The JFK Assassination Dissected

Since President John F. Kennedy’s 1963 murder in Dallas, medical examiner and lawyer Dr. Cyril Wecht was initially inclined to accept the official theory that one person alone was responsible for the crime. But as Wecht delved into the evidence with boundless curiosity and unprecedented access, he came to understand that America had, instead, suffered a coup d’etat at the hands of rogue elements within our own government. Nobody else has Wecht’s up-close and personal experience in uncovering the facts behind this assassination—and now he is sharing it with the world. Co-authored by investigative journalist Dawna Kaufmann, this comprehensive book reveals Wecht’s analyses of the case’s forensic and medical evidence. With his keen eye and sharp tongue, Wecht wields his scalpel on JFK’s dubious autopsy report, the inept Warren Commission Report, the mishandling of crucial materials, all of the key players, and the media malpractice that has allowed the truth to remain hidden for nearly six decades.

The late Cyril H. Wecht M.D., J.D., was an internationally acclaimed forensic pathologist, attorney and medical-legal consultant who became famous for consulting on deaths with a high media profile. His expertise was called upon in cases involving John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Elvis Presley, JonBenét Ramsey, Laci Peterson and Kurt Cobain, the fatal stabbings of the family of Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald, the O.J. Simpson slayings, and the Waco Branch Davidian fire, among many others.

Dawna Kaufmann is an investigative reporter for several publications and has worked on some of the highest-profile trials and sex crime cases of our time. She’s the only journalist to have gotten an admission directly from W. Mark Felt that he was, indeed, Watergate’s “Deep Throat,” solving one of America’s greatest political debates. She has also worked as a network TV producer, as well as a staff writer on Saturday Night Live and other series.

Cyril H. Wecht, M.D., J.D. and Dawna Kaufmann
Foreword by Oliver Stone
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 307
Bibliographic Info: 22 photos, index
Copyright Date: 2022
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8511-3
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4544-5
Imprint: Exposit

Foreword by Oliver Stone 1
Preface 5
The World’s Greatest Murder Mystery 7
“The President’s Been Shot!” 9
Who Was John Fitzgerald Kennedy? 14
Kennedy as President 17
November 22, 1963 21
“Nut Country” 25
Dealey Plaza and the “Grassy Knoll” 27
Abraham Zapruder 30
Parkland Memorial Hospital 32
The Battle Over the Body 42
The Stretcher Bullet 46
The Arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald 49
LBJ Becomes President 55
Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald? 57
George de Mohrenschildt 64
Oswald in Police Custody 66
The President’s Autopsy 67
Governor John Connally’s Wounds 71
Three Funerals 76
The Zapruder Film 82
Oswald Goes Deeper 87
Major General Edwin Walker 89
Oswald in New Orleans 92
Other Oswalds? 94
Curtain Rods or a Rifle? 96
The Murder of Lee Harvey Oswald 100
Who Was Jack Ruby? 103
The Next Few Days 108
The Warren Commission 111
The Warren Commission Report 115
The President’s Autopsy Report 119
The Warren Commission’s 26 Volumes 134
Arlen Specter: A Worthy Opponent 139
My Lecture at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences 145
The Zapruder Film Screening 153
The Jack Ruby Enigma 159
Assassination Nation 171
The Ramsey Clark Panel 183
Jim Garrison 187
My Visit to the National Archives 200
Tracking JFK’s Brain 210
Dan Rather 219
More Commissions and Committees 222
The House Select Committee on Assassinations 232
Willem Oltmans and George de Mohrenschildt 238
Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs 245
Oliver Stone’s JFK 250
My Lunch with Marina 260
The Journal of the American Medical Association 269
The Assassination Records Review Board 272
Media Matters 280
Moving Forward 285
Acknowledgments 291
Index 295

• “The murder of President Kennedy remains unsolved over 58 years later. For those of us who continue to seek the truth, Dr. Wecht is our beacon and his latest book deserves your time and consideration.”–Alec Baldwin

• “Cyril Wecht and I bonded over our work on the JFK assassination, and later the RFK murder. This book proves how Cyril has never stopped fighting for justice.”—Thomas T. Noguchi, M.D.

• “When it comes to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, few people have a better understanding of the medical evidence than my friend, famed forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht. This book by Wecht and his co-author Dawna Kaufmann illustrates his passion and inspiring perseverance in finding answers to one of history’s most enduring tragedies.”—Geraldo Rivera

• “I have the greatest respect for Cyril Wecht. He’s been on the front lines of uncovering the truth of the greatest murder mystery in American history. His exposure of the Warren Commission’s tortured single bullet absurdity, proves definitively that President John F. Kennedy’s assassination was the result of a conspiracy.”—Rob Reiner