N. • 14 December 1966

• 'Dr. John IC. Le.ttimer 130 Fort Washin0 on AVeraie • ••

. New York, N.Y. •-• • . .

Dear Dr. Lattimer,

Your article on the assassination of Procident ICennody in the October 24.,

1966 JAIIA belatedly has co:ae to my attention., I will take the liberty of cementing on one or two points. •

• You say' on page 327, •column 3, paragraph 2, that 6.5 bullete do not

• dietort readily, citing a study of wound ballistics in 17orld 'Jar II.

. I.ioy I invite your. at to Commission Iathibit Eo. 856 .(Learings and a*Exhibits, XVII, page 850). Although 260 rounds of ammunition woro

acquired for the wound penetration taste conducted at Edge:teed Arsenral • (V, page 75), the Exhibits present only two. of the test bulloto after

• firing.. • Arlen Spector, the acsietant coin el who. was reeponeible for the relevant phace of ov-idence, has conceded...that pot one of the. test

bullete emerged after single bone pontration undefomed. Since the ••

stretcher bullet supposedly shattered a rib as woll as a radius, it is incomprehensible to most sttdonts of the evidence that it should have .emorged undeformoCit unnutilated, and all put pristine.

Although you argue on page 327 that ballete if t1 o ealileerzlde net distort readily (oven after shattering 10 cra. of the fifth rib and the right radius), you then suggest on page 332 that the mark on the Cr.ab may have .been caused by a bullet disrupted when it struck a twig, a fragvient Of whose lead core proceeded to strike the concreto. Fiore do reasoning

oseepee wouldhhave thought that bone was as hard as or harder than

a twig.

• I ra'eatly regret that time does not permit mo to undertake the detailed discussion of the condition of th© alleged assassination rifle which the rifle deserves. It was not the scope alone that was defective, but alee the bolt and the trigger (see testimony of Dr. Simmons, III; Pril;03 114745:1-). The rifle capability of the alleged assassin, and the marksmannhip testa 1)5athree master (champion) 5...iflemen, rocraire even longer eazpooltion, which I. shall not attempt. The facts have boon set forth in a number of published

~rodeo, including Inquest, by Edward Jay Epstein, which. I coramend to you. .

Tour article does not discuss. the/ controversy which centers around the

nut opsy findihgo photorTraphs, whih is dust a3 won.. Lad you toeated

that problem, you might have encountered conaderablo difficulty in maintaining belief in the lone assassin or indeed, in an/ of the findings set forth in

the Warren Report.

Sylvia 1.joagher . 302 West 12 Street • New York', 11.Y. 10011;

Tours sincerely,

College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University I New York, N.Y. 10032

DEPARTMENT OF UROLOGY

. 620 West 168th Street

February ,3rd, 1967

Miss Sylvia Meagher 302 West 12th Street New York, New York 10014

Dear Miss Meagher:

Thank you for your letter of 14 December, 1966, to

which I am sorry to be so late in replying. Your thoughtful

comments are appreciated. I am interested to know how you have

become so keenly interested in the details of this matter. I

would also be very interested to hear of any new evidence which

would tend to disprove the contentions of the Warren Commission

investigators.

The "pristine" condition of the "stretcher bullet"

to which you refer, is certainly of great interest, and, as I

said above, I would be happy to see any evidence that it did

not do the things attributed to it by the Walreil Commissidn.

My experience with bullet wounds, as a military surgeon, dur-

ing World War II, would still leave me open-minded on the pos-

sibility that this bullet might have performed all. of these

things which you describe as "incomprehensible".

After reading through the autopsy report in great

detail, I am compelled to say that I would consider it entire-

ly possible that did all the things ascribed to it and still

emerge, in the condition indicated. We would all.like to do

our own•,tests, and on all of these interesting questi6ns, but

as you point out, time does not permit.

If, you have seen photographs of the autopsy or have

other factual information I would certainly be interested to

see it.

Your prescience in assembling a detailed index of

the Warren Report was excellent.' I am trying to purchase a

copy of your index.

Miss Sylvia Meagher February 3rd, 1967

appreciate your writing, and hope you will keep

me posted of any relevant discrepancies which you uncover in

your obviously painstaking scrutiny of the matter.

JKL: fh

gincerely, I

John K. Lattimer, M.D. Professor of Urology Chairman, Department of Urology

14 2obrunry 1967

Dr. John K. Lattimor Profossor of 1iroloc.,7 • elmirman, Do!...,r.rtmont of Urology Co:Licrje of Physicians and ...;ur.scona • of Colabia. Univormi.ty •• • • ' 620 1.b.o.t. 13 Street

• Vow York :la 10032

Doar Dr. Ldttaor,

approoiato 701.1Z friendly lettor o. tho 3rd. It is co lonz now since I 'becalm :.ramersod in tho end?..ess cotivolutions an,a agxlryilties

tho anation ovidonco that I can VC ZL''..e 01Y 'reconstruct 'oho staztin3 thinli: I can boot sumarizo it 1.7ry1na that the 0a:iota= o'at .

of Dallas on :'iovembor 22-24, 1963 0071:31:-.1.tut..nd ahichly implmsiblo story Voich, C3 tiro woro on„ piclmd up narf czo:unlic3 a:7,1 additaanal cllopoct,

foatures, so that thero wasa dfircinntion rather than an incroaso in

More is ranch ovidonco to disprove tho findin:33 in tho. trarren, Itoporl: bit little of it is 111:070: - most of' that in:hr.:teal ovidenco contained tho 26 volumes of tho by tho Canaission, mipposodly in support of its assortions in -tho 1.?eport, but in fact failinz to •orovido the necessary substantiation an in solo

011:thy contra:vex-tin": tho Cemiscientc conclusions* liowover proposterous such a juda:lent pleas° 7."-ithhoId

assuroou. that the conflicts arid contradictions, the microprecor4..at:0n and ixiission of relovant or essontial data can be fully demi-anted. 17ot, of courso, in a letter. It has' rectairod a 700-paz-,o 7.kinuricript to docrment coma or the major discrepancies betwoon the 1,7arroniloorb; on 'the on and the 26 volumes Of testimony arid cr.f.l'ibits, on the .other; • and I am to 'say that this ma:rase:Apt has boon accopted by 1:',obbs-7.!erril.1 and .v.1.11 published in tho fall o. this year. It will impose a b'ordon on the rorder sinco it %Al1 be almost as massivo ac the Report itself., but I hope vcr:!‘.. that it will bo road and that to fully documented facts will thou bo

• Revertinz to the stretcher bullet: Pay Varcuo of Leo An:;olos, a critic of the '71(yr.ron Report, ha z recently pulilisbcd en ox.collont on the bullet (77 pazcs), which presents coherently all the known crvir.leneo -=-evidonce indispensable to the forianle,tion of a v!.xlid jud3ment On t".e.:.11:011.1e'c, 1:ut ilucfn of which is not yet fmuiliar oven to st,..idontc of the case. I tz,.1:e to

• Iii arty o.f enclosin;1 an order fora, should you wish to obtain a copy. Plso enclosed is an ad for •my Subject Index tor:Aber with an 'Errata. sheet.

Perhaps ;10 can live a chat one day. .17.7 ‘1•:;01,1: tliz) public health, 41thouzh r4:17;;Lor rmovod from the contor,

Eno lo sure (3)

Yi)uru orccro2j,

Sylvia }.70a:.:1ior 302 Vest 12 Street

147. 1.:01/4.

• College of Physicians Ee Surgeons of Columbia University .1 New York, N.Y. 10032

DEPARTMENT OF UROLOGY

620 West 168th Street

February 20th, 1967.

Mrs. Sylvia Meagher 302 West 12th Street New York, N. Y. 10014.

Dear Mrs. Meagher :

Many thanks for your good letter of February 14th

with its news of your•new book, and the enclosures.

I finally got a copy of your subject index, and

had in mind to send it to you for an autograph, but will probably

have to get a second copy of it for this purpose, since I refer to the

first one inbetween my more "usual" activities whenever time

will permit, and some interesting point come s up.

--I will look forward to your second book, and...-

also was interested to get the advertisment about the book entitled

It THE BASTARD BULLET ", for which I will send immediately.

The vigor and extreme enthusiasm with which

you have subscribed to the campaign against the Warren Report,

seems, at least to me, to undercut your unique and valuable con- .

tribution in the field of documentation of the Report, whether this

documentation be merely an index or an accumulation of negative

factors. As I have said before, I would be delighted to see new

evidence, or even an impressive array of matching facts, as you

are attempting to assemble,. but I would certainly like to see them

presented in an unvarnished manner, rather than with too much

emotion or bias. It seems to me that it would strengthen your position

and your contribution if this were.done.

I have forgotten whether I asked you if you were

related to Dr. Stephen Meagher, a chest surgeon who worked with me

during World War II in Europe, and who has since died. I had a vague

memory that his wife's name was Sylvia.

JKL: dni s.

Best regards, Sir7erely,

f( • -

John K. Lattimer, M. D. Professor of Urology

page 2.

Mrs. Sylvia Meagher

P• •

Do you know anything about the location and nature of the fatal wounds of Officer Tippit ?

I have not hal time to dig for this, but if you. should happen to cane across any description of the wounds or data as to where I might find it, 'yould certainly appreciate this.'

• Sincerely, JKL.

Profonsor La nor no”artmont Of liroloc.7 Colloze of. Mysiciar.s and

Surt,..cons, Colembia liniversity 620 17031. '1W Street gow. York, N.Y. 10032 • •

Doer Dr. tattitior,

. Thant: ;you for your . kind wordn about ir.do:::.; I hope it will

prove useful. I ar.1 surprised that you derivc.4 t13o irapression

that my criticism of the 'Carron liciport has boon marked by . excennive emotion—I havo boon told oove3.-al tlrion that radio

a:Team:ices have boon effective becauso I was factual and ' unonotional. Duty to be frank, I do have strong tcolings

...about the case, which I regard au a terriblo. miscarriage of justice. Fortmatoly, fo.rt.hcoming book bo subjctod

to antisepsis by copy editor, an purple passages deleted. ... • •

I!o, I em not related to • Dr. Stophon goac}ior. •

The Tippit autopsy report was not inol-,r:ed in the Hearings and -111xhibits, no I have no peroonaI knowledge of the findings.

However, aerox copy is ir.oltdod =rag i;.he eocumcnts the

• ' Nat:Lonal Archives (soc Mato:molt II by Larold Weisberg, Wattstaan, Md. 207341 W.7917157.75Z 20 ••29).

V.tith kind ro=de, Yours sincoroly,

Sylvia 1,:oacher 302 Viost 12 Street I:ow York, N.Y. 1PO14

n Eli

1.13i Ell

(2)12-0 egg

17•

By B

RIA

N 'B

OY

ER

CH

ICA

GO

—C

ould one bullet :3

actually

hav

e struck

both

Pres-

!den

t Ken

ned

y an

d T

exas G

ov

. 3 C

onnally

? C

ritics of th

e Warren

Co

rn-

< m

ission's rep

ort o

n th

e assassi-n

natio

n h

av

e a

rgu

ed

lon

g a

nd

a e lo

ud

that it w

asn't p

ossib

le, bu

t 3 a C

olu

mbia U

niv

ersity su

rgeo

n

says h

e has n

ew ev

iden

ce that

_ su

pports th

e com

missio

n rig

ht

dow

n th

e line.

-) His n

ame is D

r. John K

. Lat-

., timer, an

d alth

ou

gh

his sp

ecial- :4a ty

is uro

logy, h

e docu

men

ted

3 h

is ow

n ex

perim

ental d

ata on

th

e a

ssassin

atio

n b

ulle

ts that

rebuts so

me o

f the th

eories o

f at th

e com

missio

n's d

etractors.

Speak

ing b

efore 1

50 p

ersons

in th

e Intern

ational C

olleg

e of

Surg

eons' M

useu

m an

d H

all of F

ame h

ere, the tall, th

in, p

ro-

fessor an

d ch

airman

of th

e de-

partm

ent o

f uro

log

y at C

olu

m- b

ia's med

ical schO

ol said

the

bulle

t found o

n C

onna lly

's stretcher w

as, in fact, deformed.

Opponen

ts of th

e Conan

is-slo

n's rep

ort, h

ave arg

ued

that

it wasn

't.

A S

imilar D

eform

ity

Furth

ermore, h

e said, ex

peri-

men

tal tests with

similar b

ul-

lets h

av

e d

efo

rmed

them

in

in sim

ilar way

s and

con

clusiv

e-ly

account fu

r the m

issing 2

.1

gra

ins o

f lead

in th

e p

roje

c-

tile. B

y L

attimer's acco

un

t, ac-

cused assassin L

ee Harv

ey O

s-w

ald's seco

nd sh

ot (th

e first, he m

aintain

s, hit a tree b

ranch

and

never re

ach

ed th

e P

resi-

den

t's car), struck

the b

ack o

f P

residen

t Ken

ned

y's n

eck, w

ent

thro

ug

h his v

oice b

ox an

d

"cant

out at th

e k

not o

t his

tie." A

lthough it was slow

ed down,

he sa

id, th

is "very

po

werfu

l. It bulle

t" then p

asse

d th

rough II

Gov. C

onnally

's cheat, tu

rned

sid

eway

s thro

ugh h

is wrist an

d

lod

ged

"back

ward

s in h

is leg."

Th

e bu

llet was flaiten

ed o

n

one sid

e, not u

nm

arkacl as cri-

tics hav

e main

tained

, he said

, an

d m

issing

2.1

grain

s of lead

fro

m th

e bo

ttom

. "W

e u

nd

erto

ok

tc d

efo

rm

simila

r bu

llets in

the sa

me

way

," he said

. "Wh

at hap

pen

s is th

at soft lead

squ

eezes ou

t of th

e b

rass c

over to

the

amo

un

t of 2

.2 g

rains.'

X-ray

s of • C

onnell a's

wrist

sho

w sm

all pieces o

f _tad

from

th

e bu

llet that stru

eic hem

. 6C

0 Itounds Fired

lie supported

hiss eo

nten

tion

that th

e b

ulle

t w4s p

ow

erfu

l en

ough to

do all h

etclaimed

, by

stating th

at similar C

a ream car-

bine.amm

unition penet-ated four feet o

f wood an

d co

uld

easily

pass th

rougl

,,four—not just tw

o —

persons.

liable, b

ut L

attimer m

aintain

ed

that th

e amm

unitio

n w

as not re-

that "o

ver 6

00

rou

nd

s of th

e

[amm

un

ition

) used - b

y O

swald

were

fired ... v

i ed- not a sin

gle

failure to

fire."

was th

e third

Gne fired

the d

ay

entered

the b

ack o

f the P

resi- o

f the assassin

ation

; he said

. It

right h

alf of h

is brain

when

it den

t's head

and d

estroy

ed th

e

exited

at the fro

nt o

f the h

ead.

enough to

account fo

r the o

ne-

Arg

um

ents h

ave b

een o

ffered

main

tain

ed is n

ut a

ccura

te

assassin th

eory

, is ind

eed ac-

curate, h

e said, ad

din

g:

The bullet that killed K

ennedy

tween th

e B

ook D

eposito

ry

win

dow

and th

e P

resid

ent's

carl, I p

laced

thre

e b

ulle

ts in

a ta

rget h

ead

in to

d seconls.

It's peafectly

easy

o, ev

en

for a

n a

mate

ur." .

Th

e gu

n, w

hich

som

e hav

e

"At 2

63 feet H

ite distan

ce be-

Did

Fate S

tep In

? E

ven

it Osw

ald h

ad n

ot b

een

a go

od

shu

t, fate help

ed h

im,

the surgeon implied.

The telescope on the gum

was

affix

ed

in su

ch

a w

ay

that it

lined

the sh

ot u

pw

ards an

d to

th

e rig

ht, a

nd "u

nfo

rtunate

ly

for 'th

e P

resid

en

t, his c

ar a

t I th

at m

om

ent w

as tu

rned a

bit

to th

e rig

ht a

nd

"

Lattim

er. said.

.. H

e a

dded th

at th

e

lark

of

bullet w

ounds fro

m a "lateral

if .‘.., I, direciio

n”

help

ed rule s

tet a eon-isp

fracy

the

ory

at le

ast in

the

;1 :; act o

f the murd

er itself. c. ?1

Lattim

ce's theo

ries preb

ably

li ?„i won't en

d th

e argum

ents th

at h

ate

go

ne o

n fo

r five y

ears

l '.since

on Kennedy's death,

i. but they do add suppart to thaae w

ho

say th

at the W

arren G

em-

41 -., ' i elusion.

/ mission reached the .pro;cr con-

;4i ch:ca.:,: D

aly Now

. _

,.,...., f ,, ,r. , t

• 1

; . ••••..7

1.:

eg .VS5 21E17

pc),,t J

I

B

"If it had

n't b

een m

iS-sig

hied

' in

this w

he la

st bulle

t I w

ou

ld h

ave h

it Airs. K

ennedy's h

ead," h

e said.

!S

AN

DIE

GO

, Gal. (A

I') — A

I:

( federal g

rant! jury 11::5

three 3.7:tilne priv:Ites en ehar;..Tos

o`m

a king th l'03 Is

irtSt P

reS1-

den

t J()I1S

On.

Nralned

in th

e in

dic

tments

11',:`re-' Kerm

it J. Neum

ann, 21, of C

rosse, M

s.; Rick

y la. L

ot-trell, 17, of la-vansville, Ind., and A

aro

n T

. Hale

, 17,

De-s

Mo

ines, Io

wa. T

he ch

arges are

. a

l president. a' b

ased

on

letters written

to th

el '

24 Obtober 1968 Professor John K. Lattimer Department of Urology College of Physicians and Surgeons 620 West 168 Street

.New York 10032

•

• Dear Dr. Lattimer,

In the light of our exchange of letters in February 1967, I read with particular interest the story in today's New York Post reporting your address at the International College of Surgeons' Museum and Hall of Fame at Chicago ("Doctor Says One Bullet Bit

'JFE and Connally").

. .I am hesitant to comment on the basis of a press report that may be inaccurate or incomplete on the arguments you have presented in support of the single-bullet theory and the conclusions set forth in the Warren Report. I should therefore be grateful to receive the full text of your speech at Chicago, if that is possible.

Meanwhile, I may perhaps mention some immediate reactions to the thesis you reportedly presented. You claim that the stretcher bullet was, in fact, deformed. The flattened side must have been turned away from the camera, then, for photographs

ti of the stretcher bullet show it to be undeformed and indistinguishable from the test : bullets fired into cotton (see Six Seconds in Dallas by J. D. Thompson, page 152)

You state that the first bullet fired hit a tree branch, but the news story does not indicate what evidence you presented in support of your conclusion. Perhaps I will find that in the taroryoUr speech, so I leave the ouestion aside for the element. However, I must take issue with your assertion that the second :sot steuck the back of the President's neck and "came out at the knot of his tie." The bullet in question entered the back, not the back of the neck, about four inches below the top of the collar, as conclusively shown by the holes in the shirt and coat and by the autopsy surgeons' measurement of 51 inches below the tip of the right mastoid • process of the prone body. Since the President was erect.when shot, the actual distance from the tip of the right mastoid process is greater by about 2 inches--this you can easily confirm by experiment. Therefore, the bullet in question could not exit at the knot of the tie unless it was on an upward path of flight;

There is considerable evidence against your conclusion that ono bullet inflicted all of Connally's wounds. Connally's physicians at Parkland Hospital, after viewing tho stretcher bullet, expressed serious doubt that it had produced all his wounds:• Drs. Light and Dolce of the U.S. Army agewood Arsenal "oxprossod thomeelvos an being very strongly of tho opinion that Connally bad boon hit by two Cifforont bnliota" (:;;;D, pug() :.06). Tho bows Aliquiry un tho Worron Uopnel. (Juno 1'n oondnoLodi. wound ponotration tests using gointin 1,1,a milooniLu to eimuiate the path eucribed to the stretcher bullet by the Warren Commission. .Although the CBS tests omitted simulation of the rib, not one of their test bullets completed all the penetrations. Some failed to penetrate the simulated wrist; not ore penetrated the simulated thigh. CBS failed to display any of the test bullets, and denied my request for photographs or detailed. descriptions from which I might compare their condition with that of the stretcher bullet.

Your contention that the bullet in question could penetrate four feat of wood is certainly arresting, when it could not penetrate masonite in the CBS tests, or just managed to do.so and drop out on the other side completely spent. The press report dace not mention the condition in which your that bullet(s) emerged from four feet of wood; It is perhaps safe to assume they did not resemble the stretcher bullet.

Dr. John K. Lattimer -2- 24 October. 196S

In discussing the fatal head Shot, you seem not to have acknowledged or discussed the introvertible evidence that the bullet that struck the head thrust the President very forcefUlly backward and to the left (see SSD, Chapter 5; The Case for Three Assassins by Lifton and Welsh, Ramparts, January 1967; or Accessories After the

, pp. 159-165). No one has yet been able to refute my colleagues' and my conclusion that this shot came from the front and right of the car, although the. evidence and arguments have been on record for at least a year. I would find • it incomprehensible if any serious scholar discussed the fatal head shot without

' addressing himself to the widely-published evidence that the bullet came from the right front and not from the Depository.

If I was nonplused by your four feet of wood, I an really awed by your experience as a rifleman. You got three hits in a target head (moving target?) in 6.i seconds, although you are an amateur or believe that any amateur could do as well. That casts a most mortifying reflection on the Commission's three master riflemen and on CBS-TV's eleven expert marksmen. . .

The Commission's three master riflemen fired six series of three shots, five of which failed to match your accuracy or speed. CBS-TV's eleven experts fired 21 series of three shots, with an over-all average of less than one hit per series. . Of the 20 series fired within the constraint of 7.5 seconds, the average was 1.2 hits for each three shots fired.

If you, a noneprofersional, succeeded where so many rifle champions failed, 1 can only hope that you were nowhere near Dallas on November 22nd , five years ago!

I look forward to an opportuhity of seeing your paper in its entirety and will of course withdraw any comments based on the newspaper story which may be unwarranted in terms of the full text.

YouP sincerely,

/Ky.! via r "■0/ Wpst 3.2 ;;I,Tont

10014

College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University I New York, N.Y. 10032

DEPARTMENT OF UROLOGY 620 West 168th Street

November 19, 1968

Mrs. Sylvia Meagher 302 West 12th Street New York, New York 10014

Dear Mrs. Meagher:

My apologies for your letter of 24 October. scientific meetings in the correspondence is terribly

the long delay in replying to It seems that there are as many Fall as in the Spring, and my behind.

I am afraid you will be very disappointed in the

manuscript which is about to appear in the publication of

the INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS. It is strictly

factual, and limits itself to our own observations, fairly

carefully. Tt—T§ frimarily a feasibility study which we

did on the bullets and ammunition to try to find out for

ourselves whether it was possible for a single bullet to

do all the things attributed to 399.

Unfortunately, the newspaper repdrt is a mixture of

speculative conversation, intermingled with factual material

from the article.

I cannot explain any discrepancies between our

findings and those of others, since I am not familiar. with

their research methods and did not even see the motion

picture to which you refer. You will be interested that a

letter from Professor Thompson and another one from his book

publisher arrived in the same mail as yours. They are buried

in a pile of unfinished correspondence before me, and since

the specific gravity of your notepaper is'obviously better

than theirs, your letter has surfaced first, and I am replying

to it at once.

I will send you a reprint as soon as they arrive,

which will probably be a few more weeks, judging from past

experience.

-2-

Mrs. Sylvia Meagher

With regard to the capability of the rifle, in the

hands of amateur marksman, I can only say that we tried to

simulate Mr. Oswald's situation by undertaking deliberate

and repetitive "dry-firing" practice until we were thoroughly

familiar with the operation of the rifle, and then took

advantage of the near-perfect arrangements which he had made

for himself in his shooting position. It was as surprising

to us, as it was to you, how quickly we learned to do what

was necessary.

Glad to learn of your continued interest.

Sincerely,

John K. Lattimer, M.D., Sc.D. Professor of Urology ehaiman, Department of Urology;

JKL:jm