This is new research by Dr. David Mantik. It concerns the Harper fragment, which was a piece of skull bone found by Billy Harper on the infield grass the day after the assassination, so November 23, 1963.
Several pathologists identified it as a piece from the occipital bone in the back of the head, which would mean that the fatal head shot came from the front. But later, a couple other government pathologists tried to claim that it wasn't occipital. But, Dr. Mantik makes the case here that it was an occipital fragment, and hence, the fatal head shot did come from the front.
OPTION A: ABSTRACT (by Mantik)
On Saturday, November 23, 1963, Billy Harper found a skull fragment on
the infield grass at Dealey Plaza. Three Dallas pathologists agreed
that it was occipital bone. After photographs were taken in Dallas,
the FBI took possession of the bone, and then gave it to Admiral
George Burkley, MD, the president's personal physician. Before Burkley
lost the bone (forever), the FBI X-rayed it, but then these X-ray
images also disappeared for many decades.
In this monograph I examine the photographs and X-rays of the Harper
fragment (hereafter "HF") and I list (in Section 6) fifteen
independent and self-consistent signs for its origin from JFK's upper
occiput. In addition (in Appendix K) I present a multiple headshot
scenario that encompasses all of the significant evidence related to
JFK's head wounds.
HF has great importance for one reason: if it derives from the
occiput, a frontal shot is strongly implied-and that means conspiracy.
The Forensic Pathology Panel (FFP) of the (1977-1979) House Select
Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) and their consultant, J. Lawrence
Angel, disagreed with one another on the precise origin (in the skull)
of this fragment, but they agreed that it was not occipital. Two
subsequent researchers, Joseph N. Riley, an expert in neuroanatomy,
and Randy Robertson, a diagnostic radiologist, also disagreed with an
occipital origin. This paper reviews and critiques their arguments.
Riley, in particular, claimed that occipital bone does not show a
pattern of vascular grooving; he also claimed that it never shows
foramina (small dimples in the surface). For him, such criteria closed
the case-HF could not be occipital.
In an earlier essay, I had critiqued Riley's opinion and
concluded that multiple lines of evidence (many not discussed by
Riley) actually favored an occipital origin. In particular, standard
anatomy textbooks disagree with Riley's two key points. Many textbooks
(discussed here)-from 1906 to 2006-display vascular grooves in
occipital bone. As for occipital foramina, a human skull in my
possession clearly shows them; many textbooks also display occipital
foramina. This refutation of Riley's two chief points opens the door
(quite widely) to an occipital origin for HF.
Based on the coherence of all of this evidence, and especially based
on the fifteen signs, HF must derive from the upper occipital area.
OPTION B: From an Amazon Review by Douglas Horne
Backstopped by extraordinary detail and footnoting, and by brilliant
clarifying illustrations, the reader will quickly reach the conclusion
that this work is the "final word on the JFK head shots"-as much as
any "final word" can be determined today, that is-in view of the
completely discredited JFK autopsy report, and incomplete and suspect
collection of JFK autopsy photographs and skull x-rays. Dr. Mantik
brings his expertise as an M.D.-a radiation oncologist quite familiar
with and qualified to read skull x-rays-and as a physicist, to this
extensive, illustrated monograph.
OPTION C: SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS (by Mantik)
1. Harper's discovery site is not very useful.
2. A hole existed in JFK's high occipital bone, where the Harper
Fragment (HF) originally lay.
3. Riley was wrong about the occipital bone; it can indeed
contain foramina and grooves.
4. The HSCA's parietal placement of HF was wrong. Angel's
parietal placement of HF was also wrong.
5. HF most likely was not ejected at Z-313, but rather closer to
the steps at the bottom of the Grassy Knoll.
6. JFK was struck by multiple headshots, likely more than one
after Z-313
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