On the Trail of Delusion, Episode 44, Six Seconds in Dallas

Fred Litwin
1 day ago
5 min read

Updated: 22 hours ago

https://youtu.be/pD7mpVjxgK8?si=VH6WBrZXxhfG2TLl

Here is my book review of Josiah Thompson's Six Seconds in Dallas.

You can download my presentation here:

My review of Six Seconds in Dallas is not a comprehensive look at every part of Thompson's book. I didn't discuss witnesses like S. M. Holland and Lee Bowers because I have discussed them on blog posts about Lane's Rush to Judgment. I have tried to focus on what a critique from 1967 would look like -- and so I have not brought in newer evidence like the autopsy X-rays and photographs.

Here is some additional information about Thompson's magic bullet.

On page 166 of Six Seconds in Dallas, Thompson refers to CE 399 as an "atypical projectile."

Bullet 399 is an atypical projectile. None of the other bullets fired from Oswald's rifle at standard muzzle velocity preserved their pristine state after hitting anything. Even one of the two ballistics comparison rounds -- projectiles fired into long tubes of cotton waste -- was twisted along a longitudinal axis.

I don't think Thompson has enough evidence here to support his conclusion. The other bullet to hit JFK shattered because it hit a skull at full velocity. I don't understand his point about the twisting along a longitudinal axis. Thompson could have done some testing here -- he could have fired bullets from the same batch to see if any would act in his atypical way. But he opted not to do that.

He then goes on to note that the wound in JFK's back was an "atypical wound," (page 167) in that Dr. Boswell could only probe the wound "up to the first or second knuckle of the little finger." And thus Thompson believes the bullet fell out during the autopsy. It's not surprising that Boswell couldn't successfully probe the track with his finger -- the muscles and flesh had shifted and the body was in a different anatomical position.

Thompson also made the point that Oswald's ammunition was manufactured in 1944: (page 167)

The ammunition used in the rifle found on the sixth floor of the Depository was government surplus ammunition last manufactured in 1944. A spokesman for the company that manufactured the ammunition declared that "the reliability of such ammunition would be questionable today."

Thompson's source for his first statement was a letter to Stewart Galanor, a researcher for Lane, published in Mark Lane's book, Rush to Judgment on page 411. The company stated that it was not currently producing 6.5 millimeter Mannlicher-Carcano cartridges and that the last production was in 1944.

His source for the second statement was a letter sent to Sylvia Meager from the Olin Company by the same person who wrote Stewart Galanor.

On page 112 - 113 of her book, Accessories After the Fact, Meagher notes that the Warren Report stated that the ammunition was "recently made" by the Western Cartridge Company. She contrasted that with CE 2694:

To resolve the discrepancy Meagher wrote the company, and here is their reply:

So, Meagher knew that some ammunition was manufactured in the early 1950s. Unfortunately, she doesn't mention that part of the letter in her book.

This document was also in Meagher's files:

So, Meagher knew that Oswald's ammunition might not have come from a lot manufactured in 1945 but from a lot manufactured in the early 1950s and perhaps as late as 1954. The reason the company did not answer Lane correctly is that the ammunition made in 1954 might have been manufactured under USMC cover.