Inexplicable Wounds made by Special Bullets

[RobertP]

First off, let's list the wounds. The way I describe them, and their causes, has no basis in fact or proven evidence, just like everything else in this case but, for the sake of this thread, I am assigning properties to them that I feel have the highest probability, and are supported by basic logic and the descriptions by witnesses. 1. The back wound on JFK. Popular consensus shows this wound to be 5.75" below JFK's collar line, and 1.5-2" to the right of the spinal midline. This would place the wound at about the level of thoracic vertebra T3. It also lined the bullet up to enter the top of JFK's right lung. Needless to say, I believe this to be an entrance wound. 2. The throat wound on JFK. As described by PH doctors, the wound was in the lower third of the anterior neck, just slightly to the right of midline. The wound involved the right side of JFK's trachea (windpipe). For the sake of argument, an entrance wound. 3. The first head wound on JFK. As described by Bethesda autopsists, this wound was just to the right of the external occipital protuberance, a small bony projection at the base of the rear of the skull. Entrance wound.https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/imag ... _YhmW1IhRO 4. The second head wound on JFK. Various sources place this wound at the right temple, just inside the hairline. Entrance wound. 5. The third head wound on JFK. As described in early reports from PH doctors and other sources, this was a 3-5" diameter wound located at the right rear of JFK's head. As described by Bethesda autopsists, a skull fragment brought into the autopsy had half a bullet hole in it, with the fragment matching up to the large hole, and the half bullet hole matching a half bullet hole on bone adjacent to the large wound. 6. Back wound on John Connally. According to PH records, this bullet struck JBC's back just to the right of the lower end of JBC's right shoulder blade. It did not enter the chest cavity but, rather, followed the outside of a rib around the chest, shattering the rib in the process. Entrance wound. 7. Chest wound on JBC. This was made by the bullet that struck JBC in the back, and it exited soft tissue just below JBC's right nipple. Exit wound. 8. Wrist wound on JBC. Medical records from PH show a bullet struck the dorsal aspect (back) of the lower third of JBC's right forearm. It struck on the radial side of the dorsal aspect, shattering the radius bone in the process. Entrance wound. 9. Second wrist wound on JBC. This wound was on the volar (palm) side of the lower third of JBC's right forearm, and was supposedly made by the same bullet (or fragment of) that made wound #8. This was a through and through wound through the soft tissue between the radius and ulna bones of the lower third of JBC's right forearm. Exit wound. 10. Thigh wound on JBC, This was a shallow wound on the inside of JBC's left thigh, with no exit. Entrance wound. 11. Cheek wound on James Tague. Tague was standing under the Triple Overpass. This wound was minor and was likely caused by a chip of flying concrete, dislodged from the curb ahead of Tague by a bullet or fragment of a bullet. Entrance wound, barely.

[RobertP]

Now that we have described all of the wounds, and I'll admit that these are my interpretations and others may see them differently, we can discuss these wounds and see just how bizarre each one of them was, if it is to be believed they were all inflicted by full metal jacket 6.5mm Carcano bullets. Before we go there, here are some photos of 6.5mm Carcano "frangible" range bullets, designed as safe bullets for indoor ranges and made as late as 1953 and possibly into the 1960's. As discussed earlier, frangible range bullets were fired indoors, often at targets with a solid concrete backstop behind them. When they struck this backstop, or anything a regular bullet would ricochet off of, these bullets would disintegrate into a cloud of powder and leave nothing solid behind except the copper alloy jacket.http://www.munizioni.eu/munizioni/image ... G_3520.JPG Both of the bullets shown above are referred to as the M.37 frangible bullet for the 6.5mm Carcano. As seen, the forward section of the jacket nose is a separate piece of metal from the rest of the jacket, and on both bullets, there is a heavier than usual groove or "cannelure" near the base of the bullet. There is no way of knowing for sure but, I would imagine this groove to be there to encourage the base of the jacket to separate on impact with solid things like steel or concrete. Seeing the possibility of this jacket becoming three pieces on impact, I think about the various sections of bullet jacket found in the limo, and the story of the section of bullet jacket supposedly seen outside the skull in x-rays of JFK's head. Inside the bullet jacket is where things really get interesting in these bullets. In the top bullet, at the tip, can plainly be seen a small solid projectile, made of an alloy called "maillechort" (copper, nickel and zinc); followed by the middle section of the core made from powdered lead. Whether or not this lead powder was compressed into a solid form, I have been unable to find out, as information on these bullets is sketchy at best. Below the powdered lead middle, the base of the bullet is filled with sand. The bottom version is essentially the same, other than the solid projectile at the nose being slightly larger and made from lead, instead of maillechort. Both bullets have another interesting feature, seen on the nose. There is about a 1 mm section of the jacket missing at the nose, exposing the lead or maillechort beneath. This is a very important feature that is likely necessary to begin the disintegration of these bullets. The bases of these bullet jackets were not open, like the FMJ bullets, but were solid copper alloy instead. I don't have the numbers handy but, these bullets were somewhat lighter than the standard 162 grain Carcano lead bullet, and the gunpowder load was reduced accordingly. I believe the end result was a muzzle velocity equal to the 162 grain bullet, but I have been unable to verify this. Now that we have had a chance to study these Carcano frangible bullets from sixty years ago, let's take a look at modern technology, and see how frangible bullets have moved from the realm of indoor range bullets to being possibly the most lethal, non-exiting bullets available. Below is a cutaway view of a rifle bullet made by Dynamic Research Technologies or DRT Ammo for short.http://www.drtammo.com/portals/0/Images ... tammo.com/ Although the bullet is a different design (spitzer point boat tail instead of round nosed flat based) the basic concept is roughly the same. Instead of a small solid projectile, followed by powdered lead and then sand, the entire core of these bullets is made from a compressed metal powder that returns to being powder when the bullet strikes steel or concrete; making these still a "safe" bullet in urban environments when ricochets might hit bystanders. The most important difference between the DRT frangible bullets and the Carcano frangible bullets is the small hollow point seen on the DRT bullet. Just as a refresher, a hollow point bullet works by penetrating bone, such as skull bone, the same as any other bullet. Once the bullet begins travelling through brain matter, the hollow point fills up with semi-liquid matter and this matter begins to exert an incredible hydraulic pressure on the inside of the hollow point cavity. This pressure has the ability to tear the cavity open, often tearing it right down to the base of the bullet and fragmenting the lead core. Needless to say, a tremendous amount of damage is caused by this bullet coming apart. Often, hollow point bullets come to a full stop inside a skull cavity, even though an "exit" wound can be seen. Many times these large exit wounds are the result of a huge pressure wave made by the expanding and arresting bullet, and are more of a pressure blowout than anything else, with no bullet actually exiting at this site. The DRT Ammo frangible bullet uses the same hollow point technology. However, instead of the jacket merely peeling back and the bullet fragmenting into large fragments, the hydraulic pressure exerted on the compressed powdered metal core is strong enough to make the core disintegrate into a large cloud of powdered metal, guaranteeing it comes to a complete stop two inches into the skull and transfer all of its energy to the brain. The results, to say the least, are devastating. Pictured below is the result of firing, from 100 yards, a DRT Ammo .223 calibre frangible rifle bullet into a block of lye soap. Note that there is no track showing the bullet exiting the block. Sorry, the photo does not seem to want to come up. Try Googling "drt ammo lye soap block" and click on Images. It is the first image shown.

[RobertP]

Okay, time to talk about the wounds, and to see if it is possible to tie them to the frangible bullets we discussed earlier. Just a quick observation on the frangible bullets. I believe the 6.5mm M.37 Carcano frangible/range bullets would need a slight modification to make them into any kind of lethal bullet. It would be necessary to drill through the small opening in the nose of the bullet jacket and into the solid maillechort/lead projectile in the tip to convert these frangible bullets into hollow points. This discussion may get quite involved, and I might have to deal with only one wound per post. My old eyes get sore if I look at a computer screen for too long. The first wound is the back wound, the one moved from 5.75" below the collar line up to the collar line. This is the wound the WC apologists steadfastly maintain exited at JFK's throat and, when it is explained to them how impossible this is, their favorite response is "Well, where did the bullet go then?" Up to this point in time, this has always been a difficult question, and the matter was further confused by Humes not dissecting the supposed track of this wound and by stating he was only able to probe this wound about an inch with his baby finger. I measured the width of my baby finger, and found it to be just shy of 3/4". As the diameter of a 6.5mm Carcano bullet is just over 1/4", Humes would have to have fingers like a little girl in order to probe this wound with a finger. To find out where the bullet really went, we have to look at observations made by PH doctors while they were still attempting to save JFK's life. 1. JFK's trachea (windpipe) was deviated to the left. My experience and education as a part time paramedic on our town's ambulance tells me this likely means only one thing; JFK was experiencing a life threatening condition known as a "tension pneumothorax" in his right lung. 2. Dr. Marion Jenkins spoke of the deviated trachea in discussing JFK, and also spoke of "obvious signs of a pneumothorax"; presumably meaning a tension pneumothorax. 3. Chest tubes were put in, or were in the process of being put in, to JFK's right and possibly left lung, just before resuscitation attempts were abandoned. Quickly, I will go over what a pneumothorax is, both the "tension" and "open" variety, as they are connected and an open pneumothorax can easily develop into a tension pneumothorax. Let us say, for example, someone is shot in the upper back and the bullet goes into the lung, damaging it, and does not exit the front of the patient. You now have two compromises; the first being a hole to the atmosphere through the wall of the chest and the pleural lining, and the second a hole in the lung itself, which is now no longer an airtight inflatable bag. If left untreated, each time the patient takes a breath, air will be drawn through the entrance wound in the back and inflate the pleural cavity between the lung and the pleural lining. The lung will not inflate, and the patient stands a very good chance of asphyxiating within a few minutes. The treatment for this condition involves placing a one way valve over the wound. We have a special rubber dressing called an Asherman Chest Seal dressing as seen below:https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/imag ... J2iY1fHrb7 This dressing is adhesive, and the rubber valve allows air to escape out of the pleural cavity, but does not allow air to enter. If there is no hole in the lung itself, this dressing will allow the lung to inflate normally, and keep the patient alive until a doctor can see him. However, should there be a hole in the lung itself, and the valve on the Asherman Chest Seal dressing plugs or malfunctions, or an inexperienced care giver should seal the wound with tape, or a patient with a bullet wound in his back should be laid on his back on a metal ER table thus sealing the entrance wound, an open pneumothorax can quickly develop into a tension pneumothorax, if air building up in the pleural cavity is not allowed to escape. When a patient inhales, the diaphragm moves downwards, increasing the volume of the space in the pleural cavity and creating a negative pressure. Atmospheric pressure, 14.7 psi at sea level, enters the nose and mouth in an attempt to fill the lungs and equalize this pressure. Should the chest cavity be sealed and the lung have a hole in it, instead of this lung inflating, air will pass through the hole in the lung and fill the space between the lung and the chest walls. When the patient exhales, the lung collapses, sealing this hole, and the air in the pleural cavity becomes trapped. With each breath, this cycle is repeated, and the volume of air in the pleural cavity grows. Eventually, enough pressure is present on the affected side of the chest cavity to begin having an effect on the other organs in the pleural cavity, including the heart, major veins returning to the heart (superior and inferior vena cava), the opposite lung and the bronchii. The pressure is great enough to force these organs to the side away from the lung with the pneumothorax, and explains JFK's trachea (windpipe) being deviated to the left. Fatality occurs quickly, as the function of all the organs mentioned is impaired by this condition, and, without them, perfusion of the body's cells with oxygen cannot take place. This condition is worsened when assisted ventilation is performed by first responders or ER staff, as even greater volumes and pressures can be attained in the pleural cavity when air is forced into the lungs. The accepted treatment for a tension pneumothorax is decompression of the affected side of the pleural cavity. A large bore needle is inserted in the 2nd or 3rd intercostal space (space between the ribs) at a point near the mid-clavicular line (halfway down the collar bone). This will relieve the built up air pressure and remove the impairment affecting the other organs sharing the pleural cavity. Once again, a one way valve dressing, as shown above, should be applied to prevent an open pneumothorax and still allow air to escape the pleural cavity. This is why chest tubes were being inserted into JFK's right lung. The story given about the chest tubes being inserted to relieve "subcutaneous emphysema" is nothing more than a fairy tale to keep the sheeple quiet. Subcutaneous emphysema is a non-life threatening condition that tends to develop following a tension pneumothorax, when trapped air under pressure makes its way to the layers of the skin, and becomes trapped as air bubbles. It is considered a cosmetic defect, and certainly not something ER doctors would be addressing while attempting to resuscitate a pulseless, non-breathing patient. If JFK were shot with a full metal jacket 6.5mm Carcano bullet, I would expect PH doctors to be dealing with two open pneumothoraxes, one on JFK's back and one on his chest, as this bullet was more than capable of going straight through JFK and through Connally, as well, and possibly even through Kellerman. As, to the best of my knowledge, this did not occur, we can rule out the FMJ bullet, and look for something else. My prime suspect, and this will be supported by discussion of the other wounds, is a hollow point frangible bullet, as discussed earlier. As it entered JFK's right lung, fluid and semi-fluid matter would enter the hollow point, build up a great hydraulic pressure, and cause the powdered core of the frangible bullet to disintegrate into a cloud of lead powder. This cloud of lead powder would come to a stop almost instantly and wreak great damage on the right lung and blood vessels present in the lung. Jerrol Custer was an x-ray technician at Bethesda and was present at the autopsy of JFK. In an interview given years later, he found, among many other things, two things disturbing. First, no x-rays were taken of JFK's chest before the heart and lungs were removed. Second, he and other staff were not allowed to be present when the heart and lungs were removed. Next: The mysterious throat wound

[RobertP]

The next wound on the list is the throat wound. This wound was described by Dr. Perry of PH over the phone to Commander Humes as being between 3-5 mm in diameter, which would seem too small to have been made by a 6.5mm bullet. Of course, Humes was unable to measure the wound himself, as the tracheotomy incision had been made through the middle of the wound, obliterating it. Perry was not the only PH doctor to describe this wound, though. Below is WC testimony from several of them describing the wound: Dr. PERRY: This was situated in the lower anterior one-third of the neck, approximately 5 mm. in diameter. (3H372) Dr. CARRICO: This was probably a 4-7 mm. wound, almost in the midline, maybe a little to the right of the midline, and below the thyroid cartilage. (6H3) DR. CARRICO: There was a small wound, 5- to 8-mm. in size, located in the lower third of the neck, below the thyroid cartilage, the Adams apple. (3H361) Dr. PERRY: I determined only the fact that there was a wound there, roughly 5 mm. in size or so. (6H9) Dr. JONES: The wound in the throat was probably no larger than a quarter of an inch in diameter. . . . t was a very small, smooth wound. (6H54) Nurse HENCHLIFFE: It was just a little hole in the middle of his neck. . . . About as big around as the end of my little finger. (6H141) Suffice it to say that Perry's estimation of wound size was inly one of many. It should also be remembered that entrance wound size is not an accurate means of estimating the diameter of the bullet that made the wound, given the elasticity of skin, and that a 6.5mm bullet has by no means been ruled out as the bullet that made the throat wound. That being said, we are still faced with the question: If the throat wound was an entrance wound, where did the bullet go? For an answer to this question, let us look at the anatomy of the human neck:http://www.paradoja7.com/wp-content/upl ... 80x647.jpg This drawing shows us that there is an appreciable amount of tissue between the front of the neck, where the bullet entered, and the vertebrae in the rear part of the neck. The next drawing shows the relation of the trachea (windpipe) to the vertebrae a little better.http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-me ... 62D2BC.jpg The thyroid cartilage is seen at the upper end of the trachea. The bullet entered just below the thyroid cartilage almost in the midline of the trachea, damaging more of the right side of the trachea. Would there have been enough tissue between the front of the neck and the vertebrae to have made a hollow point frangible bullet disintegrate into its powder form, arresting the travel of the bullet without shattering vertebrae? Quickly, let us go over the mechanics of a modern lethal frangible bullet with a hollow point again. As the bullet travels through soft tissue, the hollow point fills with sift matter and begins to come under enormous hydraulic pressure. This pressure is exerted on the compressed metal core of the bullet and, within two inches of entering, the compressed metal core disintegrates into a cloud of metal powder. The greatest clue that this may have been possible in JFK's case comes from an interview done with Jerrol Custer, the x-ray technician who took the x-rays of JFK's body. He maintains one of the x-rays he made of JFK's neck has disappeared, and that it contains something very interesting. In the vicinity of the cervical vertebrae C3 and C4 are, he says, a host of bullet fragments. Unfortunately, he did not state how large these fragments are, but did allude to the fact there were enough of them to make an entire bullet. The fact they are described in great number does make it possible the fragments were very small, precisely what we would expect to see from a frangible bullet. So, with all of this in mind, the question is, could a frangible bullet have broken up as it transited the tissue in the front aspect of JFK's neck, and completed this disintegration just before anything solid was able to smash JFK's vertebrae? Were C3 and C4 vertebrae intact, or was there damage to them? Once again, Custer does not mention this. The two inch penetration of a frangible bullet through soft tissue is based on modern lethal frangible bullets that are the product of years of research and engineering. In 1963, such a bullet would have been a crude modification of a Carcano frangible range bullet. Is it possible it would have disintegrated earlier than a modern frangible bullet, doing so in less than the two inches of soft tissue required for the modern bullet? What I find the most disturbing about Custer's allegations is his claim the fragments were in the vicinity of C3/C4 vertebrae. Look at this drawing below:http://www.paradoja7.com/wp-content/upl ... 80x435.png As can be seen, C4 is level with the top of the thyroid cartilage, while C3 is slightly above the thyroid cartilage. If the bullet entered below the thyroid cartilage, and the fragments were at C3/C4, does this mean the bullet was transiting upwards through the anterior neck?

[RobertP]

And now we get to the head injury. For the sake of brevity, and because they are interconnected, I am going to include both entrance wounds in the skull. To begin the discussion, I would like to state that everything we have been told about the head wound by the WC is a lie. Careful analysis of the Zapruder film shows us a great bag like protuberance hanging down from the right front of JFK's skull following the head shot at z313. As realistic as this may appear, there are problems with it. First, brain matter has no sinew to hold it together, and an explosive force large enough to blow the brains out through an opening in the skull would also have torn the brain into small pieces. In all the head shots I have made on game, I have NEVER seen the brain hanging out of a wound in one cohesive piece. Second, no doctor at PH described a large wound in the right front part of JFK's skull. If the massive crater of a wound, seen in the autopsy photos, had been seen by PH doctors, I seriously doubt they would have even begun resuscitation attempts on JFK, with so much of the brain missing. Of course, there is the theory put forth by WC apologists that Jackie pushed everything back into the skull and attempted to put the top of the skull back in place, thus "masking" the head wound from PH doctors. If you believe that one, I have a bridge you may be interested in. Anyways, the two entrance wounds I believe occurred on JFK's skull are this. The first was in the rear of the skull, just to the right of and slightly above the external occipital protuberance. This also just happens to be where the majority of Parkland and Bethesda witnesses recall seeing a large gaping wound on JFK's skull. See diagram:https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/imag ... GfAyQ0_boq The second bullet struck JFK 7/10th of a second later in the right temple. The basis for this belief about these shots involves an interview done with the Bethesda autopsy doctors in which they are actually describing a large wound in the right rear of JFK's head, near the EOP. One of them describes a semi-circular hole in the skull bone at the margin of this opening that, if complete, would have been roughly 1/4" in diameter. They then describe a fragment of bone that was brought in to them that also had a semi-circular 1/4" hole on its margin, and how the two halves matched up. The 6.5mm Carcano bullet is, of course, just over 1/4" in diameter. If lethal frangible ammunition was employed, as I believe, the first bullet entering JFK's skull from the rear would have disintegrated into powder roughly two inches into the skull, producing no exit wound but weakening the skull at the EOP, where it entered. It would have created an enormous pressure wave that might have ruptured the forward part of JFK's skull if not for the second bullet that entered his right temple 7/10th of a second later. This frangible bullet also disintegrated into powder two inches into the brain cavity, creating its own pressure wave. As the pressure wave from the first bullet would have arrived at the forward section of the brain cavity and stalled there in 7/10th of a second, building up enormous pressure in the forward part of the brain cavity and leaving a lower pressure area in its wake, the pressure wave from the second bullet would follow the path of least resistance (lower pressure area in the wake of the first bullet) and travel toward the entrance wound of the first bullet. As the skull bone was weakened at the EOP by the first bullet, the pressure wave was able to blow out a section of skull at the right rear of JFK's skull just to the right of the EOP, bisecting the entrance wound in the rear of the skull into two halves and leaving one half of the entrance wound on the margin of the opening in the skull and the other half on the margin of the missing bone fragment. As the large gaping wound in the right rear of JFK's skull was described by doctors as involving the occipital and parietal bones, we can assume the rear entrance wound would have been on the lower margin of this opening. The temporal bone also extends back into this area, as seen in the diagram below, and this may be why some witnesses stated the temporal bone was also involved.https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/imag ... h_ByyRscyQ I should reiterate here that I do not believe an intact bullet exited the right rear of JFK's skull. If anything exited at all, it would have been sections of the frangible jacket, part of the small solid projectile in the nose of the frangible bullet, powdered lead or sand. However, the very mechanics of a frangible bullet mandates that the disintegrated bullet arrests in the wound. The hundreds of dust like particles seen in the x-ray of the skull would be the remains of two disintegrated frangible bullets that came to a stop in the brain cavity.Next: The wounds of John B. Connally

[Dealey Joe]

Another great post Robert, Thanks for bringing this.

[RobertP]

Dealey Joe wrote:Another great post Robert, Thanks for bringing this.You're welcome, Joe. I'm just working on Connally's wounds and will have more posts in a day or so.

[AlanD]

RobertP another tour de force of a post, I think the 2 "small" wounds to the back and the throat have tended to be overlooked as being less important than the head shot(s). It's of course obvious after you enlighten us all, these are both entrance wounds with no corresponding exit wounds. There goes the magic bullet nonsense.It's also obvious that if these frangible bullets were as damaging as you say, it's unlikely Kennedy would have survived these two shots, let alone the head shots.I look forward to your Connally post with interest.Slightly off the subject I found a PBS NOVA video on YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4VLmPxFyk8 which features some information of the Carcano bullet , it's a WC piece of propaganda in general, but it did some interesting work on the bullet and it's flight pattern, being British it's unlikely I would get to see the gun in action, so to see the gun being fired and the bullet being studied was new to me. To my inexperienced eye it looked a reasonable weapon, and the FMJ bullet as highly effective as your posts have highlighted. Keep up your great posts.

[RobertP]

Thank you for that, Alan.Just a quick question about the PBS Nova video. If they created an accurate recreation of the JFK shooting, what did they use for ammo? If they used the Western Cartridge Company 6.5mm Carcano catridges with the under sized bullets (.264" diameter), they would be using very old ammo. Depending on which story you believe, this ammo was made in either 1954, 1949 or pre-1944.Of course, if I were them and doing this test, I would purchase the Hornady bullets for the 6.5mm Carcano that are the correct .268" diameter. I would also hand load the bullets into the cartridges myself, after very precisely measuring the gunpowder. Of course, this would be cheating, and would give far greater accuracy.Hornady was the first company to manufacture the unique over sized bullets for the 6.5mm Carcano in 2004 and, prior to that, only surplus Italian military ammo had the correct .268" bullets. As I stated in my other thread, this is why the reputation of Carcano rifles has suffered so badly over the years, and why Oswald could not have pulled off those shots; shooting under sized .264" Western Cartridge Co. bullets from an M91/38 short rifle.

[Dealey Joe]

Good video ALan, As usual we have to sort through the B.S.