The Splintering Frame

[Rob Caprio]

We are talking about professional shooters here who could do anything they were told to do. The fact they did not wound anyone else like Mrs. Kennedy shows how good they were IMO.

This is not correct, since Connally was almost certainly wounded by a separate bullet (maybe two), and then there's James Tague. A stray bullet certainly hit the pavement near him.

Having said that, I wouldn't totally dismiss the Freemason angle. I'm re-reading "In God's Name" by David Yallop and he describes how Pope John Paul I was virtually surrounded by Freemasons in the Vatican who belonged to the P2 lodge. John Paul I almost seemed to delight in flouting conventions and traditions (not wanting to be carried around in the chair, having the nerve to answer the phone himself or talk to the Swiss guards like a regular person). This really irritated the uptight reactionary clique around him. That irreverence plus his desire to clean up the Vatican Bank and legalize birth control probably led to his death.

All I can say about your initial comments is that a ricochet can not be accounted for by any shooter as sometimes you miss. As for Connally, even the WC was NOT sure if JFK was the sole intended target or not as late as January 30, 1964 when they did the following memo.

Quote on

This shows us even the WC didn't BELIEVE the SBT happened!

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MEMORANDUM January 30, 1964
TO: J. Lee Rankin
FROM: David W. Belin

SUBJECT: Oswald's knowledge that Connally would be in the Presidential car and his intended target.

According to the Secret Service Report, Document No. 3, page 11, the route of the motorcade was released on the evening of November 18 and appeared in Dallas newspapers on November 19 as shown in Exhibits 6D and 6E (Document No. 3 is the December 18 Secret Service Report).

In examining these exhibits, although the general route of the motorcade is shown, there is nothing that shows that Governor Connally would be riding in the Presidential car.

In determining the accuracy of Oswald, we have three major possibilities: Oswald was shooting at Connally and missed two of the three shots, the two misses striking Kennedy; Oswald was shooting at both Kennedy and Connally and all three shots struck their intended targets; Oswald was shooting only at Kennedy and the second bullet missed its intended target and hit Connally instead.

This clearly shows us that as of 1/30/64 the WC was saying ALL three shots HIT someone! How can that be, when they later claimed one missed and one hit BOTH men? What made them change this analysis above?

If there was no mass media coverage that Connally would be riding in the Presidential car, it would tend to confirm the third alternative that Kennedy was the only intended target. This in turn bears on the motive of the assassination and also on the degree of markmanship [sic] required, which in turn affects the determination that Oswald was the assassin and that it was not too difficult to hit the intended target two out of the three times in this particular situation.

And yet no one was able to duplicate this feat using better conditions and having the ability to try it multiple times!

In any event, I believe it would be most helpful to have the FBI investigate all newspaper, television and radio reports from November 18 to November 22 in Dallas to ascertain whether or not in any of these reports there was a public announcement that Connally would be riding in the Presidential car. If such public announcement was made, we should know specifically over what media and when.

This is interesting and shows us that the order of who was riding with whom was NOT set yet. This gives more credence to the story Mrs. Lincoln told of LBJ and JFK fighting over this the night before and JFK insisting JBC ride with him instead of Yarlborough.

Of course, there is another element of timing: If Connally's position in the motorcade was not released until the afternoon of November 21, then when Oswald went home to get the weapon, he would not have necessarily intended Connally as the target.

The other interesting thing is that as of 1/30/64 they still did NOT even seem sure if JFK was the target or not! Otherwise, why are they so focused on showing Connally was NOT the target. Things would change quickly though as they would conclude JFK was the SOLE target.

Finally, we would like to know whether or not there was any release to the public news media that Connally would ride in any car in the motorcade, regardless of whether or not it was the Presidential car.
Thank you.

I find this illuminating that as of 1/30/64 they did NOT even know for sure if JFK was the sole target or not! What changed? Did they find out if it was announced JBC would be riding with JFK or not? Does anyone know for sure? IF so, please cite/quote the evidence for me.

Thanks!

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I think the fact Connally was hit by at least two separate shots from JFK would at least give some weight to the issue of whether JBC was a target too. I don't know and I am NOT saying he was, but him being shot does necessarily equate with the shooters being sloppy.