What is James Chaney Looking Back at?

[Bob Prudhomme]

"When the second shot came, I looked back just in time to see the President struck in the face by the second bullet."

James Chaney does not appear to be mincing words in this sentence.

[Albert Doyle]

No, he doesn't. I missed the part about getting hit in the face. Good spot. The only problem is the 3rd shot hit his head.

[James Norwood]

In Bob Prudhomme's excellent compilation of photos, I would call your attention to photo #4. James Chaney has moved forward from his position behind the JFK limousine, and now he is leading the pack to Parkland Hospital. As the presidential limousine emerges from the underpass onto the freeway, the Hertz sign above TSDB still reads 12:30. This means that from the time the shooting began on Elm Street, Chaney raced forward, passing both the limousine and meeting with two other motorcycle cops ahead of the pilot car in less than 60 seconds.

In less than a minute, how could James Chaney arrive on the freeway and be depicted well ahead of the limousine, yet appear in middle of Elm Street behind the limousine, as apparent in the Zapruder and Nix films? Why do we never see Chaney pass the limousine in the home movies? The only possible explanation is that those two films have been edited.

The late Jack White believed that James Chaney's testimony was the key to understanding the alteration of the Zapruder film. Bob's excellent photo display supports Jack's conclusion.



James

[Bob Prudhomme]

Hi Albert

I went back and listened to the interview again, only this time not assuming I knew exactly what Chaney meant by his words. I think I may have been misinterpreting him slightly and that he uses the term "look back" in two different contexts.

At the sound of the first shot, he says he "looked back over to my left" and President Kennedy "looked back over his left shoulder". I think Chaney is saying here that he was looking back over his left shoulder, or more simply saying looking to his left.

The mistake I think I have made is assuming Chaney returned to looking straight ahead before the second shot. However, if he was still looking behind him to the left, or even to the left, his saying "I looked back just in time to see the President struck in the face by the second bullet" takes on a whole new meaning. Now it would mean that he was in the process of returning to look straight ahead when he witnessed JFK being shot in the face.

This would, of course, allow Chaney to be in a position behind JFK, if he did not have to turn back to see JFK. However, although we are able to see almost the entire limo in the Zapruder film, Chaney is not visible beside the right rear fender. Even considering the compression effect of a telephoto lens, Chaney looks way out of place in the Altgens 6 photo.

[Bob Prudhomme]

Hi James

Thank you for your support. I hate to admit it but, the photo I showed of the three motorcycles about to enter Stemmons Freeway does not show Chaney on the right. That man's name is Grey. Chaney can be seen at the Triple Underpass, where he stayed after informing Curry of the shooting.

While there is witness testimony telling us that Chaney did pass the limo to race up to the lead car to speak with Curry, the story of Chaney leading the limo to Parkland Hospital is partly due to an embellishment by Chaney (unless of course Chaney was just out of view when the picture was taken and that is another motorcycle cop at the TUP) and partly due to a misconception about the Zapruder film.

At the beginning of the Z film, three lead motorcycles can be seen turning onto Elm St. The outside motorcycle disappears behind bushes and it is assumed by many that, instead of making the turn, the motorcycle continued down Houston St. This would only make for two lead motorcycles, and it is further assumed their ranks have returned to three with Chaney joining them.

If you look at this frame by frame version of the Z film, starting at the 2:00 mark, it is actually possible to see the "lost" motorcycle on the north side of Elm St. His front mounted red lights show up particularly well at 2:07.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1Lyv4wrJQU

There are still many unanswered questions about Chaney. In particular, how could so many high ranking officials testify that Chaney went ahead of the limo to the lead car, when there is no photographic evidence to support this?

[Albert Doyle]

If Chaney is in the spot shown in Nix then he's not looking at JFK, he's looking towards the Secret Service agents to see what they are going to do. So proclaiming "it has nothing to do with the Secret Service agents" might actually be, once again, completely wrong. I don't mean to sound boastful but sometimes issues amongst assassination investigators are mostly due to varying observation skills.

[James Norwood]

Albert,

You are missing the point about Chaney's position in the motorcade and how he drove past the limousine on the right. That is one the main points of his
youtube interview, and it is corroborated by multiple witnesses called before the Warren Commission. The number of shots, the sequence of the shots, and
the timing of the shots relative to Chaney's position to the limousine have no bearing on the the issue of Z-film alteration.


James

[Albert Doyle]

Albert,

You are missing the point about Chaney's position in the motorcade and how he drove past the limousine on the right. That is one the main points of his
youtube interview, and it is corroborated by multiple witnesses called before the Warren Commission. The number of shots, the sequence of the shots, and
the timing of the shots relative to Chaney's position to the limousine have no bearing on the the issue of Z-film alteration.


James

If he isn't where he's supposed to be then how could it possibly have no bearing on the Z-Film alteration? You're not answering my point about the shot sequence by the way...

[Bob Prudhomme]

Hi Albert

I agree it is odd that Chaney only heard two shots and identified the second one as the one that struck JFK in the face. Is his first impression of the first shot he heard a possible clue to the reason for hearing only two shots, that being his impression it was a motorcycle backfire? We know many witnesses heard the first shot as an almost firecracker-like noise and, with his helmet on, it may not have registered with him at all.

This may also be support for the theory that the first shot was from a suppressor equipped rifle and only the crack of the bullet being heard and not the muzzle blast. It would make sense to suppress the first and second shots to give the shooters more time to finish their work, before the SS woke up to what was going on.

[Albert Doyle]

Albert,

Studying the films and the photos will not resolve the question of the shot sequence. If the photographic materials provided definitive proof of shot sequence, don't you think the matter would be resolved after 50 years.

Your one-line posts are a distraction (and a waste of time) from the main issue of James Cheney passing the limo.


James

You're dodging. I asked some very specific questions. If you are quoting Chaney verbatim, as you are, then you have to account for his saying both he and Kennedy turned at the 1st shot. This has to mean the 1st shot missed because we know both shots that hit were not accompanied by any turns by Kennedy. And since the throat shot can't be a 'face' shot then the 2nd shot wasn't what Chaney turned in time to see.

Also, if Altgens 6 does show Chaney besides the limousine and looking back at JFK then JFK isn't shot in the head yet. And since Chaney would have to already be in the process of shooting forward at that point then you would have to ask why in God's name is Chaney pulling away and leaving JFK vulnerable instead of covering him? You pronounced this had nothing to do with the lack of Secret Service response but if Chaney was clearing away from Kennedy while he was being shot that isn't really correct is it?

You also responded to a very specific question with rhetoric. I asked how, if Chaney isn't where he's supposed to be, could that not have anything to do with Z-film alteration since those conflicts are what the claims for Z-Film alteration are based on? Funny, you accuse me of worthless one-liners, but seem to have trouble answering them.