Lab
Tests on JFK Evidence Complete
Latest News On Fragment
Testing:
Note: Contrary to popular belief, the "magic" bullet,
CE399, is not the only ballistic evidence found in the JFK assassination
evidence. Most people are surprised when informed of how many
fragments were left behind:
1. CE 567 (found driver's side front seat of limo)
2. CE 569 (found beside front seat of limo)
3. CE 840 (3 fragments found from underneath the left jump seat.
\ One is now missing from NARA.)
4. CE 843 Gov. Connally's wrist (Parkland, fragments were removed)
5. Gov. Connally's wrist (Parkland, fragments left in, shown
on X-ray)
6. CE 843 Pres. Kennedy's brain (Bethesda, 2 fragments removed
| (receipt states missile) | Note on sizes
7. Pres. Kennedy's brain (Bethesda, fragments left in, shown
on X-ray)
8. Strike on Commerce Street curb left metal smear (Dealey Plaza,
from missed shot, fragment or bullet)
"FURTHER SCIENTIFIC EXAMINATION OF THE JFK ASSASSINATION
EVIDENCE" (1/21/2000)
AND SOME RESULTANT NEWS MEDIA ANALYSIS.
On January 21, 2000, the National Archives and Records Administration
(NARA) released a report on the analysis of materials adhering
to Warren Commission Exhibit #567, the nose of a bullet found
in the limousine in which President Kennedy was riding when assassinated
on November 22, 1963. These materials were found to consist of
fibers, as well as human tissue, which, we are told, did not
yield conclusive results in DNA testing. On the same day as the
release of the report, at least one news program that aired on
a Los Angeles radio station stated that the testing of the fibers
had proved the "single bullet theory" of the assassination
correct, thereby bolstering the concept of a lone gunman.
CAN THE DISPROVING OF A NEGATIVE PROVE A POSITIVE?
The press
release accompanying the report states, in part, that:
"...The Department of Justice said that if "alleged
fiber evidence embedded in the bullet nose recovered from the
front seat of the limousine" was "consistent with the
President's shirt collar, tie, and tie liner," then there
might have been a "different trajectory than that previously
identified" by the Warren Commission. *
The Justice Department's logic is simple to follow: Any fragment
of a bullet that passed through clothing would be expected to
carry microscopic traces of cloth fibers. Also, if the above
bullet fragment proves to have caused any of the wounds that
the Warren Report attributed to the nearly pristine bullet found
at Parkland Hospital, then the 'Parkland Bullet' ceases to be
a 'Single Bullet'. Since the Warren Commission concluded that
a lone gunman could not have fired more than 3 shots in the allotted
time span, and with one shot missing the car and another causing
the fatal wound to the President's head, the addition of two
more bullets, rather than just the single bullet, would make
4 shots --- too many bullets --- necessitating the presence of
more than one gunman. The new Report found that none of the fibers
adhering to the piece of bullet fragment #567 came from the clothing
of either man. This, on the surface, would appear to rule out
fragment #567 as causing most, if not all, of the non-fatal wounds
(the possible exception being the wrist wounds of Governor Connally.)
However the question remains: Does the elimination of bullet
fragment #567 as causing the non-fatal wounds in any way establish
that the Parkland Bullet was, indeed, a single bullet causing
all non-fatal wounds? It does not. In the case of the news report
above, someone unfamiliar with the facts of the case jumped to
the conclusion that if fragment #567 did not cause any of the
non-fatal wounds, this automatically proves that the 'Parkland
Bullet' did cause all the non-wounds. This, however, is not the
basis of a sound argument.
WHAT DOES THE TESTING OF THE BULLET FRAGMENT PROVE?
By being
unable to match the fibers to any known fibers within the assassination
setting, and by not being able to determine the source of the
tissue found, the testing proves nothing at all.
WHAT CAN WE FURTHER LEARN FROM THIS?
In the press release, the
Justice Department does, however, implicitly take a position
that is not an assumption, but a fact consistent with forensic
science --- a bullet passing through clothing and human flesh
will contain microscopic traces of cloth fibers, as well as blood
and tissue. What the JD does not comment on is the fact that
the nearly-pristine bullet found at Parkland Hospital, and which
for over 3 decades the Government has contended caused all of
the non-fatal wounds to both the President and the Governor,
contained not the slightest microscopic residue of either cloth
fibers, blood or tissue.
Testimony of FBI Agent Frazier; 3/31/64:
Q: Did you clean the bullet prior to the examination?
A: No, sir; it was not necessary. The bullet was clean when we
received it, and it was not necessary to change it in any way.
This would seem to also rule out the Parkland Bullet as a cause
of the non-fatal wounds, making it at least the 4th bullet to
have been fired that day in Dallas. * The "trajectory" referred
to above is the path of the theoretical 'single bullet', proposed
by then-Commission Counsel Arlen Specter to have entered the
back of the President's neck, striking no bone and exiting through
the front of his throat, entering the back of Governor John Connally,
striking a piece of the Governor's rib, exiting through the front
of his chest, passing through his wrist and severing tendons,
and then partially embedding itself in Connally's leg.
Copyright © 2000 JFK Lancer. All rights reserved. 1-21-00
Subject: Bullet Fragment Test Report
From: JFK News
Folks, I have been alerted by the National Archives that a report
on the bullet fragment testing has been released. The release
being faxed to me now (29 pages). I will scan them and post on
our web site right away. A few questions I already have is if
the fiber could be carpet from the limousine and if the report
will state if the fragment was ever kept in another container?
Of course, we already knew the DNA would be inconclusive due
to the "sent-by-mistake" memo a few months ago. I request
that anyone with further information or insight to please send
it along. To refresh your understanding of this testing see the
article by Joe Backes and myself at http://
jfklancer.com/LNE/fragments.html Meanwhile I have received the following press release from Karen
Gullo (AP).
See below: Sent to JFK Lancer: NARA 2000-075
NOTICE
Expiration Date: 01/21/2001
Lab tests on JFK assassination evidence now complete
All employees
We are releasing today a report on laboratory analyses of evidence
from the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy.
The evidence analyzed was Warren Commission Exhibit (CE) #567
containing the nose portion of a bullet recovered from the limousine
in which the President was riding. The exhibit, which has been
in NARA custody since 1966, consisted of five fragments: one
copper and lead fragment with adhering fibrous debris, and four
smaller pieces of organic material. Tests were made of the debris
and the organic material to determine their composition for possible
relevance to the Commission's conclusion that alleged assassin
Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.
In requesting such tests, the Department of Justice said that
if "alleged fiber evidence embedded in the bullet nose recovered
from the front seat of the limousine" was "consistent
with the President's shirt collar, tie, and tie liner," then
there might have been a "different trajectory than that
previously identified" by the Warren Commission. Scientists
concluded from the test that the fibers were of non-textile origin
and did not come from the clothing of John F. Kennedy, nor of
John B. Connally. The Department of Justice also had speculated
that the organic fragments might shed light on the assassination,
but DNA analysis of them proved inconclusive.
Most of the analysis was accomplished on site at NARA. Instrumental
analysis of a portion of the fibrous material was undertaken
at the FBI Laboratory (Washington, DC); histological preparations
of samples taken from the four organic fragments were processed
at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (Walter Reed Complex);
and mitochondrial DNA examinations of samples taken from the
four organic fragments were conducted at the Armed Forces DNA
Identification Laboratory (Rockville, MD).
The final report on the investigation, entitled "Further
Scientific Examination of JFK Assassination Evidence," describes
the scientific decision-making process, summarizes the findings,
and appends the individual laboratory reports. The three investigative
agencies that cooperated on the project were the FBI Laboratory,
The Armed Forces Medical Examiner, and the Armed Forces DNA Identification
Laboratory. The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
of the Maimonides Medical Center and the Smithsonian Center for
Materials Research and Education supplied independent participants
in the testing.
2
For work on this matter, I wish to express particular appreciation
to Margaret Kelly (NWTD), who coauthored the summary report,
and Steven Tilley (NWCTF).
For questions regarding this notice, please contact Jerry George
(NCOM) in room 4400, AII; on 301-713-7360, ext. 264; by fax on
301-713-7344; or by email.
JOHN W. CARLIN
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