Warren Commission (05 of 26): Hearings Vol. V (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (05 of 26): Hearings Vol. V (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Dr. OLIVIER. Yes. Well, I don't know if I have that or not. We didn't
get them in all because some of these things deflect. No, I have no
exit velocity on this particular one.
Mr. SPECTER. What exit velocity did you get on the average?
Dr. OLIVIER. Average exit velocity was 1,776 feet per second. This was
for an average of seven. We did 10. We obtained velocity on seven.
Mr. SPECTER. Would the average reduction be approximately the same,
in your professional opinion, as to the bullet exiting from the wrist
depicted in 854 and 855?
Dr. OLIVIER. Somewhat. Let me give you the extremes of our velocities.
The highest one was 1,866 and the lowest was 1,664, so there was a
202-feet-per-second difference in the thing. Some of the cases bone was
missed, in other cases glancing blows. But I would say it is a close
approximation to what the exit velocity was on that particular one.
Mr. SPECTER. And what would the close approximation be, the average?
Dr. OLIVIER. The average.
Mr. SPECTER. Would you compare the damage, which was done to Governor
Connally's wrist, as contrasted with the damage to the wrist depicted
in 854 and 855?
Dr. OLIVIER. The damage in the wrist that you see in the X-ray on 854
and 855, the damage is greater than was done to the Governor's wrist.
There is more severe comminution here.
Mr. SPECTER. How much more severe is the comminution?
Dr. OLIVIER. Considerably more. If I remember correctly in the
X-rays of the Governor's wrist, I think there were only two or three
fragments, if that many. Here we have many, many small fragments.
Mr. SPECTER. In your opinion, based on the tests which you have
performed, was the damage inflicted on Governor Connally's wrist caused
by a pristine bullet, a bullet fired from the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle
6.5 missile which did not hit anything before it struck the Governor's
wrist?
Dr. OLIVIER. I don't believe so. I don't believe his wrist was struck
by a pristine bullet.
Mr. SPECTER. What is the reason for your conclusion on that?
Dr. OLIVIER. In this case I go by the size of the entrance wound and
exit wound on the Governor's wrist. The entrance wound was on the
dorsal surface, it was described by the surgeon as being much larger
than the exit wound. He said he almost overlooked that on the volar
aspect of the wrist.
In every instance we had a larger exit wound than an entrance wound
firing with a pristine bullet apparently at the same angle at which it
entered and exited the Governor's wrist.
Also, and I don't believe they were mixed up on which was entrance and
exit. For one thing the clothing, you know, the surgeon found pieces
of clothing and the other thing the human anatomy is such that I don't
believe it would enter through the volar aspect and out the top.
So I am pretty sure that the Governor's wrist was not hit by a pristine
or a stable bullet.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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