What photographic or video evidence exists showing the neck wound's characteristics and surrounding tissue?
Executive summary
Photographic and video evidence available in public records includes autopsy photographs and X‑rays held in the National Archives and shown in prior releases, plus contemporaneous hospital photos and many amateur motion pictures (most famously the Zapruder film); official panels concluded a bullet entered Kennedy’s upper back and exited the front of his neck while a separate shot struck the head (Warren Commission and later HSCA summaries) [1] [2]. Debate continues because Parkland doctors described the throat wound differently and because autopsy photographs and handling have been criticized as incomplete or inconsistently described by later panels [3] [4].
1. What photographic/video evidence exists and where it’s archived
The National Archives retains autopsy photographs and X‑rays and the Select Committee (HSCA) drew on those materials when restating that “one bullet hit the President near the base of the back of the neck, slightly to the right of the spine, and exited from the front of the neck” [1]. The Warren Commission and later official reports relied on autopsy imagery and X‑rays as central physical evidence for wound characterization [2]. The Zapruder film and other civilian movies and still photos from Dealey Plaza are widely discussed in the official record and in independent reconstructions; those motion pictures are often cited to corroborate timing and head movement rather than fine soft‑tissue wound detail [1] [5].
2. Autopsy photographs and X‑rays: what they show and limits of interpretation
Autopsy images and radiographs show two principal wounds noted in official reports: a small wound at the base/front of the neck and a large destructive wound of the right rear/side of the head [6] [2]. Officials reported the neck wound passed between neck strap muscles, bruised lung apex and damaged the trachea on its track, which informed the conclusion of a back‑to‑front trajectory for that shot [2]. However, many researchers and clinicians have pointed out the autopsy record and photos were not definitive for directional micro‑features (e.g., lack of consistent localization to fixed landmarks) and that the written autopsy was prepared without full cross‑reference to all photographs and X‑rays [4].
3. Parkland Hospital photos and clinicians’ observations — a competing account
Several Parkland physicians who first treated Kennedy described a throat wound they initially considered an entrance wound; Dr. Malcolm Perry’s early statements and other Parkland doctors’ recollections have fueled alternative interpretations that a shot may have come from the front [3] [7]. These clinicians also performed a tracheotomy on the small anterior neck wound while attempting resuscitation, a procedure acknowledged to have altered the wound’s appearance and thereby complicated later autopsy interpretation [7] [2].
4. Official panels’ use of imagery vs. later critiques
The Warren Commission and subsequent HSCA both used the photographic and radiographic record to support the single‑assassin, rear‑shot findings; the HSCA reiterated a rear‑to‑front path for the neck wound in its forensic summary [1] [2]. But the HSCA and later commentators criticized the original Bethesda autopsy’s documentation and noted that entrance/exit wound localization was not consistently tied to fixed body landmarks in the original autopsy report — an omission that leaves room for interpretive disagreement when viewing the photos [4].
5. Digital reconstructions and ballistic simulations that rely on imagery
Independent labs and researchers have used the available photos, X‑rays and film frames to create digital reconstructions and ballistic simulations. Some computational studies conclude the head shot was from the rear consistent with official origin (Texas School Book Depository), using motion picture evidence and autopsy imagery as inputs [5] [8]. These studies depend on assumptions about body position, clothing and precise autopsy landmarking; critics note those assumptions amplify uncertainty given the documented gaps in the original photographic record [8] [4].
6. What is not resolved by the photos/videos
Available sources document the existence of autopsy photographs, X‑rays and multiple Dealey Plaza films and state that they were central to official findings, but they also record that the autopsy documentation was incomplete and contested [1] [4]. Available sources do not mention any definitive, universally agreed micro‑photographic evidence (for example, high‑resolution forensic mapping showing clear rifling‑direction markers in tissue) that settles the debate over whether the neck wound was an entrance or exit beyond the interpretive conclusions of different clinicians and panels [4] [2].
Bottom line
Photographic and video evidence exists in archived autopsy photos, X‑rays and Dealey Plaza films and was used by official inquiries to conclude a back‑to‑front neck wound and a separate fatal head wound [1] [2]. The same images, together with Parkland clinicians’ contemporaneous descriptions and acknowledged weaknesses in autopsy documentation, sustain ongoing, legitimate dispute among clinicians and independent researchers about the precise wound direction and tissue‑level features [3] [4].