Thanks so much for writing this. As soon as I saw the NYT article, I wondered what you would say.
I especially appreciate that you addressed this:
______
Although the Times article notes that Landis was “never interviewed by the Warren Commission,” he did put on the record the details of what he witnessed that day in a 2-page, single-spaced, typewritten statement, made only 4 days after Dallas, and a more detailed 7-page statement made a week after the assassination. It was when his memory was fresh. No mention was made of finding a whole bullet.
______
Is it true the Warren Commission didn't interview him? I would have thought they would interview all of the Secret Service agents who were present that day. (Disclosure for others reading this comment: my father David Belin was one of the Warren Commission attorneys.)
I don't know much about the evidence surrounding the assassination but I don't believe an 88 year old man's new statements on what he saw and did 60 years earlier. Especially when his new recollections are not supported with his contemporaneous statements.
Posner scores again. Posner points out that Landis initially described the bullet he foound on the top of the car seat as a "fragment"--now it's a nearly intact bullet matching CE 399. Not credible
It appears that the bullet wound in Connall's thigh would have been consistent with a mostly intact bullet. How it got onto the stretcher we'll never know for sure, but Landis's attempt 60 years later to insert himsrlf in the story, as Posner says, should be greeted with utmost skepticism.
Finally, re Landis "terrible" decision to place, as he clsims, the bullet on the stretcher -- what kind of supposedly competent, trained law enforcement officer would do that?!
The photos I have seen of the Magic Bullet are quite pristine, with a mild bend to the bullet. He stated that the bullet he picked up was 'mushroomed' that is a far cry from the condition of the Magic Bullet.
Where would the additional bullets fired go? The trajectory was down and into the Limo. Why weren’t they found. Weren’t the bullet and fragments all from Oswald’s Mannlicher-Carcano?
After reading your book, Case Closed, it seems obvious to me that all these conspiracy theories can only persist in a context of willful ignorance. Faced with the facts your conclusion doesn’t feel at all controversial. Yet I routinely find people whose opinions I otherwise respect on other topics enthusiastically promote JFK assassination conspiracies. It’s disappointing and I truly don’t understand. The best I can do (and what I do often): beg them to please read your book with some semblance of an open mind.
Help me out here. It seems Mr. Posner agrees that Agent Landis could have found the “magic” bullet in the limousine’s rear seat. But how is this possible if this was the same bullet that hit Connolly who was riding in a seat forward of JFK?
Btw, after many years of reading about the assassination (including Mr. Posner’s book), I came to accept both WC findings about Oswald as the lone shooter and that a single bullet struck both JFK and Connolly.
Sep 11, 2023·edited Sep 11, 2023Liked by Gerald Posner
Mr. Posner, I have read your book and many others on the assassination. The interesting thing about this new revelation is it does add credibility to the back wound on JFK which is much lower on his back than some allege could have exited through his throat. I believe that wound was probed during the autopsy but not fully explored. It seems possible that this so called magic bullet was a defective round that only penetrated a few inches and then may have worked itself loose when JFK was being removed from the limousine. Also, Josiah Thompson has a new book, Last Second in Dallas offers a compelling revisit of the audio and ballistic evidence. After 60 years this case still remains fascinating and it seems the full story has never been told. Sealed files after 60 years? Why? I have never heard a credible explanation of why all those files remain sealed.
I probably should have asked this when you posted on the Landis book in September, but have you written anything definitive, or know of anyone who has, on the Secret Service’s slow response to the shots in Dallas? Clint Hill has always said that he responded immediately after the first shot, but the photographic evidence seems conclusive that he did not. That would be Ike Altgens’s famous head-on photograph on the president’s car after the president had clearly been hit and before the secret service had moved in response. If it’s true that the first shot missed, then at the instant that photo was taken two shots had been fired and a few additional seconds had passed, and yet the Secret Service men are still in place on their running boards. At the very least this seems to belie Hill’s assertion. At the most, it would seem to question the competence, or preparedness, of Kennedy’s detail. Has anyone ever explored this question in detail? Would it be worth questioning Hill while he’s still around?
Falsely claiming some role in (or attendance at) famous events is incredibly common. Dozens of claimed "last survivors" of Custer's Last Stand came out of the woodwork in the 1910's. Most weren't there, but even some who were there told gross lies about their roles. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_W._Goldin. Google "Stolen Valor" for recent examples.
My thoughts on the new Landis/Robenalt book (It IS coauthored, per Robenalt's own words) is here. Beyond what you told the NYT, Gerald, about memory, PTSD is of course further problematic for memory, and then, when I read Robenalt talking about helping Landis "process" his memories, my antennae went way up. https://socraticgadfly.blogspot.com/2023/09/a-new-jfk-conspiracy-theory-and-book.html
Yes, all the fragments and bullet from Oswald’s rifle
Thanks so much for writing this. As soon as I saw the NYT article, I wondered what you would say.
I especially appreciate that you addressed this:
______
Although the Times article notes that Landis was “never interviewed by the Warren Commission,” he did put on the record the details of what he witnessed that day in a 2-page, single-spaced, typewritten statement, made only 4 days after Dallas, and a more detailed 7-page statement made a week after the assassination. It was when his memory was fresh. No mention was made of finding a whole bullet.
______
Is it true the Warren Commission didn't interview him? I would have thought they would interview all of the Secret Service agents who were present that day. (Disclosure for others reading this comment: my father David Belin was one of the Warren Commission attorneys.)
I don't know much about the evidence surrounding the assassination but I don't believe an 88 year old man's new statements on what he saw and did 60 years earlier. Especially when his new recollections are not supported with his contemporaneous statements.
Posner scores again. Posner points out that Landis initially described the bullet he foound on the top of the car seat as a "fragment"--now it's a nearly intact bullet matching CE 399. Not credible
It appears that the bullet wound in Connall's thigh would have been consistent with a mostly intact bullet. How it got onto the stretcher we'll never know for sure, but Landis's attempt 60 years later to insert himsrlf in the story, as Posner says, should be greeted with utmost skepticism.
Finally, re Landis "terrible" decision to place, as he clsims, the bullet on the stretcher -- what kind of supposedly competent, trained law enforcement officer would do that?!
The photos I have seen of the Magic Bullet are quite pristine, with a mild bend to the bullet. He stated that the bullet he picked up was 'mushroomed' that is a far cry from the condition of the Magic Bullet.
NBC tonight called it the "magic bullet theory," rather than "single bullet theory." 😡
Where would the additional bullets fired go? The trajectory was down and into the Limo. Why weren’t they found. Weren’t the bullet and fragments all from Oswald’s Mannlicher-Carcano?
Excellent.
After reading your book, Case Closed, it seems obvious to me that all these conspiracy theories can only persist in a context of willful ignorance. Faced with the facts your conclusion doesn’t feel at all controversial. Yet I routinely find people whose opinions I otherwise respect on other topics enthusiastically promote JFK assassination conspiracies. It’s disappointing and I truly don’t understand. The best I can do (and what I do often): beg them to please read your book with some semblance of an open mind.
Help me out here. It seems Mr. Posner agrees that Agent Landis could have found the “magic” bullet in the limousine’s rear seat. But how is this possible if this was the same bullet that hit Connolly who was riding in a seat forward of JFK?
Btw, after many years of reading about the assassination (including Mr. Posner’s book), I came to accept both WC findings about Oswald as the lone shooter and that a single bullet struck both JFK and Connolly.
Joe Gorton
Professor Emeritus of Criminology
University of Northern Iowa
Mr. Posner, I have read your book and many others on the assassination. The interesting thing about this new revelation is it does add credibility to the back wound on JFK which is much lower on his back than some allege could have exited through his throat. I believe that wound was probed during the autopsy but not fully explored. It seems possible that this so called magic bullet was a defective round that only penetrated a few inches and then may have worked itself loose when JFK was being removed from the limousine. Also, Josiah Thompson has a new book, Last Second in Dallas offers a compelling revisit of the audio and ballistic evidence. After 60 years this case still remains fascinating and it seems the full story has never been told. Sealed files after 60 years? Why? I have never heard a credible explanation of why all those files remain sealed.
Lol! A mushroom shaped golden nugget bullet, now where have I heard that before?
Great job Gerald. Keep up the strong, factual reporting.
I probably should have asked this when you posted on the Landis book in September, but have you written anything definitive, or know of anyone who has, on the Secret Service’s slow response to the shots in Dallas? Clint Hill has always said that he responded immediately after the first shot, but the photographic evidence seems conclusive that he did not. That would be Ike Altgens’s famous head-on photograph on the president’s car after the president had clearly been hit and before the secret service had moved in response. If it’s true that the first shot missed, then at the instant that photo was taken two shots had been fired and a few additional seconds had passed, and yet the Secret Service men are still in place on their running boards. At the very least this seems to belie Hill’s assertion. At the most, it would seem to question the competence, or preparedness, of Kennedy’s detail. Has anyone ever explored this question in detail? Would it be worth questioning Hill while he’s still around?
Falsely claiming some role in (or attendance at) famous events is incredibly common. Dozens of claimed "last survivors" of Custer's Last Stand came out of the woodwork in the 1910's. Most weren't there, but even some who were there told gross lies about their roles. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_W._Goldin. Google "Stolen Valor" for recent examples.
My thoughts on the new Landis/Robenalt book (It IS coauthored, per Robenalt's own words) is here. Beyond what you told the NYT, Gerald, about memory, PTSD is of course further problematic for memory, and then, when I read Robenalt talking about helping Landis "process" his memories, my antennae went way up. https://socraticgadfly.blogspot.com/2023/09/a-new-jfk-conspiracy-theory-and-book.html