Customer Reviews

Mortal Error: The Shot That Killed JFK, A ballistics expert's astonishing discovery of the fatal bullet that Oswald did not fire

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I read this book when it was first published after seeing Mr. Menninger on a local TV talk show. It was a very methodical, scholarly, and somewhat "dry" read, but absolutely fascinating. I had always had many questions about the assassination and the many supposed cover-ups/conspiracies.This book and theory I believe answers almost every point worthy of debate in a very plain spoken, matter-of-fact manner that leaves you stunned. This is the way most governments, officials, and beauracrats react. They don't lie- they don't reveal. They don't cover-up they- just aren't forthcoming. I've always thought that the truth would not be made known in my lifetime. Wouldn't it be nice if before they pass away some of the principals would come forward and heal the 30+ year old wounds in our country's psyche.

This is the only book that explains why SEVEN witnesses near the motorcade smelled gunpowder. No one else -- conspiracy or lone assassin theorist -- has explained that, to my knowledge. And all JFK conspiracy theories run into one scarcely acknowledged buzzsaw, the complicity of Attorney General RFK, who turned down an invitation from the Warren Commission for further comment, would have been necessary. Along the same lines, the Kennedy family has always opposed all attempts to reopen the inquiry. Bonar Menninger may have provided the only explanation possible for this attitude of the Kennedy family that is INCONSISTENT with the Warren Report's findings. If Menninger and his ballistics expert, Howard Donahue are right, and I firmly believe that they are, history would have two more ironies added to it: 1) the most controversial of all the controversial aspects of the Warren Report, the single-bullet theory WAS ACTUALLY PROVEN CORRECT; and 2) the United States government, in order to spare itself embarrassment, has been working so hard for 34 years to cover up an ACCIDENTAL HOMICIDE that it has counterproductively spawned lurid theories of deadly conspiracies. Yet the government still covers up this homicide from reflex because that's what governments do. History is indeed replete with ironies like this. One problem with the Menninger/Donahue thesis - it requires the bullet fragments found on the windshield to have arrived there after the first (missed) shot. In his 1966 tome, Six Seconds in Dallas, Josiah Thompson appears to have shown that this is unlikely to have happened since it is at odds with what the driver of the limousine witnessed (Thompson and the driver weren't responding to suppositions of an accidental homicide at the time). This is the only reservation that I have towards the theory stated in Mortal Error. It is a failing of the system that Secret Service agent, George Warren Hickey, who is still with us and other still-living former agents who were in that follow-up vehicle haven't been called to testify before a Congressional committee.

There are a lot of theories as to how Kennedy was assasinated but none of them ever explain why there was such a cover up. The theory behind this book is that the president's own detail was responsible for shooting him one of the three times he was hit. It does assume Oswald's guilt, which is difficult for a lot of people to swallow, but lays quite a foundation of ballistic evidence supporting this seemingly unbelievable theory.

I think this book does what no other theory on the assasination has been able to do. Explain why there was some sort of cover up. At the height of the cold war, the United States ACCIDENTALLY kills its own leader. I think that type of information was certainly considered to be vital to national security interests to those in power at the time.

Definitely a compelling book and a must-read for anyone interested in the assasination.

I give the book 5 stars and declare that it contains the most likely solution to the JFK mystery, but there seems to be some confusion here.

The book FULLY VALIDATES the so-called "magic bullet" theory. It most definitely DOES NOT show it to be a "myth".

The "magic bullet" theory is not and never was a "theory" anyway. Ever since 1964, when Governor Connally's physician told the Warren Commission that his patient's back wound was elongularly shaped, indicating that he was struck by an object that had first struck something else, the "magic bullet" scenario has been the only one to make sense. Anything published since 1964 for the purpose of challenging the "magic bullet" scenario is just so much chin music.

Again, the author Bonar Menninger and his consultant Howard Donahue provide an analysis that SUPPORTS the "magic bullet" scenario. Their analysis of the head wound is what differs this bo! ok from those that preceded it, and I think they are likely correct.

Howard Donahue having been recruited as an expert marksman to help prove Oswald fired all shots, found it impossible to accomplish within the known timeframe. Soon, when this was covered up, he found himself on a long journey to uncover what happened. He largely failed, helped by the cover up conducted by the Warren commission, and his inability to recover Kenndy's brain which would contain bullet/gun powder fragments. This book has excellent detail regarding ballistics, gun & bullet types. He proves the bullet from Oswalds gun could not have blown up Kennedy's head the way it was. He details how the FBI's gun type could - the very gun carried in the follow up car that day. He details the ensuing cover up by the FBI and names the FBI agent who shot the fatal bullet that killed Kennedy. The title refers to the horrible error done by an FBI agent in the act of defending the President. This is an excellent book and one that remains unrefuted, yet pushed to the back benches of Kennedy assination theory, perhaps simply because it's theory is so mundane and is so likely to be true.

All of the Kennedy assassination theories presented to date have had one large, fatal flaw. They have assumed that there was some complex, elaborate conspiracy to murder the President. Be it the Mafia, the CIA, Cubans or the Soviets; the common thread has always been many evil people, working together with absolute precision to mastermind and execute a brilliant assassination plot. Mortal Error is the first Kennedy assassination book to align with the common sense truth of Murphy's Law. Sure, Lee Harvey Oswald tried to kill the President. Yes, he fired the probably fatal neck shot. But he did not fire the horrible shot that killed the President. According to Bonar Menninger, this shot did not come from the grassy knoll. Nor was there a massive assassination conspiracy. No evil plots, just a poor Secret Service agent trying to do his job who screwed up - mortally. There was no evil conspiracy to cover up the facts. Simply a desperate government trying to make sense of a senseless accident and trying to protect the legend and reputation of the Secret Service, the president, and a family. Read this book and see if the truth doesn't resonate with you too.

It's funny how people try to figure things out sometimes and assume wrongly that a "plot," like in a work of fiction, is in operation and there'll be a conclusion. They never assume that things just "dork-up."

The Kennedy Assassination had two major "dork-ups" with a possiblity of a third. Given the magnitude of the event this is hardly surprising. Oswald was supposed to have died early on and the last shot, as this book outlines, may have been fired mistakenly by a Secret Service agent. The third dork-up may have been that the last shot fired by an honest-to-gosh assassin may not have been fatal and then we might have seen a triangulated shot from elsewhere (and that would have been very obvious on the Zapruder film). Better proof of a conspiracy would have existed.

One can imagine the panic in Dealy Plaza among the hit team when this shot came out of nowhere. Thoughts of a frame-up might have run through their heads and their response may not have been rational. Ditto for the backers. Sad that we'll probably never know the inside story.

This is a great book and might well be one of the real standouts in the analysis of the entire event. If nothing else, the author squares up a few problems with the Warren Commission evidence. A must read.

If you want a methodical and thorough book on the JFK assassination, I highly recommend this book.

The detail in how the conclusion was formed is totally amazing - and almost bulletproof from a forensics perspective.

If you think you heard all of the theories up-to-date - you haven't heard anything until you read this book. Pick it up today as it is well worth the read.

This was an enjoyable read because it stays away from the conspiracy theories and concentrates on the physical evidence

The guy behind the book was one of the expert shooters that recreated the famous 3 shots (the physical evidence suggests 3 shots were not fired from the repository). He later became a gun smith. The book is full of compelling information using mainly the physical evidence.

The explanation of the head shot in particular is illuminating. The behaviour of the bullet that hit Kennedy in the head gives us lots of information which most books and movies never mention: It had to be a shot from the back as it's the front right side of his head that blows outwards. Surprisingly I've never seen a computer animation of the head shot (wonder why?)... and that's the hardest one to explain.

The explanation of the Conelly shot (the so called magic bullet) is very good. However the diagram that goes with it confuses rather than illuminates. A better diagram would make this easier to understand:

Recent computer animations correctly locate all the parties in 3 dimesnions and show the path of the bullet clearly: There was no magic bullet... it's just that Connelly's seat was lower and further in (a very unusual and perhaps uncomfortable placement). This is one of the few books that correctly describes this. A good photo of the car shows you the same thing (such a photo is not in the book). Most people can visualise this very poorly even if they are told about it... so it continues to be a popular source of arguments.

There are many places in the book where better diagrams or photo's would have helped make the information easier to understand.

If you want a book that can be cited to resolve many arguments then this qualifies.

What is a bit disappointing is that the physical evidence from the Conelly bullet appears not have been fully tracked down.

This book was withdrawn from sale after Hickey (the secret service agent accused of shooting JFK accidently with his AR-15) sued and won an out of court settlement.

After the case the author was eventually presented with photographic evidence that changed his mind about Hickey... but many of the ballistic questions he raised remain unanswered.

This is the kind of book that will make you think back to it time and time again over the years.

:-)
PS. A book by a coroner should get to the heart of much of the physical evidence... but so far I haven't seen such a definitive book (or video). Let me know if you find one!

Different from all other "conspiracy" theory books, this is the account of Mr. Donahoe's attempt to explain the events from a purely ballistic point of view. By approaching the evidence without a predetermined idea, he has unearthed a long held secret that is so simple as to be startling. He convincingly explains the "magic bullet", the various fragments, and the relationship to the famed Zapruder film of the various shots that rang out in Dallas. And finally there is a beliavable reason for the government to "alter" the full truth. A somewhat dry, but engaging read with lots of supporting drawings, photos, and testimony.