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

第三章

Chapter III of the Warren Commission Report analyzes the evidence and presents its conclusions regarding the source, number, effect, and timing of the shots that killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally. The Commission evaluated seven categories of evidence: (1) eyewitness testimony at the scene; (2) damage to the Presidential limousine; (3) expert examination of the rifle, cartridge cases, and bullet fragments; (4) the wounds suffered by both men; (5) wound ballistics tests; (6) examination of the clothing worn by the President and Governor; and (7) motion-picture films and still photographs taken during the assassination. The chapter presents testimony from multiple eyewitnesses and Depository employees who identified the sixth-floor southeast corner window of the Texas School Book Depository as the source of the shots. This is Chapter III of the Warren Commission report, covering investigation findings related to assassination evidence, including eyewitness accounts from the Triple Underpass area, examination of the Presidential limousine, discovery of key physical evidence (cartridge cases, the assassination rifle, and a bullet recovered from Parkland Hospital), a full description of the recovered rifle, and expert firearms identification testimony linking the evidence to the rifle. This chapter covers the Commission’s analysis of ballistic evidence tied to the assassination of President Kennedy, including identification of bullet fragments and cartridge cases linked to the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, as well as evaluation of the President’s head and neck bullet wounds via autopsy findings, expert medical testimony, and wound ballistics testing. This is Chapter III of the Warren Commission report, covering corroboration of medical witness testimony, wound ballistics testing related to the assassination, examination of the clothing and injuries sustained by President John F. Kennedy and Governor John Connally, and analysis of the bullet trajectory that struck Governor Connally. This is Chapter III of the Warren Commission report, focused on verifying the trajectory of the shots fired at President John F. Kennedy and Governor John Connally during the 1963 assassination. Initial cumulative evidence from eyewitnesses, ballistics experts, and medical authorities indicated the shots originated from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building; the Commission launched supplementary investigation including analysis of motion picture footage of the event and onsite reenactment tests to confirm all findings aligned with this conclusion and to establish precise details of the limousine’s position, shot timing, and bullet paths. Opening material for Chapter III includes referenced photographs from re-enactments, the Zapruder film (frame 313), the Muchmore film, and rifle scope perspective imagery, alongside associated exhibit documentation. CHAPTER III This chapter addresses final questions about the assassination: determining which shot missed, the time span over which the shots were fired, and summarizing the Commission’s conclusions.