There was a story that RFK was involved in the vanishing brain episode. No brain, no assessment possible of any bullet fragments in the brain, no way to tell the path of the bullet.
Did RFK Steal JFK’s Brain? | Vanity Fair
I don’t give any credibility to theories that it was buried with Kennedy as it was first retained as evidence by the secret service along with other autopsy materials, and then stored in the National Archives, until 1966 when RFK asked for its return and it was unable to be located.
RFK asked for the brain to be returned in 1966 with a few different theories as to why:
1) to have it buried and or buried with JFK, rather than potentially being displayed at some point (that’s the most plausible explanation, and a very understandable, human motivation);
2) to prevent analysis of brain, along with autopsy slides of the brain, which might indicate the presence of a brain disease;
3) to prevent analysis of the bullet fragments in the brain that would indicate a bullet other than a 6.5 mm Carcano bullet struck Kennedy’s head; and
4) to conceal the fact that the head wound came from the grassy knoll, part of the multiple shooter, Oswald didn’t act alone conspiracy theory, which doesn’t make much sense.
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1 & 2 require no knowledge by RFK of the negligent discharge and are both plausible, with number 2 implying a motive to conceal evidence medical evidence to protect JFK’s reputation.
Given Donahue’s finding and his excellent analysis of trajectories involved, which far better explains the events than the WCR; and the overheard statement by the lead secret service agent at Parkland hospital on a call to RFK that “there’s been an accident”, number 3 is also plausible.
I’ll argue it is the most plausible explantation as it doesn’t necessarily require RFK to be involved in the theft (and begs the question why would RFK risk an investigation by asking for the return of the brain).
However it doesn’t exclude him either. If the ND occurred as Donahue and later McLaren concluded, RFK had an understandable motive to conceal that even greater tragedy as it would be better for his brother to be the noble casualty of an assassination than the unfortunate victim of an accidental shooting, especially until after the autopsy concluded the bullet fired by Oswald would have most likely been fatal on its own.
The Warren Commission also had no reason to dig into that aspect of the assassination. The WRC correctly established that Oswald was not part of any conspiracy but was a disaffected nut acting alone.
The Warren Commission went out of its way to obscure and or avoid any evidence that would have involved Agent Hickey and an ND to the assassination, to the point of not seeking his testimony as an eye witness.
That’s not a surprise as the Warren Commission was as much a political body as it was an investigative body, and no one would have benefitted from the fact that Kennedy was negligently shot by a member of the secret service. What mattered was clarifying that the Soviets, the Cubans and the mob were not involved.
It’s clearly debatable how successful that was, but it worked well enough. It removed an political pressure to take action against any other entity. As an added bonus, the lingering conspiracy theories and resulting focus on the large number of inconsistencies deflected nicely from any consideration that Hickey slipped and shot JFK.
