table of coutents - harold weisbergjfk.hood.edu/collection/weisberg subject index files/f...
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Table of Coutents PAGE
Review of the Forensic Science Examinations Embodied in the Warren Commission Report
' Introductory Remarks 259
Charles A. McInerney, A,B
The Warren Commission : Report and Hearings 261 . James A. Osterberg, MPA
Assassin Forger 272 Alwyn Cole
Psychiatric Observations on the Warren Commission Report ' 289
Maier Tuchler, M.D.
A Critique of the Medical Aspects of the Investigation into the Assassination of President Kennedy 300
Cyril Wecht, M.D., LL.B.
A Legal Demurrer to the Report of the Warren Com- mission 318
Jay Schwartz, B.S., J.D.
Historical Research, Document Examination and Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria 330
David A. Crown, M.Crim
General Criminalistics in the Courtroom 358
Lowell W. Bradford, B.Sc
Further Observations on Murdering Mothers 373
Werner Tuteur, M.D. and Jacob Matzen M.A
Volume 11, Number 3, July 15GG. JOURNAL OP FORENSIC SCIENCES is puldislied In January, April, July and October by Callaghan & Company at 185 North Archer Avenue, Mundelein, Illinois 00080. Subscription price 325.00 a year, Entered as second-class matter January 17, 1358 at the post office In Mundelein. Illinois, under the Act of March 3, 1873. Copyright 19811 by Callaghan & Company. All rights reserved.
111
JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES
Official Publication of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences
MORTON F. MASON, Ph.D., Editor Dallas, Toxas
OFFICERS EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS
President
ROBERT B. FORNEY, Ph.D. Indianapolis, Indiana
President-Elect
JACK L. SACHS, LL.B. Chicago, Illinois
Secretary-Treasurer
SAMUEL R. GERBER, M.D. Cleveland, Ohio
DESIGNATED MEMBERS OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
DONALD DOUB Milwaukee, Wis.
Questioned Documents
GEORGE E. HALL, J.D. Chicago, III.
Jurisprudence
THEODORE J. CURPHEY, M.D. Los Angeles, Cal.
Pathology
DWIGHT M. PALMER, M.D. MARY E. COWAN, B.Sc.
Columbus, Ohio Cleveland, Ohio
CHARLES S. PETTY, M.D. Criminalistics . Baltimore, Maryland
MAIER I. MOHLER, M.D. PHILLIP STURGEON, M.D.
Phoenix, Arizona Pacific Palisades, Cal.
CHARLES M. WILSON Immunology
Madison, Wisconsin
The Journal of Forensic Sciences is the official publication of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. It is devoted to the publica-tion of original investigations and observations in the various branches of the forensic sciences; these include forensic pathology, toxicology, psychiatry, immunology, jurisprudence, criminalistics and questioned documents. The journal will be published quarterly, one volume of four issues appearing each year.
Reviow of the Forensic Science Examina dons Embodied in the Warr Commission Report (A. Panel Discussion) *
Introductory Remarks **
Charles A. McInerney, A.B.*" Moderator, Pittsburgh., Penn-sylvania
In the view of ninny, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences would be remiss if it failed to treat this timely topic, The Forensic Science Examinations Embodied in the Warren Commission Report. It is the opportunity to evaluate the work-ings of a fact-finding body in a case which is familiar to alt. More important, it is an opportunity to study the workings of a commission that had the unique opportunity to investigate a sequence of criminal activities under the optimum condition of unlimited resources in personnel and facilities. The whole of the talents in academic and technical communities of the country, as well as the services of federal agencies, were available to it.
For purposes of this panel discussion it is assumed that all of those present have better than a cursory knowledge of the events surrounding the assassination of President Kennedy. Valuable time, therefore, will not be utilized with a chrono-logical summation. Nor will time be spent in discussing those problems, such as protection and security, which do not fit comfortably into the normal province of this Academy.
The panelists have made an evaluation of the report from the perspectives of their separate disciplines. The approach
* Presented at the Eighteenth Annual lleeting of the American Academy of Foreasie Sciences, Chicago, Illinois, February 24, 1900.
"Received for publication April 9, 1966- Accepted for publication April 10, 1966.
"* Director, Pittsburgh and Allegheny County Crime Laboratory, Pitts-burgh, Pennsylvania.
Vol. 11 • No. 3 259
JOIJR
AN
A 1. O
P l'O
RE
NS
IG S
CIE
NC
ES
PA
GE
S
udden
Death
Due to
Endocard
ial Fib
roelaslo
sis: A C
ase R
eport
334
Brian. D
. Illackboarne, M.D
. and R
obert M. ?ailing „
11.D.
Potassiu
m C
onten
t of th
e Vitreo
us B
ody as an
Aid
in D
eter- m
inin
g th
e Tim
e of D
eath
390
L. 1 fansson, M
.A., ll. U
otila, Ph.D
., M.D
,
R. L
indfors, M.D
. and K. L
aiho, M.D
In
jurie
s of th
e V
erte
bra
l Arte
ry
390 P
otondi, M.1)., P
. Bunn H
e, M.D
. and N
. Kapusz,
Trich
luro
ethan
e Into
xicatio
n: R
eport o
f Tw
o C
ases 4
04
Y. B
. Unit, M
.A. and C
. H. H
ine, M.D
., Ph.D
T
echnical S
ection
Poisoni..,; by V
olatile Com
pounds II. C
hlo
rinate
d A
liphatic
hydro
carb
ons
41.4
R. B
on nichscn, M.D
. and A. C
. Machly, P
h.D
Iden
tification o
f Therap
eutically
Sig
nifican
t Org
anic
Bases b
y T
hin
-Lay
er Chro
mato
grap
hy
423
Irving Sunshine, Ph.D
., Winslow
TV
. Pike, P
h.D.
and Halle L
andcsman, B
.A.
JOU
RN
AL
OF
' FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
O
fficial Publicatio
n o
f the A
merican
Acad
emy o
f Foro
ode :F
ri-aces M
UR
TO
N F
. .'.I AS
O'S
, Ph.D
., Editor
Dallas, T
exas
SAm
tIm. A
. LE
VIN
SON
, M.D
., Ph.D
., Book R
eview E
ditor C
hicago, Illinois
OF
FIC
ER
S
ED
ITO
RIA
L
CO
N:3U
LT
AN
T5
President
DO
NA
LD D
oco JA
CK
L. S
mits, L
L.B
. M
ilwaukee, W
is. C
hicago, Illinois W
ixsoie C. M
ona/411,3f. P
reside re t-Fdeet
Om
aha, Nebraska
Ctram
.F.s S. PET
TY
, M.D
. B
altimore, 13(tuyIand
DO
N T
werp!: M
ims, M
.D., L
L.B
. L
os Angeles, C
alifornia
Crtiatr.m
s S. PET
TY
, M.D
. B
altimore, M
aryland
CA
LE
W
u.som, M
.D.
Seattle, W
ashington
lilt,turOim
, B.S.
Ban.jose, C
alifornia
'AR
RY
LirtO
N, M
.D.
Atlanta, G
eorgia
DW
RN
IT M
. PALM
ER, M
.D.
Colum
bus, Ohio
IavIN0 SU
NSIIIN
F!, Ph.D
. C
leveland, Ohio
Km
' M. D
tramvsm
, Ph.D
. O
klahoma C
ity, Oklahom
a
The Jo
urn
al of F
oren
sic Scien
ces is the o
fficial pullieatio
n of
the A
merican
Acad
emy o
f looro
nsic S
ciences. T
i is dev
oted
to th
e publicatio
n o
f orig
inal in
vestig
ations n
od o
hs'erv
ations in
the
vario
us b
ranch
es of th
e foren
sic sciences; th
ose in
clude fo
rensic
palh
olo
gy, to
xico
logy, p
sych
iatry, L
mm
inolo
gy,
crimin
alisties and q
uestio
ned
docu
monte.. T
he jo
ur cal
publish
ed q
uarterly
, one v
olu
me
of
four issu
es a pp.,:trim
.: etch
y Ott%
-A
rt iv
GE
otmal E
. lam., J.1).
Chicago, Ill.
Secretary-Treasurer
Sam
mt. R
. GER
BER
, M.D
. C
leveland, Ohio
DF
.SIG
NA
TE
D M
EM
BE
RS
OF
E
XE
CU
TIV
E C
OM
MIT
TE
E
LOW
ELL BRAD
FORD
, 13.5. S
an Jose, California
KU
RT
M. D
UB
OW
SKI, P
h.D.
Oklahom
a City, O
klahoma
RO
DE
NT 13. F
OR
NE
Y, P
h.D.
Indianapolis, Indiana
MA
I Flt 1. TucilL
Ett, M
.D.
Phoenix, A
rizona
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
is academ
ic; therefo
re, discip
lined
. There is n
o sp
ecific pu
r-pose to
impugn th
e judgm
ent o
f the W
arren C
om
missio
n, or
to underm
ine th
e United
States g
overn
men
t, or to
enco
urag
e any extrem
ist views of conspiracy.
This is a critiq
ue b
y p
anelists, an
of w
hom
are well qualified
in th
e areas explo
red in
their• d
iscussio
ns. In
those in
stances
where th
e particip
ants treat th
eir subject h
arshly
, these sh
ould
be reco
gnized
as natu
ral conseq
uen
ces of learn
ed, o
bjectiv
e stu
dies, to
tally co
nsisten
t with
the aim
s of th
e Acad
emy to
ad
van
ce the ap
plicatio
n o
f foren
sic sciences. In
fact, the n
ature
of th
is sym
posiu
m is n
ot ap
preciab
ly d
ifferent th
an so
me
presen
ted in
form
er years w
here real case situ
ation
s pro
vid
ed
the basis for panel discussions and mock trials.
Som
e of th
e questio
ns to
be co
nsid
ered are: W
as every
thin
g
done that could have been done? Was anything done that should
no
t hav
e been
clon
e? Were th
e "exp
ert" witn
esses truly
exp
ert? S
ho
uld
additio
nal in
dep
end
ent w
itnesses h
ave b
een co
nsu
lted?
101 C
ourt Iro
use
Pittsb
urg
h, P
enn
sylv
ania 1
52
19
TH
E W
AR
RE
N C
OM
MISSIO
N:
Report and H
earings*
A C
om
lnen
tary o
u Issu
es of Im
po
rtance in
the S
tud
y
of In
vestig
ation an
d C
rimin
alisties
Jam
es W. a
ssob
urg
, MP
A"
The literatu
re of crim
inal in
vestig
ation is sp
arse indeed
. For
this reason alone the Warren C
omm
ission Report is a docum
ent of lan
dm
ark p
roportio
ns. H
ow
ever, th
e inheren
t importan
ce of
the inquiry and the not inconsiderable sum spent by the govern-
men
t to co
nsu
mm
ate the in
vestig
ation are o
ther asp
ects that
con
tribu
te to its sig
nifican
ce. Sin
ce the rep
ort is b
ased o
n a
pro
cedure w
hich
is neith
er• pure crim
inal in
vestig
ation, a trial,
or o
ther reg
ular ju
dicial p
rocess, it affo
rds an
op
po
rtun
ity to
ex
amin
e the n
ature o
f the in
vestig
ative fu
nctio
n an
d to
inquire
wh
ether th
e mean
s cho
sen w
ere the b
est of th
e po
ssible altern
a-tives. In the sub-specialties of forensic science: pathology, crim
i-n
alistics, qu
estion
ed d
ocu
men
ts, and
psy
chiatry
, the p
rinted
testim
on
y rev
eals the state o
f exp
ertise that w
as availab
le at th
e time fo
r this—
the m
ost d
eman
din
g h
om
icide in
vestig
ation
ever u
ndertak
en. A
close read
ing o
f the testim
ony o
f som
e of
the experts utilized, at least in criminaiistics, su
gg
ests that th
ere are so
me areas in
wh
ich th
e basic research
necessary
for th
e objectiv
e evalu
ation o
f evid
ence h
as yet to
be p
erform
ed. In
short, the W
arren Com
mission R
eport is a document of prim
ary im
portan
ce to th
ose w
ho are serio
usly
engag
ed in
the stu
dy o
f the investigative process.
'Presen
ted at th
e Eig
hteen
th A
nn
ual M
eeting
of th
e merlean
Acad
emy
o
f Po
rtman
: Scien
ces, Ch
icago
, Illino
is, Feb
ruary
2-1
, 19
08
. Accep
ted fo
r publication M
ay 28, 19013. *' D
epartm
ent o
f Police A
thuin
itilraLio
n, In
dian
a TJn
ieer,:ity, B
loom
ingto
n,
Indian
a.
24
0
July
1956 V
ol. it • N
o. 3
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
The C
omm
ission was created by P
resident Lyndon B
. Johnson on N
ovem
ber 2
9, 1
963 b
y E
xecu
tive O
rder N
o. 1
1130. T
his
measu
re to in
vestig
ate the assassin
ation o
f Presid
ent Jo
hn F
. K
ennedy on Novem
ber 22, 1963 was undertaken because
Thro
ughout th
e world
, reports o
n th
ese even
ts were d
issemin
ated in
m
assive d
etail. Th
eories an
d sp
eculatio
ns m
ou
nted
regard
ing
the as-
sassinatio
n. In
man
y in
stances, th
e inten
se pub
lic dem
and
for facts
was m
et by p
artial and freq
uen
tly co
nflictin
g rep
orts fro
m D
allas and
elsewhere. A
fter Osw
ald's arrest an
d h
is den
ial of g
uilt, p
ublic atten
-tio
n fo
cused
both
on th
e exten
t of th
e evid
ence ag
ainst h
im an
d th
e possib
ility o
f a consp
iracy, d
om
estic or fo
reign. H
is subseq
uen
t death
heig
hten
ed p
ublic in
terest and stim
ulated
additio
nal su
spicio
ns an
d
rumors (I).
Thus sp
eculatio
n, su
spicio
n, ru
mor, an
d co
nflictin
g rep
orts—
official an
d u
nofficial—
were elem
ents o
f the festerin
g d
oubt
among p
eoples ev
eryw
here in
the w
orld
. How
best to
resolv
e th
is doubt w
as a questio
n th
at required
an im
med
iate answ
er. S
everal p
roced
ures—
inclu
din
g a co
urt o
f inquiry
befo
re a
Tex
as state mag
istrate, a gran
d ju
ry in
vestig
ation in
Dallas
County
, Tex
as, and h
earings b
efore C
ongressio
nal co
mm
ittees of b
oth
houses—
were u
nder co
nsid
eration at o
ne tim
e or an
-oth
er (2). T
he p
rosp
ects for a d
efinitiv
e answ
er from
any o
r all su
ch m
ethods o
f inquiry
were slim
indeed
. The P
residen
t's appointm
ent of the Warren C
omm
ission was a deliberate alterna-
tive that
sought to
avoid
parallel in
vestig
ations an
d to
concen
trate fact findin
g
in a body having the broadest national mandate (3).
The C
om
missio
n w
as giv
en tw
o im
portan
t investig
ative
weapons, viz., the pow
er
to issue subpoenas requiring the testimony of w
itnesses and the produc-tio
n o
f evid
ence
relating to
any m
atter und...• its in
vestig
ation. In
ad
ditio
n, . . . (it co
uld
) . . . com
pel testim
ony fro
m w
itnesses claim
-in
g th
e priv
ilege ag
ainst self-in
crimin
ation u
nder th
e fifth am
endm
ent
to th
e U. S
. Constitu
tion b
y p
rovid
ing fo
r the g
rant o
f imm
unity
to
persons testifying under such compulsion (4).
In addition,
All F
edera
l Agencie
s . . . (were
) . . . dire
cte
d to
furn
ish se
rvic
es
and co
operatio
n to
the
Special
Com
missio
n. T
he C
om
missio
n . . .
(was) . . . also
empow
ered to
conduct an
y fu
rther in
vestig
ation th
at it deem
ed desirable (6).
WA
RR
EN
RE
PO
RT
. CO
MM
EN
T O
F A
CR
IMIN
AL
IST
It would
seem th
at the au
thority
and reso
urces o
f the C
om
mis-
sion were com
mensurate w
ith its responsibility to
study an
d rep
ort u
pon all facts an
d circu
mstan
ces relating to
the
assassinatio
n o
f the late P
residen
t, John F
. Ken
ned
y, an
d th
e subse-
quen
t vio
lent d
eath o
f the m
an ch
arged
with
the assassin
ation (6
).
How
the C
om
missio
n p
roceed
ed in
ord
er to acco
mplish
its objectiv
e and h
ow
well it su
cceeded
are two q
uestio
ns o
f great
interest to anyone concerned with the investigative process. T
he C
omm
ission in its report discusses the procedural question : T
he C
om
missio
n h
as functio
ned
neith
er as a court p
residin
g o
ver an
ad
versary
pro
ceedin
g n
or as a p
rosecu
tor d
etermin
ed to
pro
ve a case,
but as a fact fin
din
g ag
ency
com
mitted
to th
e ascertainm
ent o
f the
truth
. In th
e course o
f the in
vestig
ation o
f the facts an
d ru
mors su
r-ro
undin
g th
ese matters, it w
as necessary
to ex
plo
re hearsay
and o
ther
sources o
f info
rmatio
n n
ot ad
missib
le in a co
urt p
roceed
ing o
btain
ed
from
perso
ns w
ho saw
or h
eard an
d o
thei in
a
positio
n to
observ
e w
hat o
ccurred
(7).
The q
uestio
n o
f how
well it su
cceeded
is more d
ifficult to
ap-
praise. T
he d
ata disclo
sed th
rough a sp
ecial surv
ey m
ade b
y
Louis H
arris of a cro
ss-section o
f the A
merican
public sh
ortly
after th
e release of th
e report is p
ossib
ly su
ggestiv
e of its su
c-cess. T
he q
uestio
n an
d resp
onse (in
part) w
ere as follo
ws:
The su
rvey
, com
pleted
after the issu
ance o
f the co
mm
ission
repo
rt, fol-
low
ed an
earlier one tak
en ju
st prio
r to release o
f the rep
ort. P
eople
were ask
ed: F
rom
what y
ou h
ave read
or h
eard, d
o y
ou feel th
e full
story
is in th
e Warren
Com
missio
n R
eport? O
r do y
ou th
ink th
ere are still a lo
t of u
nan
swered
questio
ns ab
out w
ho k
illed P
residen
t John
Kennedy and how
it was clone? (8
).
Percent
Full sto
ry in
report
45 S
till unan
swered
questio
ns
45 N
ot sure 10
Any in
vestig
ation w
hich
fails to satisfy
55 p
ercent o
f those fo
r w
hom
it was m
ade can
hard
ly b
e desig
nated
as outstan
din
g
success. It w
ould
be in
teresting to
repeat th
e poll to
learn w
hat
change, if any, has occurred with tim
e. S
everal carp
ing essay
ists hav
e left a legacy
of critical co
m-
mentary on the fact-finding and explanations offered by the vari-
ous official governmental agencies, including the W
arren Corn-
R62 July 1966
Vol. IA
• N
o. 3
2,63
J H
L U
r U &
KB
SO
LE
NO
ES
missio
n (9
, 10
, 11
). Co
ntrib
utin
g to
this sk
epticism
is the fact
that th
e Com
missio
n, d
espite th
e hig
h q
uality
of its m
embers,
was n
everth
eless a case of th
e gov
ernm
ent in
vestig
ating
itself. T
o w
hat ex
tent su
ch in
credulity
would
hav
e been
mollified
had
greater use been m
ade of nongovernmental investigators is diffi-
cult to
assess. Certain
ly a co
gen
t argum
ent can
be m
ade th
at an
indep
enden
t review
by au
tonom
ous in
vestig
ators, an
d research
sch
olars w
ould
hav
e mad
e for g
reater confid
ence in
the C
orn
-m
ission
repo
rt. Un
fortu
nately
the su
gg
estion
that su
ch p
eop
le m
ight be used in the following m
anner:
To
assist in th
e review
of th
e case as to th
e com
preh
ensiv
eness o
f the
investig
ation. W
ere any in
vestig
ative lead
s not p
ursu
ed to
the u
lti-m
ate? Were an
y o
verlo
ok
ed? A
n o
bjectiv
e, ind
epen
den
t aud
it of th
e in
vestig
ative p
roced
ures b
y p
eop
le com
peten
t in th
e field o
f inv
estiga-
tive ad
min
istration
is a majo
r con
sideratio
n fo
r yo
ur co
mm
ission
(12
).
was rejected
by th
e Gen
eral Counsel fo
r the C
om
missio
n w
ith
the statement that
. . we are h
opefu
l that th
e review
of th
e underly
ing in
vestig
ative
materials b
y ex
perien
ced m
embers o
f our staff w
ill be ad
equate to
en
sure th
at the in
vestig
ation
is tho
rou
gh
and
accurate (1
3).
The dem
ands of good scholarship should have been no different in
this in
quiry
than
they
will b
e when
the m
atter passes fro
m
con
temp
orary
interest to
the co
ncern
of h
istorio
grap
hers. U
n-
fortu
nately
little use w
as mad
e of su
ch sch
olarly
resou
rces and
th
e work
of th
e Com
missio
n is th
e weak
er for it. P
erhap
s, to
paraphrase Clem
enceau, investigation was too im
portant to leave to law
yers! A
n example of scholarly concern w
ith the investigative process is seen
in th
e pap
er by P
rofesso
r William
P. B
row
n (1
4). H
e has su
ggested
that th
e Presid
ent's assassin
ation m
ust b
e re-garded as one of a class of "crim
es of national significance" and th
at in th
ese cases our decentralized policing leaves an obvious gap
in th
e resources an
d co
mpeten
ce necessary
. to d
eal effec-tiv
ely w
ith th
em. F
ollo
win
g a d
iscussio
n o
f how
it would
be
possib
le to im
pro
ve g
reatly fu
ture p
erform
ance in
such
cases th
rough in
stitutio
nalized
investig
ative resp
onsib
ility, h
e furth
er su
ggests th
at the p
reven
tion o
f any sim
ilar travesty
of ju
stice w
ould he
WA
RR
EN
RE
PO
RT
, CO
MM
V.N
T O
F A
CR
IMIN
AL
IST
an ap
pro
priate trib
ute to
that g
reat Am
erican w
ho
se death
has b
rou
gh
t to
ou
r attentio
n th
is flaw in
the ad
min
istration
of A
merican
crimin
al justice (1
6).
Th
e assassinatio
n o
f hig
h fed
eral officials h
as since b
een tak
en
care of. Under legislation passed in 1965, this w
ould presumably
be a sim
ple fed
eral offen
se (like treaso
n) in
vestig
ated an
d
pro
secuted
in a ro
utin
e way
by reg
ular fed
eral agen
cies. T
he p
roblem
remain
s how
ever o
f dealin
g effectiv
ely w
ith
oth
er crimes o
f natio
nal sig
nifican
ce such
as the assassin
ation
of foreign dignitaries on our soil.
GE
NE
RA
L C
OM
ME
NT
AR
Y
An ab
undan
ce of p
hysical ev
iden
ce was av
ailable to
the in
-vestig
ators o
f the assassin
ation o
f Presid
ent K
enned
y. F
or ex
-am
ple
, the fo
llow
ing
typ
es o
f clu
e m
ate
rial w
ere
fou
nd
: Im
pressio
ns—
fing
erprin
ts and
palm
prin
ts; hairs an
d fib
ers ; ballistics—
bullets, cartrid
ges, a rifle, a b
ullet h
ole in
glass, an
d
pow
der resid
ue; d
ocu
men
ts—han
dw
riting, p
aper, an
d g
um
med
tape; m
iscellaneous—a photographic negative, w
hose source had to be determ
ined. The profusion of physical evidence, recognized
and collected in the Kennedy case, is at least in part attributable
to the resources which w
ere poured into the investigation. It is in
teresting
to sp
eculate w
heth
er a similar am
ou
nt o
f physical ev
iden
ce is often
availab
le in o
ther h
om
icides. M
ore-
over, if such evidence is present, is it overlooked in many cases
owing to lack of training or education, or is it disregarded ow
ing to the lack of convenient crim
inalistic resources? It is my belief
that th
ere is consid
erable p
hysical ev
iden
ce presen
t at m
any crim
es, not ju
st hom
icides, th
at is not p
rofitab
ly u
tilized fo
r so
me co
mbin
ation o
f the reaso
ns m
entio
ned
above. In
any
even
t a majo
r use o
f ph
ysical ev
iden
ce is to estab
lish a co
nn
ec-tio
n b
etween
the crim
e scene an
d th
e crimin
al. This m
ight b
e term
ed th
e dev
elop
men
t of
associative evidence (1
6). T
his
represents the greatest use made of the physical evidence in the
Kennedy hom
icide.
INIT
IZP
IZE
TA
TIO
N A
ND
I1ES
EA
RC
II
A clo
se reader o
f the W
arren C
om
missio
n H
earing
s and
Re-
port will recognize through com
parison of some of the testim
ony
2134 July 1966
Vol 1
1 • N
o. 3
265
WA
RR
EN
RE
PO
RT
, CO
MM
EN
T O
F A
CR
IMIN
AL
IST
an
adm
ission o
f a softly
-men
tioned
pro
blem
in crim
inalistics,
viz. th
e philo
sophical b
asis of in
terpretatio
n o
f laborato
ry d
ata obtain
ed th
rough th
e exam
inatio
n o
f physical ev
iden
ce. The
testimony also
unw
ittingly
undersco
res the g
enuin
e need
for
long-overdue, fundamental research w
hich is necessary in order to
establish
objectiv
e criteria for th
e evalu
ation o
f physical
evidence.
Dichotom
y in Interpretation In
its simplest term
s the d
ichoto
my in
evid
ence in
terpreta-
tion may be stated as the black and w
hite versus the black, gray, an
d w
hite v
iews. A
lmost all fin
gerp
rint ex
perts are n
ow
in
com
plete ag
reemen
t with
the fo
rmer co
ncep
t, as are som
e fire-arm
s experts (1
7). R
arely h
ow
ever are an
y o
f these in
div
iduals
trained
as scientists, so
that th
e "it is" or "it is n
ot" p
hilo
sophy
is readily
accepted
as satisfactory
. Furth
ermore, as testim
ony,
this v
iew m
eets the req
uirem
ents so
metim
es dem
anded
by th
e legal m
ind; it d
oes n
ot p
roduce th
e conflict w
hich
results w
hen
th
e "gray
" area of d
oubt in
trudes. T
his d
isagreem
ent is re-
flected in
the h
earings. F
irst let us co
nsid
er the statem
ent
of the black-white view
(18).
Q. . . . d
o y
ou feet th
at the am
ount o
f mark
ings h
ere were su
ffi-cient to m
ake positive identification? A
. Yes, sir.
Q. H
ave y
ou m
ade id
entificatio
n in
the p
ast with
as few o
r less m
arkings as are present on this bullet fragment ?
A. O
h, y
es; a
nd on
less, much
less of an
area. The ch
aracter of
the marks is m
ore important than the num
ber of the marks.
Q. . . . h
ere you w
ere of co
urse u
nab
le to see all o
f the lin
es which
w
ere presen
t on th
e bullet b
efore m
utilatio
n. H
ave y
ou ev
er had
an
occasio
n w
here y
ou ex
amin
ed a b
ullet an
d saw
one p
ortio
n o
f it which
w
as an ap
paren
t match
and th
en fo
und o
ut th
at the b
alance o
f the
bullet w
as not an
apparen
t match
? A
. No, sir; a
nd if
I understan
d y
our w
ord
s "apparen
t match
," th
ere is no su
ch th
ing as an
apparen
t match
. It either is an
iden
tifica-tio
n o
r it isn't, an
d u
ntil y
ou m
ade u
p y
our m
ind, y
ou d
on't h
ave an
appare
nt m
atc
h. W
e d
on't a
ctu
ally
use
that te
rm . . U
nle
ss you
hav
e sufficien
t mark
s for an
iden
tification, y
ou can
not say
one w
ay
or th
e oth
er as to w
heth
er or n
ot tw
o b
ullets w
ere fired fro
m a p
ar-ticu
lar barrel.
In o
ther w
ord
s, you can
not n
anid
entify
on th
e absen
ce of sim
ilarities an
y m
ore th
an y
ou can
iden
tify w
hen
you h
ave n
o sim
ilarities presen
t.
Q. In
oth
er word
s, you w
on't m
ake an
iden
tification u
nless y
ou feel
enough m
arks are p
resent to
constitu
te a basis fo
r a positiv
e iden
tifi-catio
n?
A. T
hat is rig
ht, an
d I w
ould
not rep
ort an
y ty
pe o
f similarities
unless th
ey w
ere sufficien
t for an
iden
tification, b
ecause u
nless y
ou
can say
one b
ullet w
as fired fro
m th
e same b
arrel as a second b
ullet,
then
there is ro
om
for erro
r, and in
this field
of firearm
s iden
tifica-tion, w
e try to avoid any possible chance of error creeping in. Q
. Do you avoid the category of "probable" identification?
A. O
h, y
es; we n
ever u
se it, nev
er. Q
. And w
hy is th
at? A
. There is n
o su
ch th
ing as a p
robab
le iden
tification, it eith
er is or isn't as far as w
e are concerned. Q
. And in
this case it is?
A. It is, y
es.
In a d
iscussio
n in
volv
ing a d
ifferent set o
f bullets (o
r com
-m
ission exhibits). anoth
er witn
ess presen
ted th
e "gray
" view
-point w
hen the issue was raised by counsel (19).
Q. . . . w
e h
ad te
stimony . . . y
este
rday . . . th
at th
e . . .
(lab-
oratory) does n
ot m
ake p
robab
le iden
tifications, b
ut m
erely p
ositiv
e or negative identifications.
A. I a
m a
ware o
f their p
ositio
n. T
his is n
ot, I am
sure, arriv
ed at
with
out carefu
l consid
eration. H
ow
ever, to
say th
at becau
se one d
oes
not fin
d su
fficient m
arks fo
r iden
tification th
at it is a neg
ative,
I th
ink is g
oin
g o
verb
oard
in th
e oth
er directio
n. A
nd fo
r purp
oses o
f pro
bativ
e valu
e for w
hatev
er it mig
ht b
e worth
, in th
e absen
ce of
very
defin
ite neg
ative ev
iden
ce, I thin
k it is p
ermissib
le to say
that
in an
exhib
it such
as 573 th
ere is enough o
n it to
say th
at it could
hav
e com
e, and ev
en p
erhap
s a little stronger, to
say th
at it pro
bab
ly
came fro
m th
is, with
out g
oin
g so
far as to say
to th
e exclu
sion o
f all other guns. T
his I could not do. Q
. As I u
nderstan
d y
our testim
ony, th
erefore, y
ou feel th
at there
are sufficien
t iden
tical micro
scopic ch
aracteristics on 5
72 an
d 5
73 to
say
that th
ey w
ere pro
bab
ly fired
from
the sam
e weap
on, b
ut n
ot
enough to
say th
at they
were d
efinitely
fired fro
m th
e same w
eapon.
A. Y
es. My o
pin
ion w
ould
be b
ased u
pon th
e findin
g o
f families o
f lin
es that w
ould
be o
f the o
rder o
f two to
four fin
e striations o
n th
e burr th
at I referred to
. For a stro
nger id
entificatio
n, I w
ould
wan
t a larg
er gro
up, I w
ould
wan
t perh
aps fiv
e or six
in a g
iven
area, all m
atchin
g in
terms o
f conto
ur as w
ell as positio
n. B
ut th
is I did
not
find. A
nd so
for th
at reason, I w
ould
not w
ant !_
o ex
press th
is as a positiv
e findin
g. H
ow
ever, I w
cnld
not w
ant to
be m
isundersto
od o
r su
ggest th
at this co
uld
not h
ave co
me fro
m th
at particu
lar gun.
The literature supports the "gray" view
taken by the East w
it-ness q
uoted
. Indeed
, an ev
en m
ore so
phisticated
statemen
t (al-
266 July 1966
'Vol. 1
1 • N
o. 3
267
•■• ■•■■■••
■••••■•• .4,11.
AL L.L......1,1
01.s
, A
-ra
LS
O
though co
ncern
ing to
ol m
arks rath
er than
bullets) n
everth
eless expresses the m
ost comm
on view held by crim
inalists about evi-den
ce interp
retation (2
0).
As a resu
lt of th
e micro
scopic o
r photo
grap
hic co
mpariso
ns m
ade,
four conclusions are possible: 1.
No o
pin
ion o
r conclu
sion is reach
ed d
ue to
alteration in
the
questioned mark or tool since the crim
e occurred. 2
. T
he questioned tool did not make the evidence m
ark. 3.
The q
uestio
ned
tool m
ay h
ave m
ade th
e evid
ence m
ark, b
ut a
conclusive identification is n
ot ju
stified. M
ost cases in
volv
ing to
ol
mark
s where o
nly
class characteristics o
f the to
ol are p
resent fall in
th
is category
. Occasio
nally
, this co
nclu
sion m
ay rem
ain after m
icro-
scopic co
mpariso
n. T
he stren
gth
or v
alue o
f this co
nclu
sion
may
vary
greatly
and d
epen
ds u
pon th
e exam
iner's ju
dgm
ent o
f the p
robab
ilities involved.
4.
The questioned tool did produce the evidence m
ark.
Research R
equirements
Intim
ately co
nnected
with
the q
uestio
n o
f interp
retation is
the p
roblem
of b
asic data, u
pon w
hich
objectiv
e criteria for
the ev
aluatio
n n o
f physical ev
iden
ce must b
e based
. If the
re-
search w
ork
had
been
done an
d h
ad b
een p
ublish
ed, th
e pro
b-
lem w
ould
be relativ
ely sim
ple an
d su
ch an
evalu
ation p
ossib
le. T
his in
disp
ensab
le, laborio
us w
ork
was started
long ag
o an
d
contin
ues at a fan
tastic pace in
the estab
lished
sciences. In
crim
inalistics h
ow
ever, w
here m
uch
of th
e pio
neerin
g effo
rt w
as by n
onscien
tists (as in b
allistics or firearm
s iden
tifica-tio
n, fo
r exam
ple) th
ere is a grav
e deficien
cy in
publish
ed d
ata. In
deed
, it is almost n
onex
istent. T
estimo
ny rep
orted
in th
e hear-
ings em
phasizes u
nin
tentio
nally
the scarcity
of p
ublish
ed d
ata th
rough failu
re to m
entio
n an
y jo
urn
als in w
hich
such
vital
info
rmatio
n is av
ailable. T
he su
bjectiv
e basis o
f firearms
iden
tification an
d th
e serious d
eficiency
of d
ata are clearly re-
vealed in the following testim
ony:
Q. F
inally
, we h
ad d
iscussed
briefly
your ex
amin
ation o
f consecu
-tively m
anufactured bolt faces to see whether any tw
o such consecutive-ly
man
ufactu
red b
olt faces w
ere iden
tical in their m
icroscopic charac-teristics. H
ew m
any su
ch ex
amin
ation
s hav
e you p
erform
ed?
A. I w
ou
ld sa
y a
bou
t fou
r exam
inatio
ns o
f pairs o
f bo
lt faces
which have been consecutively m
anufactured. Q
. And in
each case th
e result w
as chat?
WA
RR
EN
RE
PO
RT
, CO
MM
EN
T O
P A
OR
IMIN
AL
IST
A. T
he m
arks o
n o
ne b
olt face in
no w
ay resem
bled
the m
arks o
n
the o
ther b
olt face (2
1).
Q. H
ave y
ou ex
amin
ed co
nsecu
tively
man
ufactu
red b
arrels to d
e-term
ine w
heth
er their m
icrosco
pic ch
aracteristics are iden
tical? A
. Yes, sir; I h
ave th
ree differen
t sets of, y
ou m
ight say
, paired
barrels, w
hich
hav
e been
man
ufactu
red o
n th
e same m
achin
e, one
after the o
ther, u
nder co
ntro
lled co
nditio
ns to
mak
e them
ns n
early
alike as p
ossib
le, and in
each case fired
bullets fro
m th
ose b
arrels co
uld
not b
e iden
tified w
ith each
oth
er; in fact, th
ey lo
oked
noth
ing
at all alike as far as in
div
idual m
icrosco
pic ch
aracteristics are con-
cerned
. Their riflin
g im
pressio
ns o
f course w
ould
be id
entical, b
ut th
e individual m
arks there would be entirely different (22).
This testim
ony is typical of the type of explanation offered by ex
perts th
roughout th
e country
in th
is area of crim
inalistics
and accep
ted b
y co
urts at all lev
els. Therefo
re it is not h
ere in
tended
to q
uestio
n th
e findin
gs o
r qualificatio
ns o
f the fire-
arms ex
pert testify
ing, b
ut rath
er to em
phasize th
at there is
a deficien
cy o
f publish
ed in
form
ation av
ailable fo
r reference
purp
oses. A
lready so
me o
utsid
ers who fo
r the
first tim
e are lo
okin
g in
to th
e merits o
f scientific crim
e detectio
n, h
ave co
m-
men
ted w
ith asto
nish
men
t (relative to
lie detectio
n) o
n th
e lack
of b
asic research an
d th
e need
for acq
uisitio
n o
f data (2
3).
Unless m
easures are taken to correct this pervasive shortcoming
in m
any areas o
f crimin
alistics, the d
ay is n
ot far o
ff when
the
legal profession will becom
e sufficiently sophisticated in science to
mak
e cross-ex
amin
ation a ju
stifiably
harro
win
g ex
perien
ce. P
resently
it is the scien
tific ignoran
ce of law
yers o
nly
that
permits m
uch of the testimony of crim
e laboratory experts to go relativ
ely u
nch
allenged
. These statem
ents are n
ot a criticism
of
particu
lar indiv
iduals b
ut o
f police ad
min
istration in
gen
eral w
hich has not responded to the recomm
endations of many crim
e laboratory w
orkers that this state of ignorance must be rem
edied th
rough creatio
n o
f opportu
nities fo
r applied
research. A
s the
United
States S
uprem
e Court clo
ses the d
oor o
n trad
itional
investig
ative p
ractice, greater u
se is goin
g to
hav
e to b
e mad
e of p
hysical ev
iden
ce at crime scen
es. Crim
inalistics, as an
or-
gan
ized field
of k
now
ledge, still h
as hom
ework
to d
o b
efore
it can p
lay its fu
llest role in
this n
ew era th
at has b
een th
rust
upon law enforcem
ent.
268 'Illy
1956 V
ol. 1
1 • N
o. 3
269
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
W
AR
RE
N R
EP
OR
T, O
W M
EN
T O
F A
OR
IMIN
AL
IST
SU
M.N
1AR
Y A
ND
CO
NC
LU
SIO
NS
1.
Th
e in
ve
stig
ativ
e p
roced
ure
of th
e W
arre
n C
om
mis
sio
n
in so
nic areas o
f crimin
alistics has b
een d
iscussed
in' term
s of
stated o
bjectiv
es and th
e mean
s emplo
yed
to ach
ieve th
em.
2.
Plxam
ination of testimony, especially in instances illustrat-
ing d
ichoto
my o
f interp
retation, em
phasizes th
e need
for g
reat ex
pan
sion
of ap
plied
research in
crimin
alistic matters.
3.
Th
ere
is little d
ou
bt th
at th
e a
rch
ival m
ate
rial n
ow
assem
bled
in th
e form
of reco
rds an
d rep
orts o
f the ag
encies
involv
ed in
Presid
ent K
enned
y's assassin
ation p
rovid
e the b
asis fo
r furth
er study in
to th
e questio
n o
f investig
ative p
ractice and
theory.
RE
FE
RE
NC
ES
1. P
residen
t of th
e United
States. P
residen
t's Com
missio
n o
n th
e As-
sassinatio
n o
f Presid
ent K
enn
edy
. Rep
ort. W
ashin
gto
n, D
. C.: U
. S.
Governm
ent Printing O
ffice, 1064, p. ix.
2.
Ibid, p. x. 3.
Mid, p. x.
4.
Mid, p. xi.
6.
Mid, p. 412.
11. Ibid, p. 472. 7.
Ibid, p. xiv. 8.
Harris, L
ouis. "M
any D
oubtfu
l On A
ssassinatio
n," C
ourier Jo
urn
al (L
ouisville), p. 13, October 10, 1964.
9.
Joesten
, J. Osw
ald: A
ssassin o
r Fall G
uy
? New
Yo
rk: M
arzani M
an-
sell, 1964. 1
0. B
uch
nnan
, Thom
as G. W
ho K
illed K
enned
y ? N
ew Y
ork
: Putn
am's
Sons, 1064.
11
. Farn
sworth
, C. H
. "Brito
n Q
uestio
ns W
arren F
indin
gs," N
ew Y
ork
T
imes, p. 30, D
ecember 14, 1964.
12
. Perso
nal letter to
Chief Ju
stice Earl W
arren, d
ated D
ecember 1
7, 1
963.
13
. Perso
nal letter fro
m J. L
ee Ran
kin
, Gen
eral Co
un
sel of th
e Warren
C
omm
ission, dated January 15, 1964. 1
4. Ilr•Jw
n, W
. P. "C
rimes o
f Natio
nal S
ign
ificance," J. C
rim. L
aw, C
rint-
inel. and Pol. S
ci. 55, 509-513 (1964). 1
5.
Ibid, p. 513. 1
6. O
sterbu
rg, J. W
. "Sig
nifican
t Co
ncep
ts in S
cientific C
rimin
al Inv
esti-gatio
n," L
aw an
d O
rder 1
2, 2
6 (Ju
ly 1
964).
17
. Hatch
er, J. S., Jury, F
. J., an
d
J. W
eller. Firearm
s Inv
estigatio
n
Ven
t; fication
and
Evid
ence, p
. 18
6. S
tackpole
Co
., Harrisb
urg
, Pa.
1957). 13. P
resident of the United S
tatcs, up. cit., Vol. III, p. 434.
19. p.
20. H
urd
, D. Q
., and
R. S
. Green
e. To
ol M
ark C
om
pariso
ns in
Crim
inal
Investig
ation. J. C
rim. L
aw., C
rimin
al. and P
ol. S
ri. 39, 3
79-3
91, p
p.
382-383 (1948). 21.
President of the U
nited States, op. cit., V
ol. III, p. 421. 22.
Ibid, p. 429. 23.
United
States C
ongress. H
ouse o
f Rep
resentativ
es Subco
mm
ittee of
the C
om
mittee o
n G
ov
ernm
ent O
peratio
ns. U
se of P
oly
grap
hs as "L
ie D
etectors" b
y th
e Fed
eral Govern
men
t. 89th
Cong., let S
ession, 1
066.
Hearin
g, P
art 6-T
estimo
ny
of D
epartm
ent o
f Defen
se Witn
esses, pp. 659-660, A
ugust 19, 1965.
Departm
ent of Police A
dministration
Indiana University
Bloom
ington, Indiana
r•
270 July 1966
Vol. 1
l • No. 3
271
Assassin F
orger*
(Docu
men
ts related to
the p
urch
ase of th
e um
rder
weap
ons, an
d o
ther asp
ects of th
e investig
ation b
y th
e P
residen
t's Com
missio
n o
n th
e Assassin
ation o
f Presi-
den
t Ken
ned
y)
Alw
yn Cole **
When
I am called
"docu
men
t exam
iner" I can
say w
ith m
uch
co
rdiality
and co
nsid
erable tru
th "Y
ou are an
oth
er," becau
se th
e use o
f docu
men
ts in h
um
an affairs is u
niv
ersal and ev
ery-
one m
ust e
xam
ine th
em
, not ju
st for in
form
atio
n, b
ut fo
r v
alidity
. An
y b
usy
man
is likely
to p
rod
uce sev
eral do
cum
ents
every
day
and
receive a n
um
ber fo
r action
. Th
ese do
cum
ents
are not accep
ted o
ffhan
d b
ut th
ey are q
uestio
ned
, perh
aps n
ot
conscio
usly
and d
eliberately
, but b
y alm
ost au
tom
atic review
of o
ne's ex
perien
ce in d
ealing w
ith sim
ilar docu
men
ts. A fa-
miliar term
to d
ocu
men
t exam
iners is "stan
dard
for co
mpari-
son." T
he b
asic experien
ce every
one h
as in d
ealing w
ith d
ocu
-m
ents m
ay h
e called th
e standard
for test o
f any cu
rrently
questio
ned
docu
men
t. In th
e ord
inary
use o
f docu
men
ts, ques-tions are lik
ely to
be, "Is th
e signatu
re gen
uin
e?" "Was th
e docu
men
t put fo
rth in
good faith
?" "Does th
e docu
men
t hav
e so
me sig
nifican
ce bey
ond its su
perficial o
r obvio
us n
eanin
g?"
These q
uestio
ns are ask
ed an
d an
swered
quite rap
idly
and in
m
ost in
stances th
e docu
men
t is quick
ly p
assed as g
enuin
e, or
pro
mptly
acted u
pon, b
ut w
hen on
e of th
ese qu
estion
s fails to
pro
duce a atisfacto
ry an
swer, th
e docu
men
t may
be tested
m
ore rig
oro
!!sly an
d it is u
sually
as the resu
lt of th
ese more
searching questions that the document eX
! 14iiner is called upon
Pre5
ented
at the E
ighteen
th A
nnual M
eeting o
f the A
merican
Acad
emy
of F
urr.n
sic Seien
tes, Feb
ruary
24, 1
8011, C
hi. Ig
o, Illin
ois. S
ubm
itted fo
r p
ub
ileation
Feb
ruary
20
, Mi. A
ccepted
for p
ub
lication
Ap
ril 18
, 10
68
. *" E
xaminer of (111..A
ioned Doe
■ :nents, Washington, D
. C.
WA
RR
EN
RE
PO
RT
—F
OR
GE
D D
OC
UM
EN
TS
for clo
se study o
f docu
men
ts that h
ave failed
to p
ass regular
tests for v
alidity
. So it is th
at the d
ocu
men
t exam
iner d
epen
ds
upon others to ask the initial questions. While the great m
ajority of d
ocu
men
ts are gen
uin
e, the p
ossib
ility o
f forg
ery is alw
ays
presen
t. Pro
bab
ly so
me fo
rgeries are n
ever q
uestio
ned
, and w
e know
that so
nic are n
ot q
uestio
ned
soon en
ough to
prev
ent th
e harm
of w
hich
they
are capab
le. Lee H
arvey
Osw
ald ro
vid
ed
hima w
ith p
hoto
grap
hic co
unterfeits o
f iden
tification can
s a fictitio
us n
ame. W
e do n
ot k
now
how
man
y o
ppor-
tun
ities there m
igh
t hav
e been
for th
ese cards to
be q
uestio
ned
, an
d w
e cannot h
elp ask
ing th
e questio
n, ev
en th
ough it m
ay
no
t hav
e an an
swer, at w
hat p
oin
t was O
swald
set irretrievab
ly
upon th
e path
of an
assassin? W
as it from
the d
ay th
at he
found a m
ethod fo
r creating b
y fo
rged
iden
tification card
s th
e fictitious ch
aracter A. J. H
idell in
whose n
ame th
e murd
er w
eapo
ns w
ere pu
rchased
? Co
uld
early d
etection
of th
ese counterfeits have turned him
from his course?
A d
ocu
men
t is defin
ed in
part as an
y m
aterial substan
ce bearin
g a rep
resentatio
n o
f the th
oughts o
f men
by m
eans o
f an
y sp
ecies of co
nven
tional m
ark o
r sym
bol. A
significan
t elem
ent in
this d
efinitio
n is th
at a docu
men
t is a record
of
-the thoughts of men. D
ocuments give inform
ation about actions, acco
mplish
ed o
r pro
posed
, and th
ey g
ive in
form
ation ab
out
the id
entity
of p
erson
s, thu
s sho
win
g resp
on
sibility
for actio
ns,
which
, unhap
pily
, are som
etimes h
armfu
l or u
nlaw
ful.
The ex
amin
er of q
uestio
ned
docu
men
ts is concern
ed w
ith a
do
cum
ent as a reco
rd o
f tho
ug
hts—
no
t necessarily
as ideas b
ut
as purp
oses—
and h
e is concern
ed w
ith p
aper an
d in
k as th
e m
aterial substan
ces, with
pen
and p
encil as th
e instru
men
ts, an
d o
ften w
ith h
andw
riting, n
ot ju
st as conven
tional sy
mbols
but as in
div
idual an
d id
entifiab
le sym
bols. T
he ex
amin
er is co
ncern
ed w
ith m
any o
ther m
aterials or o
bjects th
at may
be a
part o
f a do
cum
ent o
r affect a do
cum
ent. T
he u
sual p
urp
ose
for ex
amin
ation
is to fo
rm a co
nclu
sion ab
out au
thorsh
ip,
or about the source of a docu
men
t, or ab
out its relatio
nsh
ips to
oth
er docu
men
ts or o
ther th
ings, e. g.,
tho
se wh
ich m
ay fix
the true date of a questioned docum
ent. M
ost d
ocu
men
ts are bro
ught to
the ex
amin
er's laborato
ry
with a specific question, but study of them
is not usually limited
to sco
rch fo
r an an
swer to
a single q
uery
. The ex
amin
er fre-
272 July 1960
Vol. 11 • N
o. 3 273
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
quen
tly p
oses m
any o
ther q
uestio
ns to
advan
ce his stu
dy o
f the
docu
men
t. This h
abit o
f seeing th
e docu
men
t as a whole is n
ot
by an
y m
eans an
effort to
invad
e oth
er fields o
f study th
at hav
e a more fo
rmal co
ncern
with
the m
eanin
g o
f a docu
men
t, b
ut th
e exam
iner
will h
ave d
iscovered
early in
his w
ork
that
he can
not m
ake a co
mplete ex
amin
ation, ev
en to
answ
er a lim
ited q
uestio
n, u
nless h
e takes a b
road
view
of th
e do
cum
ent,
whic
h v
iew
must in
clu
de n
ot ju
st an e
ffort to
answ
er a
questio
n, say
of au
thorsh
ip o
f a signatu
re, or p
resence o
f an
alteration, b
ut m
ust em
brace th
e docu
men
t from
the b
road
est asp
ect of its d
efinitio
n as a reco
rd o
f the th
oughts o
r purp
oses:
of m
en. T
his ap
pro
ach o
ften d
evelo
ps ad
ditio
nal im
portan
t inform
ation, and also it is one of the ways the exam
iner remains
keen about his work.
Th
e ph
ysical d
ocu
men
t, as op
po
sed to
an o
ral statemen
t, offers attractiv
e opportu
nities fo
r exten
ded
study. W
hen
ever
do
cum
ents are in
vo
lved
in an
imp
ortan
t or n
oto
riou
s even
t, it is the custom
to make the studies in de t
Docu
men
ts dem
and o
ur atten
tion fo
r as long as th
ey m
ay
giv
e som
e new
thread
of in
form
ation
, or g
ive m
aterial for n
ew
interp
retations o
f even
ts. No d
oubt th
is will b
e true o
f the
docu
men
ts connected
with
the assassin
ation o
f Presid
ent Jo
hn
F. K
enned
y in
the city
of D
allas, on N
ovem
ber 2
2, 1
963, th
e killin
g o
f police o
fficer J. D. T
ippit, an
d th
e death
of L
ee H
arvey Osw
ald two days later.
The p
rincip
al docu
men
ts are those w
hich
bear u
pon th
e pur-
chase an
d d
elivery
of th
e carbin
e with
telescopic sig
hts used
to fire th
e fatal sho
ts from
the six
th flo
or o
f the T
exas S
cho
ol
Book D
eposito
ry, d
ocu
men
ts connected
with
the p
urch
ase and
deliv
ery o
f the p
istol u
sed to
kill o
fficer Tip
pit, an
d d
ocu
men
ts w
hich
show
ed th
e establish
men
t of th
e alias in th
e nam
e of
Alek
James 'E
dell. T
hese d
ocu
men
ts were n
ot im
med
iately
availab
le at the tim
e of th
e assassinatio
n b
ut w
ere disclo
sed
t
by p
ainstak
ing in
vestig
ation. U
nder q
uestio
nin
g b
y D
allas police an
d fed
eral law en
forcem
ent o
fficers imm
ediately
after arrest,
Lee H
arvey
Osw
ald d
enied
any
con
nectio
n w
ith th
e death
s of
Presid
ent K
enned
y an
d
officer T
ippit. H
e lived
barely
43 h
ours fro
m th
e tim
e of h
is arrest; therefo
re, the
information
dev
doped
by stu
dy o
f docu
men
ts is of g
reat im-
portance.
WA
RR
EN
RE
PO
RT
—F
OR
GE
D D
OC
UM
EN
TS
The assem
bly
of q
uestio
ned
do
cum
ents th
at may
app
ear to
bear upon a crime usually occurs before collection of necessary
standard
s for co
mpariso
n, an
d w
e hav
e observ
ed th
at som
e in
vestig
ato
rs seem
to fe
el th
at th
e m
ain
part o
f the jo
b is
finish
ed o
nce th
e questio
ned
docu
men
ts hav
e been
found, b
ut
the first co
ncern
of th
e docu
men
t exam
iner is ab
out th
e natu
re and e
xte
nt o
f the sta
ndard
s. To c
onsid
er o
ur p
ositio
n fo
r form
ing conclusions about the documents related to the assassina-
tion o
f Presid
ent K
enned
y, it is in
ord
er to rev
iew th
ose d
ocu
-m
ents w
hich
may
be reg
arded
as stand
ards fo
r com
pariso
n.
Th
ese stand
ards also
giv
e info
rmatio
n ab
out th
e temperam
ent,
problems, and m
ovements of L
ee Harvey O
swald.
When
a perso
n is su
spected
of a crim
e which
requires stu
dy
of d
ocu
men
ts it may
be fo
un
d th
at he h
as lived
a shallo
w
and n
arro
w life
that p
roduced fe
w d
ocum
ents fo
r use
as
stand
ards. W
hile it can
no
t be said
that O
swald
lived
a full
life in a co
nstru
ctive sen
se, he d
id p
roduce a g
ood v
ariety
of d
ocu
men
ts, particu
larly th
ose th
at gav
e exam
ples o
f han
d-
writin
g an
d h
and p
rintin
g. In
deed
, it seemed
to b
e a part o
f O
swald
's perso
nality
to p
roduce m
ore w
riting th
an n
ecessary
in a g
iven
situatio
n: w
itness, th
e three letters to
the Im
mig
ra-tio
n an
d N
aturalizatio
n S
ervice, Item
(b) b
elow
, all mak
ing th
e sam
e inq
uiry
, and
the fiv
e pag
e brief in
sup
po
rt of ap
plicatio
n
for rev
iew o
f his u
nd
esirable m
ilitary d
ischarg
e, a do
cum
ent
hav
ing little in
form
ation b
ut m
uch
wiltin
g. T
he p
rincip
al d
ocu
men
ts bearin
g stan
dard
writin
gs (1
) are as follo
ws:
(a) A
sing
le-pag
e han
dw
ritten letter to
the D
epartm
ent o
f S
tate received
there N
ovem
ber, 1
962, tran
smittin
g
a paym
ent on a loan advanced by the United S
tates Em
bassy in
Mosco
w. T
he letter h
as a brisk
, busin
esslike to
ne,
giv
ing th
e account n
um
ber an
d d
eman
din
g a receip
t for
the payment. T
he signature is that of Lee H
. Osw
ald, and th
e add
ress is giv
en as P
. 0. B
ox 2
915, D
allas, Tex
as. T
his ad
dress m
akes th
e letter especially
valu
able as a
standard
for co
mpariso
n b
ecause th
e same ad
dress ap
-pears on four of the questioned docum
ents, as the one for delivery of the assassination w
eapons. (b)
Th
ree sing
le-pag
e han
dw
ritten letters fro
m O
swald
to
offices o
f the U
nited
States Im
mig
ration an
d N
aturalize-
274 Ju
ly 1
565
Vol. 1
1 • N
o. 3
275
re.) T 0 fe PA fitRg
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
W
AR
RE
N R
EP
OR
T—
FO
RG
ED
DO
CU
ME
NT
S
lion S
ervice in
San
Anto
nio
, Fort W
orth
, and D
allas, T
exas, after his return from M
oscow w
here he had offered to
giv
e up h
is United
States citizen
ship
. In th
ese letters he m
akes sharp inquiries about a certificate of citizenship fo
r his fo
ur-m
onth
-old
dau
ghter b
orn
in R
ussia. E
ach
lette
r is signed a
nd e
ach le
tter in
clu
des so
me h
and
Prin
ting alo
ng w
ith th
e larger b
ody o
f cursiv
e writin
g.
The h
and p
rintin
g is im
portan
t as a standard
becau
se som
e of the questioned material is in that style.
(c) A
pplicatio
n fo
r review
of u
ndesirab
le disch
arge fro
m
the U
nited
States M
arine C
orp
s filed w
ith th
e Dep
art.. m
ent of Defense in June, 1962, containing a considerable
quan
tity o
f han
d p
rintin
g an
d a b
rief in su
pport o
f the
applicatio
n ru
nnin
g to
five p
ages o
f cursiv
e writin
g:
The a
ddre
ss is giv
en a
s Kalin
inia
Stre
et, M
insk
, U
. S. S
. R. a
t the e
nd o
f the b
rief. T
he "
K" o
f "K
alinin
ia" is importan
t for co
mpariso
n w
ith th
e first letter o
f the n
ame o
f the firm
from
which
the assassin
a-tio
n rifle w
as purch
ased. A
certain "G
" in th
e word
"G
lenview
" on th
e fourth
line o
f the first p
age o
f the
brie
f is importa
nt fo
r com
pariso
n w
ith th
e "G
" of
"Goods" in the nam
e of the firm that supplied the m
urder w
eapon. (d)
An application filed w
ith the Departm
ent of State, show
-ing issuance of a passport to L
ee Harvey O
swald, bearing
han
d p
rintin
g, a sig
natu
re, and a p
hoto
grap
h. T
his is
of th
e same p
erson sh
ow
n in
the p
hoto
grap
h o
n th
e co
unterfeit S
elective S
ervice C
ard, b
earing th
e nam
e "A
lek James H
idell," Item 7 below
. T
wo en
velo
pes, p
ostm
arked
Fort W
orth
, Tex
as, June 1
9,
(e) L
962, an
d A
ugust 1
, 1962, ad
dressed
to th
e Nav
y D
is-ch
arge R
eview
(one read
s "Roveiw
") Board
, Wash
ingto
n
25, D
. C. T
hese en
velo
pes sh
ow
two v
ariations o
f han
d
prin
ting, o
ne th
at is chiefly
low
er case, and th
e oth
er ch
iefly u
pper case, b
ut also
show
ing, as d
oes m
ost o
f O
swald
's oth
er han
d p
rint b
ig, a m
ixtu
re of th
e two
styles. T
his illu
strates the tru
ism th
at a perso
n d
oes n
ot
record
all of h
is writin
g h
abit in
any sin
gle sp
ecimen
but m
ay req
uire sev
eral docu
men
ts prep
ared at d
ifferent
times to approach a com
plete recording.
(f) A
dia
ry o
f many p
ages m
ain
tain
ed b
y L
ee H
arv
ey
Osw
ald w
hile in
Russia an
d p
robab
ly co
ntin
ued
after his retu
rn to
the U
nited
States (2
). These d
iary sh
eets hav
e stains ty
pical o
f those k
now
n to
result fro
m effo
rts to
dev
elop laten
t fingerp
rints, b
ut th
e writin
g is still
legible and can be photographed to give a somew
hat better leg
ibility
than
the stain
ed o
rigin
als so th
at they
serve
well as stan
dard
s for co
mpariso
n. O
swald
was ab
le to
write at a fair sp
eed b
ut n
ot w
ith
easy fluen
cy w
hen
try
ing to
achiev
e best leg
ibility
so th
at the h
and p
rintin
g
of th
is man
y p
aged
diary
must h
ave b
een an
onero
us
task for him.
(g) A
note
to th
e A
meric
an C
ivil L
ibertie
s Unio
n, re
-ceiv
ed N
ovem
ber 4
, 1963, w
ith acco
mpan
yin
g card
m
ade o
ut b
y L
ee IL O
swald
. This card
show
s som
e of O
swald
's best h
and p
rintin
g, b
ut, n
otw
ithstan
din
g
the effo
rt to p
rint clearly
, his o
ccupatio
n is g
iven
as "P
HO
TO
GR
AP
ER
." It is interestin
g to
contrast th
e han
d p
rintin
g o
n th
is card w
ith th
e more careless en
tries on th
e library
card, Item
(h)—
where h
e giv
es his o
ccu-
pitio
n as "M
echin
ic." Missp
elling o
f occu
patio
nal n
ames
by O
swald
is not less stran
ge th
an m
utilatio
n o
f his
signature, mentioned in Item
(i). (h)
Applic
atio
n fo
r a lib
rary
card
of th
e N
ew
Orle
ans
Public L
ibrary, No. 8640, show
ing the hand printed name
"Osw
ald, L
ee H." an
d th
e signatu
re of th
e same n
ame,
with
certain o
ther h
and p
rintin
g b
etween
these tw
o,
but n
ot in
cludin
g an
y o
f the o
ther w
riting o
n th
e card.
(i) S
ignatures as endorsements on salary checks issued from
O
ctober, 1
962 to
March
1963, in
clusiv
e. Som
e of th
ese sig
natu
res hav
e a norm
al legib
ility fo
r Lee II. O
swald
an
d so
me few
show
an effect o
f mutilatio
n. M
ost p
eople
write sig
natu
res with
prid
e, aimin
g eith
er at legib
ility
or d
istinctiv
eness, an
d so
metim
es for a b
alance o
f the
two. T
his is n
ot tru
e of O
swald
, but in
sofar as a w
riting
may
be said
to co
nvey
an em
otio
n, as m
ight a g
esture,
som
e of th
ese signatu
res seem to
be w
ritten in
anger.
(j) A
chan
ge o
f address card
dated
May
1, 1
963, b
earing
identification data across the lower line w
hich apparently co
nnects it w
ith th
e applicatio
n fo
r review
of d
ischarg
e.
276 S
illy 1966 V
ol. II • No. 3
277
JOU
RN
AL
Or F
OR
EN
SIC
SC
IEN
CE
S
This card
signed
by L
ee IL O
swald bears a considerable
quan
tity o
f han
d p
rintin
g, w
hich
mak
es it valu
able fo
r co
mpariso
n w
ith certain
oth
er cards th
at bear th
e critical ad
dress "P
. 0. B
ox 2
915" an
d w
ith still an
oth
er card th
at bears th
e nam
e "A. J. H
idell" as a p
erson au
thorized
to
receive m
ail in th
e box assig
ned
to L
ee H. O
swald
. It is rare th
at a docu
men
t pro
blem
is accompanied by such
exten
sive an
d v
aried stan
dard
s for co
mpariso
n, em
bracin
g,
as they
do, d
ocu
men
ts mad
e upon d
ifferent o
ccasions fo
r dif-
ferent p
urp
oses, w
ith cu
rsive w
riting as w
ell as han
d p
rintin
g,
careful w
riting an
d careless, co
exten
sive in
time w
ith th
e questio
ned
material, an
d all h
avin
g an
intern
al consisten
cy, th
at is, clearly
iden
tifiable as th
e act of th
e same p
erson so
that th
e w
hole b
ody o
f the stan
dard
writin
g an
d ev
ery d
etail of it is
availab
le for co
mpariso
n w
ith th
e questio
ned
material. T
hese
standard
s giv
e a nearly
ideal o
pportu
nity
for stu
dyin
g th
e w
riting o
f Lee H
arvey
Osw
ald in
prep
aration fo
r com
pariso
n
with
questio
ned
writin
gs. T
hey
contain
a detailed
record
of
his w
riting h
abit, w
hich
is fully
sufficien
t as a basis fo
r iden
tifi-catio
n o
r differen
tiation o
f oth
er han
dw
ritng an
d h
and p
rintin
g.
The q
uestio
ned
docu
men
ts are those related
to p
urch
ase and
ilelivery
of th
e assassinatio
n w
eapons, to
establish
men
t of th
e alias "M
el< JaM
es Hid
ell" or "A
. J. Hid
ell," and u
se of th
e ad
dress "P
. 0. B
ox 2
015, D
allas, Tex
as." The p
rincip
al ques-
tioned documents are as follow
s:
(1) U
nited
States P
ostal M
oney
Ord
er, dated
Dallas, T
exas,
March
12, 1
963, in
the am
ount o
f $21.4
5, m
ade o
ut to
"K
lein's S
portin
g G
oods," th
e purch
aser's nam
e bein
g
giv
en a
s "A. H
idell" (3
). This is in
paym
ent fo
r the
carbine with telescopic sight.
(2) M
icrofilm
copy o
f an en
velo
pe ad
dressed
to K
lein's. . . .
Chicag
o, III., w
ith m
icrofilm
repro
ductio
n o
f the co
upon
ord
er for an
article now
know
n to
be th
e assassinatio
n
weap
on, sp
ecifyin
g d
elivery
to "A
. Hid
ell, P.
0. B
ox
2915, Dallas, T
exas (4).
(3) C
oupon order form of S
eaport Traders, Inc., L
os Angeles,
Califo
rnia, fo
r "1 .3
8 S
t. W. 2
" Bbl" (rev
olv
er) at a cost
of $
29.9
5, ag
ain callin
g fo
r deliv
ery to
"A. J. H
idell,
P. 0
. Box 2
915, D
allas, Tex
as" (5). T
he acq
uirem
ent o
f
WA
RR
EN
RE
PO
RT
—F
OR
GE
D D
OC
UM
EN
TS
a firearm m
ust b
e regard
ed as a serio
us an
d d
eliberate
act, y
et it is stra
nge th
at th
e w
riting o
n th
is ord
er
form appears to be below
the ordinary skill of the author. W
e hav
e heard
of p
ersons w
ho ex
press th
emselv
es in a
man
ner calcu
lated to
obscu
re understan
din
g, an
d it m
ay
well b
e asked
why a p
erson sh
ould
pro
duce h
andw
riting
with
less than
the b
est legib
ility o
f which
he is cap
able
in th
is particu
lar situatio
n, esp
ecially in
view
of th
e circu
mstan
ces that h
e has sh
ow
n th
e seriousn
ess of h
is in
tent b
y en
closin
g a su
m o
f money
with
the o
rder.
Anoth
er way
to p
ut th
is questio
n is th
is: Why is n
ot
the o
rder fo
r the rev
olv
er at least as legib
le as the h
and-
prin
ting o
n th
e mem
bersh
ip card
for A
merican
Civ
il L
iberties Union, Item
(g) above? C
han
ge o
f address card
, dated
May
12, 1
963, sig
ned
L
ee H. O
swald
, giv
ing a n
ew ad
dress in
New
Orlean
s, L
ouisian
a, and sh
ow
ing th
e old
address as P
. 0.
Box
2915 (6
). A
pplicatio
n fo
r a post o
ffice box, d
ated N
ew O
rleans,
June 1
1, 1
963, sh
ow
ing th
e nam
e of A
. J. Hid
ell (and
Marin
a Osw
ald) as au
thorized
to receiv
e mail in
the b
ox
assigned to the person who signs as "L
. H. O
swald" (7
). In
ternatio
nal C
ertificate of V
accinatio
n, d
ated Ju
ne 3
, 1963, sig
ned
in th
e nam
e of L
ee H. O
swald
, and b
earing
a sig
natu
re p
urp
orte
d to
be th
at o
f Dr. A
. J. Hid
ed,
which
spellin
g is rep
eated in
the stam
ped
impressio
n
belo
w th
e signatu
re (8). T
he d
esigns o
f letters in th
is im
pre
ssion a
re c
lose
ly sim
ilar to
those
in a
certa
in
rubber stam
pin
g k
it found am
ong O
swald
's effects after his arrest. T
he sig
natu
re in th
e nam
e of L
ee II. Osw
ald
on th
is certificate is disto
rted as b
y ex
treme sp
eed, y
et it is id
entifiab
le as the sig
natu
re of O
swald
, and a p
art of th
e similarity
in th
e nam
e A. J. H
ided
to th
e writin
g
of O
swald
is its similarity
to th
e signatu
re in th
e latter nam
e on this document.
(7) Selective S
ervice System
Notice of C
lassification (photo-grap
hic co
unterfeit), p
urp
ortin
g to
hav
e been
issued
to
Alek
James H
idell, sig
ned
in th
at nam
e, but b
earing a
photograph of Lee H
arvey Osw
ald (9).
278 July 1956
V01. 1
1 • N
u. 3
279
I
WA
RR
EN
RE
PO
RT
—F
OR
GE
D D
OC
UM
EN
TS
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
(3) H
andw
ritten letter, sin
gle p
age, to
Leslie W
eldin
g C
o.,
Fort W
orth
, Tex
as, signed
Lee H
. Osw
ald, an
d sh
ow
ing
the ad
dress as B
ox 2
915, D
allas, Tex
as. (This letter h
as been
classified "Q
uestio
ned
" as a part o
f the m
ethod o
f ex
amin
ation rev
iewed
in th
is pap
er, becau
se it inclu
des
an item
that w
as to b
e pro
ved
, nam
ely "B
ox 2
915 D
allas, T
exas," w
hich
stands ap
art from
the b
ody. T
he letter
could
as well b
e placed
with
the stan
dard
s as it is fully
consistent w
ith them.)
These eig
ht d
ocu
men
ts contain
enough q
uestio
ned
writin
g,
cursive and hand printed, to include a good record of the writing
hab
it of th
e auth
or. T
he w
riting is n
atural fo
r the m
ost p
art but som
e elements appear to have been affected by an excess of
care, whereas o
ther p
arts show
more th
an av
erage carelessn
ess, or d
eliberate d
istortio
n. It d
oes n
ot ap
pear, h
ow
ever, th
at any
modificatio
ns in
these q
uestio
ned
writin
gs w
ere for p
urp
oses
of d
isguise b
ut o
nly
that d
ifferent lev
els of care o
r carelessness
were characteristic of the w
riter. T
he fo
rmal co
nditio
ns fo
r com
pariso
n o
f han
dw
riting h
ave
now been established; nam
ely, the presence of a body of standard w
riting ju
dged
to b
e indiv
idual an
d d
istinctiv
e, and g
ivin
g a
detailed record of writing habit, and, on the other side, questioned
writing also judged to be the product of habit w
hich is extensive enough to show
an identifiable pattern. H
andw
riting is id
entified
by th
e presen
ce of a co
mbin
ation
of p
ersonal w
riting h
abits in
the stan
dard
and q
uestio
ned
speci-
men
s bey
ond an
y reaso
nab
le possib
ility o
f coin
ciden
ce, in th
e ab
sence o
f any sig
nifican
t differen
ces, and ab
sence o
f evid
ence
of fo
rgery
as by tracin
g, d
rawin
g, sk
etchin
g in
the q
uestio
ned
sp
ecimen
which
could
giv
e superficial ap
pearan
ce of sim
ilarity.
The n
um
ber o
f poin
ts of sim
ilarity an
d th
e weig
ht assig
ned
to
them
are necessarily
matters o
f judgm
ent b
y an
experien
ced
docu
men
t exam
iner, b
ut th
ese are by n
o m
eans arb
itrary ju
dg-
men
ts since th
eir reliability
can o
nly
he estab
lished
by h
avin
g
mad
e a large n
um
ber• o
f exam
inatio
ns in
cases com
parab
le to
the o
ne en
der im
med
iate study, w
ith in
dep
enden
t tests of th
eir co
rrectness, so
that each
new
com
pariso
n is referab
le to a
body of experience in dealing with com
parable cases. T
he p
roced
ure o
f com
pariso
n after th
oro
ugh stu
dy o
f the
standard
s, is to tak
e up each
item o
f questio
ned
writin
g an
d
to co
mpare it w
ith th
e entire b
ody o
f the stan
dard
writin
g w
ith
particu
lar attentio
n to
indiv
idual letters an
d elem
ents o
f letters, com
binations of letters, connections, approach strokes, terminal
strokes, p
roportio
ns, m
ovem
ent, alig
nm
ent, sp
acing, an
d o
ther
details w
herein
hab
it is revealed
. Of co
urse, th
e most u
seful
areas for co
mpariso
n are th
ose w
here q
uestio
ned
and stan
dard
m
aterial repeat th
e same w
ord
, letter, or co
mbin
ation o
f letters, but th
is does n
ot m
ean th
at any o
ther p
arts are neg
lected. It
is self-evid
ent, h
ow
ever, th
at a hab
it in th
e standard
s related
to a w
ord
, say th
e nam
e "Tex
as", is best co
mpared
with
repeti-
tion o
f the n
ame "T
exas" if it ap
pears in
the q
uestio
ned
ma-
terial, but th
e five letters o
f this n
ame are stu
died
wherev
er they appear in these w
ritings. T
he comparison of standard or know
n writings of L
ee Harvey
Osw
ald w
ith th
e questio
ned
writin
gs th
at show
purch
ase and
delivery of the assassination weapons and use of an alias reveals
a com
plete ag
reemen
t in all sig
nifican
t details o
f writin
g h
abit,
which
agreem
ent is fu
lly su
fficient in
num
ber o
f poin
ts and
the w
eight th
at can b
e assigned
to th
ese. poin
ts to w
arrant th
e belief th
at Lee H
arvey
Osw
ald is th
e auth
or o
f all of th
e ques-
tioned
writin
g. T
here is n
o sig
nifican
t differen
ce and n
o ev
i-den
ce in th
e questio
ned
writin
g to
suggest sim
ulatio
n o
f the
appearan
ce of O
swald
's writin
g b
y so
me o
ther p
erson. T
he
natu
re of th
e agreem
ent b
etween
the stan
dard
writin
g an
d th
e questio
ned
writin
g is ab
out th
e same as th
at betw
een d
ifferent
items o
f the stan
dard
writin
g, w
hich
is a fair test of th
e cor-
respondence that may be expected w
ithin different specimens of
the writing of the sam
e person. T
he p
rocess o
f com
pariso
n can
abso
rb m
any h
ours o
f time
but w
hen
it is perfo
rmed
with
the v
iew o
f a possib
le need
to
repeat th
e pro
cess in circu
mstan
ces that req
uire lim
iting th
e tim
e for p
resentin
g th
e results o
f com
pariso
n to
anoth
er perso
n,
then
the b
ody o
f standard
writin
g is search
ed fo
r typical o
r ch
aracteristic samples th
at can b
e bro
ught to
gen
kc w
ithin
a sm
all space in
the fo
rm o
f excerp
ts from
photo
grap
hic co
pies.
This procedure som
etimes involves the m
ounting of questioned an
d stan
dard
specim
ens o
n a sin
gle ch
art so th
at com
pariso
n
can b
e mad
e with
the sm
allest amount o
f eye m
ovem
ent. A
m
odificatio
n o
f this m
ethod w
as necessary
in d
ealing w
ith
the several questioned specimens and the large body of standard
2$0 buy 1
9G
6
Vol. 11 • N
o. 3 231.
STA
ND
AR
D W
RITIN
G
(A.
- setisss,
e-44r
--e--115*-z-i es./7
2 ,
of
4 .2
1"-;••••••• ■ V
t.c"7
.4
r
70, .eirt:r •
49 .11-4
, , •
to 0
4.4
4./3
41
.'1.9
S
i.
, • “
,
15 44
4,•
••
■•••
t• •
•••11
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
W
AR
RE
N R
EP
OR
T—
FO
RG
ED
DO
CU
ME
NT
S
writin
g sin
ce a
fair sa
mp
le o
f the la
tter w
ou
ld still ta
ke a
considerable am
ount of space and make it inconvenient to anchor
any
on
e qu
estion
ed sp
ecimen
to a sin
gle ch
art. Th
e meth
od
selected
for sh
orten
ing th
e pro
cess of co
mpariso
n w
as to p
re-p
are three ch
arts of stan
dard
writin
g, tw
o sh
ow
ing
cursiv
e w
riting
, and
on
e of h
and
prin
ling
, of su
ch m
od
erate size that
all three co
uld
be laid
befo
re an in
div
idu
al view
er wh
o m
igh
t th
en tak
e up
each q
uestio
ned
specim
en an
d m
ov
e it ov
er each
chart w
hile g
ivin
g atten
tion to
the m
ost co
nven
ient areas fo
r co
mp
arison
. Ch
arts A, B
, and
C rep
resent a sam
plin
g fro
m th
e larg
e bod
y o
f standard
writin
g o
f Lee H
arvey
Osw
ald. T
he
black
bord
ered in
set on each
chart sh
ow
s questio
ned
writin
g
and su
ggests th
e movem
ent o
f this sp
ecimen
, which
is the
writin
g o
n th
e postal m
oney
ord
er to K
lein's, alo
ng each
line
of each
chart fo
r app
rop
riate com
pariso
ns w
here letters an
d
com
bin
ations o
f letters, and elem
ents o
f letters are repeated
w
ithin the questioned and standard specimens.
Each
chart o
ffers several d
ifferent elem
ents fo
r com
pariso
n.
Fo
r ex
am
ple
s: On
Ch
art A
, line 2
, in th
e w
ord
"sup
po
rt" co
nsid
er the last fo
ur letters. T
hen
direct y
our atten
tion to
th
e word
"port" o
n lin
e 3, an
d to
the sam
e com
bin
ation o
f letters in
the w
ord
"transp
ortatio
n" o
f Iine 4
. You w
ill ob-
serve an
hab
itual p
attern in
the fo
rmatio
n o
f these letters w
hich
is clo
sely sim
ilar to th
ose in
the w
ord
"Sportin
g" o
f the q
ses-H
on
ed w
riting
of th
e inset ju
st belo
w lin
e 4. S
pecifically
the
details o
f agreem
ent are—
and
this d
escriptio
n ap
plies to
bo
th
qu
estion
ed an
d stan
dard
specim
ens—
the letter "p
" is mad
e w
itho
ut an
up
per ex
tensio
n b
ut h
as a sho
rt, retraced lo
wer ex
-ten
sion in
stead o
f a loop. T
he b
ody o
f the letter (th
at part o
n
the w
riting lin
e) is angular in
form
and o
pen
at the b
ase, not
closed
again
st the staff as in
the co
nv
entio
nal letter. T
he o
val
form
of th
e "o" is d
etermin
ed alm
ost en
tirely 1)y
curv
ature o
f th
e up
strok
e on
the rig
ht sid
e of th
e letter, with
the left sid
e alm
ost straig
ht. T
he co
nn
ection
betw
een "o
" and
"r" is blen
ded
w
ith th
ese two
letters and
has an
almo
st exactly
ho
rizon
tal asp
ect, with
no in
dicatio
n o
f any ten
den
cy to
return
to th
e w
riting lin
e. There is a sh
arply
angular co
nnectio
n b
etween
the
base o
f the "r" an
d u
p stro
ke o
f the "L
" In th
e exam
ples o
f th
e lover "L
" on lin
es 2 an
d 3
the cro
ssbar is p
laced q
uite
low as it is in the questioned specim
en.
Ch
art A: T
he in
set (black
back
gro
un
d) sh
ow
s qu
estion
ed w
riting
on
th
e postal m
oney order in payment for the carbine w
ith telescopic sight shipped to
the ad
dress sh
ow
n. A
ll oth
er wriV
ng
is from
do
cum
ents su
bm
itted as
bearin
g th
e stand
ard o
r kn
ow
n h
and
writin
g o
f Lee H
arvey
Osw
ald.
Chart B
of stan
dard
writin
g sh
ow
s the in
set of q
uestio
ned
w
riting o
pposite lin
e 3 an
d ju
st belo
w lin
e 10. T
his ch
art has
two ex
amples o
f the w
riting o
f the ad
dress "P
. 0. B
ox 2
915,"
282 Ju
ly M
G
Vo
l. 11
• Isle. 3
283
g.]
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6 p
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to Z
.
77
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ITING
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ITING
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: 9
fil.4
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
:hart 13: Again the inset show
s questioned writing, w
hich is the same as
hat o
f Chart A
, but sh
ow
n h
ere with
a variety
of ad
ditio
nal stan
dard
w
riting. vhich
are items 1
and 9
of th
e chart, an
d th
ese show
a dose
iniilarity
to th
e same ad
dress o
f the q
uestio
ned
specim
en. A
lo
teworth
y featu
re of th
e figure "5
" is the lo
ng cap
stroke in
tern
1 as co
mpared
with
the "5
" of th
e inset o
f questio
ned
iritin
g. T
his ch
art has tw
o ex
amples o
f the w
ord
"Tex
as" C
lirSINT w
riting o
n lin
es 4 an
d 1
3. H
ere again
there is an
xact ag
reemen
t with
the w
ord
"Tex
as" of th
e questio
ned
writ-
84
WA
RR
EN
RE
PO
RT
—F
OR
GE
D D
OC
UM
EN
TS
Chart C
: This chart show
s hand printing and numerals from
the standard w
riting o
f Osw
ald fo
r com
pariso
n w
ith relev
ant p
arts of th
e questio
ned
w
riting shown by the inset. T
his method of illustration provided for m
ove-m
ent of each item of questioned w
riting over the three charts of standard w
riting with a stop for close com
parison at any point. in
g. O
f particu
lar interest is th
e meth
od o
f mak
ing th
e letter "x
." For p
roper stu
dy a m
icrosco
pe is req
uired
whereu
pon it
would
be fo
und th
at the h
otly
of th
e letter, exclu
sive o
f the
crossb
ar, is mad
e in th
e form
of a sm
all letter "u" w
ith th
e seco
nd cu
sp p
laced so
mew
hat h
igher th
an th
e first. it is as
July 1966 V
ol. 11 • No. 3
285
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
W
AR
RE
N R
EP
OR
T—
FO
RC
ED
DO
CU
ME
NT
S
though the writer believed he m
ight form the "x" as a continuous
movem
ent w
ithout th
e need
for a sep
arate bar, b
ut sin
ce it d
evelo
ps in
the fo
rm o
f a letter "u" th
en th
e final stro
ke is
add
ed d
irectly acro
ss the seco
nd
cusp
. Th
is is a hig
hly
un
usu
al m
ethod o
f form
ing th
e letter "x" an
d it is th
e same in
both
standard and questioned w
riting. C
hart C
show
s standard
han
d p
rintin
g_ T
he in
sert of q
ues-
tion
ed w
riting
is at line 4
with
the ad
dress "P
. 0. B
ox
29
15
" in
a fo
rm o
f han
d p
rintin
g, a
nd
a p
rinte
d "A
" on
the lin
e
just ab
ove. H
ere again
, a micro
scope is req
uired
to see th
e p
recise con
structio
n o
f this "A
" wh
ich b
egin
s with
a do
wn
-stro
ke o
n th
e left side th
at is almost ex
actly retraced
by th
e fo
llow
ing arch
ed u
pstro
ke, w
ith th
e crossb
ar confin
ed w
ithin
th
e b
ody o
f the le
tter. T
his d
esc
riptio
n o
f the "A
" is true
for b
oth
qu
estion
ed an
d stan
dard
letters. Th
ese elemen
ts of
the "A
" can b
e seen b
est in th
e standard
writin
g in
Item 6
in
the a
bb
rev
iatio
n "L
A." C
hart C
has th
ree w
riting
s of
"P. 0
. Bo
x," in
Item
4 (rig
ht sid
e o
f ch
art), a
nd
in Ite
ms
6 an
d 7
. Wh
ile these stan
dard
elemen
ts occu
r in a co
ntex
t of
hand
prin
ting th
ey
agre
e e
xactly
with
the sa
me te
xt in
the
questio
ned
writin
g w
hich
is associated
with
cursiv
e writin
g.
An esp
ecially clo
se com
pariso
n is b
etween
line 7
and th
e inset
of q
uestio
ned
writin
g sh
ow
ing "P
. 0. B
ox". A
notew
orth
y
featu
re is th
at o
f clo
sing
the le
tter "0
" ab
ou
t on
e th
ird o
f th
e way
dow
n o
n th
e left side b
y m
eans o
f a stroke th
at moves
to th
e left across th
e top o
f the letter an
d th
en d
ow
nw
ard.
There are m
any o
ther sim
ilarities of th
is ord
er betw
een
the q
uestio
ned
writin
g an
d th
e whole b
ody o
f the stan
dard
w
riting
. It will h
ave b
een ap
preciated
from
this d
escriptio
n
which
has co
vered
only
a few letters th
at a consid
erable am
ount
of tim
e is yeq
uired
to lo
cate and stu
dy in
detail each
stroke o
f each
letter. Ev
en th
en th
e com
pariso
n w
ou
ld n
ot b
e com
plete
until th
ere has o
ccurred
a dilig
ent search
for an
y d
ifference
that m
ight h
ave to
be classified
as one o
f writin
g h
abit to
raise th
e questio
n o
f possib
le auth
orsh
ip b
y an
oth
er perso
n. T
his
search fo
r differen
ces ord
inarily
run
s parallel w
ith th
e stud
y o
f sim
ilarity, b
ut is also
subject to
a separate rev
iew c. am
inatio
n.
This search has not revealed any significant differences betw
een th
e q
uestio
ned
an
d sta
nd
ard
specim
en
s oth
er th
an
tho
se
charg
eable to
norm
al variatio
ns, an
d th
ere are none th
at re-
quire classificatio
n as p
art of a p
attern o
f writin
g h
abit o
f so
me o
ther p
erson. In
stead, th
ere is a perv
asive sim
ilarity in
all sig
nifican
t details b
etween
the stan
dard
writin
g an
d all
of th
e do
cum
ents related
to th
e pu
rchase an
d d
elivery
of th
e m
urd
er weap
ons an
d related
to u
se of an
alias which
similarity
is en
ough to
warran
t the firm
belief th
at all of th
is writin
g is
in the hand of Lee H
arvey Osw
ald.
Sum
mary and C
onclusions H
andw
riting is p
roduced
by th
e operatio
n o
f hab
it. The
pro
cess of learn
ing to
write m
eans th
e acquirem
ent an
d d
e-v
elop
men
t of a set o
f hab
its wh
ich m
akes th
e pro
du
ction
of
han
dw
riting
efficient. It m
ay b
e said th
at hab
it is that w
hich
m
akes h
andw
riting p
ossib
le. Assu
min
g an
opportu
nity
to ex
-am
ine larg
e samples o
f han
dw
riting w
herein
indiv
iduals h
ave
a free op
po
rtun
ity to
record
all or a su
bstan
tial po
rtion
of
perso
nal w
riting h
abit, th
e possib
ility o
f findin
g ex
tensiv
e co
incid
ence is ex
tremely
remo
te. Wh
ile every
literate perso
n
has a n
atural ab
ility in
recognizin
g in
div
iduality
in h
and-
.. writin
g, th
e foren
sic iden
tification o
f han
dw
riting is p
roperly
a sp
ecialty, in
volv
ing a fo
rmal resp
onsib
ility fo
r mak
ing su
ch
judgments subject to rigorous tests of correctness over a substan-
tial period of time so that each new
problem is referable to a body
of ex
perien
ce with
similar p
roblem
s. The statem
ent b
y a
docu
men
t exam
iner th
at two h
andw
ritings, o
ne o
f know
n
auth
orsh
ip an
d th
e oth
er hav
ing b
een o
f unknow
n au
thorsh
ip
are in th
e han
d o
f the sam
e perso
n m
eans
(1)
that sim
ilar ju
dgm
ents h
ave b
een m
ade in
com
parab
le cases, so th
at each
such
prev
iou
s instan
ce giv
es statistical sup
po
rt to th
e curren
t judgm
ent, and (2) th
at he stan
ds read
y to
dem
on
strate a sub
-stan
tial part o
f the reaso
ns fo
r his co
nclu
sion. O
ther co
nditio
ns
for su
ch a ju
dgm
ent are ad
equate stan
dard
s and a q
uestio
ned
sp
ecimen
of su
fficient sco
pe to
giv
e full o
pp
ortu
nity
for re-
cord
ing w
riting H
abit. T
he d
ocu
men
ts related to
the tv
sassina-
tion
of P
residen
t Joh
n F
. Ken
ned
y are u
nu
sual in
the larg
e quan
tity an
d v
ariety o
f standard
and q
uestio
ned
writin
gs. T
heir
detailed
similarity
warran
ts the b
elief that all o
f the stan
dard
an
d q
uestio
ned
han
dw
riting is b
y L
ee Harv
ey O
swald
. Bey
ond
the id
eal ficaticm th
us sh
ow
n, th
e docu
men
ts give inform
ation
286 Ju
ly 1966 V
ol. t r • N
o. 3
2
87
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
about th
e temperam
ent, p
roblem
s, and m
ovem
ents o
f their
auth
or, an
d th
ey p
oin
t to th
e need
for early
detectio
n o
f forg
ed
and co
unterfeit d
ocu
men
ts to fo
restall more serio
us crim
e.
RE
FE
RE
NC
ES
1. R
eport of the President's C
onunission on the Assassination of P
resident John F
. Kennedy, U
nited States G
overnment P
rinting Office, W
ashing-ton, D
. C., 1964, pp. 119, 569.
2. Ibid., pp. 259, 264, 392.
3. Ibid., pp. 119, 120, 567, 569.
Ibid., pp. 119, 120, 567, 569. 5. Ibid., pp. 121, 567, 570. G.
Ibid., pp. 121, 567, 570. 7. Ibid., pp. 121, 567, 570.
8. Ibid., pp. 121, 122, 577.
9. Ibid., pp. 121, 571, 674.
2730 Blaine D
rive C
hevy Chase, M
aryland 20015
Psychiatric O
bservations on the W
arren Com
mission R
eport
Maier I. T
uchler, M.D
.**
This p
sych
iatric study o
f the W
arren C
om
missio
n R
eport (1
) w
ill presen
t, initially
, an o
verall v
iew o
f the rep
ort an
d th
en
undertak
e a more d
etailed an
d critical stu
dy o
f the p
ersonality
pro
file of L
ee Harv
ey O
swald
with
particu
lar reference to
m
otivation. T
he W
arren C
om
missio
n R
eport h
as put to
rest irrational
appreh
ensio
n an
d an
xiety
created b
y th
e assassinatio
n o
f our
Presid
ent at a critical tim
e in th
e natio
n's h
istory
. Follo
win
g
the acu
te perio
d o
f mourn
ing, an
d after th
e recovery
from
the
initial sh
ock
of th
e traged
y, ru
mors o
f consp
iratorial in
volv
e--m
eat of eith
er• the u
ltra-right o
r the u
ltra-left were ram
pan
t. T
he fin
din
gs p
resented
by th
e Warren
Rep
ort ar•e o
f sufficien
t d
etail to n
egate ru
mo
rs of co
nsp
iracy. E
vid
ence is su
fficient
to p
oin
t to O
swald
as a lone assassin
. The h
istory
of th
e rifle w
hich
killed
Presid
ent K
enned
y, th
e ballistics tests su
bseq
uen
t to
the assassin
ation, th
e trajectory
studies w
hich
establish
that
the shots came from
the Texas S
choolbook Depository, the spicule
of glass chipped from the im
ide o
f the w
ind
shield
of th
e presi-
den
tial veh
icle offer co
nvin
cing ev
iden
ce to th
e critical reader.
T:ie co
nclu
sion
wh
ich th
e Warren
Rep
ort estab
lishes is th
e ab
sence o
f either a rig
ht-w
ing o
r a left-win
g co
nsp
iracy, a fact
which
may
be o
f consid
erable sig
nifican
ce in th
e histo
ry o
f the
United
States in
the y
ears to co
me. T
he assassin
ation o
f Presi-
den
t Lin
coln
10
1 y
ears ago
is still the su
bject o
f con
spirato
rial accu
sation an
d th
is subject m
atter has n
ot y
et been
exhau
sted.
• Presented at the E
ighteenth Annual M
eeting of the Am
erican Academ
y of F
orensic Sciences, C
hicago, Illinois, February 21, [666. R
eceived for publication F
ebruary 26, 1966. Accepted for publication Inc
t 3, 1906.
''* Phoenix, A
rizona.
28
5
July 1966 V
at 11
• No
. 3
2M
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
W
AR
RE
N R
EP
OR
T—
PS
YC
HIA
TR
IC O
BS
ER
VA
TIO
NS
The A
merican public m
ay be reassured that the life of our Presi-
den
t was n
ot ex
tinguish
ed b
y d
eliberate p
lan o
f an in
ternal o
r
extern
al gro
up o
f assassins fo
r any racial, p
olitical o
r religio
us
cause. The C
onunission has performed a conscientious, detailed
and often brilliant task. O
nly
an in
div
idual set an
d rig
id in
his b
elief that o
ur so
ciety
is corru
pt w
ill contin
ue to
doubt th
e facts establish
ed b
y th
e
report. C
ertainly
evid
ence is n
ot su
ppressed
and areas o
f con-
troversy
are reported
in d
etail. The C
om
missio
n fo
und n
o ev
i-
den
ce that an
yone assisted
Osw
ald in
plan
nin
g o
r carryin
g o
ut
the assassination. H
erbert L
. Pack
er, pro
fessor o
f law, S
tanfo
rd U
niv
ersity,
reports in
"The N
ation," N
ovem
ber 2
, 1964, "T
he W
arren
Com
missio
n h
as adm
irably
fulfilled
its central o
bjectiv
e of
pro
ducin
g an
account o
f the circu
mstan
ces under w
hich
Presi-
den
t Ken
ned
y w
as assassinated
that is ad
equate to
satisfy all
reasonable doubts about the imm
ediate, essential facts. We now
know as m
uch as we are ever likely to know
about what happened
in D
allas. Why it h
appen
ed rem
ains, p
erhap
s forev
er, obscu
re.
If there. are minor flaw
s in the report—som
e unavoidable, others,
as I shall su
ggest, th
at mig
ht h
ave b
een co
rrected—
they
are
thro
wn in
to sh
adow
by th
e conscien
tious an
d at tim
es brillian
t
job th
at the C
om
missio
n h
as done. O
nly
those fo
r whatev
er
reasons of personal or political myopia cannot bring them
selves
to face reality
\vill co
ntin
ue to
thin
k th
at the trag
edy w
as
pro
xim
ately th
e work
of m
ore th
an o
ne m
an an
d th
erefore
ultimately the outcom
e of a conspiracy" (2).
Professor P
acker is of the opinion that those who w
ould revise
the W
arren R
eport are n
ow
merely
"floggin
g a d
ead h
orse."
It is quite easy to attack the inaccuracies of the statements m
ade
by a d
istrict attorn
ey, statem
ents w
hich
repeated
not o
nly
in-
accuracies b
ut also
susp
icions an
d ru
mor w
hile p
resentin
g th
e
district atto
rney
's case to th
e televisio
n au
dien
ce. The cen
tral
findings of the Com
mission have not been refuted; these findings
are that all th
e wounds su
stained
by b
oth
Presid
ent K
enned
y
and Governor C
onnally were fired 1
) from
above an
d fro
m th
e
rear, 2) th
at these sh
ots w
ere fired fro
nt th
e sixth
floor o
f the
Book D
epository, 3)
that th
e shots w
ere fired fro
m a rifle, a
Man
nlich
er-Carean
o, fo
und o
n th
e Gth
floor o
f the D
eposito
ry,
4) O
swald
was th
e sole o
wner o
f this rifle an
d it w
as purch
ased
through mail-order, and 5
) the sh
ots co
uld
hav
e been
fired b
y
Osw
ald who w
as in the Book D
epository at the time.
None o
f the b
asic facts of th
e Warren
Rep
ort d
epen
ds u
pon
"eyeball" witnesses.
That O
swald
was cap
able o
f firing a g
un at an
oth
er hum
an
whom
he lo
oked
upon as an
enem
y is certain
ly p
robab
le. Al-
though th
e attempt to
kill M
ajor G
eneral W
alker is p
eripheral
to th
e topic u
nder d
iscussio
n, th
ere is a note in
Osw
ald's h
and-
writin
g w
ritten b
efore th
e attempt o
n W
alker's life w
hich
reveals O
swald
's inte
nt; a
nd e
vid
ence su
bsta
ntia
tes th
at
Osw
ald "cased
" Gen
eral Walk
er's hom
e, for p
ictures tak
en b
y
a camera o
wned
by O
swald
were fo
und am
ong h
is posses-
sions (3
). ft is but an
ticlimactic to
report th
at Osw
ald's w
ife
stated th
at Osw
ald to
ld h
er that h
e mad
e an attem
pt o
n th
e
life of G
eneral W
alker. U
ndoubted
ly O
swald
was cap
able o
f
planning and of executing homicide.
What is lack
ing in
the W
arren C
om
missio
n R
eport is a
structu
red stu
dy o
f Osw
ald w
hich
sufficien
tly rev
eals his p
er-
sonality, growth and em
otional development. M
otivation appears
the item
most d
eservin
g o
f study an
d in
vestig
ation. H
ere the
Warren R
eport bogs down into a com
pilation of interviews w
ith
significan
t perso
ns w
hich
, while d
etailed, falls far sh
ort o
f
dev
elopin
g an
y b
ody o
f know
ledge o
n w
hich
the d
ynam
ics of
Osw
ald's p
ersonality
and o
f his m
otiv
ation can
be ad
judged
.
Mr. M
urray
Kem
pto
n, a co
lum
nist fo
r the N
ew Y
ork
World
-
Telegram
, reported in the "New
Republic" of O
ctober 10, 1964
as follo
ws: "W
e are the o
nly
appellate co
urt th
e ghost o
f Lee
Osw
ald w
ill ever k
now
, and so
it beco
mes o
ur d
uty
to cast th
e
cold
est eye w
e can u
pon a v
ersion o
f the life o
f Lee O
swald
and th
e death
of Jo
hn F
. Ken
ned
y th
at has b
een p
roduced
by men w
ho have sifted through the mem
ories of 522 witnesses.
It is no co
nso
lation u
nder th
ese circum
stances to
read, in
the
Warren
Com
missio
n's R
eport, p
age after p
age o
f ratiocin
ation
of th
e source o
f Lee O
swald
's interio
r quarrel, an
d th
en to
look in
the ap
pen
dix
and d
iscover th
at the C
om
missio
n h
ired
for its sta
ff two A
rmy h
istoria
ns a
nd n
o p
sychia
trists. It
heard only two w
itnesses who w
ere psychiatrists, one of whom
saw O
swald
last when
he w
as 13, an
d th
e oth
er of w
hom
saw
only
jack R
uby. T
he C
om
missio
n h
as acted faith
ful to
the
great trad
ition o
f a natio
n o
f perso
ns w
ill practice p
sych
iatry
2o
July 1506 V
ul. 1
1 • N
o. 3
291
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
W
AR
RE
N R
EP
OR
T-P
SY
CH
IAT
RIC
OB
SE
RV
AT
ION
S
with
ou
t a license; w
e then
can g
o fo
rward
with
less sham
e to
practice th
e Co
mm
ission
's pro
fession
with
ou
t a license" (4
). E
xperts in
the fo
rensic scien
ces are experts o
nly
when
they
speak authoritatively in those areas in w
hich they are adequately qualified
. While au
analy
tical chem
ist may
report o
n fin
din
gs
of m
illigram
s percen
t of alco
hol fo
und in
a specim
en o
f blo
od
in h
is labo
ratory
determ
inatio
n, h
e is no
t necessarily
qu
alified
as a student to study the physiology of alcohol or the motivations
which
involv
e an in
div
idual in
the im
bib
ing o
f alcohoL
It may
b
e tragic w
hen
a specialist in
bio
chem
istry testifies in
crim-
inalistics if h
e is no
t info
rmed
in th
is area. It cou
ld b
e equ
ally
tragic if a sp
ecialist in b
allistics were to
testify o
n a sp
ecimen
of h
andw
riting. H
ow
, then
, may
a lawyer assu
me co
mpeten
ce in
the critical area o
f motiv
ation? T
he leg
al min
d is train
ed
to assess fact an
d in
tent. H
is trainin
g an
d p
urp
ose p
repare
him
to d
iscredit ru
mor, sp
eculatio
n, co
njectu
re and m
ost o
f all, m
otivation. A
fter a comprehensive study of the W
arren Report, this w
riter w
as astonish
ed to
learn th
at of th
e 522 w
itnesses in
terview
ed
or deposed and over 25,000 reports presented to the comm
ission, no p
sych
iatrist studied
any d
ata gath
ered b
y th
e form
al and
official so
urces o
r by
the in
vestig
ators an
d atto
rney
s for th
e co
mm
ission. T
he W
arren C
om
missio
n, co
mposed
of a g
roup o
f o
utstan
din
g atto
rney
s, com
peten
tly staffed
with
assistants
trained
in th
e law, ap
peared
to fo
llow
the p
ractice altogeth
er to
o co
mm
on in
the cu
rrent scen
e of p
racticing "lay
" psy
chiatry
. It is w
ell kn
ow
n th
at the law
is interested
in in
tent, p
articularly
in
matters in
vo
lvin
g m
ajor crim
es; ind
eed it is th
is fact that
is the co
rnersto
ne o
n w
hich
the d
octrin
e of m
ens rea is b
ased.
Mo
tivatio
n, th
e stud
y o
f un
con
sciou
s forces, u
po
n w
hich
be-
hav
ior is b
ased is clearly
and
distin
ctly
not th
e concern
of
the law
, for it is b
ased o
n co
njectu
re rather th
an fact, co
ncep
t rath
er than
a kno
wled
ge o
f purp
ose. Y
et it is interestin
g to
note th
at an assistan
t cou
nsel fo
r the W
arren C
om
missio
n, M
r. Jen
ner, h
i dep
osin
g M
r. Kerry
Wen
dell T
ho
rnley
was p
rob
ing
fo
r mo
tivatio
n w
hich
I insist is n
ot w
ithin
the realm
of leg
al co
mpeten
ce although I m
ust ag
ree that in
a modern
crimin
al trial th
e jury
and th
e judge, th
e attorn
eys an
d th
e new
spap
ers are all p
rofo
undly
in search
of an
d d
eeply
affected b
y m
otiv
a-tio
n. T
o q
uo
te Mr. Jen
ner, "W
e are dealin
g in
a very
delicate
field h
ere, and
I am p
ressing
yo
u v
ery sev
erely." M
r. Th
orn
ley,
a one-time M
arine colleague of Lee O
swald, replied, "T
hese are som
etimes very grey thin lines w
e have to distinguish between."
Mr. Jen
ner th
en stated
, "We a
re pro
bin
g fo
r motiva
tion"
(5).
Desp
ite pag
es upon p
ages o
f detailed
info
rmatio
n g
athered
by
com
peten
t police an
d leg
al investig
ators, th
e report is q
uite
deficient in establishing motivation.
Wh
ile readin
g th
e repo
rt in d
etail, the w
riter fou
nd
him
self in
man
y w
ays assu
min
g th
e po
sition
of a ju
ror listen
ing
to
evid
ence. B
allistics data, fin
gerp
rint stu
dies, rep
ort o
f in-
vestig
ators tracid
the g
un
and
the p
istol, an
d d
etails of th
is so
rt are adeq
uately
presen
ted an
d co
nv
incin
g. O
ccasion
ally,
how
ever, d
ata are presen
ted, w
hich
, were th
e investig
ators
perh
aps a b
it mo
re alert to th
e imp
lication
s of th
e con
tent, th
e questio
ns ask
ed o
f Osw
ald m
ight h
ave b
een m
ade m
ore en
-lig
hten
ing an
d in
deed
more rev
ealing. F
or ex
ample, early
in
March
or late in
April 1
963 th
e Osw
alds liv
ed o
n N
eely S
treet in
Dallas in
a little ho
use w
hich
had
a small b
acky
ard. O
n a
Su
nd
ay, acco
rdin
g to
the w
ife, Osw
ald ask
ed h
er to tak
e a p
icture o
f him
ho
ldin
g a p
istol, a rifle, an
d issu
es of tw
o n
ews-
pap
ers, iden
tified later as th
e "Wo
rker" an
d th
e "Militan
t." Tw
o
such
pictu
res were tak
en (6
). Th
ese pictu
res hav
e a particu
lar significance for they clearly reveal O
swald's lack of affiliation in
fact with
either th
e Co
mm
un
ist party
or th
e So
cialist Wo
rkers
party
. Stu
den
ts of th
e political p
arties of th
e left recognize th
at m
embership in the C
omm
unist party and the mem
bership in the S
ocialist W
ork
ers party
are totally
inco
mpatib
le. Osw
ald co
n-
sidered himself a M
arxist but not a Marxist L
eninist, stating that he w
as not a mem
ber and did not believe in the principles of the L
enin
ist party
which
is the C
om
munist p
arty. O
n h
is return
fro
m th
e Soviet U
nio
n h
e carried o
n a lim
ited co
rresponden
ce w
ith th
e So
cialist Wo
rkers p
arty, attem
pted
to jo
in th
at party
, an
d actu
ally su
bscrib
ed to
the "M
ilitant," th
e official p
arty
newspaper of the S
ocialist Workers party.
In A
ugust o
f 1962, th
e Warren
Rep
ort in
detail n
otes th
at O
swald attem
pted to initiate dealings with the C
omm
unist party, U
SA
, by
sub
scribin
g to
the "W
ork
er" and
he co
ntin
ued
son
ic correspondence in connection w
ith his "Fair P
lay for Cuba C
om-
mittee" (7
). He h
ad fo
rmed
this "F
air Play
for C
ub
a Co
m-
mittee" u
nd
er the alias o
f IIidell an
d h
e was th
e sole m
emb
er!
292 July 19136
Vii. i1
• No. 3
293
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
W
AR
RE
N R
EP
OR
T—
PS
YC
HIA
TR
IC O
BS
ER
VA
TIO
NS
In
additio
n, h
e wro
te to th
e Socialist L
abor p
arty id
entify
ing
him
self as a mem
ber o
f the "F
air Play
for C
uba C
om
mittee."
It is importan
t to n
ote th
at neith
er of th
e above-m
entio
ned
gro
ups o
f the left rep
ort an
y activ
e particip
ation o
r mem
bersh
ip
affilia
tion o
f Osw
ald
. Indeed, O
swald
was a
loner, a
nd it
appears th
at he w
anted
more im
med
iate recognitio
n an
d in
stant
acknow
ledgm
ent as a p
olitical lead
er from
an the leftist fro
nts.
Alth
ough h
e claimed
to h
ave m
embersh
ip o
f 35 in
the "F
air P
lay fo
r Cuba C
om
mittee" in
New
Orlean
s, there is ad
equate
evid
ence th
at Osw
ald w
as the o
nly
mem
ber an
d th
at he h
ad an
alias, H
idell, a n
ame so
closely
synonym
ous w
ith F
idel th
at its origin can be readily identified.
The p
hoto
grap
h o
f Osw
ald h
old
ing tw
o n
ewsp
apers w
hich
rep
resent th
e official p
ublicatio
ns o
f political p
arties that are
thoro
ughly
antag
onistic g
ives co
nvin
cing ev
iden
ce of th
e fact th
at Osw
ald lack
ed affiliatio
n w
ith an
y o
f the p
arties on th
e left,. th
at he w
as a loner, an
d th
is confirm
s the facts o
f the
Warren
Rep
ort. A
s a perso
nal o
bserv
ation, I fin
d th
e pictu
res m
ore convincing than reams of print.
Child
hood an
d d
evelo
pm
ent h
istory
of L
ee Harv
ey O
swald
rev
eal that as early
as age tw
o h
e was an
unm
anag
eable ch
ild
usu
ally u
nder th
e care of b
aby sitters w
hile h
is moth
er was
employed. A
t the age of three he was placed in a children's hom
e w
here fo
r a critical 13 m
onth
s he w
as visited
only
occasio
nally
by h
is moth
er. When
anticip
ating rem
arriage, M
rs. Osw
ald
with
drew
Lee fro
m th
e child
ren's h
om
e and h
e lived
with
her
briefly
. After h
er marriag
e to M
r. Ekdah
l, Lee rem
ained
in
her home until his m
other was divorced in 1948.
A rev
iew o
f the h
istory
of L
ee Osw
ald co
nvey
s the d
istinct
impressio
n th
at his h
om
e life was u
tterly u
nstab
le, that h
is fam
ily moved frequently betw
een Fort W
orth, Texas, C
ovington, L
ouisian
a, and b
ack to
Fort W
orth
with
frequen
t moves in
th
e last city n
ecessitating m
any sch
ool tran
sfers while in
mid
-sessio
n. H
is earlier years in
New
Orlean
s were in
deed
hectic.
For several years his older brothers had been placed in boarding
schools. S
tudy o
f the sig
nifican
t early y
ears of L
ee Harv
ey
Oaw
aId rev
eals an essen
tial rejection b
y th
e moth
er and a lack
of id
entificatio
n w
ith a sig
nifican
t adult. T
his p
attern u
sually
leads to delinquent behavior.
The personality of L
ee Osw
ald was characterized during boy-
hood b
y w
ithdraw
al. He p
layed
by h
imself, freq
uen
tly refu
sed
to le
ave h
om
e a
nd, b
y th
e a
ge o
f 10, h
e p
refe
rred to
stay
indoors an
d read
com
ic books an
d listen
to th
e radio
. He w
as described as robust and "m
ean when he w
as angry, just ornery." A
fter a married
old
er bro
ther jo
ined
the C
oast G
uard
and
moved to N
ew Y
ork, Mrs. O
swald took L
ee to visit and remained
for a b
rief perio
d w
ith h
er old
er son. W
hile liv
ing w
ith h
is bro
ther, L
ee, then
aged
13, fo
ught w
ith h
is sister-in-law
by
hold
ing a p
ock
et knife o
n h
er durin
g a q
uarrel, g
ivin
g ev
iden
ce of a rag
e reaction w
hen
frustrated
of co
nsid
erable fu
ture sig
-n ificance.
Once settled
in N
ew Y
ork
, Lee O
swald
's school ad
justm
ent
deterio
rated an
d th
e moth
er transferred
him
from
a Luth
eran
day
school to
a public sch
ool. H
e attended
school ab
out o
ne
day in
four a
nd re
ceiv
ed fa
iling g
rades in
the 7
th g
rade.
Tru
ancy
hearin
gs w
ere held
. Both
Lee an
d h
is moth
er were
absen
t. The reco
rd is rep
lete with
evid
ence th
at the m
oth
er w
as as skilled
in m
anip
ulatin
g h
er enviro
nm
ent as w
as her so
n.
On a series o
f occasio
ns sh
e explain
ed h
is beh
avio
r as "due to
difficu
lty in
adju
sting to
his n
ew en
viro
nm
ent." L
ee was d
e-clared truant and w
as remanded to Y
outh House for psychiatric
study. H
e refused
to ap
pear b
efore th
e presid
ing ju
dge. D
r. R
enatu
s Ha-togs, the only psychiatrist w
ho examined L
ee, who
was th
en ag
ed 1
3, in
dicated
that L
ee was a w
ithdraw
n an
d
socially maladjusted boy w
hose mother w
ould not interest herself su
fficiently
in h
is welfare (8
). His m
oth
er had
failed to
estab-
lish a relatio
nsh
ip w
ith h
er son. M
rs. Osw
ald h
ad co
nsid
ered
Youth
House as u
nfit fo
r her so
n. D
r. Itartogs reco
mm
ended
pro
batio
n fo
r the b
oy w
ith a ch
ild g
uid
ance clin
ic follo
w-u
p
and also
urg
ed th
e moth
er to co
ntact a fam
ily serv
ice agen
cy
for so
cial service assistan
ce. Once th
e boy h
ad b
een p
laced
on p
robatio
n h
e com
pleted
the 7
th g
rade b
ut h
e soon retu
rned
to
his p
revio
us p
attern o
f truan
cy an
d b
y th
e time h
e was in
th
e 8th
grad
e the p
robatio
n o
fficer was o
rdered
by th
e judge
to m
ake a referral to
either an
industrial farm
or a ch
ildren
's villag
e for resid
ential treatm
ent. M
rs. Osw
ald rejected
the
ord
er of th
e judge; it w
as evid
ent fro
m read
ing th
e report th
at M
rs. Osw
ald w
as reluctan
t to co
operate w
ith th
e advice o
f
294 July 1966
Vol. 1
1 • N
o. 3
295
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
W
AR
RE
N R
EP
OR
T—
PS
YC
HIA
TR
IC O
BS
ER
VA
TIO
NS
the c
ourt. F
earfu
l that th
e b
oy m
ight b
e re
tain
ed in
som
e
typ
e of p
rotectiv
e custo
dy, M
rs. Osw
ald to
ok L
ee out o
f the
jurisd
iction o
f the co
urt early
in 1
954 an
d retu
rned
to N
ew
Orleans w
here Lee com
pleted the 8th grade. D
urin
g th
e ensu
ing few
years, L
ee was d
escribed
as dem
and-
ing an
d in
solen
t tow
ard h
is moth
er and sev
eral witn
esses hav
e rep
orted
that th
e mo
ther h
ad little o
r no
con
trol o
ver h
er son
. B
y the fall of 1955, Lee O
swald w
rote a note to which he signed
his m
oth
er's nam
e stating th
at he m
ust q
uit sch
ool b
ecause th
e fam
ily w
as mo
vin
g to
San
Dieg
o. T
his w
as a falseho
od
. After
his six
teenth
birth
day
he tried
to en
list in th
e Marin
es usin
g
a false affidav
it from
his m
oth
er stating
that h
e was sev
enteen
. H
is old
er bro
ther, Jo
hn, h
ad jo
ined
the M
arines u
sing sim
ilar tactics. T
he m
oth
er had
actually
signed
the affid
avits in
both
eases (9
). T
here certain
ly seem
s to b
e som
e iden
tification
betw
een L
ee an
d h
is old
er bro
ther fo
r Lee sp
ent h
is entire six
teenth
year
mem
orizin
g th
e Marin
e Man
ual w
hich
he h
ad receiv
ed fro
m
his b
roth
er. As so
on as h
e was 1
7 y
ears of ag
e he jo
ined
the
Marines. T
he p
attern o
f dev
elopm
ent th
us far rev
ealed in
the ab
ove
sketc
h is n
ot a
t all d
evia
nt fro
m th
at o
f score
s of y
oung
adolescen
ts whose b
ehav
ior can
be co
nsid
ered co
llectively
as d
elinqu
ent. T
he p
attern o
f man
ipu
lation o
f the en
viro
nm
ent
by
the m
oth
er, the free u
tilization
of false affid
avits, w
hich
is m
anip
ulatin
g as w
ell as rejecting, an
d th
e overall p
rotectio
n
of th
e delin
quen
t son b
y ev
asion, co
unter h
ostility
, and m
anip
u-
lation is clearly demonstrable.
That L
ee Harv
ey O
swald
used
rage reactio
ns an
d tem
per
tantru
ms to
gain
his en
ds in
dicates th
e deg
ree of ch
aracter dis? . d
er already p
revalen
t; yet n
oth
ing is rev
ealed w
hich
is dev
iant fro
m th
e case histo
ries of sco
res of y
oung d
elinquen
ts. L
ee Harv
ey O
swald
's beh
avio
r while in
the M
arine C
orp
s was
a contin
uatio
n o
f his b
oyhood p
attern; h
e stayed
to h
imself,
did
no
t play
cards o
r wo
rk o
ut w
ith th
e oth
ers, read a g
oo
d
deal, v
iolated
the u
sual ro
utin
e and
had
to u
nd
ergo
several
cou
rt martials. T
he first co
urt m
artial was in
respo
nse to
an
episo
de in
which
he sto
red a lo
aded
pisto
l in h
is lock
er which
disch
arged
and sen
t a bullet in
to h
is left elbow
. The seco
nd
court martial follow
ed pouring beer on a noncomm
issioned offi-cer an
d cu
rsing h
im w
hile O
swald
was in
toxicated
in a cafe
in Jap
an. H
e was so
difficu
lt in b
arracks d
isciplin
e that o
ther
mem
bers o
f his q
uonset b
ut secu
red h
is transfer to
anoth
er barracks.
Unquestionably he had a pronounced interest in w
orld affairs an
d ap
peared
much
better in
form
ed o
n th
e intern
ational issu
es th
an so
me o
f his o
fficers. He freq
uen
tly b
aited h
is sup
eriors
into conversation in which he could appear the better inform
ed. It w
as obvio
us th
at he h
ad a g
reat desire to
app
ear bo
th in
-telligent and know
ledgeable. Throughout the M
arine Corps stay
he studied Russian and favored the C
astro government in C
uba, a belief that w
as not unpopular in 1959. A
review
of th
e bo
yh
oo
d an
d y
ou
ng
man
ho
od
of L
ee Harv
ey
Osw
ald in
dicates little m
ore th
an rejectio
n, w
ithdraw
al, and a
com
pen
satory
need
for a self-assertiv
e aggressiv
eness in
areas o
f po
lities, religio
n, an
d p
hilo
sop
hy
. Th
ese tend
encies are n
ot
mu
ch d
ifferent th
an th
ose v
iews ex
pressed
by
any
nu
mb
er of
young reb
els to th
e social o
rder. A
much
more d
etailed stu
dy
of m
otiv
ation
is need
ed in
ord
er to d
isting
uish
tho
se par-
ticular qualities in Lee H
arvey Osw
ald which m
ight differentiate him
from the m
ajority of young delinquents. I a
m re
lucta
nt to
t -com
e embro
iled in
those areas w
hich
properly belong to the discussants skilled in the law
. There w
as certainly indication upon reading the W
arren Report, that m
uch of th
e evid
ence p
resented
by th
e investig
ators w
ould
pro
bab
ly
be ch
alleng
ed o
n cro
ss-exam
inatio
n. C
ertainly
the rig
ht o
f O
swald
to assert h
is innocen
ce, to h
ave access to
an atto
rney
, an
d to
be reaso
nab
ly secu
re wh
ile in cu
stod
y are to
pics th
at are m
ore d
eservin
g o
f legal stu
dy th
an p
sych
iatric com
men
t. I am
mo
re con
cerned
with
the p
articular issu
e wh
ich th
e repo
rt p
resum
es to co
ver th
rou
gh
pag
es and
pag
es of ratio
nalizatio
n,
com
men
t and
op
inio
n ex
pressed
on
the p
erson
ality o
f Osw
ald
in th
e absen
ce of stu
dy
and
con
sideratio
n b
y an
y m
edically
or
psy
chiatrically
qualified
staff mem
ber. H
ere, to m
y m
ind, lies
the w
eakness o
f the W
arren R
eport; it is n
ot to
o late to
supple-
men
t the lay
psy
chiatric o
pin
ion
s with
a con
servativ
e pro
fes-sio
nal stu
dy
of th
e sign
ificant relev
ant em
otio
nal facto
rs in th
e gro
wth
of O
swald
. While th
e moth
er is still alive h
e deserv
es
2911 July 1966
[L • N
o. 3
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
a thoro
ugh p
sych
iatric study ; h
is form
er wife, M
arina, sh
ould
certain
ly b
e interv
iewed
to g
ain so
me p
rofessio
nal k
now
ledge
of h
er interp
erson
al relation
ship
with
Osw
ald. A
ny
ind
ivid
ual
of sig
nifican
ce to th
e gro
wth
and d
evelo
pm
ent o
f Osw
ald
thro
ug
ho
ut ch
ildh
oo
d, ad
olescen
ce and
into
man
ho
od
deserv
es inquiry. In this w
ay it would be possible to build up a significant
understan
din
g o
f Osw
ald an
d an
attempt co
uld
be m
ade to
clarify
why h
e com
mitted
the acts as ch
arged
. This w
ould
really be a basic study of personality developm
ent and would be
inclusive of the concept of motivation.
Conclusion P
erhap
s the m
ost sig
nifican
t contrib
utio
n th
e psy
chiatric
pro
fession co
uld
offer to
augm
ent th
e Warren
Rep
ort w
ould
b
e a reassessmen
t of th
e details, facts, an
d in
form
ation
already
g
athered
by
the in
vestig
ators o
f the W
arren C
om
missio
n w
hich
w
ould lead to a better understanding of motivation. If, follow
ing a p
erusal o
f the sig
nifican
t data alread
y g
athered
, areas of
furth
er stud
y seem
necessary
, a reexam
inatio
n o
f tho
se in-
div
iduals sig
nifican
t to th
e gro
wth
and d
evelo
pm
ent o
f Lee
Harvey O
swald w
ould be clearly indicated. Of prim
e importance
would be a study in depth of the m
other. Marina, the w
ife, would
also b
e deserv
ing o
f a much
more carefu
l study in
dep
th. T
he
teachers, fello
w stu
den
ts, Marin
e Co
rps co
ntacts, acq
uain
tances
in th
e Soviet U
nio
n co
uld
all add m
uch
to th
e know
ledge o
f the
personality of Lee H
arvey Osw
ald. A
fter a thoro
ugh rev
iew o
f the W
arren C
om
missio
n R
eport,
I would
urg
e a furth
er study in
dep
th o
f the in
terperso
nal
relationships of Osw
ald and the people of significance in his past histo
ry. O
nly
thro
ugh su
ch stu
dy tan
Osw
ald's m
otiv
ation b
e tru
ly ascertain
ed an
d a b
etter understan
din
g o
f the p
ersonality
of the assassin of the P
resident be gained.
SU
Mm
i ry T
his study involves a review of the W
arren Report and a m
ore detailed
study o
f the u
niq
ue p
ersonality
of L
ee Harv
ey O
swald
. A
ltho
ug
h th
e Warren
Cem
missio
n, a b
od
y o
f ou
tstand
ing
at-to
rney
s, app
eared to
follo
w th
at practice co
mm
on
to a g
rou
p
of intellectuals of functio
nin
g as "lay
" psy
chiatrists, th
is writer
is appalled
at conclu
sions reach
ed w
hich
involv
e psy
chiatric
WA
RR
EN
RE
POR
T—
PSYC
FLT
AT
RIC
OB
SER
VA
TIO
NS
evalu
ation
s and
jud
gm
ents w
itho
ut th
e ben
efit of train
ed pro-
fessional thinking. A
study in
dep
th o
f tho
se ind
ivid
uals sig
nifican
t to th
e emo-
tion
al gro
wth
of L
ee Harv
ey O
swald
is ind
icated in
ord
er to
better understand his motivation.
RE
FE
RE
NC
ES
I. The W
arren Report, A
ssociated Press E
dition, 1964. (This transcript
of the report of The P
resident's Com
mission of the A
ssassination of P
resident John F. K
ennedy was used to prepare this bibliography.)
2.
Packer, H
erbert L. A
Measure of A
chievement. T
he Nation, N
ovem-
ber 2, 1964. 3. T
he Warren R
eport, Associated P
ress Edition, 1964, pp. 250-252, 316.
4. Ibid, pp. iii, 203. 5
. Thornley, K
erry. Osw
ald. New
Classics H
ouse, New
York, 1965, p. 114.
6. T
he Warren R
eport, Associated P
ress Edition, 1964, pp. 50, 175-179,
190, Exhibit 133A
. 7
. Ibid, pp. 122-124, 174, 318-319.
8. Ibid, pp. 162, 29L
9.
Ibid, pp. 165, 293.
4426 North 36th S
treet Phoenix, A
rizona 85018
203 July 19A
V
ol. 11 • Nn. 3
2‘..19
A C
ritique of the Medical A
spects of the
Investigation into the Assassination of
President K
ennedy*
Cyril II. fliecht, iIL
D., L
L.B
.,** Pittsburgh, P
enusylvania
Follo
win
g th
e initial sh
ock
of P
residen
t Ken
ned
y's assassin
a-
tion o
n th
at fateful d
ay o
f Novem
ber 2
2, 1
963, th
e natio
n
addressed
itself to th
e postm
ortem
investig
ation an
d ev
alua-
tion o
f the crim
e. The u
nex
pected
, and at tim
es almost u
n-
believ
able, ev
ents th
at follo
wed
the assassin
ation resu
lted in
much
confu
sion an
d co
ntro
versy
in th
e min
ds o
f law en
force-
men
t officials, atto
rney
s, and fo
rensic scien
tists, not to
men
tion
the lay public. T
o th
oro
ughly
and o
fficially sift th
rough th
e overw
helm
ing
and frequently conflicting pieces oC evidence, P
resident Johnson
appoin
ted a co
mm
ittee of d
istinguish
ed A
merican
s, head
ed b
y
Chief Ju
stice Earl P
. Warren
. The W
arren C
om
missio
n m
et
with
all of th
e prin
cipals, as w
ell as man
y o
f the m
inor p
er-
sonag
es, who h
ad b
een in
volv
ed in
the assassin
ation an
d th
e
even
ts that fo
llow
ed. A
fter man
y m
onth
s of in
terview
s, in-
vestig
ations, an
d ev
aluatio
ns o
f vario
us leg
al, police, m
edical,
and scien
tific reports, th
e Warren
Com
missio
n p
ublish
ed its
findin
gs ( I). It w
as fur th
e purp
ose o
f evalu
ating th
is report
from
the &
•:ndpoin
t of p
eople activ
e and in
terested in
the
applicatio
n o
f the fo
rensic scien
ces to th
e adm
inistratio
n o
f
justice that this symposium
was arranged.
t Presen
ted at th
e Eig
hteen
th A
nnual M
eeting o
f the A
merican
Acad
emy
of F
oren
sic Scien
ces, Chicag
o, Illin
ois, F
ebru
ary 2
4, M
G. R
eceived
for
publicatio
n A
pril 0
, 10(iii. A
ccepted
for p
ublicatio
n Ju
ne 5
, 1066.
" Directo
r, Institu
te of F
oren
sic Scien
ces, Duquesn
e Univ
ersity S
chool
of L
aw, P
ittsburg
h, P
ennsy
lvan
ia. Chief D
eputy
Coro
ner an
d C
hief F
oren
-
sic Path
olo
gist, A
lleghen
y C
ounty
, Pen
nsy
lvan
ia.
WA
RR
EN
RE
PO
RT
—C
RIT
IQU
E O
F M
ED
ICA
L A
SP
EC
TS
Each
of u
s undoubted
ly v
iews th
e Presid
ential assassin
ation
and th
e Warren
Com
missio
n R
eport p
rimarily
in th
e light o
f
his own professional practice, know
ledge and experience. Most
of the forensic sciences find areas of significance to discuss and
perh
aps criticize in
this rep
ort, an
d certain
ly th
at would
be
true as far as forensic pathology is concerned.
The trag
ic dem
ise of Jo
hn F
. Ken
ned
y p
oses n
o p
roblem
for u
s in term
s of d
etermin
ing th
e cause and th
e manner of
death. T
hese tw
o q
uestio
ns are th
e prim
ary an
d m
ost im
-
portan
t ones to
be an
swered
by a fo
rensic p
atholo
gist in
evalu
-
ating any d
eath b
y g
unsh
ot w
ound (s). H
ow
ever, h
avin
g an
-
swered
these tw
o q
uestio
ns, th
e foren
sic path
olo
gist m
ust
pro
ceed fu
rther, fo
r he o
ften w
ill be called
upon in
a court o
f
law u
nder o
ath to
offer p
rofessio
nal o
pin
ions o
n co
llateral
matters o
f importan
ce. Ran
ge, n
um
ber o
f bullets fired
, poin
ts
of en
try an
d ex
it, directio
n an
d an
gle o
f fire, "fatality" o
f
each individual wound—
these questions and many m
ore will be
posed
to th
e foren
sic path
olo
gist in
pretrial ev
aluatio
n an
d o
n
direct and cross-examination during the trial.
In th
is particu
lar case, all of u
s, as critics, are han
dicap
ped
by n
ot h
avin
g b
een in
volv
ed in
the au
topsy
. Conseq
uen
tly,
we are lim
ited in
our ev
aluatio
n to
those p
ortio
ns o
f the reco
rd
that h
ave b
een m
ade p
ublic th
rough o
fficial sources. T
he o
nly
oth
er med
ical facts that w
e hav
e are those th
at were released
by th
e physician
s at Park
land M
emorial H
osp
ital in D
allas,
Tex
as, where P
residen
t Ken
ned
y w
as taken
and treated
befo
re
bein
g p
ronounced
dead
officially
. Thus, w
e must p
reface any
remark
s, particu
larly an
y th
at may
seem to
be critical, w
ith th
e
caveat th
at we are n
ot in
possessio
n o
f all the facts. A
lso,
we can
appreciate th
at the p
atholo
gists w
ho p
erform
ed th
e
auto
psy
, bein
g m
embers o
f the A
rmed
Serv
ices, may
not h
ave
been permitted to publicly release all their findings.
There are sev
eral questio
ns th
at must b
e raised b
y a fo
rensic
pathologist in evaluating the autopsy report on John F. K
ennedy.
By stan
dard
s found in
most co
mpeten
t med
ical-legal In
vestig
a-
tive facilities, th
e auto
psy
report w
ould
not b
e deem
ed to
be
a com
plete o
ne. C
ertain essen
tials are missin
g, an
d m
any q
ues-
tions h
ave b
een raised
and h
ave g
one u
nan
swered
, at least
officially
, becau
se of th
e absen
ce of su
ch in
form
ation in
the
300 Ju
ly 1
9G
6
Vol. It • N
o. 3
:301.
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
W
AR
RE
N R
EP
OR
T—
CR
ITIQ
UE
OF
ME
DIC
AL
AS
PE
CT
S
official autopsy report and in the subsequent testimony given be-
fore the Warren C
omm
ission. It is my purpose briefly to discuss
some of the areas of incom
plete information and the unansw
ered questions that have arisen therefrom
. A
t the o
utset, it sh
ould
be stated
that th
is discu
ssion w
ill include com
ments on the various m
edical aspects of the assassina-tion of P
residen
t Ken
ned
y th
at mig
ht n
ot b
e con
sidered
to b
e d
irectly w
ithin
the realm
of fo
rensic p
atho
log
y. H
ow
ever, in
-asm
uch
as there is n
o rep
resentativ
e of clin
ical med
icine in
-clu
ded
in th
is sym
posiu
m I w
ould
be rem
iss if certain o
b-
servatio
ns o
f a gen
eral med
ical natu
re were n
ot m
ade.
Th
e vario
us o
bserv
ation
s hav
ing
to d
o w
ith m
edicin
e and
path
olo
gy co
ntain
ed w
ithin
this p
aper w
ill be d
iscussed
in
chro
no
log
ical fashio
n rath
er than
in o
ther p
ossib
le way
s, such
as d
imin
ishin
g m
edical o
r po
litical imp
ortan
ce, etc. A ch
ron
o-
logical d
iscussio
n w
ould
seem to
be th
e most lo
gical ap
pro
ach
in th
is particu
lar instan
ce.
Bleed T
ype of the President
Th
e first thin
g th
at is no
ted b
y a p
hy
sician in
review
ing
th
e assassinatio
n o
f Presid
ent K
enn
edy
is the fact th
at his
blo
od ty
pe w
as not k
now
n o
r imm
ediately
availab
le to th
e physicians at P
arkland Mem
orial Hospital. C
onsequently, 0, R
h
neg
ative b
lood w
as adm
inistered
(2). It sh
ould
be em
phasized
th
at this lack
of v
ital med
ical info
rmatio
n d
id n
ot p
lay a ro
le in
Presid
ent K
enned
y's d
eath. T
he n
ature an
d ex
tent o
f his
wounds, w
hich
will b
e discu
ssed in
greater d
etail later, were
such
that h
e certainly
would
not h
ave su
rviv
ed n
o m
atter what
therap
eutic m
easures w
ere un
dertak
en. H
ow
ever, g
iven
oth
er circu
mstan
ces, with
wo
un
ds o
f a less grav
e natu
re incu
rred
either b
y accid
ental m
eans o
r thro
ugh an
attempted
assassina-
tion, o
r giv
en a n
aturally
occu
rring d
isease pro
cess which
re-q
uires im
med
iate transfu
sion
of b
loo
d, th
e imp
ortan
ce of k
no
w-
ing the blood type of the President becom
es obvious. O
ne w
onders w
hy su
ch v
ital info
rmatio
n is n
ot read
ily av
ail-ab
le on sm
all . m
edical in
form
ation
and
iden
tification
cards
presen
t at all times w
ith th
e Presid
ent an
d also
with
one o
r m
ore o
f the S
ecret Serv
ice men
who acco
mpan
y th
e Presid
ent
on all trips.
Treatm
ent at Hospital
There can
be n
o criticism
of th
e med
ical and su
rgical treat-
men
t adm
inistered
to th
e Presid
ent at P
arklan
d M
emorial
Ho
spital in
Dallas, T
exas. A
s a matter o
f fact, it is on
ly fair
to in
ject a com
men
t at this p
oin
t with
regard
to a m
edical o
rder
mad
e by D
r. Charles Jam
es Carrico
, a surg
ical residen
t at P
arklan
d M
emo
rial Ho
spital, w
ho
was th
e first ph
ysician
to
undertake treatment of the P
resident when his body w
as brought to
the h
osp
ital. Dr. C
arrico, rem
emb
ering
that so
me co
mm
ent
had
been
mad
e in th
e past reg
ardin
g th
e po
ssibility
that P
resi-d
ent K
enn
edy
had
Ad
diso
n's D
isease, ord
ered 3
00
millig
rams
of hydrocortisone to be administered im
mediately (3).
All o
ther m
easures th
at cou
ld h
ave b
een u
nd
ertaken
were
do
ne so
with
du
e disp
atch, in
clud
ing
the ad
min
istration
of
ox
yg
en, in
traven
ou
s fluid
s and
blo
od
, the u
se of a B
enn
ett R
espirato
r, the p
erform
ance o
f a tracheo
stom
y, an
d ex
ternal
cardiac massage (4).
At th
is poin
t, it is importan
t again
to em
phasize th
e fact th
at the P
residen
t was b
eyo
nd
the p
ossib
ility o
f bein
g sav
ed
- wh
en h
e was b
rou
gh
t to th
e ho
spital. H
is pu
pils w
ere dilated
an
d fix
ed, th
ere was n
o o
btain
able p
ulse o
r blo
od
pressu
re, and
th
ere was o
nly
a faint su
ggestio
n o
f a heartb
eat (5). A
lthough
the P
residen
t was n
ot o
fficially p
ronounced
dead
until ap
pro
xi-
mately
1:0
0 p
. ne, w
hich
was ab
ou
t 25
min
utes after h
e was
bro
ught to
the h
osp
ital and ab
out 3
0 to
40 m
inutes after h
e receiv
ed th
e wo
un
ds, th
is official tim
e of th
e death
pro
no
un
ce-m
ent sh
ou
ld n
ot b
e con
strued
to m
ean th
at the P
residen
t really
was a
live fo
r 40 m
inute
s afte
r receiv
ing th
e fa
tal h
ead
wound (6
). It is necessary to com
ment on one particular surgical m
easure, nam
ely th
e tracheo
stom
y. A
wound w
as noted
in th
e anterio
r asp
ect of th
e neck
at appro
xim
ately th
e level o
f the k
not o
f th
e tie and alm
ost at th
e mid
line. T
he su
rgeo
ns n
oted
the
dam
age to
the trach
ea and so
ft tissues u
nderly
ing th
is skin
w
ou
nd
an
d th
ere
fore
perfo
rmed
the tra
ch
eo
stom
y a
t this
site (7
). Th
is is un
dersta
nd
ab
le, fo
r the p
erfo
rman
ce o
f a
tracheo
stom
y elsew
here w
ould
hav
e mean
t additio
nal d
amag
e to
the trach
ea, with
furth
er com
pro
mise o
f respirato
ry fu
nc-
tion. It also
would
hav
e mean
t that th
e existin
g trach
eal lama-
302 Ju
ly 1
566
Vol. 1
1 • N
o. 3
303
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
W
AR
RE
N R
EP
OR
T—
CR
ITIQ
UE
OF
ME
DIC
AL
AS
PE
CT
S
Lio
n w
ould
hav
e had
to b
e repaired
, thus n
ecessitating an
oth
er surgical procedure.
Thus, w
hile fo
rensic p
atholo
gists freq
uen
tly b
emoan
the fact
that su
rgeo
ns d
estroy
sites of g
un
sho
t and
stab w
ou
nd
s, thereb
y
mak
ing it im
possib
le for th
e foren
sic path
olo
gist su
bseq
uen
tly
to d
etermin
e size, range, en
trance an
d ex
it characteristics, etc.,
it should
be b
orn
e in m
ind th
at the p
rime co
nsid
eration o
f the
surg
eon is to
attempt to
save th
e patien
t's life. Thus, in
those
cases in which it
is more feasible m
edically to make an incision
thro
ugh an
existin
g w
ound o
f the b
ody fo
r a specific su
rgical
reason
, there sh
ou
ld b
e no
criticism o
f the su
rgeo
n fo
r doin
g
so. U
nfo
rtunately
, the p
erform
ance o
f the trach
eosto
my th
rough
.Lis site w
as responsib
le for sev
eral misco
ncep
tions an
d co
n-
troversy
that d
evelo
ped
subseq
uen
tly an
d w
hich
remain
with
us to
day
. This w
ill he co
mm
ented
on later in
this p
aper.
External W
oun
ds
The su
rgeo
ns at P
arklan
d M
emorial H
osp
ital noted
only
two
extern
al wounds. T
hese w
ere the w
ound in
the an
terior m
idIin
e of th
e neck
, already d
escribed
above, an
d a larg
e gap
ing w
ound
of th
e sku
ll in th
e righ
t occip
ital parietal reg
ion
(8).
As a m
atter of fact, th
ere were tw
o ad
ditio
nal w
ou
nd
s of
the b
ody th
at none o
f the atten
din
g p
hysician
s at Park
land
Mem
orial H
osp
ital noted
. These w
ere a wound in
the u
pper
right p
osterio
r chest w
all, just ab
ove th
e upper b
ord
er of th
e rig
ht scap
ula, an
d a w
ound in
the rig
ht o
ccipital reg
ion, ap
-pro
xim
ately o
ne in
ch to
the rig
ht o
f the m
idlin
e and slig
htly
ab
ove th
e extern
al occip
ital pro
tuberan
ce (9). T
he fact th
at th
ese two w
onnds w
ere not o
bserv
ed o
r com
men
ted u
pon u
ntil
som
e time after th
e auto
psy
pro
duced
much
constern
ation an
d
added considerably to the numerous rum
ors and misconceptions
that arose following the assassination.
It must b
e stated, h
ow
ever, th
at the su
rgeo
ns sh
ould
not
be criticized for having failed to observe these other two w
ounds prio
r to th
e pro
nouncem
ent o
f the P
residen
t's death
. Certain
ly,
it is understan
dab
le and in
deed
med
ically so
und th
at all their
attentio
n sh
ould
hav
e been
directed
to th
e vario
us m
edical an
d
surg
ical measu
res that ...ere u
ndertak
en in
an attem
pt to
save
Pre,sid
ent K
enned
y's life (1
0). It w
as not th
eir duty
or m
edical
responsib
ility to
search th
e body at th
at poin
t for o
ther w
ounds.
It is true th
at a rapid
, curso
ry ex
amin
ation o
f the en
tire body sh
ould
be p
erform
ed in
cases of m
ultip
le inju
ries, for it is
often
the case th
at an im
med
iate laceration o
r inju
ry th
at ap
pears to
be q
uite serio
us is in
reality n
ot th
e majo
r inju
ry
involv
ed. T
herefo
re, it is necessary
to ch
eck an
d see if th
ere are o
ther m
ore serio
us in
ternal o
r extern
al inju
ries that m
ust
be attended to primarily. H
owever, such w
as not the case in this in
stance. It w
ould
hav
e mad
e no d
ifference w
hat o
ther in
juries
the P
residen
t had
; the larg
e, gap
ing d
efect in th
e skull w
ith
exten
sive laceratio
n an
d h
emorrh
age o
f the b
rain tissu
e quite
obvio
usly
was th
e prim
ary in
jury
that h
ad to
be ev
aluated
and
treated im
med
iately. F
urth
ermore, as h
as already b
een su
g-
gested
above, fo
r all inten
ts and p
urp
oses, th
e Presid
ent w
as dead or dying during the tim
e that he was at P
arkland Mem
orial H
osp
ital, and th
ere was n
o real m
edical n
eed to
look elsew
here
for other body wounds.
The critical q
uestio
n, h
ow
ever, arises w
ith reg
ard to
what
the d
octo
rs did
, or, rath
er, failed to
do, after th
e Presid
ent w
as pronounced dead at one p. in. A
t that time, one or tw
o additional m
inutes m
ight h
ave p
reven
ted m
uch
appreh
ensio
n, fear, an
d
specu
lation o
n th
e part o
f man
y p
eople. O
nce th
e Presid
ent
was p
ronounced
dead
, it would
hav
e taken
only
a few m
inutes
quick
ly to
exam
ine th
e rest of th
e body to
see wheth
er or n
ot
there w
ere any o
ther p
enetratin
g w
ounds (1
1). C
ertainly
, the
physician
s should
hav
e been
aware o
f the im
portan
ce of su
ch
a determ
inatio
n at th
at time an
d ev
en if th
ey w
ere not, th
e S
ecret Serv
ice agen
ts and
the o
ther p
eop
le in th
e Presid
ential
party should have had sufficient presence of mind to have asked
the physicians to conduct such an examination.
At th
e time, n
obody really
knew
what h
ad h
appen
ed, an
d
there w
as much
confu
sion as to
wheth
er or n
ot th
e bullets h
ad
all been
fired fro
m o
ne p
oin
t, or w
heth
er they
had
been
fired
by m
ore th
an o
ne p
erson fro
m d
ifferent lo
cations. F
or all
anyone knew, it w
as quite possible that there was a revolutionary
plo
t in th
e mak
ing, o
r that a sm
all ban
d o
f right-w
ing fan
atics or C
om
munists w
ere attemptin
g to
take o
ver th
e country
. A
bsu
rd as th
is may
seem at th
is time, w
hen
one co
nsid
ers the
events and circumstances of th
at tragic day in N
ovember 1.963
it was n
ot ab
surd
to h
ave co
nsid
erixl su
ch a p
ossib
ility then.
304 s.
July
1566
Vrdl. 11 •
No. 3
3(15
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
Unfo
rtunately
, no su
ch ex
amin
ation o
f the P
residen
t's body w
as perfo
rmed
after he w
as pro
nounced
dead
; therefo
re, rum
ors
imm
ediately
dev
eloped
, and w
ere spread
by m
any p
eople fo
r vario
us reaso
ns, th
at the P
residen
t had
been
shot fro
m b
oth
th
e fro
nt a
nd th
e b
ack. A
lthough w
e n
ow
know
that th
is w
as not so
, man
y p
eople still d
o n
ot accep
t the fact th
at Presi-
den
t Ken
ned
y w
as shot o
nly
twice, w
ith b
oth
bullets h
avin
g
entered from the back.
Exam
ination of Clothing and S
tretchers at Hospital
It should
be n
oted
at this tim
e that all th
e Presid
ent's clo
thes
were n
ot rem
oved
from
his b
ody at P
arklan
d M
emorial H
os-
pital (1
2). F
ortu
nately
, they
were av
ailable fo
r subseq
uen
t ex
amin
ation in
Wash
ingto
n, D
. C., an
d th
e analy
sis perfo
rmed
on th
e areas of m
issile pen
etration h
elped
to co
nfirm
which
w
ere
bulle
t wounds o
f exit a
nd w
hic
h w
ere
those
of e
n-
trance (1
3).
It is sad to
note th
at such
was n
ot th
e case with
Govern
or
Connally
's cloth
ing. F
or so
me reaso
n, n
ever ex
plain
ed in
the
Warren
Com
missio
n R
eport o
r apparen
tly co
mm
ented
on b
y
anybody in
a public o
r official m
anner, th
e govern
or's clo
thes
were clean
ed p
rior to
any ex
amin
ation, th
us m
akin
g an
y fin
d-
ings im
possib
le or in
valid
(14). H
ow
this co
uld
hav
e hap
-pen
ed is a so
urce o
f amazem
ent, an
d it is an
oversig
ht so
undly
to
be co
ndem
ned
and criticized
. It should
be rem
embered
that
much
of th
e confu
sion th
at dev
eloped
subseq
uen
tly w
ith reg
ard
to th
e num
ber o
f bullets th
at were fired
, the an
gle an
d d
irection,
etc., stemm
ed fro
m th
e fact that it w
as not clear w
heth
er or
not th
e bullet th
at wounded
Govern
or C
onnally
was th
e same
bullet th
at had
passed
thro
ugh th
e Presid
ent's b
ody first. It
is quite p
robab
le that th
is questio
n co
uld
hav
e bean
quick
ly
answ
ered co
rrectly if th
e govern
or's clo
thin
g h
ad n
ot b
een
cleaned prior to examination.
The stretch
ers that th
e Presid
ent an
d th
e govern
or w
ere placed
on w
ere not ex
amin
ed o
fficially after th
e Presid
ent w
as pro
nounced
dead
and th
e govern
or w
as removed
to su
rgery
. It w
as durin
g th
e subseq
uen
t routin
e and u
nofficial h
andlin
g
of th
e stretcher b
y a h
osp
ital attendan
t that a b
ullet w
as found
on o
ne o
f the tw
o stretch
ers. The W
arren C
om
missio
n, after
WA
RR
EN
RE
PO
RT
—C
RIT
IQU
E O
F M
ED
ICA
L A
SP
EC
TS
interro
gatin
g m
any o
f the p
eople p
resent at th
e hosp
ital, con-
cluded
that th
e bullet w
as from
Govern
or C
onnally
's stretcher,
although th
is could
not b
e stated w
ith ab
solu
te certainty
(15).
Again
, this is a b
lunder sh
arply
to b
e criticized, fo
r there
can b
e no d
oubt th
at it added
to th
e confu
sion th
at reigned
in
the m
inds o
f man
y fo
llow
ing th
e assassinatio
n. C
ertainly
, after th
e Presid
ent w
as pro
nounced
dead
, and th
e govern
or w
as rem
oved
to su
rgery
, the stretch
er should
hav
e been
carefully
ex
amin
ed to
see wheth
er or n
ot an
y b
ullets, o
r fragm
ents o
f bullets, w
ere present.
A V
isit from the C
oroner I h
ave h
eard sev
eral foren
sic path
olo
gists co
mm
ent th
at if th
e assassinatio
n h
ad o
ccurred
in th
eir jurisd
ictions, th
e body
would
nev
er hav
e been
taken
from
their cities u
ntil an
auto
psy
had
been
perfo
rmed
. Alth
ough I ag
ree with
this p
hilo
sophy
gen
erally, I can
not accep
t it in th
is particu
lar case. As h
as been
stated ab
ove, at th
e time o
f the sh
ootin
g o
f Presid
ent
Kennedy, nobody could state w
ith certainty what the nature and
exten
t of th
e assassinatio
n attem
pt w
as. For all th
at anybody
knew, there could have been a revolutionary plot involving m
any peo
ple. It w
as essential fo
r the p
residen
tial party
to retu
rn
to W
ashin
gto
n an
d to
get th
e now
Presid
ent Jo
hnso
n o
ut o
f D
alla
s imm
edia
tely
. Furth
erm
ore
, with
out a
ttem
ptin
g to
categorize every type of case that could create a knotty problem
as reg
ards th
e questio
n o
f local m
edical ex
amin
er or co
roner
jurisd
iction, I fin
d it q
uite easy
to d
raw th
e line w
ith th
e body
of th
e Presid
ent o
f the U
nited
States. I see n
o reaso
n w
hy,
if a Presid
ent is assassin
ated, th
e body sh
ould
remain
at the
place o
f assassinatio
n fo
r exam
inatio
n b
y th
e local co
roner o
r m
edical ex
amin
er. To p
ut it in
anoth
er light, I b
elieve th
at th
ere is an o
verrid
ing m
atter of p
olitical co
ncern
to th
e natio
n
that su
persed
es the im
med
iate pow
ers and p
hilo
sophies o
f the
local medical-legal investigative facility. P
rofessional pride must
yield to grave political practicality in such instances! If th
e situatio
n h
ad n
ot b
een so
tragic, th
ere would
hav
e been so
nic
hum
or in
volv
ed in
the a
ttem
pts m
ade b
y th
e
local officials to have the body of President K
ennedy kept within
Dallas (1
6). T
he W
arren C
om
missio
n R
eport d
escribes th
e presen
ce on th
e scene o
f one o
f the ju
stices of th
e peace w
ho
306 Ju
ly 1966
Vol. It • N
o. 3
:107
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
W
AR
RE
N R
EP
OR
T—
CR
ITIQ
UE
OF
ME
DIC
AL
AS
PE
CT
S
attempted
to "tak
e charg
e" and w
ho d
eman
ded
that th
e body
be k
ept in
Dallas fo
r the p
erform
ance o
f an au
topsy
. This
gen
tleman
was a p
ersistent in
div
idual; h
e follo
wed
the p
resi-den
tial party
outsid
e the h
osp
ital after the b
ody h
ad b
een re-
moved
to an
ambulan
ce, and h
e knock
ed o
n th
e win
dow
of th
e car in
which
Presid
ential A
ssistant K
enneth
O'D
onnell w
as rid
ing
. He w
as, of co
urse, ig
no
red, an
d th
e presid
ential p
arty
sped
on to
the airp
ort. O
ne can
visu
ally im
agin
e the scen
e in
which
a little "neb
bish
" is runnin
g aro
und th
e hosp
ital amid
th
is great co
nflict an
d d
rama, attem
ptin
g to
issue o
rders re-
gard
ing
the d
ispo
sition
of th
e bo
dy
of th
e Presid
ent o
f the
United
States. T
his lo
cal official sh
ould
hav
e had
the g
ood
sense an
d th
e go
od
taste to h
ave acted
in a less co
nsp
icuo
us
and m
ore p
rivate m
anner. C
ertainly
, if the m
edical ex
amin
er o
f Dallas C
ou
nty
felt very
stron
gly
abo
ut th
e case, he m
igh
t have b
een in
vite
d to
atte
nd th
e a
uto
psy
in W
ash
ingto
n,
D. C
. (17), alth
ough I fran
kly
doubt it in
light o
f the o
fficial an
d m
ilitary ap
pro
ach w
ith w
hich
the au
top
sy w
as han
dled
at B
ethesda Naval M
edical Center.
New
s Conferences by M
edical Personnel at. P
arkland Mem
orial H
ospital I w
ould
not ag
ree that it w
as impro
per an
d u
nw
ise to co
nduct
a m
ed
ical c
on
fere
nce a
t the h
osp
ital fo
llow
ing
Pre
siden
t K
enned
y's d
eath (1
8). O
nce ag
ain, w
hen
one b
ears in m
ind
that th
is was th
e assassinatio
n o
f the P
residen
t, one m
ust realize
that th
e natio
n h
ad a rig
ht to
expect in
form
ation co
ncern
ing
his d
eath
. Th
ere
fore
, I belie
ve th
at it w
as q
uite
pro
per to
conduct the new
s conference. How
ever, the substance and extent of th
e statemen
ts mad
e by th
e physician
s at the m
edical co
n-
ference should be comm
ented upon. T
he fact th
at there
som
e differen
ce of o
pin
ion am
ong th
e physicians and the new
s media personnel as to exactly w
hat was
said at th
e conferen
ce, and fu
rther th
at this ap
paren
t confu
sion
and con flict continued to exist in terms of the testim
ony recited before. the W
V: ► rren
Conunissio
n, w
ould
seem to
pro
ve th
at one
or m
ore o
f the P
arklan
d M
emorial H
osp
ital physician
s did
stale, o
r at least agreed
to a q
uestio
n p
osed
by o
ne o
f the n
ews-
men
, that th
e pen
etrating w
ound o
f the n
eck co
uld
hav
e been
a g
unsh
et entran
ce wound (1
9). T
his co
mm
ent alo
ne p
roduced
a con
siderab
le amo
un
t of su
bseq
uen
t misco
ncep
tion
, as has
already been explained above. T
he p
hysician
s who w
ere in atten
dan
ce should
hav
e born
e in
min
d th
e fact that th
ey h
ad n
ot ex
amin
ed th
e entire b
ody
and, th
erefore, co
uld
not b
e certain as to
what th
e exact n
ature
and ex
tent o
f the in
juries w
ere. Furth
ermore, ev
en th
ough
they
had
seen tw
o o
f the w
ou
nd
s, they
cou
ld n
ot co
mm
ent as
foren
sic path
olo
gists w
ho
had
perfo
rmed
the au
top
sy an
d ex
-am
ined the wounds grossly and m
icroscopically, and who could,
therefo
re, be ab
le to state w
ith m
edical certain
ty w
heth
er or
not the wounds w
ere those of exit or entrance. T
heir co
mm
ents reg
ardin
g th
e natu
re of th
e bullet w
ounds
were im
pru
den
t, med
ically u
nso
und, an
d q
uite u
nnecessary
. It w
ou
ld h
ave b
een su
fficient to
state "that th
e Presid
ent h
ad
died
as a result o
f severe h
ead in
juries in
flicted b
y a g
unsh
ot
wo
un
d." A
ll the m
edical co
mm
ents sh
ou
ld h
ave b
een h
and
led
by one physician representing the entire team of m
edical people w
ho
had
attend
ed th
e Presid
ent p
rior to
his d
eath. T
his p
hy
si-cian
should
hav
e stated firm
ly th
at he w
as not ab
le to m
ake
ailditio
nal co
mm
ents at th
at time u
ntil h
e had
had
a chan
ce to
review
all the fin
din
gs w
ith h
is colleag
ues an
d to
study
the au
top
sy rep
ort. If th
is had
been
do
ne, th
ere is no
do
ub
t in
my m
ind th
at a great d
eal of th
e subseq
uen
t confu
sion w
ould
have been elim
inated.
1'08bl:erten' Exam
ination at Bethesda N
aval Medical C
enter T
he body of President K
ennedy was taken to B
ethesda Naval
Med
ical Cen
ter pu
rsuan
t to a req
uest b
y M
rs. Ken
ned
y, w
ho
felt th
at the au
topsy
should
be d
one th
ere becau
se of th
e Presi-
den
t's service in
the N
avy d
urin
g W
orld
War II. T
here can
h
e no
qu
arrel with
this d
ecision
, for B
ethesd
a Nav
al Ho
spital
certainly
is a large in
stitutio
n w
ith ad
equ
ate facilities for th
e perform
ance of a competent autopsy.
A p
oin
t strongly
to b
e criticized is th
e fact that th
e three
path
olo
gists w
ho w
ere desig
nated
by th
e govern
men
t to p
er-fo
rm th
e auto
psy
did
not co
ntact th
e physician
s at Park
land
Mem
orial H
osp
ital in D
allas, Tex
as, prio
r to th
e initiatio
n o
f th
e auto
psy
(20). It sh
ould
be st: .lard
pro
cedure fo
r every
fo
rensic p
atholo
gist w
ho is g
oin
g to
exam
ine a p
erson w
ho h
as
308 Ju
ly M
G
Vo
l. 1 I • N
o. 3
300
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
died from m
ultiple bullet wounds, and w
ho has additional wounds
of penetration apparently produced by various surgical measures
perfo
rmed
prio
r to d
eath, to
first check
with
the su
rgeo
ns w
ho
attended
the p
erson an
d fin
d o
ut ex
actly w
hat w
ounds w
ere presen
t befo
re the su
rgical in
cisions w
ere mad
e, which
surg
ical in
cisions w
ere mad
e thro
ugh p
reexistin
g w
ounds, an
d w
hich
surgical incisions w
ere made in other parts of the body unrelated
to p
reexistin
g w
ounds. H
ad th
is been
done, th
en so
me o
f the
confu
sion th
at apparen
tly co
ntin
ued
to ex
ist thro
ughout th
e perfo
rman
ce of th
e auto
psy
and afterw
ards w
ould
hav
e been
elim
inated
. The p
atholo
gists w
ould
hav
e been
told
about th
e neck w
ound, and they would have learned that the tracheostom
y had
been
perfo
rmed
thro
ugh th
e site of a p
reexistin
g b
ullet
wound. it is d
ifficult to
understan
d w
hy at least o
ne o
f the
three pathologists did not speak with one or m
ore of the surgeons in
Dallas, T
exas, at so
me lessth
prio
r to th
e perfo
rman
ce of
the autopsy. T
he w
ork
of th
e foren
sic path
olo
gist is d
ifficult en
ough; it
should
nev
er be red
uced
to a g
uessin
g g
ame w
hen
this is n
ot
necessary
. Any an
d all clin
ical info
rmatio
n th
at can b
e obtain
ed
befo
re perfo
rman
ce of th
e auto
psy
is alway
s valu
able an
d
should be sought out whenever possible.
Choice of P
athologists I d
o n
ot b
elieve th
at the g
overn
men
t was w
ise in its ch
oice
of p
atholo
gists. O
ne o
r more p
rom
inen
t civilian
path
olo
gists
should
hav
e been
called in
to h
elp p
erform
the au
topsy
, and I
furth
er believ
e that th
e auto
psy
should
hav
e been
perfo
rmed
only
by q
ualified
foren
sic path
olo
gists. T
here is a d
efinite
specialty
of fo
rensic p
atholo
gy an
d it is so
recognized
by th
e A
merican
Board
of P
atholo
gy, w
hich
giv
es 'subsp
ecialty b
oard
ex
amin
ations in
this field
. The p
ractice, experien
ce and k
now
l-ed
ge o
f a foren
sic path
olo
gist are to
a great ex
tent q
uite d
if-feren
t from
[hat o
f a gen
eral hosp
ital path
olo
gist. N
o m
atter how
skilled
a hosp
ital path
olo
gist m
ay b
e, and n
o m
atter how
m
any au
topsies h
e may
hav
e perfo
rmed
, in th
e absen
ce of
specific train
ing, ex
perien
ce and k
now
ledge in
the field
of
forn
e,:ic path
olo
gy, h
e should
not b
e called u
pon to
perfo
rm
an au
topsy
in a co
mplicated
med
ical-legal case. C
ertainly
, the
WA
RR
EN
RE
PO
RT
—C
RIT
IQU
E O
P M
ED
ICA
L A
SP
EC
TS
performance of the autopsy in this case w
as such a complex and
importan
t even
t that it sh
ould
not h
ave in
cluded
path
olo
gists
lacking extensive forensic experience. It is m
y u
nderstan
din
g th
at two o
f the th
ree path
olo
gists
1 w
ho performed the autopsy are not forensic pathologists, nam
ely C
om
man
der J. J. H
um
es and C
om
man
der J. T
horn
ton B
osw
ell, of B
ethesd
a Nav
al Med
ical Cen
ter. Fortu
nately
, som
eone d
id
hav
e the g
ood ju
dgm
ent to
call in L
ieuten
ant C
olo
nel P
ierre A
. Fin
ck, M
. C., U
. S
. A., w
ho is a w
ell-trained
and v
ery
com
peten
t foren
sic path
olo
gist w
ith p
articular ex
perien
ce and
know
ledge in
the field
of m
issile wounds (2
1). O
ne can
only
co
njectu
re how
inad
equate an
d in
com
plete th
e results o
f the
autopsy findings would have been if C
olonel Finck had not been
present. W
ith reg
ard to
the q
uestio
n o
f utilizin
g civ
ilian fo
rensic
path
olo
gists, it m
ust b
e born
e in m
ind th
at man
y o
f the fo
re-m
ost fo
rensic p
atholo
gists in
the co
untry
are located
with
in
a flyin
g d
istance o
f one h
our o
r less from
Wash
ingto
n, D
. C.
It would
hav
e been
easy to
hav
e had
one o
r more o
f these
men
presen
t for th
e auto
psy
. Dr. R
ussell F
isher in
Baltim
ore,
Dr. Jo
seph S
peb
ran in
Philad
elphia, D
r. Milto
n H
e!peril in
N
ew Y
ork
, Dr. G
eoffrey
Man
n in
Virg
inia, an
d D
r. Alan
M
oritz in Cleveland, are only som
e of the people who are located
in areas q
uite clo
se to W
ashin
gto
n, D
. C. an
d w
ho co
uld
hav
e been
called u
pon b
y th
e govern
men
t to assist. (In
deed
, all these
men
hav
e prev
iously
been
utilized
by th
e govern
men
t to assist
in teach
ing an
d research
pro
gram
s as foren
sic path
olo
gists.
Were th
ose o
ccasions m
ore im
portan
t than
the au
topsy
of
President K
ennedy?)
Autopsy R
esults T
here are sev
eral thin
gs th
at hav
e been
criticized w
ith reg
ard
to th
e auto
psy
report, an
d it is tru
e that b
y th
e standard
s of m
ost competent m
edical-legal investigative facilities throughout th
e United
States th
e official au
topsy
report released
in th
e case o
f Presid
ent K
enned
y w
ould
not b
e consid
ered to
be a
complete one.
One o
f the th
ings th
at has b
oth
ered m
any p
eople is w
hy
there w
as no m
ei.Lio
n o
f the ad
renal g
lands, eith
er gro
ssly
or microscopically (22). I believe that there are obvic us political
310 Ju
ly 1
966
VO
L 11 • N
o. 3
31.1
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
W
AR
RE
N R
EP
OR
T—
CR
ITIQ
UE
OF
ME
DIC
AL
AS
PE
CT
S
overto
nes im
plied
in th
is questio
n. T
he sam
e questio
n as to
wh
ether o
r no
t Presid
ent K
enned
y h
ad A
dd
ison
's Disease w
as
raised b
y certain
peo
ple d
urin
g th
e election
camp
aign
in 1
96
0,
and th
ere was an
obvio
us an
d d
efinite attem
pt to
dam
age h
im
politically
by creatin
g d
oubts w
ithin
the m
inds o
f the p
eople
of th
e United
States as to
the statu
s of h
is health
. I believ
e
that so
me o
f these sam
e peo
ple, p
articularly
elemen
ts of th
e
political rig
ht w
ing, are resp
onsib
le for m
uch
clamor sin
ce the
Warren
Com
missio
n R
eport w
as publish
ed w
ith reg
ard to
the
failure o
f the p
atholo
gists to
hav
e com
men
ted o
n th
e adren
al
glan
ds. It sh
ould
he rep
eated th
at Presid
ent K
enned
y's d
eath
would
have o
ccurre
d n
o m
atte
r what th
e c
onditio
n o
f his
adren
al glan
ds w
as; therefo
re, from
a political an
d p
ractical
standpoin
t, it is of n
o co
nseq
uen
ce for u
s to k
now
what th
e
adrenal glands showed. H
owever, w
hen one performs a m
edical-
legal autopsy, particularly one of such a complex and significant
natu
re, it is necessary
for all th
e find
ing
s to b
e carefully
re-
corded and published. A
poin
t that larg
ely h
as been
overlo
oked
is the fact th
at
the au
topsy
report w
as turn
ed o
ver to
Adm
iral Burk
ley, th
e
Presid
ent's p
ersonal p
hysician
, who released
those p
ortio
ns th
at
he fe
lt were
"necessa
ry." It is m
y su
rmise
, not su
bje
ct to
certain co
nfirm
ation, th
at the p
atholo
gists w
ho p
erform
ed th
e
auto
psy
did
ind
eed fin
d, id
entify
, and
describ
e the ad
renal
glan
ds g
rossly
and m
icrosco
pically
, and th
at such
findin
gs an
d
descrip
tion
s were co
ntain
ed w
ithin
their fin
al repo
rt sub
mitted
to A
dm
iral Burk
ley. T
herefo
re, it is only
fair to state th
at
any criticism
that is to
be m
ade co
ncern
ing th
is aspect o
f the
postm
ortem
report m
ight w
ell be lev
elled at A
dm
iral Burk
ley
and o
ther h
igh g
overn
men
t officials if th
ey w
ere responsib
le
for d
etermin
ing w
hat w
as om
itted an
d w
hat w
as released.
The p
atholo
gists can
not b
e criticized if th
is were th
e case.
How
ever, this deficiei; y further supports ths previous comm
ent
that th
e auto
psy
should
not h
ave b
een left en
tirely w
ithin
the
han
ds o
f military
path
olo
gists, w
hose p
rofessio
nal actio
ns m
ay
be completely controllable by the governm
ent. F
rom
anoth
er view
poin
t, also, it is u
nfo
rtunate if A
dm
iral
Bu
ckley
and
/or o
ther g
ov
ernm
ent o
fficials decid
ed n
ot to
r^_-
lease the p
atholo
gists' fin
din
gs an
d d
iagnoses co
ncern
ing P
resi-
den
t Ken
ned
y's ad
renal g
lands. A
ssum
ing th
at there w
as som
e
evid
ence o
f adren
al insu
fficiency
(i. e., Addiso
n's D
isease), I
suggest th
at it would
hav
e been
a good th
ing to
let the g
eneral
public k
now
this. T
he realizatio
n th
at a perso
n w
ho su
ffers
from a serious disease process or physical handicap is not neces-
sarily d
isqualified
or in
capacitated
from
filling an
importan
t
positio
n, ev
en o
ne as stren
uously
dem
andin
g as th
e Presid
ency
of the United S
tates of Am
erica, would again encourage a m
ore
bro
ad-m
inded
and in
telligen
t attitude am
ong th
e lay p
ublic
tow
ard p
eople w
ho are h
andicap
ped
by illn
ess or trau
ma.
Autopsy X
-Rays and P
hotographs
The W
arren Com
mission R
eport notes that x-rays of the body
and p
hoto
grap
hs w
ere mad
e by th
e path
olo
gists (2
3). T
hese
were tu
rned
ov
er to a S
ecret Serv
ice agen
t imm
ediately
after
they
were tak
en, an
d, p
resum
ably
, the p
atho
log
ists, altho
ug
h
they
may
hav
e seen th
e dev
eloped
x-ray
films an
d p
hoto
grap
hs
later, did
not h
ave th
ese in th
eir possessio
n at th
e time o
f their
testimo
ny
(24
). Th
e films an
d p
ictures w
ere no
t presen
ted to
the W
arren C
om
missio
n, an
d it h
as been
stated th
at they
were d
estroyed
. It is not ex
actly clear w
ho d
estroyed
them
, or
when
and w
here th
ey w
ere destro
yed
; but it is ab
solu
tely in
de-
fensib
le and u
nju
stifiable th
at this sh
ou
ld h
ave h
app
ened
.
Conclusions of A
utopsy Report
I perso
nally
concu
r with
the co
nclu
sions o
f the au
topsy
re-
port, namely, that P
resident Kennedy w
as shot twice, once in the
back
of th
e head
, and o
nce in
the u
pper rig
ht ch
est (25). T
he
gunsh
ot w
ound in
the h
ead h
ad its en
trance p
oin
t imm
ediately
to th
e right o
f the m
idlin
e and ex
ited o
n th
e right lateral asp
ect
of the skull, causing extensive avulsion of bone and brain tissue.
This w
as undoubted
ly a fatal w
ound an
d to
tally in
com
patib
le
with life beyond a few
minutes.
The seco
nd w
ound en
tered th
e upper p
osterio
r right ch
est,
coursing in a slightly downw
ard angle and exiting in the middle
of th
e anterio
r neck
regio
n at ab
out th
e level o
f the k
not o
f
the tic. This w
ound would probably have been survived and if it
had not been for the head ;vound, the President's life very likely
could
hav
e been
saved
(26). T
his w
ound o
ccurred
first, and th
e
wound of the skull follow
ed seconds later.
312 July 1956
Vol. 11 • N
o. 3 313
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
W
AR
RE
N R
EP
OR
T—
CR
ITIQ
UE
OF
ME
DIC
AL
AS
PE
CT
S
It is to b
e noted
that th
e path
olo
gists stu
died
the g
unsh
ot
wounds m
icrosco
pically
and th
us co
nfirm
ed th
eir gro
ss auto
psy
opin
ions as to
which
were w
ounds o
f entran
ce and w
hich
were
wo
un
ds o
f exit (2
7). T
hese fin
din
gs fu
rther serv
e to co
rrob
orate
the W
arren C
om
missio
n's co
nclu
sion th
at the tw
o b
ullets th
at stru
ck P
residen
t Ken
ned
y w
ere fired fro
m a p
oin
t to th
e rear of the P
residential car. I a
lso a
gre
e th
at th
ere
were
thre
e b
ulle
ts fired a
nd th
at
all three b
ullets w
ere fired fro
m th
e same p
lace by th
e same
perso
n, n
amely
, from
the six
th flo
or o
f the b
ook d
eposito
ry
build
ing
by L
ee Osw
ald. O
ne sh
ot p
robab
ly m
issed, an
d it
is not p
ossib
le to state d
efinitely
what h
appen
ed to
that b
ullet.
One b
ullet w
as recovered
on G
overn
or C
onnally
's stretcher an
d
most lik
ely th
is bullet is th
e one th
at pen
etrated th
e govern
or's
posterio
r chest, ex
iting in
the an
terior ch
est, reenterin
g th
e dorsal su
rface of th
e right w
rist, exitin
g fro
m th
e whir asp
ect of th
e right w
rist and reen
tering th
e left thig
h. F
ragm
ents
of an
oth
er bullet w
ere noted
with
in th
e skull o
f Presid
ent
Ken
ned
y o
n x
-ray film
s (23) an
d o
ther frag
men
ts were fo
und
in the car. S
om
e contro
versy
exists as to
wheth
er or n
ot th
e bullet th
at in
jured
Govern
or C
onnally
was th
e same b
ullet th
at pen
etrated
Presid
ent K
enned
y's ch
est. It is very
likely
that th
is was th
e ease, alth
ough th
ere is still som
e doubt ab
out th
is. It is possib
le th
at the b
ullet th
at inju
red G
overn
or C
onnally
was th
e third
bullet, to
tally sep
arate from
the tw
o b
ullets th
at struck
Presi-
den
t Ken
ned
y. A
gain
, one is rem
inded
of th
e imp
ortan
ce of
Govern
or C
onnally
's cloth
es, for h
ad th
ey b
een av
ailable fo
r exam
ination, it might w
ell be that careful and detailed examina-
tion w
ould
hav
e answ
ered o
nce an
d fo
r all We q
uestio
n o
f w
heth
er or n
ot th
e bullet th
at entered
Govern
or C
onnally
's rig
ht p
osterio
r chest w
all was th
e same b
ullet th
at had
already
gone th
rough P
residen
t Ken
ned
y's n
eck o
r wheth
er it was a
separate shot. It is fascin
ating to
note h
ow
vario
us in
adeq
uacies an
d sh
ort-
com
ings o
f the to
tal investig
ation are in
termin
gled
and h
ave
ramificatio
ns th
roughout th
e entire p
ostm
ortem
evalu
ation an
d
the ev
ents th
at follo
wed
the sh
ootin
g o
f Presid
ent K
enned
y.
Actual R
eport Before the W
arren Com
mission
Lieutenant C
olonel Pierre F
inck produced an exhibit in which
he d
emonstrated
missile w
ounds g
enerally
and d
iscussed
the
specific missile w
ounds involved in the assassination of President
Ken
ned
y an
d th
e woundin
g o
f Govern
or C
onnally
(29). T
his
is the u
tilization o
f dem
onstrativ
e scientific ev
iden
ce in its
fullest an
d b
est sense. It d
ramatically
represen
ts som
ethin
g
that all forensic scientists should be concerned about and some-
thin
g th
at all foren
sic scientists an
d atto
rney
s should
contin
ue
to strive for. If more of this type of evidence had been produced
thro
ughout th
e vario
us stag
es of th
e post-assassin
ation ev
alua-
tion, then many of the m
isconceptions, misunderstandings, fears
and ru
mors th
at spread
thro
ughout th
e world
, and w
hich
in
significan
t measu
re contin
ue to
exist to
day
, would
hav
e been
dim
inished greatly, if not circumvented com
pletely.
Rote of the A
merican A
estlemy of F
orensic Sciences
Fin
ally, I sh
ould
like to
raise the q
uestio
n as to
why th
e A
merican
Acad
emy o
f Foren
sic Scien
ces was n
ot co
nsu
lted b
y
the government in the post-assassination evaluation. T
he Am
eri-can A
cademy of F
orensic Sciences is com
prised of many of the
foremost forensic scientists, crim
inologists, and attorneys in the U
nited
States o
f Am
erica. It is an u
nbiased
, objectiv
e, non-
po
litical org
anizatio
n w
ho
se very
existen
ce is dev
oted
to an
d
based
up
on
the co
ncep
t of u
tilizing
the fo
rensic scien
ces to
the fu
llest exten
t possib
le, to th
e ultim
ate end th
at justice w
ill be best served.
It is quite u
naccep
table th
at this o
rgan
ization w
as not co
n-
sulted
in so
me cap
acity b
y a co
ncern
ed g
overn
men
tal agen
cy
and ask
ed to
mak
e availab
le its services an
d p
ersonnel. T
his
could
hav
e been
done in
a role an
alogous L
o th
at of a law
yer
who files an
amicu
s curiae b
rief in a L
egal case, o
r it could
hav
e been
han
dled
in an
y o
ne o
f several o
ther w
ays. In
any
event, this did not occur, and iL is unfortunate for all concerned.
I should
like to
believ
e that if ev
er a traged
y as h
orrib
le as the assassination of P
resident Kennedy occurs again the A
meri-
can A
cadem
y o
f Foren
sic Scien
ces will b
e consu
lted o
fficially
by the United S
tates Governm
ent.
314 Ju
ly MG
V
ol. II. • No. 3
3 15
JOU
RN
AL
OF
FO
RE
NS
IC S
CIE
NC
ES
WA
RR
EN
RE
PO
RT
-CR
ITIQ
UE
OF
ME
DIC
AL
AS
PE
CT
C
onclusion W
hile I ag
ree with
the u
ltimate co
nclu
sions o
f the W
arren
Com
mission and w
ith the various forensic scientists and patholo-gists w
ho were involved in the investigation, I believe that there
are man
y q
uestio
ns th
at remain
unan
swered
and th
at man
y o
f th
e conclu
sions are b
ased o
n less th
an ab
solu
te med
ical cer-tainty. F
urthermore, it w
ould have been possible to answer these
questio
ns in
many in
stances w
ith c
erta
inty
if the p
roper
measures had been undertaken at the appropriate tim
e. I d
o n
ot b
elieve th
at there w
as any o
vert p
lot o
n th
e part o
f an
y g
overn
men
tal agen
cy o
r specific in
div
idual to
keep
any o
f th
e facts suppressed
, with
the p
ossib
le excep
tion o
f the fin
din
gs
hav
ing to
do w
ith P
residen
t Ken
ned
y's ad
renal g
lands. H
ow
-ev
er, it should
be rem
embered
that as h
um
an b
eings w
e are all su
bject to
perso
nal b
iases and p
rejudices, an
d w
e are also
subject to
hav
ing o
ur th
oughts an
d o
pin
ions in
fluen
ced an
d
mold
ed b
y o
ur p
rofessio
nal asso
ciations. It is fo
r this reaso
n
that it w
ould
hav
e been
a very
wise th
ing fo
r the g
overn
men
t not o
nly
to h
ave called
upon civ
ilian fo
rensic p
atholo
gists to
particip
ate in th
e auto
psy
, but also
to h
ave called
upon th
e A
merican
Acad
emy o
f Foren
sic Scien
ces to act in
the ro
le of
advisor and consultant to Lhe W
arren Com
mission.
The o
rgan
ization b
est able to
hav
e prep
ared an
d ev
aluated
all the scientific evidence that cam
e before the Warren C
omm
is-sio
n w
as the A
merican
Acad
emy o
f Foren
sic Scien
ces. It is un-
fortu
nate th
at in th
e most p
olitically
significan
t and co
mplex
m
urd
er of th
e twen
tieth cen
tury
, such
expert co
nsu
ltation w
as not requested.
S tim 'nary
A critique of the m
edical circumstances and events associated
with
the assassin
ation o
f Presid
ent K
enned
y h
as been
under-
taken
. The treatm
ent g
iven
at Park
land M
emorial H
osp
ital, D
allas, Tex
as, and th
e auto
psy
perfo
rmed
at Beth
esda N
aval
Hosp
ital, Beth
esda, M
arylan
d, h
ave b
een rev
iewed
and co
m-
mented upon. W
hile th
e conclu
sions co
ntain
ed in
the R
eport o
f the P
resi-den
t's Cm
/missio
n o
n th
e Assassin
ation o
f Presid
ent Jo
hn F
. K
enned
y are co
nsid
ered to
be essen
tially co
rrect, several d
e-
ficiencies an
d g
aps in
the o
verall m
edical in
vestig
ation ar
com
men
ted u
pon. T
he failu
re of th
e com
missio
n to
hav
e cane
upon th
e Am
erican A
cadem
y o
f Foren
sic Scien
ces in a co
n
sultan
t capacity
durin
g th
e com
pilatio
n an
d ev
aluatio
n o
f it findings is noted.
RE
FE
RE
NC
ES
1. R
eport of the President's C
omm
ission on the Assassination of P
residen John F
. Kennedy. U
nited States C
overmuent P
rinting Office, W
ash ington, D
. C. V
olumes I-X
XV
I (1964). 2. Ibid., V
ol. VI, p. 41. See also V
ol. VI, p. 84.
3. Ibid., V
ol. III, p. 361. 4.
Ibid., Vol. III, p. 360.
5. Ibid., V
ol. III, p. 359. 6. Ibid., V
ol. III, p. 365. 7. Ibid., V
ol. III, p. 368. 8. Ibid., V
ol. III, pp. 361, 368. See also Vol. V
I, pp. 11, 25. 0. Ibid., V
ol. H, p. 351. See also V
ol. XV
I, p. 980. 10. Ibid., V
ol. TIT
, p. 361. 11. Ibid., V
ol. III, pp. 361, 363. 12. Ibid., V
ol. III, pp. 359, 363. 13. Ibid., V
ol. 11, p. 365. See also Vol. V
, p. 58. 14. Ibid., V
ol V, p. 63.
15. Ibid., V
ol. TI, p. 368. See also V
ol. VI, p. 134.
16. T
bid., Vol. V
II, p. 452. 17. Ibid., V
ol. VII, p. 452.
18. Ibid., V
ol. VI, p. 12.
19. Ibid., V
ol. VT
, p. 13. 20. Ibid., V
ol. II, pp. 361, 387. 21. Ibid., V
ol. TI, pp, 348, 349, 377.
22. Ibid., Vol. X
VI, pp. 982, 988.
23. Ibid., Vol. II, p. 349.
24. Ibid., Vol. II, p. 351.
25. Ibid., Vol. X
VI, p. 983.
26. Ibid., Vol. ITT, p. 372.
27. Ibid., Vol. X
VI, p. 088.
28. Ibid., Vol. IT
, p. 353. 29. Ibid., V
ol. IT, p. 379.
1.117 Frick 13uilding P
ittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219
31.6 July 1966
Vol. 11 • N
o. 3 317