .5 cm. In jrreatest
diameter of purplish blue discoloration of the parietal pleura. CorrespondluR
exactly with It, with the lune sittinR below it. was a rouRhly pyramid-shaped
bniise with Its base toward the surface of the upper portion of the lunc and
the apex down Into the Inni; tissue, and the whole thing measured about 5 cm.,
which is a little— 2 Inches In extent, sir.
Senator Cooper. What would be the — ran you describe the covering around
the apex of the pleural sac, the nature of Its protection. My point Is to get
your opinion as to whether some other factor, some factor other than the missile
could have caused this bruise which you saw.
Commander Humes. A couple of ways we might do this, sir. One with regard
to temporal. It was quite fresh. When examined under the microscope, the lung
In this area had recent hemorrhaging In It. The red blood cells were -well-
preserved, as they would be If It happened quite recently before death, as was
the red blood cells where they had gotten out Into the lung tissue near there.
The discoloration was essentially of the same character as the discoloration
In the muscles adjacent thereto, which would roughly again place It temporally
in approximately the same time since bruises change color as time goes by, and
these appeared quite fresh.
This Is with regard to time— I don't know whether that Is the right parameter
In which you wished to study It, Senator.
Senator Cooper. My question really went to this point : Considering the loca-
tion of the brui.'se at the apex of the pleural sac
Commander Humes. Yes, sir.
Senator Cooper. And of the tissue or muscles around It, was there any other
factor which you cotild think of that might have caused that bruise other than
the passage of a missile? .^ . , w
Commander Humes. It was so well localized that I truthfully, sir, can t think
of any other way.
Senator Cooper. That Is all.
Mr. McCloy. May I ask you one question which, perhaps, the answer Is quite
obvious. If. contrary to the evidence that we have here, that anterior wound
was the wound of entry, the shot must have come from below the President to
have followed that path.
Commander Humes. That course, that is correct, sir,
369
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n«^«*««>v!atmp«a«)<lRpm>n*^i^P*"n!^^
Mr. Specter. Dr. IIiiiiiok, cnn .von compare tho nncloH of dor-]lnntion on ZV,
lioint "C" to "D". wIHi .IKS "A" to "W"!
Coniiimndcr IIumeb. You will noto. mid nKnIii I iim.st aiK.lojcIn; for tho sfh(-
irnilio imtiirc of tlu-se dInKrniiiH drnwii to a cortalii oxloiit from iiininory and to
n certain extent from the written record, it w<»iild nitiK-iir that the ancle of
de<lination Ir somewhat sharper in tlie head wound, .1«K, tlian it Is in tiKi.
Tlie reason for this, wo fwl. liy tlie pattern of the entrunoe wound at V^H "A"
causes us to feel that the I'residenfs head was l>ent forward, and we fM;l this
accounts for the dllTerence in the angle, plus undoulitjslly the wounds were not
receive<l nhsolntel.v simultaneously, so that the vehicle In which the President
was travellnK niove<l durinc this iwrlod of time, which would account for a
difference in the line of tllcht, sir.
Mr, Hpkotkr. Aside from the hHkIU dirrorenccM which arc notable t»y observ-
Ing those two exhibits, are they roughly coniimrable to the angle of decline?
Commander Humes. I ItcliCve them to l>e roughly com|)arable, sir.
Mr. Specter. Ck>uld you state for the record an approximation of the angle of
decline?
Comnmnder Humes. Mathematics is not my forte. Approximately 4r> degrees
from the horizontal.
Mr. Specter. Would you elaborate somewhat. Doctor Humes, on why the
angle would change by virtue of a tilting of the head of the President since
the basis of the computation of angle Is with resi>ect to the ground?
Commander Humes. I find the question a little difilcult of answering right off,
forgive me, sir.
Mr. Specter. I will try to rephrase It. Stated more simply, why would the
tilting of the President's head affect the angle of the decline? You stated that
was
Comnmnder Humes. The angle that I am making an ob.servation most abrnit
Is the angle nmde that we envi8lone<l having been made by the impingement of
the bullet in its flight at the point of entry. This angle we see by the difference
of the measurement of the two wounds.
Therefore, this Is— we have several angles we are talking about here, un-
fortunately, this is — the angle of which we speak in this location, "A" to "B"
and It Is difficult
- ^'"T.^ '** retract. Since we feel from their physical configurations, wounds
385 "C" and 388 "A" are entrance wounds, if there wasn't some significant
change in the angulation of the President's head with respect to the line of
flight from these missiles, the physical measurements of 385 "C" and this 388
"A" should be similar. They aren't. In fact, dissimilar in that there Is a greater
angulation in 888 "A". Therefore, there has to be either a change in the posi-
tion of the vehicle in which the President Is riding with respect to the horizontal
or a change in the situation of the President's head. I believe that the exhibits
submitted earlier, the photograph
Mr. Specter. I believe the ones were given to you so far— excuse me, you are
right, 389.
Commander Humes. 389, in fact at this point shows the President's head in
a slightly inclined forward position, and I am not enough aware of the geography
of the ground over which the vehicle was traveling to know how much that
would affect it.
Mr. Specter. If you were to be told that there was a distance traversed of
approximately 150 feet from the time of Point "C" on 385 to Point "A" on 388,
and you would assume the additional factor that there was a slight angle of
decline on the street as well, would those factors, assuming them to be true,
help in the explanation of the differences In the angles?
Commander Humes. I think that they would make the figure as depicted in
388 quite understandably different from 385.
Mr. Dulles. Was It possible, in view of the condition of the brain to point
with absolute accuracy to the point of exit there? I can see that the point of
exit In 385 can be clearly determined. Is It equally possible to determine the
point of exit in 388?
Commander Humes. No. sir; It was not. other than through this large defect
because when
370
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i
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4
Mr. Duu.«. Tl.en.foro. that an.lc "''^'^t be «o^„r^;j' ''iSf we n.ade refer-
ence to that somewhat earlier. The rragmenu.
"•SCrTaTl: fhft I'^^M. hnt I wasn't sure.
bommander Humes. That Is «:»[^'; , ,„ regard to 38.1 similar to that I
Mr. McC«>v. I would "''« to -k a '^^^^^J^^^^^,,^^,^
asked as to 388. In your opinion, was tne «■> «
Commander Humes. No. sir. ^^g^^t^^ the President's
Mr. DUI.LE6. With the wound In 385. wouia
power of speech? .j.,^^ w„„nd cBUsed a defect In his
Is"is w-r.^. r.V"v™'S»«. .. .«-. «-« «•« •" "■• -"-
phonatlon. sir.
(Discussion oft the record.)
The CHA.EMAN. On the record. ^^^^^ „g„ D^t„r HumM.
Mr. Specter. In '*»P«"«« *" ^^V^""!"X^ver at Parkland. Will you state
you commented that they did ""^ turn Wn^over^a
Lr the record what the «»"%», .^"/^"Stof a P^""*""' '"'"'^''""'' """'T^'
«o?=rm?:ranJnr. H^^^^'^S .n the mom.n. of Saturday.
-M^^1a.Mthat«meJld.-or^^^^^^^^
that the Parkland doctors had not «^^7*^p i^g^t was on his back from the
Irrrr^r- ,r r^rupri. .. .« ,. ... ... .. ~
Commander Humes. No. sir; I did not
it^rjr^.^G^^nSei "^« <>'-''-*°° ^"^ •- '" "''•^'- ^"^ ^" "'^'
"Trl^'rCio^r H^es. as to points of entry on the body of the late
President, how many ^ej^e there t^ ^^J 335^ ^^^ 388-A.
wounds, en jou 1» .W ■»•" .jSJf ^S tb« n.Mr. ot tbe woud.!
Mil m cl..r.«.r «t »° *«'^°^JS.2''S^tK Co»nlilon.r. . belt..-
ss.^^^-'s rr r. sr^?- „,««. ., ... ..- «-
Tl,« CH.I.U.". More we W «« *^.™j ^em e"' .e.'« «""' ""«"
^^'-/p.si.r'a-r r.r,.r»^".r.ny .,...e «.««., ,o. ^.e
given here? ojj^
- -i
Conimnnder Humes. To the bc*t of my recollection, Mr. Chief JuHflce, It
would not.
The CiiAiBMAN. Mr. McCloy.
Mr. McCi/)T. Mny I ask thU question?
The CnAiRMAN. fJo rlRht nhcnd.
Mr. McCi.oY. Do you have nny knowle<lce nB to whether or nf>t any photo-
grnphH were taken in HnllnH?
Comninnrter Humes. I have none, sir, no knowledge.
Mr. McCi.oY. No knowlp<l(;e that any were taken?
Representative Ford. May I ask what size are the pictures to whioh you refer?
Ooininandcr Humes. We cx|tosc<l lK)th black and white and color newifives.
ConffreHsman. They were expostMl In the iiiorRue durlnjt the exanilniiMon.
They were not developed. The kodachroine niiRUtlves when develoiK;<l waxM
be 40r>. They were In film <-arrler« or cassetteH. as were the black and white.
Of course they could be magnified.
Representative FoRt>. Have those l>een examined by personnel at Bethes<la?
Commander Humes. No, sir. We exposed these ncRaUves; we turned them
over. Here I must ask the counsel again for advice — to the Secret Service.
Mr. .Specteb, Yes ; it was the Secret Service.
Commander Humes. They were tumc<l over to the Secret .Ser\ice In their
ca.<wettes unexpo.se<l, and I have not seen any of them since. This Is the photo-
graph.s. Tlie X-rays were developed In our X-ray dei»artment on the spot that
evening, because we had to see those right then as part of our examination, but
the photographs were made for the record and for other purposes.
Kei)reKentJitlve Ford. But they had never been actually developed for viewing.
Commander Humes. I do not know, sir.
Mr. Specter. Doctor Humes, back to the angles for Just a moment.
Commander Humes. Yes, sir.
Mr. Specter. Hypothesize or assume, if you will, that other evidence will
show that the wound Inflicted on Commission Exhibit 385 at point C occurred
while the President was riding in the rear seat of his automobile approximately
100 feet from a point of origin In a six-floor building nearby, and assume fur-
ther that the wound lnfllcte<l In aS8 at point A occurred when the President
was approximately 250 feet away from the same point.
With those assumptions In mind, there would be somewhat different angles
of declination going from C to D on 385 and from A to B on 388.
Commander Humes. I would expect there would.
Mr. Specter. You have already testlfled earlier today that you were unable
to pinpoint with precision angle A to B on 388 because of the reconstrucUon
of the scalp.
Now my question to you, in that elongated fashion, is from what you know
and what you have described, are the angles, as yon have expres.<;ed them to
be in your opinion, consistent with a situation where the two wounds were
inflicted at the angles and at the distances just described to you?
Commander Humes. I believe they are consistent I would state that the path
oatlined on 388-A to B is to a certain extent conjectural for the reasons given
before.
Mr. Specter. Now, Doctor Humes, I hand you a group of documents which
have been marked as Commission Exhibit No. 397 and ask you If you can
identify what they are ?
Commander Humes. Yes, sir; these are various notes in long-hand, or copies
rather, of various notes in long-hand made by myself, in part, during the per-
formance of the examination of the late President, and in part after the exami-
nation when I was preparing to have a typewritten report made.
Mr. Specter. Are there also Included there some notes that you made while
yon talked to Doctor Perry on the telephone?
Commander Humes. Yes, sir ; there are
Mr. Specter. Are there any notes which you made at any time which are not
included in this group of notes ?
Commander Humes. Yes, sir ; there are.
Mr. Specteb. And what do those consist of?
372
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■J
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Ck)mmnnder Humb8. In privacy of my own home, early In the morning of
Sunday. November 24tli, I made a draft of this report which I later revised
and of which this represents the revision. That draft I perwonally burned In-
the fireplace of my recreation room.
Mr. Spectkb. May the record show that the Exhibit No. 3.07 Is the Identical
document which has been previously IdenUfied as Commission No. 371 for our
Internal purposes.
Is the first sheet then In that group the notes you made when you talked to
Doctor Perry?
Commander Humes. That Is correct, sir.
Mr. Specter. And do the next 15 sheets represent the rough draft which was
later copied Into the autopsy report which has been heretofore Identified with
an exhibit number?
Commander Humes. That is correct, sir.
Mr. Specter. And what do the next two sheets represent?
Commander Humes. The next two shecte are the notes actually mode In the
room In which the examinaUon was taking place. I notice now that the
hondwrltlng In some Instances Is not my own, and It is either that of Com-
mander Boswell or Colonel Finck.
Mr. Specter. And was that writing made at the same time that the autop.sy
report was undertaken ; that Is, did you review all of the markings on those
papers and note them to be present when you completed the autopsy report'
Commander Humes. Yes, sir. From the time of the completion of this exami-
nation until the submission of the written report foUowing its preparation,
all of the papers pertinent to this case were In my personal custody.
Mr. Specter. Have you now described all of the documents which were present
in that 307, Exhibit No. 3977
Commander Humes. Yes, sir; with the exception of the certlficaUon to the
fact that I, In fact, detailed them in my custody, and a certification that I had
destroyed certain preliminary draft notes.
Mr. Specter. And these represent all the notes except those yon have already
described which you destroyed?
Commander Humes. That Is correct, sir.
Mr. Specter. Now, Just one point on the notes themselves. Page 14 of your
rough draft. Doctor Humes, as to the point of origin, the notes show that
there was a revision between your first draft and your final report
Commander Humes. Yes, sir.
Mr. Specter. Will you first of all read Into the record the final conclusion
reflected In your final report
Commander Humes. I would rather read It from the final report. The final
report reads :
"The projectiles were fired from a point behind and somewhat above the level
of the deceased."
Mr. Specter. And what did the first draft of that sentence as shown on page
14 of your rough draft state ?
Commander Humes. It stated as follows :
"The projectiles were fired from a point behind and somewhat above a hori-
zontal line to the vertical position of the body at the moment of Impact."
Mr. Specter. Now would you state the reason for making that modification
between draft and final report, please?
Commander Humes. This examination, as I have indicated, wos performed
by myself with my two associates. The notes which we have Just admitted as an
exhibit are in my own hand and are my opinion, was my opinion at that time, as
to the best way to present the facts which we hnd gleaned during this period.
Before submitting it to the typist I went over this with great care with my two
associates. One or the other of them raised the point that perhaps this sentence
would state more than what was absolutely fact based upon our observations,
pointing out that we did not know precisely at that time in what position the
body of the President was when the missiles struck, and that therefore we
should be somewhat less specific and somewhat more circumspect than the
way we stated It When I considered this suggestion, I agreed that It would
be better to change it as noted, and accordingly, I did so.
373
■«^^»w»W , I.I I ii.niPimjuju.i
^""WW^WUPHWH^PUWI^o^oi
Mr. Spkctkr. Mr. Chlof .TiiHtlce, I move now for the ndiiilKHlon Into evidence
of Kxhihit No. 3t)7.
Tlie CiiAinMAN. It mn.v lie lulnilttc*!.
(The (lociinu'ntB. previously marke<I Kxhibit Xo. .107 for identiflcaflon, were
_ refelve<l In evidence.)
Mr. McCix>Y. May I iihJc one question alMiut the notes? The notes thnt you
made conteuipomneously with your exaiuinntlon, yon snld you put th^ise down
nnd then you put some In Inter. IIow much later were the note.s, within the
best of your re<olle<tion of the final notes ma<le, not the final rei>ort, but the
final notes thnt .vou made In your own linndwritinR?
Commander IIumk>4. The examination was concluded ariproximately at 11
o'clock on the night, of November 22. The final chanKes In Ibe tioles prior to
the typing of the reistrt were made, and I will have to give you the time be<;Huse
whatever time Mr. Oswald wn.s shot, that Is about when I finished. I was work-
ing In an oflJce, and Komeonc lind a television on nnd came in and told me that
Mr. Oswald had been shot, and that was around n(K>n on Sunday, Xoveml»er 24th.
Mr. Spkcter. Mr. Chief Jiistice, I have now marked another photograph as the
next exhibit number, Comml.ssion Kxhibit 308. May I say t<i the Commission
thnt this is a photograph which, subject to later proof, will show It to lie taken
imme<liately after the President was struck by the first bullet.
Tlie Chairman. It may be marked.
(The photograph was marked Commission Kxhibit No. 308 for Identification.)
May I move for its admission Into evidence at this time for this puriMse?
The Chairman. It may be admitted.
(The photograph, previously marked Commission Kxhibit No. 308 for Identifi-
cation, was received in evidence.)
looking at Comml.ssion Exhibit .308, Doctor Hume.s, with that as a background,
have you had an opportunity to review the medical reports on Governor Con-
nally at Parkland Hospital in Commission I-}xhibit 3027
Commander Humes. I have.
Mr. Specter. Have you noted the wounds which he sustained on his right wrist,
that is. Governor Connally's right wrist?
Commander Humrs. Yes, sir; I have noted the report of It In these records.
Mr. Specter. What does the report show as to those wounds on the right wrist?
Commander Humes. The report shows a wound of entrance on the dorsal as-
pect of the right wrist. Let's get the precise point here. The wound of entry
is described as on the dorsal nsjiect of the right wrist above the junction of the
distal fourth of the radius nnd the shaft. It was approximately two centi-
meters in length and rather oblique, with the loss of tissue, and some consider-
oble contusions at the margins. There was a wound of exit along the volar
surface of the wrist about two centimeters above the flexion crease of the wrist
in the midline.
Mr. Specter. Doctor Humes, I show you a bullet which we have marked as
Commission Elxhibit No. 309, nnd may I say now that, subject to later proof, this
is the missile wliich has been taken from the stretcher which the evidence now
indicates was the stretcher occupied by Governor Connally.
I move for Its admission into evidence at this time.
The Chairman. It may be admitted.
(The article, previously nmrked Commission Exhibit No. 399 for identifica-
tion, was received In evidence.)
Mr. Specter. We have been asked by the FBI that the mis.sile not be handled
by anybody because it is undergoing further ballistic tests, and it now appears,
may the record show, in a plastic case In a cotton background.
Now looking at that bullet. Exhibit 300, Doctor Humes, could that bullet have
gone through or been any part of the fragment twssing through President Ken-
nedy's bead in Exhibit No. 388?
Commander Humes. I do not believe so, sir.
. Mr. Specter. And could that missile have made the wound on Governor Con-
nally's right wrist?
Commander Humes. I think that that is most unlikely. May I expand on
those two answers?
374
r
^mmmmvi^r^
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r.- *;, ■■ T,
1 t',TT - ,
x^
:|S1
JLmSeTlSMK^'XtrayB made of .ho wound .n tho head of U.o .ate
pSTt showed frnsmcntatlons of ll.e n.lK«llc. Son.e frncmontH we re.overed
ri^tui^ed oveV^ an haH l«en previously noted. Also we have X-rayH of he
t^^^^t skull which waB m the region of our opinion exit wonn.l HhowlnK
•"Air^o^rrExhlhlt 392. the re,K.rt from I-arkland Hospital the foMowing
sentence referring to the examination of the wound of the wr.Ht Ih fou..d :
"smSl bits of metal were encountered at various levels throughout the
1 La thoKo were wherever they were Identified and could l)c picked ui..
"eS'up aSlbrteX'oth; Jathology dep..rtment for Identification and
ThrreiTson I believe it most unlikely that this mlsnllc could have In.licted
either of theL wounds IS that this mlssll..ls basically Intact; Its Jacket appears
to mc to be m tact, and I do not understand how It could posMlbly have left
fragments In either of these locaUons.
%lr SPECTEB. What wounds did Governor Connally sustain In his thest area,
hasl^ uST^e Te^rds of Parkland Hospital, which you have examined. Doctor
"c'^mlander Humes. Governor Connally received In his chest a wound of en-
rib and emerged below the right nipple anterlally.
These were the wounds of the chest of Governor Connally.
Mr^PE^L Now assuming that there were only three missiles fired, and
bearing fnXl the posTtlons of President Kennedy and Governor Connally from
^"r !rL\'i;?er HUMES Yes I would preface this statement by the following:
T:Tu:^\^VrtZT^ft''o.^y very slightly less than that velocity.
'rZZTVZZ':'S^^^S: Which purports to be at approximately
"'Mr'srrSTJw much of the velocity. If any. or would there be an ap-
prJJ abt^^nu^lZ of the velocity of the projectile on passing through the
S^lonsofPresidentKennedysbodywhlchyoubavedescrlb^^?
S>mmander Humes. I would have to defer to my associate. Colonel Finck.
the markings which are shown on Exhibit 399?
clearly f «f ^^.^ ^^^ '"«', ^J ^U^o^I^ ""^^^^ "'"^ «"«
'"^^hrm^Lle thafh^S tmv^^ hU chest, because I doubt if this missile
::uW ha^t!: ZuTS. IZ metamc fragments from Its physical appearance
at this Ume.
375
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■^■BIOBlW^UU.ll.lUU I.U.I l.-.UJLH.IIIWlj
Mr S,^r^ C..W tl..l ,„.».,. l.,.v. tr»™™i O-.o^r »»„...,■. .b«t
ccivo<l ,«.«ctratinR wounds '";."'•;"" P*™; ..^ ^,„e ofht-r minor difTKM.Uy
=ru°!.".£i^ j:::r'V ::;r r^n. ^^ awa. t.at ....n,
"];^rerS;?or\vt^^^•nr ^^^^^^^^ potent., .action o. the
becnthoonetolc^gelnGov^rnorConna^^yB^^^^^^ ^^ ,,p„rt«. again
Commander Humes. I tWnk that «'^"";""^'*^ . „ ^^g ,„„.er midthlgh of
Bxiubit 302 from I'-Wand teU of an e„t™„^ wom^^ ^^^^^,,^ ,^^^.
the Governor, and X-rays taken there "e ^^^^^'^ „,,t removed and
ment« in the bone, which "PP"-"*" ?.„"[. ,"?'* i St^nceive of where they
are still present In Governor Connally s thigh. I can conce
•^""ueV:rnSSvfF?i."ThemlssileldenUfiedasExhlbltm
Commander Humes. 309. sir. oninion as to whether the
Jl^,rZ'^^.^^SZ:^sr:\'^rJ''^^^^ Z^ causes by the same
^^cSlander Hum.. In reading ^^ ^i^-^S^^.f .^iJ^nZ'^^a^t
was found. ^ -^»^«-^ ,^«'*,, f ""f. \"t was defln'te^y^^'t^ the realm of pos-
Sfy rthri^n.rSr/p:%^-^^^^^ those ..unes.
'^f^^I^'-^r.^^Z'-Tr'i^^'X'oU than, you very •
mu?h cSmm^drr-. You have been very he.pf ul U> us. Indeed.
(^^mand«r HOMES. Thank you very much. sir.
The Chairman. Thank you.
Mr. SPECTER. Commander Boswell.
Mr. McCloy. May I ask one more question?
rr^rcJ^"*''Ea?Ue?irthra«:^oon we had taken put of cellophane ba^
here the clothing of the President
Commander Homes. Yes. sir.
Mr McCloy. And amongst them was the shirt.
STr'rc't^Y.Tom you"' lamination of the wounds, of the defects. I guess
you would call it In the shirt
Commander Homes. Yes, sir. , .w tissues of that shirt have any
TBSrmONY OF COMDE. J. THORNTON BOSWELU MEDICAL CORPS
T-. OBA„>,.». C<...»d.r B0.w«. .m ,.» ».«> jou, rtSh. Mn. ..a b.
sworn, please? ^^h„,„„v vou rive before thU Commission will
^"sj^S'S'wE «s..tr:jj."?.. .t. ."tb. ~ -"p - <=<-•■
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Commnndcr Boswfxu I rto, sir.
' Mr' SPEtTTEB. Whnt Is yonr ,.rofcsHlon7
LTat St. Alba™ N.val Ho„.lial la K»w '^°'''- ' "" "Sw la V.7 aa4 WA
ref SrS^i: Did you have occasion to parUdpate In the autoposy of the
ite President Kennedy?
r sl^^Sl^T^l^'yorsslst Doctor Hun.es at that tl.e?
r SPE.^'K.TaTe^JoJ'^rpresent here today during the enUre course of
doctor Humes' testimony?
; commander BoswELU {^"^^•^'J.}^^.^^. „„„ would like to add by way of
1 commander Boswell. None ^ ^ ^^^^ „"„„j „„r subsequent conference, and
.S LTe:nrr;^aeTua"ei as%"^^^^^^^^ -IhU?
r SP^^H^An'thefarJ Lt'forth therein are correct In accordance with
rour analysis and evaluation of the situaUon?
Commander Boswelu Yes ^^^ pomta of exit
.r. r.rr»a ".tiissrs- D^;:, b™». ». «. «... „„«. ..- «
well'
i r ril^DX^S'eljVo^^d you state for the record what your con-
inraraTtothecauseofa^athof^^^^^^^^^^
! Commander BoswELi. The brain injury was ^^^^^ ^^^,^
LriS:XC*J"u-"rJL''aT'SJSS^. «;;»„„. 1. .» -^ »"
wstalned the wound Inflicted In 385? essentially an uneventful
^r ri-uTha^e ir S;; ^:^, and I thlnu It would have b.n of
'tr TB^r'^hose are my only «uesUonsM. Chief J-^-^^^.^.e,, u
^'e CABMAN. Does anyone ^^-^^^^^''Z have^a very helpful to
lot, Commander, thank you very much. Indeed.
IS*
Mr. Spectbb, Colonel Finck.
^TESTIMONY OF LT. C»U P.KBRE . F.NC.. PH^aAN, «. ^ ABMV
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Colonel FiRCK. I do.
The Chairman. Will you be seated, plense. Colonel?
Mr. Specter, Would you state your full name for the record, please?
Colonel FiNCK. My first name Is I'lerre. My middle Initial U "A". My last
name Is Finck.
Mr. Spfxtbr. What Is your profession, sir?
Colonel FiNCK. I am a physician.
Mr. Specter. And by whom are you employed?
Colonel Finck. By the Uidtcd States Army.
Mr. Specter. And vyhat Is your rank?
Colonel Finck. I am a lieutenant colonel In the Medical Corps.
Mr. Specter. Where did you otitaln your meflioal degree?
Colonel Finck. At the University of Geneva Medical School In Switzerland.
Mr. Specter. And in what year did you obtain that deffroe?
Colonel Finck. In 1948.
Mr. Specter. What has your experience been In the medical profession subse-
quent to obtaining that degree?
Colonel Finck. I had 4 years of training In pathology after my Intemshlp,^?
■yaetra, including 2 years of pathology at the University Institute of Pathology In
Geneva, Switzerland, and 2 years at the University of Tennessee InsUtute of
Pathology in Memphis, Tenn.
Mr. Specter. And how long have you been in the United States Army?
Colonel Finck. Since 1955.
Mr. Specter. And what haveyour duties consisted of In the Army?
Colonel Finck. From 1955 to 1058 I performed approximately 200 autopsies,
many of them pertaining to trauma including missile wounds, stationed at
Frankfort, Germany as pathologist of the United States Army Hospital In
Frankfurt, Germany.
Mr. Specter. Have you had any additional, special training or experience in
missile wounds?
Colonel Finck. For the past 3 years I was Chief of the Wound Ballistics
Pathology Branch of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and In tiat ca-
pacity I reviewed personally all the cases forwarded to us by the Armed Forces,
and some civilian cases from the United States and our forces overseas. The
number of these cases amounts to approximately 400 cases. I was called as
a consultant In the field of missile wounds for this particular case, and also last
year In February 1963, the Surgeon General of the Army sent me to Vietnam
for a wound ballistics mission. I had to tesUfy in a murder trial involving a
30/30 rifle In the first week of March this year, and I came back yesterday after
one week in Panama where I had to testify. I was sent to Panama by the
Secretary of the Army regarding the fataUUes of the events of »-3;f in January
of 1904
Mr. Specter. Have you been certified by the American Board of Pathology,
Doctor Finck? tc _. t> .,
Colonel Finck. I was cerUfied in pathology anatomy by the American Board
of Pathology in 1956, and by the same American Board of Pathology in the field
of forensic pathology In 1961.
Mr. Specter. Would you describe briefly for the Commission what forensic
pathology involves? , ^ j ..v
Colonel Finck. Forensic pathology is the study with the naked eye and with
the microscope of injuries. Including missile wounds, ,t'a«^a '" seneral^
summary, it is the part of pathology In relation to the law, violent death being
homicide, be it suicide, accidental or undetermined. It also includes nnex-
Dlalned deaths, sudden deaths, and poisoning. ^ .^ , ^
Mr. Specter. Did you have occasion to parUdpate In the autopsy of the late
President Kennedy?
Colonel Finck. Yes; I did. .
Mr Specter. And are you one of the three coauthors of the autopsy report
which has been previously marked and introduced into evidence here?
Colonel Finck. Yes, I am.
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Mr Specter. Have you had occasion to conduct any expcrlmenU on the effett
of mlsslle^etraUon of the bmin reflected In the chart which you have brought
wltJi you here totlay?
STrr>S^"0f''ur';UuU-.et .ne phrase ti.e nucstion thin way: What docH
the t«8t which l8 depicted on tlie dcRument l)cfore you relate to /
Colonel FiNCK. It is based on my observations, not on cxiK-Hm«|tH
Mr. Specter. Would you i«is« that to me. sir. so that I may mark that as a
Commission Exhibit, and then I will ask you to identify it, please?
MTchlcf Justice, may I n.ark as CommisHion Kxhibit No. 400 a document?
TrL^rrnrt wLT/artd'SmnlsHion Exhibit No 400 for ident.flcation.)
Mr Specter I will ask Doctor Finck to dcscrilie it for us, !>»<■»'«■
CoioneT^^cK. This is a scheme which I prepare<l before the 22d o Nov^ember
It?a teaching scheme, but it applies to the case in d'«=7 -• J,\ ^"ex'^mi
help in understanding how I could Identify the '^^''^^Z"^}'"' :^^l' ^re^nL
nation of bone. "A" represents Oie bony portion of the skull. B represent
S cavity of^e head, tSe cranial cavity. "O-represents the entrance and D
rporesents the exit The arrows indicate the missile path.
Esc^eme irbased upon observation of through and through wounds of bone
nndt'lL same differe^s apply to a pane of glass. The surface struck first by the
mil e in relation to^he surface struck next by the missile this one, shows a
Tmaner diameter, which means that if you look at the'^^-^f ""^'■"^,1° f Sm
c^^ here C, from the outside you will not see a crater. If you e'^"'""'^ '^,'^«^
tSriS; you will see a crater corresponding to the bevelling, coning, shelving,
^^lX^Lrw?ate''/.^rnr?<^Crwas possible to have enough curvature
ami enough iK>rtion of the crater to identify positively the wound of entrance at
'lifsP^El'Te^ating then your evaluation ^^ ^^^^^l^^^^-ZZTyoZ
President Kennedy, and turning to Commission Exhibit No 388, what is your
-SU^^-r^toS^n^^^rJfE^LrS^^^^^
'^M^r^ irE^TndXt are the characteristics of that wound which lead you
'"clnrM"'Tbe characteristics were that seen from the inside of the skull,
I couwiee aTveSg in the bone, a beveling that could not be seen when the
-r S;E^rA'nhrirrertdl^ characteristics that led y,u to
conclude A was the wound of entrance?
hole from those three portions of skull?
Colonel FiNCK. May, I refer to my scheme?
Mr. Specter. Please do.
Colonel FiNCK. For the sake of demonstration. ^
rln mTnck^'m the level of the wound of exit, yf. In my scheme. Commission
Fxhibit No Im when view^ from the inside of th% skull, there was no crater,
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when looking from the outHidc and you cnn Identify on exit wound. And that U
what I did, and now I nni referring to the actual cnxe In diHCuwdon, CominlHHlon
Exhibit 38a
Mr. Specter. That Ih B?
Colonel FiNCK. liCtter B. We will sec pftrtlons of Inine In this Ronernl oron, the
large wound In the bone on the rlKht side of the Kkull of I'rcHldent Ki;nncdy. I
had enouRh curvature to Identify outside of the Kkull, and inside of the skull, as
the first step to orient the speclnicn, and then I could determine the location of
the beveling, and I could therefore say that n.OmimlsHlon Exhibit 388, Is a
wound of exit
Mr. Spectbr. Based on your observations ond conclusions, was President Ken-
nedy shot from the front, roar, side or what?
Colonel FiNCK. President Kennu<Iy was. In my opinion, Khot from the rear.
The bullet entered In the back of the head and went out on the right side of his
skull, producing a large wound, the greatest dimension of which was approxi-
mately 13 centimeters.
Mr. Specter. And as to angle, was he shot from below, from level, from above,
or what, in your opinion?
Colonel FiNCK. In my opinion, the angle can be determined only approxi-
mately due to the fact that the wound of entrance is fairly small and could give
enough precision in the determination of the path, but the dimension of the
wound of exit, letter B of Exhibit 388, is so large that we can only give an
approximate angle. In my opinion, the angle was within 4.5 degrees from the
horizontal plane.
Mr. Specter. Is that to say that there was a 4.'>-degree angle of declination
from the point of origin to the point of impact, from the point of origin of the
bullet where the bullet came from a gun until the point where It struck President
Kennedy?
The Chairman. In other words, you mean was he shot from above or below.
Mr. Specter. Yes,
Colonel FiNCK. I think I can only state, sir, that he was shot from above and
behind.
Mr. Specter. At this time I move for admission Into evidence Exhibit 400,
Mr. Chief Justice.
The Chairman. It may be admitted.
(The document was marked Commission Exhibit No. 400 for Identification,
and was received in evidence.)
Mr. Specter. As to Exhibit 385, Dr. Finck, was point C a point of entry
or a point of exit, in your opinion?
Colonel Finck. In my opinion point C of Commission's Exhibit 385 is a wound
of entrance.
Mr. Specter. And what Is the basis for that conclusion?
Colonel Finck. The basis for that conclusion is that this wound was rela-
tively small with clean edgest It was not a Jagged wound, and that is what
we see in wound of entrance at a long range.
Mr. Specter. Were you present here today and did you hear the entire testi-
mony of Doctor Humes?
Colonel Finck. Tea ; I did.
Mr. Specter. And do you concur in Dr. Humes' statements and opinions
regarding the point of entry C, point of exit D, and general angle on the flight
of the missile?
Colonel Finck. I certainly do.
Mr. Specter. Then from what direction was President Kennedy shot on entry
point C?
Colonel Finck. From behind and above.
Mr. Specter. Were the bullets used dumdum bullets. In your opinion. Dr.
Finck?
Colonel Finck. In what wound, sir?
Mr. Specter. Well, start with the head wound, or the back wound, either one.
Colonel Finck. In all the wounds considered, on the basis of the aspect of
the wound of entrance, dumdum bullets were not used.
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Mr. SrECTER. And wl.nt chnracterlHtlcs of dumdum bullets were absent. In
TOur opinion— in your evaluation of these wounds?
'colonel FiNCK. I would expect more JagKed. more IrreRular and larger wounds
of entrance than described in this case.
Representative Fohi>. With a dunidnra bullet?
Colonel FiNCK. With a dumdum bullet ^ „
Mr SPECTEa. With respect to the question of likelihood of ""vernor Omnnlly
having been wo«nde<l In the back and chest with the same bullet which rmssed
through President Kennedy In 385. what re<luctlon would there be. •'«"?."
the velocity, considering the reh.tlve ,>osltlon» of the two n.en in the automobile
ns reflected In photograph, Kxhiblt 308? . , , . „„,„
{^loneVFiNOK. Of course, to reach precise figures we would nne«l ex,«r ments
and Zilar cZum»t.u.ce« with the same tyi« ammunition at the same distance
through two human cadavers, which I did not do. „,,,„„»
On the basis that if we assume that this is one bullet going "jrough Pr sldent
Kennedy's body and also through Governor O-nnally's body, the re<h.ctlon of
velocity would be of some extent after passing through President Kennedys
S^. but not having hit bones, the re<luction in velocity, after going thr.mgh
President Kenne<ly's iKxly, would be minimal. , vi i.
M SPEcrER. Would there be sufliclent force then to Inflict the w"und wWch
Dr. Humes descril.e<l from the Parkland Hospital records as having been
Inflicted on Governor Connally's back and chest?
Colonel FiNCK. There would be enough energy to go through the body of the
^ Mr':"spECTER. In expressing your opinion on that subject. Doctor Flnck have
you taken Into account the assumptions on distance. ^^^}^^^ ^\^''^"^.,^''\l
with a weapon that has a muzzle velocity In the neighborhood of sUghtly in
excess of 2.000. and that the vehicle carrying these two Individuals was approxi-
mately l.TO. about 150 feet away from the site of origin of the °»*^;\Y
Colonel FINCK. At this range, a bullet of this velocity loses very little velocity,
and keeps upon Impact a large amount of kinetic energy.
Mr. Specter. You heard the whole of Doctor Humes' testimony, did you not?
^ScteIV/ou ^vl'anythlng that you would like to add to what he said?
Colonel FiNCK. No. , , _.
Mr. Specter. Or would you like to modify his testimony In any way?
JiTpE^E'l^'Do you subscribe to the observations and procedures which he
outlined during the course of his testimony?
Colonel FiNCK. I do. „ .^ » tt .»„•»
Mr. Specter. As having been conducted on President Kennedy?
S.°s'pJSrAid^"do you share the opinions which be expressed In their
entirety In the course of his testimony here today?
Colonel FiNCK. I do.
The Chairman. You might be seated. Colonel.
Mr. McCiX)T. Just as truthful seated as standing.
RepresentaUve Ford. How many cases did you
theory shown by Commission Exhibit 400?
Colonel FiNCK. Among the more than 400 cases , ._ ^ «
them-I cannot give you an exact figure. I do not tabulate them, but many of
Eem had through and through wounds of the skull as well as of Aat bon^
as for instance, the sternum, the bone we have In front of our chest and this
would apply alsi to a through and through wound of the sternum. I have cases
" There^was a specific case In which I was able to identify the entrance at the
leveiof the stern\nn on the same basis as the criteria I have given for the skull
Whenever a bullet goes through a flat bone. It will produce that beveling, that
craterlng, shelving, and that I have seen in numerous cases.
Repref^ntatlve FORD. Is this a generally accepted theory In the medical
"'SerkNCK. Yes. sir; It Is. Am I aUowed to quote a standard textbook?
381
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Investigate to develop this
I have reviewed, several of
mmmemi^m^!'
IIIW»»«»I^W"JW»W'B
Hnnmim
"w<a
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LkUu
The CiiAiKMAN. Yon may ; yes bIV
shown to you today, but dewrlhcs similar criteria *^"'^
Colonel KiNCK. For the first time this afternoon, sir
Mr SrECTER. And based u^>n your examination of that bullet do w/u h«vp
KennedyT^,^"'^ ^^""''^ ^''«' ''""^ P-'"'- •'-e «one Su^h President
Colonel FixcK. Through President Kennedy's head? 388?
Mr. Specter. And remained intact in the way you see it noW
Colonel PiNCK. Definitely not
onLiZT^on^rurTli^ii^lZr'- ""« """- -^^'^^ """'-d the wound
deSJi^^'.nTh^rwrl^L"'^ ""^ ^^""'^ '""^ ""^^ »- ^- --y fragments
Mr. McClot. I have a question.
The Chairman. Go right ahead
caSer'Jftrt h^reT/°" «--^-"- <>' Exhibit 399. can you Identify the
tou^hTt ' '"'°^- '^' "'"'^'" "' ""'« '"'"^^ " ^ «>"'«' --^^-^e It, but I cannot
The Chairman. Wc can.
Colonel FiNCK. I would say it is consistent with a 6..5 mm
Mr. McClot. Are you familiar with the Mannllcher 6.5 rifle?
fo^TorL'kT.^^.Z.T'"'' -'"• "^-^ -•"-' «-^- ' -"'™- -e calibers
So^ffcJ5?^ti::>^^:?'^^^^^^^^^
t.£.e^sr:ith^r^rtr.^„?:7imrLrae'Th:i^^^^^^^^^^^
Colonel FiNCK. That is correct
Mr. Specter. One more question. Mr. Chief JusUce
rLSred 4o w^Vl i;^ " " ««='""*«^ I«th as Indicated b^ the fi^^ent^
382
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on the right side, but that a portion of this bullet which badly fraement«d was
reoovcrcd within the skull.
Mr. Spkcter. In view of the Iniimct on the nkull nt iiolnt A, It in unlikely to
be n stmight line to B nil the wny back to the muzzle of the weapon as it Is,
say, in .IfVi C^D, all the way back to the muzzle of the Run.
Colonel FiNCK. In C-D, Commission's E)xhibit SW, due to the fact that there
was no fragmentation, I can say that it is a straight line from behind and
above, whereas liere, due to the fragmentation and to the d\ial path, I can't
give a precise angle, but I can say that the injury is consistent with a wound
prwluced by one bullet producing many fragments.
The Chairman. Senator, have you any questions you want to ask?
Mr. McCwy. May I ask one?
The Chairman. Yes; go right ahead.
Mr. McCloy. Did you examine any ot the fragments which were removed
from the President's skull?
Colonel FiNCK. I only saw one fragment shown to me when I arrived
at Bethesda, and it was an elongated black metallic fragment, and that is the
only one I saw to my recollection. I was told that It had been removed from
the brain of President Kennedy in the anterior portion of his head.
Mr. McCloy. From that bullet, that fragment, could you determine, was it
sufficiently largo to determine from the ballistic evidence the caliber of the
bullet?
Colonel FiNCK. No, sir ; for the reason that to determine the caliber you need
the entire bullet, or at least an entire portion. You need a portion of the bullet
showing the entire diameter, and I was not shown that I was shoNvn a fragment
which represented a very small portion of the original bullet Therefore, at that
time I could not say anything on the possible original caliber.
Mr. McCujY. You examined no fragment which did contain those character-
isUcs? pcri,-i.u c/
Colonel FiNCK. No, sir ; I did not see any entire bullet or,^bullet showing the
entire diameter.
The Chairman. Congressman Ford?
Representative Ford. I believe you testified, Colonel, that you concurred In the
previous testimony by Commander Humes and Commander Boswell, and that
you were one of the co-authors of the autopsy. At any Ume during this process
where you were conducting the autopsy, was there any disagreement between
any one of you three, any difference of opinion as to anything involved In the
autopsy?
Colonel Finck. No, sir.
Representative Ford. There has been complete unanimity on what you saw,
what you did, and what you have reported?
Colonel FiNCK. Yes, sir.
The Chairman. Senator Cooper?
Senator Coopeb. Colonel, I would like for you to look at Exhibit 388 and at the
possible trajectory of the bullet which entered President Kennedy's head at A
and then mark it as a possible point of exit by "out". You remember there was
testimony about a portion of the bullet from point A to the place on the diagram
marked "fragment" where a fragment was found. I would like to ask If It is
possible that the trajectory of the bullet from the point of origin, could have
been A to this point marked "fragment" as well as from A to the place marked
"out"?
Colonel FiNCK. I don't think so, sir.
Senator Cooper. Why? Would you explain that answer?
Colonel Finck. I wootd think that I would consider the midportion of this
exit woaW labeled B, Exhibit 388, as the wound produced by most of the
fragments and the major porUons of the fragmenting bullet This la only a small
portion of It which makes me say that this Is a secondary path.
Senator Cooper. What was the size of the fragment relative to the size of the
missile of the 6.5 Mannllcher, fired from the 6J. Mannllcher rifle?
Colonel Finck. Approximately one-tenth, or even less.
Representative Ford. From your numerous case studies, U It typical for a
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bullet, for a misslloln U.Is clnmmHtance an nhown In 388, t« fra^ent to the
''^oZTv^TlT^rXtLu.on to «„. a wounU of e«.t .uo. larger
"C=:- ;^^ -- U^Sr rl^lSto rra..e„t to the .^ee
tbiit this one dUl aH sliowii In Exhibit 388?
SiS^ Sn.'ls it ty,..cal to fln.l only a limited number of fragment-
'Vro,rom"K'S'Cl^rufa ^reat extent on .he type of ammunition uHed^
=3 E^= i:-^ srS'^ssspsrss
iS^nron the ,«t..rn of ti.e wound and the decree of f ra^mentaUon.
■Rpiirosentative Foun. That is all.
?he C,Ta.^m AN. Thank you.Colonel. very much for your help.
Colonel FiNCK. You are welcome, sir.
the nature of the target, it '« •>«''«="y,,Cittn.c?les^d X; o^^^^
Representative Ford. Why one fragmented and one did not
Colonel FiNCK. Yes.
(Discussion off the record.)
The Chaibman. Gentlemen, again thank you very much.
Twhe^upon. nt 3 :45 p.in., the President's Commission recessed.)
Wednesday, March 18. 19M
TESTIMONY OF MICHAEL R. PAINE AND RUTH HYDE PAINE
The President's Commission met at a.m. on March 18. 1964, at 200 Mary-
land Avenue NB.. 'Wa^^'^f °°' ^f ' „„^„ Chairman- Senator John Sherman
members. , _„,,nHpi. Wesley J. Liebeler, assist-
torlan; and Charles Murray, observer.
TESTIMONY OF MICHAEL R. PAINE
Palnc. The Commission has been ad>^d tl'at ^J. and ^"«:^''o j^ n^ed
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Index Volume
LtCol. Finck
(Testimony and reference to testimony.)
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INVESTIGATION OF
THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY
HEARINGS
Before the President's Commission
on the Assassination
of President Kennedy
Pursuant to Executive Order 11130, an Executive order creating a
Commission to ascertain, evaluate, and report upon the facts relating
to the assassination of the late President John F. Kennedy and the
subsequent violent death of the man charged with the assassination
and S.J. Res. 137, 88th Conoress, a concurrent resolution conferring
upon the Commission the power to administer oaths and affirmations,
examine witnesses, receive evidence, and issue subpenas
Volume
XV
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON. O.C.
II
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vol. XV. 436 y„I,
i 325-326.328^29
, EUU. Dan. vol. V. 220
Ellis. Stavls. vol. yil. 581
Embers. Cludy. vol. xm. 360
I Emery. Joel. VOL XV. 749
English. A. I., vol- ^'^^ ^
I EngUslx, Harold, vol. XV. *«
^''r^'^af^"-^ 5ciTm 442-
Erlsman. F«^; '|»^x''i'/',^rvol. XV.
Eritt,Matty. vol. XIV. w^.
Erowt. Nancy, vol. XIV. ^
Esquavllle. Archie, vol. XIV. ^
Eulns. Amos: oQi-aiO
TesUmony. '<>'• "• f"„o 310. 312-
Referred to. vol. VI. "". 3^"-
3l3:voLVn.»19^
Ev.ns.E.J..vol.X^V.26.2»4
Evans, Julian:
Testimony. VOL VUI. 66-^^
Referred to. voaVni.4&-l6
Evans. Lew. vol. I. 47i
Evans. Myrtle (Mrs.)^
Testimony, vol. ;"\' ?%7_eo, n.
Referred »»' y°b,71l^'2r
123. 138; vd. XI. 18.^
Evans. SWney. Jr-i^ 201
^SV-l.x\n.-262-265;vol.
EvarWaSr.voLXV.3«^..3«S-
Ev^tt. Jim. vol- ^"; ^ifLs
Evstratova. Katrlna, vol- H. 2»5
Ev»ell. Jim. vol. VII, 47
F
Fader, Hyman, voL XIV, 455
Pain. John W. : 4^,3^430
Testimony, vol. 7' ^^^423-426,
Referred to. vol. ^^'^^^l^^
428^30; voL XV, *"r ***•
446. 458 ; VOL V, 6. 8 15
Fannin, W. C vol. XH, »2
Fanning. Bin. VOL XIV 602, 604^
Farmer. Patricia, vol- XIV. ©is. °«
Farr, Jim, vol. XII, 350: VOL XIII. 01,
Farrar,Burt.vol.lV,MO
Far«U. Herbert D., vol. X^ 26
Farrell, Blchard, vol. XI, 95
Faubus. GOV. Orval B. vol. IX. 200.
*^""*'S;MiT5i^voL XV, 209,
Faye, Botoby. voi. » . «~ .
213. 248^2«
Fayette. RufuB. vo L XV. 286
Pehmer ^J.rie. J^ n^ tesd-
Fehrenbach. MfO'^l „21
mony.voLXV.^9^
Felwell. Morris, vol. XV. H"
FeUlman. "".^^^'^^tvlVrXI. 205
B-eldsott, I^uls. affidavit, vol. a
Fe..ley. Robert Gene :
rf^r^:"' xrs-312-. vol.
Fern^Jd^^-ndo. voL X. 43-45.
^"t^Vvld VOL VII. 14, 29^1
Ferric. Davia,vu
Fields. Joe. vol. VII 45^ iw
FUlman. ^"J^^^'^.^/i'if;. 353. 359;
Fillmore. Gloria, voi. ^
vol. XIV. TO
Flnck.Lt col. Pierre A
Testimony, 'O*,"', 11^103. 300.
375- VOL V. 142; VOL VI, -»
Finer. Sherry, vol. X IW
Fischer Louis. voL XI. 44»
-Sm»'X-l^^^;
«i:[tir'2oTi«^''^^^- ^
Flshbeln. Oscar. v<^- ^V.^ ^^^^
Plsher. Frank. voL XIII. SSI. w^--'
voLXlV,32.1».g5 53^,
To?:'iSi.^i^:^V-
Fisher. Paul, vol. XV, 6
Fisher. Pete. VOL XV. 73
FltzeU. Frank. VOL X. 4M
FltzelL Grace vol. X. 4^
Flanagan. John J.. voL XV. iw
Fleming. Harold J. ;^
TesUmony. vot XV. 1^ 12-18,99;
n'^i'-tv^'n^in:^"^. ^^
1T6-181, 269-274
Fleming. Ian. vol. IX. 420
Plemmon^ Jerry voLlL^ ^^
Flere. I. J- ^*f"-':, viV 2OT
Fletcher: Ernie, vo^ XIV^^'
Fllger, Serge. VOL XII. ^
Flov/ers. Herman, vol- ^^'^ ^^^
Fiynn. Elizabeth, vol. X.M^lOO-1
Foch. Pauline, vol. XIV. ^rw
F^kier. William E.. VOL V 560
Folsom, Lt. COL Allison O^.
TesUmony. VOL VIII. ^
Referred to. vol. VIII. 31-s
Fomenko.MlchttULev.voLlX,286
766
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VolTime XVI
Exhibits
The wounds of President
Kennedy
Oswald's rifle
Autopsy report
Number
385, 386, 388
33I*
387
U^t
■J
^j^
^
-"
fil^--j#
muiuM
^t"-^-^' II III ■*ii'i»*-i
JEMMiliMltH
INVESTIGATION OF
THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY
HEARINGS
Before the President's Commission
on the Assassination
of President Kennedy
PuBSUANT «) Executive Order 11130, an Executive order creating a
Commission to ascertain, evaluate, and report upon the facts relating
to the assassination of the late President John F. Kennedy and the
subsequent violent death of the man charged with the assassination
and S jr. Res. 137, 88th Congress, a concurrent resolution conferring
upon the Commission the power to administer oaths and affirmations,
examine witnesses, receive evidence, said issue subpenas
EXHIBITS
1 TO 391
Volume
XVI
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON. D.C.
t\
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Photograph of the Interior of Cedl McWattere' bus, taken from the
front ...
381 L\
881_^ *"*
Copy of bus transfer given to tee Harvey Oswald on November 22,
1963, by Cecil McWatters.
382 ^^
Original of Commission Exhibit No. 370.
383 ^i
383-A ^
Photograph of the IdenUflcatlon bracelet of Lee Harvey Oswald.
384 .,. "^»
Typewritten copy of note written by Peter Gregory, dated June 19,
1962, addressed "to whom it may concern."
385 ^^
Schematic drawing made at Bethesda Naval Hospital from descrip-
tion of what Comdr. James J. Humes observed at time of autopsy
on President Kennedy, showing side view of entry and exit wounds
to neck area.
385 "' '
SchemaUc drawing made at Bethesda Naval HosplUl from descrip-
Oon of what Comdr. James J. Humes observed at time of autopsy
on President Kennedy, showing view from posterior aspect of entry
wound to neck area and also the skull wound.
ggj 978-983
Clinical record of the autopsy protocol prepared by the Naval Medi-
cal School, Bethesda, Md., on the autopsy performed on President
Kennedy.
388 ■ • ■ "^
Schematic drawing made at Bethesda Naval Hospital from, descrip-
tion of what Comdr. James J. Humes observed at time of autopsy
on President Kennedy, showing skull wound as viewed from above.
889 ^^
Frame from motion picture taken by Abraham Zapruder of motor-
cade showing position of President Kennedy in his car at time of
shooting.
390
Frame from motion picture taken by Abraham Zapruder of motor-
cade showing explosion from bullet as It hit President Kennedy's
891. . . ^.^.*'. 987-989
Supplementary report of autopsy No. A63-272, on President John
F. Kennedy, Naval Medical School, giving gross description of
brain.
'This number was not ased.
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CUHICAL RECORD
AUTOPSY pnOTOCOU tg.tn (jai««)
ji r , — h«. 1961 xmi f^n '■i. ^ ^ , „b. ,
XSl
Bt, . iVi Inehei
Vt. - 170 pouniJe
altr - Rcddleb broun
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B&VAL ICDICtl. SCBOOL
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Commission Exhibit 387
978
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P*?S
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oomUiioi tASbuiarsar
ui-in
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CUSICAl raeuXTt 4«^S; rr«il4«it John r. ««nWr. ..
rM"«Lb« ImT th. rr«M«t «. .Utln, in tb. right r«. •"L"^." ?;••
CmoWr •«t«l on th. M« ."t to bU left. Sittln* *»"«^.«" '"**?' J~ ,_-.*,
JntwJnt «. Co«r«r John ». Connolly of t«« «d dlroctly JM*!" "' "^i^S^" "
..•• Mr. ivmnall'r Tho vehlcla WB oovlnj «t « oUw roto ol opood dow «o Inellno
Ut.^'uS:^»'thI^i;Si » Tfr^^rout. to tb. DdlU. Trod. Hort v^orottb. .
rrcaldent voo to doltvar on oddraoa.
Ibroo iboto W8I0 beord «nd tho. rroiUonc
foil forvrd bl«»llns ««- tbo b.«!. <««««« e««i^'."",;«iTiL^n1f lUT
.<«>o guof iro.) According to nowopopot report* C«"hlagton Po^- BoveAor ». l»*5>
;rj5ck«n. . D«U.. "^L« B.r.ld"Pbotosr.pha. ..tj ho l«oi«l ««^^«J^*
tho fboa «d «w . rUlo borrol dUoppoorlng Into • vlndo- on «> uppor floor of tho
nouby Texo* School Book Dipotltory BuUdlng.
Shortly following' tbo oouodlng of tho tw-
«n the cor «• drlvtto to P.rkl«»l Bo.pltol In D.lUi. In tbo «f»»S«oqr ro« ortbrt
^pltol tb. Pr..ld«it «. .ttond«l by Or. JUlcola Porry. I«ljl*«»«,<=nr^"f ^^i**
fc!%«rTy on Ho«=b«: 23. 1963 dovlop. tb. foUovt^ Information roUtl« to th. ob-
aorvatlon. modo by Dr. P«>rry ud proe«lur.. porfornod tbor. prior to d«tb.
Dr. Porry notod tbo oaoalva vousd of tha
bud and . Mcond amch mullmr vound of th* low «t«lot n«ek In .ppro«ta«t.ly tbo
mldlloo. A tr.ch«.to=» «.. p«:for»«l by «jt~dlng tb. !«*« r~ff • ^*5.*^»^
bloody olr vo. noted bubbling froQ tho wound ««i *n Injury to tho right l.terol wall
of thi tr.cho. v.. obaerved. Inclalon. wer. made In the upper "*«J«, «^«" ^ bi-od
blloteraiy to cosbat poaaU.1. aubcutuieou. omphyaema. Intr.vonouo Infuaion. of blood
!nd «llne w«o begun Zi o«ygea waa adalnlatered. Deaplto th..o =o.aure. "rdl«
^."occurred oS^lo.ed^oat cerdloo maaaog. foUed to re-«t.bll.h c«dUo «tton.
Tbo Prealdeot war prooooncd de«J appnataatoly thirty to forty »lnut« after rocolTlag
hla wouoda.
The renaUia ««r. cranaportad vl« tb.
rrealdentUl plana to Waahlngton, D.C. and aubaofluently to tbo 1U».1 Medical School.
lUtlooal BavU Kedteal Center, BethewU, Maryland for poatnortem eramfn a flm i.
c
CZtSSM. BESCUPnOM or lODTl
Tb. body la that of . aaucolar, *.U-
, developed and w.11 nourlabod adult Caun a. lM I
iaal. oeaaurlng 7Vi Inch** and walghlng approximately 170 peond*. There U beginning
rlior oortta. mlnlnal dependent Itwr nortl* of th* doraun, and Mxly .Igor ■ortU. Tb.
baL U roddtab broun and abundant, tU *r- «• bio*, tb* right pupil moaaurlng S ob.
m diameter, the left 4 »v "«** *» •'«" '^ «««»>3™»»1« "^ "" *™<« "?»»» '*'^
of the left Vol" moa.«Sg approrf-at.ly 1.5 «. to sreat.at Jt«»««- ^*i* "f^
««1 occhyBoaU dlffuaely o«r tbo right «.pra-orbUal ridge with ebtwrnjl -obUlty of
So undSlylot bone. (The remalader of the acalp wUl be d.aerlb*d wUb tb* akull.)
nf\
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Commission Exhibit 387— Coutliiued
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iltchtly «b««a tb* otmwl ocelpltil frotabarasM U • Ua«(tt«d wooid aMnclag
U s i ■■. Is tb« nadnlfias boot U • eorrupaadtat vooni tbrea(b tb* tlaiXl «bUb
•xblbtea b«««lla( of Um Mrglaa of tb* boo* «b«n' viM«< fraa tb* taaar atpact of
tb* ikoU.
Clurly vUlbl* la tb* •bom d«scTlb*d
' Itxf •kult dafact and axadlst fro* It U Ucaratal btala eUaoa vhlcb aa eloa*
InapacttoD prova* to rapraaenx tb* najar portloa oC tba rl(bt carabral baslapbara.
At tbU point it la notad tbat tba fals catabrl la axtanalvaljp l a c a r a t aJ vltb dla-
cuptloo of tba auparloT aaggltal alnaa.
Dpoa raflaetlnt tba aoalp Boltlpla eoaplae* .
fraetur* lla** ara a*aa to radlata Croa bacb tb* larga dafact at tba mrtas aal tb*
(aallar wouad at tba occiput. Thaa* vazjr traatly la iangtb and dlractlan, tba l otigaat
nauifflot approKlnataly 19 cb. Tbat* r*a<ilt la tba productloo ot ni»aro»ia (t«(imbM
vblcb vary la alxa froa a faw mllHaatara ta 10 ca. la (raataat dlaaatat.
Tba ccoplaxlty of tbaaa Ciacturat and tb*
fraeosata tbua ptodueed tas aatlafaetoxy vaibal ddacxlptlaa aad as* batkr appsaclacad
la pbotograpba and roaatganograaa vblcb «ra preparad,
Tba bxala la rann»ii1 and pr** ar »*d (er
fcrtbar atodjr follovlnt (omalla (Ijutlaa.
Bacalvad aa tapasata apaclaaaa froa Dallaa,
Taxaa ar* tbra* Crapaant* of aknll boaa vblcb la aggragata rougblj apprmrlriara tb*
dtaanalooa of tb* larga. dafact daacrlbcd abov*. At oo* angla of tba largaat of tbAa*
tragnaata la * portloa of tb* partmater of a roogbljr circular inund praaoaabljr of
aBlt ublcb aidilblta bavallng of tba outer aipact of tba boaa aad la aatlaatad to -
naaaura approxlaately 2.S to 3.0 ca. la dlaoatar. toentgaaograBa of tbla fragaaat
rav«al-Bliiuta partlclaa of aatal la tba boaa at tbla nargla. Roentgaaograaa of tba
akull ravaal aultlpla mlauta natalllc frasaeata along a llaa cerraapondlng vltb * lla*
jolnlag tbd abov* daacrlbcd aaall occipital wound and tba rlgbt aupca-orbltal rldga.
Troa tba aurfaca of tbo dlarupted right carabral cartas two aaall Irregularly abapad
frapaanta of natal ar* racoyarad. Tbeaa acaaura 7x2 am. and 3x1 aa. Tbaaa ara
placed la tba cuatody of Agaata Francla X. O'Nalll, Jr. and Jaaaa U. Slbart, of tba
fedaral Bureau of Inveatlgatlon, vbo axacutad a racalpt tbarafor (attached).
2. Tba aacood wound praauaably of «atry
la that daacrlbcd above la tba upper rlgbt poatarlor thorax. Baeaatb tba akla tbar*
la accfajnaoala of aubcucanaoua tlaaua aad auaculatura. Tba adadla potb through tba
faada and Biaculatura caaaot ba aaally prdrad. The wonad praavaably of axlt waa
that daacrlbcd by Or. Maleola Percy of Dallaa In the lew anterior cervical region.
Vhea obaarvad by Dr. Parry tba wound aaaatffad "a faw allllsatara la dlaaetar", bow- '
aver It waa axtended a* a trachaoatoqr laelaloa and tbua Ita character la dlatortad
at tba tlaa of autopay. Bauaver. tbor* Is coaaldarabl* accfayBoalt of tb* ttrap
Boaclaa of th* right alda of tba back aad of tha faacla about tba tracbaa adjaccat '
to tha llaa of tha trachaaatoqr wouad. Tba third polat of zafereac* la caoaectlag
rv^ ..^
Commission BzHnrr 387 — Continued
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•»«•«*• ••?^^ Sr««toar •« ,_
• ,.„ririir- «« ot *• ••'^^ Sr««toar •« .^
snsuui
CBl»lo» th»t th. ^•^Stiiu tix*A by •
^„lor .urf«. «I ^ «f ^t,^ U- body. .w a-
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EXHIBIT 88T-Contlnued
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_, - atom BD»a *"-*'*
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to '»>« ''-=''^ °lv to ?b. tip of 'b. £'0«"^J tolo- tb. ^"/" ^of tio laceration.
Utricle.. ^^,„ '^'^!l"t oeoUC"! ^^"f
«rt««i«. tb. foUo-lna "''^^ "
SS^tf S^l^l^ "' .^ ... ,.^. p.rUt.1 Xob..
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epleardUl fat. ioo
^\.X fiber. a..e».oc.r.i»«.-«—
u »>,. erot.ly described
Sectloo. tbroufib tbo gro 7 ^^^
area of contualoo » " -iv^ll.
i^22Si ^.,1, ^ntteot he»orrb.8. mto alveoX
lob. e^U." "'"^tret'eftraUy »»reaarkabl..
Section* «r« othetwiea ••• ^^. ^rnal bcp«ti
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^ . ^.eaX, .r-.l« cjro^- SnSll^^.^nTe:!"
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eyre ^.^o^^^P3J
.i™l£lcent abnomalltU..
section, .ho- no .lsnlfl«««
.«™i«lc«nt abnormalltl**
section, tbr^ah ^r'^^'po"'''"
smJ25S22i. •"tiSnferrt.Tor. of'^conTlnult, of
^ineou. tl.e»«. '"«>rt coyer.
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i DoecalMr Mi
rrom: Co=«^ln8 OffU.r. U. S. K.v.l M^U*! School
S„.J, S«,pl».nt«y report of K.,.1 «-icl »d«ol .utop^ So. ASi-in.
JoSa F. Ceonedy; forvaxdlns ot
1. All eoplc. of th. .bov. .ubjoet fl«.l «vpl«»»t*r, report «. ««-
w&rdod faorouicb.
J. H. StOVa, Jtt
6 Doccnber 1963
rroa (to«dl«a Office. IUtlon.1 B.w.1 M«JlcU C~t«
Toi tho U>1«« "«"• flV**'^"
1. Porwarded.
C. S. OAIUWZ
/>.3r./ -
COMUIBBION EXHIBIT 391-Cofttlnued
989
rp.WWl|IJM J Ul. ■
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Volxime XVII
Exhibit
Number
Bullet that fell from stretcher 399
of Texas Governor Connally
Scheme illustrating a perforating 1»00
missile wound of the skull
.■■.-j;- .-•,-■•.<:. '.V.;-- - ■ y ■
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&m-&.i.-:
IPWESTIGATION OF
THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY
HEARINGS
Before the President's Commission
on the Assassination
of President Kennedy
Pursuant to Executive Order 11130, an Executive order creating a
Commission to ascertain, evaluate, and report upon the facts relating
to the assassination of the late President John F. Kennedy and the
subsequent violent death of the man charged with the assassination
and S J. Res, 137, 88th Congress, a concurrent resolution conferring
upon the Commission the power to administer oaths and affirmations,
examine witnesses, receive evidence, and issue subpenas
EXHIBITS
392 TO 884
Volume
XVII
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON. D.C.
ii;
:i
Jff"
i!!iiliJ,i!|l|; II .- .■w.[li!iW,WMI!!.
pnapaPRSinii
Contents
Pagt
CommjMjo" 1_22
EzMW Ho- • •
November 22. 1063. 23-24
"^^ • ■ coat wombyPresldent Kennedy at timeof assassination.
^ • • -^..^wornby PresldentKennedy atOmeof assasslnaUon
SUirtwornby
25-26
2(r
Tie worn by Presldentkennedy at timeof assassination. ^
^« • • Framefrom the Zapruder flUn deplcVln^ motorcade shortly before
first bullet struck President Kennedy. 2^48
305...
Seminary drafts of the autopsy report
^rrame from the zapruder mm depictive motorcade lmn>edlately
Xr fl^t bullet struck President Kennedy.
^Bullet foundonstretcheratParkland Memorial Hospital. I>aUas.
Tex. • • • • ;
400 ■_: , Tf ■ rol Pierre A. Flnck on perforat-
^°* Chart showing conclurfons of Lt Col. Pierre
Ing missile wound on human skull.
401 ^ h, Ruth Paine as a diary and to record appolntmente.
Calendar used by Ruth raine uo » «
402.
Address book of Kuth Paine.
street
In Now Orleans, drawn by Ruth 1
404.
Note from Marina Oswald
58wald toRuOi Paine, dated March 4. 1063.
40
40
60
51-68
63-70
80
81
81
Envelope in which
405.
Draft of undated note
CommlsslonWbiblt No. 404 was transmitted. ^^^-83
from RuthPalneto Marina Oswald. ^^_^
"^ Draft of a letter fmm'Buth Paine to Marina
March 26, 1063.
Oswald, dated
407..
Undated note from Marina
Oswald to Michael and Ruth Paine.
"^ letter from- MaHna Oswald' to Ruth Paine; dated May 25. 106^
^^ Envelope m which commission Exhibit N. 408. was transmitted.
^^ Letter from Ruth Paine to Marina
86-87
88-«l
92
. 93-98
Oswald, dated June. 1, 1963.
^^nvelopem Which CommlsslonExhlblt No! -409 was transmitted.
99
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PERFORATING MISSILE WOUND OF THE SKULL
A • Cranial vault. B - Cranial cavity. C-Entranco. O - Exit.
Arrows Indicate missile path.
Entrance is often smaller than exit because of bullet 'mushrooming* or tumbling and/or secondary miiillti
Note "coning," "craterlng," or "beveling" of the bone.
Thedlamoter of the hole is smaller on.the impact side . (The same dlffarenoas ofdiameterapplytoaglasspia
(Scheme by Scientific niustraUon Division, AFIP, i
from.data provided by U Col Pteire A. Finck, MC, USA. AFIP Nag. 63-4825.)
OOMMIS8ION BXHIBIT 400
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