The conclusion that the Governor’s wrist was not struck by a pristine bullet was based upon the following: (1) greater damage was inflicted on the test material than on the Governor’s wrist;[C3-247] (2) the test material had a smaller entry wound and a larger exit wound, characteristic of a pristine bullet, while the Governor’s wrist had a larger entry wound as compared with its exit wound, indicating a bullet which was tumbling;[C3-248] (3) cloth was carried into the wrist wound, which is characteristic of an irregular missile;[C3-249] (4) the partial cutting of a radial nerve and tendon leading to the Governor’s thumb further suggested that the bullet which struck him was not pristine, since such a bullet would merely push aside a tendon and nerve rather than catch and tear them;[C3-250] (5) the bullet found on the Governor’s stretcher probably did not pass through the wrist as a pristine bullet because its nose was not considerably flattened, as was the case with the pristine bullet which struck the simulated wrist;[C3-251] and (6) the bullet which caused the Governor’s thigh injury and then fell out of the wound had a “very low velocity,” whereas the pristine bullets fired during the tests possessed a very high exit velocity.[C3-252]
All the evidence indicated that the bullet found on the Governor’s stretcher could have caused all his wounds. The weight of the whole bullet prior to firing was approximately 160-161 grains and that of the recovered bullet was 158.6 grains.[C3-253] An X-ray of the Governor’s wrist showed very minute metallic fragments, and two or three of these fragments were removed from his wrist.[C3-254] All these fragments were sufficiently small and light so that the nearly whole bullet found on the stretcher could have deposited those pieces of metal as it tumbled through his wrist.[C3-255] In their testimony, the three doctors who attended Governor Connally at Parkland Hospital expressed independently their opinion that a single bullet had passed through his chest; tumbled through his wrist with very little exit velocity, leaving small metallic fragments from the rear portion of the bullet; punctured his left thigh after the bullet had lost virtually all of its velocity; and had fallen out of the thigh wound.[C3-256]