The Autopsy of John F Kennedy in Pictures

Here is the back view of a normal skull with all of its parts identified. This is important to reflect upon as one looks at the below pictures of JFK post-mortem (otherwise, this is just an article with grotesque photos and nothing more).

Here is an X-ray front view (looking face to face) of JFK's skull. Notice the complete absence of the right side of his head. Believe it or not, according to the autopsy the fatal bullet never penetrated the president. It only grazed him. The bullet, which was determined to come from a very high position above the president's head, gained speed and momentum from the great distance and carved an irregular, circular, 5-inch-wide gash on the top right side of his head, as seen in the next images.

When JFK arrived at the morgue, he was already in rigor mortis. He was described as being in excellent condition other than the fact that he had a part of the right side of his head missing.

As one can deduce from this photo, the medical staff at the Parkland Hospital in Dallas did a tracheostomy on the president in hopes of reviving him. It didn't matter that a crucial part of his brain was missing. They were desperate to make an attempt to resuscitate him. The president was pronounced dead approximately 30 to 40 minutes after he was fatally wounded.

Contrary to popular belief, the president was shot from the back, not the front, as this site explains. When the president was shot, he went into convulsions, followed by muscular seizing (not unlike seizures, but this occurs in the moment of death). This is what caused the president to fall backwards. Also, his head, despite having a large part missing, stayed mostly together. In other words, skin kept the bone pieces now displaced from not detaching from the body.

trajectory of bullet

Trajectory of the bullet.

Please note that the skull fragments are imploded only to show detail, not an actuality of what happened.

What the public either doesn't know about or remember – maybe they have forgotten – is the second bullet wound. It was the more controversial wound because it was never properly photographed and the wound was tampered with by the medical staff doing the tracheostomy on the president.

It is believed that the bullet went through the upper part of the back of his neck between his shoulder blades and out through his throat where the tracheostomy was performed.

JFK's back of the head.

Through a very detailed investigation, it was determined that the president was only hit with two bullets, the one in the neck/back area being superficial and not fatal, and the one in the head obviously the fatal shot. Both shots came from the rear, as the president was leaning forward and talking to Jackie O as they descended down the incline of the infamous Dallas street.

Some people in the government argue that this picture of the president's back is inaccurate and reflects manipulation of the body. However, as far as anyone can discern, it is a true and accurate autopsy photo.

One of the arguments pertaining to the photo's inaccuracy is due to the lack of holes in the president's jacket. It seems silly to me to argue this point as the bullet injury to the back/neck was not the fatal blow. It was, as you will see more graphically in the next image, the head shot.

One thing is for certain. No matter how one felt about politics or JFK's political stance, no one deserved to be gunned down. This man was better remembered for a horrible day November 22, 1963 when he should have been remembered for the accomplishments made in his life.

The last words that JFK heard before being murdered were the words of Nellie Connally: "Mr. President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you." Then as the mortally wounded president slumped over, gasping his last breath, his loving wife stated these chilling words: "They have killed my husband," and "I have his brains in my hand."

Again, whether one loved the president or not, this site reflects the American intrigue in his assassination, confirming as it does that the National Archives and Records Administration has over 2,000 square feet of archives on the assignation alone. Everything is there, including clothing and the windshield of the limousine that JFK rode in that day.

Here's a digitally remastered video of the JFK assassination.

My deepest thanks goes to Debra Conway for permitting me to publish these photos in this article.