JFK Assassination: Proof That Both Bullets Were Fired From Behind - #JFK

Conspiracy theorists mostly insist that the bullets that hit Kennedy were fired from the front, i.e, from the so-called "Grassy Knoll."  Their major source of "proof":  Some of the Parkland Hospital doctors who worked on Kennedy in Trauma Room 1 stated to the press that the bullets in both his head and his neck were entry wounds.

The Parkland Doctors and "Entry Wounds"
Here's the facts:  the doctors and ER personnel who worked on Kennedy were not trying to determine if the wounds were entry or exit, they were in a rush to save his life.  Kennedy's head and hair were covered with dried blood, tissue and brain matter, obscuring a clear view of the wounds.  Further, since Kennedy was lying face up, few of the doctors were able to view the back of his head or his upper back, where the small bullet holes indicate entry wounds from the rear (and consistent with shots fired from the Texas School Book Depository, or TSBD).  Moreover, gravity carried much of the blood and tissue from the front of JFK's head to the back (since he was lying on his back), making it appear that the most massive wounds were in the rear.

According to Vincent Bugliosi in his book Reclaiming History, the Parkland doctors attending Kennedy were mostly young interns and residents, as most of the experienced doctors were away that day at a medical conference.  None of the doctors present were pathologists, and none were experts in gunshot wounds.  Further, they were with Kennedy a total of only 22 minutes before he finally died from his wounds.  Therefore the initial impression of these inexperienced doctors as to the nature of the wounds is completely irrelevant.

The Opinion of 15 to 17 Forensic Pathologists carries substantially more weight than the hurried impressions of interns and residents.  The former had much more time to inspect and dispassionately evaluate the wounds from the notes, X Rays and the photographs of the autopsy.  These pathologists (17 for the head shot, 15 for the back shot) were unanimous in their conclusions that both of the shots entered Kennedy's body from the back and exited from the front, indicating a shooter from the TSBD.  Here are the factors that prove incontrovertibly that their conclusions were accurate:

1.  Abrasion Collars:  Entry wounds from bullets leave a kind of halo around the entry wound, caused by the bullet rubbing against the flesh as it enters.  This happens only if the bullet enters at an angle, however slight.  The abrasion collars on both bullet wounds that hit JFK indicate movement of the bullet from right to left, consistent with shots fired from the TSBD.  (Exit wounds do not have abrasion collars.)  Both bullet wounds in Kennedy (head and upper back) had these abrasion collars.

2.  Beveling of Bullet Holes In The Skull:  A bullet entering the skull typically creates a relatively small hole on the exterior surface, and a large hole immediately opposite on the interior surface. (The opposite effect would happen on the opposing side of the skull where the bullet exits.)  McAdams's site explains the concept:

Key Concept: Beveling. When a bullet penetrates the skull bone, it will leave a small hole on the side from which it enters, and a larger dished-out crater on the side that it exits. The existence of beveling of the bone of Kennedy’s skull allowed the autopsists — and later panels of forensic pathologists — to establish that the bullet that hit Kennedy in the head entered from behind, with at least one large fragment exiting toward the front. See JFK Exhibit F-61, from the House Select Committee on Assassinations.

Here's a photo of the beveling effect a BB makes on a plane of glass.  This photo shows the exit side effect.  The entry hole is small, the exit hole is large and beveled.

Beveling Effect of a BB on Glass
(Internal View, Exit Point)

 This beveling effect was found in Kennedy's skull during the autopsy, at both the entry and exit points, proving conclusively that the shot hit him from the rear, again consistent with a shot fired from the Texas School Book Depository.

This evidence only works on gunshots to the skull, it cannot be used on other parts of the body, such as the shot to JFK's upper back (the throat shot).

3.  Coagulation Necrosis of the Bullet Wounds:  This is a scientific term for collagen damage at the periphery of an entry wound (but not an exit wound).  The hot bullet causes damage to the collagen that is invisible to the naked eye, but which can be seen through a microscope.  Both of the bullet wounds to JFK have coagulation necrosis on the back, proving once again that both shots were fired from the rear.

With all the hoopla, claims and counter claims for and against a conspiracy, the scientific evidence is irrefutable:  no shot hit Kennedy from the front, there was no shot from the Grassy Knoll.  In short, no apparent conspiracy.

Sources:  The JFK/Kennedy Assassination Homepage
                 Reclaiming History:  The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Vincent Bugliosi