Kennedy Bodyguard Speaks Out After 60 Years... Will the 'Magic Bullet' Mystery Be Solved?

Memoir to be Published Next Month... Different from Reports at the Time
NYT: "Will Empower Conspiracy Theorists"

As the 60th anniversary of the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1963 approaches, an agent who provided close-range security at the scene has spoken out about the events of that day. His recollections contain claims that differ from the so-called ‘magic bullet’ theory presented in the official reports, which is expected to cause a stir.

The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 9th an interview with Paul Landis, a former U.S. Secret Service agent, ahead of the publication of his memoir. Landis’s memoir, The Last Witness, is scheduled for release on the 10th of next month.

According to the NYT report, Landis was assigned to protect President Kennedy’s children and Jacqueline Kennedy after the president’s inauguration while serving in the Secret Service.

According to the investigation committee led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the incident occurred at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, downtown Dallas, Texas.

Three bullets were fired at President Kennedy as he passed through Dealey Plaza in a limousine, one of which passed through both President Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally, who was seated in front of him. A subsequent bullet struck President Kennedy in the head, causing his death.

Photo of former President Kennedy placed at the assassination scene
[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

Within two hours of the incident, 24-year-old suspect Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested, and the committee concluded that the assassination was his lone act, closing the investigation. However, even 60 years later, conspiracy theories doubting Oswald’s sole responsibility continue to emerge.

At the time, Landis was in the vehicle immediately behind the limousine carrying President Kennedy, standing on a footrest with three other agents, keeping watch in all directions. He said, “When the first shot rang out, I turned my body to the right to look in the direction of the shot but saw nothing.” He testified, “When I turned back forward, I saw President Kennedy raise both arms, and it clearly looked like he had been shot.”

Then a second, louder shot was fired, followed by a third shot that fatally wounded President Kennedy in the head. After the president was transported to the hospital, Landis found two bullet fragments in the blood pooled inside the vehicle and picked up one before putting it back down.

Landis revealed, “At that time, I found an intact bullet lodged in the seam of the seat.” He put the bullet in his coat pocket and intended to hand it over to his superior at the hospital, but in the confusion, he instinctively placed the bullet on the stretcher carrying President Kennedy.

Landis claimed, “Later, hospital staff moving the empty stretcher that had carried Governor Connally found the bullet, which was then classified as having come from Connally’s side, not Kennedy’s original source.”

The NYT evaluated, “Landis’s memory differs from the official report in at least one significant aspect,” and noted that it “directly contradicts the Warren Commission’s report that one of the fired bullets passed through President Kennedy and struck multiple parts of Governor Connally’s body.”

A scene from the movie 'JFK,' which deals with conspiracy theories about the assassination of President Kennedy [Image source=IMdb]

Investigators concluded that the bullet was fired from a Carcano rifle on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository near the assassination site, passing through President Kennedy, then through Governor Connally’s right shoulder, hitting his ribs, exiting through his right chest, passing his right wrist, and entering his left thigh.

However, conspiracy theorists argued that “for a bullet to pass through Kennedy and then hit Connally’s back, chest, palm, back of the hand, and thigh in the front seat, it would have to curve magically,” coining the term ‘magic bullet.’ Although the magic bullet theory has been scientifically proven possible, doubts have not been fully dispelled.

Landis said he was never asked about the differing conclusions regarding the bullet’s origin by the committee. He left the Secret Service six months after the assassination and worked as a real estate agent and painter.

The NYT added, “Landis’s account could change the understanding of what happened in 1963 and rewrite one of the most shocking narratives in modern American history,” and “it may empower those who have long suspected that there was more than one assassin.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.