He still vividly remembers the first gunshot. For a split second, while standing on the running board of the motorcade car, he allowed himself to believe that it might have been a firecracker or a blown tire. But he knew better. He knew guns. And then, came another shot. And another. And the president slumped down.
For countless nights, Paul Landis, one of the Secret Service agents who was just feet away from President John F. Kennedy on that fateful day in Dallas, relived that gruesome moment in his dreams. Now, 60 years later, Landis is finally telling his story in full for the first time. Interestingly, his account challenges the official version of the events in Dealey Plaza in a way that could alter our understanding of what really happened.
Landis spent most of the years following the assassination trying to escape from history, attempting to forget that unforgettable moment etched in the memory of a grieving nation. The explosion of violence, the frantic race to the hospital, the devastating flight home, and the heart-wrenching funeral with John Jr. saluting his fallen father – it was all too much, too painful. Consequently, Landis left the service and left Washington.
But eventually, once the nightmares subsided, Landis began to think about that day again. He began to read about it. And he realized that what he read didn’t quite match up with his memories. It turns out, if his recollections are accurate, the infamous “magic bullet” may not have been so magical after all.
His account challenges the Warren Commission’s theory that one of the bullets fired at the president’s limousine struck both Kennedy and Governor John B. Connally Jr. of Texas, who was also in the car, in multiple places. Landis’s version, which will be included in his upcoming memoir, offers a new perspective on this earth-shattering day in American history. It may not have significant repercussions, or it may bolster the beliefs of those who have long suspected a conspiracy involving multiple gunmen in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
Of course, like everything related to the assassination, Landis’s account raises questions and doubts. He remained silent for six decades, which has caused some to question the accuracy of his recollections, including his former Secret Service partner. Additionally, some elements of his account seem to contradict the official statements he made immediately after the shooting. And finally, his version may not easily align with the existing record.
However, Landis was there, as a firsthand witness, and it is rare for new testimony to emerge so long after the fact. He is not promoting any conspiracy theories; he simply wants to share his story. At 88 years old, he believes it is time to speak up and let the world know what he saw and what he did. He leaves it to others to draw their own conclusions.
The crux of Landis’s account revolves around a copper-jacketed 6.5-millimeter projectile. The Warren Commission concluded that one of the bullets fired that day entered the president from behind, passed through the front of his throat, and then struck Connally, causing multiple injuries. Skeptics dubbed this the “magic bullet theory” because it seemed implausible that a single bullet could cause such damage. Their conclusion was partly based on finding a bullet on a stretcher believed to have held Connally at the hospital. However, Landis, who was never interviewed by the Warren Commission, says this is not how it happened.
According to Landis, he was the one who discovered the bullet, not at the hospital near Connally, but in the presidential limousine, lodged in the back of the seat behind Kennedy. When he spotted the bullet after arriving at the hospital, he grabbed it to prevent souvenir hunters from taking it. For reasons that are still hazy to him, he entered the hospital and placed the bullet next to Kennedy on the stretcher, believing it could assist doctors in understanding what occurred. At some point, he speculates, the stretchers were pushed together, and the bullet was transferred from one to the other.
He remembers feeling alarmed because there was no one present to secure the scene. All the agents there were focused on the president, while a crowd gathered. Landis recognized the bullet as a crucial piece of evidence and did not want it to disappear or get lost. It was a decision he made in the heat of the moment.
Landis theorizes that the bullet struck Kennedy in the back but was undercharged and did not penetrate deeply, subsequently popping back out before the president’s body was removed from the limousine.
While Landis has been reluctant to speculate on the larger implications of his account, his recollections could potentially reopen the debate around a second shooter in the assassination. If the bullet known as the “magic” or “pristine” bullet did indeed stop in Kennedy’s back, it means the central theory of the Warren Report – the single-bullet theory – might be incorrect. Furthermore, if Connally was struck by a separate bullet, it raises doubts about whether Oswald alone could have reloaded fast enough to fire multiple shots.
Lewis C. Merletti, a former director of the Secret Service, and James Robenalt, a Cleveland lawyer and author, have both been privy to Landis’s story and have found it compelling. Robenalt believes that if Landis’s account is true, it has the potential to reshape our understanding of the assassination and potentially reignite discussions about a second shooter.
At 88 years old, Landis doesn’t have an agenda. He only wants to share what he witnessed and what he did. He found comfort in confiding his story to key figures and has collaborated with historians to make sense of his memories. As for the skeptics, Landis understands their doubts. After all, memories can be unreliable and subject to change. He’s not here to convince anyone; he just wants to set the record straight before his time runs out.
This revelation by a witness who was once so tormented by the events of that day may prompt us to reexamine the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the mysteries that still surround it. Only time will tell what impact Landis’s account will have on our understanding of this pivotal moment in American history.
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