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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. II - Page 353« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Comdr. James J. Humes)

Mr. Specter.
A careful examination of the margins of the large bone defect at that point, however, failed to disclose a portion of the skull bearing again a wound of--a point of impact on the skull of this fragment of the missile, remembering, of course, that this area was devoid of any scalp or skull at this present time. We did not have the bone.
In further evaluating this head wound, I will refer back to the X-rays which we had previously prepared. These had disclosed to us multiple minute fragments of radio opaque material traversing a line from the wound in the occiput to just above the right eye, with a rather sizable fragment visible by X-ray just above the right eye. These tiny fragments that were seen dispersed through the substance of the brain in between Were, in fact, just that extremely minute, less than 1 mm. in size for the most part.
(At this point, Senator Cooper entered the hearing room.)
Mr. Specter.
Dr. Humes, this would be a good juncture to produce two photographs.
May it please the Commission, Mr. Chief Justice Warren, I have identified as Commission Exhibits 389 and 390 which will at a later time be identified as being two frames from the motion picture camera operated by one Abraham Zapruder, being the amateur photographer who was on the scene, which I think would assist in evaluating the angle of the President's head corresponding to that exhibit designated as 388.
I will hand those to you, Dr. Humes, and ask you if you would state for the record the relative position of the President's head in 389 which is a frame about one-sixteenth of a second before the point of impact shown in Exhibit 390.
(The frames referred to were marked Commission Exhibits Nos. 389 and 3.90 for identification.)
Commander HUMES. It will be noted in Exhibit 389 that the President's head is bent considerably forward and perhaps somewhat to the left in this frame of the photograph 389.
Mr. Specter.
Is that in approximately the same position as the angle of the head depicted in Commission Exhibit No. 388?
Commander HUMES. Yes, sir; it is.
Mr. Specter.
Mr. Chief Justice, at this time I would like to move for admission in evidence of Exhibits 385 through 390.
The Chairman.
They may be admitted under those numbers.
(Commission Exhibits Nos. 385, 386, 387, 388, 389, and 390, previously marked for identification, were received in evidence.)
Mr. Specter.
Will you proceed now, Dr. Humes, to continue in your description of the head wound?
Commander HUMES. Head wound--a careful inspection of this large defect in the scalp and skull was made seeking for fragments of missile before any actual detection was begun. The brain was greatly lacerated and torn, and in this area of the large defect we did not encounter any of these minute particles.
I might say at this time that the X-ray pictures which were made would have a tendency to magnify these minute fragments somewhat in size and we were not too surprised in not being able to find the tiny fragments depicted in the X-ray.
Mr. Specter.
Approximately how many fragments were observed, Dr. Humes, on the X-ray?
Commander HUMES. I would have to refer to them again, but I would say between 30 or 40 tiny dustlike particle fragments of radio opaque material, with the exception of this one I previously mentioned which was seen to be above and very slightly behind the right orbit.
Mr. Dulles.
Were these all fragments that were injected into the skull by the bullet?
Commander HUMES. Our interpretation is, sir, that the missile struck the right occipital region, penetrated through the two tables of the skull, making the characteristic coning on the inner table which I have previously referred to. That one portion of the missile and judging by the size of the defect thus produced, the major portion of the missile, made its exit through this large defect.
A second portion of the missile or multiple second portions were deflected, and
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