Part 53

We also noted at this point that the flocculus cerebri was extensively lacerated and that the superior sagittal sinus which is a venous blood containing channel in the top of the meninges was also lacerated.

To continue to answer your question with regard to the damage of the brain, following the formal infixation, Dr. Boswell, Dr. Finck and I convened to examine the brain in this state.

We also prepared photographs of the brain from several aspects to depict the extent of these injuries.

We found that the right cerebral hemisphere was markedly disrupted. There was a longitudinal laceration of the right hemisphere which was parasagittal in position. By the saggital plane, as you may know, is a plane in the midline which would divide the brain into right and left halves.

This laceration was parasagittal. It was situated approximately 2.5 cm. to the right of the midline, and extended from the tip of occipital lobe, which is the posterior portion of the brain, to the tip of the frontal lobe which is the most anterior portion of the brain, and it extended from the top down to the substance of the brain a distance of approximately 5 or 6 cm.

The base of the laceration was situated approximately 4.5 cm. below the vertex in the white matter. By the vertex we mean--the highest point on the skull is referred to as the vertex.

The area in which the greatest loss of brain substance was particularly in the parietal lobe, which is the major portion of the right cerebral hemisphere.

The margins of this laceration at all points were jagged and irregular, with additional lacerations extending in varying directions and for varying distances from the main laceration.

In addition, there was a laceration of the corpus callosum which is a body of fibers which connects the two hemispheres of the brain to each other, which extended from the posterior to the anterior portion of this structure, that is the corpus callosum. Exposed in this laceration were portions of the ventricular system in which the spinal fluid normally is disposed within the brain.

When viewed from above the left cerebral hemisphere was intact. There was engorgement of blood vessels in the meninges covering the brain. We note that the gyri and sulci, which are the convolutions of the brain over the left hemisphere were of normal size and distribution.

Those on the right were too fragmented and distorted for satisfactory description.

When the brain was turned over and viewed from its basular or inferior aspect, there was found a longitudinal laceration of the mid-brain through the floor of the third ventricle, just behind the optic chiasma and the mammillary bodies.

This laceration partially communicates with an oblique 1.5 cm. tear through the left cerebral peduncle. This is a portion of the brain which connects the higher centers of the brain with the spinal cord which is more concerned with reflex actions.

There were irregular superficial lacerations over the basular or inferior aspects of the left temporal and frontal lobes. We interpret that these later contusions were brought about when the disruptive force of the injury pushed that portion of the brain against the relative intact skull.

This has been described as contre-coup injury in that location.

This, then, I believe, Mr. Specter, are the major points with regard to the President's head wound.

Mr. SPECTER. Do you have an opinion, Dr. Humes, as to whether there were dumdum bullets used specifically on this wound which struck point "A" of the head, on 388?

Commander HUMES. I believe these were not dumdum bullets, Mr. Specter. A dumdum bullet is a term that has been used to describe various missiles which have a common characteristic of fragmenting extensively upon striking.

Mr. SPECTER. Would you characterize the resultant effect on this bullet as not extensive fragmenting?

Commander HUMES. Yes. Had this wound on point "A" on Exhibit 388 been inflicted by a dumdum bullet, I would anticipate that it would not have anything near the regular contour and outline which it had. I also would anticipate that the skull would have been much more extensively disrupted, and not have, as was evident in this case, a defect which quite closely corresponded to the overlying skin defect because that type of a missile would fragment on contact and be much more disruptive at this point.

Mr. SPECTER. At this point would you state for the record the size and approximate dimension of the major wound on the top of the head which you have marked wound "B"?

Commander HUMES. This was so large, that localization of it in a descriptive way is somewhat difficult.

However, we have mentioned that its major--its greatest dimension was approximately 13 cm. The reason it was difficult to measure is that various fracture lines extend out from it in a quite irregular fashion, but it was approximately 13 cm.

Mr. McCLOY. This red that is marked on 388 on the base of the skull, is that seepage or what?

Commander HUMES. No, sir; that is to depict the musculature at the base of the neck.

Mr. McCLOY. I see.

Commander HUMES. That is not taken to depict the blood, sir.

Mr. SPECTER. On the reconstruction of the three portions of the scalp which you described----

Commander HUMES. Skull, sir.

Mr. SPECTER. Skull, which enabled you to reconstruct a point of exit of the bullet, will you state at this point of the record that size of opening or exit path of the bullet?

Commander HUMES. As I mentioned previously, at one angle of this largest pyramidal shaped fragments of bone which came as a separate specimen, we had the portion of the perimeter of a roughly what we would judge to have been a roughly circular wound of exit. Judging from that portion of the perimeter which was available to us, we would have judged the diameter of that wound to be between 2.5 and 3 cm.

Mr. SPECTER. Doctor Humes, have you now described the major characteristics and features of the wounds to the late President's head?

Commander HUMES. I believe that I have, sir.

Mr. SPECTER. All right. Will you now turn your attention, please to the wound which is noted on 385 and 386 being at the----

Mr. McCLOY. Before we leave that, could I ask a question?

When you talk about dumdum bullets, do you include the ordinary type of soft nose sporting bullets, maybe this is something that Colonel Finck would be more expert on, but was that, was the bullet, could it possibly have been a sporting type of hunting bullet that has a soft nose but is still somewhat firm?

Commander HUMES. From the characteristics of this wound, Mr. McCloy, I would believe that it must have had a very firm head rather than a soft head.

Mr. McCLOY. Steel jacketed, would you say, copper jacketed bullet?

Commander HUMES. I believe more likely a jacketed bullet because of the regular outline which was present.

Mr. McCLOY. All right.

Mr. DULLES. Could I ask a question?

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Dulles.

Mr. DULLES. Believing that we know the type of bullet that was usable in this gun, would this be the type of wound that might result from that kind of a bullet?

Commander HUMES. I believe so, sir.

Mr. DULLES. If my question is clear----

Commander HUMES. Yes, sir; it is.

Mr. DULLES. We think we know what the bullet is, we may be wrong but we think we know what it was, is this wound consistent with that type of bullet?

Commander HUMES. Quite consistent, sir.

Mr. McCLOY. There is no evidence of any keyholing of the bullet before it hit, before the point of impact?

Commander HUMES. I don't exactly follow your question.

Mr. McCLOY. Was the bullet moving in a direct line or had it begun to tumble?

Commander HUMES. To tumble?

That is a difficult question to answer. I have the opinion, however, that it was more likely moving in a direct line. You will note that the wound in the posterior portion of the occiput on Exhibit 388 is somewhat longer than the other missile wound which we have not yet discussed in the low neck. We believe that rather than due to a tumbling effect, this is explainable on the fact that this missile struck the skin and skull at a more tangential angle than did the other missile, and, therefore, produced a more elongated defect, sir.

Senator COOPER. May I ask a question there? Perhaps you have done this, but if not, how would you explain the difference of the courses of the fragments which you traced and described as, I think, being discovered behind the right eye?

Commander HUMES. Yes, sir.

Senator COOPER. And the course of the fragment which was believed caused the large defect?

Commander HUMES. Caused the large defect?

Senator COOPER. How do you explain----

Commander HUMES. The discrepancy?

Senator COOPER. The difference in the courses.

Commander HUMES. Yes, sir.

As this missile penetrated the scalp, it then came upon a very firm substance, the hard skull, and I believe that this track depicted by the dotted lines on Exhibit 388 was a portion of that missile which was dislodged as it made its defect in the skull. And that--that another portion, and, as I say, presumably, by the size of the defect, a more major portion made its exit through the right lateral side of the skull.

Mr. McCLOY. Is this piece of pyramidal bone that was brought in to you subsequently as I understand it----

Commander HUMES. Yes, sir.

Mr. McCLOY. Was that part of the outer table or the inner table?

Commander HUMES. It was both tables, sir.

Mr. McCLOY. Both tables?

Commander HUMES. Yes, sir; had it only been one it might have been difficult to ascertain whether it was.

Mr. McCLOY. Shelving or not?

Commander HUMES. Yes, sir; in or out, but it encompassed both tables, sir.

Mr. DULLES. Is the angle of declination that you--one sees there from in and out approximately the angle you think at which the bullet was traveling at the time of impact and exit?

Commander HUMES. That is our impression, sir.

Mr. DULLES. So then the shot would have been fired from some point above the head of the person hit?

Commander HUMES. Yes, sir.

Mr. SPECTER. Dr. Humes, would you elaborate a bit on the differences in the paths, specifically why the bullet went in one direction in part and in part in the second direction, terminating with the fragment right over the right eye?

Commander HUMES. Yes, sir.

I will make a drawing of the posterior portion of the skull showing again this beveling which we observed at the inner table of the skull.

Our impression is that as this projectile impinged upon the skull in this fashion, a small portion of it was dislodged due to the energy expended in that collision, if you will, and that it went off at an angle, and left the track which is labeled 388, which is labeled on Exhibit 388 from "A", point "A" to the point where the fragment was found behind the eye.

Why a fragment takes any particular direction like that is something which is difficult of scientific explanation. Those of us who have seen missiles strike bones, be it the skull or a bone in the extremity, have long since learned that portions of these missiles may go off in various directions and the precise physical laws governing them are not clearly understood.

Mr. SPECTER. Would the angle be accentuated in any way if you were to assume the President was in a moving automobile going in a slight downhill direction?

Commander HUMES. There are many variables under these circumstances. The most--the crucial point, I believe, to be the relative position of the President's head in relation to the flight of the missile.

Now, this would be influenced by how far his head was bent, by the situation with regard to the level of the seat in the vehicle, off of the horizontal, and so forth.

Mr. SPECTER. How about a decline in the path of the road itself?

Commander HUMES. I think that that would have a tendency to accentuate this angle, yes, sir.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. Chief Justice, I would like to move for the admission in evidence now of Exhibit 391, which is the exhibit on the brain report.

The CHAIRMAN. It may be admitted.

(The document heretofore marked for identification as Commission Exhibit No. 391 was received in evidence.)

Mr. SPECTER. Dr. Humes, would you now move over to the wound which appears on the lower part of the neck and upper part of the back?

Mr. DULLES. Could I ask one more question before we get to that, I am sorry.

Mr. SPECTER. Certainly.

Mr. DULLES. Could one say as to what portion of the bullet was found in all these fragments, I mean arrive at an estimate, was it a tenth of the bullet, was it, how much was it, assuming the type of bullet that we believe was used in this particular rifle.

Commander HUMES. Sir, I have not had the opportunity to personally examine the type of bullet which is believed to have been represented by this injury.

However, I would estimate--if I understand you correctly the total amount that was present in the President's skull and brain?

Mr. DULLES. Yes.

Commander HUMES. Including the fragment?

Mr. DULLES. Including all the fragments.

Commander HUMES. Including all these minute particles. I would say there was something less than one-tenth of the total volume of the missile.

Mr. SPECTER. Dr. Humes, do you make that calculation on the assumption that the bullets used here were 6.5 mm. Mannlicher-Carcano rifle bullet weighing 158.6 grams?

Commander HUMES. Yes, I do; sir.

Mr. SPECTER. Had I brought that particular fact to your attention prior to the time you started testifying here today?

Commander HUMES. Yes, sir. One point I intended to make clear these fragments which I recovered from this position were turned over to the Secret Service.

I presume that they have made physical measurements including the weight of them, and could give a much more intelligent estimate of the proportion than I. I would say, however, that we did not deliver these minute fragments because they were so small as to be essentially unrecoverable.

So, obviously they were of a very small portion of the major missile.

Mr. DULLES. These minute fragments were part of the bullet, emanations from the bullet?

Commander HUMES. Yes, sir.

Mr. DULLES. They were not from the head?

Commander HUMES. No, sir, they were small, dust, of the size of dust particles, however.

Mr. DULLES. Is the posture of the head of that figure there, the inclination of it, roughly the inclination that you think the President's head had at the time from the other photographs?

Commander HUMES. Yes, sir. From the photographs and based on the physical examination of this wound, yes, sir.

Mr. DULLES. That is all I have.

Mr. McCLOY. Perhaps this was something that Colonel Finck could testify to exactly, but, he would be quite competent. Is there anything to indicate that this was, might have been a larger than a 6.5 or smaller than a 6.5?

Commander HUMES. The size of the defect in the scalp, caused by a projectile could vary from missile to missile because of elastic recoil and so forth of the tissues.

However, the size of the defect in the underlying bone is certainly not likely to get smaller than that of the missile which perforated it, and in this case, the smallest diameter of this was approximately 6 to 7 mm., so I would feel that that would be the absolute upper limit of the size of this missile, sir.

Mr. McCLOY. Seven would be the absolute upper limit?

Commander HUMES. Yes, sir; and, of course, just a little tilt could make it a little larger, you see.

Mr. DULLES. I have one other question, if I may.

Is the incidence of clean entry as indicated there, and then great fragmentation on exit, is that a normal consequence of this type of wound?

Commander HUMES. Sir, we feel that there are two potential explanations for this.

One, having traversed the skull in entrance in the occiput as depicted on 388, the missile begins to tumble, and in that fashion it presents a greater proportion of its surface to the brain substance and to the skull as it makes its egress.

The other and somewhat more difficult to measure and perhaps Colonel Finck will be able to testify in greater detail on this, is that a high velocity missile has tremendous kinetic energy, and this energy is expanded against the structures which it strikes, and so that much of this defect could be of the nature of blast, as this kinetic energy is dissipated by traversing the skull.

Is that the sense of the question, sir?

Mr. DULLES. Yes.

Senator COOPER. I will ask a question, and perhaps this isn't in your field.

But assuming that the shot which struck President Kennedy at point A was fired by a gun from the window of the Texas School Book Depository, and which has been testified to, and assuming that you could locate the position of the President at the time he was struck by a bullet, you could then, could you not, establish the degree of the missile?

Commander HUMES. The degree of angle?

Senator COOPER. The angle, yes, the degree of angle of the missile from the building.

Commander HUMES. Yes, sir; there is one difficulty, and that is the defect of exit was so broad that one has to rely more on the inclination of the entrance than they do connecting in this instance entrance and exit because so much of the skull was carried away in this fashion.

Senator COOPER. That was my second question.

My first question was would it be possible physically to establish the degree of angle of the trajectory of the bullet?

Commander HUMES. Within limited accuracy, sir.

Senator COOPER. Within limited accuracy.

That being true then my second question was whether the point of entry of the bullet, point A, and the, what you call the exit----

Commander HUMES. Exit.

Senator COOPER. Did you establish them so exactly that they could be related to the degree of angle of the trajectory of the bullet?

Commander HUMES. Yes, sir; to our satisfaction we did ascertain that fact.

Mr. DULLES. Just one other question.

Am I correct in assuming from what you have said that this wound is entirely inconsistent with a wound that might have been administered if the shot were fired from in front or the side of the President: it had to be fired from behind the President?

Commander HUMES. Scientifically, sir, it is impossible for it to have been fired from other than behind. Or to have exited from other than behind.

Mr. McCLOY. This is so obvious that I rather hesitate to ask it. There is no question in your mind that it was a lethal bullet?

Commander HUMES. The President, sir, could not possibly have survived the effect of that injury no matter what would have been done for him.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Specter.

Mr. SPECTER. What conclusions did you reach then as to the trajectory or point of origin of the bullet, Dr. Humes, based on 388?

Commander HUMES. We reached the conclusion that this missile was fired toward the President from a point above and behind him, sir.

Mr. SPECTER. Now, on one detail on your report, Dr. Humes, on page 4, on the third line down, you note that there is a lacerated wound measuring 15 by 6 mm. which on the smaller size is, of course, less than 6.5 mm.?

Commander HUMES. Yes, sir.

Mr. SPECTER. What would be the explanation for that variation?

Commander HUMES. This is in the scalp, sir, and I believe that this is explainable on the elastic recoil of the tissues of the skin, sir. It is not infrequent in missile wounds of this type that the measured wound is slightly smaller than the caliber of the missile that traversed it.

Mr. SPECTER. Would you proceed, now then to the other major wound of entry which you have already noted and described?

Commander HUMES. Yes, sir.

Mr. SPECTER. Its point of origin, where it hit the President.

Commander HUMES. I--our previously submitted report, which is Commission No. 387, identified a wound in the low posterior neck of the President.

The size of this wound was 4 by 7 mm., with the long axis being in accordance with the long axis of the body, 44 mm. wide, in other words, 7 mm. long.

We attempted to locate such wounds in soft tissue by making reference to bony structures which do not move and are, therefore, good reference points for this type of investigation.

We then ascertained, we chose the two bony points of reference--we chose to locate this wound, where the mastoid process, which is just behind the ear, the top of the mastoid process, and the acromion which is the tip of the shoulder joint. We ascertained physical measurement at the time of autopsy that this wound was 14 cm. from the tip of the mastoid process and 14 cm. from the acromion was its central point--

Mr. SPECTER. That is the right acromion?

Commander HUMES. The tip of the right acromion, yes, sir, and that is why we have depicted it in figure 385 in this location.

This wound appeared physically quite similar to the wound which we have described before in 388 "A," with the exception that its long axis was shorter than the long axis of the wound described above. When the tissues beneath this wound were inspected, there was a defect corresponding with the skin defect in the fascia overlying the musculature of the low neck and upper back.

I mentioned previously that X-rays were made of the entire body of the late President. Of course, and here I must say that as I describe something to you, I might have done it before or after in the description but for the sake of understanding, we examined carefully the bony structures in this vicinity as well as the X-rays, to see if there was any evidence of fracture or of deposition of metallic fragments in the depths of this wound, and we saw no such evidence, that is no fracture of the bones of the shoulder girdle, or of the vertical column, and no metallic fragments were detectable by X-ray examination.

Attempts to probe in the vicinity of this wound were unsuccessful without fear of making a false passage.

Mr. SPECTER. What do you mean by that, Doctor?

Commander HUMES. Well, the defect in the fascia was quite similar, which is the first firm tissue over the muscle beneath the skin, was quite similar to this. We were unable, however, to take probes and have them satisfactorily fall through any definite path at this point.

Now, to explain the situation in the President's neck, I think it will be necessary for me to refer back to Exhibit 385, I believe the number is correct.

Mr. SPECTER. Yes; please do, that is 385.

Commander HUMES. Now, as the President's body was viewed from anteriorly in the autopsy room, and saying nothing for the moment about the missile, there was a recent surgical defect in the low anterior neck, which measured some 7 or 8 cm. in length or let's say a recent wound was present in this area.

This wound was through the skin, through the subcutaneous tissues and into the larynx. Or rather into the trachea of the President.

Mr. SPECTER. To digress chronologically----

Commander HUMES. Yes.

Mr. SPECTER. Did you have occasion to discuss that wound on the front side of the President with Dr. Malcolm Perry of Parkland Hospital in Dallas?

Commander HUMES. Yes, sir; I did. I had the impression from seeing the wound that it represented a surgical tracheotomy wound, a wound frequently made by surgeons when people are in respiratory distress to give them a free airway.

To ascertain that point, I called on the telephone Dr. Malcolm Perry and discussed with him the situation of the President's neck when he first examined the President, and asked him had he in fact done a tracheotomy which was somewhat redundant because I was somewhat certain he had.

He said, yes; he had done a tracheotomy and that as the point to perform his tracheotomy he used a wound which he had interpreted as a missile wound in the low neck, as the point through which to make the tracheotomy incision.

Mr. SPECTER. When did you have that conversation with him, Dr. Humes?

Commander HUMES. I had that conversation early on Saturday morning, sir.

Mr. SPECTER. On Saturday morning, November 23d?