Great interview. When I first saw advertisement of the Who Killed JFK with Rob and Soledad, I didn't know what it could be. I figured it would be a very middle of the road thing. I was very delighted when I listened to the first episode and realized they were using JFK and the Unspeakable's narrative framing and that it was a real genuine look at the case. This interview has made me more excited because now I know Rob's real feeling on the subject. It seems like they have some interesting novel theories as well.
I am very glad Soledad is on the show because I think people really trust her journalism and I think with folks like her it let's serious people explore a new idea without feeling like they should be wearing a tinfoil hat. This 60th anniversary is shaping up to be a watershed moment and I'm so glad that this podcast will get Jefferson's work and the work of many more dogged research in front of the public. Very proud to be a JFK Facts subscriber.
RFK, Jr just named the CIA personnel he thinks were behind the assassination: David Atlee Phillips, Bill Harvey, E. Howard Hunt, Dulles, and Angleton. He says that there is enough evidence out now to convince a jury that they were guilty.
He also says he knows who the three shooters were, although he doesn't name them. He says they served in Battista's army, and one of them died in prison in Cuba (hmm, did Castro extract a confession?). He names Douglas's JFK and the Unspeakable as the best book on the assassination.
I would like to hear that as well, but I wonder whether he knows any more than JFK researchers like yourself and many of the people who follow this website. I tend to think, as some have asserted, that the shooter teams were a mix of CIA connected assassins including anti-Castro Cubans and Mafiosi. Nonetheless, I think it's great that he is going on the record and putting the matter before the American people as a presidential candidate. The American people need to know that there was a coup d'etat on November 22, 1963 orchestrated by members of the intelligence community and the military (aka the national security state) and covered up by their minions in government and the media.
Apparently he just did a bit (correctly I’m certain) identifying Charles Harrelson and his role (ie very much involved at the scene but not a shooter).
These kind of allegations by someone of RFK’s stature is very much needed.
Read Linda Giovanna Zambanini's analysis below (building on the work of Sherry Fiester) of the angles and the bullet trajectory which resulted in JFK's fatal head wound. I think she makes a persuasive if not conclusive case that the shot must have come from the South Knoll, not the grassy knoll.
BTW, I guess you heard that RFK Jr leads both Biden and Trump in a three way race among voters 45 and under according to the latest NYT poll.
Thank you, AWL! Just wanted to add, I also show the the neck wound had to have come from the the LEFT/South/South Knoll.
Yes, I've heard. And now Joe Manchin (god, i can't stand that man!) is thinking of throwing his hat in the ring with the No Labels party. I'm not a huge fan of Biden, he's not liberal enough for me, and I'm as pissed as hell that he blocked the JFK records release (!), but he's no racist, mysogynist, authoritarian fascist. I'm bsolutely, terrified that with RFK, Jr, or Manchin, or both of them in the race the election will be thrown to fascist, insurrectionist, traitor, Trump! God save us, then!
IMO, Manchin and the No Labels people are right-wingers albeit anti-Trump right-wingers. What votes they draw will be from the right. RFK Jr seems to be drawing more interest from the right than from the left, his blind allegiance to Israel being a major stumbling block but not the only one. RFK Jr. is of interest to a lot of independents because they deplore having to choose between Biden and Trump again (like being given the choice of a lobotomy or castration).
Biden has been a right-winger his entire career. He started his political career as a Delaware Dixiecrat running against busing (he gave the eulogy at Strom Thurmond's funeral). On the issue of his treatment of women, I find Tara Reade to be very credible. There's never been a war Biden hasn't promoted, at least until the vast majority of the public turns against it. The Ukraine war could have been avoided (check out the opinions of Prof Jeffrey Sachs, Prof John Mearsheimer, and former CIA Russia specialist Ray McGovern, among others). I could go on and on. There's no way I can vote for Biden. He has led us to the brink of WWIII.
I'm not playing the lesser of two evils game any more. Policy-wise, I agree with Cornel West more than anyone. Jill Stein has jumped in to split his vote for some reason (could this be a national security state stunt?). I might compromise on RFK Jr if it looks like he has a chance of winning in my state.
Thank you, Anti-war leftist! I think people have been diverted by the GK (north knoll) theory for far too long, at the expense of finding the truth. Medical evidence proves, without doubt, that the shots that HIT JFK were not from there. The alleged GK shot was either a loud, smokey diversionary explosive device, or concievably an actual shot, but a shot that missed. either on accident or purpose.
There were reportedly 2 "furrows" opposite the GK/stockade fence, just to the right/west of the manhole cover on the South side of Elm, that Wayne & Edna Hartman saw, and Richard Randolph Carr saw it hit the sod in that area. The Hartman's are captured in the photo record in that area with Dep. Sheriff Buddy Walthers & and the as yet unknown alleged FBI Agent, who, IMO most strongly resembles FBI SA, Kenneth "Prince" Albert - he is NOT SA Bob Barrett (if i hear that canard one more time...) we know what Barrett looks like. This is the area in which Walthers and the unknown "Agent" were looking & poking around in the aftermath by the manhole cover. According to Mars' "Crossfire," Edna Hartman said, " I noticed these two parallel marks on the ground that looked like mounds made by a mole. I asked, 'What are these, mole hills?' and the policeman said, 'Oh no, ma'am, that's where the bullets struck the ground". In one of her taped interviews w/Mark Oakes, she said that the trajactory of the furrows traced back to a certain tree behind the stockade fence and were headed "south".
So, I am not absolutely ruling out a gunshot from there - just one that hit it's mark - JFK. Because of the large amount of smoke seen and smelled in that area by spectators (and captured in the film/photo record), I'm inclined to think there was an explosive device. Furthermore, that shot was reported to be the loudest by far - which drew people's atttention to the GK, while the SK shooter drove off unnoticed. I tend to think that was its purpose.
The discrepancy between the GK location and JFK's head wounds has bothered me for years, but I thought I was alone until I heard about Sherry and read your excellent analysis. BTW, modern gunpowder does not create a lot of smoke (it's actually called smokeless gunpowder), so that observation of the GK has always bothered me too. A trained sniper would shoot from concealment, not out in the open. I agree with you 100%.
What do you think of Roscoe White and his son Ricky's story?
That’s a great interview, Jeff & Larry! Mr. Reiner should be commended for giving you access & for bringing the ‘Who Killed JFK?’ series to fruition.
I have been very impressed with the first 2 ‘Who Killed JFK?’ podcasts — including content, format & production values. I hope that the series is heard far & wide — & that our Nation is finally forced to confront the truth about the horrible conspiracy that was perpetrated in November 1963 — & covered up for the last 60 years…
This was an excellent interview. I was surprised by Rob’s wealth of knowledge just speaking off the top of his head. Jefferson and Larry thanks so much for the work you do to bring truth to light. Side note I was 12 on 11/22/63 and have much the same feelings as Rob and have been studying the Assassination for over 40 years. Heading out tomorrow for the Project JFK Conference in Dallas.
I have a couple issues with Reiner's presentation. 1) If the JFK Assassination was a false flag by the conspirators to blame it on Castro so they could invade Cuba, then why didn't the invasion ever occur? 2) How did Reiner come up with the theory that Oswald's role may have been to let in the assassins, and further that the assassin(s) on the 6th floor missed JFK on purpose? (I think the assassin fired from the rooftop of the Texas Book Depository as a British rifle was found there.) 3) If a false flag was planned, who planned it, and who found out about it to pull of a real assassination, and why? 4) I became interested in this mystery because of Richard Popkin's Double Oswalds book. I think there needs to be clarity on this issue in the podcast, while Oswald may have met Ruby, etc., it is also quite possible a double did so.
Rob Reiner speaks of a shot coming from "the south knoll." There is no "south knoll." Elm Street runs from east to west. JFK's Lincoln was headed west. To the south would be the northern portion of the Dealey Plaza lawn.
Reiner also insists the "kill shot" was fired from the "south knoll," because a shot from the stockade fence would not have caused the large wound in the occiput. Well, Rob, where is the ENTRY wound for such a shot? JFK's face was undamaged in the shooting. There was an entry wound in the right tempero-parietal area, which Dr. Humes incised before the autopsy, according to Dr. Boswell.
That wound is consistent with a tangential shot from the stockade fence, which is also consistent with the testimony of the two railroad supervisors located above the knoll and the Barger reconstruction of the DPD audiotape from the scene.
And, Rob, the Carcano rifle recovered from the 6th floor was matched to CE#399 (the magic bullet) and to the two large bullet fragments found in the Lincoln by FBI ballistics. It is beyond any reasonable doubt that at least two bullets were fired from the rifle found on the 6th floor.
Like the title says, let's stick to the "JFK Facts."
Oh boy... Yes, Virginia, there IS a South Knoll! Reiner is 100% correct! It's the mirror image of the Grassy Knoll (which is on the north side of the Plaza). I would point you to the excellent book Enemy of the Truth (2012), by Sherry Fiester. Sherry (RIP), brought forensic science to the investigation of the assassination. She was court-certified as an expert in Crime Scene Investigation, Crime Scene Reconstruction, and Bloodstain Pattern Analysis in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida. Please see her "trajectory cone" (link below). As she says on the graphic, it is "physcially and medically impossible" for the shot to have originated from any location outside of this trajectory cone.
Also, a Brit who goes by the pseudonym Alek Hidell, has done fantastic work on the SK theory and put together great videos on it, the best on the internet:
People have the false impression that "front" is the Grassy Knoll, when in fact this is an optical illusion created by the Z-film, because the way it is cropped off, removing our frame of reference, so you don't really know where the Limo is in space. But if you look at a 3D model of DP you'll see Elm is S-shaped, and at the point of the neck and head shots, the front of the limo is headed in the direction of the SOUTH end of the TUP - Southwest - not "west". In addition to that during the head shot, JFK has leaned over to his left (SOUTH) toward Jackie. His head is canted 39 degrees downward and turned and 27 degrees to the left (SOUTH). So "front" is NOT the Grassy (north) knoll, as people have always thought - "front" is the South Knoll. The trajectory of the bullet was restricted to the RIGHT Hemisphere. Using this information she mapped out her Trajectory Cone.
To understand this case, it is paramount that one thoroughly acquants onself with the medical evidence. By doing so you will be led to the truth, and not doing so, you can be easily led astray by government disinfo artists or people who don't know what they're talking about. Had JFK he been shot from the GK with his head in that position the bullet would have entered the rt. fronto-temporal skull (in the hairline) and exited in the LEFT occipital-parietal, or or temporo-parietal skull. Instead, it is well known that it entered the right rt. fronto-temporal skull and exited the RIGHT occipital-parietal skull. Therefore, had he been shot from the GK the shot would have exited on the opposite side that it did, and may even have risked hitting Jackie.
Furthermore, the throat shot was also from the SK, IMO. I have a BS in biology and was an ER/Critical care RN for many years, so I'm very keen on the medical evidence, if you don't follow the medical evidence you will be led astray. Now for the throat shot. If you look at the trajectory of the neck wound as recounted by both the Parkland doctors, and Dr. Finke at Bethesda, it's trajectory was from LEFT/SOUTH to RIGHT/NORTH. It entered from the LEFT (SOUTH) side of the tie and neck and went through the ANTERIOR RIGHT LATERAL side of the trachea, leaving a grazing/tearing, ragged tangential wound in that aspect of the trachea. It then transited between the right lateral strap muscles which are closely adherent to the trachea, and ended up above the RIGHT pulmonary apex without penetrating the pleura, leaving a large hematoma. Dr. McClelland, who assisted Perry, described the tracheal wound as "blasted or torn," which is characteristic of a tangential or grazing wound. The testimony from Drs. Perry and McClelland, at Parkland, regarding the appearance of the tracheal wound and the damage inside the thorax is critical in proving the trajectory was from left to right. That bullet absolutely did NOT come from the Grassy Knoll - the medical evidence proves conclusively that that is physically and medically impossible! It came from the South Knoll.
Additionally, Dr. Pierre Finck wrote a letter dated Feb 1, 1965, to Brig. Gen. J.M. Blumberg, MC, the Director of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, entitled "Personal Notes on the Assassination of President Kennedy". On p.12 he details damage to JFK's tie, which proves a "tangential path" -LEFT TO RIGHT- of the bullet. Finck states:
"The tie knot was not perforated but GLANCED [his emphasis] by the bullet, which is indicated by the fact that the white padding of the tie is visible and that the blue cloth on the internal aspect of the knot is intact, WHICH INDICATES A TANGENTIAL PATH ON THE LEFT SIDE IN RELATION TO THE KNOT [my emphasis]".
If you insist that the neck shot came from the GK, on the right side of the Limo, then entered the trachea from the LEFT and ends up over the RIGHT pulmonary apex...well you have just created yet another "magic bullet" perhaps more magical than the one the Warren Commission concocted!
So, the trajectory was from left to right. Finck does not spell this out, but it can ONLY mean the shot came from the South Knoll, not the Grassy Knoll.
I'm a fierce supporter of Sherry's work (and Alek's) and the South Knoll theory, and have done original work on it myself, which Sherry agreed with before she died, when I posted it in a SK group, which meant the world to me. I believe the shooter was lying prone in the back of a USPS ZipVan (postal van) backed up to the treeline in the Terminal Annex Pkg lot, and shooting out of a small opening in the roll-up door. I found it there in the Couch Film in 2016. It is parked right next to the east side of the 2nd tree from the south end of the TUP. It can only be seen for a split second in the Couch Film. And coincidentally (or not) the van is parked smack in the center of Sherry's "trajectory cone". The boxy van's huge front window was facing the 12:30 sun, therefore, making it hard for spectators to look in that direction. And additionally in the lower center of the rear rollup door is a small rectangular blinding white light. It cannot be a reflection off of a license plate etc...since the rear of the van is facing NORTH. I believe this is the opening the shooter shot out of and the light we see is the noontime sun streaming through the large south facing window through the van (which is open inside) and out his shooter's opening. I can also see a pale round shaddow in the center of this rectangle, which would logically be the shooter's head blocking the sun.
The van is there in Couch and 7-15 seconds later in the famous Cancellare 3 photo, it is GONE! It's the ideal place for a shooter, since no one would suspect a postal van in a postal pkg lot, plus the shooter would be totally concealed from view with no risk of being seen and caught. People who put forth the idea that a SK shooter could have been shooting from behind the concrete "wing out" on the south end of the TUP, have not thought this through. If you are professional assassins, plotting a treasonous coup d'etat, you are not going to take the chance of being seen out in the open while you are shooting or leaving your shooting position! The ZipVan had 2 exit points it could have taken out of the Annex parking lot onto Houston, and from there, for example, it could have hung a right and been over the Trinity River Bridge and in Oak Cliff, or onto a freeway out of town in minutes. So thank you to Rob Reiner for mentioning the SK shooter! This is absolutely the direction we need to be thinking in. The Grassy Knoll was likely a diversion in my mind. There may or may not have been an actual shot from there. It could've been an explosive device, like a cherry bomb to create a loud noise and smoke, to draw everyone's attention, while the real shooter on the SK, just drove away unnoticed.
And then there's this unintended support for a SK shooter, by Dale Meyers. I never thought I would agree with Dale Meyers about anything, but alas... researcher, Milicent Craner, in "The Fourth Decade," Vol 2, Issue 4, May 1995, has graced us with this gem of a quote from Meyers, as he desparately tries to support the lone gunman/Oswald did it theory, and refute a shot from the Grassy Knoll (or the front):
"[A] cone representing a shot entering any portion of the displaced skull and exiting the lower right rear...virtually eliminates a shot at Z-313 from any location to the right of the midline of he limousine. SUCH A SHOT WOULD HAVE TO HAVE COME FROM THE SOUTH PLAZA KNOLL, NOT THE NORTH PLAZA." (my emphasis).
Sometimes Lone Nutters just dig their graves deeper! :)
Great analysis! Your reasoning is impeccable. Thanks so much.
Sign me up for the South Knoll faction.
Your explanation destroys the credibility of people who claim to have been the shooters on the grassy knoll. We can strike them off the list of suspects. That would include James Files IIRC.
Are you going to be at any of the conferences this month?
Thank you so much, AWL! Signed up! :) Glad to have a convert to the SK theory! Agree, w/you about James Files - he's a scammer. My other favorite topic is the paradigm-shifting research on Prayer Man by Bart Kamp (first noted by Richard Bernabie in the '60s, and & then again by Sean Murphy ca. 2012). Bart was awarded the "2016 JFK Lancer & Mary Ferrell Pioneer Award" Followed up, by the 2017 Excellence Award by the Dealey Plaza UK board for his work on PM. If you're not familiar with it, see Bart's new book: “Prayer Man More Than A Fuzzy Picture” (2023):
I've helped Bart with ID'g the TSBD employees on steps and the long line of TSBD ladies standing out front on Elm with Roy Truly & Ochuc Campbell, ie: the "Truly Group," as we call them. My JFK niche is identifying people in the photo and film record. I wonder if Reiner is aware of PM? Certainly hope so, and if not, he needs to be made aware of this important groundbreaking research.
Hard to believe you're a neophyte! Here is the link to Bart's 2023 JFK Lancer talk about his Prayer Man research and new book. I didn't post it above because I couldn't find it at the time, i guess because he hadn't yet uploaded it to YT since the Lancer Conf. wasn't finished yet. I've queued it up where he gives me credit for ID'g 2 of the TSBD employee ladies on the steps next to PM, Madeline "Maddie" Belle Reese and Ruth Dean. But I recommend watching it from the beginning also. I ID'd all the ladies but one in front of the TSBD that are seen in the Wiegman Film, as well as several ladies on the steps including Reese, Dean, and Sanders (that's one of my JFK niches). I believe the one not ID'd must've been a member of the public or a friend or relative of one of the ladies. She's definitely not an employee, since they all have FBI reports & Statements. There is no FBI report or stmt for her. Bart cites me 3X in his book for my identification work.:
Apparently there is some literature among the assassination community that uses that reference. Like Jeff Morley, I am from a newspaper family. My father was a stickler for proper word usage.
A knoll is defined as a small round hill or mound. Merriman Smith, a reporter for the AP, coined the term "Grassy Knoll" when he telephoned in the first news report of the assassination. (He used a pay phone at Parkland; there were no cell phones in existence then).
The area from the north lawn of Dealey Plaza to the Triple Underpass has apparently been renamed "the South Knoll" by some, including the late Ms. Fiester. That area is most definitely NOT a knoll. It is best described as a swale (a low lying stretch of land), extending west from Dealey Plaza to the Triple Underpass and the Trinity River below.
Anyone who has visited Dealey Plaza knows this.
Regarding Ms. Fiester's opinions concerning the shots fired at JFK, more tomorrow.
Yes, I'm aware of how Merriman Smith coined the term Grassy Knoll and that there were no cell phones then. Regardless of the formal Oxford Dictionary definition of "knoll," that area is now referred to as the "South Knoll," and has stuck in people's minds since it is the mirror image geographically of the "Grassy Knoll," even if it's not the precise definition of a "knoll". It is now well known as such in the assassination community, so I think you'll be waging a fruitless battle to change the terminology now. I googled "knoll" and got this webpage. The example of a "knoll" they show is massive compared to either the GK or the SK. https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-a-knoll-in-geography.html
The "South Knoll" in my mind consists of the north edge of the Terminal Annex Parking Lot, and the grassy hillside that descends from it down toward Commerce. St. I don't think there's a "swale" there. This whole discussion seems irrelevant and unimportant to me. What is relevant and important is where the shots came from based on the medical evidence.
Thank you, Linda. Your description of the area west of the shooting scene and south of Commerce Street makes sense of the term "South Knoll'."
Were there any witnesses who saw one or more shots fired from that location?
Regarding the late Sherry Fiester, I have not read her book but I am generally familiar with her, based on comments made on this site years ago by her admirers. I am also familiar with a critique of her work by David Mantik, MD (a distinguished radiologist who has examined the Bethesda X-Rays at the Archives many times). Rob Reiner even mentions him in the podcast, although I don't recall him mentioning Sherry.
I have a few problems with Sherry's analysis:
First, she was an expert in Crime Scene Reconstruction and Blood Spatter evidence, but she was not a physician or otherwise qualified to render expert medical testimony. Her comments concerning what is or is not "medically possible" would cause me to object to that opinion as beyond the scope of her expertise. The court would agree.
Second, she apparently rules out a shot from the knoll (you know, the grassy one) at Z313, because there was no damage to the left hemisphere on JFK's brain. However, as Mantik and others point out, the skull X-rays show a "snow trail" of minute metal fragments, extending from "a hole" above the right eye near the hairline (Michael Chesser, MD) through the top of the skull. This wound was described as "tangential" by Dr. Perry, meaning it struck the president at an angle, and, as seen on the Zapruder film, its force moved JFK's head violently backward AND TO THE LEFT.
Third, this missile did not exit the brain ; it was a frangible or mercury-load bullet, which, unlike the metal jacketed Carcano rounds, disintegrated upon entry. The damage from this type of bullet is not caused by maceration of tissue due to the bullet's track, but rather by the hypersonic plasma shock wave caused to the brain by impact. As you say, it could have passed through JFK and wounded Jackie...if it were a full metal jacket bullet. But it wasn't.
Fourth, and I repeat, I have not read Sherry's book, are you claiming the wound to the trachea was caused by a frontal gunshot? If so, where did the bullet go?
Are you claiming that this bullet passed through the neck and caused the damage to the lower occiput? How could it get there without causing massive damage to the cervical vertibrae in its path (these were undamaged in the X-rays).
Finally, according to Dr. Mantik, Sherry contends that only one headshot - from the front - caused JFK's head wounds. How did blood and brain tissue get on the hood ornament of the limo? As a blood spatter expert, this needs to be explained.
the "south knoll" is definitely not a swale which is generally considered a drainage feature. I have been to the "south knoll"
and to be even more accurate, both "knolls" are not really hills. Dealey Plaza was excavated. so the "knolls" are landscaped walls of the old excavation- FWIW :)
I dont subscribe to the south knoll shooter theory. it was an inferior tactical position being further away from the targe. Moreover, a gunman on the south knoll would have been on the opposite side of the president and would have had a very narrow window of opportunity because he might have been blocked out by Jackie.
When one moves against a king, one must be sure to kill him . south knoll was not optimal location.
The smart thing to have done is arrange several shooters in different locations to take advantage of "windows of opportunity." Would the CIA have relied on only two shooters?
The fact that she wouldn't qualify as an expert witness in medical evidence and bullet trajectories doesn't make her wrong.
The track of the throat wound bullet is indeed a mystery. The throat wound sure as hell isn't an exit wound from a bullet entering between his shoulder blades. A frangible bullet maybe?
What round caused the fist-size hole in the back of JFK's skull that about a dozen attending doctors and a nurse at Parkland point to in the famous photo montage?
Great interview. When I first saw advertisement of the Who Killed JFK with Rob and Soledad, I didn't know what it could be. I figured it would be a very middle of the road thing. I was very delighted when I listened to the first episode and realized they were using JFK and the Unspeakable's narrative framing and that it was a real genuine look at the case. This interview has made me more excited because now I know Rob's real feeling on the subject. It seems like they have some interesting novel theories as well.
I am very glad Soledad is on the show because I think people really trust her journalism and I think with folks like her it let's serious people explore a new idea without feeling like they should be wearing a tinfoil hat. This 60th anniversary is shaping up to be a watershed moment and I'm so glad that this podcast will get Jefferson's work and the work of many more dogged research in front of the public. Very proud to be a JFK Facts subscriber.
RFK, Jr just named the CIA personnel he thinks were behind the assassination: David Atlee Phillips, Bill Harvey, E. Howard Hunt, Dulles, and Angleton. He says that there is enough evidence out now to convince a jury that they were guilty.
He also says he knows who the three shooters were, although he doesn't name them. He says they served in Battista's army, and one of them died in prison in Cuba (hmm, did Castro extract a confession?). He names Douglas's JFK and the Unspeakable as the best book on the assassination.
Seven minute clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPdQy9d11Ic
If the media or his political rivals try to smear him on this subject, their attempts will backfire. They will only draw more people to the cause.
he doesn't mention any mafia involvement so i'm wondering what he thinks about the Ruby hit on LHO.
Awesome! Can't wait to hear who he thinks the shooters were, and WHERE they were!
I would like to hear that as well, but I wonder whether he knows any more than JFK researchers like yourself and many of the people who follow this website. I tend to think, as some have asserted, that the shooter teams were a mix of CIA connected assassins including anti-Castro Cubans and Mafiosi. Nonetheless, I think it's great that he is going on the record and putting the matter before the American people as a presidential candidate. The American people need to know that there was a coup d'etat on November 22, 1963 orchestrated by members of the intelligence community and the military (aka the national security state) and covered up by their minions in government and the media.
RFK Jr has been great on this.
Apparently he just did a bit (correctly I’m certain) identifying Charles Harrelson and his role (ie very much involved at the scene but not a shooter).
These kind of allegations by someone of RFK’s stature is very much needed.
https://x.com/TheChiefNerd/status/1724573705685041467?s=20
Read Linda Giovanna Zambanini's analysis below (building on the work of Sherry Fiester) of the angles and the bullet trajectory which resulted in JFK's fatal head wound. I think she makes a persuasive if not conclusive case that the shot must have come from the South Knoll, not the grassy knoll.
BTW, I guess you heard that RFK Jr leads both Biden and Trump in a three way race among voters 45 and under according to the latest NYT poll.
Thank you, AWL! Just wanted to add, I also show the the neck wound had to have come from the the LEFT/South/South Knoll.
Yes, I've heard. And now Joe Manchin (god, i can't stand that man!) is thinking of throwing his hat in the ring with the No Labels party. I'm not a huge fan of Biden, he's not liberal enough for me, and I'm as pissed as hell that he blocked the JFK records release (!), but he's no racist, mysogynist, authoritarian fascist. I'm bsolutely, terrified that with RFK, Jr, or Manchin, or both of them in the race the election will be thrown to fascist, insurrectionist, traitor, Trump! God save us, then!
Has Biden completely lost it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BRVawdUGIE&t=312s
Sad but also hilarious.
I think Biden will drop out under pressure at the convention, and Gov. Good Hair Newsom will ride in to save the Party from total destruction.
IMO, Manchin and the No Labels people are right-wingers albeit anti-Trump right-wingers. What votes they draw will be from the right. RFK Jr seems to be drawing more interest from the right than from the left, his blind allegiance to Israel being a major stumbling block but not the only one. RFK Jr. is of interest to a lot of independents because they deplore having to choose between Biden and Trump again (like being given the choice of a lobotomy or castration).
Biden has been a right-winger his entire career. He started his political career as a Delaware Dixiecrat running against busing (he gave the eulogy at Strom Thurmond's funeral). On the issue of his treatment of women, I find Tara Reade to be very credible. There's never been a war Biden hasn't promoted, at least until the vast majority of the public turns against it. The Ukraine war could have been avoided (check out the opinions of Prof Jeffrey Sachs, Prof John Mearsheimer, and former CIA Russia specialist Ray McGovern, among others). I could go on and on. There's no way I can vote for Biden. He has led us to the brink of WWIII.
I'm not playing the lesser of two evils game any more. Policy-wise, I agree with Cornel West more than anyone. Jill Stein has jumped in to split his vote for some reason (could this be a national security state stunt?). I might compromise on RFK Jr if it looks like he has a chance of winning in my state.
Thank you, Anti-war leftist! I think people have been diverted by the GK (north knoll) theory for far too long, at the expense of finding the truth. Medical evidence proves, without doubt, that the shots that HIT JFK were not from there. The alleged GK shot was either a loud, smokey diversionary explosive device, or concievably an actual shot, but a shot that missed. either on accident or purpose.
There were reportedly 2 "furrows" opposite the GK/stockade fence, just to the right/west of the manhole cover on the South side of Elm, that Wayne & Edna Hartman saw, and Richard Randolph Carr saw it hit the sod in that area. The Hartman's are captured in the photo record in that area with Dep. Sheriff Buddy Walthers & and the as yet unknown alleged FBI Agent, who, IMO most strongly resembles FBI SA, Kenneth "Prince" Albert - he is NOT SA Bob Barrett (if i hear that canard one more time...) we know what Barrett looks like. This is the area in which Walthers and the unknown "Agent" were looking & poking around in the aftermath by the manhole cover. According to Mars' "Crossfire," Edna Hartman said, " I noticed these two parallel marks on the ground that looked like mounds made by a mole. I asked, 'What are these, mole hills?' and the policeman said, 'Oh no, ma'am, that's where the bullets struck the ground". In one of her taped interviews w/Mark Oakes, she said that the trajactory of the furrows traced back to a certain tree behind the stockade fence and were headed "south".
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/92342587/edna-mae-hartman
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/138955293/wayne-eldridge-hartman
So, I am not absolutely ruling out a gunshot from there - just one that hit it's mark - JFK. Because of the large amount of smoke seen and smelled in that area by spectators (and captured in the film/photo record), I'm inclined to think there was an explosive device. Furthermore, that shot was reported to be the loudest by far - which drew people's atttention to the GK, while the SK shooter drove off unnoticed. I tend to think that was its purpose.
The discrepancy between the GK location and JFK's head wounds has bothered me for years, but I thought I was alone until I heard about Sherry and read your excellent analysis. BTW, modern gunpowder does not create a lot of smoke (it's actually called smokeless gunpowder), so that observation of the GK has always bothered me too. A trained sniper would shoot from concealment, not out in the open. I agree with you 100%.
What do you think of Roscoe White and his son Ricky's story?
Maybe he could do it in 2028 though.
The lesser of two evils game will never end. That's the way the oligarchs play us.
One question....would Archie be proud of Meathead today?
That’s a great interview, Jeff & Larry! Mr. Reiner should be commended for giving you access & for bringing the ‘Who Killed JFK?’ series to fruition.
I have been very impressed with the first 2 ‘Who Killed JFK?’ podcasts — including content, format & production values. I hope that the series is heard far & wide — & that our Nation is finally forced to confront the truth about the horrible conspiracy that was perpetrated in November 1963 — & covered up for the last 60 years…
This was an excellent interview. I was surprised by Rob’s wealth of knowledge just speaking off the top of his head. Jefferson and Larry thanks so much for the work you do to bring truth to light. Side note I was 12 on 11/22/63 and have much the same feelings as Rob and have been studying the Assassination for over 40 years. Heading out tomorrow for the Project JFK Conference in Dallas.
The first installment is really good. We're looking forward to more.
I have a couple issues with Reiner's presentation. 1) If the JFK Assassination was a false flag by the conspirators to blame it on Castro so they could invade Cuba, then why didn't the invasion ever occur? 2) How did Reiner come up with the theory that Oswald's role may have been to let in the assassins, and further that the assassin(s) on the 6th floor missed JFK on purpose? (I think the assassin fired from the rooftop of the Texas Book Depository as a British rifle was found there.) 3) If a false flag was planned, who planned it, and who found out about it to pull of a real assassination, and why? 4) I became interested in this mystery because of Richard Popkin's Double Oswalds book. I think there needs to be clarity on this issue in the podcast, while Oswald may have met Ruby, etc., it is also quite possible a double did so.
Rob Reiner speaks of a shot coming from "the south knoll." There is no "south knoll." Elm Street runs from east to west. JFK's Lincoln was headed west. To the south would be the northern portion of the Dealey Plaza lawn.
Reiner also insists the "kill shot" was fired from the "south knoll," because a shot from the stockade fence would not have caused the large wound in the occiput. Well, Rob, where is the ENTRY wound for such a shot? JFK's face was undamaged in the shooting. There was an entry wound in the right tempero-parietal area, which Dr. Humes incised before the autopsy, according to Dr. Boswell.
That wound is consistent with a tangential shot from the stockade fence, which is also consistent with the testimony of the two railroad supervisors located above the knoll and the Barger reconstruction of the DPD audiotape from the scene.
And, Rob, the Carcano rifle recovered from the 6th floor was matched to CE#399 (the magic bullet) and to the two large bullet fragments found in the Lincoln by FBI ballistics. It is beyond any reasonable doubt that at least two bullets were fired from the rifle found on the 6th floor.
Like the title says, let's stick to the "JFK Facts."
Oh boy... Yes, Virginia, there IS a South Knoll! Reiner is 100% correct! It's the mirror image of the Grassy Knoll (which is on the north side of the Plaza). I would point you to the excellent book Enemy of the Truth (2012), by Sherry Fiester. Sherry (RIP), brought forensic science to the investigation of the assassination. She was court-certified as an expert in Crime Scene Investigation, Crime Scene Reconstruction, and Bloodstain Pattern Analysis in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida. Please see her "trajectory cone" (link below). As she says on the graphic, it is "physcially and medically impossible" for the shot to have originated from any location outside of this trajectory cone.
https://enemyofthetruth.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/dealey3a.jpg
Also, a Brit who goes by the pseudonym Alek Hidell, has done fantastic work on the SK theory and put together great videos on it, the best on the internet:
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhHw0hoYBf0
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYmr8qXLB6U
People have the false impression that "front" is the Grassy Knoll, when in fact this is an optical illusion created by the Z-film, because the way it is cropped off, removing our frame of reference, so you don't really know where the Limo is in space. But if you look at a 3D model of DP you'll see Elm is S-shaped, and at the point of the neck and head shots, the front of the limo is headed in the direction of the SOUTH end of the TUP - Southwest - not "west". In addition to that during the head shot, JFK has leaned over to his left (SOUTH) toward Jackie. His head is canted 39 degrees downward and turned and 27 degrees to the left (SOUTH). So "front" is NOT the Grassy (north) knoll, as people have always thought - "front" is the South Knoll. The trajectory of the bullet was restricted to the RIGHT Hemisphere. Using this information she mapped out her Trajectory Cone.
To understand this case, it is paramount that one thoroughly acquants onself with the medical evidence. By doing so you will be led to the truth, and not doing so, you can be easily led astray by government disinfo artists or people who don't know what they're talking about. Had JFK he been shot from the GK with his head in that position the bullet would have entered the rt. fronto-temporal skull (in the hairline) and exited in the LEFT occipital-parietal, or or temporo-parietal skull. Instead, it is well known that it entered the right rt. fronto-temporal skull and exited the RIGHT occipital-parietal skull. Therefore, had he been shot from the GK the shot would have exited on the opposite side that it did, and may even have risked hitting Jackie.
Furthermore, the throat shot was also from the SK, IMO. I have a BS in biology and was an ER/Critical care RN for many years, so I'm very keen on the medical evidence, if you don't follow the medical evidence you will be led astray. Now for the throat shot. If you look at the trajectory of the neck wound as recounted by both the Parkland doctors, and Dr. Finke at Bethesda, it's trajectory was from LEFT/SOUTH to RIGHT/NORTH. It entered from the LEFT (SOUTH) side of the tie and neck and went through the ANTERIOR RIGHT LATERAL side of the trachea, leaving a grazing/tearing, ragged tangential wound in that aspect of the trachea. It then transited between the right lateral strap muscles which are closely adherent to the trachea, and ended up above the RIGHT pulmonary apex without penetrating the pleura, leaving a large hematoma. Dr. McClelland, who assisted Perry, described the tracheal wound as "blasted or torn," which is characteristic of a tangential or grazing wound. The testimony from Drs. Perry and McClelland, at Parkland, regarding the appearance of the tracheal wound and the damage inside the thorax is critical in proving the trajectory was from left to right. That bullet absolutely did NOT come from the Grassy Knoll - the medical evidence proves conclusively that that is physically and medically impossible! It came from the South Knoll.
Additionally, Dr. Pierre Finck wrote a letter dated Feb 1, 1965, to Brig. Gen. J.M. Blumberg, MC, the Director of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, entitled "Personal Notes on the Assassination of President Kennedy". On p.12 he details damage to JFK's tie, which proves a "tangential path" -LEFT TO RIGHT- of the bullet. Finck states:
"The tie knot was not perforated but GLANCED [his emphasis] by the bullet, which is indicated by the fact that the white padding of the tie is visible and that the blue cloth on the internal aspect of the knot is intact, WHICH INDICATES A TANGENTIAL PATH ON THE LEFT SIDE IN RELATION TO THE KNOT [my emphasis]".
If you insist that the neck shot came from the GK, on the right side of the Limo, then entered the trachea from the LEFT and ends up over the RIGHT pulmonary apex...well you have just created yet another "magic bullet" perhaps more magical than the one the Warren Commission concocted!
So, the trajectory was from left to right. Finck does not spell this out, but it can ONLY mean the shot came from the South Knoll, not the Grassy Knoll.
I'm a fierce supporter of Sherry's work (and Alek's) and the South Knoll theory, and have done original work on it myself, which Sherry agreed with before she died, when I posted it in a SK group, which meant the world to me. I believe the shooter was lying prone in the back of a USPS ZipVan (postal van) backed up to the treeline in the Terminal Annex Pkg lot, and shooting out of a small opening in the roll-up door. I found it there in the Couch Film in 2016. It is parked right next to the east side of the 2nd tree from the south end of the TUP. It can only be seen for a split second in the Couch Film. And coincidentally (or not) the van is parked smack in the center of Sherry's "trajectory cone". The boxy van's huge front window was facing the 12:30 sun, therefore, making it hard for spectators to look in that direction. And additionally in the lower center of the rear rollup door is a small rectangular blinding white light. It cannot be a reflection off of a license plate etc...since the rear of the van is facing NORTH. I believe this is the opening the shooter shot out of and the light we see is the noontime sun streaming through the large south facing window through the van (which is open inside) and out his shooter's opening. I can also see a pale round shaddow in the center of this rectangle, which would logically be the shooter's head blocking the sun.
The van is there in Couch and 7-15 seconds later in the famous Cancellare 3 photo, it is GONE! It's the ideal place for a shooter, since no one would suspect a postal van in a postal pkg lot, plus the shooter would be totally concealed from view with no risk of being seen and caught. People who put forth the idea that a SK shooter could have been shooting from behind the concrete "wing out" on the south end of the TUP, have not thought this through. If you are professional assassins, plotting a treasonous coup d'etat, you are not going to take the chance of being seen out in the open while you are shooting or leaving your shooting position! The ZipVan had 2 exit points it could have taken out of the Annex parking lot onto Houston, and from there, for example, it could have hung a right and been over the Trinity River Bridge and in Oak Cliff, or onto a freeway out of town in minutes. So thank you to Rob Reiner for mentioning the SK shooter! This is absolutely the direction we need to be thinking in. The Grassy Knoll was likely a diversion in my mind. There may or may not have been an actual shot from there. It could've been an explosive device, like a cherry bomb to create a loud noise and smoke, to draw everyone's attention, while the real shooter on the SK, just drove away unnoticed.
And then there's this unintended support for a SK shooter, by Dale Meyers. I never thought I would agree with Dale Meyers about anything, but alas... researcher, Milicent Craner, in "The Fourth Decade," Vol 2, Issue 4, May 1995, has graced us with this gem of a quote from Meyers, as he desparately tries to support the lone gunman/Oswald did it theory, and refute a shot from the Grassy Knoll (or the front):
"[A] cone representing a shot entering any portion of the displaced skull and exiting the lower right rear...virtually eliminates a shot at Z-313 from any location to the right of the midline of he limousine. SUCH A SHOT WOULD HAVE TO HAVE COME FROM THE SOUTH PLAZA KNOLL, NOT THE NORTH PLAZA." (my emphasis).
Sometimes Lone Nutters just dig their graves deeper! :)
Great analysis! Your reasoning is impeccable. Thanks so much.
Sign me up for the South Knoll faction.
Your explanation destroys the credibility of people who claim to have been the shooters on the grassy knoll. We can strike them off the list of suspects. That would include James Files IIRC.
Are you going to be at any of the conferences this month?
Thank you so much, AWL! Signed up! :) Glad to have a convert to the SK theory! Agree, w/you about James Files - he's a scammer. My other favorite topic is the paradigm-shifting research on Prayer Man by Bart Kamp (first noted by Richard Bernabie in the '60s, and & then again by Sean Murphy ca. 2012). Bart was awarded the "2016 JFK Lancer & Mary Ferrell Pioneer Award" Followed up, by the 2017 Excellence Award by the Dealey Plaza UK board for his work on PM. If you're not familiar with it, see Bart's new book: “Prayer Man More Than A Fuzzy Picture” (2023):
https://www.amazon.com/Prayer-Man-More-Fuzzy-Picture/dp/B0CH2PPB36
He also has 2 videos covering the topic. One from recent days (I think the same or similar title) and one from 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0B8JhOe3KU&t=75s (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF_OvuiIRIY (2023)
https://www.spreaker.com/user/thelonegunman/ep-258-more-than-a-fuzzy-picture-w-bart- (2023)
Also here's a great review of Bart's book by Jim DiEugenio over at Kennedys & King:
https://www.kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-articles/prayer-man-more-than-a-fuzzy-picture-by-bart-kamp
I've helped Bart with ID'g the TSBD employees on steps and the long line of TSBD ladies standing out front on Elm with Roy Truly & Ochuc Campbell, ie: the "Truly Group," as we call them. My JFK niche is identifying people in the photo and film record. I wonder if Reiner is aware of PM? Certainly hope so, and if not, he needs to be made aware of this important groundbreaking research.
From the reader reviews of Bart's book, it appears to be a monumental accomplishment with hot links to the source material in the Kindle version.
I'm a neophyte. I never heard of Prayer Man. Thanks for the links. I still don't understand that description.
Thanks for all the work you have devoted to the JFK assassination. It's very impressive.
What's your opinion of the Badge Man photo? It's like a Rorschach inkblot to me.
Hard to believe you're a neophyte! Here is the link to Bart's 2023 JFK Lancer talk about his Prayer Man research and new book. I didn't post it above because I couldn't find it at the time, i guess because he hadn't yet uploaded it to YT since the Lancer Conf. wasn't finished yet. I've queued it up where he gives me credit for ID'g 2 of the TSBD employee ladies on the steps next to PM, Madeline "Maddie" Belle Reese and Ruth Dean. But I recommend watching it from the beginning also. I ID'd all the ladies but one in front of the TSBD that are seen in the Wiegman Film, as well as several ladies on the steps including Reese, Dean, and Sanders (that's one of my JFK niches). I believe the one not ID'd must've been a member of the public or a friend or relative of one of the ladies. She's definitely not an employee, since they all have FBI reports & Statements. There is no FBI report or stmt for her. Bart cites me 3X in his book for my identification work.:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd2lJ4Yef40&t=1831s
And here's his PM FB group: https://www.facebook.com/prayermanisleeoswald/
Why the term Prayer Man?
So Prayer Man is Oswald?
Wasn't Oswald in the lunch room when the shots were fired?
No, Virginia, there is no "South Knoll."
Apparently there is some literature among the assassination community that uses that reference. Like Jeff Morley, I am from a newspaper family. My father was a stickler for proper word usage.
A knoll is defined as a small round hill or mound. Merriman Smith, a reporter for the AP, coined the term "Grassy Knoll" when he telephoned in the first news report of the assassination. (He used a pay phone at Parkland; there were no cell phones in existence then).
The area from the north lawn of Dealey Plaza to the Triple Underpass has apparently been renamed "the South Knoll" by some, including the late Ms. Fiester. That area is most definitely NOT a knoll. It is best described as a swale (a low lying stretch of land), extending west from Dealey Plaza to the Triple Underpass and the Trinity River below.
Anyone who has visited Dealey Plaza knows this.
Regarding Ms. Fiester's opinions concerning the shots fired at JFK, more tomorrow.
Yes, I'm aware of how Merriman Smith coined the term Grassy Knoll and that there were no cell phones then. Regardless of the formal Oxford Dictionary definition of "knoll," that area is now referred to as the "South Knoll," and has stuck in people's minds since it is the mirror image geographically of the "Grassy Knoll," even if it's not the precise definition of a "knoll". It is now well known as such in the assassination community, so I think you'll be waging a fruitless battle to change the terminology now. I googled "knoll" and got this webpage. The example of a "knoll" they show is massive compared to either the GK or the SK. https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-a-knoll-in-geography.html
The "South Knoll" in my mind consists of the north edge of the Terminal Annex Parking Lot, and the grassy hillside that descends from it down toward Commerce. St. I don't think there's a "swale" there. This whole discussion seems irrelevant and unimportant to me. What is relevant and important is where the shots came from based on the medical evidence.
Thank you, Linda. Your description of the area west of the shooting scene and south of Commerce Street makes sense of the term "South Knoll'."
Were there any witnesses who saw one or more shots fired from that location?
Regarding the late Sherry Fiester, I have not read her book but I am generally familiar with her, based on comments made on this site years ago by her admirers. I am also familiar with a critique of her work by David Mantik, MD (a distinguished radiologist who has examined the Bethesda X-Rays at the Archives many times). Rob Reiner even mentions him in the podcast, although I don't recall him mentioning Sherry.
I have a few problems with Sherry's analysis:
First, she was an expert in Crime Scene Reconstruction and Blood Spatter evidence, but she was not a physician or otherwise qualified to render expert medical testimony. Her comments concerning what is or is not "medically possible" would cause me to object to that opinion as beyond the scope of her expertise. The court would agree.
Second, she apparently rules out a shot from the knoll (you know, the grassy one) at Z313, because there was no damage to the left hemisphere on JFK's brain. However, as Mantik and others point out, the skull X-rays show a "snow trail" of minute metal fragments, extending from "a hole" above the right eye near the hairline (Michael Chesser, MD) through the top of the skull. This wound was described as "tangential" by Dr. Perry, meaning it struck the president at an angle, and, as seen on the Zapruder film, its force moved JFK's head violently backward AND TO THE LEFT.
Third, this missile did not exit the brain ; it was a frangible or mercury-load bullet, which, unlike the metal jacketed Carcano rounds, disintegrated upon entry. The damage from this type of bullet is not caused by maceration of tissue due to the bullet's track, but rather by the hypersonic plasma shock wave caused to the brain by impact. As you say, it could have passed through JFK and wounded Jackie...if it were a full metal jacket bullet. But it wasn't.
Fourth, and I repeat, I have not read Sherry's book, are you claiming the wound to the trachea was caused by a frontal gunshot? If so, where did the bullet go?
Are you claiming that this bullet passed through the neck and caused the damage to the lower occiput? How could it get there without causing massive damage to the cervical vertibrae in its path (these were undamaged in the X-rays).
Finally, according to Dr. Mantik, Sherry contends that only one headshot - from the front - caused JFK's head wounds. How did blood and brain tissue get on the hood ornament of the limo? As a blood spatter expert, this needs to be explained.
the "south knoll" is definitely not a swale which is generally considered a drainage feature. I have been to the "south knoll"
and to be even more accurate, both "knolls" are not really hills. Dealey Plaza was excavated. so the "knolls" are landscaped walls of the old excavation- FWIW :)
I dont subscribe to the south knoll shooter theory. it was an inferior tactical position being further away from the targe. Moreover, a gunman on the south knoll would have been on the opposite side of the president and would have had a very narrow window of opportunity because he might have been blocked out by Jackie.
When one moves against a king, one must be sure to kill him . south knoll was not optimal location.
Some researchers believe there were four or more shooters in multiple locations.
". . . south knoll was not optimal location."
The smart thing to have done is arrange several shooters in different locations to take advantage of "windows of opportunity." Would the CIA have relied on only two shooters?
The fact that she wouldn't qualify as an expert witness in medical evidence and bullet trajectories doesn't make her wrong.
The track of the throat wound bullet is indeed a mystery. The throat wound sure as hell isn't an exit wound from a bullet entering between his shoulder blades. A frangible bullet maybe?
His body needs to be exumed.
What round caused the fist-size hole in the back of JFK's skull that about a dozen attending doctors and a nurse at Parkland point to in the famous photo montage?
Any place where a truck or van could be parked allowing a frontal shot should be examined.
Rob Reiner in Podcast #3 today identifies the precise location as a bit outside the so called "South Knoll" towards the overpass.
Jefferson I seem not to be able search and find JFK Facts in Apple Podcasts. Do you know if there’s a reason? Thank you