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
The CHAIRMAN. You are speaking of the collar button itself, aren't you?
Mr. FRAZIER. The collar button.
The CHAIRMAN. Yes.
Mr. FRAZIER. In each instance for these holes, the one through the
button line and the one through the buttonhole line, the hole amounts
to a ragged slit approximately one-half inch in height. It is oriented
vertically, and the fibers of the cloth are protruding outward,
that is, have been pushed from the inside out. I could not actually
determine from the characteristics of the hole whether or not it
was caused by a bullet. However, I can say that it was caused by a
projectile of some type which exited from the shirt at that point and
that is again assuming that when I first examined the shirt it was--it
had not been altered from the condition it was in at the time the hole
was made.
Mr. SPECTER. What characteristics differ between the hole in the rear
of the shirt and the holes in the front of the shirt which lead you to
conclude that the hole in the rear of the shirt was caused by a bullet
but which are absent as to the holes in the front of the shirt?
Mr. FRAZIER. The hole in the front of the shirt does not have the round
characteristic shape caused by a round bullet entering cloth. It is an
irregular slit. It could have been caused by a round bullet, however,
since the cloth could have torn in a long slitlike way as the bullet
passed through it. But that is not specifically characteristic of a
bullethole to the extent that you could say it was to the exclusion of
being a piece of bone or some other type of projectile.
Mr. SPECTER. Have you now described all of the characteristics of the
front of the shirt holes which you consider to be important?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir.
Mr. DULLES. Could I ask one question there. If the bullet, after
entering, hit something that made it tumble or change, would that
account for this change in the appearance of the exit through the shirt?
Mr. FRAZIER. I think not. In my opinion it would not have been
necessary, if I may put it that way, for the bullet to have turned
sideways or partially sideways in order to make an elongated hole.
Mr. DULLES. I see.
Mr. FRAZIER. I think the effect in the front of the shirt is due more
to the strength of the material being more in the horizontal rather
than the vertical direction which caused the cloth to tear vertically
rather than due to a change in the shape or size of the bullet or
projectile.
Mr. DULLES. Or possibly the velocity of the bullet at that place, would
that have anything to do with it?
Mr. FRAZIER. I think the hole would not have been affected unless it
was a very large change in velocity.
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