JFK assassination: ‘Magic bullet’ theory cast into doubt by ex-Secret Service agent
The ‘magic bullet’ theory that describes how a single bullet killed John F Kennedy and injured another has been cast into doubt by an ex-Secret Service agent.
Paul Landis, now 88, was in close-proximity to the then president on 22 November 1963, as the motorcade, also carrying First Lady Jackie Kennedy, and Texas Governor John Connally Jr and his wife drove through Dealy Plaza in Dallas.
A series of gunshots were then fired and Mr Kennedy was hit in the head and neck, while the Texas governor was hit in the back.
For decades, and after the Warren Commission government inquiry into the incident, it was decided one of the bullets struck the president from behind before exiting from the front of his throat and hitting Mr Connally Jr.
This became known as the ‘magic bullet theory’.
Pic: AP
One of the reasons why the commission reached these results was due to a bullet found on Mr Connally Jr’s stretcher when he arrived at Parkland Memorial Hospital after the shooting.
The conclusion, that a single bullet could cause so much damage and lead to the conviction of Lee Harvey Oswald, has caused decades of speculation among conspiracy theorists for 60 years.
The limousine carrying the wounded president races toward the hospital. Pic: AP
Mr Landis’ account now challenges the Warren Commission, as he claims it was him who had found a bullet lodged in the back of the seat of the presidential limousine where Mr Kennedy was sitting.
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He spotted the bullet after the motorcade arrived at the hospital, and put it on the stretcher carrying the president. He now guesses Mr Kennedy and Mr Connally Jr’s stretchers somehow collided, meaning the bullet was shaken from one to the other.
“It was a piece of evidence, that I realised right away. Very important. And I didn’t want it to disappear or get lost,” he told The New York Times.
His account is detailed in his upcoming memoir, The Final Witness, but Mr Landis has been reluctant to speculate on the larger implications his memories might have.
In an interview with The NY Times, he said: “At this point, I’m beginning to doubt myself. Now I begin to wonder,” not confirming, if he believes there was more than one bullet or gunman.
Lee Harvey Oswald. Pic: AP
Mr Landis theorises that the bullet which struck Mr Kennedy in the back, for some reason, fell out before the president’s body was removed from the limousine and did not penetrate deeply enough to also hit Mr Connally Jr.
James Robenalt, a Cleveland lawyer and author of several books of history, has deeply researched the assassination and helped Mr Landis process his memories.
“If the bullet we know as the magic or pristine bullet stopped in President Kennedy’s back, it means that the central thesis of the Warren Report, the single-bullet theory, is wrong,” he told The NY Times.
He added that if Mr Connally Jr was hit by a separate bullet, then it seemed possible it was not from Oswald, who he argued could not have reloaded a gun that fast.
Mr Landis’ revelations have prompted even more questions rather than answering them.
Firstly, the account in the memoir differs from two written statements he filed a week after the assassination, in which he said he only heard two gunshots, not three The NY Times reported.
The Kennedy family at the president’s funeral in Washington. Pic: AP
Secondly, he did not mention going into the room where Mr Kennedy was taken at the hospital, writing that he “remained outside by the door” when the first lady went in.
Mr Landis said he did not realise his memory differed from his original account until 2014, but that he did not come forward as he said he thought he made a mistake putting the bullet on the stretcher.
“I was afraid. I started to think, did I do something wrong? There was a fear that I might have done something wrong and I shouldn’t talk about it,” he said.
US
California: 21 children taken into custody – amid claims couple misled surrogate mothers across the US
Police have taken 21 children into custody, amid allegations that a couple in Los Angeles may have misled surrogate mothers across the US.
Silvia Zhang, 38, and Guojun Xuan, 65, are believed to be the legal parents of the children, who are aged between two months and 13 years old.
“We believe one or two were born biologically to the mother,” Lieutenant Kollin Cieadlo said. “There are some surrogates who have come forward and said they were surrogates for the children.”
“The couple told police that they wanted a large family,” he added.
The home of Silva Zhang and Guojun Xuan, northeast of downtown Los Angeles
Fifteen children were removed from the couple’s home in Arcadia, about 13 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, after an abuse allegation was made. Another six living in the care of family and friends were also located.
The couple were arrested in May after a hospital reported that their two-month-old infant had a traumatic head injury – with a nanny accused of violently shaking the baby.
The infant was not taken to hospital until two days later, after they began suffering seizures.
CCTV footage recorded inside the home showed the children being emotionally and physically abused by at least six nannies.
The couple’s property had CCTV cameras, which police said recorded footage of abuse by nannies. Pic: AP
Lt Cieadlo said Zhang had produced what appeared to be legitimate birth certificates, including some from outside California, that list her as the mother of the children.
Business records show a company called Mark Surrogacy Investment LLC was previously registered at the couple’s address, although the most recent documents show the business licence ended in June.
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Police said they are investigating whether the children found at the home in the San Gabriel Valley were part of a surrogacy scam.
Lt Cieadlo also confirmed officers were working with the FBI as part of their investigation.
Kayla Elliott, one of the surrogate mothers who has come forward, told Sky’s US partner NBC News: “I was a bit hysterical. You just don’t expect that you’re going to go through a pregnancy and a delivery and then hand the baby over to their parents and then all of a sudden find out that there was abuse and neglect going on.”
Arrest warrants were issued for Zhang, Xuan and the 56-year-old nanny, who was not in custody on Wednesday. Zhang and Xuan were detained on suspicion of child endangerment/neglect.
The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, which removed the couple’s children, declined to comment on the case.
Disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell could use “government misconduct” to challenge her imprisonment, her family has claimed.
The 63-year-old, who was jailed in 2022 for luring young girls to massage rooms for Jeffrey Epstein to abuse, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.
Maxwell’s family have frequently claimed she “did not receive a fair trial”, but legal appeals against her sex trafficking convictions have been rejected by the courts.
The latest challenge from the Maxwell family comes as President Donald Trump faces questions over whether or not he will order the release of the so-called Epstein “client list”, following a backlash from Republican loyalists who have called for any list to be made public.
Ghislaine Maxwell. Pic: US Department of Justice
Judges previously dismissed arguments from Maxwell’s lawyers that she “should never have been prosecuted” because of a “weird” agreement drafted more than 15 years ago.
The family argue that Maxwell should have been protected under an agreement Epstein had entered with the US Department of Justice in 2007, which agreed not to prosecute any of his co-conspirators.
During her trial in 2021, Maxwell was described as “dangerous” by prosecutors, who told jurors about how she would entice vulnerable girls to go to Epstein’s properties for him to sexually abuse.
In a statement, her family said: “Our sister Ghislaine did not receive a fair trial.
“Her legal team continues to fight her case in the courts and will file its reply in short order to the government’s opposition in the US Supreme Court.”
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David Oscar Markus, one of her lawyers, said in the statement released by her family: “I’d be surprised if President Trump knew his lawyers were asking the Supreme Court to let the government break a deal.
“He’s the ultimate dealmaker and I’m sure he’d agree that when the United States gives its word, it should keep it.
“With all the talk about who’s being prosecuted and who isn’t, it’s especially unfair that Ghislaine Maxwell remains in prison based on a promise the US government made and broke.’
“These are sentiments with which we profoundly concur.”
Epstein, 66, was found dead in his cell at a Manhattan federal jail in August 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
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