Features: The Warren Commission, The Truth, and Arlen Specter: Part 2

IN ITS OCTOBER 2nd, 1964 issue — which was obviously in preparation much before that date — Life magazine published large color photographs of the key Zapruder frames. Life had reportedly paid Zapruder, a Dallas dress manufacturer, $25,000 for his film, and because it initially wouldn’t let the original out of its possession, the Commission at first had to work from less clear copies. (Later it did permit excellent slides to be made from each frame.) The October 2nd issue of Life: was on the newsstand on September 28th, the day the Warren Report was made public. Along with the color photographs of the assassination, Life had an exclusive article by Commission member Gerald Ford, the Michigan Congressman.

Yet, for an unexplained reason, Life made some significant changes in the middle of its press run for that issue. It pulled one of the Zapruder frames and substituted another. Then it changed the caption that described what was happening in that frame.

Eight color photographs of the Zapruder frames were reproduced on four pages. On one edition of the issue the frame designated "6" was what the Commission called 313. It showed the exact instant of the head hit, with the President’s skull being blown violently apart. Accompanying the photograph was this caption:

"6. The assassin’s shot struck the right rear portion of the President’s skull, causing a massive wound and snapping his head to one side."

The caption was consistent in part with the finding of the Warren Commission: "Another bullet then struck President Kennedy in the rear portion of his head, causing a massive and fatal wound. The President fell to the left into Mrs. Kennedy’s lap." The Report did not say anything about his head snapping to one side.

Another edition of the same issue of Life appeared. The same photograph was designated "6" but this time the caption was different:

"6. The direction from which shots came was established by this picture taken at instant bullet struck the rear of the President’s head and, passing through, caused the front part of the skull to explode forward."

That was more in keeping with what the Commission said happened and, according to the photograph, it did look as if the front part of the President’s head was exploding. Yet Life made still another change. In another edition, along with the caption explaining how the direction of the shots was established, there appears not the frame showing the instant of the hit, but a subsequent frame which shows the President falling to his left toward Mrs. Kennedy.

Life offered no explanation for the changes.