Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

General Body Description

The General Description of the Body records that the body was that of a muscular, well-developed, well-nourished adult Caucasian male, measuring 72½ inches and weighing approximately 170 pounds. There was beginning rigor mortis, minimal dependent livor mortis of the dorsum, and early algor mortis. The hair was reddish brown and abundant; the eyes were blue, with the right pupil measuring 8 mm in diameter and the left 4 mm. There was edema and ecchymosis of the inner canthus of the left eyelid measuring approximately 1.5 cm in greatest diameter, and diffuse edema and ecchymosis over the right supra-orbital ridge with abnormal mobility of the underlying bone. The scalp was to be described in more detail with the skull. The external ears contained clotted blood; the ears, nares, and mouth were otherwise unremarkable. The teeth were in excellent repair, with pallor of the oral mucous membrane. A 7 × 4 mm oval wound was situated on the upper right posterior thorax just above the upper border of the scapula, measured 14 cm from the tip of the right acromion process and 14 cm below the tip of the right mastoid process. A 6.5 cm transverse wound with widely gaping irregular edges was situated in the low anterior neck at approximately the level of the third and fourth tracheal rings. Bilateral 2 cm transverse recent surgical incisions into the subcutaneous tissue were situated on the anterior chest wall in the nipple line, with the left 11 cm cephalad to the nipple and the right 8 cm cephalad to the nipple, without associated hemorrhage or ecchymosis. A similar clean 2 cm wound was on the antero-lateral aspect of the left mid arm, and 2 cm transverse incisions into subcutaneous tissue were on the antero-lateral aspect of each ankle. An old well-healed 8 cm McBurney abdominal incision was present, a 15 cm well-healed midline scar was over the lumbar spine, and an 8 cm well-healed scar was on the upper antero-lateral aspect of the right thigh.