Secret Service Agent Casts Doubt on JFK ‘Magic Bullet’ Theory
An ex-Secret Service agent, Paul Landis, who was in close proximity to President John F. Kennedy on that fateful day of November 22, 1963, has raised questions about the long-standing ‘magic bullet’ theory. This theory explained how a single bullet killed JFK and injured Texas Governor John Connally Jr. during the motorcade in Dallas, Texas.
As history tells it, gunshots rang out, with President Kennedy hit in the head and neck, and Governor Connally struck in the back. The Warren Commission, after a government inquiry into the incident, concluded that one bullet struck the president from behind, exited through his throat, and then hit Connally. This became known as the ‘magic bullet theory.’
One key piece of evidence supporting this theory was a bullet found on Governor Connally’s stretcher at Parkland Memorial Hospital after the shooting. However, for six decades, conspiracy theorists have questioned this explanation.
Paul Landis, now 88, is challenging the Warren Commission’s findings. He claims to have found a bullet lodged in the back of the seat of the presidential limousine where Kennedy was seated. Landis spotted this bullet after the motorcade reached the hospital and placed it on the stretcher carrying the president. His account is detailed in his upcoming memoir, “The Final Witness.”
Landis, while not confirming if he believes in multiple bullets or gunmen, speculates that the bullet that struck Kennedy in the back but fell out before his body was removed from the limousine did not penetrate deeply enough to hit Connally as well.
James Robenalt, a lawyer and historian, has researched the assassination extensively and assisted Landis in processing his memories. He believes that if the ‘magic bullet’ stopped in Kennedy’s back, it contradicts the central theory of the Warren Report, the single-bullet theory, suggesting there may have been more than one bullet fired.
Landis’s revelations, however, have raised further questions. His memoir account differs from two written statements he made a week after the assassination. Initially, he reported hearing only two gunshots, not three, and did not mention entering the room where Kennedy was taken at the hospital.
Landis only realized the disparities in his memory in 2014 but remained silent because he feared he might have made a mistake by placing the bullet on the stretcher. These revelations leave us with more mysteries than answers regarding that tragic day in American history.