RE: THE LOCATION OF THE ENTRANCE WOUND IN THE BACK OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S HEAD.....
The following text excerpts come from two sources -- Dr. Michael Baden's September 7, 1978, HSCA testimony and the final report issued by the four members of the Clark Panel in 1968:
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DR. MICHAEL BADEN [at 1 HSCA 237] -- "The two photographs I have, 8 by 10 glossy prints, have been prepared from the original photographs in the [National] Archives and show enlargement of the perforation in the cowlick area of the scalp."
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DR. BADEN [at 1 HSCA 242] -- "The [HSCA's forensic pathology] panel concluded, and all of the radiologist consultants with whom the panel spoke with and met with, all concluded that without question there is an entrance bullet hole on the upper portion of the skull...where the bone itself has been displaced, and that this corresponds precisely with the point in the cowlick area on the overlying skin."
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DR. BADEN [at 1 HSCA 250] -- "The panel members unanimously placed the gunshot wound of entrance in the back of the President's head approximately 4 inches above the point indicated in the autopsy report prepared by Drs. Humes and Boswell."
MR. KLEIN -- "So the panel concluded that the autopsy report placed the wound in the back of the head 4 inches too low?"
DR. BADEN -- "That is correct; as recorded in the original autopsy."
MR. KLEIN -- "Doctor, on the basis of the foregoing evidence, the photographs and X-rays taken of the autopsy, the reports of the radiologists and the autopsy report, did the panel unanimously conclude that a bullet entered the President high on the back of his head and exited on the right side toward the front of his head?"
DR. BADEN -- "All nine members of the panel so unanimously concluded."
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CONCLUSIONS OF THE CLARK PANEL (FEBRUARY 1968):
"[President John F. Kennedy's] head was struck from behind [by] a single projectile. It entered the occipital region 25 millimeters to the right of the midline and 100 millimeters above the external occipital protuberance. The projectile fragmented on entering the skull, one major section leaving a trail of fine metallic debris as it passed forward and laterally to explosively fracture the right frontal and parietal bones as it emerged from the head."
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ADDITIONAL COMMENTS MADE BY THE CLARK PANEL:
"The decedent was wounded by two bullets, both of which entered his body from behind. One bullet struck the back of the decedent's head well above the external occipital protuberance.
Based upon the observation that he was leaning forward with his head turned obliquely to the left when this bullet struck, the photographs and X-rays indicate that it came from a site above and slightly to his right.
This bullet fragmented after entering the cranium, one major piece of it passing forward and laterally to produce an explosive fracture of the right side of the skull as it emerged from the head."
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VINCENT BUGLIOSI SUMS THINGS UP:
"Quizzed as to what the lesion in the cowlick area could be if not the entrance wound, the three autopsy pathologists had little to offer.
[...]
What are we to make of all this haggling? Well, first and foremost, it’s clear that the autopsy report was incorrect, despite the three autopsy pathologists’ refusal to concede their error.
Second, it’s equally obvious from the record that the autopsy surgeons decided, in the end, to rely on the language they drafted in the original autopsy report and not second-guess their contemporaneous records with recollections that were decades old.
[...]
Despite the confusion caused by their refusal to concede such an obvious error in the face of overwhelming evidence, there remains only one glaring, indisputable fact—the fatal bullet that struck the president’s head was fired from ABOVE AND BEHIND." -- Vincent T. Bugliosi; Pages 231-232 and 234 of Endnotes in "Reclaiming History: The Assassination Of President John F. Kennedy" (c.2007)
David Von Pein
April 8, 2009
