DRAMATIC never-before-seen footage from the JFK assassination has sold at auction for $110,000 (£82,000).
The original, previously unknown 8mm color silent film, captured JFK’s motorcade travelling through Dallas, Texas, on the fateful day in 1963.
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The footage was shot by Dale Carpenter, Sr., who, after missing his initial opportunity to film the limousine, relocated and captured the sequence.
The extraordinary clips capture the moment the motorcade passes Carpenter on its way through the city.
But then the local truck driver starts shooting again capturing the presidential limousine speeding back past to hospital after JFK was shot.
In the latter part of the film, four Dallas Police Department motorcycles, followed by one police car, fly past with red strobe lights flashing.
The presidential limousine—a modified midnight blue four-door 1961 Lincoln Continental Convertible—whizzes into frame, with large flags of the United States and Presidential Seal fluttering at speed.
Secret Service Agent Clint Hill dominates the scene, spreadeagled precariously above the back seat, having leapt onto the back of the vehicle to shield the first lady and wounded president.
Jacqueline Kennedy, slumping over her stricken husband, is easily identified in the rear seat by the bright hue of her iconic pink suit.
The footage has remained in the possession of Carpenter’s family before it was sold by Boston-based RR Auction in a sale today.
They estimated the film would sell for between $100,000 and $150,000, with the final sale hitting $110,000.
Bobby Livingston, executive vice president at RR Auction, said: “(The footage) offers an unprecedented view of one of America’s most tragic days, providing new material for historians and the public to examine.
“Unlike any other footage known to exist, this film captures a segment immediately following the Zapruder film, providing a fresh perspective on one of the most analyzed moments in history.
“Once you see it, you’ll never forget Clint Hill’s heroic efforts to protect Mrs. Kennedy, racing at 80 miles an hour in a desperate attempt to save the President’s life as they sped to Parkland.”
PRESIDENTIAL ARTIFACTS
Kennedy’s blood-soaked long johns were being sold on eBay for $1 million last month.
The eBay posting describes the item as “a pair of his personal wool long john underwear.”
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Kennedy’s undergarments appeared to have suffered severe wear and tear and even had a hole in them, suggesting that the former president frequently wore them.
“When we bought these over two decades ago, we had made a few pictures of the underwear and then had them stored in a secure vault for nearly twenty years,” said the seller.
“No one told us about the stains, nor did we notice them. Not until now.
“To get a better understanding of what we had discovered, we delved into forensics trying to figure out possible circumstances that would produce this injury,” they continued.
One side of the long johns also featured a few blood stains located on the left leg hole indicating that Kennedy had suffered a wound “on the lower shin area, just above the ankle.”
The seller speculated that the blood had then “spread out around the upper ankle.”
Due to the positioning of the stains and how the second stain seemed wider than the first, the seller alleges that Kennedy was standing while he was bleeding.
The undergarments, which were listed on the popular website on Tuesday, were one of two pairs sold to Richard Wilson, a well-known memorabilia dealer and collector, during Guernsey’s 1998 Kennedy auction.
According to the description, the eventual buyer will also receive a Certificate of Authenticity with their purchase.
Kennedy’s second pair of Duo-fold long johns were auctioned off by Heritage Auctions in May 2010 for an undisclosed price.
According to the description provided by the site, the underwear had the name “John F. Kennedy” sewn into the collar.
Who killed John F. Kennedy?
OVER six decades have passed since the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963.
No one knows for sure who killed John Fitzgerald Kennedy, but for years many people have suspected that the culprit was Lee Harvey Oswald.
Before JFK’s assassination, Oswald was accused of trying to shoot ex-general Edwin A. Walker — but he missed.
According to records, Oswald acquired a .38 handgun and rifle through the mail using an alias prior to JFK’s murder.
JFK was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963 as he traveled in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza.
Three shots were fired, hitting him in the neck and head.
Half an hour after the shots were fired, the 35th president of the United States was pronounced dead.
Shortly afterwards Oswald, a 24-year-old self-proclaimed Marxist, was arrested in a nearby cinema after police hunted the killer of one of their fellow officers.
He denied shooting anybody, claiming to reporters that he was a “patsy”.
Later he was accused of shooting the president dead with his $21 mail-order rifle from a window of the sixth floor of a nearby school textbook warehouse.
Two days after the assassination and his arrest, Oswald was being escorted from Dallas Police Headquarters to county prison.
As he was taken out in front of the world’s media, a man called Jack Ruby stepped forward and shot him dead.
Ruby was later found guilty of murder and sentenced to death.
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