JFK's Tie Knot

[Bob Prudhomme]

You make a couple of valid points, Mr. Josephs, but no great surprise given the source. In respect to your first point, I also wonder if an actual bullet round tore it's way through the president's back, then suddenly pole-vaulted upwards of five inches somehow (they say magically), then through the back of the neck base all the way through to the front-flesh of the neck, then onward through the initial stages of shirt fabric, then onto the knotted tie surface in the rear, then all the way through to the front of the knotted tie, yet (rather than leave the tie ragged, heavily torn throughout) the surface bears a mere nick only...

In respect to the blood you've noted sir, a nurse on duty at Parkland medical also noted a small hole in the president's neck with blood oozing out slowly (her words, not mine).

Of course, the question that begs to be answered here is where is the bullet hole on the tie?

Even the president's front shirt material is void of a bullet hole, though it does bear a couple of small slits suggesting it was surgically cut, but, again, no distinct, unmistakable bullet hole in the tie or in front of the shirt akin to what we see in rear footage of both his jacket and shirt.

Actually, the whole point of my argument re: 5 vertical icons in the tie knot vs. 6 vertical icons centres around the nick being in the anatomical left vertical row of icons instead of the right vertical row. This would place the nick on the left outer edge of the tie knot, and allow a projectile to pass trough only the outer coloured layer of fabric.

Where the projectile came from is another question altogether, although I can assure you it was not the back wound.

Sharp attention to detail all around, Mr. Prudhomme. The introduction of your observations surrounding the vertical and horizontal layout inconsistencies upon the tie is indirectly cancelling the check on the alleged exploits of the so called magic bullet. Well done sir!

Shifting gears, in respect to the placement of the nick, your excellent point is well taken; however, what are the chances that the photo image we are viewing is possibly inverted? The reason I ask is during some reading earlier today while following your contributions over at the EF, a Parkland nurse in Trauma 1 noted that the throat wound lay more to the right side of the president's neck (essentially in agreement with your placement of the nick). Yet in the photo the nick aligns right instead of left.

What makes you so confident in your statement here, quote, "Where the projectile came from is another question altogether, although I can assure you it was not the back wound."? Does your confidence have anything to do with Dr. Humes' inability to find an actual exit path for the back wound? That would certainly explain why neither the tie nor the president's shirt has an actual exiting bullet hole. At the very least, IF an actual bullet had come in contact with the knotted tie there would be more extensive damage than a mere nick.

Say, Arlen, you got a sec'?

The anatomical right side of JFK's trachea had a tear in it (something hard to do with a 1/4" needle) and it was also noted by a Parkland doctor that JFK's throat wound was slightly offset to the right of his throat. As the Single Bullet Theory required the bullet leaving JFK's throat to then go forward and impact Connally's right armpit, a nick in the left side of JFK's tie presented a problem, for obvious reasons. If a projectile exited the right side of JFK's throat and then nicked the left side of his tie knot it was, as you pointed out, travelling on a right to left course that likely would go nowhere near Connally, let alone his right armpit.

Yes, my confidence stems partly from Humes being unable to find an exit for the back wound, but mainly because there is ample evidence placing the back wound at the level of thoracic vertebra T3, about 1.5-2 inches to the right of the spinal midline. As this diagram shows, this would place the bullet on a course for the top of the right lung, with only a very thin layer of intercostal muscle to slow it down.



There is ample evidence that JFK suffered a condition in his right lung known as a "tension pneumothorax". There is also evidence showing that the bullet that entered JFK's right lung disintegrated once it was inside the pleural cavity, in the same fashion as the bullet that disintegrated inside of his skull. Neither bullet was a full metal jacket bullet.