PAT SPEER SAID:
They [Arlen Specter and Lyndal Shaneyfelt] gave the illusion the trajectory passed close to the back wound [in Commission Exhibit No. 903], when they both KNEW it passed inches above it.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
Bullshit.
Some things had to be approximated, and the Warren Commission was forthright about such approximations. And the trajectory the WC ultimately used (which was for the equivalent of Z217.5) is obviously not going to be the EXACT trajectory for the single bullet that struck JFK and Connally--unless, by some incredibly good fortune, the Commission did, indeed, just happen to choose the EXACT half of a Zapruder frame (Z217.5) when the SBT bullet did strike the victims, which is very unlikely. (The SBT actually occurs, of course, at precisely Z224, and there are many reasons why this is so.)
Therefore, Shaneyfelt's and Specter's "approximately" language does come into play...and rightly so.
In fact, that's probably the reason why Specter's rod is above the chalk mark on the JFK stand-in in some of the re-enactment photos taken in the garage near Dealey Plaza. Because, I assume, that the angle being used for all of those photos is identical (17 degrees, 43 minutes, 30 seconds). And since a 17-43-30 angle is only the average angle between Z210 and Z225, then (quite obviously) the REAL angle of descent for the SBT at Z224 (per my opinion about when the bullet struck) is going to be a little less than 17-43-30 because the car has travelled further down Elm Street between Z217.5 and Z224, decreasing the angle from Oswald's window.
But the CE903 reconstruction is so incredibly close to being spot-on perfect (angle-wise and wound location-wise) that only the hardcore conspiracy buffs who refuse to "approximate" anything relating to this case will be unconvinced by it. With those conspiracists also, of course, ignoring the undeniable common sense elements that exist in the 6 points I'm going to talk about below too.
When we factor in the basic garden-variety common sense of the Single-Bullet Theory (coupled with the Warren Commission's May 24, 1964, re-creation of the shooting in Dealey Plaza), the SBT becomes crystal clear as the probable truth:
1.) At Zapruder Film frames 210-225, when looking through the scope of Oswald's rifle from the Sniper's Nest window in the Book Depository, President Kennedy and Governor Connally are lined up--one in front of the other.
2.) JFK was hit in the back by a bullet.
3.) JFK had a bullet hole in his throat.
4.) Governor Connally was hit in the back by a bullet at just about the exact same time that JFK was being struck by a bullet.
5.) No bullets were inside JFK's throat/neck/upper back.
6.) The only physical evidence of any shooter in Dealey Plaza was found on the 6th Floor of the TSBD.
Now, just add up #1 thru #6 above and tell me the Single-Bullet Theory is a load of shit.
Based on just the above basic facts in this case ALONE (and each one is definitely a proven fact, without a speck of a doubt), the SBT is the best explanation for the double-man wounding of John Kennedy and John Connally on November 22, 1963.
DAVID VON PEIN LATER SAID:
RE: THE LIMOUSINE'S JUMP SEAT MEASUREMENTS....
The more I think about this topic, the more convinced I am becoming that the U.S. Secret Service (Thomas J. Kelley [at 5 H 132]) merely measured the "inboard" distance of John Connally's jump seat from a different place from that which appears on the official Hess & Eisenhardt body draft of the 1961 Lincoln limousine, just as I speculated the other day when I said this:
"I think BOTH Kelley and the Hess & Eisenhardt schematic are correct. And that's because Kelley's measurement must have been taken from a slightly different place on the car than was the H&E measurement for the jump seat location. Do you really think Kelley just MADE UP his six-inch figure? I don't. I think that measurement must have been different because they were measuring from a different starting point. Or, perhaps the "finishing point" was different than H&E's." -- DVP; April 12, 2012
Now, when we look at the two pictures below, I can easily envision the Secret Service's measurement for the jump seat being calculated from a different starting point on the car to account for the 3.5-inch difference in the measurements when compared to Hess & Eisenhardt.
If the Secret Service measurement also included the area between the arrows in the second picture, it looks to me as though that would add up to just about six inches when the 2.50-inch measurement in the H&E diagram is included too:
Furthermore, the HSCA also used the six-inch [approx. 15 cm.] figure, when it said this:
"Connally...was seated well within the car on the jump seat ahead of Kennedy; a gap of slightly less than 15 centimeters separated this seat from the car door."
-- HSCA Volume 6; Page 49
Moreover, the HSCA's "slightly less than 15 centimeters" figure was obviously NOT being derived solely from Thomas Kelley's testimony, because just after citing the "15 centimeters" measurement at 6 HSCA 49, the HSCA gives a source for the 15-cm. measurement—Figure II-19, at 6 HSCA 50—which is the H&E body draft of the limo, which says the jump seat is 2.50 inches inboard. Which makes me think the HSCA was also using a measurement that included the 2.50-inch measurement we see specified in the H&E body draft PLUS an additional 3.5 inches of space that I've outlined with arrows in my photo above.
I'll also add this:
At one point in the endnotes in his JFK book, when Vincent Bugliosi cited his source for a "six-inch gap" between the jump seat and the limo door, Vince cited the HSCA and not Thomas Kelley's Warren Commission testimony:
"A six-inch gap separated Connally's jump seat from the right door [6 HSCA 49]." -- "Reclaiming History"; Page 344 of Endnotes
Final Thought:
In my opinion, BOTH Thomas Kelley and the Hess & Eisenhardt measurements are accurate. It's just that each of those figures was calculated in a different manner, utilizing a different starting point on the SS-100-X limousine. That's all.
2008 "JUMP SEAT" DISCUSSION:
JFK-Archives.blogspot.com/Dale Myers And The SBT
David Von Pein
April 13, 2012
April 14, 2012
