Charles Crenshaw, 68; Disputed JFK Findings

Dr. Charles Andrew Crenshaw, who became a favorite of conspiracy buffs when he asserted three decades after the assassination of John F. Kennedy that Lee Harvey Oswald had not acted alone and that as a surgical resident he saw four gunshot wounds in the fallen president, has died. He was 68.

Crenshaw, who disclosed his multiple-gunmen opinions in the 1992 book “JFK: Conspiracy of Silence,” died Thursday of what his family described as natural causes at his Fort Worth, Texas, home after years of deteriorating health.

On Nov. 22, 1963, Crenshaw was a third-year resident on the trauma team at Dallas’ Parkland Memorial Hospital when Kennedy was brought to the emergency room.

Crenshaw, who said he kept quiet for years to protect his career, disputed the findings of the Warren Commission in his paperback book. The commission, appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the Kennedy slaying and the killing of Oswald by Jack Ruby, concluded that Kennedy was killed by two shots through the back of the head and neck that were fired solely by Oswald.

But Crenshaw’s book, co-written by Jens Hansen and Gary J. Shaw, claimed that Kennedy had four wounds--two in the front, one on the right side just above the eyebrow and one in the neck, as well as the two in the back. The fatal shot, he insisted, was fired from the front and could have come from a second gunman. Crenshaw further claimed that the neck wound was tampered with to make it look like an exit wound from Oswald’s bullet.

“We placed him [Kennedy] in a coffin. But before we did, I looked at the wound again,” Crenshaw said on ABC’s “20/20” on April 3, 1992, shortly after his controversial book was published. “I wanted to know and remember this for the rest of my life. And the rest of my life I will always know he was shot from the front.”

Crenshaw’s book and claims, which made him a popular guest on news and talk shows, were immediately met with a firestorm of criticism.

The American Medical Assn. published an article in its staid Journal by four doctors who futilely tried to save Kennedy’s life. They claimed that nothing they saw refuted the Warren Commission findings, and that Crenshaw, as a junior resident, was never near enough to Kennedy to see much of anything.

Crenshaw countered by suing the medical association, the Dallas Morning News and others critical of his assertions for libel. His suits were settled with provisions that he could rebut the criticism in print.

In his book, Crenshaw said not only he, but all Parkland doctors kept quiet about what they saw out of a mixture of “fraternal doctrine, naivete, fear and career-mindedness.”

Earlier this month, he published his second book, “Trauma Room One,” which includes the first book and information about the resulting litigation.

Three years after the fateful events in Dallas, Crenshaw became a fully accredited surgeon and single-handedly started the surgery department at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. He chaired the department for many years and was considered its mainstay until his retirement in 1992.

Born and reared in Paris, Texas, Crenshaw earned a bachelor’s degree at Southern Methodist University, a master’s in biology from East Texas State Teacher’s College [now Texas A&M-Commerce; University] and a doctorate from Baylor University. His medical degree was from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School.

Crenshaw is survived by his wife, Susan; a son, Charles A. Crenshaw II; a daughter, Adelaide Andrews; and two grandchildren.