“Professor Starrs at first agreed with the coroners that the bullet did not exit the skull of the man alleged to be Jesse James.Associate editor of the Kearney Courier, Gene Gentrup, wrote: “…Even though Starrs had earlier stated with certainty that the bullet never exited the head, he softened his stance during the presentation saying without be able to fully reconstruct the skull scientist were unable to ascertain whether it exited, although he thought it did.”
Gary Chilcote, owner and curator of the house where Jesse was allegedly killed now turned tourist attraction, insists that the legendary bullet hole in the wall, the money-making star attraction of his museum, was created from the bullet fired from Bob Ford’s pistol as it exited Jesse James’ skull.
But all of the arguments over whether or not the bullet exited or not were settled by ballistics tests that prove that Jesse James could not have been shot as Bob and Charley Ford claimed. Katarina Babcock, a New Mexico Department of Public Safety firearms expert, proved on The Discovery Channel’s, “Jesse James: Legend, Outlaw, Terrorist”, which aired on October 29, 2005, that the bullet from either of the pistols Bob Ford claimed to have been the murder weapon would have left large exit wounds.
Babcock fired one shot each from a Smith & Wesson 44 and a Colt 45 into two ballistics spheres which simulate the human skull, skin and brain. As stated earlier Ford gave conflicting statements as to which one was the actual murder weapon. He fired the fatal shot into the man he claimed was Jesse James from a distance of about six feet, with his arm outstretched cutting the distance the bullet traveled about four feet. The ballistics tests showed that either weapon fired from that distance would have left exit holes.
Babcock’s findings show that something is amiss with the alleged death photos of Jesse James. According to her tests the highly questioned corpse probably wouldn’t have had much a face left if shot in the back of the head at the close range Bob Ford testified to.” Copyright Betty Dorsett Duke 2007
The Outlaw Jesse James 