JFK Assassination Hearings - Larry Sturdivan (Part III)
JFK Assassination Hearings - Larry Sturdivan (Part III)
Opens with exhibit of film footage of human skulls being shot by bullets, shown frame by frame in slow motion - LARRY STURDIVAN describes purpose and results of this experiment - the image is very dark, black and white, the skulls explode and move in direction of bullet ( I 11:00:48 - O 11:03:50) Sturdivan explians bullet's point of entry into skull and the result of the impact on the skull's structure, 2 new exhibits added and displayed: one is an illustration of the JFK's back with the skull drawn into a silhoutte of the body and the other is 2 skull photographs, one atop the other, showing different results of bullet impact (I 11:05:20) Delegate WALTER FAUNTROY of the District of Columbia asks striking velocity of bullet that entered JFK's back - Sturdivan answers 1800 ft/s and explains effect passage through body would have on bullet's path (11:09:35) Fauntroy asks if bullets could then pass through another man - Sturdivan answers yes, Fauntroy asks about the speed and angle possibilities of the bullet then entering Gov. Connally - Sturdivan explains (11:12:34) Fauntroy asks if the bullet could shatter Conally's wrist bone after its passage through his body - Sturdivan answers yes (11:16:45) Fauntroy asks if there were another bullet that hit Conally what would the difference be in outcome - Sturdivan answers there would be no difference other than in the bullet's entry point into Connally, it would be at a different angle (11:17:50) New exhibit introduced - it is an image comparing three bullets fired from a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle - two of the bullets were used on goat carcasses in tests done at request of Warren Commision and the other is Exhibit 399 - the actual bullet thought to have passed through JFK and Connally: Bullet A which grazed a goat's rib is slightly deformed, Bullet B which went through gelatin alone is in pristene condition, and Bullet 399 which is slightly flattened - Discussion follows between Fauntroy and Sturdivan as to how Bullet 399 could have done so much damage and emerged relatively unscathed (I 11:22:50 - O 11:27:20) Fauntroy asks if a single bullet could inflict all the injuries - Sturdivan answers yes (11:27:20) The question of why JFK's head moved in the opposite direction of bullet is introduced (11:28:00) Exhibit introduced of physics formulas come up with by Sturdivan to deduce what bullet's impact would have on JFK's head movement - they correspond to bullet velocity and the mass of the head (11:30:00) Introduction of photos of JFK's head movement (11:33:00) Sturdivan: "The deposited momentum from the bullet was not sufficient to cause any dramatic movement in any direction" (11:33:54) Sturdivan interprets JFK's head movement as "neuro-muscular reaction", uses Jack Rabbit hunting as illustration - body springs into action upon being shot - and explains what he beleives could have been possible stimuluses touched by the impact of the shot (I 11:35:10 - O 11:38:04) Sturdivan introduces footage of goat executions to illustrate head movement (11:38:10) Charles Matthews gives source of films - Edgewood Arsenals - and again gives the disclaimer that this sort of testing is no longer done by the Army (11:39:00) Fellow council member substantiates from personal experience that Jack Rabbits will indeed spring into neuro-muscular action upon being shot (11:40:20) Goat films screened - host of TV coverage voice comes over shot of court room to warn sensitve viewers to turn away - Sturdivan dates the 3 films to 1948: #1 shows a goat in a strange head harness, anaesthetized and shot dead - the body immediately slumps, #2 is a similar shot of a goat but this time shot at 2400 frames per second allowing a better slo-mo image - upon being shot this goat seems to leap into the air before collapsing, #3 is of a goat already dead, it is suspended from the ceiling - upon being shot it does not move at all (I 11:40:40 - O 11:45:50) Shot returns to committee and Fauntroy recaps Sturdivan's testimony thus far as supporting the single bullet theory (11:46:00) In response to Fauntroy's inqueries about JFK's head explosion, Sturdivan: "The radial velocity is imparted as the bullet goes through and after it is gone" - Fauntroy: "And that caused the explosion effect" - Sturdivan: "Yes, and the neuro-muscular movement" (11:48:10) Representative CHRISTOPHER DODD of Conneticut recognized by chair to question Sturdivan (11:48:45) Dodd asks if Sturdivan has any background in anatomy to come to his conclusions - Sturdivan answers yes he has training in school and on the job, Dodd asks about the differences between tests on live and dead samples - Sturdivan answers they have a minimal effect on the bullet's path and velocity (11:49:10) Dodd asks if the first shot was the bullet through JFK's back vs. the head, could it have caused the head reaction, touching or brushing the spinal cord in its path - Sturdivan answers yes it is possible (11:50:15) Dodd: "This is 1978," his reaction upon finding out goat tests done in 1948 - Dodd knocks over glass with this dramatic quote and looks annoyed, goes on: "What would you haved done now? What would you do differently?" Sturdivan responds that he might have done tests illustrating that a bullet could shatter a wrist bone and remain undeformed - that in fact since science proves that bone is not as strong as the bullet the test is not necessary (11:54:05) Sturdivan would not recommend his test, he will not conduct an unnecessary experiment simply to "quiet the critics" (11:56:50) Representative SAMUEL DEVINE from Ohio recognized by committee to question Sturdivan, he requests exhibit 399, he asks Sturdivan if he has ever seen the actual assassination bullet in person - Sturdivan answers no, Sturdivan is given the bullet to look at and handle (11:57:04) With the actual bullet in his hand Sturdivan is asked now if looking at it he can say in his opinion if it took the path determined by the Warren Commision - He answers yes (11:59:08) Devine asks if after watching the Zapruder film he is not troubled by the fact that JFK's head did not move in the same direction as the bullet - Sturdivan answers no: "the momentum of the bullet could not have thrown him in any direction violently" (12:00:15) Chair, Mr. Stokes, confirms to his disbelief that Sturdavin has never before examined bullet 399 (12:01:10) Mr. FORD of Tennessee is called on to question Sturdavin, he asks about the different drag force of soft and hard bullets - exhibit of drag force equation put on easel (12:01:33)