Nellie Connally
Nellie Connally's recollection that her husband was struck by a different bullet than the one that hit the President has long been cited by conspiracy theorists as a refutation to the single bullet theory. But when we look closely at her actions in the Zapruder film, a different story emerges. Her apparent rebuttal was clearly based on a misperception about when her husband was wounded.
Let's first look at the sequence of events that she recalled. This is from her Warren Commission testimony, as she describes the "frightening noise” she heard that day,
Mrs. CONNALLY. ..I heard a noise, and not being an expert rifleman, I was not aware that it was a rifle. It was just a frightening noise, and it came from the right.
I turned over my right shoulder and looked back, and saw the President as he had both hands at his neck.
Mr. SPECTER. And you are indicating with your own hands, two hands crossing over gripping your own neck?
Mrs. CONNALLY. Yes; and it seemed to me there was - he made no utterance, no cry. I saw no blood, no anything. It was just sort of nothing, the expression on his face, and he just sort of slumped down. Then very soon there was the second shot that hit John.
Mrs. Connally heard a single noise, which provoked her to turn to her right. Then she describes looking to the rear and seeing the stricken President, whose arms have risen upward. It is only after that, that she hears the second of three shots, which she believed, wounded her husband.
In the Zapruder film, we see her begin to turn to her right at about, Z230. But before turning completely toward the President, she stops briefly, to examine her husband. From the Zapruder side of Elm St. we can see Governor Connally's contorted face and obvious reactions to his wounds, but during those critical seconds, his back was turned to his wife. Unaware that he has been wounded, she continues her turn to the rear, to check on the President.
She continues her turn at about Z249, and can probably see JFK by about frame 257. Of course, his arms have risen, exactly as she described in her testimony.
Watching John Connally during these same frames, we can see that in his pain, he twists sharply to his right, coincidentally, leaning in the general direction of the President. He will then turn back to his left, leaning toward the front. Mrs. Connally was aware of his actions, but misunderstood them, as her testimony demonstrates,
John had turned to his right also when we heard that first noise and shouted, "no, no, no,' and in the process of turning back around so that he could look back and see the President - I don't think he could see him when he turned to his right - the second shot was fired and hit him.
Of course, Governor Connally was not turning to check on the President. He had just suffered a massive chest wound, and was undoubtedly, turning and twisting involuntarily. In the Zapruder film, we can see him first begin to swing right, toward President Kennedy at about frame 235. He leans back to his left again by frame 285. During those same frames, his wife remains oblivious to his condition, glancing briefly to the front, (probably in response to Jean Hill who was shouting for JFK to turn for a picture), then back toward President Kennedy.
She never focuses on her husband again until frame 292. At that point, she twists abruptly back toward him, not coincidentally, at the precise instant that Mrs. Kennedy started to spin abruptly toward her own husband. Immediately after that, she pulls her husband down into her lap. Of course, this is when Mrs. Connally incorrectly believed her husband was first hit. This annotated segment makes it easy to see exactly when these things happened, including the instant when Mrs. Connally reacted to the shot that she believed, wounded the governor.
Keep a close eye on the frame numbers.
Another important corroboration came from her oft repeated statement that she never again looked back at JFK after the shot that she believed, hit him.
I never again looked in the back seat of the car after my husband was shot.
After frame 223, when the SBT shot was fired, she turned back to the rear
TWICE. But we never see her do that again, after frame 285.
Mrs. Connally's story is quite simple. She heard one report, then turned to see what happened, first briefly checking her husband who appeared to also be turning to look to the rear. Then she spotted the stricken President. At that point she has heard one
"frightening noise” and seen one victim. There was no logical reason to suspect that her husband was hurt. But then she heard that second shot, and saw (for the first time) her husband's wounds. It was understandable that she thought he was first wounded, then.
We can further confirm her error through the extremely revealing fact that Governor Connally and his wife disagreed on one critical point. The Governor testified,
...I immediately, when I was hit, I said, "Oh, no, no, no"
Mrs. Connally remembered differently. She testified,
I recall John saying "Oh, no, no, no, no". Then there was a second shot, and it hit John...
Obviously, she thought he was shouting only because the limousine was under fire, and that he was hit after the point when he shouted "Oh, no, no, no". Nellie was not the only one to get this false, but perfectly understandable, impression. Other witnesses and Secret Service agents also made the same error.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAqqWwG_bbE
This fairly brief annotated Zapruder segment, demonstrates exactly when Mrs. Connally and others in the limo reacted. Watch closely and ask yourself one
VERY critical question. When do you see her react to the shot that she believed, hit John Connally?
