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Mortal Error

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Mortal Error: The Shot That Killed JFK
AuthorBonar Menninger
LanguageEnglish
PublisherSt Martin's Press
Publication date
May 1992
Publication placeUSA
Media typePrint
Pages361 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBNISBN 0312080743 Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character


Mortal Error: The Shot That Killed JFK is a 1992 non-fiction book by Bonar Menninger describing a theory by sharpshooter, gunsmith and ballistics expert Howard Donahue that a Secret Service agent accidentally fired the shot that actually killed President John F. Kennedy.[1][2] Mortal Error was published by St Martin's Press in both hardback, paperback, and audiobook.

Menninger is also the author of And Hell Followed With It: Life and Death in a Kansas Tornado, which won a Kansas Notable Book Award in 2011. [3]

Synopsis

Donahue first became interested in the story of the JFK assassination after being invited to participate in a recreation of the shooting as one of eleven invited marksmen and sharpshooters.[2] He demonstrated that it would have been possible for Lee Harvey Oswald to have fired three shots in the time specified by the Warren Commission. However the experience highlighted to Donahue other questions regarding the Warren report, and in particular the fact that the testimony of ballistics experts seemed to have been completely omitted from the Commission's evidence gathering.[4]

Donahue eventually decided that the bullet that struck Kennedy in the head had in fact been fired by agent George Hickey from an AR-15 carried in a secret service car following the President's vehicle. However he also decided that a previous shot had already critically wounded Kennedy before the head shot was fired.[5]

His reconstruction of the trajectories of the shots that struck Kennedy and Governor Connally supported the single-bullet theory, claiming that the impossible trajectory suggested by the Warren Commission was only necessary because there was an error in their positioning of Connally. Donahue concluded that this was Oswald's second shot, the first having missed owing to the misalignment of the rifle's telescopic sight, and that Oswald had not fired a third shot, the third cartridge case found at the scene having been a bent and empty one used to keep the rifle's chamber clean. His examination of the intact bullet found at the Dallas hospital supported the claim that it was the one that had inflicted these wounds. [6]

Reception

Reaction to Mortal Error has been mixed.[7] James Balducki of the Associated Press cited that Donahue's "scrupulousness" made his theory of the JFK assassination plausible.[8] Balducki praised the book, saying "Menninger interprets the story with a sharpness and fluidity that never unravels amid the surge of detail".[8] David Pietrusza called Donahue's theory unusual due to him not tying the assassination to Mafia, CIA, or FBI, but that there were "still problems with Donahue's theory".[9] The Hamilton Spectator criticized Mortal Error as "missing the mark".[10]

Lawsuit

Prior to the publication of the book in 1992, both the publisher and the author contacted Hickey to invite his participation in the book and offering him a chance to respond to the allegations.In 1995 Hickey sued St. Martin's Press over the claims made in Mortal Error.[11][12] The suit was eventually dismissed in 1997 on the grounds that Hickey had waited too long after the book's initial publication to file against the publisher.[13] Hickey refiled suit when the paper-back edition was published, and later settled with St Martin's Press in 1998 on undisclosed terms.[14]

The Smoking Gun

Australian investigator Colin McLaren created a 90-minute documentary and book based on and supporting Donahue's theory, both titled JFK: The Smoking Gun. The documentary aired on Australian and American television on November 3, 2013. [15] [16] [17] The documentary features re-enactments, archival footage, and new interviews with Menninger, with Donahue's daughter, and with witnesses to the shooting.

References

  1. ^ "Mortal error? Agent's accidental shot killed JFK, book asserts". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. February 23, 1992. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  2. ^ a b Hunter, Stephen (February 23, 1992). "Author says friendly fire killed JFK". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  3. ^ ISBN 978-1934572498
  4. ^ Burnes, Brian (1992-02-21). "Another JFK theory: An accident Kansas City man's book says fatal bullet was fired by a Secret Service agent". Kansas City Star. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Agent's Error Killed Kennedy, Book Says". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. February 23, 1992. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  6. ^ Mortal Error, ISBN 0-283-06136-7
  7. ^ Bready, James (February 27, 1992). "The 'JFK' theory that's too simple for Americans to believe". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  8. ^ a b Balducki, James (Jun 7, 1992). "New JFK assassination book just another theory". Observer-Reporter. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  9. ^ Pietrusza, David (1996). Mysterious Deaths - John F. Kennedy. Lucent Books. pp. 71–72. ISBN 1560062630.
  10. ^ Legall, Mark (Mar 28, 1992). "'Fumbling agent shot JFK' theory misses the mark". Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  11. ^ "Suit Filed over JFK Book". The News. Aug 23, 1996. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  12. ^ "JFK killing theory on trial for libel". Lawrence Journal-World. Aug 23, 1996. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  13. ^ O'Brien, Dennis (September 30, 1997). "Defamation suit involving book on JFK dismissed Judge notes time limit". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  14. ^ "Retired agent paid undisclosed amount in JFK shooting case". Gettysburg Times. Feb 4, 1998. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  15. ^ http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/jfk-smoking-gun-tv-review-article-1.1504188 retrieved 3 November, 2013
  16. ^ http://www.amazon.com/JFK-The-Smoking-Colin-McLaren/dp/1743179537 retrieved 3 November, 2013.
  17. ^ http://www.reelz.com/smokinggun/get-the-books/ retrieved 3 November, 2013.