Sample IBDP IA: Was there a "Magic Bullet"

 

To what extent is it possible that a magic-bullet was fired during the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy on November 22^nd, 1963 in Dallas, Texas, United States?

 

IBDP History Internal Assessment

Personal Code: ­­­gdd180

 

 

 

Identification and Evaluation of Sources  

 

This investigation will explore: To what extent is it possible that a magic-bullet was  fired during the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy on November 22nd, 1963 in Dallas, Texas, United States?  

 

The Warren Commission

 

Established by presidential orders on November 29th, 1963, Johnson claimed that the stated purpose of this document was “to evaluate all the facts and circumstances surrounding the assassination and the subsequent killing of the alleged assassin and to report its findings and conclusions to him”.  It is an official document, consisting of reports by the FBI, Secret Service, Department of State, Attorney General of Texas, and additional information from federal agencies, Congressional committees, state and local experts.  The Commission also took the testimony of 552 witnesses and visited Dallas, Texas, to review the assassination scene and have the FBI simulate the gunshots from the Texas School Book Depository.  The report concludes that Oswald was a “lone gunman” and is relevant because it was the first to introduce the magic-bullet theory. Even though the final report was submitted on September 24th 1964 and made public two days later, it is valuable because the investigation started one week after the assassination and is thus composed of primary data. However, to an extent this contextually limits the report because it doesn’t have the benefit of hindsight, such as computer recreations of the bullets trajectory. “This Commission was created in recognition of the right of people everywhere to full and truthful knowledge concerning these events”.  Hence, this source is valuable because it was the first investigation of the assassination, and even though in hindsight one can identify the flaws of its content, it became the primary reference for more updated and accurate sources.   

 

The Zapruder Film by Abraham Zapruder 

 

Despite its primary purpose being a home movie capturing J.F.K. in the motorcade through Dealey Plaza, it served a much greater secondary purpose – live footage of the assassination. In fact, it is the only film known to man that films the assassination from beginning to end. Values in regards to its content include the view Zapruder had whilst filming, as he was standing on a hill and was thus elevated. Furthermore, the film is in colour and despite the occasional flicker of the screen and the features of an old grained film, it is of good quality. Despite this, the source has its limitations, such as not having any sound, which is an issue when identifying the number of shots fired. Also, in the instance where Kennedy is initially shot, a street sign blocks the view and thus provides another limitation to the source. Interestingly, Zapruder seems to have no emotional connection to Kennedy being shot as he continues to film steadily – perhaps he realized that his movie would be a crucial piece of evidence. In addition to the sign, the nature of the film provides another barrier when analyzing the motion of Kennedy’s suit popping up when shot, as the film cannot be increased in screen size. However, the greatest limitation of the movie is the 18.3 fps. frame rate of the 8mm Bell & Howell Zoomatic Director Series Model 414 PD. This is because inconsistent movements of the limousine prevent the movie from showing a flowing visual, and have caused some historians including David Lifton to believe that: “the film must have been tampered with”.  Nevertheless, this source is significant to the investigation because it is considered the “best recorded evidence of the assassination”.    

Investigation 

The magic-bullet theory suggesting that “a single bullet could have caused the President’s … and all the Governor’s wounds”  was initiated by the Warren Commission in its investigation on John F. Kennedy’s death. The bullet, a CE-399, got its name from being magically immaculate after it should have caused the seven wounds of both men.  This triggered speculation that more than one shooter was involved, as there was too little time between the apparent shots for them to be fired by one man. Despite the magic-bullet theory being so debatable, it would address both speculations. The Commission concludes that “the shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally were fired from the sixth floor window at the south east corner of the Texas School Book Depository”.  This is of relevance, as when the FBI recreated the shots from that location, the trajectory was one of the factors that hinted towards a single bullet being fired. This led to the report coining the term magic-bullet, as “there is very persuasive evidence from the experts to indicate that the same bullet which pierced the President’s throat also caused Governor Connally’s wounds”.  The report also states that: “on the basis of the evidence before the Commission it concludes that Oswald acted alone”.  This is of relevance, as the autopsy triggered disputes amongst doctors, as to whether a bullet entered or exited his throat and thus would hint towards another gunman. Overall, it can be seen that the Warren Commission was the first official document to be published, attempting to resolve the case.

The American attorney, Mark Lane, was the first to critique this in his highly influential book Rush to Judgment.  Lane criticizes materials from the Warren report by looking at the actual testimonies given by witnesses at the scene and comparing these with what has been reported. For instance, he argues that “there were at least four shots, allowing for the intervals of 2-3 seconds between shots” compared to the Warren Commissions claim of there only being three shots.  However, Lane wrote in a limited time frame and includes some inconsistencies that were only revealed with the latest computer enhancements of film and evidence in books such as Case Closed by Gerald Posner. Posner’s purpose was to “present the answers to the troubling issues and questions about the assassination, the issue of who killed JFK and Oswald’s motivation”.  He clearly states that Oswald acted alone (thus agreeing with the Warren Commission) but he believes that the magic-bullet theory is incorrect.  This can also be inferred from Connally’s testimony and the physical analysis of the CE-399 bullet . However, FBI tests of the bullets trajectory and the placement of the men in the car, support the magic-bullet theory. Hence, this investigation will focus on whether a single-bullet struck both men. 

The Zapruder Film, “serves as a time clock for the assassination”.  Frame 160 is approximately the time of the first shot.  Connally’s testimony, where he says: “I heard this sound [coming from the right] that I thought was a rifle shot” , is supported by the Zapruder film where he turns to look over his right shoulder in frame 167. This thus opposes the Warren Commission, which claimed the first shot to be the magic-bullet, as “ear-witness testimony, in combination with the Zapruder film, suggests the first shot actually missed”.  However, the Zapruder film gives rise to the magic-bullet theory when examining the second shot.

 In frame 223, one can observe Connally still turned to his right, and Kennedy’s white jacket emerging from behind the sign, which appears to bulge out in frame 224 – “He appears to be reacting to a bullet, which means he was wounded somewhere behind the sign”.  Likewise, Connally’s suit pops out in frame 224, signifying that he has been shot too.  Even though the view is limited by the street sign, and hence makes it unfathomable to determine whether the same bullet struck both men, one can estimate that the magic-bullet struck “both the President and Governor Connally just as their limousine emerged into Zapruder’s view from behind the freeway sign.” 

In frame 230, Kennedy is holding his arms up to his throat and Connally is in the motion of turning to his left.  When viewing the video, it seems like both men are reacting concurrently.  As this all happened in a matter of seconds, the rapidity of this event provides an inaccuracy in determining how many bullets struck during these frames, but a simultaneous reaction of both men would support the Warren report, which states: “Kennedy was first struck by a bullet which entered at the back of his neck and exited through the lower front portion of his neck. The bullet hit Connally at the extreme right side of his back at a point below his right armpit”.  This is further supported by FBI tests, which discovered that Oswald’s rifle could only fire one bullet every 2.25 seconds, which is the equivalent to 40-41 frames in the Zapruder film.  This suggests, that Oswald could not have fired two shots, but that one single-bullet struck both men, implying that there was a magic-bullet. 

Kennedy’s autopsy photographs provide immense controversy as to weather a wound was an entry or exit wound and thus make the analysis of the medical background extremely difficult for doctors such as Dr. Robert Shaw, who inspected Connally after the incident, and Dr. Michael West, who was brought to Parkland hospital after Kennedy was shot. For example, Shaw claims that the neck wound (see Appendix B) is an entry wound, whereas West claims that the wound is an exit wound.  When considering the bullet’s trajectory, it can clearly be identified that the bullet must have entered through Kennedy’s back and exited through his neck (see Appendix C), thus agreeing with Dr. West.

The bullet itself also provides skepticism to the magic-bullet theory, as it was unscathed and found on a stretcher at the hospital.  Even though, the FBI said that the bullet was undoubtedly from Oswald’s rifle, to date, it is not clear whether one of the victims was lying on the stretcher on which it was found.   If Kennedy would have been the victim on the stretcher, this would have suggested that the bullet did not pass through Connally, and thus disprove the magic-bullet theory, but if the bullet was found next to Connally, it would have suggested otherwise.  Dr. Michael West was able to conclude that the bullet did in fact go through Connally by using his neuromuscular expertise whilst viewing the Zapruder film.  He claims that he could see Connally perform a neurological reaction to physics trauma when: “It took only an instant for the bullet to pass through Connally’s chest, then strike his wrist, and finally settle in his leg”.  Dr. Charles Gregory, who performed surgery on Connally, had not seen the Zapruder film before his testimony but relied on his medical expertise to estimate when Connally was shot. He was able to decipher this based on his physical state: open mouth, puffed cheeks, compressed chest wall.  When applied to the Zapruder film, this would mean that Connally was in fact shot at the same time Kennedy was wounded. Despite Connally’s own memory of the situation being extremely lucid, it can be said that the fact that both reacted concurrently, would lead to believe that a bullet was fired that passed through both men.

 

Even though it seems like the bullet’s trajectory must defy the laws of physics, it does not.  Images like Fig. 6 (created based on the information from the Warren Report) are completely misleading. This image is significant because it shows how Kennedy and Connally were seated in the 1961 Lincoln Continental, a key feature of the assassination that is often neglected, as Kennedy was seated three inches higher than Connally.  When tracing a line from Oswald’s rifle on the 6th floor of the Texas School Book Depository to Kennedy’s back (entry wound), his throat (exit wound), Connally’s right shoulder (entry wound) and his exit wound, the line appears to be straight.  Hence, when understanding the actual placement of the seats, it becomes clear that the trajectory of the bullet is linear and thus claiming it to be a magic-bullet is accurate. 

The Warren Commission consists of “an initial chapter summarizing the Commission’s basic findings and conclusions, followed by a detailed analysis of the facts and the issues raised by the events of November 22, 1963”, and was the first official document concerning the magic bullet theory.  Mark Lane, in his book Rush To Judgement, was the first to criticize the conclusions of the Warren Commission, especially the conclusion of there being three shots.  Lane argues that Oswald’s rifle could have only fired one bullet every 2-3 seconds and thus whilst appealing to the Zapruder film, could not have possibly fired two shots between frames 223 and 224. Hence, a magic-bullet must have been fired.  Posner, in the author’s note of his book Case Closed, concludes that “time and technology have caught up to the conspiracy critics… ballistics and computer studies confirm the so-called magic-bullet theory”. This agrees to what the FBI ballistic report concluded after re-enacting the assassination.  One must also realize that Connally was sitting lower and slightly to the left of Kennedy in his booster seat, so that when tracing a line from the 6th floor window of the Texas School Book Depository, the trajectory of the bullet is in fact linear and could have went through both men.  Hence, it can be argued that a single-bullet struck both men during the Kennedy assassination.

Reflection 

One must understand that even while the ink was still wet on the Warren Commission, new questions were already raised. Posner himself said that he was only able to uncover where the Warren Commission erred through gaining access to “new explosive interviews, secret files and the latest scientific and computer enhancements of film and evidence”.  This investigation thus highlighted the individual methods of historical writing and how access to newer technologies, makes this specific investigation easier for a 21st century historian compared to a 20th century historian.

The significance of selecting appropriate resources was also highlighted in this investigation. The most reliable source was the Zapruder film, as despite accused of being tampered with, it served as a time clock for the assassination. Other highly relevant sources include the Warren Commission, Mark Lane’s Rush to Judgement and Gerald Posner’s Case Closed. Due to the unexpected nature of the event, I realized that many sources were intertwined and that most books published on the assassination are based on Marc Lane’s primary criticism of the Warren Commission. I also recognized elements of personal bias towards Oswald in Lane’s writing and that Warren himself considered him to solely be seeking publicity. As the public was so gullible to believe the first official report published with the intent of answering all questions regarding the assassination, one could question: How far does one’s character influence a historical source? This can be applied to today, a time of ‘fake news’, where trusting the government becomes more and more difficult.

 

The significance of selecting appropriate resources was also highlighted in this investigation. The most reliable source was the Zapruder film, as despite accused of being tampered with, it served as a time clock for the assassination. Other highly relevant sources include the Warren Commission, Mark Lane’s Rush to Judgement and Gerald Posner’s Case Closed. Due to the unexpected nature of the event, I realized that many sources were intertwined and that most books published on the assassination are based on Marc Lane’s primary criticism of the Warren Commission. I also recognized elements of personal bias towards Oswald in Lane’s writing and that Warren himself considered him to solely be seeking publicity. As the public was so gullible to believe the first official report published with the intent of answering all questions regarding the assassination, one could question: How far does one’s character influence a historical source? This can be applied to today, a time of ‘fake news’, where trusting the government becomes more and more difficult.

 Furthermore, this investigation enlightened me about how important it is to focus on specifics. We live in a world, where we are constantly confronted with new information. There are too many published sources and thus providing a different perspective, and Posner demonstrated how what happened fifty-five years ago is still relevant today, especially through the new perspectives brought to the case through technology advancements. The Zapruder film emphasised that there were only limited video sources from the actual event and that one must thus oversee its flaws of having no sound (thus making it hard to pinpoint the shots) and having an 18.3 fps. frame rate that provided inconsistencies in the movement of the car. Hence, this investigation taught me how crucial it is to distinguish between the excess of information that exists today, as not all is valuable.

 

 Bibliography

Aguilar G. & Thompson J. “The Magic Bullet”. Even More Magical Than We Knew? History Matters, 1999. https://www.history-matters.com/essays/frameup/EvenMoreMagical.htm. Accessed, 29. May. 2018.

 Galanor, Stewart. Cover-Up. Kestrel Books, 1998.

 “JFK Assassination Computer Animation”. YouTube, uploaded by Welton Hartford, 11. Jul. 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPrzCGVi3_E.

 “JFK Autopsy Photographs”. Campbell M Gold, 2010, http://campbellmgold.com/archive_general/jfk_autopsy_photo.pdf.

 “John Connally on JFK Assassination (1991 C-SPAN interview)”. YouTube, uploaded by C-SPAN, 31. Oct. 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSKcOoQH8bc.

 Kaplan, Fred. Killing Conspiracy. SLATE, 2013.

 Lallanilla, Marc. “History”. What Is the Single-Bullet Theory? LiveScience, 20. Nov. 2013. https://www.livescience.com/41369-single-bullet-theory-jfk-assassination.html. Accessed, 1. Jun. 2018.

 Lane, Mark. Rush to Judgment. The Bodley Head, August 1966.

 Marcus, Raymond. The Bastard Bullet. Rendell Publications, 1966.

 McAdams, John. JFK Assassination Logic: How to Think about Claims of Conspiracy. Potomac Books, Inc., 2011.

 Posner, Gerald. Case Closed. Doubleday, 1994.

 Salandria, Vincent J. False Mystery: An Anthology of Essays on the Assassination of JFK. Square Deal Press, 2004.

 “The Connallys on “Larry King” 1992- Kennedy Detail- Clint Hill+”. YouTube, uploaded by Vince Palamara, 26. Jun. 2008. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry5kexkmIbs.

 The Ralph D. Thomas PI Vintage Collection. “Abraham Zapruder 8MM JFK Assassination Camera And Film, 1963”. A Sixteen Million Dollar Twenty-Eight Second 8 MM Film. Thomas Investigative Publications, Inc., 2008. http://www.pimall.com/nais/pivintage/zaprudercamera.html. Accessed, 02. Jun. 2018.

 Thompson, Josiah. Six Seconds in Dallas. Berkeley Publishing Corporation, 1976.

 United States, Warren Commission. Report of The President’s Commission on The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Government Printing Office, September 24, 1964.

 Wallenfeldt, Jeff. “United States History”. Assassination of John F. Kennedy. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 14. Sep. 2018. https://www.britannica.com/event/assassination-of-John-F-Kennedy. Accessed, 29. May. 2018.

 “Zapruder Film (Original)”. Zapruder JFK film. Archive.org, 02. Mar. 2016. https://archive.org/details/ZapruderFilmOriginal_201603. Accessed 29. May 2018.

 “Zapruder Film Slow Motion (HIGHER QUALITY)”. YouTube, uploaded by ertGaming, 01. Oct. 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU83R7rpXQY.

 

Appendices

 

The Kennedy Assassination then & now 

 

Kennedy's motorcade moving through downtown Fort Worth, Texas the day of the assassination, with the Tarrant County Courthouse in the background and today, unchanged. The day before at 23:07, Air Force One landed at Carswell Air Force Base on the outskirts of Fort Worth. When Kennedy and his wife walked down the steps of the aircraft they were met by Raymond Buck, president of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, and his wife. Air Force Two also landed at Carswell with vice president Johnson, Texas governor John Connally and Senator Ralph Yarborough. In fact, Connally and Yarborough hated each other so much that Yarborough was unwilling to travel in the same car with Johnson, who was a politial ally of Connally. The following day, the president instructed him to ride with Johnson. At 23:35 the Kennedys arrived at the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth after being cheered by thousands of well-wishers lined on the route toward the West Freeway. Despite the late time and rainy weather, the president and Mrs. Kennedy took some time to shake hands with admirers gathered outside the hotel before retiring to their assigned suite for the night. The next morning at 8:45 the president spoke before breakfast in a square across Eighth Street, accompanied by Congressman Jim Wright, Yarborough, Connally and Johnson. Kennedy praises Fort Worth's aviation industry. The attendees, members of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, were largely conservative Republicans. Half an hour later Kennedy took his place in the hotel's grand ballroom for the scheduled speech, and the First Lady arrived amid loud applause fifteen minutes later. After the speech, presidential adviser Kenny O'Donnell informed Roy Kellerman, the Secret Service agent in charge of the trip, that the presidential limousine should not be equipped with its bubbletop if the weather is clear in Dallas. Later, press secretary Mac Kilduff showed the Kennedys a negative advertisement published in The Dallas Morning News with the headline "Welcome Mr. Kennedy to Dallas." Kennedy turned to his wife to say: "We're heading into nut country today."

One of the three photos of Oswald holding the rifle that was later determined to be the murder weapon taken by Marina in the backyard and which constitute an important piece of evidence linking Oswald to the crime given that the Carcano in the images had markings matching those on the rifle found in the Book Depository after the assassination. The photos were uncovered with other possessions belonging to Oswald in the garage of Ruth Paine in Irving, Texas the day fter the assassination. Marina Oswald told the Warren Commission that around March 31, 1963, she had taken pictures of Oswald as he posed with a Carcano rifle, a holstered pistol, and two Marxist newspapers – The Militant and The Worker. Oswald had sent one of the photos to The Militant's New York office with an accompanying letter stating he was "prepared for anything." According to Sylvia Weinstein, who handled the newspaper's subscriptions at the time, Oswald was seen as "kookie" and politically "dumb and totally naive", as he apparently did not know that The Militant, published by the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party, and The Worker, published by the pro-Soviet Communist Party USA, were rival publications and ideologically opposed to each other. The pictures were shown to Oswald after his arrest, but he insisted that they were forgeries. 

On the right is Oswald's former boarding house at 214 West Neely Street in the Oak Cliff neighbourhood of Dallas in 1963 and today. It was here that Oswald and his wife, Marina, had lived with their small child after they returned from Russia. It was in the garden behind that Marina Oswald had taken the infamous photograph of the assassin with his new mail-order rifle on his hip. In 1964, Marina testified before the Warren Commission that she had photographed Oswald, at his request and using his camera. Oswald's mother testified that on the day after the assassination she and Marina destroyed another photograph with Oswald holding the rifle with both hands over his head, with "To my daughter June" written on it. When shown one of the photos during his interrogation by Dallas police, Oswald stated that it was a fake. According to Dallas Police Captain Will Fritz, "[h]e said that the picture was not his, that the face was his face, but that this picture had been made by someone superimposing his face, the other part of the picture was not him at all and that he had never seen the picture before. ... He told me that he understood photography real well, and that in time, he would be able to show that it was not his picture, and that it had been made by someone else." The HSCA obtained another first-generation print on April 1, 1977, from the widow of George de Mohrenschildt. The words "Hunter of fascists – ha ha ha!" written in block Russian were on the back. Also in English were added in script: "To my friend George, Lee Oswald, 5/IV/63." Handwriting experts for the HSCA concluded the English inscription and signature were by Oswald. Photographic experts consulted by the HSCA concluded they were genuine, answering twenty-one points raised by critics. Marina Oswald has always maintained she took the photos herself, and the 1963 de Mohrenschildt's print bearing Oswald's signature clearly indicate they existed before the assassination. In 2009, after digitally analysing the photograph of Oswald holding the rifle and paper, computer scientist Hany Farid concluded that the photo "almost certainly was not altered".

Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline greeting supporters at Dallas Love Field on the morning of November 22, 1963. An hour later whilst his motorcade was traveling from Love Field to the Dallas Trade Mart he was assassinated and died at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Texas Governor John Connally was riding in the presidential limousine and was seriously wounded. Ninety minutes later Johnson was sworn in as president aboard Air Force One before its departure from Love Field to Washington D.C. Its appearance has changed considerably since. It's been the site of more recent violence as when, on June 10, 2016, a police officer intervening in a domestic altercation shot and wounded a suspect who rushed at him with a large stone in the vehicle loading zone near the baggage claim. This is believed to have been the first shooting ever to take place at the airport. It's since been followed at about 11.00 on July 25, 2022 when a woman drew a gun near the ticket counters outside of the security checkpoint. A nearby Dallas police officer took cover behind a kiosk and ordered her to drop the weapon; she then fired twice into the air, and was shot in the "lower extremities" in a brief exchange of gunfire with the officer, disabling her. She was then apprehended and hospitalised. At the time of this post she faces charges of aggravated assault against a public servant.

  Dealey Plaza from the southwest, with the former Texas School Book Depository building at left, Dal-Tex Building centre, and the Dallas County Records Annex at right on Nov. 22, 1963 and today. The former Texas School Book Depository building is where both the Warren Commission and the House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded that Oswald fired a rifle that killed President Kennedy. Today, the plaza is typically visited daily by tourists. The Sixth Floor Museum now occupies the top two floors of the seven-story former Book Depository. Since 1989, more than six million people have visited the museum. The National Park Service designated Dealey Plaza a National Historic Landmark District on November 22, 1993, the 30th anniversary of JFK assassination, roughly encompassing the area between Pacific Avenue, Market and Jackson Streets and the former railroad tracks. Therefore, nothing of significance has been torn down or rebuilt in the immediate area beyond a small plaque commemorating the assassination. In fact street lights and signs that were in use in 1963 remain although some have been moved to different locations and others removed entirely. Buildings immediately surrounding the plaza have not been changed since 1963, presenting a stark contrast to the ultra-modern Dallas skyline that rises behind it. This can be seen on the right comparing a photograph taken during a reconstruction of the Dealey Plaza crime scene by the United States Secret Service in 1963 along Elm and Commerce Streets. Over more than half-a-century, Elm Street has been resurfaced several times; street lane stripes have been relocated; sidewalk lamp posts have been moved and added; trees, bushes and hedges have grown; and some traffic sign locations have been changed, relocated or removed. On the 40th anniversary of JFK assassination, the city of Dallas approved construction project plans to restore Dealey Plaza to its exact appearance on November 22, 1963. The first phase of the restoration, which spent $700,000 for repair work and plumbing along Houston Streets, was completed on November 22, 2008, the 45th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination.

 

Bill and Gayle Newman covering their children as CBS News photographer Tom Craven (centre) and White House photographer Tom Atkins (right) take pictures just after the final, fatal shot. Speaking fifty years after the event, Gayle Newman described how she had been "terrified because of my children; I had never been around gunfire, so it was quite a shock to see someone shot in the head. … And it was the president of the United States.” The Newmans had actually driven to Love Field that morning to watch the Kennedys disembark from Air Force One. They then rushed to downtown to see the motorcade wind its way past the old Texas School Book Depository. They were on the north side of Dealey Plaza less than five minutes when the gunfire — which both said sounded like “firecrackers” at first — burst through the air as the president’s motorcade drew closer. “When the third shot rang out … I turned to Gayle and said, ‘That’s it. Get down,’” Bill Newman told the audience of about 250 people. They dropped to the ground and shielded their two boys — Clayton, 2, and Bill, 4 — a frightening moment captured in this photograph. “The picture of us covering the kids on the ground — I suspect that’s why there’s so much interest in our story. Some people have embellished their story. We try to keep it straight and pure.” When her husband was asked about how some researchers and authors selectively interpret the Newmans’ descriptions of what they heard. The third shot that the Newmans said came from “behind” them, he pointed out, has been used “as evidence that you heard a shot from the grassy knoll.” And that’s simply not the case as “[i]t was the visual impact [of the fatal shot] that made me think the shot came down over our head. In all honesty, I have no idea where the shot came from.”

 The iconic Mary Moorman photo and the site today. Moorman was standing on grass about two feet south of the south curb of Elm Street in Dealey Plaza, directly across from the grassy knoll and the North Pergola concrete structure that Abraham Zapruder and his assistant Marilyn Sitzman were standing on during the assassination. Moorman stated that she stepped off the grass onto the street to take a photo with her Polaroid camera. Zapruder can be seen standing on the pergola in the Moorman photograph, with the presidential limousine already having passed through the line of sight between Zapruder and Moorman. Both Moorman and her friend, Jean Hill, can be clearly seen in the Zapruder film. Between Zapruder frames 315 and 316, Moorman took a Polaroid photograph, her fifth that day, showing the presidential limousine with the grassy knoll area in the background. Moorman's photograph captured the fatal head shot that killed President Kennedy. When she took it – approximately one sixth of a second after President Kennedy was struck in the head at Zapruder frame 313, Moorman was standing behind and to the left of Kennedy, about fifteen feet from the presidential limousine. 

The very moment Moorman takes the photo as seen in Zapruder frame 303 on the top left and the same moment seen from the Marie Muchmore film. 

Moorman said in a TV interview that immediately after the assassination, there were three or four shots close together, that shots were still being fired after the fatal head shot, and that she was in the line of fire. She later claimed in a 2013 PBS documentary Kennedy Half Century that she was close enough to hear Jackie Kennedy exclaim that John had been shot. Moorman attempted to sell the original polaroid throug Sotheby's in New York, but the auction house deemed it to be "too sensitive to auction". Whatever was captured in the background of Moorman's photo has been a matter of contentious debate. On the grassy knoll, some have claimed to identify as many as four different human figures, while others dismiss these indistinct images as either trees or shadows. Most often, one figure has been dubbed the "Badge Man" as it seems to resemble a uniformed police officer wearing a badge. Others claim to see Gordon Arnold, a man who claimed to have filmed the assassination from that area, a man in a construction hard hat, and a hatted man behind the stockade fence. Moorman stated she heard a shot as the limousine passed her, then heard another two shots, "pow pow," when the president's head exploded. She stated that she could not determine where the shots came from, and that she saw no one in the area that appeared to have possibly been the assassin. Moorman was interviewed by the Dallas County Sheriff's Department and the FBI. She was called by the Warren Commission to testify, but due to a sprained ankle, she was unable to be questioned. She was never contacted by them again.

 Dallas Police Department vehicle parked in the 400 block of 10th Street (10th Street and Patton Avenue) in the Oak Cliff neighbourhood of Dallas at the site where police officer J. D. Tippit was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald after Tippit stopped Oswald for questioning shortly after the shooting of President Kennedy. At approximately 13:11–13:14, Tippit had been driving slowly eastward on East 10th Street — about an hundred feet past the intersection of 10th Street and Patton Avenue — when he pulled alongside a man who resembled the police description. Oswald walked over to Tippit's car and exchanged words with him through an open vent window. Tippit opened his car door and as he walked toward the front of the car, Oswald drew his handgun and fired five shots in rapid succession. Three bullets hit Tippit in the chest, another in his right temple, one bullet missed him altogether. Tippit's body was transported from the scene of the shooting by ambulance to Methodist Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 13:25 by Dr. Richard A. Liguori. A short time later, Hardy's shoe store manager Johnny Brewer observed Oswald acting suspiciously as police cars passed nearby with sirens blaring. Oswald then ducked into the Texas Theatre without purchasing a ticket. The police were notified by the theatre's cashier and responded by surrounding the theatre. Oswald was arrested after a brief struggle.

 

 Secret Service agents and local police examine the presidential limousine as it sits parked at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas under a sign reading "Ambulances Only" as Kennedy is treated inside. Five individuals associated with the assassination either died or were pronounced dead: Kennedy himself, Oswald, Jack Ruby who later killed Oswald, Abraham Zapruder, who had filmed Kennedy's assassination, and Jean Hill, another witness to the assassination (the "Lady in Red" seen in the Zapruder film). The 2013 film Parkland dramatises the deaths of Kennedy and Oswald in the hospital. It was here where Kennedy was pronounced dead at 13:00 in Trauma Room 1, thirty minutes after he was shot at Dealey Plaza. At the same time, Texas governor John Connally, wounded in the same shooting, was treated in Trauma Room 2, and survived. Two days after the assassination, November 24, Oswald was rushed to Parkland after being shot in the abdomen by Ruby and died in operating room #5 after over ninety minutes of surgery. Ruby died on January 3, 1967, in the same emergency department, from a pulmonary embolism associated with lung cancer. Then, on August 30, 1970, Zapruder also died at Parkland. Since Ruby's death in 1967, areas where Kennedy was pronounced dead and Oswald was operated on have been remodeled. A plaque there marks the location where Trauma Room 1 was previously in the prior Parkland.