Single Bullet THEORY

The Connally Bullet

Government defenders countered with the argument that tests have proven that it was not impossible for a bullet to remain in good condition under such circumstances and that it was also possible that there would be no evidence of blood or tissue. As such, the debate has remained in stalemate for nearly half a century. But in more recent times, a far stronger case against the legitimacy of CE399 has emerged. As we shall see, it also happens to be a conclusive indictment of the integrity of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI.

Our study begins at Parkland hospital with the discovery of a bullet by orderly, Daryl Tomlinson. Tomlinson told the Warren Commission that he returned Governor Connally's stretcher from the second floor back to the ground floor, and then parked it behind another stretcher that was in front of the door to a rest room. During his testimony, he illustrated the positions of the two stretchers, producing the following diagram:

Tomlinson labelled the two stretchers, "A" and "B", in response to Specter's request:

Mr. SPECTER. Will you mark with a "B" the stretcher which was present at the time you pushed stretcher "A" off of the elevator?

Specter also asked him to label the rest room in the diagram as "C" and explain how he acquired the bullet,

Mr. SPECTER. Where is the men's room located on this diagram?
Mr. TOMLINSON. It would be right there (indicating) beside the "B" stretcher.
Mr. SPECTER. Would you draw in ink there the outline of that room in a general way?
Mr. TOMLINSON. Well, I really don't know.
Mr. SPECTER. And would you mark that with the letter "C"?
Mr. SPECTER. That's fine. What happened when that gentleman came to use the men's room?
Mr. TOMLINSON. Well, he pushed the stretcher out from the wall to get in, and then when he came out he just walked off and didn't push the stretcher back up against the wall, so I pushed it out of the way where we would have clear area in front of the elevator.
Mr. SPECTER. And where did you push it to?
Mr. TOMLINSON. I pushed it back up against the wall.
Mr. SPECTER. What, if anything, happened then?
Mr. TOMLINSON. I bumped the wall and a spent cartridge or bullet rolled out that apparently had been lodged under the edge of the mat.
Mr. SPECTER. And that was from which stretcher?
Mr. TOMLINSON. I believe that it was "B".

Clearly, Tomlinson was stating that the bullet was on a different stretcher than the one he brought down on the elevator. Nonetheless, Specter repeatedly badgered him to change his story, but could only manage to get his inconvenient witness to say that he wasn't sure. But Tomlinson further confirmed what happened, in this CBS documentary, narrated by Walter Cronkite. (move the timeline to 30:10)

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

Tomlinson passed the bullet to his supervisor, Mr. O.P. Wright who also examined it and in an interview with Josiah Thompson, was adamant that it was shaped much differently than CE-399. This is from Josiah Thompson's classic book, Six Seconds in Dallas,

Before any photos were shown or he was asked for any description of #399 (Wright) said:
'That bullet had a pointed tip.' I said, 'Pointed tip?' He said, 'Yeah, I'll show you.
It was like this one here,' he said, reaching into his desk and pulling out the .30 caliber
bullet pictured in Six Seconds. After Thompson showed Wright the various bullet photos
and finally #399, Wright asked, "Is that the bullet I was supposed to have had?".

Wright's and Tomlinson's unanimous rejection of CE-399 was further confirmed by this top secret FBI airtel, which was never shown to the Warren Commission.

WFO (FBI Washington Field Office), neither DARRELL C. TOMLINSON,
who found bullet at Parkland Hospital, Dallas, nor O. P. WRIGHT, Personnel
Officer, Parkland Hospital, who obtained bullet from TOMLINSON and gave
to Special Service, at Dallas 11/22/63, can identify bullet.

Instead, the FBI told the commission that the two civilians had been interviewed by special agent Bardwell Odum, who was told by the men, that the stretcher bullet "appears to be the same one". But when Josiah Thompson and Dr. Gary Aguilar contacted the National Archives, they found no record of such an interview, in spite of the fact that the FBI was required to document interviews like that. And when they contacted Bardwell Odum in person, he denied ever conducting such an interview and stated that he had never even seen CE399.

According to FBI chief examiner Robert Frazier's notes, the FBI received large bullet fragments that were found in the front of the limousine at 11:50 PM on the night of the assassination. They were labelled Q2 and Q3. Of course, the lab was on duty and working all night.

Notes of FBI lead investigator, Robert Frazier which
demonstrate that they received bullet fragments from the limo
at 11:50 PM. (discovered by John Hunt)

These fragments were deemed by the FBI to be substantial enough to confirm that they were consistent with Oswald's rifle and forensics experts who testified before the Warren Commission confirmed that. Of course, considering the FBI's track record, it's hard to say whether they provided the actual fragments or not, but one thing seems quite certain - the fragments they received did not match the bullet that Tomlinson found.

Considering the time zones, it was between 90 minutes and 2 hours after the arrival of those fragments at the FBI labs, that Tomlinson was awakened by someone from the FBI, demanding that he "keep his mouth shut" about the bullet he found at Parkland hospital. This is from the recorded 1967 interview of Tomlinson by Ray Marcus. The interview is also documented in the HSCA records.

Tomlinson: On Friday morning about 12:30 to 1 o'clock - uh, excuse me, that's Saturday morning - after the assassination, the FBI woke me up on the phone and told me to to keep my mouth shut.

Marcus: About the circumstances of your finding the bullet?

Tomlinson: That is (one short word, unintelligible) what I found…

Marcus: I understand exactly what you mean, when they call you, it's pretty authoritative. But the thing is this, did they say - was there any particular thing about what they said or they just didn't want you to talk about it period?

Tomlinson: Just don't talk about it period.

As we will see, the FBI found a better solution to their problem making lemonade out of this nasty lemon. Instead of threatening a key witness, they seem to have simply decided to replace the inconvenient bullet with one that did indeed come from Oswald's rifle. And as is often the case, one lie requires a multitude of other lies to support it.

Wright gave the bullet to Secret Service agent, Richard Johnson, who in turn, passed it on to his supervisor, James Rowley. Not surprisingly, both of those men also refused to corroborate CE399, a fact which even the FBI had to admit, stating in Commission exhibit 2011, that the two agents "could not identify" it. It is interesting that the FBI never reported the reason why the two agents refused to corroborate this dubious piece of evidence. Like FBI agents, Secret Service agents were required to initial forensic evidence, and it is hard to imagine them being negligent in such an important case. By far, the best explanation for their denial is that not only did the stretcher bullet look much different than the original, but their initials were nowhere to be found on CE-399. And they were not the only ones whose initials were missing.

The next step in the chain of possession took place when Rowley passed the bullet to FBI agent, Elmer Todd. Todd was adamant that he initialed the stretcher bullet, as he was required to do. But when researcher, John Hunt examined extreme closeup photos of CE-399, he was able to identify initials that were written in later, but could find no trace of Todd's. This is from his article on the subject:

There is no question but that only three sets of initials appear on CE-399. There is likewise no question that they have all been positively identified: RF was Robert Frazier, CK was Charles Killion, and JH was Cortland Cunningham. (See Figure 5.) It can be stated as a fact that SA Elmer Lee Todd's mark is not on the historical CE-399 bullet.

The entire article can be found here:

http://www.jfklancer.com/hunt/phantom.htm

After looking around the web a bit, I was able to find a considerably better copy of the CE399 photos and after sharpening the image a bit, and blowing it up, managed to produce a much clearer image. Not surprisingly, there was no trace of Todd's initials.

Blowup
of ce399 photos

The only logical conclusion which can be drawn from this evidence is that the bullet Tomlinson found on the stretcher in front of the rest room door had nothing to do with the assassination. Parkland was (and is) the largest hospital in Dallas and processes hundreds of gunshot victims every year. Doctor McClelland testified that Parkland, "receives all of the indigent patients of this county, many of whom are involved frequently in shooting altercations, so that we do see a large number of that type patient almost daily".

But it appears that the FBI didn't think about that when they received the stretcher bullet at their labs on Friday night. And when they discovered that the bullet didn't match Oswald's rifle, they panicked. It was quite simple to fire a round from the alleged murder weapon into water or cotton wading and use that bullet to replace the one that Tomlinson found. That would explain the near pristine condition of the bullet, the absence of blood and tissue, the missing initials of SA Todd, and those of the two Secret Service agents, as well as the adamant rejection of that bullet by Tomlinson and Wright.

But there is an even better reason why we can be quite certain that CE399 was not the bullet that wounded Governor Connally. The real bullet was found on the second floor and recovered by a nurse, who then passed it on to officer Bobby Nolan, who then delivered it to the Dallas Police department. The confirmation of this begins with Governor Connally. This is from his autobiography entitled, "In History's shadow".

"..the most curious discovery of all took place when they rolled me off the stretcher, and onto the examining table. A metal object fell to the floor, with a click no louder than a wedding band. The nurse picked it up and slipped it into her pocket. It was the bullet from my body, the one that passed though my back, chest and wrist and worked itself loose from my thigh.

There was enormous significance to that scrap of metal, but I can't be certain how many years later I understood the importance of it. I have always believed that three bullets found their mark. What happened in the hospital demonstrated how easily a bullet could have been swept aside and lost.."

What the governor obviously didn't realize however, is that the bullet was not "swept aside". Certainly, the nurse who recovered it would not have just discarded the most important piece of forensic evidence she had ever handled. As it turned out, the Dallas District attorney arrived at the hospital, eager to find out how his old friend, governor Connally was doing. It seems that he arrived at about the same time that the surgery on the governor was completed, when he ran into that same nurse who found the bullet. This is from an interview of Dallas District attorney, Henry Wade, by the Dallas Morning News.

I also went out to see (Gov. John) Connally, but he was in the operating room. Some nurse had
a bullet in her hand, and said this was on the gurney that Connally was on. I talked with Nellie
Connally a while and then went on home.

Q: What did you do with the bullet? Is this the famous pristine bullet people have talked about?

A: I told her to give it to the police, which she said she would. I assume that's the pristine bullet.

The nurse promptly carried out the district attorney's instructions, passing the bullet to the nearest uniformed officer in sight, who happened to be Patrolman, Bobby Nolan, who was working security for Governor Connally and standing in the hallway talking to Connally aide, Bill Stinson. This is from my interview of Nolan in 2010.

Nolan: I was talking to a man who was one of governor Connally's aides. His name
was - I think it was either Stinton or Stimmons (Bill Stinson). And he was an
aide to the Governor. And she came up and told him that she had the bullet
that came off of the gurney.

Now I don't know what gurney. I think they meant Governor Connally's gurney.
And she said, "What do you want me to do with it?" He and I were just sitting
there in the hallway talking to me and said, "Give it to him"

Q. Was it a bullet fragment or a complete bullet?

Nolan: I don't know. It was a - they told me that is was a bullet.

And I don't know if it was a fragment of a bullet or a whole bullet because it was
in a little, small brown envelope. And it was sealed and it was about, I'd say 2 by 3
inches. And it was in that envelope when I got it and I never did look at it or anything."

Q. Now when the nurse gave it to you, did she describe it as a bullet fragment or as
a bullet.

Nolan: Uh no. She just said it was a bullet. That's all.

Nolan delivered the bullet to the Dallas Police department that evening, and the next morning, was interviewed by the FBI, who reported (emphasis is mine),

Bobby M. Nolan, Texas highway patrolman, Tyler district, was interviewed relative
to a bullet fragment removed from the left thigh of Governor Connally, which was
turned over to him at Parkland Hospital in Dallas for delivery to the FBI.

Nolan stated his instructions were apparently not clear at the outset and that following
contact with his superior officers while at the Dallas Police Department, he turned the
bullet fragment over to Captain Will Fritz [Dallas Police Department.] at approximately
7:50 p.m. He stated he had no further information concerning the matter and that his
only participation in this series of events was the acceptance of the fragment and delivery
of same to Captain Fritz.

Obviously, Nolan told the FBI, exactly what the nurse told him - that the envelope contained a bullet from Governor Connally's gurney, which as the Governor himself stated, had fallen out from the wound in his "thigh".

Bill Stinson further corroborated the other witnesses, when he was interviewed by the now defunct, Ramparts magazine.

"Before the Commission discredited Connally's testimony they should at least have heard all the important witnesses. Ramparts found one the Commission never talked to; they never even asked him for an affidavit. He is William Stinson, an aide to Governor Connally at the time of the assassination. Today, although officially employed by the Veterans Administraton, he has an office in the White House. Stinson told us he was in the operating room, wearing a sterile uniform, when the doctors operated on Connally at Parkland Hospital. 'The last thing they did,' said Stinson, 'was to remove the bullet from the governor's thigh---because that was the least thing that was wrong with him.'".

The entire article can be seen here,

http://www.acorn.net/jfkplace/09/fp.back_issues/09th_Issue/ramparts.html

Stinson was mistaken about the bullet being removed during surgery. He had been permitted to stand in the operating room then, but it is unlikely that they would have let him get close enough to examine the fragments as they were being removed. However, it makes perfect sense that he would assume that it came from surgery, when shortly afterward, the nurse came out, in scrubs, and told him and Nolan that she had an envelope containing a bullet from Connally's thigh.

So, by Saturday, the FBI had already received the bullet that Tomlinson found and had plenty of time to analyze it and confirm that it was not from Oswald's rifle. A second Connally bullet would provide indisputable proof of multiple snipers.

At roughly the same time that this nurse was passing the bullet from Connally's leg to Nolan, nursing supervisor, Audrey M. Bell was processing four tiny fragments that were removed from the governor's wrist by Dr. Gregory. She told the HSCA and later, the ARRB that she removed the fragments from a container on the scrub nurse's desk and placed them into an envelope, which she filled out and then gave to two plain clothed agents who came into her office. She was unsure whether they were from the Secret Service or the FBI, but was certain they were not in uniform. She said that both she and one of the agents, initialed the envelope and that the two of them then signed a receipt. All of this was standard operating procedure at Parkland, which Bell had carried out hundreds of times in the past.

Audrey Bell was interviewed the next day (11/23/63) by the FBI, as she herself confirmed in her ARRB interview. But when she was shown a copy of the associated FBI report, she was adamant that the FBI was wrong. This is from ARRB document MD184, which summarized her interview,

When shown an FBI FD-302 dated November 23,1963 (Agency File Number 000919, Record
# 180-l 0090-10270), she felt it was inaccurate in two respects: it quotes her as turning over
“the metal fragment (singular),” whereas she is positive it was multiple fragments - it says she
turned over the fragment to a Texas State Trooper, whereas she recalls turning it over to
plainclothes Federal agents who were either FBI or Secret Service.

To corroborate her denial, Bell suggested that they look at the receipt she was required to fill out, which she had passed on to Parkland administrator, Jack Price. Of course, that receipt had to have been confiscated by the FBI, since it was critical to confirming the chain of custody. This is more from MD184,

She independently recalled filling out a receipt on 1l/22/63 for the fragments, on half-page
sized paper with red lettering in the letterhead, which was signed for by one of two men in civilian
clothes (whom she thought were Federal agents) who accepted the fragments. She said she personally
delivered the original of this receipt to Parkland Hospital Administrator Jack Price. (ARRB staff
promised to try to locate this document, and promised that if located, we would mail her a photocopy
for verification purposes.)

But according to the National Archives, there is no record of the ARRB ever finding that receipt and the Archives were not able to find it either. So Bell's receipt, which would have confirmed the name of at least one of the men she gave the envelope to, and which had to have been taken by the FBI, seems to have evaporated.

This is the FBI report, allegedly from their interview dated, 11/23/63 with Audrey Bell.