Mr. SPECTER. Will you refer to your notes, then?
Dr. OLIVIER. The notebook is in the safe in there in the briefcase.
Mr. SPECTER. Would you get the notebook and refer to it so we can be as
specific as possible on this point.
Dr. OLIVIER. I have the location of that wound.
Mr. SPECTER. Would you give us then the precise location of the wound
caused by bullet identified as 857?
Dr. OLIVIER. The entrance wound is 2.9 centimeters to the right and
almost horizontal to the occipital protuberance. This is almost exactly
where we were aiming. We were aiming 2 centimeters to the right.
Mr. SPECTER. I now hand you a photograph marked as Commission Exhibit
861, move its admission into evidence, and ask you to state what that
depicts.
Dr. OLIVIER. This is the skull in question, the same one from which the
fragments marked Exhibit 857 were recovered.
Mr. SPECTER. And what does that show as to damage done to the skull?
Dr. OLIVIER. It blew the whole side of the cranial cavity away.
Mr. SPECTER. How does that compare, then, with the damage inflicted on
President Kennedy?
Dr. OLIVIER. Very similar. I think they stated the length of the
defect, the missing skull was 13 centimeters if I remember correctly.
This in this case it is greater, but you don't have the limiting scalp
holding the pieces in so you would expect it to fly a little more but
it is essentially a similar type wound.
Mr. SPECTER. Does the human scalp work to hold in the human skull in
such circumstances to a greater extent than the simulated matters used?
Dr. OLIVIER. Yes; we take this into account.
Mr. SPECTER. I hand you Commission Exhibit 862, move its admission into
evidence, and ask you what that depicts?
Dr. OLIVIER. This is the same skull. This is just looking at it
from the front. You are looking at the exit. You can't see it here
because the bone has been blown away, but the bullet exited somewhere
around--we reconstructed the skull. In other words, it exited very
close to the superorbital ridge, possibly below it.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you formulate any other conclusions or opinions based
on the tests on firing at the skull?
Dr. OLIVIER. Well, let's see. We found that this bullet could do
exactly--could make the type of wound that the President received.
Also, that the recovered fragments were very similar to the ones
recovered on the front seat and on the floor of the car.
This, to me, indicates that those fragments did come from the bullet
that wounded the President in the head.
Mr. SPECTER. And how do the two major fragments in 857 compare, then,
with the fragments heretofore identified as 567 and 569?
Dr. OLIVIER. They are quite similar.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you have an opinion as to whether the wound on the
Governor's wrist could have been caused by a fragment of a bullet
coming off of the President's head?
Dr. OLIVIER. I don't believe so. Frankly, I don't know, but I don't
believe so, because it expended so much energy in blowing the head
apart and took a lot of energy that I doubt if they could have
fractured the radius. The radius is a very strong, hard bone and I
don't believe they could have done that much damage. I believe they
could have caused a superficial laceration on someone or a mark on the
windshield, but I don't believe they could have done that damage to the
wrist.
Mr. DULLES. And it couldn't have then gone through the wrist into the
thigh?
Dr. OLIVIER. I don't believe so.
Mr. SPECTER. Have you had an opportunity to examine a fragment
identified as Commission Exhibit 842 which is the fragment taken from
Governor Connally's wrist?
Dr. OLIVIER. Yes, I have.
Mr. SPECTER. Could that fragment have come from the bullet designated
as Commission Exhibit 399?
Dr. OLIVIER. Yes, I believe it would have, I will add further I believe
it could have because the core of the bullet extrudes through the back
and would allow part of it to break off very readily.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you have an opinion as to whether, in fact, bullet
399 did cause the wound on the Governor's wrist, assuming if you will
that it was the missile found on the Governor's stretcher at Parkland
Hospital?
Dr. OLIVIER. I believe that it was. That is my feeling.
Mr. SPECTER. To be certain that the record is complete on the skull
tests, would you again state the distance at which those tests were
performed?
Dr. OLIVIER. Yes, the skulls--it was fired at the skulls at a range of
90 yards.
Mr. SPECTER. With what gun?
Dr. OLIVIER. The 6.5 mm. Carcano which was marked Commission Exhibit
139 and using Western ammunition lot 6,000, again the 6.5 mm.
Mannlicher-Carcano.
Mr. SPECTER. Going to the results of the test on the cadavers, what was
the average exit velocity?
Dr. OLIVIER. The average exit velocity on the wrist was 1,776 feet per
second.
Mr. SPECTER. Had Governor Connally's wrist been struck with a pristine
bullet and the bullet exited at that speed, what damage would have been
inflicted had it then struck the area of the thigh which was struck on
the Governor according to the Parkland Hospital records which you have
said you have examined?
Dr. OLIVIER. It would have made a very severe wound.
Mr. SPECTER. Would it have been more severe than the one which was
inflicted?
Dr. OLIVIER. Much more so.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you have anything to add, Dr. Olivier, which you think
would be helpful to the Commission in any way?
Dr. OLIVIER. No; I don't believe so.
Mr. DULLES. I have no further questions.
Mr. SPECTER. That completes my questions, Mr. Dulles.
Mr. DULLES. Thank you very much. We appreciate very much your coming.
(Discussion off the record.)