The testimony of Jane Carolyn Wester was taken on March 20, 1964,
at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas. Tex., by Mr. Arlen Specter,
assistant counsel of the President's Commission.
Mr. SPECTER. Miss Wester, this is Miss Oliver the court reporter and
she will take down your testimony here and will you raise your right
hand and take the oath?
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you will give in this
proceeding will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth, so help you God?
Miss WESTER. I do.
Mr. SPECTER. May the record preliminarily show that the purpose of this
proceeding is in connection with the President's Commission on the
Assassination of President Kennedy to ascertain facts relating to the
assassination and all medical treatment obtained by President Kennedy
and Governor Connally following their being shot.
The witness at the moment is Miss Jane Wester who has been asked to
testify concerning any facts of which she has knowledge concerning
treatment of President Kennedy or Governor Connally and the disposition
of Governor Connally's clothing and sheet in which he was wrapped at
the time the Governor was brought into the operating room at Parkland
Memorial Hospital.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you state your full name, for the record, please?
Miss WESTER. Jane Carolyn Wester.
Mr. SPECTER. And what is your residence address, Miss Wester?
Miss WESTER. 1107 Brockbank, Dallas.
Mr. SPECTER. Have you received a letter of notification from the
President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
advising you that I would contact you for the purpose of taking
testimony from you in connection with this proceeding, Miss Wester?
Miss WESTER. Yes; I have.
Mr. SPECTER. And at that time did you receive the copies of the
Executive order creating the Commission and the rules and regulations
relating to the taking of testimony?
Miss WESTER. Yes, sir; I did.
Mr. SPECTER. And are you satisfied to appear here today and answer some
questions relating to your participation in the treatment of Governor
Connally?
Miss WESTER. Yes, sir; I am.
Mr. SPECTER. And President Kennedy?
Miss WESTER. Yes, sir.
Mr. SPECTER. What is your occupation or profession, please?
Miss WESTER. I am a registered nurse.
Mr. SPECTER. And at what institution are you employed?
Miss WESTER. Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas.
Mr. SPECTER. And how long have you been so employed at Parkland
Memorial Hospital?
Miss WESTER. Nine years--or 9 1/2.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you outline your duties in a general way as they were
back on November 22, 1963?
Miss WESTER. I am assistant supervisor in the operating room, and I
assign personnel duties, direct them in their activities.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you receive notice on that date that President Kennedy
and Governor Connally were en route to Parkland Memorial Hospital to
receive treatment?
Miss WESTER. I was not aware that they were in the hospital.
Mr. SPECTER. When was it first brought to your attention, if at all?
Miss WESTER. At noon, around noon--noontime--I'm not sure as to the
exact time it was. I was relieving the secretary for lunch and the
phone rang. Someone in the pathology department asked if the President
were in the operating room and I answered them, "No," and they said
that a Secret Service agent was down there and as soon as the
President did arrive in the operating room, would I please call them.
Mr. SPECTER. What was your next connection, if any, with respect to the
treatment of either President Kennedy or Governor Connally at Parkland?
Miss WESTER. I received a phone call from the emergency room asking us
to set up for a craniotomy.
Mr. SPECTER. And what is a craniotomy in lay language?
Miss WESTER. That's an exploration of the head.
Mr. SPECTER. Was there any other request made at that time?
Miss WESTER. Yes--well--immediately following, following that I
received a call to set up for a thoracotomy, which is an exploration of
the chest.
Mr. SPECTER. And were those two set ups made in accordance with the
requests you received?
Miss WESTER. Yes; I immediately assigned personnel to set up these two
rooms for these two cases.
Mr. SPECTER. And what room was used for the craniotomy?
Miss WESTER. The craniotomy was set up in room 7.
Mr. SPECTER. And what room was used for the thoracotomy?
Miss WESTER. The thoracotomy was set up in room 5.
Mr. SPECTER. And on what floor were the two rooms?
Miss WESTER. Well, on the south wing of the second floor.
Mr. SPECTER. What happened next in connection with this matter?
Miss WESTER. I assigned personnel to take care of the doorways to keep
traffic out of the operating room and keep people back--keep the halls
clear. Shortly thereafter, Governor Connally arrived in the operating
room with several doctors--arrived by stretcher.
Mr. SPECTER. Now, in what way did a stretcher arrive from the first
floor, or by what means of locomotion?
Miss WESTER. The stretcher arrived by an elevator which is in the
operating room--it comes directly from emergency room and which--there
were several doctors with him that brought the stretchers up.
Mr. SPECTER. And what happened to the stretcher after it left the
elevator on the second floor of the operating room area?
Miss WESTER. The doctors brought this and were proceeding down the
hall, and I met them in the center of the operating room suite itself.
Mr. SPECTER. About how far is that from the elevator door?
Miss WESTER. Approximately 50 feet.
Mr. SPECTER. What was done then with Governor Connally on the
stretcher, following the point where you met them?
Miss WESTER. We proceeded to room 5 and outside of room 5 we
transferred Governor Connally from the stretcher onto an operating
table and removed his clothes from the bottom of the stretcher and
placed them in the hallway by the operating table.
Mr. SPECTER. In what way was Governor Connally dressed or robed when
you first saw him on the stretcher?
Miss WESTER. As far as I know, the only thing he had was a sheet on
him. He had no hospital gown or anything else that I know of on.
Mr. SPECTER. Had his clothes then been removed by that time?
Miss WESTER. Yes; he arrived without his clothes. They were on the
bottom of the cart in a paper sack.
Mr. SPECTER. And you said he was transferred from the stretcher onto an
operating table?
Miss WESTER. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. Now, was that inside the operating room? Or outside the
operating room?
Miss WESTER. No; it's in the hallway right outside room 5--we
transferred him onto the operating table, and then moved the table into
the operating room.
Mr. SPECTER. And did he have any clothing on at the time you
transferred him from the stretcher onto the operating table?
Miss WESTER. I don't recall any clothes that he had on.
Mr. SPECTER. What was then done with Governor Connally on the operating
table?
Miss WESTER. The operating table was moved into the operating room and
at that time they proceeded to start anesthetics on him and put him to
sleep.
Mr. SPECTER. What doctors were in attendance of Governor Connally at
that time.
Miss WESTER. Dr.--there were many--Dr. Giesecke, G-i-e-s-e-c-k-e
(spelling)--there were so many. Dr. Ray, I believe, was there, and
there were many others--right offhand, I can't remember.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you go into the operating room at that time?
Miss WESTER. I went as far as the doorway with him.
Mr. SPECTER. Now, what was done with the stretcher on which he came to
that point?
Miss WESTER. I took the stretcher and rolled it to the center area of
the operating room suite--rolled the sheets up on the stretcher into a
small bundle.
Mr. SPECTER. Was there one sheet or more than one sheet?
Miss WESTER. I believe there were two sheets and I rolled one inside
the other up into a small bundle.
Mr. SPECTER. What is the next normal procedure with respect to the
number of sheets on such a stretcher in like circumstances?
Miss WESTER. The cart--the mattress on the cart is covered with one
sheet, the patient is usually covered with another. When they arrive in
the operating room the sheet covering the patient is removed and a grey
cotton blanket is placed over the patient and the sheets are rolled up
and usually returned to the emergency room with the cart.
Mr. SPECTER. What else, if anything, was on that stretcher?
Miss WESTER. There were several glassine packets, small packets of
hypodermic needles--well, packed in and sterilized in. There were
several others-some alcohol sponges and a roll of 1-inch tape. Those
things, I definitely know, were on the cart, and the sheets, of course.
Mr. SPECTER. Were there any other objects on the cart, on the stretcher
cart?