Bloodspatter Analysis:
Bloodspatter analysis or evaluation is the study of the fixed results=
for
bloodstains dispersed onto a target surface as the result of some=
type of
force impacting blood. As a liquid, blood is very uniform and reacts=
as all
liquids do. Therefore, bloodstain pattern analysis is a science based=
upon
the laws ofphysics and mathematics. Because blood reacts in predictable,
consistent and reproducible manners, the bloodstain pattern analyst=
can
create examples or patterns called standards. One type of pattern
duplicated in the production of standards is the high velocity, forceful
impact spatter pattern. This type of pattern is most commonly created=
as
the result of a gunshot injury.
Research Techniques:
To study bloodstains and patterns created as the result of high velocity
impact, a sponge containing blood was placed in the path of a bullet.
Cardboard sheets were placed horizontally above and below the target
sponge, and vertically before and after the target sponge. The bullet
travelled first through a cardboard sheet before striking the bloody,
target sponge, and then exited through the cardboard sheet located=
behind
the target sponge. The cardboard sheets were placed at various distances
from the bloody target as the experiments were repeated. The experiments
were photographed with 35mm film and videotaped. The cardboard sheets=
were
retained, with their location in relation to the bloody target written=
on
them.
The cardboard sheets, the photographs, and the videos were then carefully studied to determine what happens when a bullet strikes a bloody= target. The analysis indicated a multitude of minuscule blood droplets resembling an atmomized spray or mist were created, with the majority of the= stains having a diameter of .10 mm or less. There were some larger stains= of less quantity, and often fragments of the bloody sponge would permeate= the pattern created. The type of bloody target, the amount of blood on= or within the target, nor the velocity of the projectile changed in= any significant way the basic characteristics of the pattern created.
Results:
The droplets left the impact site on the bloody sponge in a very=
wide "cone
like" pattern. The distribution of the droplets was more concentrated=
when
the cardboard target was near the sponge, with the distance between=
the
droplets increasing as the cardboard targets were moved away from=
the
sponge. The stains from this pattern were captured on the cardboard=
sheets.
Blood droplets were found on the cardboard sheets in front=
of the
target, as well as behind the target. The blood spatter on=
the
horizontal and vertical cardboard sheets placed between the weapon=
which
fired the bullet and the bloody sponge are referred to as back
spatter.
Back spatter is created as blood is forcefully expressed from= an entry wound, back toward the source of the energy as the result of increased pressure within the tissues. The blood spatter on the horizontal= and vertical cardboard sheets placed behind the bloody target is referred= to as forward spatter. Forward spatter is blood which travels= in the same direction as the source of the impact, and is associated with= gunshot exit wounds. The number of droplets, the distance the droplets travelled, and the size of the patterns were consistently increased= on forward spatter patterns.
Conclusions:
Based on the study of research performed by others, professional=
training
and education, personal reconstruction of bloodstain patterns, and=
field
experience obtained by using this technique on actual crime scenes=
in
deaths by gunshot injuries, it is my opinion the blood spatter displayed=
in
the Zapruder film is consistent with the spatter created in high=
velocity
injuries such as a gunshot wound. Additionaly, the blood spatter=
captured
on the film is consistent with back spatter and forward spatter,=
created by
a single projectile, resulting in single injury with an entry and=
exit
wound. Based on statements by witnesses in the death of President=
Kennedy
describing blood spatter they observed, and documentation of blood=
spatter
in the Zapruder film, it is my conviction the head injury to President
Kennedy was the result of a single gunshot fired from the right front=
of
the President.
Sources:
Bloodstain Patterns, Herbet L. MacDonell, 1993
Interpretation of bloodstain Evidence at Crime Scenes, William Eckert= and Stuart James, 1989
=46orensic Science, an Introduction to Criminalistics, Peter DeForest,= R.E. Gaensslen, and Henry Lee, 1983
Criminalistics, an Introduction to Forensic Science, Richard Saferstein,= 1987
Physical Evidence in Criminal Investigations, Henry Lee, R.E. Gaensslen, Elain Pagliaro, Robert Mills, and Kenneth Zercie, 1991
=20
After the assassination of President Kennedy five fragments of skull= were recovered, each distinctive in both size and location of recovery.= The largest of these fragments, which was recovered from the limousine= and examined during the autopsy, had external beveling and metallic particles imbedded in one corner and a portion of a cranial suture contained= along one edge. It was the autopsy patholigist's conclusion that this represented a portion of an exit wound. The three governmentally sponsored review panels have also concluded that this skull fragment is part of a= wound made by an exiting bullet. The official conclusion, of a single exit wound= in the front of the skull, mandates that this large fragment arose in immediate proximity to their sole exit defect located just anterior= to the right coronal suture. The opinion of Dr. J. Lawrence Angel, the forensic anthropolocical consultant to the HSCA, that this skull fragment= was frontal bone, has gone uncontested until now.
A detailed analysis of all the skull fragment addressing their size, location of recovery and where they arose from the head on the Zapruder film...shows that this large fragment actually fit in the top rear= of of the skull and comprised a portion of a second wound of exit in the= rear of the President's head. Anatomically it has been universally concluded= by the review panels that the frontal exit defect is just forward of the= right coronal suture leaving almost all the frontal bone intact despite= being fractured. This discrepancy between even the review panel's own conclusions about the frontal bone and those of Dr. Angel was not noticed or acknowledged by the Forensic Pathology Paenel of the HSCA. A detailed analysis will show that the only suture that could be on the late= arriving fragment is the sagittal suture. In 1976 the ITEK study copncluded= that on frames 313 and 314 of the Zapruder film four fragments of bone could= be identified, all of which arose from the front of the head and were= going forward. None of these met the requirements of being large enough= and being in a position tobe recovered from the rear of the limousine as the= large late arriving fragment was. ITEK neglected to account for the fifth= and largest fragment of skull which can be seen being ejected directly= from the rear of the head on later frames of the Zapruder film incident to= the backwards head snap. This skull fragment was retrieved and brought= back into the passenger compartment of the limousine by Jacqueline Kennedy= where it was later recovered by a Secret Service Agent. From old and documents, numerous eyewitnesses both at Dealey Plaza and at Bethesda Naval= Medical Center...corroborate the fact that that this large fragment of bone originated from the rear of the skull.
In summary, anatomic considerations dictate that the large fragment= of skull, which comprised a portion of an exit wound, originated in= the top rear of the skull and is evidence for a second bullet impacting the= skull which originated from the right front of the motorcade. The ITEK= analysis of the Zapruder film and the autopsy materials show that this bone= could not have originated adjacent to the frontal exit defect. The Zapruder= and Nix films show direct evidence of this large skull fragment being= ejected from the top rear of the President's head where a previously unreported second exit wound was located.
In the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, a total of five= separate fragments of skull were recovered both on the day of and the day= following the event. With the exception of one skull fragment, each of the= other fragments have either been x-rayed and/or photographed and the dimensions of these recorded. The Zapruder and Nix films provide a photographic= record of these fragments as they were ejected from the skull. By comparing= the size and known location of skull fragments recovered from the limousine= and in Dealey Plaza, with the direction and relative size of the skull fragments seen ejected on the Zapruder and Nix films, conclusions= will be reached as to the location each of these separate fragments arose= from the skull. The four skull fragments...are: the Harper fragment recovered= from the south side of Elm Street, a fragment recovered adjacent to the= south curb of Elm Street by Dallas police officer Howard Weitzman, and= the two largest of the three skull fragments recovered from the limousine= upon its return to the White House garage.
The ultimate conclusion...[is] that a large 10x6.5cm skull fragment recovered from the limousine, which had external beveling and metal fragments imbedded in it indicative ofa portion of an exit wound,= arose from the rear of the skull and was ejected by a second gunshot to= the head which originated from the right front of the motorcade. [The] motion= film and radiographic record,in conjunction with the postmortem skull radiographs...validate eyewitness accounts in Dealey Plaza, at Parkland Hospital, and Bethesda Naval Medical Center of an exit wound in the= skull at the top rear of the President's head where this large bone fragment originated. From the records of the Warren Commission and HSCA investigation, eyewitness accounts which substantiate that this large= bone fragment originated from an exit wound at the top rear of the skull= [can be demonstrated]. As a corollary...[it can also be demonstrated] that= the autopsy physicians committed perjury during their Warren Commission testimony when responding to questions concerning this large fragment= of skull in an attempt to conceal the fact that an exit wound was present= in the rear of the skull.
by David W. Mantik, M.D., Ph.D.
On the lateral skull autopsy X-rays a remarkably dark frontal area= is found, by multiple lines of evidence, to contain very little brain= on either the left or right side. The most direct and incontrovertible evidence for this conclusion derives from a comparison of the frontal= ODs [Optical Density] to the maxillary sinus ODs---on the same lateral= X-ray. Original experiments using human skull and tissue equievalent material= (for brain) provide further support for these conclusions. All of these= data are grossly inconsistent with the autopsy photographs, which show only= modest tissue loss in the right frontal lobe, and an entirely intact left= brain. On the anterior-posterior (AP) skull X-ray, numerous ODs were measured, particularly at symmetric sites from left to right. At no location= on the AP X-ray does all of the brain appear to be present. An unexpected= finding is significant missing brain on the low right, very near the superior border of the cerebellum, where the photographs show intact brain.= The right parasagittal laceration described in the autopsy report by= the pathologists cannot explain this missing tissue---it is far above= this low right site. All of these findings, along with the surprisingly large= 1500 gram mass of the autopsied brain, are in serious disagreement with= the brain photographs. =20
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--========================_11360470==_ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ----------- Truth, n. An ingenious compound of desirability and appearance. ---Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" --========================_11360470==_--