The lone gunman theory or one-gunman theory is the nickname given to the
conclusion reached by the Warren Commission that U.S. President John F.
Kennedy was assassinated by a single gunman named Lee Harvey Oswald.
The Commission report stated that Oswald was a disturbed man, whose
radical political views and depression had led him to shoot the
President.
In the late 1970s, the House Select Committee on
Assassinations concluded on the basis of controversial acoustic
evidence, that President Kennedy was "most likely killed as the result
of a conspiracy." This conclusion is controversial.
The
single-bullet theory (or Magic Bullet Theory, as it is commonly called
by its critics) was introduced by the Warren Commission in its
investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to
explain what happened to the bullet which struck Kennedy in the back and
exited through his throat. Given the lack of damage to the presidential
limousine consistent with it having been struck by a high-velocity
bullet and the fact that Texas Governor John Connally was wounded and
was seated directly in front of the president, the Commission concluded
they were likely struck by the same bullet.
The theory, generally
credited to Warren Commission staffer Arlen Specter (later a United
States Senator from Pennsylvania), posits that a single bullet, known as
"Warren Commission Exhibit 399" (also known as "CE 399"), caused all
the wounds to the governor and the non-fatal wounds to the president
(seven entry/exit wounds in total).
According to the single-bullet
theory, a three-centimeter (1.2")-long copper-jacketed lead-core
6.5-millimeter rifle bullet fired from the sixth floor of the Texas
School Book Depository passed through President Kennedy's neck and
Governor Connally's chest and wrist and embedded itself in the
Governor's thigh. If so, this bullet traversed 15 layers of clothing, 7
layers of skin, and approximately 15 inches of tissue, struck a necktie
knot, removed 4 inches of rib, and shattered a radius bone. The bullet
was found on a gurney in the corridor at the Parkland Memorial Hospital,
in Dallas, after the assassination. The Warren Commission found that
this gurney was the one that had borne Governor Connally. This bullet
became a key Commission exhibit, identified as CE 399. Its copper jacket
was completely intact. While the bullet's nose appeared normal, the
tail was compressed laterally on one side.
In its conclusion, the
Warren Commission found "persuasive evidence from the experts" that a
single bullet caused the President's neck wound and all the wounds in
Governor Connally. It acknowledged that there was a "difference of
opinion" among members of the Commission "as to this probability", but
stated that the theory was not essential to its conclusions and that all
members had no doubt that all shots were fired from the sixth floor
window of the Depository building.
Most pro- and anti-conspiracy
theorists believe that the single-bullet theory is essential to the
Warren Commission's conclusion that Oswald acted alone. The reason for
this is timing: if, as the Warren Commission found, President Kennedy
was wounded some time between frame 210 and 225 of the Zapruder film
and Governor Connally was wounded in the back/chest no later than frame
240, there would not have been enough time between the wounding of the
two men for Oswald to have fired two shots from his bolt action rifle.
FBI marksmen, who test-fired the rifle for the Warren Commission,
concluded that the "minimum time for getting off two successive
well-aimed shots on the rifle is approximately 2 and a quarter seconds"
or 41 to 42 Zapruder frames.
In 1979, the House of
Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations stated that it agreed
with the single-bullet theory but differed on the time frame. The
single-bullet theory has been staunchly defended by those who believe
the Warren Commission's finding was correct; it has been roundly
criticized by those who disagree.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_b...
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