Recently, Secret Service Agent Paul Landis, who was riding on the right rear running board of the Follow Up car behind the Presidential Limousine in Dallas on 22 November 1963 has made some statements regarding his handling of a key piece of evidence in the assassination of JFK, and the Warren Commission's investigation which followed.
Former Secret Service Officer Paul Landis, author of "The Final Witness"
After a silence of almost 60 years, Paul Landis has revealed in his book "The Final Witness" that it was he who found an expended bullet in the rear seat of the Presidential Limousine and that he placed it on a gurney outside the emergency room at Parkland Hospital while President Kennedy was being tended to by medical personnel.
That bullet became an important piece of evidence considered by the Warren Commission when they investigated the murder and attempted to explain how both President Kennedy and Governor John Connally were shot on 22 November 1963.
The bullet was actually a bit of a problem for the Commission in their attempt to explain the wounds to both men and to eliminate any question as to whether or not there were multiple shooters or just one.
Arlen Spector (later a US Senator) was a young attorney working for the Commission and he came up with what he called "The Single Bullet Theory" which explained that this one bullet passed through President Kennedy's back and neck before striking Governor Connally in the back, emerging from his chest, passing through his right wrist, and then entering his left thigh. It was theorized that it fell out of his leg onto his gurney when he was being transported from the limousine to the emergency room.
The problem with this theory, which soon was dubbed "The Magic Bullet Theory" by critics, is that the bullet, although only slightly deformed, was largely intact. It had lost only about one grain of weight and more than that was found in Connally's wrist alone.
Another bullet, allegedly fired from the same rifle, totally fragmented when it hit Kennedy's head, causing a massive wound. This inconsistency was not lost on critics of the Warren Commission Report.
A bullet, which matched somewhat the "Magic" bullet, struck the upper frame of the limousine's windshield just to the right of the rear view mirror.
One other bullet, which was never found, hit a portion of concrete curbing and ricocheted striking a bystander, James Tague in the cheek.
Three expended shell casings were found on the 6th floor of the Dallas School Book Depository Building next to the corner window known as the "sniper's nest". Only one unfired cartridge remained chambered in the Italian Manlicher Carcano 6.5mm rifle found on that floor. All three of those casings were matched to the rifle found there by comparison to test rounds. The two recovered bullets were also matched forensically to the rifle.
It is possible that one of those shell casings had been fired at a previous time, but the official report was that three shots were fired on 22 November. Eye witnesses, however, (including several Secret Service men) claimed to have only heard two shots fired. Some claimed to have heard a noise sounding like a firecracker or tire blow-out just prior to the two louder shots.
Terminal ballistics is something that is hard to predict or to explain. A bullet, upon striking something, is no longer behaving like one which leaves the rifle and travels unimpeded to a target. It may deform, it may retain its original shape, or it may completely miss its intended target due to deflection when it hits another object (such as a tree branch).
The controversy here will be that if this bullet only traveled to Kennedy and then to the back of the car seat, what caused all the other wounds? And most importantly - was there another shooter or shooters? If so, you have a conspiracy rather than a lone nut assassin.
LINK:
Ex-Secret Service agent Paul Landis reveals a new detail some say upends the "single bullet theory".
news.yahoo.com
An upcoming book by former Secret Service agent Paul Landis raises questions about the bullets fired in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963
www.yahoo.com