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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. IV - Page 112« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Dr. Robert Roeder Shaw)

Mr. Specter.
Dr. Shaw, I now show you a body diagram which is marked "Commission Exhibit No. 689."
Senator COOPER. May I ask a question before you ask that question?
When you first saw Governor Connally in the emergency room was he dressed or undressed?
Dr. SHAW. His trousers were still on. He had his shorts on, I should say, Senator Cooper, but his coat, shirt, and trousers had been removed.
Mr. Specter.
Were his clothes anywhere in the vicinity where you could have seen them?
Dr. SHAW. No; I never saw them. This is the first time that I saw them.
Mr. Specter.
That is earlier today when you examined them in this room?
Dr. SHAW. That is Correct.
Mr. Specter.
Looking at Commission Exhibit No. 689, is that a drawing which was prepared, after consultation with you, representing the earlier theory of all of the Governor's wounds having been inflicted by a single missile?
Dr. SHAW. That is Correct.
Mr. Specter.
With reference to that diagram, would you explain the position that you had earlier thought the Governor to have been in when he was wounded here?
Dr. SHAW. We felt that the Governor was in an upright sitting position, and at the time of wounding was turning slightly to the right. This would bring the three wounds, as we know them, the wound in the chest, the wound in the wrist, and the wound in the thigh into a line assuming that the right forearm was held against the lower right chest in front.
The line of inclination of this particular diagram is a little more sharply downward than is probably correct in view of the inclination of the ribs of the chest.
Mr. Specter.
Will you redraw that line, Dr. Shaw, to conform with what you believe to be----
Dr. SHAW. The fact that the muscle bundles on either side of the fifth rib were not damaged meant that the missile to strip away 10 centimeters of the rib had to follow this rib pretty much along its line of inclination.
Mr. Dulles.
I wonder if you could use that red pencil to make it a little clearer for us?
Dr. SHAW. I think these would probably work well on this paper. Perhaps this isn't a tremendous paint but it slopes just a little too much.
Mr. Specter.
You have initialed that to show your incline?
Dr. SHAW. Yes.
Mr. Specter.
With respect to the wound you described on the thigh, Dr. Shaw, was there any point of exit as to that wound?
Dr. SHAW. No.
Mr. Specter.
I now show you----
Mr. Dulles.
Could I ask one more question there, how deep was the wound of entry, could you tell at all?
Dr. SHAW. Mr. Dulles, I didn't examine the wound of the thigh so I can't testify as to that. Dr. Gregory, I think, was there at the time that the debris was carried out and he may have more knowledge than I have.
Mr. Dulles.
We will hear Dr. Gregory later?
Mr. Specter.
Yes; he is scheduled to testify as soon as Dr. Shaw concludes.
Dr. Shaw, I now show you Commission Exhibit 399 which has heretofore been identified as being a virtually whole bullet weighing 158 grains.
May I say for the record, that in the depositions which have been taken in Parkland Hospital, that we have ascertained, and those depositions are part of the overall record, that is the bullet which came from the stretcher of Governor Connally.
First, Dr. Shaw, have you had a chance to examine that bullet earlier today?
Dr. SHAW. Yes; I examined it this morning.
Mr. Specter.
Is it possible that the bullet which went through the Governor's chest could have emerged being as fully intact as that bullet is?
Dr. SHAW. Yes; I believe it is possible because of the fact that the bullet
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