Linda Willis
Encyclopedia
Linda Kay Willis was a close witness during the assassination of President Kennedy
.
Seen in the Zapruder film
at the start of the assassination wearing a blue coat and a long gold skirt, located to the left of President Kennedy
's limousine, on the south side of Elm Street, directly in front of the Texas School Book Depository
.
Willis testified to the Warren Commission
in 1964 that she remembered hearing three shots, with the last two shots bunched much closer together than the first two shots. Specifically, Willis testified that the assassination started when President Kennedy was already waving (his waving motion does not start until Zapruder film frame 174) when she heard the first shot that she remembered hearing (from Z-165 through Z-208 the president was hidden by a large oak tree from the view of anyone located in the Warren Commission lone snipers lair). Like many Dealey Plaza
witnesses, the first shot she remembered hearing sounded to her like a firecracker. She testified that this first shot hit President Kennedy because she saw the president immediately and nearly simultaneously quickly raise both his arms and grab towards his throat as a result of the first shot she remembered. Willis testified that she did not know where the second shot that she remembered hearing came from or went to. Willis testified that it was the third shot that she remembered that hit President Kennedy in his head. In 1978 Willis testified to the House Select Committee on Assassinations that she “had a distinct impression that the head wound to President Kennedy was a result of a front-to-rear shot“ when she saw his head “blow up.” In her 1989 video interview for The Men Who Killed Kennedy
documentary, Willis stated that when she saw the president’s head explode in blood that she saw head matter came out the back of the president’s head, so, the head shot must have been fired from the front of President Kennedy.
Willis stated to assassination researcher and author Richard Trask (“Pictures of the Pain” 1994) that after the assassination she and her sister Rosemary
also saw someone find a piece of the president's head that had landed in the grass located at least twenty-two feet to the left of the president.
After the assassination Willis, along with her sister, father (Phillip
), and mother (Marilyn) were present at the Kodak photographic laboratory getting her father’s assassination related photo slides developed when the Zapruder film was first developed and first shown.
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
.
Seen in the Zapruder film
Zapruder film
The Zapruder film is a silent, color motion picture sequence shot by private citizen Abraham Zapruder with a home-movie camera, asU.S. President John F...
at the start of the assassination wearing a blue coat and a long gold skirt, located to the left of President Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
's limousine, on the south side of Elm Street, directly in front of the Texas School Book Depository
Texas School Book Depository
The Texas School Book Depository is the former name of a seven-floor building facing Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas . Located on the northwest corner of Elm and North Houston Streets, at the western end of downtown Dallas, its address is 411 Elm Street. The building is notable for its connection to...
.
Willis testified to the Warren Commission
Warren Commission
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established on November 27, 1963, by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...
in 1964 that she remembered hearing three shots, with the last two shots bunched much closer together than the first two shots. Specifically, Willis testified that the assassination started when President Kennedy was already waving (his waving motion does not start until Zapruder film frame 174) when she heard the first shot that she remembered hearing (from Z-165 through Z-208 the president was hidden by a large oak tree from the view of anyone located in the Warren Commission lone snipers lair). Like many Dealey Plaza
Dealey Plaza
Dealey Plaza , in the historic West End district of downtown Dallas, Texas , is the location of the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...
witnesses, the first shot she remembered hearing sounded to her like a firecracker. She testified that this first shot hit President Kennedy because she saw the president immediately and nearly simultaneously quickly raise both his arms and grab towards his throat as a result of the first shot she remembered. Willis testified that she did not know where the second shot that she remembered hearing came from or went to. Willis testified that it was the third shot that she remembered that hit President Kennedy in his head. In 1978 Willis testified to the House Select Committee on Assassinations that she “had a distinct impression that the head wound to President Kennedy was a result of a front-to-rear shot“ when she saw his head “blow up.” In her 1989 video interview for The Men Who Killed Kennedy
The Men Who Killed Kennedy
The Men Who Killed Kennedy is a 9-part video documentary series by Nigel Turner about the John F. Kennedy assassination. The series, which related various conspiracy theories, was extensively challenged on factual grounds....
documentary, Willis stated that when she saw the president’s head explode in blood that she saw head matter came out the back of the president’s head, so, the head shot must have been fired from the front of President Kennedy.
Willis stated to assassination researcher and author Richard Trask (“Pictures of the Pain” 1994) that after the assassination she and her sister Rosemary
Rosemary Willis
Rosemary Willis was a close witness during the assassination of President Kennedy.Clearly seen in the Zapruder film at the start of the assassination wearing a white, hooded coat and a red skirt, located to the limousine's left, she runs southwestward and parallel with the limousine which she...
also saw someone find a piece of the president's head that had landed in the grass located at least twenty-two feet to the left of the president.
After the assassination Willis, along with her sister, father (Phillip
Phillip Willis
Phillip LaFrance Willis was a close witness to the assassination of President Kennedy....
), and mother (Marilyn) were present at the Kodak photographic laboratory getting her father’s assassination related photo slides developed when the Zapruder film was first developed and first shown.
External links
- An Image-stabilized Version of the Zapruder Film, Running in a Loop Users must initially wait a few seconds for the first quicktime version to download, after which the film runs continuously
- Details and Zapruder frames showing the Rosemary Willis rapid headsnap towards the grassy knoll