Conspiracies: Fact v.s. Fiction
At 12:30 in the afternoon, in Dealey Plaza, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot to death in his limousine. He had bullet wounds in the upper back/neck and throat. Governor Connally, riding with him, also suffered gunshot wounds in his back, rib, chest, right inner wrist and outer wrist, and left thigh. Below is the Zapruder film, the actual film of the assassination. Clearly shown are the shots that killed the president. Two days after Kennedy's assassination, Oswald was publicly shot by a man named Jack Ruby. After a lengthy investigation, the Warren Commission finally declared Lee Harvey Oswald as the sole sniper responsible for the death of President Kennedy. The United States House Select Committee on Assassinations, however, disagreed. Arguing that the assassination was the result of a conspiracy, the HSCA claimed that more than Oswald's three shots were fired; though it was possible that Oswald was the only gunman, it was more likely that multiple shooters were involved. While at first the Commission's "official" report of the attack was widely believed, the statements made by the HSCA spurned many, many other conspiracies.
The Magic Bullet
1. Pro-Multi-Shooter Theory: The President's separate wounds do not form a legitimate connection, therefore there must have been multiple shooters, and not one "magic bullet."
In this clip (below) form the popular movie "J.F.K." attorney Jim Garrison gives his opinion on the Magic Bullet Theory and why it is false. According to Garrison, there could not have been a single shooter due to the wounds Kennedy and Governor Connally obtained. He argues, as stated above, that the wounds do not connect with one bullet's trajectory, therefore there must have been several shooters.
1. Pro-Magic-Bullet Rebuttal: Drawing on the research done by Dr. John K. Lattimer, "the first non-Warren physician" to investigate the autopsy, Rahn explains that through the bullet wounds "to the non-medical eye" look unconnected, they in fact form a straight line. His diagram to the right is based on X-rays of President Kennedy's body.
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3. Pro-Multi-Shooter Theory: Lee Harvey Oswald could not have been the only shooter, because he was not a skilled enough sniper to make the shot that killed President Kennedy.
Jesse Ventura, who currently fancies himself an expert on conspiracy theories, tried (right) to replicate Lee Harvey Oswald's reported gunshots from the assassination. Ventura makes several arguments that "prove" why Oswald could not have been the only shooter. One primary argument is that Oswald only qualified as a marksman -- denoting a less-than-impressive level of sharp-shooting ability -- so he couldn't have made such a tight shot, especially considering his target was moving. He also says that "there's no way Oswald could have gotten off three shots that fast" due to the poor quality of the rifle used in the assassination. His primary criterion for these claims is that HE couldn't simulate the scenario.
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2. Pro-Multi Shooter Theory: One bullet could not have gone through President Kennedy and Governor Connally with its reported trajectory.
2. Pro-Magic Bullet Rebuttal: The primary evidentiary support to negate this claim is in the wounds themselves. President Kennedy was hit in the back of the neck by a "pristine" bullet, as seen by the size and shape of his wound. Governor Connally, on the other hand, was hit by a "nonpristine" bullet, as seen in the "ovoid" shape of the wound, and the decreased level of damage caused by the bullet. Furthermore, according to Rahn, "CE 399 is deformed consistent with having hit soft tissue at a speed of roughly 1800 feet per second." It only follows then, that the integrity of the bullet, CE 399, would change only if it had gone through President Kennedy before reaching Governor Connally. Also, no bullet fragments were found in the President's body. Pictured to the left is a diagram of the two gentlemen, and the reported trajectory of the bullet in question. |
Cuban Conspiracies
The Mafia |
4. Cuban Conspiracy Theory: Oscar Marino, an ex-Cuban agent stated that they used Lee Harvey Oswald. "He [Oswald] was so full of hate, he had the idea. We used him,"
Marino said. There is reason to believe Castro wanted Kennedy killed because he opposed the revolution and apparently wanted Castro killed. With Lee Harvey Oswald, it was easy to use him because he adored Castro and had tried to visit Cuba previous to the assassination. 4. Cuban Conspiracy Rebuttal: Lee Harvey Oswald was a Marxist who wanted to be famous. He had tried other assassination, but they had not worked. Investigations did not uncover any evidence that he was a hired assassin but he merely wanted attention. |
5. Conspiracy: "Both Oswald and Ruby had Mafia ties. Oswald stayed at the New Orleans home of his uncle, Charles Murret, a bookmaker with mob connections. When Oswald was arrested during a street fight arising out of a pro-Castro demonstration in August 1963, he was probably bailed out of prison by a Marcello associate. According to a 1950's Senate investigation of the underworld, Ruby was a liaison between various groups in the Chicago mob. He evidently ran guns for the Mafia to anti-Castro guerrillas. As the conspiracy theory goes, Ruby was sent by the mob to kill Oswald before he could talk. In a polygraph test taken in prison, however, Ruby denied that he was part of a conspiracy and that he knew Oswald."
6. Rebuttal: There has never been any evidence to support that Jack Ruby was in fact part of the Mafia. |