THE NECK [FIRST] BULLET WOUND

Neck wound High Treason II, Photo F1 Stare-of death. Photo F1 shows JFK’s face and neck from above and slightly to his right side. The neck wound was caused by the first bullet to hit JFK [about Z film 224] and according to the Parkland Doctors it was a round entry wound of 4 to 7 mm. Because the photo has no reference object of known size near the wound actual scale cannot be determined. An assumption must be made that JFK’s eye cornea was the average of about 1cm diameter then estimates of wound size can be made by measuring the cornea in the photo and calculating scale. [Emergency tracheotomies tend to be long so the 2” length and size of the trach wound does not matter to ballistic wound seen in the photo. I do not see any sign of postmortem wound alteration because the ballistic wound is visible thus the photo shows the true unaltered wound.] The neck bullet wound at the skin is clearly seen in photo F1 at the mid lower skin incision as a slight elongated “U” shape about 10 to 14 mm long. Since dia=cir/pi, a 6mm dia. circle would have an 18.8 mm circumference. Part of the bullet wound is also seen in the upper skin incision about 5 to 10 mm. Maximum wound circumference of 24 mm means a circle of 7.6 mm. It appears that if the skin were properly closed the bullet wound would be about 6mm and round or oval but this is educated speculation based upon difficult measurements from the photo. The photo confirms the Parkland Doctors estimate of wound size, 4 to 7 mm. By size alone this suggests an entry wound. The photo only suggests an entry wound skin margin as the actual skin edge thickness is not seen and the skin edges are rounded inward towards the wound [expected in this area of the neck]. The photos used in this study are not clear enough for a positive determination of direction based upon skin margin. An enlargement of the original photo would be useful. Exit wounds very greatly in size and shape tending to be large, generally about twice the actual bullet diameter for moderate to low velocity, with jagged non-compressed skin margins and are often star shaped or irregular. [See the goatskin test Warren Com. Exhibit 850, WC page 846 Volume 17.] Since most medium and low velocity exit wounds are about twice the size of the entry wound a 6mm wound could not be an exit wound. It is noted that, no exit wound signs are seen in the skin margins of photo F1 and the wound was small, 4 to 7 mm. The hole in the trachea is seen at the upper midline skin edge about 1 inch above the suprasternal notch. Note this is above the normal tie knot level. The trachea wound appears about 1 cm round with jagged edges but this would be due to surgical enlargement for the insertion of the trachea tube. This photo positively identifies the location of the neck wound above the necktie. [Note that the bullet did not hit the shirt and tie. The cuts in the clothing were made by a scalpel in order to remove the clothing, Cover-up by Shaw p.64 and other sources.] The Parkland Doctors have described the neck wound as having a circumferentially abraded margin about 6mm dia. High velocity exit wounds can be very large 3-6 inches. Entry wounds are generally about the same size and shape of the bullet at the time of impact. [Usually round and 1mm smaller than the bullet dia. due to elasticity of the skin.] Some {Spitz 3ed.} have claimed that this abraded margin was caused by the bullet exiting and passing though the tie thus confusing the Parkland Doctors. This is disinformation and cover-up since the bullet did not hit the tie, the circumferential entry abrasion described by the Parkland Doctors could only have been caused by an entry wound.
           
No determination of direction of the neck wound bullet can be made from the photo F1 other than: a neck entry wound is suggested and no exit wound signs are present. However the back wound in Photo F5 positively shows an exit wound, thus a frontal entry wound must exist in the neck in accordance with the Parkland Doctors.

Back to Table of Contents
Back to Frontal Shot(s)