Assassination of John F. Kennedy

United States President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Friday November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas, at 12:30 PM Central time.

After the initial June 1963 request by then-Vice President and Texan, Lyndon Baines Johnson and Texas Governor John Bowen Connally, President Kennedy made the Texas trip to raise Democratic campaign funds and help mend political fences among Texas Democratic party members who appeared to be politically fighting.

Kennedy was fatally wounded by multiple gunshots while riding in a modified 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible limousine. Texas Governor John B. Connally was also severely injured. Dealey Plaza witness James Tague also received a minor wound.

Forty-five minutes after President Kennedy died Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the murder of a Dallas Policeman. Late in the evening Oswald was also the only person to be charged with murdering President Kennedy.

Ninety minutes after President Kennedy died, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States aboard Air Force One.

Polls taken after the weekend of the assassination, and covering the forty-plus years to present, have consistently shown that between 60% and 90% of the people do not believe that President Kennedy was killed by only one assassin.

Timeline

At 11:40 AM (U.S. Central standard time), President Kennedy, his wife Jacqueline, and the rest of the presidential entourage arrived at Love Field in Air Force One. The original schedule was for the president to proceed in a motorcade from Love Field through downtown Dallas, to the Trade Mart.

The President was scheduled to pass through Dealey Plaza at 12:25 PM, and arrive at the Trade Mart for a steak luncheon at 12:30 PM.

File:Motorcade.jpg

The presidential limousine shortly before the assassination

Accompanying President Kennedy in the car were First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Texas Governor John Connally, and his wife, Nellie, Secret Service agent Roy Kellerman, and Secret Service agent/driver Bill Greer. The open car was not equipped with a bulletproof top (none existed for the President, even though F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover had three such bulletproofed cars).

The motorcade traveled through nearly the entire motorcade without incident, stopping twice so President Kennedy could shake hands with some Catholic nuns, then some school children. At 12:29 PM central standard time, five minutes from the Trade Mart, the procession entered Dealey Plaza, and jut before 12:30 PM turned 120-degrees in front of the Texas School Book Depository.

With the Presidential limousine half-way down Elm Street having slowed from over 13 miles per hour at the start of the assassination, to only 9 mph when President Kennedy's head first exploded (and the limousine brake lights were illuminated), President Kennedy was killed.

At least two shots are theorized to have struck President Kennedy and Governor Connally. Witness James Tague was also wounded on his right facial cheek while standing 270' in front of where President Kennedy's head first exploded. Several close witnesses also stated they saw something strike the Elm Street pavement. Several witnesses in the plaza and in the motorcade at street level testified they smelled gun smoke. Another witness, a Dallas Policeman stationed on the railroad overpass, testified he saw something strike the cement apron of a sewer in front of the limousine. Another witness testified she was told by an “agent” that another “agent” who had been watching saw something kick up debris near her feet.

On November 22, 1963, at 3:01 PM Dallas time, only an hour after Oswald was taken into the Dallas jail, F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover wrote a memo to his assistant directors in which he stated, “I called the Attorney General at his home and told him I thought we had the man who killed the President down in Dallas, at the present time."

In December 1963, only two weeks after the assassination, an F.B.I. report theorized only three bullets were fired during the assassination, and that the first shot hit President Kennedy, the second shot hit Governor Connally, and the third shot hit President Kennedy in the head, killing him. The F.B.I. theorized that Lee Harvey Oswald fired all three shots.

In September 1964, about a month before the Presidential election the Warren Commission report theorized that only three bullets were fired during the assassination, and that Lee Harvey Oswald fired all three bullets from the Texas School Book Depository. The Commission determed that two of the bullets hit and one bullet completely missed the large limousine and its occupants.

In 1979 the House Select Committee on Assassinations theorized that four bullets were fired during the assassination and that President Kennedy was killed as a result of a conspiracy. The HSCA concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald fired the first, second, and fourth bullets, while an unnamed assassin fired the third bullet from behind a picket fence of the Dealey Plaza grassy knoll located to the right front of the President.

One bullet that impacted, which many call the 'magic bullet, was theorized by the Warren Commission to have caused 7 wounds to President Kennedy and Governor Connally; yet, it emerged in nearly pristine condition.

Rifle and involvment of Michael R. Paine and wife, Kerry and Forbes family cousins

The rifle was stored by Lee Harvey Oswald in the basement of family friends, the Paines, cousins of John Forbes Kerry, at whose home Maria Oswald was living at the time. Michael R. Paine was the son of Ruth Forbes Paine, who remarried Arthur Young, the inventor of the Bell helicopter used in Korea and Vietnam. Michael R. Paine and Ruth Forbes Paine Young were Forbes family Link titleheirs and as is Sen. Kerry, a coincidence since both he and the assassinated President bear the initials JFK. See Warren Commission report describing testimony of Michael R. Paine and his wife, Ruth Paine. [[1]] Because of her son's involvement in the assasination, her Forbes family's involvement with drug dealing in China during the Opium War, and her husband's involvement with the military and defense industry, Mrs. Ruth Forbes Paine Young started the International Peace Academy, which have fed rumors about her family's politics.

Findings of Warren Commission

According to the Warren Commission, three shots were fired, on the grounds of ear-witness testimony, and three empty shells found in the "sniper's nest" in the book depository. One bullet hit Kennedy in the throat. One bullet hit somewhere outside of the limousine. One bullet struck President Kennedy in the head, after which he violently moves back (towards the school book depository), and to his left (away from the grassy knoll).

As recorded in the Zapruder film, Gov. Connally was also wounded.

Rather than introduce more than three fired bullets, the Commission was persuaded (4 to 3) by a theory advocated by Arlen Specter that the bullet that wounded President Kennedy twice in the neck was also responsible for Connally's five bone-breaking wounds.

This 6.5 millimeter, fully-metal-jacketed, nearly pristine "magic bullet" path was theorized by the Warren Commission to:

enter just to the right of President Kennedy's spinal column, creating a circular wound in the rear of his upper neck (even though the President's suit coat and shirt each have a bullet hole over 5.5" BELOW his shoulderline --BELOW his throat front wound which the Parkland doctor who worked on the throat wound described to a Bethesda autopsist as being only "3 to 5 mm" in circular width before it was worked on),

then passed through his neck

then exited President Kennedy's throat,

then passed through his shirt,

then nicked President Kennedy's tie-knot,

then entered Connally's back (creating an elliptical wound, indicating that bullet was fired from an acute angle to the entrance wound, or, the bullet had turned somewhat sideways before creating the elliptical wound), depositing lead fragments,

then destroyed 5" of a Connally right ribcage bone as it smashed through depositing lead fragments,

then exited slightly below his right nipple, creating a 4" sucking-air chest wound depositing lead fragments,

then entered through Connally's right upper wrist,

then broke his wrist bone depositing lead fragments,

then exited the palm side of his wrist,

then entered his left thigh,

then buried itself 2" into his left thigh

then deposited a bullet fragment in Connally's left thigh bone (that is still buried with him)

....then at Parkland Hospital the bullet backed out of Connally's thigh,

then fell out of Connally's thigh wound,

then landed on a stretcher at Parkland Hospital,

then wedged itself between the stretcher frame and stretcher horizontal material of a stretcher ....a stretcher that -according to the man who found the "magic bullet- was NOT even the stretcher that Connally had laid upon.

In fact, all 3 persons who first handled and saw this round-nosed "magic bullet" on 11-22-63 refused to identify it as the more-pointed-nose bullet they observed/touched at Parkland Hospital.

According to all documentation, there was no blood, no human matter, nor any pieces of clothing found on this, truly, "magic bullet"

After this theorized journey the "magic bullet" appears nearly pristine, and had lost only 1.5% of its original average weight, is slightly flattened on only one of six rotated views side, and some lead was squeezed out of the bottom of the still grooved copper jacket. The Warren Commission labeled this bullet CE399. It is currently stored in the National Archives, but not on display.

Two fragments found in the front seat area of the limousine were theorized by the Warren Commission to be from one fatal head shot into President Kennedy. However, unlike the "magic bullet" which passed through more layers, of much denser ribcage and wrist bones, the theorized single mortal head shot bullet fragmented into several large pieces and deposited over 43 bullet fragments. The largest of these fragments, a conveniently sized, 6.5 mm, nearly round fragment is seen on x-rays located at the rear of President Kennedy's head, embedded on the outer table of the skull, over 3" above the 1964 Warren Commission theorized entry point and less than 1" below the 1979 House Select Committee on Assassinations theorized entry point. (this conveniently-sized fragment was not discussed in the Warren report, nor asked about, nor testified to by the Bethesda autopsists in 1964)

Only after the first shots were fired did the gravity of the situation became clear to Bill Greer, the limo driver (who had turned for the second time, and was facing the President when the President's head first exploded), then the limo sped off out of Dealey Plaza on its way to Parkland Hospital.

No radio or television stations are known to have broadcast the assassination live, as the area the motorcade was traveling through was not considered important enough to broadcast. KBOX-AM did recreate the sounds of the shooting for an LP record it released with excerpts of news coverage of that day, but it was not an original recording. Most media crews were, in fact, waiting in anticipation at the Trade Mart.

Lee Harvey Oswald was confronted by revolver-pointing Dallas policeman Marion Baker in the depository lunchroom only 76 to 90 seconds after the last shot, after, supposedly, traveling a minimum 346' distance from the, supposed, "snipers lair," hiding the 8 pound Mannlicher-Carcano 6.5 mm rifle along the way. (the rifle was discovered balanced on its bottom edges) In the second floor lunchroom Oswald was vouched for by the superintendent of the building, Roy Truly, and released. Both Baker and Truly testified that Oswald appeared calm and normal, and was not out of breath. In one of Baker's written statements about this encounter, Baker crossed out words indicating that Oswald had a "Coca-Cola" bottle in his hand.

According to the Warren Commission, Oswald was next seen by a secretary on the first floor carrying a soda bottle as he left the Texas School Book Depository at approximately 12:33 through its front door.

Despite the Warren Commission theory that the only shots were fired from one depository window, the depository itself was not sealed by the police until 12:39 to 12:40 PM. (Policeman, detectives, witnesses, and others were busy running towards and searching the grassy knoll, parking lot, and railroad yard from 12:30 to 12:39 PM)

At 1:00 PM, after a bus and taxi ride (a taxi ride that Oswald first offered to an elderly woman), Oswald arrived back at his boarding room and according to his landlady, left at 1:03 or 1:04 PM when she last saw him standing still waiting at a bus stop. At 1:15 to 1:16 PM, Dallas police officer J. D. Tippit was shot dead a 0.85 mile distance from Oswald's rooming house. The Warren Commission saw enough evidence to believe that Oswald alone had shot Tippit, even though several witnesses place two persons at the Tippit killing site.

The situation at Parkland Hospital had deteriorated. Even as the press contingent grew, a Roman Catholic priest had been summoned for President Kennedy so that his Last Rites might be performed. It had become apparent to those inside the hospital that President Kennedy was already dead and he was pronounced dead at 1:00 PM. Governor Connally, meanwhile, was soon taken to emergency surgery where he underwent 2 operations that day.

The news of Kennedy's death was made public at 1:38 PM.

According to the Warren Report, Lee Harvey Oswald had attempted to hide in the Texas Theatre at about 1:45 PM (even though a concessionaire stated he saw Oswald enter at 1:07 to 1:10 PM), doing so by ducking into the theater without paying while the box office attendant was distracted. Several theater witnesses saw Oswald shift to different seat locations sitting next to different patrons as if he was looking to meet someone specific.

The Dallas police radio alerted nearby units to apprehend this 75 cent ticket non-payer.

Fifteen officers in several patrol cars responded. When an arrest attempt was made inside the theatre, Oswald resisted arrest and -according to the police- attempted to shoot a patrolman.

Lyndon Johnson being sworn in aboard Air Force One, by Judge Sarah T. Hughes following the assassination of John F. Kennedy

Against Texas state laws (the murder of the President was still a state crime under Texas jurisdiction) President Kennedy's body was illegally removed from Parkland Hospital and hurriedly put directly onto Air Force One, rather than undergoing a forensic examination by the local coroner. Back at Air Force One, Vice President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the thirty-sixth President of the United States at 2:37/2:38 PM local time.

At about 7:00 PM Oswald was charged with killing Tippit. Later in the evening Oswald was charged with assassinating President Kennedy. (the original arrest report stated murder in the furtherance of a communist conspiracy) Given the opportunistic spotlight of the world's attention, rather than admit to doing anything, rather than explaining his, supposed, political cause(s), and rather than explain the assassination motive, Oswald always denied shooting anyone, and stated, "I'm just a patsy."

Two days later, after 15 hours of officially un-documented interrogations, Jack Ruby — a Dallas nightclub owner, former F.B.I. informant, illegal-guns-runner to Cuba, illegal-drugs-runner, and mafia gangster — shot, killed, and silenced Oswald while he was being transferred to a nearly-next-door jail.

Millions watched Oswald's silencing on national television. It was the first-ever televised murder on live tv.

The route that Ruby took to get down into the basement has been disputed, with one route clearly indicating he had to have had help from authorities inside the building.

Ruby later stated he killed Oswald to spare Jacqueline Kennedy the stress and embarrassment a trial would cause her and her family, yet early-on expressed to others that the people would see him as a hero and/or that "Jews have guts."

A nation mourns

Across the United States, the Kennedy assassination brought normal activity to a halt. The New York Times reported on November 23 that in New York, the news spread by radio, television, even word of mouth; men and women wept openly. So many phone calls were placed in the New York phone exchange that operators were forced to refuse calls. People instinctively clustered in department stores and prayed; Broadway cancelled its Friday night shows. Traffic in some areas came to halts as the news of Kennedy's death spread literally from car to car. A small, unguided anger against 'Texas and Texans' was reported from some individuals.

Many sporting events were cancelled on that Friday and into the following weekend. NFL football was not cancelled that weekend, and NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle later called that the biggest mistake he ever made.

Televised worldwide, President John F. Kennedy was carried to Arlington National Cemetery on November 25, 1963 on a horse-drawn caisson similar to the caisson that carried President Lincoln. His body was followed by the Kennedy family and at least one representative from every country except Communist China and Albania.

List of witnesses to the assassination

Known witnesses

Abraham Zapruder - Filmed the shooting with his movie camera. A 11-22-63 note from a secret service agent said that Zapruder stated he heard shots originate from behind him (behind Zapruder was the grassy knoll)
James Tague - Air Force veteran who was wounded during the assassination
Roy Kellerman - Secret Service agent riding in the limousine front passenger seat testified that after he remembered hearing his first shot, the assassination ended in a "flurry of shells" coming into the limousine that reminded him of a jet sonic-boom sound quickness. Kellerman, who was the nearest agent to the President during the attack, testified to the Warren Commissioners, "I am going to say that I have, from the firecracker report and the two other shots that I know, those were three shots. But, Mr. Specter, if President Kennedy had from all reports four wounds, Governor Connally three, there have got to be more than three shots, gentlemen."
Lee Bowers - Railroad yard switching supervisor in a 14' elevated tower in the parking area behind the grassy knoll who stated he saw two men lingering near the picket fence east corner, and two other men at the far west end of the picket fenceline just before the motorcade arrived. Bowers had also observed three civilian cars drive through the depository parking lot in the minutes leading up to the assassination. One car driver seemed to have a microphone or radio held up to his mouth. In 1966 Bowers stated he was attracted by a flash of light, or smoke, or something, to look specifically towards the grassy knoll east side corner area at the instant of the assassination when he remembered hearing 3 shots. Bowers, like many of the witnesses said the last 2 shots he remembered hearing were bunched closer together in time than the first 2 shots he remembered hearing.
Charles Brehm - World War II, D-Day U.S. Army Ranger veteran who is quoted as saying just minutes after the assassination that the shots seemed to come from in front of, or, beside the President. Brehm also later stated that he watched something fly left and behind the President to land at the curb near Brehm when the President's head exploded, and, like many other witnesses, Brehm heard another separate shot after the President's head had already exploded.
Governor John Connally - testified he remembered hearing a shot, then he was hit (but did not hear that shot), then he remembered hearing another shot
Nellie Connally - testified she remembered hearing a shot, then she turned toward President Kennedy and then saw him with his hands already at his throat, then there was a second shot that hit John Connally, then he started screaming, then she remembered hearing another shot and the limousine rear interior was immediately covered with the President's headmatter.
Jean Hill - "The lady in red" who was standing across from the grassy knoll and stated she remembered hearing 4 to 6 shots. In her testimony she also stated that she was told that an "agent" watching nearby had seen a bullet hit near her feet.
Sam Holland - Railroad supervisor who was on the "triple overpass" in front of the limousine, standing with several other witnesses who also claimed to hear at least one shot come from the grassy knoll picket fence and see gun smoke lingering there. This gun smoke is seen in a movie film captured by reporter Dave Wiegman, Jr.
Mary Moorman - stated she heard another shot or two after taking her famous polaroid picture that was captured after the President's head had already exploded
Howard Brennan - sitting some 100' directly south of the depository who saw an assassin in the depository sixth floor easternmost window with a rifle minutes before the assassination, and a man in the same window fire once towards the limousine during the assassination. On 11-22-63 Brennan did not police-lineup identify Oswald as an assassin even after admitting to seeing Oswald on tv before the 11-22-63 evening police lineup (no police lineup record exists listing Brennan's name as having attended).
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis - said she saw a piece of the President's skull detaching, yet she was not in a position to see his head until almost 1 second after the President's head first exploded. She also climbed onto the left rear of the limousine trunk and picked up a piece of headmatter which she gave to a Parkland Doctor
Rufus Youngblood - secret service agent riding with LBJ who stated he remembered hearing 3 shots (and like a large majority of witnesses said the last 2 shots were bunched noticeably closer in time than the first 2 shots). Stated that after the first shot he remembered hearing, he quickly turned and pushed LBJ down and climbed over front seat into back on top of LBJ before the second shot he remembered hearing, yet in the famous Ike Altgens photo taken at Z-255 --only 3.4 seconds before the President's head first exploded-- Youngblood and LBJ are still sitting upright, and Youngblood is still in the front seat
James Eugene Braden (a.k.a. "Eugene Hale Brading") mafia-connected felon arrested by Dallas police after being reported acting suspiciously while inside the Dal-Tex building. (Braden/Brading was also registered the same day at a hotel within only miles of Robert F. Kennedy when RFK was mudered in 1968)

Unknown or Disputed witnesses

An American who met with Sylvia Odio and two anti-Castro Cubans in late September 1963. At the time of this meeting Lee Harvey Oswald was (according to the Warren Commission apologists) riding on a bus towards Mexico City, Mexico. One of the anti-Castro Cubans had called Odio back a day or two after the initial meeting and said the American was a bit crazy and said that Kennedy should be killed because of the Bay of Pigs. On 11-22-63 Odio recognized the American to be Lee Harvey Oswald.
A man leaving the Russian embassy in Mexico City who the C.I.A. initially identified as Lee Harvey Oswald, but who clearly is not Oswald.
A man who resembled Lee Harvey Oswald seen 11-22-63 before the assassination several times (once with a very large bearded man who drove) at a Dallas practice range shooting a rifle
A witness who on 11-22-63 between 9:30 and 10:00 AM said, “I looked over on the railroad bridge and I saw three men, and I thought I saw two of them carrying guns, long guns. I glanced to my left to check traffic, and then looked back, because even in Texas it’s unusual to see people carrying long guns.”
A large man seen by two witnesses wearing a suit and carrying a gun case towards Dealey Plaza the morning of the assassination
"a plainclothes detective or FBI agent, or something like that” who a witness said was helping the police officers guard the "triple overpass" at 10:30 AM before the assassination (even though no "agent(s)" were ordered to be there)
A man seen by Julia Murcer at about 10:50 AM before the assassination removing a gun case from the back of a pickup truck parked up on the Elm Street north curb next to the grassy knoll. On 11-23-63 Murcer identified the driver of the pickup truck as Jack Ruby (the day before Ruby silenced Oswald)
A second man rifle-armed assassin seen in a depository sixth-floor west window at 12:16
A rifle-armed man seen leaning out the depository sixth-floor east window with the weapon just before and after the "epileptic man" episode
The "epileptic man" who at 12:17-12:18 started having an epileptic fit near the southwest corner of Houston and Elm Streets. Some persons contend this was a deliberate distraction so other assassins could get into position, while simultaneously drawing attention away from assassins buildings locations, while other persons think this was a man named Jerry T. Belknap.
Lee Harvey Oswald who depository employee and motorcade witness Carolyn Arnold told respected researcher Anthony Summers she saw Oswald sitting in the depository second-floor lunchroom at 12:15 to 12:20 PM eating his lunch. President Kennedy was scheduled to drive by the depository at 12:25 PM.
The "babushka lady" - many years after the assassination Beverly Oliver claimed to be this witness standing near Brehm. Oliver claims to have made an amateur movie film of the assassination but her film was confiscated by an agent
The "umbrella man" - In 1978 Louis Witt first came forward and claimed to be this assassination witness and gave testimony at the HSCA hearings that he was there to heckle the President, but he was not involved in any conspiracy
The "accomplice" a.k.a. the "dark complected man" seen standing close to the "umbrella man." One second this man, who some say looks like a Cuban, is just standing there as the President is approaching him, then, within 1.3 seconds, as the President begins to react with his hands towards his throat, this man shoots his right arm upwards like a wave, but he does not wave his hand. Some think he was signaling at least one assassin that more shots were needed
The "badge man" - supposed image of a Dallas police uniformed assassin elevated behind the picket fence who a few think shot over the retaining wall corner, towards the President ("seen" in enhanced versions of the Mary Moorman polaroid photo captured a micro-second after the President's head first exploded)
In 1978 Gordon Arnold claimed to have been asked twice by an "agent" to move away from behind the fence on the grassy knoll before the assassination. Arnold claimed that during the assassination while he was shooting an amateur movie film, a bullet fired from behind him whizzed close to his left side. Arnold also claimed that a revolver-armed Dallas police uniformed man kicked him, demanded then took his assassination movie film after the shooting, while a close-by crying "badge man" looked on while waving a rifle around.
The "railroad man" - supposed image of a man in a white shirt and a construction hardhat standing near the "badge man" but looking towards the school book depository ("seen" in enhanced versions of the Mary Moorman polaroid photo captured a micro-second after the President's head first exploded)
The "black dog man" - image of a person very close to or leaning on the retaining wall on the grassy knoll. The HSCA determined he/she was a white person
A black man and black woman that Marilyn Sitzman stated she saw sitting on the retaining wall bench sharing their lunch just before the assassination. Sitzman said that seconds after the President's head exploded she heard one of their soda pop bottles break and the black couple ran away into the parking lot
The "s.o.b. man" in front of the President holding a homemade sign that read "JFK S.O.B." Some think this man looks Cuban.
An second accomplice man seen by several witnesses standing near an armed assassin in the depository sixth-floor east window
A person movie-filmed in the depository sixth-floor east window moving upward just as the Presidential limousine started turning from Houston Street onto Elm Street only seconds before the assassination started
An armed assassin photographed in a second floor Dal-Tex window captured during the assassination
A person and/or rifle seen by several witnesses in the depository sixth-floor east window during the assassination (one witness, Brennan, said he saw the rifle fire once)
An assassin who Jean Hill said she caught a glimpse of firing and his gun smoke, located behind the grassy knoll picket fence, about 9' west of the fenceline corner (exactly where the HSCA recreated a shot which matched the gunshot impulse found on the dictabelt police recording, and where the Mary Moorman polaroid shows something or someone there that is not present in photos & films captured only seconds later)
An assassin who was wearing a suit and a hat that witness Ed Hoffman claims was facing away from Hoffman, then the man quickly leaned up and over the picket fence, then a puff of smoke appeared, then the man turned with a rifle and immediately ran westward along the picket fenceline (his running may be seen in a movie film), then tossed the rifle to an accomplice dressed like a railroad worker, then he walked away from the picket fence
The "railroad worker" dressed accomplice who caught the rifle from the picket fence hatted assassin, who ran behind a large utility box, broke the rifle into 2 pieces, then hid the pieces in a bag, then also walked away from the picket fence northward.
An assassin who told a mafia Godfather he fired one shot from the Elm Street north curb sewer opening to the front and right of the President, and he said another assassin fired from the Dal-Tex building
A "running man" who witness Jessie Price said he watched running northeastward through the depository parking lot, carrying something away from the grassy knoll
A man photographed looking out of a depository sixth-floor west window only seconds after the assassination
An anxious woman who was apprehended in the depository parking lot trying to drive away right afterwards. She was turned over to the Dallas Sheriff's office for questioning, yet no record exists of her arrest, her statements, nor the car she had parked near the grassy knoll picket fence
A man who right after the assassination was seen running out the depository back door, then running away from Dealey Plaza
A woman who screamed to policeman Joe Smith "They're shooting the President from the bushes!"
A man near the Dealey Plaza groundskeeper where both watched from the grassy knoll steps who told the groundskeeper only seconds afterwards to lay down because they were shooting the President from the bushes
An "agent" who policeman Joe Smith encountered behind the grassy knoll picket fence shortly after the shots, who flashed Smith a secret service card (even though no secret service agents were stationed in the plaza) Smith also testified he smelled gunpowder
An "agent" who stopped witness Malcolm Summers and other witnesses from entering behind the grassy knoll into the depository parking lot and told them to stop because they may get shot (Summers said he saw a weapon semi-hidden under the "agents" coat)
An "agent" who watched a bullet strike near the feet of witness Jean Hill
An "agent" who told Jean Hill that another "agent" had watched a bullet strike near the feet of witness Jean Hill
Several "agents" who a Dallas policeman testified were at the depository back door only minutes afterwards. These "agents" were dressed in suits, and armed, and, when they first saw the policeman, without being asked, quickly identified themselves to the policeman as "agents" even though no official record places any "agents" on the Dealey Plaza grounds before or during the assassination, until afterwards starting at about 1:00 PM
Several other persons besides the "three tramps" who a Dallas policeman said were arrested in railroad cars after the assassination
A man who a Dallas Sheriff's detective saw run from near the depository to a station wagon minutes after the assassination who the detective said looked like Lee Harvey Oswald
A "running man" who off-duty policeman Tom Tilson said he watched scramble down the west side of the "triple overpass" embankment, throw something into a parked car, then drive quickly away from the plaza westward
A dark suited man seen in 12:39-12:40 PM photos near the Elm Street south curb sewer bending over and seeming to scoop something into his hand, then place it in his suit coat pocket
A man who was arrested at 2:45 PM after the assassination who said that he was in a jail cell near Oswald and that Oswald talked to him

A portion of the known witnesses can be found here.

One of the better scaled maps of Dealey Plaza showing witnesses locations and observations, suspected assassins locations, evidentiary artifacts, and other valuable information can be found here.

Shots Sequencing and Origins

Of 267 witnesses who expressed or were asked the number of shots they remembered hearing, 249 (93%) claimed to hear only 3 shots (or 3 closely spaced volleys of shots) or less.

The majority of witnesses, from one end of the plaza to the other, said that the last two shots (or volleys of shots) that they remembered hearing were noticeably closer together, than the first two shots (or volleys of shots).

Of 207 witnesses who expressed or were asked from where the shots they remembered hearing came from (60 witnesses were never asked nor expressed an opinion)

34 could not tell (16%)

63 heard all shots they remembered hearing come from the depository or the Houston/Elm intersection area of the depository (31%)

110 remembered hearing at least one shot that did not come from the depository or the Houston/Elm intersection area (53%)

Therefore, of the 173 persons who had an opinion of the shots locations, 64% remembered hearing at least one shot that did not come from the depository or the Houston/Elm intersection area, while 36% heard all shots they remembered hearing come from the depository or the Houston/Elm intersection area of the depository.

Investigations into the assassination

Many people dispute the claim that Oswald was an assassin, or, the sole assassin. The first official investigation of the matter, the Warren Commission, was created by President Lyndon B. Johnson on November 29, 1963 to investigate the assassination. It was headed by Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. It eventually reported its conclusion that Oswald assassinated Kennedy and, further, that he acted alone, and that the commission did not find any persuasive evidence of a domestic or foreign conspiracy involving anyone else. The theory that Oswald acted alone has been informally dubbed the lone gunman theory. The proceedings of the commission members were secret.

As of 2004 some of the Warren Commission files have yet to be released for the public.

File:JFKAUTOSPY.jpg
A front view of the slain President's body.

A later official investigation by the House Select Committee on Assassinations, during the late 1970s, concluded that President Kennedy had been assassinated as a result of a conspiracy.

This conclusion was based in part, but not entirely on, the analysis of a Dallas Police radio channel Dictabelt tape recorded during the assassination as recorded by a Dallas police motorcade escort motorcycle officer's stuck open microphone.

The Dallas Police dictabelt was analyzed and found to contain the gunshots impulses of gunshots fired at Kennedy's motorcade. The analysis scientifically determined, to a 95% near-certainty, the sound of four definate gunshots impulses that were fired (and a possible fifth gunshot impulse). The HSCA stated in its final report that the third gunshot of the four gunshots was fired from the Dealey Plaza grassy knoll.

After some feedback from a rock n' roll band drummer listening to a third generation (or more) copy of the Dallas police recorded dictabelt in the July, 1979 "Gallery" pornographic magazine, the Ramsey Panel performed an analysis. In 1982 the Ramsey panel claimed that the suspected grassy knoll shot on the Dallas police recorded dictabelt recording really occurred about a minute after the assassination when the Dallas Police Chief Jessie Currie said, "Get men on top of that over-... underpass. See what happened up there. Go up to the overpass," then Dallas Sheriff Bill Decker (riding next to Curry right next to the Dealey Plaza grassy knoll during the shots) said, "Tell my men to empty the jail, and up on the railroad, uh, right-of-way there."

An analysis published in the March, 2001 "Science and Justice" by Dr. Donald Thomas used a different synchronous tie-together Dallas policeman transmission on the police radio recorded dictabelt to establish that the National Academy of Sciences panel was in error. Dr. Thomas's scientific conclusion, very similar to the HSCA scientific conclusion, is that the gunshots impulses are real, to a 96.3% scientific certainty.

Dr. Thomas presented additional details and support in November, 2001, more in September, 2002, and more in November, 2002.

A November, 2003 analysis sponsored by Court TV, responded that the supposed gunshot sounds did not match test gunshot recordings fired on Dealey Plaza any better than random noise. [2]

Dr. Thomas soon responded in December, 2003 to the "Court TV" analysis, pointing out "Court TV" errors.

As of 2004 many of the HSCA files have yet to be released for the public.

By law, all files deemed assassination-related will be made available to the public by 2017.

On May 19, 2044, the 50th anniversary of the death of Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, there will be a 500-page transcript of an oral history about John F. Kennedy given by Mrs. Kennedy released to the public by the Kennedy library.

Hundreds of studies of the evidence artifacts in the Kennedy assassination have been performed over the years - they have reached as many conclusions about what happened and why. From the Dictabelt recording, eyewitness accounts, testimonials, an unidentified fingerprint found in the, supposed, "snipers lair," and much other physical and scientific evidence...nearly every "important" piece of evidence has been questioned since the assassination.

Security failures

The Secret Service (and general security surrounding the President) as it existed in 1963 was very lax by today's standards, and made it much easier for an assassin to kill the President. The Warren Commission's Report, chapter 8, goes to some length to detail flaws in Secret Service security at the time of the assassination. Procedures in place and events of the day presented large holes into which Lee Harvey Oswald, or any potential assassin, could slip. These included:

Not telling Dallas police, specifically, who 'authorized personnel' were, to stand on bridges or overpasses
Not having in place the policy of searching buildings on the path of a motorcade, when said motorcade is announced 'only a few days in advance'
Not properly/thoroughly checking the backgrounds of those in potential close contact with the President - that program was new and undermanned in 1963
Assuming that security measures taken in a 1936 Roosevelt visit to Dallas could be used to model Kennedy's visit
Generally insufficient personnel to accomplish the task at hand of planning and executing the motorcade
Incomplete coordination of information with other government bodies, such as the FBI; the Secret Service had no significant information about Lee Harvey Oswald
Not having a car with a bulletproof top available for the president (no such car had existed for the White House since 1953 because such a car would have a top difficult to add and remove on demand)
Allowing the president enough leeway to plan a route which put him in harm's way
Letting the motorcade slow down substantially at a curve - which gave a gunman ample opportunity for a shot

In short, the ease with which President Kennedy was assassinated may as easily be explained by the simple failure of a government organization to see a problem, as by any conspiracy theory.

As one might imagine, significant changes occurred within the Secret Service organization and procedures as a direct result of the Kennedy Assassination and the Warren Commission's report, such that a recurrence was much less likely.

The Zapruder film

President Kennedy's motorcade trip through Dealey Plaza was recorded on silent 8mm film before, during, and immediately following the assassination by amateur cameraman Abraham Zapruder, in what became known as the Zapruder film. Many witnesses reported hearing almost simultaneous shots from more than one direction, seeing something strike Elm Street near the limousine, and seeing smoke from another location called "the grassy knoll", positioned in front of the motorcade at the time of the assassination. Many feel the Zapruder film supports this theory, as it shows President Kennedy's head moving slightly forward 1" to 2" when his head explodes, as though he were shot from behind, and then, after a two-Zapruder-frame pause, the President is propelled violently backward and to his left, supporting a shot from the right front.

Conspiracy theories

The security around Kennedy's motorcade was not sufficient - a conclusion that the Warren Commission and other investigations confirm. Some believe that the lack of security suggests that the CIA, Secret Service or some other agent or agencies were actively involved in the assassination, rather than simply negligent.

Many people have pointed to the Warren Commission's 'magic bullet' as unlikely. Some ballistic evidence has suggested that such a bullet trajectory was possible, but this particular point is a source of much contention and disagreement. If the 'magic bullet' did not occur, then the entire Warren Commission report is discredited. [3]

The presidential limo was immediately cleaned and repaired instead of being secured as ballistic evidence. Kennedy's body was also immediately taken to Washington, rather than examined by the local coroner first.

A sampling of these individual or combined conspiracy theories follows:

President Kennedy was going to drop Vice President Lyndon Johnson before the 1964 election, most likely because of the facts that Johnson was being investigated for his criminal involvement in 4 criminal investigations involving government contracts money, bribes, murder, etc., LBJ certainly had motives (All 4 scandals "disappeared" after 11-22-63)[4]

and/or, Johnson was simply power-hungry, or, was himself an agent of the mob with his own criminal entanglements[5]

and/or, the C.I.A. killed Kennedy for not backing the Bay of Pigs Invasion the way the C.I.A. wanted it to be backed, afterwhich Kennedy vowed to break the Agency "into a thousand pieces"[6]

and/or, John Kennedy and his brother Robert Kennedy (who was also assassinated in 1968 when he ran for President) were killed by the Mafia in retaliation for their increasing crackdowns (10 times the prosecutions under Eisenhower) on organized crime. Documents that the Warren Commission never saw have revealed that the mafia was working very closely with the C.I.A. on, at least, 8 assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. Jimmy Hoffa, Carlos Marcello, and Santo Trafficante Jr. seem to "top the list" of the House Assassination Committee[7]. The family of Chicago mobster Sam Giancana claim the Kennedys doublecrossed him after the mafia had helped Kennedy be elected President. Ruby had grown up working for mafia leader Al Capone in Chicago.[8]

and/or, persons who were politically to the right, specifically oilmen from Texas who stood to lose billion$ of dollars because President Kennedy wanted to discontinue the 29% oil depletion tax credit allowance

and/or, South Vietnamese President Diem found out in June 1963 that the U.S. was helping his political enemies plan a coup against Diem. If Diem, who was also profiting from facillitating drugs to be shipped from Asia to the French mafia, was ousted, billion$ of drug dollars may be lost. Even though Diem was killed in a coup on 11-2-63, the plans to assassinate Kennedy went ahead for revenge.

and/or, the U.S. "military industrial complex" that had been preparing for profiting from escalation of the Vietnam war since the French withdrew from Vietnam in 1955 knew that President Kennedy had discussed plans and implemented actions to withdraw U.S. troops from Vietnam.

and/or, Cuban President Fidel Castro's agents killed Kennedy in retaliation for the many times the C.I.A. and mafia had tried to kill him[9]

and/or, angry Cuban anti-Castro exiles, some of which had worked with the C.I.A., killed Kennedy for his failure to overthrow Castro's communist dictatorship

and/or, the KGB carried out the assassination because Kennedy was too aggressively anti-Communist, or to demoralize America

and/or, the Israeli government was displeased with Kennedy for his pressure about their top-secret nuclear program[10] (see Dimona)

and/or, the Israelis were angry over Kennedy's employment of Nazis such as Wernher von Braun [11]

and/or, the Federal Reserve (and the powerful foreign interests that supposedly own it) were threatened by Kennedy's moves to restore precious-metals backing to U.S. currency.[12] (Note that the Secret Service was created as a counter-counterfeiting agency, and remains an organ of the Treasury—a direct line from the Fed to Kennedy's security. The same anti-hard-currency motive is suspected in the Garfield and Lincoln assassinations.[13])

and/or, Kennedy was killed as part of an elaborate Freemasonic ritual. [14]

Disproving to an absolute certainty any given conspiracy theory about the Kennedy assassination, or, conversely, proving that the Warren Commission's findings were 100% correct, may never be possible. Doing either would require 'evidence' that hasn't emerged in 40 years and is somehow so compelling that all sides can agree to agree upon it. Given the realistic likelihood of this, the real motive(s) behind Kennedy's death (and to a lesser extent, how the murder was accomplished) may never be agreed upon.

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