A page on the JFK shooting  

This page largely but not completely obsoletes The JFK shooting seen from 2019 and The JFK shooting seen from 2021

There is renewed interest in the Howard Donahue theory.

Disclosure: I personally find it convincing. But I have no interest in promoting it, other than a desire for the truth to come out. I am a native-born Australian, as were both my parents and all of their parents, but I also believe in America, as do most Australians and most Americans I think. 

What we do know

We do know that Oswald fired at least two shots and that at least one of them struck Kennedy.

We know that Kennedy cried out "my God, I'm hit" and that he could not have done that after either the wounds to his head or to his throat. We know that these two wounds were caused by different shots. We know that Kennedy also suffered a minor fragment wound to his scalp at some point, which could not have been caused by either of these two shots. We know that this fragment went unnoticed until Howard Donahue's investigations were first published in 1977.

We know that George Hickey picked up the AR-15 immediately after the first shot, and carried it, standing on the rear seat of the Secret Service follow-up car, during the dash to the hospital. 

We know that there was an extensive cover-up after the shooting, and that the Secret Service were heavily involved in it, and that they were still party to it in the 1990s.

We know that the Warren Commission re-enactment omitted anyone playing Hickey's role although he was present. We also know that the Select Committee asked for all agents present on the day to be freshly interviewed except for Hickey.

We know that there was no reason for the "magic bullet" to swerve, and that the Warren Commission conclusion that it did swerve was a fabrication. We know that they came to this conclusion because they had not positioned Connally correctly, and that this explanation was also unknown until Howard Donahue's investigations were first published in 1977.

We do know that Hickey took legal action against the publishers of Mortal Error, and that this was eventually settled by a payment and an apology. We do know that this settlement did not prevent further publication or sale of the book, nor provide for any disclaimer or apology to be added to future editions. 

And we know that there are many theories that contradict these facts, and that writing them quickly became a lucrative industry and remains one.

What we do not know

We do not know exactly what has been covered up.

We do not know whether or not there was a conspiracy before the fact, nor how or even whether it involved Oswald if so. 

We do not know why the round that struck Kennedy in the head behaved exactly as the rounds that Oswald used were specifically designed not to behave.

We do not know why the Warren Commission and the Select Committee both pointedly omitted Hickey from their investigations.

We do not know whether the legal settlement was for a token amount or for a substantial one, nor the text of the apology, nor when or whether any of these details will become public. We do not know why either party agreed to this settlement.

What I believe and why

I believe that Donahue got it right.

He was the first ballistics expert to do or publish an unbiased analysis of the trajectories. He was the first ballistics expert to publish one at all. His research was detailed and meticulous.

His analysis revealed two important facts that nobody else had even noticed up until then.

It is an incredible story if true. But no more credible one has yet been offered.

Its critics rely on emotive language, and have mostly not read the book that they are criticising. They base their opinions on hearsay. Some of this hearsay is probably part of a continuing cover-up.

Some even say that they have read it but it quickly becomes obvious that they have not even read my synopsis of it. See the SMH vs Donahue for an example.

more to follow. Watch this space.