Evidence that Lee Harvey Oswald did not Shoot-at or Kill President Kennedy
In light of all the relevant evidence and especially in view of the copious numbers of documents released after passage of the JFK Records Act, I have concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was framed for the murder of President John F. Kennedy. What he endured was a travesty of justice, a classic "rush to judgment" not unlike the "lynch-mob" mentality of a bygone age when "Jim Crow" was still part of the national landscape. It is beyond reasonable doubt that Oswald could not have been convicted of Presidential murder in a US court of law. There was not even a weak circumstantial case that could have been made against him had he been afforded access to a competent defense team.
It is particularly tragic that for over 40 years it has been known that Lee Oswald could not have been convicted of Presidential murder based on the flimsy and manufactured evidence assembled by the federal authorities. Two individuals in particular helped establish that fact specifically the legendary work of Mark Lane in Rush to Judgement (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966) which represented a defense lawyer's brief on behalf of Lee Harvey Oswald at the request of his mother Marguerite Oswald, and the unequaled amount and quality of research conducted and book written by Sylvia Meagher in Accessories After the Fact (New York: Random House, 1967). Both essentially "got it right" within several years of the publishing of the Warren Commission Report. Later, Mark Lane wrote Plausible Denial (New York: Thunders Mouth Press, 1991) which added significantly to his earlier work.
These two individuals are part of the pantheon of heroes who stepped forward with great courage to challenge the then accepted conventional wisdom of a "Lone Nut Assassin and the single "magic" bullet theory in which Lee Harvey Oswald was declared the only assassin of President John F. Kennedy. It can now be stated with a high degree of probability that Lee Harvey Oswald did not shoot at or kill President John F. Kennedy. Evidence continues to surface suggesting that he actually attempted to stop the Assassination on 2 separate occasions. If so, it is simply atrocious that Oswald's reputation was sullied in such a despicable manner and heart-rending that his wife and daughters were forced to endure the undeserved and unnecessary ridicule of being related to a notorious murderer.
As discussed elsewhere on this site it can now be stated with metaphysical certainty that the Assassination of JFK was the result of a complex conspiracy.[1] The “lone-nut” theory advanced by the Warren Commission in which Oswald alone purportedly killed President Kennedy and seriously wounded Governor Connolly has[2] always been critically dependent upon the so-called single (magic) bullet “hypothesis”[3] in which Kennedy and Connolly were hit by the same bullet.[4] Despite the fact that there has never been any actual evidence supporting this completely bogus "theory", it continues to be accepted by the MIMIC.[5]
The truth is that then Warren Commission member Congressman and later President Gerald R. Ford arbitrarily/shamefully moved the location of the JFK back wound from its position at roughly T3 (on the right side just lateral to the posterior midline) almost 6 inches up that is, cephalad so as to have it appear to be located in the base of the neck posteriorly.[6] In retrospect it is clear that this was done to make it seem possible for the anterior neck or “throat” wound to be a wound of exit rather than an entry wound which it had been unanimously labeled-->by the treating physicians at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas. It is impossible to state just how damaging Ford's actions were to ascertaining the truth about the JFK Assassination. Whatever his actual motivations, the negative consequences were simply enormous and in fact should be his major legacy that is, an obstructor of justice in the Kennedy Assassination case.
If the bullet which struck JFK’s back could not be proven to have entered the back of his neck, proceed to “shoot through” without doing damage to any bony structures then exit the front of the neck, it would be impossible to establish that the bullet in question then went on to enter Connolly’s back, exit his chest in the front, proceed to strike his right wrist, transit through the bone and then enter his left thigh. That much was elementary. The entire theory rested on what did or did not transpire in JFK's neck.
Bear in mind if the bullet did not strike JFK in the back of the neck did not pass through without hitting any bony structures, and did not exit the front of the neck, then at least one separate bullet hit Connolly in the back and it is clear that at least 2 shooter’s were involved—>ergo, a conspiracy occurred which may or may not have involved Lee Harvey Oswald in any way. Assuming that it is now true beyond reasonable doubt that a bullet did not strike JFK in the back of the neck (see evidence below), on the basis of that amount of evidence alone we simply couldn't be sure if Oswald was involved. Fortunately, we have other persuasive evidence establishing that he was not involved in the shooting of JFK or JBC.
In light of research carried out by David W. Mantik MD PhD (Radiation Oncologist and Physicist), it has been established utilizing CT scan technology that even if President Kennedy had been hit in the back of the base of the neck [7] it would have been anatomically impossible for the bullet in question to have transited JFK’s neck, exit and then strike Governor Connolly due to the intervening thick bony cervical vertebral bodies and transverse processes in the way. JFK’s neck X-rays show no such damage, lack of which proves that the alleged bullet trajectory through the neck while not only theoretically impossible simply did not occur. This is a monumentally important finding to the JFK Assassination Case. No transit through the neck-->no single bullet hypothesis-->no lone nut theory-->Proof of conspiracy! This of course represents a second unrelated way by which it can be proven that JFK was murdered as a result of a conspiracy--separate from the virtually nil probability that the US Secret Service committed 15+ simultaneous errors in protocol by chance alone during the Dallas, Texas Trip.
Why is the anatomical impossibility of a neck shoot-through so important? Because the Warren Commission stated clearly that the shooter would not have been able to complete 4 shots in the time allowed utilizing the alleged murder weapon (a 6.5 mm Manlicher-Carcano Carbine loaded with full metal jacketed rounds). If JFK and JBC were not hit by the same bullet because it was anatomically impossible, at least 4 shots occured. In light of this evidence alone it is clear that at the most, Lee Harvey Oswald might have fired at JFK but it is certainly not clear that he did. Someone else had to be involved in shooting at the President as well. In fact this evidence is compatible with multiple (more than 2) shooter’s having been involved. In any event, if this fundamental underlying concept is false, (an absolutely critical pillar upon which the entire Oswald as “lone nut” assassin of JFK is based), what else is likely untrustworthy? Sad to say, a great deal.
Having said that, there is copious other evidence which strongly suggests but does not prove beyond reasonable doubt (BRD) or to a metaphysical degree of certainty that Lee Harvey Oswald did not have any role in shooting President Kennedy. Remember, at present we know to a metaphysical degree of certainty that the JFK Assassination was the result of a conspiracy even if we only include the 15+ US Secret Service errors and the knowledge that the single bullet theory has been totally discredited. When we add all of the other pieces of information which now separately establish a conspiracy either to carry out or cover-up the Assassination we arrive at a complex conspiracy of unprecedented scope.
Here are some of the other pieces of evidence which strongly suggest that Lee Harvey Oswald played no role in shooting at JFK:
1) Oswald was in the lunch room on the second floor of the TSBD at the time of the shooting to a reasonably high degree of certainty. See Sylvia Meagher’s excellent book Accessories After the Fact (New York: 1967) chapter 3 for relevant details. Moreover, there were dozens of other people present in the TSBD at the time of the shooting who could have shot from that location at the President, for example the four unidentified men referred to in #2 below.
2) Two unidentified men were seen at each end of the sixth floor of the TSBD standing in open windows, 2 at each window. At least one was seen holding a rifle and aiming it out the window. In the other window a rifle barrel could be seen emerging from the open window. This information was produced by two separate witnesses who together testified to the existence and position of at least 3 of the 4 men. There names were James Worrell and Arnold Rowland. For details see Meagher, pp. 12-15. Since we now know
beyond reasonable doubt that these men were not US Secret Service agents, who were they? Clearly they were not part of the President’s protective detail.
3) The alleged murder weapon, the 6.5 mm Manlicher-Carcano Carbine that was produced could not be forensically identified (conclusively) as a firearm which actually belonged to Oswald. The photo of Oswald holding a rifle in the back yard intended to tie him to it is fraudulent to a high degree of probability. For an excellent discussion of the related issues regarding the authenticity of the photograph see Meagher, chapter 7. The serial number of the alleged Manlicher-Carcano murder weapon could not be verified as belonging to one and only one rifle therefore it could not be proven to belong to Lee Harvey Oswald. We now know that many different Italian Manlicher-Carcano manufacturer's utilized the same serial numbers. The Warren Commission attempted to link Oswald to the Manlicher-Carcano by tying him to the gun shipped from Klein's Sporting Goods to one Alex Hidell, an alias that is now known to have been used by multiple intelligence assets. Moreover, even if Oswald actually owned a Manlicher-Carcano there would be no way utilizing a serial number to tie him to the alleged weapon supposedly produced by authorities. See, Meagher, pp. 104-105. Even more troubling, why would Oswald order a traceable rifle through the mail if he wanted to kill the President of the United States? Would he not simply have gotten one on the black market given his intelligence connections?
4)The ammunition for the alleged murder weapon could not be tied to Lee Harvey Oswald. The Warren Commission was unable to prove that Lee Harvey Oswald ever purchased ammunition for a 6.5 mm Manlicher-Carcano. No ammunition was ever found on his person or among his effects which were searched and confiscated on November 22, 1963. See Meagher, pp. 112-116.
5) The Warren Commission indicated that Oswald was able to fire "3" shots in under 6 seconds because he had utilized an ammunition clip. No evidence has ever been produced which proves that he did so. As Sylvia Meagher has written , "No link between the clip and Oswald has been established--by purchase, possession, fingerprints, or other methods", Meagher, p. 120,
6) The original murder weapon as reported by Dallas television station KBOX on November 22, 1963 and according to the Dallas Police was a 7.6 mm German Mauser which when found in the 5th floor staircase of the TSBD had one shell in the chamber with three spent shells nearby (Meagher, p. 95). Only later was it changed to a 6.5 mm Manlicher-Carcano. Interestingly, the actual wounds incurred by JFK and JBC were more compatible with a 7.6 mm (0.304 caliber) round than a 6.5 mm (0.260 caliber round).
The German Mauser is a more powerful and accurate rifle than the Manlicher-Carcano which is technically not a high-powered rifle at all. What happened to the Mauser? Was it a plant or one of the actual rifles used to kill JFK? Why wasn't the Manlicher-Carcano found initially? Was it the planted substitute for the German Mauser which actually did some of the shooting?
7) Oswald could not be physically linked to the Manlicher-Carcano that was eventually produced. There were no fingerprints or palm prints on it when it was processed by the FBI in Washington D.C. on Saturday November 23, 1963. A palm print only belatedly appeared which was said to be compatible with Oswald’s palm. The origin of the palm print remains in doubt, the story originating in Dallas Texas with a Lieutenant Day of the Dallas Police Department. Day who acted alone in allegedly "lifting" the palm print violated procedure he was well aware of in not taking a photograph of the print prior to attempting to "lift" the print therefore, it is not clear where the print came from even if it was Oswald's.
Lieutenant Day apparently told no one (contemporaneously) of having "lifted" the print, apparently informing Chief Curry and Captain Fritz only several days later. It is also extremely interesting that the authorities attempted to lift prints from the dead body of Lee Oswald allegedly in order to be certain that the body was indeed the Lee Harvey Oswald who had been in the US Marines. Why was there any question about his identity? Did Federal agents obtain a palm print belatedly after Oswald’s death in an attempt to establish subsequent to the formal processing of the rifle in Washington D.C. that Oswald's print had been on the Manlicher-Carcano? This strongly suggests perfidious activity on the part of the Dallas Police and Federal Agents. For an excellent discussion see Meagher, chapter 4, pp. 120-127.
8) There was no evidence that the Manlicher-Carcano that was produced had been fired on 11/22/63 by anyone yet it was allegedly the weapon Oswald used to kill JFK.
9) The Manlicher-Carcano, the alleged murder weapon with which Lee Harvey Oswald Assassinated JFK had a oddly and poorly mounted 4/18 power scope which appeared to be designed for a left handed man. Oswald was right handed. When the weapon was tested by master level professional marksmen it was found to shoot "off-target" by a significant amount at the distances allegedly involved in hitting JFK with the 6.5 mm Manlicher-Carcano. Moreover, it was proven that the scope of the alleged weapon had never been zeroed -in something that Oswald, a Marine trained in the use of rifles would conceivably never fail to do if his goal was to assassinate the President of the United States, See Meagher pp. 106-110.
10) The 6.5 mm Manlicher-Carcano was not a high powered rifle and was considered a cheap, old, poorly made, flimsy and inaccurate weapon by master marksmen. The actual weapon in question was found to have a worn and rusted firing pin and a rusted firing pin spring as well as a stiff bolt mechanism. See Meagher pp. 100-101.
11) Lee Harvey Oswald lacked the skill required to accomplish the shots that were allegedly made with the 6.5 Manlicher-Carcano. See Meagher, chapter 4.
12) Author Dick Russell in his book On the Trail of the JFK Assassins (New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2008) pp. 77&78 reports that a CIA report on November 28, 1963 revealed that the Italian military in 1958 decided to eliminate all model M-91 Manlicher-Caracano's which "were no longer being issued and which were declared obsolete. Subsequently an American company undertook to modify and purchase some 100,000 of these--at a wholesale price tag of $2.20 for serviceable 6.5 rifles and $4.50 for the 7.35 caliber. However...the first lot of 7000 Model 91's which Adam [Company] put on the American market had disastrous results. Many of them burst, with frequently fatal consequences and many didn't fire", (a Manlicher-Carcano is an Italian firearm). It had been demonstrated that the Manlicher 91 series (of which the 6.5mm and the 7.35 were members) was defective. If Oswald wanted to assassinate President Kennedy he could hardly have chosen a worse weapon. That alone should cast major doubt about the question of Oswald's involvement in the actual shooting and death of JFK.
13) A nitrate test (to detect the residue of gun powder) performed on Oswald was negative on his face including both cheeks which should have been positive if he had fired a rifle. He did have a positive nitrate test result on his hands which while troubling for those who doubt his guilt could be related to material with which he worked in the TSBD. This remains disconcerting at this time however as it may not be able to be further resolved.
14) Judyth Vary Baker who alleges a romantic affair with Lee Harvey Oswald during the summer of 1963 and who has established beyond reasonable doubt (BRD) in her recently published book Me and Lee (Chicago: 2010) that she is indeed the cancer researcher "whiz-kid" from Bradenton Florida)[8] and that the two worked together at the Reilly Coffee Company in New Orleans La. (and to a high degree of probability on a clandestine cancer causing bioweapons program in concert with Dr. Alton Ochsner and Dr. Mary Sherman as well as David Ferrie and others) has now become Oswald’s most persuasive character witness. Not only does she state emphatically that LHO thought very highly of JFK but that he was a US intelligence agent/asset who had gone to the USSR as a faux defector at the direction of his handler’s.
Judyth Baker argues credibly that had he been an actual defector, Oswald would not have been readmitted to the USA. Moreover, Baker presents credible evidence (to a moderate degree of certainty) that Oswald through no desire on his own part found himself by the fall of 1963 in the middle of a plot to Assassinate President Kennedy because of the work he was doing as a US intelligence asset (Based on the information in her book alone, this is perhaps the weakest claim in terms of substantiating evidence. I understand that she has more data to share on this but it was not included in the book). Baker is emphatic that Oswald attempted to prevent the assassination of President Kennedy. Her claim must be taken seriously in light of the evidence she presents of a significantly intimate relationship with Oswald. If anyone should have known his mind at the time, it is Judyth Vary Baker provided that her assertions are true.
It is noteworthy that James W. Douglass author of the excellent book, JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why it Matters (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2008) has written much the same contention as that of Judyth Vary Baker.[9] In fact he believes that Oswald actually verbalized the possibility of a coup de tat while giving his speech to the Seminarian's of the Jesuit House of Studies at Spring Hill College, at Mobile, Alabama in the summer of 1963 (Douglass, p. 331-332). He clearly saw the CIA or the national security state as possible culprits based upon his remarks and notes which were saved from his speech. Douglas asserts that not only did Oswald have a high regard for Kennedy but that he was likely to have helped avert the assassination plot if he could (Douglass, p. 333).
Baker also claims as do other highly credible JFK Assassination researchers that Oswald only pretended to be a pro-Castro sympathizer as part of the intelligence work he was involved in and that he was playing the part of a participant in the JFK Assassination plot when in the presence of certain anti-Castro exiles who he knew were involved in the plot. The former assertion would appear to be proven to a high degree of probability by numerous researchers, the latter less so. It does appear to a moderate degree of probability that he was the individual named “Lee” who notified the FBI about a plot to assassinate JFK in Chicago and it is now clear to a high degree of probability that he attempted to notify the FBI about the impending conspiracy to assassinate JFK (Douglas, p. 333). Those two findings alone go a long way to establishing that Oswald was indeed trying to stop the JFK Assassination as Judyth Baker forcefully argues. It is unclear however at present how much independent other corroborative evidence might still exist which would more credibly establish that Lee Harvey Oswald was actually trying to prevent the JFK Assassination.
Currently, and especially in light of Marina Oswald’s original claims that Lee Oswald thought John F. Kennedy was a good President who was trying to move the country toward disarmament (Douglas, p. 331) her more recent statements that she now doubts Lee Oswald killed President Kennedy, Marguerite Oswald’s claim that Lee was a government agent who was loyal to the United States, and now Judyth Vary Baker’s unqualified support as a character witness, it appears that at a minimum the preponderance of the evidence (i.e. >50% likelihood) suggests that Lee Harvey Oswald was actually trying to prevent the assassination rather than facilitate it. Perhaps more importantly, the trajectory of Oswald’s potential guilt in the JFK Assassination plot has clearly been on a downward slope over the past 2 decades.
15) A further piece of evidence may add to the probability that LHO tried to stop the JFK Assassination. An organized crime connected man named James K. Files (aka Jim Sutton) has confessed while in Federal Prison on video tape which can be seen at Wim Dankbarr's site (see link on side-bar) that he was the actual killer of JFK. Files alleges that he was the “Grassy Knoll” shooter who stood behind the fence and fired a special loaded mercury bullet from an XP-100 combination hand gun/rifle at the right eye of JFK which struck him in the right temple instead. Files claims that he fired only 1 shot and that it was the fatal one. He also stated that his bullet likely struck JFK’s right temple a fraction of a second later that one other shot which he thinks was to the back of JFK’s head from behind.
Files said that the shot from behind was fired by a man named Charles Nicoletti who was a member of his team along with mobster John Roselli. Files claims that Oswald was not one of the shooter’s and that he was never sure what actual role Oswald played in the plot. It is extremely interesting that Files claimed to have scored the cartridge jacket of his round with his teeth after which he discarded it. Many years later, a similarly described cartridge was found buried in about six inches of dirt alongside the fence. It was analyzed by a forensic dentist who said the cartridge had marks on it which were caused by human teeth. This piece of evidence is extremely important if it can be independently verified in validating the claims of James Files.
16) Oswald requested legal representation and was denied it which was a violation of his constitutional rights. That alone should serve to invalidate the Warren Commission conclusion that he was in fact the lone murderer of JFK. Had he been tried in absentia, a conviction on that basis alone could not have been secured according to US law. It is never permissible in the United States to deny a suspect his due process rights. If Oswald was really guilty of Presidential murder and the case was legitimate, why refuse to allow him legal representation. There is no benign explanation.
There are of course many other reasons why a conviction in absentia could not have been secured even after Oswald was murdered and no longer able to testify on his own behalf. The fact that Oswald was denied legal representation, was subjected to physical beating and was interrogated for hours without any kind of written record or tape recording being made (according to official Warren Commission testimony) is totally inappropriate not to mention highly suspicious and suggests that the Dallas Police were involved in the conspiracy to falsely implicate him in the crime of Presidential murder.
17) Oswald consistently expressed his innocence of the crime of killing JFK and never wavered despite obviously aggressive interrogation.
18) Oswald stated unequivocally that he was the “patsy” the scape-goat.”
19) The murder of Lee Harvey Oswald was to a high degree of probability carried out to silence him since he had been willing to state publicly before the nation that he was just the “scape-goat” which indicated to the conspirator’s that he would be willing to disclose any and all information he had on the identity of those involved.
Jack Ruby, Oswald’s murderer was a man well-known to Oswald since his youth, a man who was aware of Oswald’s role in the bioweapons project[10] and an individual who had major ties to organized crime and to the Dallas Police. He was also an FBI informant. Jack Ruby was reportedly relieved when he heard that Oswald had died even though he was his friend and it would likely have meant the death penalty or life in prison for Ruby. Apparently Ruby’s immediate future depended upon his actually killing Oswald.
It is obvious that Jack Ruby was ordered by the conspirators to kill Lee Harvey Oswald. The notion that both Oswald and Ruby committed "lone-nut" crimes has always been ludicrous as was Ruby's attorney's claim that he had killed Oswald to prevent Jacqueline Kennedy the ordeal of having to testify at trial. Now that Ruby's extensive associations with organized crime, the Dallas Police and the FBI are apparent, it is clear that Ruby did not kill Oswald in some crime of passion. Had Oswald been the "lone nut" assassin there would have been no reason to murder him. Only if he had information which could implicate the conspirators would it be necessary to permanently silence him.
20) Perhaps the most ludicrous assertion made by the Warren Commission with respect to the ballistic evidence was that one of the alleged 6.5 mm full metal jacketed Manlicher-Carcano rounds struck JFK in the back of the head and proceeded to fragment into smaller pieces some of which purportedly exited the skull others of which became lodged in the right frontal sinus area and that the other after striking over 7 different objects [including purportedly JFK's neck, JBC's rib and wrist all of which were composed of bony tissue] emerged unscathed.
The Warren Commission admits implicitly that both rounds struck bony tissue as well as soft tissue. How is it possible that one bullet completely disintegrated and the other emerged without damage if each was shot from the same gun and struck the same kinds of human tissue? Moreover, how is it possible that the amount of metal that was removed from JBC and the amount still present on X-rays of his wrist each exceeded the small amount absent from the so-called "magic bullet?"
The Commission asks us to believe that this full metal jacketed round (which based on the skull X-ray analysis of Dr. David W. Mantik actually behaved like a ballistic or frangible type of ammunition when shot at the skull of JFK) suddenly behaved entirely differently when purportedly striking JFK in the back of the neck and according to the SBT ended up in JBC's left thigh after which it was found to be in virtually pristine condition. Yet, that bullet had fractured JBC's rib, and passed completely through his right wrist encountering dense bone in each case.
It is simply absurd to allege that in one case the bullet became completely fragmented and in the other appeared as if it had never been fired. The minimal amount of marking on the so-called magic bullet could easily have resulted from loading it into the chamber or firing it into wadded padding. More than likely the "magic" bullet was planted on the stretcher in Dallas. That in light of all the evidence would best explain why it was in pristine condition.
The most likely explanation for all of these findings is that the alleged murder weapon [the 6.5mm Manlicher Carcano] was not used to shoot at JFK at all. This is but one more reason why Lee Harvey Oswald to a reasonably high degree of probability did not shoot at or kill JFK.
NOTES:
[1] There are innumerable reasons why this is the case, but if only the 15 egregious errors committed by the US Secret Service are considered, the probability that the JFK Assassination was not the result of a conspiracy is <1X10(-15) that is, one in a quadrillion or effectively nil.
[2] Since the discovery of the bullet which missed the limousine, hit the concrete curbing and subsequently ricocheted into motorcade observer Mr. James Tague it has been apparent to the government's case that President Kennedy and Governor Connolly must be hit by the same bullet if their allegation is true that a total of only "3" shots were made in the allotted time available.
[3] This was the explanation advanced by then Warren Commission Assistant Council Arlen Specter (later US Senator from Pennsylvania) which later became known as the single or “magic” bullet theory for having been shot through two men, striking numerous bony surfaces to allegedly emerge virtually completely unscathed—a ridiculous notion on its face quite apart from all the material presented here.
[4] The Warren Commission held that only “3” shots were fired, all from the Texas School Book Depository. One shot purportedly missed, one (the magic bullet) struck both JFK and JBC and the other allegedly struck JFK in the back of the head.
[5] Media/Intelligence/Military/Industrial/Complex also known as the shadow government or the “Regime.”
[6] This must now be considered proven fact based on records released after passage of the JFK Records Act.
[7] Multiple witnesses at Parkland Hospital and Bethesda Naval Hospital indicated this was not the case and moreover, there exist no autopsy or other photographic or any kind of other evidence which demonstrate a bullet wound to the back of the neck of JFK.
[8] Judyth Vary Baker. Me and Lee: How I Came to Know, Love and Lose Lee Harvey Oswald (Walterville, Oregon: Trine Day LLC, 2010, chapters 1-5 and the Appendix.
[9] James W. Douglass author of the excellent book, JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why it Matters (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2008), pp. 330-338.
[10] Baker, pp. 227-241, especially 233-239).
