NPR: Reopen The Kennedy Files ... Again?

Reopen The Kennedy Files ... Again?

Sigh. I'm not sure how I feel about this. It would be nice if we knew for sure, I suppose. It would make Oliver Stone happy. And it would put the assassination in an entirely different light.

So here we go (deep breath) ...

The Washington Post is reporting that new tests done on the bullets from the batch Lee Harvey Oswald is believed to have used when he shot President John F. Kennedy indicate that there (ready for it?) may have been more than one gunman who shot Kennedy.

The "evidence used to rule out a second assassin is fundamentally flawed," concludes a new article in the Annals of Applied Statistics written by former FBI lab metallurgist William A. Tobin and Texas A&M University researchers Cliff Spiegelman and William D. James.

While the researchers, who used new scientific methods to test the bullets, were careful to say they don't know if there was a second gunman, they didn't rule out that possibility either. Tobin was largely responsible for the FBI admitting in 2003 that its methods of matching bullets to crime suspects through their lead content was flawed. Tobin now believes the five bullet fragments found after Kennedy was shot need to be reexamined.

3:48 PM ET | 05-18-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

i think it is really funny how the bullet that essentially blew JFK's head wide open came from the front right, which basically singles out any possibility of there not being a second gunman, since Oswald was behind the motorcade up in that library tower. This isnt anything new, i just figured i would point it out.

Sent by joe k. | 4:30 PM ET | 05-18-2007

JFK the movie with Kevin Costner explored the various conspiracy theories surrounding the killing of the President. The History Channel's 6-hour documentary exposed the truth. Anybody that still belives Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman is either smoking weed or needs to be!

Sent by Kevin ~ Bangkok | 11:27 AM ET | 05-21-2007

There is no evidence whatsoever the bullet that struck President Kennedy in the head came from the front right. Not one scintilla of evidence. There is plenty of physical evidence two bullets struck the President coming from the direction behind his limousin.

The joint research project by Texas A&M and Forensic Engineering International of bullet fragments using the latest technology does not prove there was a second shooter, only that the original scientific conclusions pertaining to the lead particles is not as exclusive as once thought. Actually that is not a new revelation. A ballistics expert years ago came to the same conclusion. This current research can neither confirm nor exclude a second shooter, however forensic analysis of tiny shards of copper found on the entrance wound be more determinant than analysis of the lead particles.

What is needed is a thorough and complete analysis of known facts, before chasing after invisible trolls on grassy knolls who blow puffs of smoke for all the world to see.

Sent by Robert M. | 5:16 PM ET | 05-23-2007

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