11
Introducing Forensic Science
vestigators agree that Kennedy was hit with at least two bullets, and that he
was killed when shot in the head. (However, another popular theory deals
with the idea that only one bullet hit Kennedy: the Magic Bullet Theory.)
The crowd barely reacted to the first shot; later, many witnesses said
they thought they had heard a firecracker or a car backfire. Only after Gov-
ernor Connally was injured and had screamed, “No, no, no. They are going
to kill us all!” did the situation become clear to the Secret Service limousine
driver, Bill Greer.
Investigators have determined that when Kennedy’s head was struck, it
moved slightly forward and down one to two inches (25 to 50 millimeters).
The cause of what happened next is an issue that has kept people investi-
gating the assassination. As the wound to the right side of his skull opened
up, the president’s right shoulder twisted forward and slightly upward,
then his torso moved quickly backward and to the left before he bounced
off the rear seat vertical cushion and slumped left toward his wife. When
Mr. Greer realized the president had been wounded, the limousine sped up
and proceeded to the hospital. A shocked nation would hear the news an
hour later: the president was dead.
In the years since Kennedy’s assassination, there has been an ongoing
debate about the physics of the fatal shot that struck President Kennedy in
the head. These questions have led to the suspicion that unknown agents
might have been involved with the assassination (besides Lee Harvey Os-
wald, who was arrested for the crime). Although there is very strong evi-
dence that the fatal shot came from the right rear (where the sixth-floor
sniper’s nest in the Texas School Book Depository was located), JFK’s head
and body moved backward and to the left with significant speed immedi-
ately after the head shot. Conspiracy theorists point to this rearward kick of
the body as evidence of a shot from the grassy knoll located ahead and to
the right of the president.
