Jones Demonstrates Location of Head Wound
On June 19, 1992, Dr. Jones, now Chief of Surgery at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, described the President's throat wound as being "compatible with an entrance wound." In his handwritten report of November 23, 1963, the injury was noted as "a small hole in [the] anterior midline of [the] neck thought to be a bullet entrance wound (20 WCH 333). Twenty-nine years later, he stated that "I would stand by my original impression." Calling upon the Warren Commission's ballistics studies, as well as over thirty years of experience in treating gunshot wounds, he said the throat wound could have been an exit wound only "if [the missile]...it didn't strike bone, didn't tumble, and didn't fragment. Now, we don't know that."
In testifying before the Warren Commission, Dr. Jones described a large wound to the "posterior portion of the skull" (6 WCH 56). In 1992, he continued his assertion that the wound was behind the right ear and, on external examination, did not appear to involve the temporal-parietal region of the head. Dr. Jones interruped my incomplete question. I asked, "[y]ou saw the large wound in the back of the head and..." Dr. Jones interrupted to say, "[y]eah. I didn't think that there was any wound--I didn't appreciate any wound, anyway, in the right temporal area or the right side of the upper part of the head, you know-- in front of the ear say, or anything like that." However, he cautioned that "there could have been a lot of skull destruction beneath the skin that you would not have seen externally." The visible wound was partially hidden as "a lot of that injury was on the down side with him flat on the table."
In reviewing a 1966 drawing by Robert N. McClelland, MD, which depicts a large wound to the posterior skull (see figure), Dr. Jones wrote on March 4, 1994 that the drawing "only indicates the skin involvement but not the true destruction of the skull and brain." Nevertheless, he admitted that the drawing indicates the "general" location of the wound, "but certainly not with as defined edges as shown in this depiction."
Dr. Jones' 1964 testimony describes "what appeared to be an exit wound in the posterior portion of the skull" (6 WCH 56). In 1983, he reportedly told author David Lifton, "[i]f they brought him in here today, I'd still say he was shot from the front" (Lifton 705). On August 10, 1992, Dr. Jones was asked to comment on the accuracy of the quote, and stated only that "it may have been taken a little bit out of context." He added that "given the set of circumstances as we saw that day, if they brought him in today, I would tend--seeing what I saw, I would say that he was shot from the front." He qualified this statement by cautioning, "you've got to reconsider what you would say based on what's been found out since. But circumstances as they were when you first saw him that day...my assumption would be the same."
Unlike many of his colleagues of Trauma Room One, Dr. Jones' recollections of the President's wounds have not significantly changed with the passage of time. His recent descriptions of the wounds are remarkably consistent with his statements in 1964. However, he is understandably careful in his wording, using such words as "compatible" and "general." He is also quick to point out that information subsequently uncovered should be considered. When one considers his descriptions and comments on the possible origin of the missiles which inflicted the wounds, it becomes apparent he does not agree with the statement of James Carrico, MD, that "[n]othing we observed contradicts the autopsy finding that the bullets were fired from above and behind by a high velocity rifle" (JAMA 2805). For even if one accepts that the wounds Dr. Jones observed could not have been inflicted from above and behind the President, his descriptions of the wounds significantly contradict those detailed in the autopsy report.
Jones, Ronald C., MD, Author's telephone interview, June 19, 1992.
Jones, Ronald C., MD, Author's telephone interview, August 10, 1992.
Jones, Ronald C., MD, Letter to the author, March 4, 1994.
Lifton, David S., Best Evidence, New York, Carrol and Graf Publishers, Inc., 1988.
McClelland, Robert N., MD, 1966 drawing of President Kennedy's head wound, published by Josiah Thompson et al.
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, Hearings Before the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, 26 vols., Washington, DC, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1964.
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