288

OUTSIDE CONTACT REPORT

Ii . Summary of Contact:

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KENNEDY

I . Identifying Information :

Name Dr . John Lattimer -- Telephone

QUG133

DATE 2/27/78 TIME 2 :30

AddressColumbia Presbyterian Hospital, New York City

Dr . Michael Baden, Mark Flanagan and Andy Purdy

lpP°d nriv-t 1'd° d (hrif) f'1 t Lion by-Dr.

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Dr lattimer'c pracentation rlid not, clpviate from

the substance _ __ _ __ e eed; al . brief

and depicted 2XL;eri~.n+= h° had done firing Mannlicher-Carcano

ammunition at filled skulls In his test firings (at least

those depicted) the skull went backward and to the left .

In addition to his review of the autopsy photos and

X-rays, he has done repeated test firings of similar Mannlicher-

Carcano ammunition . He believes the ammunition and rifle are

exceedingly accurate and reliable . He pos tulates that the

first shot occurred at Zapruder frame (7,)166 and was a miss

III . Recommended Follow-up (if any) :

289

deflected by a tree which broke up and/or imbedded itself in

the street pavement . He believes the second shot occurred at

about Z-220 and struck the President in the upper back, passing

through him near the spine . Lattimer attributes the President's

reaction (raising his arms coming from behind the sign) to an

involuntary physical response caused by the shock to the spine

(he cites "Cases of Injury to the Cervical Region of the Spinal

Cord," 1889, by William Thornburn) . He believes this second bullet

caused the wounds to Kennedy and Connally . He indicated that the

bullet which injured Connally "must" have passed through Kennedy

first or the bullet would have had so much force that it would

have passed through Connally's thigh (he believes the fragment was

in Connally's femur) . He said the "3 cm" wound in the thigh

indicated a tumbling bullet, i .e ., one which struck something else

first (either JFK or a tree limb; latter not in alleged line of

fire at Z-220) . Asked hypothetically what inferences could be

drawn if the Connally back wound was 1 .5 cm, Lattimer said the

bullet would have been tumbling . Lattimer said the only other

cause of an elongated entrance wound would be a tangential bullet

strike ; however, he said a tangent strike on Connally would have

caused horizontal elongation instead of the vertical elongation

present on Connally . Lattimer's theory of 3 shots (with the first

missing and burrowing into the pavement) accounts for the curb

shot on the theory that it was a fragment from the head shot.

Lattimer has done no testing of bullet deflection by

hitting trees ; or of burrowing into pavement by such ammunition;

or of simulation of the deceleration of a bullet which passed only

through Connally to see if it would necessarily penetrate Connally's

thigh .

290

Regarding his assertion that the vertical slit in

JFK's shirt was because the bullet left him tumbling (and not

merely characteristic of a bullet exit), Lattimer said he had

neither seen nor done testing of this phenomenon

Lattimer said there was an irregularity of bone in

the vicinity of the transverse process which he believes represents

generally that a missile passed through the area and,

specifically, that there was a fracture of C-6 or C-7 .

Lattimer believes the "single bullet" struck Connally's

rib (as opposed to a "slap wound"), flattening the bullet scraping

off a piece of lead which he believes is visible in the Connally

chest X- ray.

Lattimer believes the wrist wound was caused by a slowly

traveling bullet because of the nature of the wrist damage (much

less severe than if a bullet had hit it first) and the minimal

fragment displacement evident .

Regarding the Edgewood Arsenal testing, he said the

simulation of the head shot was very similar to the damage he noted

in JFK upon viewing the autopsy photos and X-rays . However, he

said they incorrectly used the autopsy doctors' figure for the

location of the head entry wound, which is about 4" lower than the

wound as seen in the photos and verified in the X-rays . He expressed

mild surprise that the incorrect entrance wound point still

resulted in approximate skull damage .

Connally wound characteristics which indicated to

Lattimer that the bullet struck something else include (in

summary) : elongation of entrance wound ; Connally's wrist "was

291

only in position" to be struck at time of JFK wound ; Connally

was seated directly in front of JFK ; the bullet which struck the

thigh would have shattered it if it hadn't been significantly

slowed by tumbling .

Lattimer said he doubted that a fragment from the

JFK head shot could have wounded Connally's wrist because the

too w damage was caused by a fragment ofA substantial^size to have

caused the extent of damage evident in the X-ray .

Dr . Lattimer indicated that he has spoken to the autopsy

surgeon, but doesn't have interview notes or transcripts . He

does not have an explanation for the discrepancy in the location

of the entrance wound in the rear of 'the head, believing it resulted

from poor measurement techniques by individuals not sufficiently

schooled or experienced in forensic pathology . He believes the

autopsy doctors would realize their mistake upon reviewing the

photos and X-rays .

Dr . Lattimer also stated that he spoke to Dr. Gregory

(Governor Connally's wrist surgeon) several times about the nature

of the damage in the wrist . Dr . Gregory is deceased .

On other subjects Lattimer said: He knows the generic

origin of the rifle strap used by LHO ; LHO practiced dry-firing his

rifle according to Marina ; Ruby's pistol had a metal shroud covering

the hammer to facilitate its being fired from within a pocket or

under clothing (he showed a photo which purported to be of Ruby's

gun) ; and Ruby's psychiatrist (Bromberg) told him Ruby had his

pistol with him earlier in the weekend at the police station .

Dr. Lattimer also suspects that Ruby fired his pistol

using his middle finger as a trigger finger . Lattimer says that

this allows the index finger to steady the barrel, and is an

indication of familiarity in firing weapons .