2.jpg){kind=small}
It's been over fifty years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and the facts still don't add up. Even though the shooting was caught on camera, so many questions remain unanswered. When accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was shot and killed just two days after supposedly taking down JFK, the truth died with him, leaving everyone to speculate about what truly occurred during the President's final days.
The Secret Service Failed To Make A Move
Since the assassination of JFK was caught on several cameras depicting the gruesome murder from many angles, the occurrence has been reviewed and studied by many. As we all know, the Secret Service is most known for their fast reflexes and intimidating demeanor, but during JFK's time in the White House, that had changed. According to Vanity Fair, the President's lax attitude had rubbed off on his staff and, as each year passed with him in office, the Secret Service grew lazier and lazier. Several former members of the Secret Service came forward about that day years later, claiming they were slow to respond to the shots fired since they'd been out partying the night before, and were sleep-deprived and even hungover.
One particular agent, Abraham Bolden, described the details of that day in his book The Echo from Dealey Plaza. He describes how he specifically remembers that after JFK was shot, an agent shouted, "I knew it would happen. I told those playboys that someone was going to get the president killed if they kept acting like they did. Now it's happened." Bolden also discussed what it was like being one of the only African-Americans on the Secret Service team, and the racism he had to deal with. Soon after the book was released in 2008, Bolden was accused and convicted of attempting to sell a secret government file for $50,000 to the defendant in another case. Bolden claimed that he'd been framed for going public about the partying ways of the Secret Service, and how he feels it led to the death of JFK. Framed or not, it's clear in the videos that the everyone nearby, aside from his wife, failed to react until the third and final gunshot was fired.
The Secret Service Stole Kennedy's Body
After JFK was shot, he was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Texas where he was pronounced dead. Texas state law rightfully stated that the President's body wasn't allowed to leave the hospital until an autopsy had been performed, but the Secret Service felt differently. According to Jacob G. Hornberger, president and founder of the Future of Freedom Foundation, a dispute broke out in the hospital when Dallas medical examiner Dr. Earl Rose attempted to prevent the Secret Service from taking JFK's body. According to Hornberger's article "The First Step In The JFK Cover-Up," there was a lot of shouting and cursing, before the situation forced agents to draw their guns and push their way out of the hospital with JFK's body.
The casket holding JFK's body was then taken on Air Force One to Anders Air Force Base, where the military supposedly conducted the autopsy. Many have speculated that this move was the first of many performed by the government to cover up the assassination of the president. When reports surfaced about exactly what happened at the hospital, the public was led to believe that this was all normal, and that breaking Texas law by practically stealing the president's body was totally consistent with Secret Service training. However, many see this as a precaution taken to ensure that the details of JFK's autopsy weren't leaked to the public, especially if those details prove his assassination was a conspiracy involving our own government.
Oswald Might Not Have Acted Alone
The biggest conspiracy theory surrounding JFK's assassination is that many people feel the evidence shows there might have been more than one shooter. They've speculated that the first shot that hit JFK in the neck came from a different gun than the bullet that hit former Texas Governor John Connally immediately after. Rumors claimed there was a second gunman in the crowd or in another building, though examination of video evidence seems to prove that there was not.
Dale Myers, a computer animator who studied the assassination for over 25 years, created a simulation of the event based on video footage from that day. The simulator allowed him to examine the viewpoint from anyone who witnessed the murder, as well as track the trajectory of each bullet. Myers told ABC News, "…the accuracy of the computer model would be such that you could then plot trajectories, you could take the wounds, the positions of the figures, you could see where the firing sources were from, or not from."
This technology demonstrated that the bullet that first struck JFK in the neck was actually the same bullet that then hit Connally under his armpit. Myers points out that the trajectory from Connally's wound from the first seat of the vehicle lines up with JFK's, and that the two reacted to their injuries simultaneously. Additionally, each bullet's trajectory leads to the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository, where Oswald worked. Regardless, many still believe that one of the many conspiracy theories that have been told are closer to the truth.
Oswald Never Confessed
Police arrested Oswald as a suspect, as he was the only employee not present at the Texas School Book Depository after the shooting. They found him in a movie theatre just two hours later, as if nothing had happened. Police questioned the 24-year-old all weekend, but weren't able to get a confession out of him before he was shot and killed by local club owner, Jack Ruby. Even though Ruby had insisted he wasn't involved in the plot to assassinate JFK, some believe he was sent to kill Oswald, to ensure he kept his mouth shut.
As a well-known loner, Oswald was the ideal suspect for this crime, and his connection to communism seemed to provide a motive behind his actions. As a former U.S. Marine, Oswald was stationed in the Soviet Union nearly three years, and it's thought that during this time, became a committed Communist, even marrying a Russian woman and bringing her back to America. During this time in history, Fidel Castro established a Communist government in Cuba and became allied to the Soviet Union. Rumors had been flying of the American government's intent to get involved and kill Castro, creating a possible motive for Oswald's actions. Of course, we will never know for sure what was truly going through his mind that day.
The CIA Was Probably Involved Somehow
Dave Perry is known for his dedication to debunking conspiracy theories surrounding the JFK assassination, and has been studying records surrounding the event since 1976. A particular theory that interests him the most is one claiming that the CIA ordered the assassination, as it's the only theory he has thus far failed to debunk. According to Perry, JFK was fed up with how the CIA was running things, saying "He found out the CIA was trying to kill Castro, which is a fact. So the argument is that the CIA felt Kennedy was going to disband them. And as a result of that, they were the ones that ordered the killing of Kennedy."
According to this theory, Oswald was an agent acting on orders given by the CIA. Just weeks before the assassination, Oswald was in the Russian embassy in Mexico City, possibly acting as a double agent, working for both sides to get rid of JFK. While there's no proof that he was on anyone's payroll, Perry did discover that the former head of the CIA, Allen Dulles, was a member of the task team responsible for the official investigation surrounding JFK's death, which would be convenient if the CIA actually was involved. This task force, of course, came to the conclusion that Oswald worked alone, which fits neatly into this theory.
Johnson's Mistress Spilled The Beans
There's another theory that JFK's vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, was the one who ordered the assassination, as he had a lot to gain from Kennedy's death. The theory is analyzed in a novel by Roger Stone titled The Man Who Killed Kennedy, basing the theory on the fact that JFK had told his secretary Johnson would be left off the 1964 election ballot, due to several scandals he was involved in. Additionally, it's said in Stone's book that Johnson was the one who convinced JFK to visit Dallas, and he was also the one to suggest he drive through the plaza in a convertible.
It could be a coincidence, however. Stone claims there were other fingerprints found on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository that are consistent with his theory. His novel gives credit for the assassination to notorious hitman Malcolm "Mac" Wallace, believing he was hired by Johnson himself. Wallace's fingerprints were found in the area the gunshots are believed to have come from, which is odd enough on its own.
What truly created suspicion regarding Johnson's involvement was a memoir written by his mistress, Madeleine Duncan Brown. Involved with Johnson for twenty years, she claimed that the night before the assassination, the then-Vice President made a comment alluding to his knowledge of what was planned for the following day. The New York Post referred to Brown's now out-of-print memoir quoting Johnson saying, "After tomorrow, those Kennedy S.O.B.'s will never embarrass me again." It certainly sounds like Johnson was involved in some way or another.
Mary Moorman Captures The Event On Camera
One spectator, Mary Moorman, captured the exact moment the first shot hit JFK on film, resulting in one of the most iconic photos in history. In an interview with USA Today, Moorman describes the scene vividly. She said she was standing only ten or twelve feet from the President, close enough so she could clearly hear the First Lady shouting that her husband had been shot. Her son, who had school that day, made her promise to take photos for him, a small request that she could have never expected would have led to her fame.
Over time, Moorman's photos became the subject of two controversies. One claims that, of the five photos Moorman took that day, one has since gone missing. She turned over all the photos she took to the Secret Service, though she allegedly didn't get them all back. Of course, the one that is rumored to be missing is one with that infamous sixth-story window depicted in the background, a photo that might have provided a clue as to who actually shot the president.
The Badge Man
When Moorman's other photos were published, they became a huge piece of evidence for those obsessed with the JFK mystery. In 1982 a researcher named Gary Mack noticed a figure in the background of one of Moorman's photos, now dubbed The Badge Man. With the help of photo technician Jack White, the photo was enhanced and seems to reveal a man in uniform, similar to those worn by Dallas police officers at the time. Standing in the grassy knoll that many suspect was the direction of the fatal shot, the figure seems to be in a "firing stance," according to these experts.
Labeled "Badge Man," due to the fact that his badge and uniform can be made out in the photo, he seems to have his face obscured by a cloud of smoke that believers speculate could have been produced from a firearm. While other researches have also enhanced the photo and came up with the same results, some eyewitnesses claim there was no one standing there that day. Skeptics claim that the figure is actually an illusion, made up of the building's corner and other elements in the area.