Editing Single-bullet theory (section)

===Right to left trajectory from 6th floor window===
A further criticism of the single-bullet theory has to do with the apparent trajectory of the "single bullet". Perhaps the most outspoken critic of the single-bullet theory has been pathologist [[Cyril Wecht|Dr. Cyril Wecht]], who, as a member of the House Select Committee on Assassinations, wrote a dissenting opinion in which he explained why, in his view, the left-to-right trajectory from the sixth-floor window of the Texas School Book Depository through Kennedy's neck could not possibly intersect with Connally's right armpit.<ref>[7 HSCA 199]http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol7/html/HSCA_Vol7_0105a.htm</ref> Wecht notes that in the photographs it appears that Connally is seated in the middle of the jump seat and Kennedy is to the right side of his seat with his right arm resting on the top of the limousine side.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

According to the analysis done by the HSCA, the horizontal angle from the 6th floor window of the Texas School Book Depository to the limousine at frame 190 or so was about 13 degrees, right to left. The vertical angle was about 21 degrees downward from the horizontal plane and 18 degrees relative the car which was going down at 3 degree slope.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol6/html/HSCA_Vol6_0026b.htm |title=History Matters Archive - HSCA Appendix to Hearings - Volume VI, pg |publisher=History-matters.com |access-date=August 3, 2010}}</ref>

If Connally was seated in the middle of his seat, the bullet should have struck him to the left of his spine. The HSCA concluded that the thigh wound was made by a bullet travelling much slower than one would expect the bullet to have after exiting Kennedy's neck. The single-bullet theory holds that the bullet which struck Connally's thigh had also passed through his wrist, slowing it down in the process. Connally said that he never felt this thigh wound at any time until the next day. On the other hand, Dr. Shires, who operated on Connally's thigh wound, thought that the wound to the thigh, which he said extended to the region of the femur, could have been made by a bullet travelling at high speed striking the thigh on an angle.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh6/html/WC_Vol6_0061a.htm |title=History Matters Archive - Warren Commission Hearings, Volume VI, pg |publisher=History-matters.com |access-date=August 3, 2010}}</ref>

The HSCA concluded that Connally was not seated in the middle of his seat but was about {{convert|7|-|8|in|cm}} to the left of that position.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol6/html/HSCA_Vol6_0030b.htm |title=History Matters Archive - HSCA Appendix to Hearings - Volume VI, pg |publisher=History-matters.com |access-date=August 3, 2010}}</ref> NASA Engineer Thomas Canning provided an analysis of the photograph taken by Hugh Betzner from the rear of the limousine a moment prior to the first shot. According to Betzner, he took the picture and began winding his camera to take another when the first shot sounded.<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, 19 H 467 http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh19/html/WH_Vol19_0243a.htm</ref> It has been determined that Betzner's photograph was simultaneous with Zapruder frame 186.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol6/html/HSCA_Vol6_0029a.htm |title=History Matters Archive - HSCA Appendix to Hearings - Volume VI, pg |publisher=History-matters.com |access-date=August 3, 2010}}</ref> 

Canning could not see Connally's shoulder in Betzner's photograph and concluded that this meant that the shoulder was obscured by the person standing in front of Betzner. This, he said, put the shoulder well to the left of Kennedy's midline putting his right armpit in line with a right-to-left path through his neck. The analysis and conclusion of Canning depends on the correctness of the assumption that Connally's shoulder would have been visible if the man in front of Betzner was not there. The photo taken by James Altgens from a similar angle earlier on Houston Street would seem to indicate that Connally's shoulder was below the line of sight.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol6/html/HSCA_Vol6_0030a.htm |title=History Matters Archive - HSCA Appendix to Hearings - Volume VI, pg |publisher=History-matters.com |access-date=August 3, 2010}}</ref>