JFK's Tie Knot

[Bob Prudhomme]

From a post of mine at the Education Forum, JFK Assassination Debate:



See how the vertical row of icons, that mostly contains the nick, has a round icon as the number 5 icon (counting from the bottom)? By matching up the tie knot, as worn by JFK in this black and white photo, with the knot Ashton has tied from the Archives photo tie, the row of icons with the nick can only match the B & W photo row of icons on JFK's anatomical right; IF we believe the tie was only five icons wide at this point.

This now places the nick closer to the centre of the tie knot, and away from the edge of the tie knot. As we have determined already that the nick only goes through the coloured portion of the tie, and not through what appears to be a white backing layer in the tie, placing the nick in the position above eliminates the possibility of this nick being caused by a projectile; either entering or exiting JFK's throat, as this would have made a hole completely through the tie.

If we eliminate a projectile as the cause of this nick, we then must find something else that made this nick.

The only possible explanation so far has been put forward by Ashton Gray. According to him, an assassin, armed with a syringe sporting a 1/4" diameter needle, injected an untraceable poison into JFK's throat at the level of the 3rd tracheal ring which, coincidentally, is precisely the preferred location for a tracheostomy site. To explain the nick that does not go completely through the tie, Mr. Gray hypothesizes that the assassin, in haste and carelessness, first accidentally inserted the tip of the 1/4" needle into JFK's tie knot in his attempt to insert this needle through JFK's collar, realized his mistake, pulled the tie aside and then inserted the needle through his collar and into his throat; ultimately injecting the poison there.

There are a number of problems with this theory.

First, the blood stain on the tie.




I don't know about the rest of you but, I find it a bit spooky that there is blood on the coloured part of the tie while the backing material, seen through the nick, is still a nice sparkling white. Also, if the nick was on the front of the tie knot, why is the spread of the blood stain, seen above in the Archives photo, contained to what would be the front and left edge of the tie? If it was coming from a hole made in the shirt collar, shouldn't we see a blood stain extending all the way to the top of the photo, as the material near the top of the photo would have been at the back of the tie knot, and in contact with the shirt?

In order for a 1/4" diameter needle to take a nick out of a tie, it would have to be extremely sharp. I don't know if all of you can comprehend just how big a 1/4" needle is but, I can tell you that it is huge. I work with copper and plastic tubing a lot, and I cannot imagine using a needle this big. Anyways, if this needle was so sharp it was able to cut out a plug of tie material (an oblong one at that) why did it make a ragged tear in the right side of JFK's trachea? For that matter, how did such a sharp round tipped instrument make a tear in the side of the trachea at all? A tear like that is more indicative of something passing through at a high velocity.

But getting back to the tie, here is how to place the nick on the anatomical left side of JFK's tie knot. Looking at Ashton's tie knot, simply add a square icon to the top of the vertical row containing the nick, making it six icons high. This vertical row now has six icons (the prevailing number of icons seen on the rest of the tie) in it with a square icon at its top. It now matches the row of icons seen on the anatomical left of JFK's tie knot in this photo below, and the nick would be on the left edge of the tie knot: