Single Bullet Theory - Origin

Origin

The first preliminary report on the assassination, issued by the FBI on December 9, 1963, said: “Three shots rang out. Two bullets struck President Kennedy, and one wounded Governor Connally.” After the report was written, the FBI received the official autopsy report which indicated that the bullet that struck the president in the back had exited through his throat. The FBI had written their report partly based on an initial autopsy report written by their agents which reflected the early presumption that that bullet had only penetrated several inches into the president’s back and had likely fallen out. The FBI concluded, therefore, that the governor had been struck by a separate bullet.

The Warren Commission commenced study of the Zapruder film, the only known film to capture the entire assassination sequence, on January 27, 1964. By then, the FBI had determined that the running speed of Abraham Zapruder’s camera was 18.3 frames per second, and that the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found at the Texas School Book Depository, the presumed murder weapon, could not be fired twice in less than 2.3 seconds, or 42 frames of the Zapruder film.

When the Commission requested and received after February 25 higher-resolution images of the Zapruder film from Life magazine (who had purchased the film from Zapruder), it was immediately apparent that there was a timing problem with the FBI’s conclusion that three bullets had found their mark. Kennedy was observed by the Commission to be waving to the crowd to frame 205 of the Zapruder film as he disappears behind the Stemmons Freeway sign, and seems to be reacting to a shot as he emerges from behind the sign at frames 225-226, a little more than a second later. In their initial viewing of the film, Connally seemed to be reacting to being struck between frames 235 and 240.

Given the earliest possible frame at which Kennedy could have been struck (frame 205), and the minimum 42 frames (2.3 seconds) required between shots, there seemed to be insufficient time for separate bullets to be fired from the rifle. Several assistant counsels, upon viewing the film for the first time, concluded there had to be two assassins.

On April 14 and 21, two conferences were held at the Commission to determine when, exactly, the president and governor were struck. Assistant counsel Melvin Eisenberg wrote in a memorandum dated April 22 on the first conference that the consensus of those attending was, among other issues, that Kennedy was struck by frames 225–6 and that “the velocity of the first bullet would have been little diminished by its passage through the President. Therefore, if Governor Connally was in the path of the bullet it would have struck him and caused the wounds he sustained in his chest cavity... Strong indications for that this occurred are provided by the facts that... if the first bullet did not strike Governor Connally, it should have ripped up the car but it apparently did not.” However, the memorandum stated, given the relatively undamaged condition of the bullet presumed to have done this, CE 399, the consensus was a separate bullet probably struck his wrist and thigh. While not specifying a precise frame for when it was thought Connally was struck by the same bullet which struck Kennedy, the consensus was “by Z235” as afterwards his body position would not have allowed his back to be struck the way it was.

By the end of April, 1964, the Commission had its working theory, the Single Bullet Theory, to account for the apparent timing discrepancies found in the Zapruder film and the lack of any damage to the limousine from a high-velocity bullet exiting the president’s throat. (Impact damage was observed in the limousine, but was indicative of lower-velocity bullets or bullet fragments. For example, a nick on the limousine’s chrome was not from a high-velocity bullet as such a bullet would have pierced the chrome, not merely dented it.)

On May 24, the FBI and Secret Service reenacted the shooting in Dallas and the Commission tested its theory. Agents acting as the president and the governor sat in a car of approximately the same dimensions of the presidential limousine, which was unavailable for the recreation. Adjustments to measurements were made to account for the differences in the vehicles. Positions were recreated by matching them to particular frames of the Zapruder film, calibrated with other films and photographs taken that day. With the agents in position, photographs were taken from the sniper’s nest of the Texas School Book Depository. It was from this recreation, and the testimony of the agent in the sniper’s nest, that the Commission verified the theory to its satisfaction, as the governor was in a direct line to be struck by any bullet fired between frames 207 and 235 to 240 which exited the president’s throat, though the agent in fact testified that from frame 226 onward the governor was “too much towards the front” and his wounds were therefore misaligned from that point. An oak tree partially obscured the line of sight until frame 210, so the Commission concluded that “the President was not hit until at least frame 210 and that he was probably hit by frame 225.”

Further evidence gathered suggested to the Commission that the initial April consensus that a separate bullet caused the governor’s wrist and thigh injuries was incorrect, as the Army Wound Ballistics experts concluded that those wounds were “not caused by a pristine bullet,” and therefore bullet CE 399 “could have caused all his wounds.” Other evidence, such as the nature of Connally’s back wound (see below) was also cited by the Commission as corroborating the theory.

The Commission, however, did not conclude the Single Bullet Theory had been proven, as three members of the body, Representative Hale Boggs, Senators Richard Russell and John Cooper thought the theory improbable. Russell requested that his opposition to the theory be stated in a footnote in the report. In the end, the Commission changed the word “compelling” to “persuasive” and stated: “Although it is not necessary to any essential findings of the Commission to determine just which shot hit Governor Connally, there is very persuasive evidence to indicate that the same bullet which pierced the President’s throat also caused Governor Connally’s wounds.”

Nevertheless, all seven members of the Commission signed off on the statement: “There was no question in the mind of any member of the Commission that all the shots which caused the President’s and Governor Connally’s wounds were fired from the sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository.”