A CASE FOR A NEW AUTOPSY
By William Kelly (billkelly3@gmail.com)
The victim was murdered, gunned down on the street in broad
daylight in front of hundreds of witnesses.
The cause of death - a bullet to the head, was determined by an
autopsy. But after that fact was clearly established, there is
complete legal confusion - as the body was improperly removed from
the state where the murder occurred before there was a proper
forensic autopsy, as required by law. Rather than a proper forensic
autopsy – which creates certified evidence that can be used in a
court of law, a less thorough regular autopsy was performed, the
purpose of which was to determine the cause of death - gunshot to the
head.
But there were three different autopsy reports prepared, the
doctors who conducted the autopsy did not talk about the wounds with
the emergency room doctors who treated them, and there were two brain
exams, one of a brain that was not that of the victim.
The photos, x-rays and reports of the autopsy could not be
introduced as evidence in a court of law because the technicians who
took the photos and x-rays could not identify them as the ones they
created, so the provenance - the chain of evidence from the scene of
the crime to the grave, is broken and lost, much like our history.
If the victim was an unknown bum found dead in a street gutter
and his death was considered suspicious, his remains would be
routinely exhumed and given a proper forensic autopsy - one that
would produce photos, x-rays and reports that could be introduced as
evidence in a court of law.
But justice has been thwarted in this case because the victim was
the President of the United States named John F. Kennedy, and
political forces have intervened to prevent a proper legal resolution
of the case and keep the truth from being known.
The details of the original, botched autopsy are well known. When
the doctors in the emergency room at Parkland Hospital in Dallas
viewed the wounds within minutes after they were inflicted, they only
examined the throat and head wounds. The throat wound they assumed,
because of its small size, to be one of entrance, and it was enlarged
to insert breathing tubes.
The head wound, as all the Parkland doctors agreed, was a large,
grapefruit sized whole in the back of the head, indicating an exit
wound, and a flap of bone and flesh on the side of the head above the
ear exposed the brain. The large, gaping hole in the back of the
President’s head was also confirmed by Secret Service agent Clint
Hill, who twice viewed it and confirmed its existence.
Because the President was lying on his back on the hospital
gurney,and the nature of the head wounds precluded his survival, the
Parkland doctors didn’t turn him over and didn't know there was
also an entrance wound in the back, about six inches below the neck.
They did however, find a nearly pristine bullet on a gurney that
may have been used by to wheel the President or Texas Governor John
Connally into the emergency room.
The autopsy doctors, when they discovered the entrance wound in
the back, found that the bullet only penetrated a few inches, less
than a finger, and the bullet probably fell out and was the one
discovered on the gurney at Parkland. A four star military
general ordered the doctors not to track the full extent of the back
wound.
The next day the autopsy doctors were surprised to learn that the
Parkland emergency doctors had enlarged an already existing throat
wound – which they believed to be an entrance wound, so it was
realized that, even though their conclusion as to the cause of death
- gunshot to the head, was correct, the rest of their report was
invalid as more information became available from witnesses at
Parkland.
Eventually the official report on the assassination concluded that
the back wound was not a superficial, two inch deep wound, but did in
fact transit the victim and exited his throat, and then inflicted all
of the wounds on Governor Connally in the jump seat in front of the
President, creating the “Single Bullet Theory,” which is required
if all of the wounds were by one gunman shooting from behind.
The House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA)
investigated the murder in the late 1970s and in the 1990s the Assassination
Records Review Board (ARRB) questioned the doctors, photographers and
x-ray technicians. They testified that could not recognize their
work, sometimes explaining that the photos in evidence could not have
been the ones they took because they were of a different type of film
and not from the angles of the photos they took.
In retrospect, everyone with any knowledge of the Bethesda
Naval Hospital autopsy agrees that it was a medical and legal
abortion, and all of the autopsy reports, exams, x-rays and photos
have lost their chain of possession and the provenance necessary for
them to be introduced into evidence in a court of law.
Because the cause of death was a “gunshot to the head,”
and therefore a murder, this case certainly meets the “suspicious
death” threshold necessary for the law to require a new, proper
forensic autopsy, one that would answer all outstanding questions and
recreate the lost provenance of the chain of evidence in the case.
But since the victim is not an ordinary American citizen, but the
President of the United States, the laws, rules and standards are
considered different - and rather than give the President the best
and most thorough autopsy he deserves, observance of the law is
relegated to the feelings of the Kennedy family.
In a press release for the NOVA TV science program Cold Case JFK
it is noted that, “Renowned JFK assassination expert and professor
John McAdamas weighs in on the findings of the Warren Commission ,
the deficiencies of the medical and autopsy evidence, and the lack of
understanding on the part of the Kennedy camp on the need for a
forensic autopsy at the time..”
Indeed, a forensic autopsy is what is needed, and it is one that
can and should be done today, in honor of the president on the
fiftieth anniversary of his murder.
Society gives the family primary control over the body of the
deceased, yet in many cases a coroner, district attorney or grand
jury has the power to order the exhumation of a body for a forensic
autopsy, especially in the case of a suspicious death or homicide.
In an academic presentation on the subject of a new autopsy at a 2003 Conference, the topic should have been presented in an objective,
unbiased fashion, but instead, an emotional appeal was made to
respect the Kennedy family, to honor the revered dead and let them
rest in peace.
Well, the revered dead are turning over in their graves and will
never rest in peace, and neither will we, until the total truth is
determined, including the answers to the many questions concerning
the medical evidence and botched autopsy of the President.
The first objection to a proper forensic autopsy is the feelings
of the Kennedy family, and like the decision of the Connally family
at the death of John Connally, not to permit an autopsy, it has
always been assumed that the Kennedy family would also oppose a new,
proper forensic autopsy.
John Connally and his wife were sitting just in front of President
Kennedy and he was wounded in the same barrage of bullets. They never
believed the “single bullet theory,” and it has been suggested
that there is more lead in Connally's wrist than is missing from the
so-called “magic bullet.”
When Connally died the Justice Department requested the bullet
fragments be removed, but the request was denied by the Connally
family.
When the Department of Justice agreed to request of John T. Orr,
Jr. one of the most respected federal attorneys, to subject bullet fragments
CE567 to further tests, they also noted in a memo for the record
that: “...It is our view that the Department (of Justice) has retained
investigative jurisdiction over the assassination,
though such
investigation is restricted to activities which are not based upon
the expectation of an eventual federal prosecution. Thus, the
examination of evidence in federal possession is seemingly
appropriate, [while] obtaining evidence by grand jury subpoena would
likely be inappropriate. This position was adopted by the Division
and endorsed b the Office of the Deputy Attorney General when we
declined to seek a court order for exhumation of former Governor
Connally’s body following allegations that bullet fragments
remaining in his body from the incident would reveal, by weight or
composition, the existence of additional bullets.” [For more
on CE567 see:
http://jfkcountercoup2.blogspot.com/2012/03/re-wc-ce-567-bullet-fragment-found.html]
Though no one has actually asked them, like the Connallys, it has always been assumed that the Kennedys will deny such a
request as well.
That may have been the case with the previous generation who
witnessed the public exhumation and butchering of the body of Lee
Harvey Oswald, which was done to positively establish his identity.
But today a proper forensic autopsy can be conducted with dignity,
it can answer many of the outstanding questions, legally
reestablish the provenance of the medical evidence in the case and reconnect the truth to history.
In fact, with today's modern scientific techniques and equipment,
the body can be photographed, x-rayed and given MRI and similar
non-intrusive surveys so that the body does not have to be touched or probed.
These photographs, x-rays and scans will not be gruesome, but are
like works of art, and will be studied by forensic science students
for generations into the future.
Now that the Kennedy family is led by a new generation who are
interested in public service, they should allow for the legal
process, established by the Constitution, to function as it should,
and permit a proper forensic autopsy, not only in the interest of the
Kennedy family, but in the best interests of the nation.
SOME OF THE RESPONSE TO THIS ARTICLE:
Bill:
Your discussion re the original JFK autopsy and the legal /forensic
scientific basis for proposing an exhumation examination are quite
valid and clearly stated.
Based upon my 51 years as a practicing forensic pathologist who has
performed approximately 18,000 autopsies and reviewed, supervised, or
has been consulted on approximately 36.000 other post-mortem
examinations, I can state that you are correct in your assertion that
such an exhumation and repeat autopsy would be undertaken if the
scenario you have set forth involved some “run-of-the-mill”
citizen. [In fact, I have personally performed about 30-36 such
examinations in my years of practice].
Although I very much doubt that either the Kennedy family [i.e.,
Caroline] or the US government will ever agree to have this done,
there is no reason why the well-reasoned argument you have set forth
should not be proposed in appropriate fashion, i.e., with utmost
respect and buttressed with solid, unarguable forensic
scientific/legal reasoning.
MRI and CT Scan in a virtual autopsy fashion. Along with careful,
detailed, precisely measured visual external examination could
provide us with all the necessary information without having to
perform any further dissection.
As part of such a dignified “campaign”, why not also pursue the
mystery of the missing brain? Since I publicly revealed this in
August 1972, nobody has officially and formally accounted
for the “disappearance” of this vital piece of evidence.
Keep me posted on how you intend to pursue this matter.
Best wishes.
Cyril
Cyril H. Wecht, M.D., J.D.
Also thanks to Gary Mack for this note and calling our attention to the cemetery's policy that permits reinterment by order of a court with proper jurisdiction or with permission of the family, and without any cost to the government. While an order from a court is more likely, if the family permits, the costs would be offset by most of those involved working pro bono.
Gary Mack notes:
While she's alive it cannot happen without Caroline's approval and
Bill's payment of all costs involved:
http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=13664
And here are the pages with the relevant legal
information: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-1998-title38-vol1/pdf/CFR-1998-title38-vol1-sec1-621.pdf
It seems to me we've had 50 years of personal interpretations of
what documents and information mean to CTs, but there's no
significant proof of anything other than Oswald being the killer and
having a really strange history that may not have been fully
revealed.
By the way, the only reason the Connally family declined an
autopsy was because they were asked AT the grave site services. Had
the request gotten to them sooner, and the FBI did make a very good
effort as a result of a plea from or through Jim Lesar, they would
have considered it. And yes, I've asked that question of a
family member and another very closely connected to Governor
Connally.
For more on Lesar and FBI inquiry see:
JFKCountercoup2: Connally Bullet Fragments
Gary Mack
Department of Veterans Affairs (p.75)
www.gpo.gov/fdsy/pkg/CFR-1998-title38-vol1-sec1-621.pdf
1.621 Disinterment from national cemeteries.
(a) Interments of eligible decedents in national cemeteries are
considered permanent and final. Disinterment will be permitted only
for cogent reasons and with the prior written authorization of the
National Cemetery Area Office Director or Cemetery Director
responsible for the cemetery involved. Disinterment from a national
cemetery will be approved only when all living immediate family
members of the decedent, and the person who initiated the interment
(whether or not he or she is a member of the immediate family), give
their written consent,
or when a court order or State
instrumentality of competent jurisdiction directs the disinterment.
For purposes of this section, “immediate family members” are
defined as surviving spuse, whether or not he or she is married; all
adult children of the decedent; the appointed guardian(s) of minor
children; and the appointed guardian(s) of the surviving spouse or of
the adult child(ren) of the decedent. If the surviving spouse and all
of the children of the decedent are deceased, the decedent's parents
will be considered “immediate family members.”
(b) All requests for authority to disinter remains will be
submitted on VA Form 40-4970. Reauests for Disinterment, and will
include the following information:
- A full statement of reasons for the proposed disinterment.
- Notarized statement(s) by all living immediate family members
of the decedent, and the person who initiated the interment (whether
or not he or she is a member of the immediate family), that they
consent to the proposed disinterment.
- A notarized statement by the person requesting the
disinterment that those who supplied affidavits comprise all of the
living immediate family members of the deceased.
(Authority :38 U.S.C.2404
lieu of the documents required in
paragraph (b) of this section, an order of a court of competent
jurisdiction will be considered.
(d) Any disinterment that may be authorized under this section
must be accomplished without expense to the government.
(The reporting and record keeping requirements in paragraph (b)
have been approved by the Office of Management under OMB control
number 2900-0365)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)