Oliver Stone's so-called documentary, JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass, greatly misleads viewers on Admiral George Burkley and his supposed views on conspiracy in the JFK assassination. Here is an excerpt from a transcript: (1:01:28)

Screen shot from JFK Revisited

Whoopi Goldberg: The one physician present at both Parkland Hospital and the Bethesda morgue was George Burkley, Kennedy's personal doctor. Arlen Specter did not depose George Burkley, but Burkley did an interview with the JFK Library in 1967, and was asked this question:

Question: Do you agree with the Warren Report on the number of bullets that entered the President's body?

Burkley: I would not care to be quoted on that.

Dr. Donald Miller: The reason he didn't say anything was he was intimately involved in the coverup.

Whoopi Goldberg: Burkley signed the autopsy descriptive sheet with the bullet in the back at the level of T3. He also signed Kennedy's death certificate, which also placed that wound in the back. That death certificate is not in the Warren Commission volumes and the descriptive sheet in the Commission volumes does not have Burkley's signature. In 1977, through his lawyer, he wrote a letter to Richard Sprague, Chief Counsel of the House Select Committee on Assassinations. He said he had information indicating that "others besides Oswald must have participated" in the assassination.

Whoopi Goldberg: He was willing to talk about it at this time. Sprague, who made clear his intention to fully investigate the CIA's involvement, was forced out two weeks later. Dr. Burkley submitted a written statement to the House Select Committee but there is no official record of him being deposed as a witness.

Douglas Horne: In 1982, he told JFK researcher Henry Hurt "I know there was more than one gunman." And when Henry Hurt tried to recontact Burkley for more details, Burkley cut him off at the knees, "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Douglas Horne: The very next year, Burkley talked to Michael Kurtz, another JFK researcher, told him that he knew there was a conspiracy to kill the President and that he recalled an exit wound in the back of President Kennedy's head. Now that's a very significant statement, that the only doctor we know of who was present at both Parkland, for treatment, and at Bethesda, during the autopsy, told Michael Kurtz in 1983 that Kennedy had an exit wound in the back of his head. When Kurtz tried to recontact Burkley, Burkley cut him off at the knees, "I don't want to talk about this anymore." Dr. Burkley was deceased by the time the Review Board was impaneled. So then [ARRB General Counsel] Jeremy [Gunn] decided, well, we can ask the executor of his estate, his daughter, to sign a waiver so that we could go to the law firm, that Mr. Illig used to work for, since he was deceased also, and see if there were any records in the files of Mr. Illig that would have revealed what it was he wanted to tell the HSCA, in detail. And she said she would do that.

Douglas Horne: And then Jeremy called her on the phone, she had completely changed her mind and adamantly refused to sign it and terminated the phone call.

Screen shot from JFK Revisited

There are so many misleading statements in the above segment that it's hard to know where to start.

I will start with Dr. Burkley and his supposed interviews with JFK conspiracy theorists.

JFK Revisited says that Burkley "told JFK researcher Henry Hurt that 'I know there was more than one gunman.'"

That is not what Burkley told Hurt. On page 49 in Reasonable Doubt, Hurt writes:

In 1982 Dr. Burkley told the author in a telephone conversation that he believed that President Kennedy's assassination was the result of a conspiracy.

Believing in a conspiracy in the JFK assassination is not the same thing as believing there were multiple gunmen.

The ARRB also made a similar error:

In the late 1970s, at the time of the HSCA’s investigation, Dr. Burkley, through his attorney, suggested to the HSCA that he might have some additional information about the autopsy.

As you can see, Mr. Illig's letter to the HSCA did not mention the autopsy:

The use of Michael Kurtz as a reliable source in JFK Revisited is problematic. Over the years he has made several dubious claims, and even some conspiracy theorists do not take him seriously. Pat Speer even questions whether he really interviewed Dr. Burkley:

If Kurtz had actually interviewed rarely-interviewed doctors such as Canada, Burkley, Humes, and Fisher he would almost certainly have mentioned them before mentioning his interview with a more commonly-interviewed subject as Shaw. That only makes sense.

Paul Hoch noted in his systematic 1992 speech on the evaluation of evidence in the JFK assassination:

On interviewing witnesses: I don't have any experience worth mentioning, so I'll make just one point: Watch out for principals who have become buffs, and are basing conclusions on information outside their areas of direct knowledge or expertise. If John Rosselli, for example, knew there was a shot from the knoll, it might not have been from inside knowledge, but because some of his friends, like many others, heard Mark Lane's stump speech.

If Admiral Burkley believed in a conspiracy, it might not be because of his supposed inside knowledge of the medical evidence in the JFK assassination.

Stay tuned: There are several additional blog posts on Dr. Burkley in the pipeline.

Previous Relevant Blog Posts on JFK Revisited

"JFK Revisited" Misleads on the Autopsy Photographs of JFK, Part Two

Did Saundra Spencer really develop a completely different set of autopsy photographs?

"JFK Revisited" Misleads on Autopsy Photographs of JFK

Oliver Stone's so-called documentary tries to make the case that a White House photographer took photos at the autopsy. The only problem is that there is no evidence he was actually there.

Oliver Stone Pulls the Wool Over Joe Rogan's Eyes, Part Two

Stone misspeaks on the Joe Rogan show about JFK's brain.

Oliver Stone Pulls the Wool over Joe Rogan's Eyes

Stone misspeaks on the Joe Rogan show and I present a challenge to conspiracy theorists.

Jefferson Morley and "JFK Revisited"

Tracy Parnell dissects Morley's article on JFK assassination documents and "JFK Revisited"

"JFK Revisited" Misleads by Putting Words in Kennedy's Mouth, Part Two

Did President Kennedy actually say that he was going to shatter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the wind?

"JFK Revisited" Misleads by Putting Words in Kennedy's Mouth...

David Talbot claims that JFK told the French Ambassador that he was not in full control of his entire government. There is no evidence he ever said that.

"JFK Revisited" Misleads on Supposed CIA Support of the 1961 Coup Attempt in France

Oliver Stone's so-called documentary claims the CIA supported the 1961 coup attempt against French President Charles de Gaulle in 1961. The only thing missing is evidence.

Max Boot on Oliver Stone's Lies

Max Boot: Oliver Stone just can't stop spreading lies about JFK's assassination.

"JFK Revisited" Misleads on Valery Giscard D'Estaing

Did Gerald Ford really disclose to French President Valery Giscard D'Estaing that the JFK assassination was a conspiracy? Perhaps not.

"JFK Revisited" Star Believes in a Massive COVID Conspiracy

Robert Kennedy, Jr. believes in a massive conspiracy regarding Covid and the intelligence agencies.

"JFK Revisited" Misleads on Kennedy's Back Wound

While Gerald Ford edited some language in the Warren Report, he did not change the location of the back wound. Autopsy photographs show exactly the location of the back wound.

"JFK Revisited" alleges Oswald was "placed"

Oliver Stone's so-called documentary alleges that Oswald was "moved" to Dallas and "placed" in the Texas School Book Depository. This is totally ridiculous.

"JFK Revisited" Misleads on JFK's Throat Wound

The preponderance of the evidence indicates JFK's throat wound was one of exit.

"JFK Revisited" Misleads on the Supposed Chicago Plot

There is no evidence that there was actually a plot against JFK in Chicago.

Was James Gochenaur a Credible Witness in "JFK Revisited"?

Gochenaur's writings don't back up his allegations in JFK Revisited.

"JFK Revisited" Misleads on Guy Banister

Oliver Stone's so-called documentary claims that Guy Banister gave Oswald a room at 544 Camp Street. The evidence does not support the allegation.

"JFK Revisited" Misleads on JFK's Brain, Again...

Dr. Robert Kirschner's consultation with the ARRB explains a mystery in the documentary.

"JFK Revisited" Misleads on the Weight of JFK's Brain

JFK Revisited makes a big deal about the weight of JFK's brain and ignores a non-conspiratorial explanation.

JFK Revisited Distorts John Stringer's Testimony

Oliver Stone's so-called documentary makes it sound like the autopsy photographer said that he did not take the photos of JFK's brain that are in the current inventory,

JFK Revisited Lays an Egg

Oliver Stone took to Twitter last weekend to bemoan the fact that the mainstream press is ignoring his so-called documentary, JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass.

Oliver Stone with "JFK Revisited" Crucifies Clay Shaw Once Again

There is something really obscene about Oliver Stone once again going after Clay Shaw.

JFK Revisited Doesn't Tell the Whole Truth about John Connally

You won't learn everything you need to know about Connally's position on the shots from Oliver Stone's so-called documentary.

JFK Revisited Uses Marina Porter to Mislead Viewers

Oliver Stone tries to make it seem like Marina Porter has denied taking the backyard photographs of Lee Harvey Oswald.

JFK Revisited: Were the Oswald Backyard Photographs Faked?

Oliver Stone once again raises the issue of the legitimacy of the backyard photographs of Lee Harvey Oswald.

JFK Revisited: Was Clay Shaw the elusive Clay Bertrand?

This post debunks every witness that ever claimed Shaw was Bertrand.

Oliver Stone's Poverty of Imagination

He cannot imagine any sort of non-conspiratorial explanations for any of the suspicious pieces of evidence in his film.

Was Clay Shaw a "Contract Agent" for the CIA?

No, Clay Shaw was not a "contract agent."

Steve Roe Blog Posts on JFK Revisited

JFK Revisited: Again, Caught Creating False Mysteries

"Stone/DiEugenio hatch another Bogus Mystery with Sinister Strap/Sling Mounts on Oswald's Rifle"

JFK Revisited: Tripping on the Stairs

Oliver Stone claims that Oswald could not have been in the sniper's nest on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. Steve Roe exposes Stone's mistakes.

Oliver Stone doubles-down on the Looney Frontal Shot to the President

In an interview on RT [Russia Today], Oliver Stone says that the throat wound might have been made by a flechette.

Oliver Stone - Deceptive Filmmaker?

Steve Roe presents some examples of Oliver Stone's 'creative' abilities.

A Look at the "JFK Revisited: Through The Looking Glass" Film by Oliver Stone

Oliver Stone distorts the testimony about Oswald's palmprint on the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle.