Algebra applied to accident imply Whittington was closer than reported. [View All]

[brainshrub]

The post below is a demonstration of the collective power of DU.

Yesterday I found the article How it happened?

After getting permission from Sellitman to cross-post it on my blog I decided to re-write it, clarify the main points and add new information. The result is no no longer a cross-post, but an entirely new essay that Sellitman inspired and co-wrote. (He asked to remain unsigned on my blog, but I'd like to give him proper credit here at DU.)

I'd also like to thank Berni_mccoy who pointed out the spread pattern of a 28 gauge shotgun that was posted on the DU frontpage yesterday.

Forensic algebra applied to Cheney's hunting accident imply that Whittington was much closer than reported.

I've got problems believing the official version of events from the White House over the details of this accident. I will demonstrate with police reports and what I'm going to call "Forensic Algebra" that Whittington was within 10 or 15 yards, at most, of the Vice President and possibly as close as 5 yards.

For starters, the first image (below on left) is taken directly from the Kenedy County Sheriff's Office, in whose jurisdiction the accident happened. The incident report shows the area where Whittington was shot. The quality of the image is poor, but it's good enough to make out that the area hit was fairly small - about the size of a dinner plate.

The reports say the pellets were all in the victim's face, shoulder, neck and chest, but not in his eyes. It seems like he was caught pretty squarely, and at close range if there was a demarcation like that. If he were at a longer range, there would likely be a rougher edge to the pattern.

The next image (below on right) was taken from the site shotgun-insight.com. This is the spread pattern of a 28g shotgun at 25 yards; the outer ring has a 30 inch diameter. Compare this to the area where Whittington was shot, which was an area of about 12 inches in diameter. Again, this implies that Whittington was closer than stated in the police report.

Finally, we can use the diameter of the spread pattern as evidenced on the Whittington's body and the number number of pellets that he was hit with and then work backwards with the standard pattern density for a 28 gauge shotgun at a longer range.<snip>

Entire article here: www.brainshrub.com/algebra-cheney-hunting-accident

Thanks to everyone at DU who helped with this article.