Editing Single-bullet theory (section)

{{Short description|Theory about 1963 Kennedy assassination}}
{{for|the music groups|Single Bullet Theory (new wave band)|Single Bullet Theory (metal band)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}
[[File:Bullet found on stretcher at Parkland Memorial Hospital, CE399-1.jpg|thumb|CE 399, the single bullet described in the theory.]]

The '''single-bullet theory''', also known as the '''magic-bullet theory''',<ref>{{Cite web |author1=Marc Lallanilla |date=2013-11-20 |title=What Is the Single-Bullet Theory? |url=https://www.livescience.com/41369-single-bullet-theory-jfk-assassination.html |access-date=2023-08-02 |website=livescience.com |language=en}}</ref> was introduced by the [[Warren Commission]] in its investigation of the [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy]] to explain what happened to the [[bullet]] that struck Kennedy in the back and exited through his throat. Given the lack of damage to the [[SS-100-X|presidential limousine]] consistent with it having been struck by a high-velocity bullet, and the fact that Texas Governor [[John Connally]] was wounded and was seated on a jumper seat {{convert|1+1/2|ft|m|1|abbr=off|sp=us}} in front of and slightly to the left of the president, the Commission concluded they were likely struck by the same bullet.

Generally credited to Warren Commission staffer [[Arlen Specter]]<ref>Warren Commission staff lawyer Norman Redlich was asked by author [[Vincent Bugliosi]] in 2005 whether Specter was the sole author of the single-bullet theory and he said "No, we all came to this conclusion simultaneously." When asked whom he meant by "we", he said "Arlen, myself, Howard Willens, David Belin, and Mel Eisenberg." Specter did not respond to Bugliosi's request for a clarification on the issue. ''Reclaiming history: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy'', [[Vincent Bugliosi]] (W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2007) Endnotes, pp. 301-6.</ref> (later a [[United States Senate|United States senator]] from [[Pennsylvania]]), this theory posits that a single bullet, known as "Warren '''C'''ommission '''E'''xhibit '''399"''' or '''"CE 399"''', caused all the wounds to the governor and the non-fatal wounds to the president, which totals up to seven entry/exit wounds in both men.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/oswald/conspiracy/ |title=Conspiracy: Cases For and Against |work=[[Frontline (U.S. TV program)|Frontline]] |publisher=[[PBS]]; pbs.org |access-date=September 3, 2012}}</ref>

The theory says that a three-centimeter-long (1.2") copper-jacketed lead-core [[rifle]] bullet from a [[Carcano|Model 91/38 Carcano]], fired from the sixth floor of the [[Texas School Book Depository]], passed through President Kennedy's neck into Governor Connally's chest, went through his right wrist, and embedded itself in Connally's left thigh. If so, this bullet traversed a back brace, 15 layers of clothing, seven layers of skin, and approximately {{convert|15|in|cm}} of muscle tissue, and pulverized {{convert|4|in|cm}} of Connally's rib, and shattered his [[radius bone]].{{cn|date=March 2025}} The bullet was found on a [[gurney]] in the corridor at [[Parkland Memorial Hospital]] after the assassination. The Warren Commission found that this gurney was the one that had carried Governor Connally.<ref name="Warrencommission01">{{cite book | title=Warren Commission Report |chapter= Chapter 3 | publisher=National Archives | date=August 15, 2016 | pages=79–81 | chapter-url=https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-3.html | access-date=August 2, 2018}}</ref>
 
In its final conclusion, the Warren Commission found "persuasive evidence from the experts" that a single bullet caused President Kennedy's throat wound, and all of the wounds found in Governor Connally.<ref name="WCR-C1">{{cite book |title=Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy |url=https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/ |year=1964 |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |page=19 |chapter=Chapter 1: Summary and Conclusions |chapter-url=https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-1.html |ref={{harvid|Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Chapter 1|1964}}}}</ref> It acknowledged that there was a "difference of opinion" among members of the Commission "as to this probability", but stated that the theory was not essential to its conclusions and that all members had no doubt that all shots were fired from the sixth-floor window of the Depository building.

Most critics believe that the single-bullet theory is essential to the Warren Commission's conclusion that [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] acted alone.<ref>Bugliosi, p. 456.</ref> The reason for this is timing: if, as the Warren Commission found, President Kennedy was wounded some time between frames 210 and 225 of the [[Zapruder film]],<ref>'' Warren Commission Report'', p. 105.</ref> and Governor Connally was wounded in the back/chest no later than frame 240,<ref>''Warren Commission Report'', p. 106.</ref> there would not have been enough time between the wounding of the two men for Oswald to have fired two shots from his [[bolt-action rifle]]. FBI marksmen, who test-fired the rifle for the Warren Commission, concluded that the "minimum time for getting off two successive well-aimed shots on the rifle is approximately 2 and a quarter seconds", or 41 to 42 Zapruder frames.<ref>Testimony of L. Shaneyfelt, 5 H 153-154</ref><ref>''Warren Commission Report'', pp. 97, 106.</ref>

The [[United States House Select Committee on Assassinations]] published their report in 1979 stating that their "forensic pathology panel's conclusions were consistent with the so-called single bullet theory advanced by the Warren Commission".<ref name="HCSA-IA">{{cite book |title=Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations of the U.S. House of Representatives |url=https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/select-committee-report/ |year=1979 |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |page=44 |chapter=I.A. |chapter-url=https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/select-committee-report/part-1a.html}}</ref>