Paul Groody: Of course, I was the one that had to handle the body in the morgue at Baylor. And as we removed the body from the casket...

But Groody did not handle the body or remove it from the casket-no one did. The Norton Report states:

"Because of the friable condition of the body it was elected to remove the skull only from the casket with minimal disarticulation of the remains in accordance with the desires of next of kin. The above examination was performed with the remains within the casket and without removal."

Dr. Di Maio agreed, saying, “No, just the head” when asked if the body was removed.

Groody seems to realize in mid-sentence that he has overstated his involvement and he does a little backpedaling by adding a qualifying phrase:

Paul Groody: "…or at least worked with the body, ...

... I could recognize that this clothing was the clothing that I had put on that body. And yet when I saw the head of this body and it was removed from the casket and removed from the body in order that they might x-ray it and take pictures, I could see that there was no autopsy on that head."

      Rose Hill Cemetery

Again there are problems. Groody implies that he saw the head removed from the body. Indeed according to Jack White, Groody said that the head was not attached to the body at all. White said, “Groody and Baumgardner observed the start of the Norton group's activities, during which time he noted that the skull was ALREADY separated from the spine.” (Emphasis in original)

But the head was indeed attached when the coffin was opened. From the Norton Report

"The head was removed from the remainder of the body by incision of the mummified tissue maintaining the skull, cervical and thoracic vertebral column in normal continuity. The incision was made at the approximate second cervical vertebral interspace."

From Mack’s Coverups! Series based on the observations of John Cullins:

"Dr. Linda Norton decided that comparison X-rays could not be taken unless the skull was removed. In clear view of the close-up camera, nine snips to the rotted muscle was all that was needed."

Finally, Dr. Di Maio confirmed, “... it was attached as it had to be cut free.”

Another quote from Coverups! (This time Part 2) reports on the duration of Groody’s stay in the examination area:

“Although Groody was close to the body for only a few seconds, and in the room for less than a minute, he had enough time to notice that the skull was completely intact.”

A quote from the Norton Report confirms Groody’s brief stay:

"The mortician who closed Mr. Oswald’s casket remained in the room until the casket was reopened."

Paul Groody: "And knowing that I handled the body originally and there was an autopsy on that head and now to see that there was no autopsy on the head made it, in my mind, pretty clear that something had transpired that had caused this."

The Norton Report states

"A previous autopsy saw cut in the usual fashion was present on the calvarium with an anterior inverted V-notch in the right frontal region. The calvarium was maintained in continuity with the remainder of the skull by virtue of decomposed mummified tissue."

The report is clear there was a craniotomy on the skull. This passage also offers an explanation for the skull remaining intact in spite of alleged rough handling by the forensic team-mummified tissue held it on. Photos of the skull from the examination show what seems to be a great deal of tissue remaining on the skull just as the report describes.

Indeed, Dr. Di Maio confirmed, “... tissue in this instance was acting like a glue.” The photos also show a horizontal line just above the mastoid process that Dr. Di Maio confirmed is the craniotomy incision.

So why did Groody and Baumgardner say there was no craniotomy incision on the body? It is important to remember that neither Groody nor Baumgardner reported anything unusual on the day of the examination. In fact according to Coverups!, Groody called Marina and told her everything was fine and all questions were answered. It was only several days later when the two men were discussing the event that they became suspicious. A passage from Coverups! (Part 2) relates details of that discussion:

"They knew that the line of the craniotomy cut should have been visible to everyone who saw the skull. And they knew that the skullcap should have fallen off in the coffin before anyone touched it. Not only was the skull intact at Baylor, almost all of the scalp had rotted away, leaving no visible mark."

So it seems that their belief there was no craniotomy is based more on what they didn't see (the skull cap laying in the coffin) rather than what they actually saw. After all, if they saw no incision, why not say so the same day? Instead, Groody contacted Marina and told her all was well. It was only later when thinking about the “intact” skull that the men “remembered” there was no craniotomy.

Groody and Baumgardner are often quoted as saying that the skull was “intact”. Two such separate quotes from the Coverups! Series appear above. But it is a different thing to say the skull was intact than to say there was no craniotomy. The skull was “intact”; that is, the skull cap was secured to the rest of the skull, by mummified tissue. It is apparent from the skull photos that the incision line is not that obvious-one would have to study the skull in order to see it. But the evidence shows that neither Groody nor Baumgardner “studied” the skull. They did their jobs and left, presumably in an expeditious manner. Indeed, the men never even thought about the craniotomy until days after the exhumation.

Next: Conclusion

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