APRIL 1, 2018

THE KENNEDY CONSPIRACY

ANALYSIS OF THE EVENTS SURROUNDING THE ASSASSINATION OF JFK

MEGAN BILGRI
MERCER UNIVERSITY
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The Kennedy Conspiracy

A sunny afternoon drive through Dallas quickly turned into a sea of red chaos and

confusion on November 22, 1963. John F. Kennedy – the President of the United States for

nearly three years at the time – was dead. A man on the verge of ending segregation – on the

verge of uniting a nation with a history of racially-engrossed public policy – was sacrificed on a

public stage in front of all who looked to him to instate such equality (On the Issues). A man

focused on how an individual can benefit his country, not on what a country can do to benefit the

life of an individual, was sacrificed on a public stage in front of all whom he inspired. The

country was left in a state of distraught confusion, his widow even more so. There was, and

remains, an extreme lack of clarity surrounding Kennedy’s assassination: but someone, or some

group, must be held responsible for this attack on a political icon, and conspiracy theorists have

weighed their opinions on the subject.

The 2017 release of the Kennedy Assassination Files offers sensible evidence that

Kennedy’s death was not as simple as it was originally portrayed. Liberating tens of thousands of

classified documents reignited the fire within the theorists that was all but put out when a 1992

legislation sealed all evidence associated with the murders for a twenty-five-year period. The

files – a mixed-media compilation of video, photographs, and discussion associated with the

Warren Commission – are exactly the type of information that conspiracy theorists needed to

fuel, and inevitably strengthen, their thoughts. According to author Gordon S. Wood, conspiracy

theorists attempted to make sense of the chaos surrounding Kennedy’s assassination by

“’attributing events to the concerted designs of willful individuals,”’ in an attempt to rationalize

“’human phenomena in terms of human intentions’” (Willman). Proof was what theorists needed

to make their case, and such proof was meticulously uncovered in the previously-locked files.
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Initial reports suggested the Lee Harvey Oswald acted as the lone assassin in the Dallas

event. Originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, Oswald had an informal childhood: his mother

sent him to an orphanage before reclaiming he and his brother and moving him to the Bronx,

New York (Biography.com). The instability of his childhood suggests that Oswald was not

brought up with a positive perception of the United States, nor its political leaders. A young

Oswald also held interest in socialist literature as a child, which provides justification as to his

move from the United States to Russia, and ultimately the Soviet Union, after a stint in the U.S,

Marines. To further insinuate a motive in his reported actions in Kennedy’s assassination,

Oswald had a history of violent behavior and social misconduct, cited that he was also in

possession of an illegal weapon during his tenure with the Marines (Biography.com).

Oswald became a resident of Dallas, Texas in June of 1962 under the alias of Alek J.

Hidell. Although he had returned as a resident of the free world, Oswald continued to support the

communistic intentions of external countries, with his interest at the time of Kennedy’s death

being Cuba (Biography.com). This support calls to question whether or not Oswald’s actions

were inspired by Cuban or Soviet intelligence, with Oswald ultimately sacrificing himself as the

assassinator in order to hide the political discontinuities between nations. Nonetheless, this

suggests that Oswald did not act alone as the official accounts suggest. The primitive element

that linked Oswald to the President’s murder, however, was the .38 handgun that he purchased in

1963 – and posed for a photograph with – that was later described as the firearm used at the

scene (Biography.com).

Officially, Oswald was last seen on the sixth floor of his work shortly after noon on

November 22, 1963 – reportedly around the time that Kennedy’s motorcade was expected to

cross near the building (Biography.com). Based on this information, conspiracy theorists
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question the likelihood that Oswald would have been able to remain in the building with his

coworkers having a visual of him and his firearm without any reports made nor internal incidents

incurred. If these reports are true, then Oswald’s coworkers undoubtedly must have had

suspicions regarding his behavior, yet it went unreported until after the incident, suggesting that

the coworkers in question would have been subsequently involved in the crime, aiding the notion

that Oswald did not act alone. Additionally, theorists have gained ground in this case based on

the 1978 release of information by the House Select Committee on Assassinations which

concluded that the President was “’probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy’ that may

have involved multiple shooters and organized crime” (Gillon). Perhaps Oswald was seen with

his firearms shortly before the homicide, but perhaps those who saw him knew exactly what he

was about to do and were in support of his actions.

The events and reports surrounding the Kennedy assassination are what has allowed

numerous conspiracy theories to take shape. Over the years, theorists have argued that the role of

contingency in the typical narrative surrounding the assassination suggest a “chance and

coincidence” perspective (Willman); The narrative of Kennedy’s death allots too many

inconsistent repours to be considered a solidified tale, thus Oswald cannot be considered the sole

murderer of the President. According to the recent release of documents used by the Warren

Commission – the group enacted by Lyndon B. Johnson on the grounds of investigating the

death of Kennedy – only 29% of Americans believe that Oswald acted alone, and 52% believe

that some sort of conspiracy was behind the President’s untimely death (Gillon). Although

President Johnson was legally-bound to enact an investigative commission, it can also be seen as

suspicious, given that Kennedy’s untimely death put him into power. Nonetheless, the initial
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analysis of the incident suggested discontinuities between eye witness reports and the reported

distance that Oswald shot his notorious “magic bullet.”

The theory that denotes the possibility of a magic bullet is plausible in that it is highly

unlikely for a single bullet to contribute the sheer amount of damage in which it was reported to

produce. According to the Warren Commission, “Oswald fired three shots in 8.6 seconds: the

first shot missed, the second shot struck Kennedy in the back, exited through his throat, and then

hit Texas Governor John Connally, breaking a rib, shattering his writs, and ending up in his right

thigh” (Gillon). This path of travel has been deemed statistically unlikely due to the fact that, in

order to be held true, a single bullet would have had to completely pass through the bodies of

two adult men: Fifteen inches of human flesh and fifteen different layers of clothing between

those two bodies, while also puncturing two bones in the process (Live Science).

The statistical odds of this bullet holding the power to pass through that many layers is

what lead to the ‘Grassy Knoll’ theory: the conspiracy that a second shooter, perched on a grassy

knoll near the motorcade, fired two shots at the President before speeding away on a motorcycle

(Gillon), one likely missed, and one was responsible for half of the damage said to be inflicted

by the magic bullet. This idea is supported by the firsthand account of a Dallas police officer

who stated that he heard gunshots ringing from a grassy-area nearby, and when he ran to

approach the suspected shooter, the individual flashed what was referred to as a Secret Service

badge, leading the officer to disregard what he had heard prior (Moore). Upon further

investigation, it was found that no Secret Service officers had been stationed in that area

(Moore). If an officer had heard something suspicious enough – like a gunshot – from an area

that would cause them to approach the individual, that should call to question the existence of the

grassy knoll shooter, thus disproving the official report of the Warren Commission. According to
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a secondary investigation, it became all the more plausible that a second shooter was present in

that exact location when Dallas police officials released audio recordings of the scene; it can be

said with “95 percent certainty that the recording revealed that four shots had been fired at the

presidential motorcade,” (Gillon) contradicting reported evidence that suggested only three shots

could have possibly been fired from the gun of Oswald in the given time period.

Furthermore, the supposed magic bullet was recovered at Parkland Memorial Hospital

where Connally was treated but was not found on his gurney; the bullet was found on a gurney in

the hospital corridor that was reportedly placed next to the one carrying Connally (Live Science),

calling to question how the bullet somehow got from gurney A to gurney B seemingly on its

own. The public reports released by the Warren Commission do not offer an explanation to this

element of the story, which would support the claim that a bullet matching the ones used in

Oswald’s firearm was placed at the scene to secure the establishment of Oswald as the lone

shooter in the event. Additionally, witnesses reported hearing three shots at the time of the

assassination but did not agree that all shots were fired from the same location, supporting the

conspiracy theory that multiple gunmen were involved.

Oswald’s involvement in the murder was also almost published too swiftly to be deemed

accurate, but society believed every ounce of information being poured out to them during this

time of national grievance. For instance, Oswald was taken into custody shortly after 2 pm,

roughly 90 minutes after the shooting occurred (Business Insider). The timing of this calls to

question whether someone on the inside was alerted to a potential threat before it occurred, given

the relative rapidity of response of local law enforcement. If this element of the conspiracy

theory reigned true, it would further insinuate and support the theory that the government was, in

some way, behind Kennedy’s assassination and allotted Oswald to take the fall, citing publicity
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and international diplomacy reasons. Furthermore, the rhetoric associated with Oswald’s capture

suggests that he pleaded ignorance during his first few rounds of interrogations, cited that, when

asked if he had murdered the President, he replied “The first think I heard about it was when the

newspaper reporters in the hall asked me that question,” (CBS). Due to his persistence in

appearing ignorant to the nationally-publicized homicide, authorities had reason to transport him

to a different facility to continue his questions, which in turn allowed him to be exposed to the

public for a brief period of time – however, not brief enough for him to make it to the next

location without being murdered by local nightclub owner Jack Ruby at point blank range (CBS)

in an act of “spontaneous revenge” (Gillon).

The lack of connection between Ruby and Oswald suggests a theory that Ruby was hired

by a third-party to murder Oswald in an attempt to seal Oswald’s reputation as the notorious

assassin of John F. Kennedy. According to report, Ruby had connections to organized crime,

calling to question his own involvement in Kennedy’s murder (History.com); Ruby had the

potential to assassinate the President, frame it on Oswald, and kill Oswald before he had a

chance to convince authorities that he was not the true murderer. Knowing that Oswald’s prior

associations with communistic behavior would be highly considered as inspiration for a pre-

meditated murder, Ruby would have had sound reason to utilize Oswald as the perceived lone

assassin in the case. Other theorists believe that Ruby murdered Oswald “to keep him from

revealing a larger conspiracy,” (History.com) adding support to the claim that Oswald was not

the lone shooter in the case. This calls to question the potential connections had between Ruby

and communistic societies, or the United States government for that matter; Ruby could have just

been a disgruntled American citizen, upset with the President’s untimely assassination, or, Ruby

could have been an ally of Oswald’s – killing him to ensure that any skepticism surrounding the
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influence of his involvement with communistic societies ceased to become proven, factual

motives for murder.

Perhaps Oswald’s murder was, too, staged by United States officials in an attempt to

cover up their involvement with the case. Or, perhaps the bureaucrats knew immediately that

Oswald would deny his involvement in the events, leaving the government with no other pawn in

this game. According to a study conducted in the decades following the Kennedy assassination,

the overwhelming majority of United States citizens believed that Oswald did not act alone, with

many also under the impression that the government played a significant role in the events on

this notorious day (Gillon). Based on the findings of the investigative commission, the lack of

circumstantial evidence makes it all the more plausible that a government conspiracy led to the

murder of the President. With the ‘factual’ evidence claiming Oswald acted alone with minimal

premeditation nor reason, the findings of the commission call to question the likelihood of an

internally-staged assassination. However, conspiracy theorists that believe in this narrative lack

solidified motive as to why the government would want to sacrifice their leader.

In my opinion, the conspiracy that Kennedy’s death was an act of internal defiance could

be supported by the idea that a national crisis would provoke an international time of peace. In

this sense, the assassination of a United States president – the country known on a global scale as

a force of arsenal strength and an undeniable motive for peacekeeping – would cause countries

around the world to cease any negativity toward this nation for a brief period. Especially in a

time of communistic threat against this nation, it becomes more plausible that this act was

serving as a distraction for these nations, in order to prevent harm against the United States or its

people. Writings and reports associated with Kennedy’s death lack clarity in Oswald’s motive,

but perhaps that is attributed to the fact that his motive was non-existent. Perhaps Oswald was
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hired by government officials as a sacrifice in exchange for his family’s security after the murder

was carried out. Perhaps Oswald was not the killer that society made him out to be, or perhaps he

was, and the rest of the nation just has a difficulty believing the lack of evidence for irrational

reasons.

The sheer pace of events on that fateful day caused the testimonies of witnesses to

contradict; Different persons account for seeing variations in the reported chains of events, such

as the direct positioning of the President prior to his death, or the placement of suspicious

civilians along the parade route. With initial reports stating that Kennedy suffered a bullet wound

to the head, it is likely that the shooter could not have been more than several yards from the

vehicle, stationed at an angle that allotted the bullet to travel downward through the base of

Kennedy’s skull into the mid-section of Governor Connally who was seated directly in front of

him. Eye witnesses reported seeing a gun being retracted from the fifth-or-sixth-floor of the

Texas School Depository, where it was noted in official reports that the weapon was being held

by Oswald. Contradictory news reports also noted the existence of a shooter on the ground-level,

closer to the vehicle. However, the investigation failed to acknowledge the truthfulness of these

reports given the chaos of the scene.

As previously noted, the 2017 release of the complete official Kennedy assassination

records resurrected and supplemented information to previously silenced conspiracy theories

surrounding the death of John F. Kennedy. In reference to the communistic societies of Cuba and

the Soviet Union being behind the murder, the documents provided a deeper understanding of

Oswald’s connections to those countries, thus making it all the more plausible that this

conspiracy could be true. Specifically, included among the coveted documents is the third

volume of a three-volume file, of which two volumes have yet to be released for public viewing.
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The release file provides factual information referencing the CIA’s interest in Valeriy Kostikov –

the leader of Russia’s “secret police” group that was also concerned with planned assassinations

at the time of Kennedy’s death (Waxman). Attaining documentation that the CIA was

investigating a potential connection between Oswald and the Soviet Union provides the

assurance that conspiracy theorists thrive on to make their ideas tangible.

To provide additional support to this conspiracy, the documents also detailed the

transcripts of communication between Cuban embassy employee Silvia Duran and Russian

officials, as well as dictations between Duran and Oswald (Waxman). What makes this

correspondence fascinating in the case of Kennedy is that they occurred shortly after Oswald

requested a visa to travel to Cuba while awaiting a Russian visa (Waxman). What is equally

fascinating is the fact that Duran was arrested relatively soon after the assassination. In fact,

according to former CIA field officer Bob Baer, Duran’s role in this entire event is so significant

that he believed she should have her own file with the CIA – which says a great deal considering

Duran was supposedly just an employee in charge of getting Oswald, among probably hundreds

of others, a Cuban Visa (Waxman). This calls to question the premeditation associated with the

assassination, however the transcripts do not directly reference causing harm to the President.

For this reason, it would be reasonable to conclude that this group was plotting a

communistically-infused threat against the United States in some form, whether it intentionally

targeted the Kennedy remains to be proven. But, perhaps the two volumes that have ceased to be

released to the public provide information that supports that theory. Perhaps, they will continue

to be withheld because they prove that theory.

As of today, 99% of the secret files have been released by the United States government.

Almost all of the documents associated with the investigation completed by the Warren
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Commission are publicly available for viewing, and not one file presents cohesive, indisputable

evidence that Oswald was the sole murderer of President Kennedy. There was no motive; There

were no published accounts of discontent between Oswald and Kennedy (Gillon); There exists

no tangible evidence that correlates Oswald having a discontent with the United States, given his

history as a marine. What makes Oswald an easy target for which the assassination may be

pinned is his associations with the Soviet Union and Cuba – an element of his story that only

adds to the conspiracy theory that this murder stretched far further than what was seen in Dealey

Plaza. Oswald may have indeed murdered the President on that fateful day in Dallas, but there is

no evidence to conclude that he was the one who dreamt up his actions.

The conspiracy theories surrounding Kennedy’s assassination have thrived on the

grounds of plausible proof. The notion that Oswald did not act alone is supported by numerous

eyewitness accounts: various police officers admitted to seeing another individual on a nearby

grassy knoll who appeared suspicious before speeding off behind the motorcade, but these

accounts were not necessarily valued by the Warren Commission. The idea that the Soviet Union

and Cuba were involved in the events is reinforced by Oswald’s associations with both countries,

however his associations are also what led the Commission to perceive Oswald has anti-

democratic. The theory that the United States Government was involved in the matter can be

argued because of Oswald’s untimely death by an unsuspecting murderer, as well as by the

secrecy of the Warren Commission’s twenty-five-year threshold on the official documentation of

the event’s investigation. Nonetheless, decades have passed, and the world has difficulty trusting

the official findings that Oswald was the sole murderer – but perhaps the world may never know.

References

Gillon, Steven M. “Why the Public Stopped Believing the Government about JFK's
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Murder.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 30 Oct. 2017,

www.history.com/news/why-the-public-stopped-believing-the-government-about-jfks-

murder.

“Jack Ruby Kills Lee Harvey Oswald.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2010,

www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jack-ruby-kills-lee-harvey-oswald.

“John F. Kennedy On the Issues.” John F. Kennedy On the Issues, On The Issues,

www.ontheissues.org/John_F__Kennedy.htm

Lallanilla, Marc. “What Is the Single-Bullet Theory?” Live Science, 20 Nov. 2013,

www.livescience.com/41369-single-bullet-theory-jfk-assassination.html.

“Lee Harvey Oswald.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017,

www.biography.com/people/lee-harvey-oswald-9430309.

Mason, Olivia. “Classified JFK Files Are about to Be Released - Here's How JFK's Shooter Lee

Harvey Oswald Was Caught after the Assassination.” Business Insider, Business Insider,

26 Oct. 2017, www.businessinsider.com/jfk-assassination-files-how-lee-harvey-oswald-

was-caught-2017-10.

Miller, Michael E. “JFK Assassination Conspiracy Theories: The Grassy Knoll, Umbrella Man,

LBJ and Ted Cruz's Dad.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 27 Oct. 2017

Moore, Lori. “The J.F.K. Files: Decades of Doubts and Conspiracy Theories.” The New York

Times, The New York Times, 25 Oct. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/us/jfk-

assassination-files-questions.html.

Smith, Stephen. “Accused JFK Assassin Is Arrested, Then Gunned Down.” CBS News, CBS

Interactive, 24 Nov. 2013, www.cbsnews.com/news/jfk-assassination-suspect-lee-harvey-

oswald-is-arrested-then-gunned-down/.
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Waxman, Olivia B. “JFK Assassination Anniversary-What We Learned From New Files.” Time,

Time, 22 Nov. 2017, time.com/5033215/jfk-assassination-anniversary-discoveries/.

William, Skip. “Traversing the Fantasies of the JFK Assassination: Conspiracy and Contingency

in Don Delillo's ‘Libra.’” Contemporary Literature, vol. 39, no. 3, 1998, pp. 405–

433. JSTOR, doi:10.2307/1208865.