A confrontation developed at Parkland Hospital, between those insisting that the autopsy take place then and there, including Coroner Earl Rose, and those (primarily Secret Service agents) who wanted to seize the president’s body and take it out of the hospital, out of Dallas County, and out of Texas. The Secret Service group pushed its way out of the hospital with the body. After some period of time, the body ended up at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, where an autopsy of sorts was performed, but with attendant problems.
Everything for a proper homicide investigation was at Parkland Hospital where Kennedy was first taken after being shot. A proper chain of custody would have existed for some important things: the body; evidence developed during the emergency procedures; the autopsy and its tests and results and photographs and documentation; an examination of the presidential limousine which was nearby at the hospital and was part of the crime scene; and so forth. Witnesses with fresh memories at the hospital could give statements. Evidence of all types could have been properly preserved.
Instead, the opposite took place. Everyone knew that the correct location for the autopsy and investigation was in Dallas. The proper methods and procedures were intentionally ignored for obvious reasons: to control the body, a critical item of evidence, out of sight of the primary witnesses; and to break the chain of custody required for the body and associated evidence, including from an autopsy. This allowed for the manipulation, alteration, and fabrication of evidence.
The removal of the body from Texas was such an unscrupulous act that when paired with the evidence and witness testimony that survived the scrubbing and spoiling, the story which was presented to the public is destroyed. The story is that a person named Lee Harvey Oswald did the deed — and also caused wounds to Texas Governor John Connolly — with a lousy, bolt-action Mannlicher-Carcano rifle shooting at a moving target in an unbelievably tight time frame.
The perfidy of those who were supposed to investigate and solve the crime has not stopped the many who have made progress on the mystery by thinking for themselves.
[1] The original Title 18, U.S. Code, sections 1111 and 1114. Murder (section 1111) and Protection of Officers and Employees of the United States (section 1114).
http://uscode.house.gov/statviewer.htm?volume=62&page=756
[2] The current version of Title 18, U.S. Code, section 1114.
http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title18-section1114&num=0&edition=prelim
The current version of Title 18, U.S. Code, section 1111.
http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title18-section1111&num=0&edition=prelim
[3] Title 18, U.S. Code, section 1751. Presidential and Presidential staff assassination, kidnapping, and assault; penalties.
http://uscode.house.gov/statviewer.htm?volume=79&page=580
http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title18-section1751&num=0&edition=prelim
In 1963, with President John F. Kennedy growing more liberal and humanitarian in his policies, a shadowy cabal of Texas oil magnates, hardline conservatives, intelligence agents and rogue operatives meet to discuss possible action. The swaggering Foster (Robert Ryan) wants JFK dead, but the mysterious and powerful Ferguson (Will Geer) rebuffs the idea. Still, Farrington (Burt Lancaster) carries out a military training operation in preparation for an assassination while he waits for a decision.
From this link:
Executive Action https://g.co/kgs/3NVic5
————-
A film I enjoyed watching twice, these occurenced being removed in time from each other by a span of many years. My own very amateur and provisional sketches of the truth behind this monument to crime were enhanced or possibly diminished in regards to accuracy by readings of Gore Vidal’s commentaries on the character and for the most part private political dispositions of this man JFK who became a victim in such an openly flagrant atrocity that accumulates ongoing speculation expressed in written and recorded formats.
Burt Lancaster. A prince? No – considerably superior in my opinion.
My favorite JFK murder fantasy theory is that the NOLA mafia let a contract on him with L’Union Corse and that after the killing the assassin team were put in a safe house for a week or two and then smuggled out through Canada. Great stuff.
I enjoyed those stories too. Lucky Luciano in his autobiography said that during his exile from the US after release from penitentiary he came to conclude that if rather than the Sicilians it was additionally Corsicans who in sufficient numbers immigrated to America during those years he estimated that the criminal enterprises by which he and his confreres became so renowned would never have gone far because the Corsicans were much tougher people. I have no expertise in the matter of Corsicans but a not meager amount concerning the others. I only came briefly in contact with one in Paris in 1972. He was an entirely law abiding person but his physique was probably a prototype designed long ago for the capable and daringly venturous regarding heroic deeds. I only encountered one person in my life more remarkable to look at in that regard. And he was at a young age a golden gloves light heavyweight boxing champion of New York State of, I think, Irish descent but possibly with a mixture of other peoples from the continent. But he was dark and not at all flaxen and resembled the Corsican person in many details. But he was a not well behaved in general, although never known to use violence except to defend himself.
You can’t go by apprearances regarding estimations of strength, I was told by a Harvard man who served 9 years in the Marine Corps active reserve. He said the strongest people by profession were butchers and sailors due to the episodic nature of their activities. I don’t know if that’s true, though suspect it might be, but he told a lot of interesting stories.
Careful examination of the diagrams, graphics and particularly text of this remarkable discovery at the link below will uncover elements concerning the inauspicious happenings in Dallas on November 22, 1963 that have to my knowledge not yet been disclosed publicly. Was President John F Kennedy a member of a secret occult organization? We suspect strongly that he was in fact not but that this may point to efforts which were undertaken to besmirch his reputation and may consequently have been used by nefarious individuals in a disreputable enterprise.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/567664728006401179/sent/?invite_code=040844eb7e18453ba4775d747107b9c8&sender=256142434965186055&sfo=1
JFK was shot dead by a mafia hitman. The reason was that he double-crossed “organized crime” and allowed his brother Bobby to pursue ‘mafia’ figures. Robert Kennedy was killed for this also. Anyone with a working brain knows this. Our DC ‘government’ is entangled with ‘organized crime’. This is why the ‘Swamp’ must be burned to the ground. Rooted out with salt sowing and start over.
I still go with Oswald as killer. Plenty of ballistic and marksmanship experts (no longer have links, sorry) have written that the shot was not that difficult and that rifle was indeed capable of doing what it is alleged to have done.
As to whether he had accomplices, I have not read enough to either rule that out or in.
The greatest mystery to me remains how we as a nation so quickly dismissed the Russian connection and instead of blaming commies, who were at that time carrying out political assassinations all over the third world, dumped the blame on some vague “conservative” forces. Madame Kennedy, who notoriously disliked Southerners and especially Texans, thus anticipating Madame Clinton’s “vast right wing conspiracy” charge by half a century.
And then to take as gospel the findings of a commission headed by the most political and leftist Chief Justice of the Supreme Court ever—it nearly defies belief.
Kilo 4/11,
I’m with you on Oswald being the shooter. I see a lot of claims that it was an impossible shot with that rifle, but I don’t buy them at all. I think the 1967 CBS test showed it was very doable. It was only a 100 meter shot with a scoped rifle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghmY6HmR4fs
But I have no idea why Oswald would have done it, if he worked with others or if some nefarious group was behind it.
TTG,
Please suffer not to remain in doubt about who was in fact the greatest Rifleman of all time. He was a subject of the great legendary inspirational lessons of our nation during a span of years for which I experience nostalgia. I offer my kind thanks and generously donate a vivid illustration thereof.
The Rifleman: The complete Rifleman massacres:
https://youtu.be/nrOPVo5GFY4
F&L,
I watched that religiously as a kid. I even had a metal and plastic replica Rifleman cap rifle to go with my twin cap guns and leather holsters. Every boy in my neighborhood had his gun and holster set.
I was writing a humorous dialogue centered on this question:
Who wins in an all out fight — the Lone Ranger or The Rifleman?
Sounds absurd at first hearing – the Rifleman, of course, with ease. That’s the trick setup. Then comes evidence of the Lone Ranger being able to shoot into a cabin, ricochet his bullet off a stove which hits a coffee cup which sends it out the window into a waiting stage coach driving by at 30 mph resulting in … . You get the idea. I discontinued it.
The Rifleman killed more, but Pahoo-Ke-Ta-Wa with his double barrel made em fly farther:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0751644/mediaviewer/rm2001837825/
Kilo 4/11,
Mrs. Kennedy was an enthusiastic horsewoman raised in McLean, VA, who was very familiar with Virginia and Kentucky horse country. I remember reading that she lent her name and support to the fight against the Disney’s America theme park that was proposed to be built five miles away from Manassas National Battlefield park.
It is true that she at times condescended to LBJ and Mrs. Johnson, but later she came to appreciate LBJ’s unstinting support for her after the assassination. He wanted to make her an ambassador, no doubt for political reasons but he also liked smart women and had many such working for and with him.
As for not liking Texas…..I can’t imagine why.
From the OP:
“Instead, the opposite took place. Everyone knew that the correct location for the autopsy and investigation was in Dallas. The proper methods and procedures were intentionally ignored for obvious reasons: to control the body, a critical item of evidence, out of sight of the primary witnesses; and to break the chain of custody required for the body and associated evidence, including from an autopsy. This allowed for the manipulation, alteration, and fabrication of evidence. ”
My guess is the Washington people were acting out of arrogance more than anything else – the locals weren’t going to tell them what to do with the president’s body no matter what law and common sense dictated, thus bearing fruit to many conspiracy theories as well as legitimate questions.
Stephanie,
I agree that the removal of the president’s body from Dallas could have been at least partly driven by the arrogance of the Secret Service; however, that does not rule out the possibility that other actors could have been aiding and abetting the SS. As well, Mrs. Kennedy is said to have requested his body be removed to Bethesda Naval Hospital, because JFK had been a naval officer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_autopsy
Mrs. Kennedy is on record, both on tape and in Robert Caro’s LBJ biography, as being suspicious of Johnson and “Southern businessmen”. https://www.foxnews.com/us/jacqueline-kennedy-reportedly-believed-lyndon-b-johnson-behind-jfks-assassination
The fact that JFK’s brain is “missing” is perhaps also due to Kennedy family machinations. https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2013/oct/21/presidents-brain-missing-mislaid-body-parts
She was a typical Yankee Brahmin who dislike Southerners generally. I used to know a couple of her Auchincloss relatives.
Kilo 4/11,
Thank you for your reply. She was also quoted by friends as feeling embarrassed to have to keep going to LBJ in her widow’s weeds to ask him for this and that at RFK’s behest. Not sure I would like LBJ’s Southern businessmen friends either, they were a tough bunch.
My understanding is that Robert Kennedy had the brain destroyed so it wouldn’t become some sort of weird relic. I doubt if he was trying to hide anything. Understandable, but an important bit of evidence lost all the same. He once wondered aloud if CIA had killed his brother.
Had no opinion on this matter until I visited Dealey Plaza. Here are a few pertinent facts:
1. W/R to Oswald, was USMC trained. Participated in competitive marksmanship while he resided in Russia.
2. When the KGB archives were opened up, his marksmanship records showed they felt he was a mediocre performer.
3. I participated in USMC competitive marksmanship and was also a mediocre performer. I still was a much better shot than the average marine.
4. The distance from the fifth floor of the Texas Schoolbook Depository to JFK’s Limousine was less than one hundred yards when he fired upon it.
5. The vehicle was moving almost directly away from Oswald’s position, eliminating windage and lead considerations.
6. At that range the effect of elevation would have been negligible.
7. Overall, was impressed with what a small space was involved and…
8. In sum, an easy shot for a man of Oswald’s experience and skills.
Have no opinion on conspiracies -other than I tend to chalk things up to inepitude before I go the conspiracy route.
I read a theory that Oswald was deranged and delusional enough to believe that after the assassination he would be welcomed as a hero in Cuba and by other communists. Obviously, even the communists would want nothing to do with it. Murdering JFK or harboring his murderer would not have served their interests.
The only thing that makes me question it all is that Oswald was murdered. Dead men tell no tales, as they say. I wonder if he could have embarrassed someone, revealing himself as having some involvement with the CIA. That added to the theory he was murdered to cover up the involvement of others, but I think it was down to LBJ and his Dixie/mobbed up thugs being idiots (i.e., we do our own hanging).
An old friend and fellow journalist, Maurice “Mickey” Carroll, was actually in the photo of Ruby shooting Oswald. He wrote a small book on the shooting. Basically, Ruby had a gun because everyone carried guns in Texas back then. He was at a telegraph office near the police HQ and had just sent some money to a stripper who worked in his night club. If the wire had been delayed a couple of minutes, there would have been no shooting. The real question is why the Dallas police paraded the most hated man in America around in a place where anyone could walk in.
Never explain by conspiracy what you can explain by incompetence.
Agreed but the Corsican story is more fun.
So many Cover storys…IMO…My Question Is..
Who Brought the Known Traitor /Defector…Back From The USSR with His connected
(KGB) Russian Wife..With No Arrest for treason… Send him too Dallas..Set Him up
So He is in The Middle of Every thing Communist..Cuban and Russian.louisana /Miami Mafia….Give him a License to Kill.. He even Buys Guns on the nternet..How..?.. Hes a Traitor..Trained To Kill..
You Know He was Monitored. First.Approved ..to Shoot..Not Approved To Shoot..in Mexico… Shoots Anyhow To BEcome a HERO..For The Bears,,
he Did it…The evidence and Background are There..he Kills a Police officer on way Home
Tracked to Movie Theater..IDd..Arrested…Brought Out to Basement..Ruby knows Hes There.Rubys Connected .Why Else did He Go And How did He Get That Close..?? No Good Reason..Collusion..Eh..
The Same People that Got Epsteins Guards to Look the Other Way..and Failed to
Prevent 9/11…(By With holding Intelligence) Hidden by The Warren Commission and
Those Who Think We Cant Handle the Truth. It Scares Them Too,,,
I Think Leroy Went Rogue….Edgar Wiped His Face,,,Washed His Hands,,And
The Assassins Continued..Illegally.. For thier Own Agenda,,The One Plotted back
in the OSS Days..Perhaps…Look at The Results..My Analysis..Peeling The Onion..
JT
JT,
Lots of good questions in your post. The Kennedy assassination is one rabbit hole I’m avoiding going down for the time being; I’ve got other mysteries I want to finish working through first.
For the record, here’s where Oswald purchased his guns, a store that was four miles due east of the house I grew up in:
https://www.historicalfirearms.info/post/67795719622/oswalds-guns-in-early-1963-a-young-man-purchased
Note the M-1 Garand on sale for $89.95! Even allowing for inflation, that was not difficult for an average wage earning factory worker of that time to buy.
I favor Robert Willmann’s line of reasoning and what the House Committees learned and placed into the record.
Jim Garrison and Mark Lane were the first two who began to accumulate the evidence ignored or suppressed by the Warren Commission.
Garrison was pilloried by the media- especially by an NBC special that, through editing of his interview cut what he said to make him look like a nut. Yet he was an honest DA in a corrupt New Orleans, who knew where all the CIA, FBI, Cuban, Mafia, and other skeletons resided to find out they were doing, and his book “In Search of the Assassins” set future honest investigators on the right path.
I’m not talking about conspiracy theories- I’m talking about evidence. So, thank you Mr. Willmann writing this post and for providing sources for any serious student to study.
And thank you Col. Lang for having Mr. Willmann contribute to your website and this and many other occasions. He is a first rate lawyer who has always provided insightful legal analysis.