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THE FINAL TRUTH
Solving the Mystery of the JFK Assassination
THE FINAL TRUTH
Solving the Mystery of the JFK Assassination
Edward Bauer
Published by Edward J. Bauer Publishing
Ridge, MD
THE FINAL TRUTH: Solving the Mystery of the JFK Assassination
E-BOOK FIRST EDITION 2012
Copyright © 2012, 2014 Edward J. Bauer
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright
Conventions. No part of this book may be used, reproduced, stored or retrieved
in an information or data storage and retrieval system or transmitted in any form,
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, facsimile (fax), recording
or otherwise, in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author
except brief quotations embodied within reviews or articles by recognized
reviewers.
Published in the United States by Edward J. Bauer Publishing, Ridge, MD.
Excerpts from SECRETS OF A HOMICIDE: THE JFK ASSASSINATION
© 1995-2012 Dale K. Myers. Used by permission of Dale K. Myers.
Internet: www.jfkfiles.com
Front Cover: Author's artistic enhancement of Public Domain photographs.
Back Cover: Author's artistic enhancement of still frame from Dallas Cinema
Associates, Inc. film President Kennedy's Final Hour
and Public Domain photographs.
E-BOOK FIRST EDITION
Publication Data
Bauer, Edward J.
The Final Truth: Solving the Mystery of the JFK Assassination / Edward
J. Bauer. —1st ed.
236 p. 0 cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-615-70588-0
1. Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917‒1963 —Assassination.
2. Oswald, Lee Harvey. I. Title.
Dedicated
to all those in whom tragedy
brings out the best.
Contents
List of Illustrations
vii
List of Tables
x
Preface
xi
Introduction
1
Chapter 1 ‒ Basic Principles
6
Chapter 2 ‒ Oswald's Background
8
Chapter 3 ‒ The Dynamics of Shooting at a Moving Target 30
Chapter 4 ‒ Oswald's Detailed Actions on the Sixth Floor
36
Chapter 5 ‒ Three Shots
45
Chapter 6 ‒ The Zapruder Film
50
Chapter 7 ‒ The Third Shot
57
Chapter 8 ‒ The Second Shot
74
Chapter 9 – The Jiggle Factor in the Zapruder Film
86
Chapter 10 – Marksmanship
92
Chapter 11 – The First Shot
96
Chapter 12 – The First Shot: Why Was It Fired?
98
v
Chapter 13 – The First Shot: When Was It Fired?
107
Chapter 14 – The First Shot: Where Was It Fired?
128
Chapter 15 ‒ Oswald’s Escape Plans
137
Chapter 16 – Conclusions
154
Chapter 17 ‒ Conspiracy?
162
Chapter 18 ‒ Unanswered Questions and
the Death of Oswald
164
Chapter 19 – Heroes
170
Appendix A
173
English translation of Lee Oswald’s note to Marina with
instructions should anything happen to him re: Gen. Walker
Appendix B
Timeline sequence of bullet mark on Main Street curb
175
Appendix C
177
Harold Weisberg’s six JFK assassination-related court cases
filed against the FBI/U. S. Dept. of Justice under the FOIA
Appendix D
Dallas Cinema Associates, Inc.
178
Acknowledgements
180
Notes
182
Bibliography
204
Index
210
vi
List of Illustrations
Private Lee Harvey Oswald, USMC.
Lee Oswald and ‘admirers’ in Minsk, USSR.
More Minsk Merriment.
Marina Oswald in Minsk.
Marina and Lee in Minsk. (1)
Marina and Lee in Minsk. (2)
Magazine ad for Klein’s Sporting Goods
Commission Exhibit (CE) 139. The Mannlicher-Carcano
carbine owned and used by Oswald.
CE 143. Oswald’s revolver.
Newspaper article on Gen. Edwin A. Walker.
Photo taken by Oswald of General Walker’s home.
CE 1. The note Lee left for Marina, in Russian.
Oswald arrested in New Orleans for disturbing the peace.
Oswald’s fake ID cards using the name Alek James Hidell.
On the evening of the assassination, Ruth Paine, Marguerite,
Marina and baby Audrey Rachel.
Oswald’s cramped boarding house room on North Beckley Ave.
CE 2695. The Dallas Times Herald article.
Dallas Police Detective L. D. Montgomery holding the paper
gun sack.
CE 356. Texas School Book Depository Building.
Comparison of the firing angles.
Close-up of the previous diagram, showing lines-of-fire.
CE 875. Photo from the Secret Service, from the sniper’s lair.
The sniper’s nest.
The fourth bullet, found in the firing chamber of Oswald’s
Mannlicher-Carcano.
Blowup of the Dillard photo.
Blowup of the Powell photo.
The assassination weapon, hidden among boxes.
Stairs leading down from the 6th floor, Oswald’s escape route.
vii
Merriman Smith with President Kennedy.
FBI Exhibit K51. The actual Bell & Howell Zoomatic movie
camera used by Abraham Zapruder.
Cropped, sharpened version of the Phillip Willis photograph.
Jay Watson of WFAA-TV, Dallas, interviews Abraham Zapruder
only two hours after the assassination.
CE 567. Two views of the nose portion of the bullet from the
third shot.
CE 569. The base portion of the bullet from the third shot.
CE 840. Two lead bullet fragments found under the left jump
seat of the Presidential limousine.
The Harper Bone Fragment, approximately actual size.
Actual map on which Billy Harper marked the “approximate
location” where he found the skull fragment.
View from atop the Zapruder-Sitzman pedestal.
View from the 2nd floor of the Union Terminal Railroad Tower.
French Chemist Paul Vieille and Swedish Chemist Alfred Nobel.
Original Mary Moorman photo.
Supposed location of badgeman.
Badgeman, after photo ‘enhancement.’
Zapruder frame Z230. The ‘single bullet’ has struck.
Dr. Robert Shaw, chief of thoracic surgery at Parkland Hospital.
Croft photo showing elevated seating positions.
The Warren Commission.
CE 399. The ‘single bullet.’
Zapruder frame Z318.
Frame Z227.
An A-17 type target.
CE 541(3). Oswald’s Carcano firing chamber and bolt.
CE 555. Diagram of sight adjustment mechanism of Oswald’s
4-power scope.
Oswald’s Mannlicher-Carcano displayed.
CE 550. FBI test results of Oswald’s rifle.
CE 239. Oswald’s Marine Corps Score Book.
Zapruder frame Z133.
Croft photo taken at about Z161.
The four filmers whose cameras were rolling.
viii
Texas School Book Depository. The sixth floor sniper’s lair.
Blowup of Elsie Dorman filming.
Blowup of Oswald’s window and boxes.
Bell frame B010.
Blowups of four consecutive Bell fames.
Three frames of the Towner film.
Burn marks in three of the Hughes fames.
View through the same rifle scope Oswald used.
Fresh bullet mark on the south curb of Main Street.
CE 887. Photo of FBI Special Agent Lyndal L. Shaneyfelt in the
sixth floor sniper’s den.
Harold Weisberg’s initial request for results of the FBI’s
spectrographic analysis.
Oak Cliff: Oswald’s path on foot and bus routes.
Downtown Dallas bus routes.
Part of Commission Document 1128. (1)
Part of Commission Document 1128. (2)
CE 378. The Marsalis bus route driver’s log.
Landlady Gladys Johnson and house manager Earlene Roberts.
Oswald’s path from his rooming house to the Texas Theater.
Dallas Police Officer J. D. Tippit’s patrol car at 10th and Patton.
CE 885, composite. Frames Z207 and Z212.
CE 1796 and CE 1797. Oswald in custody.
A disheveled Oswald after interrogation.
Law enforcement taking Oswald from the Texas Theater to an
awaiting patrol car.
ix
List of Tables
3rd Shot Table
2nd Shot Table
Sound Travel-Time Table
Frame Comparison Table
Jiggle Range Table
x
Preface
The greatest crime mystery of modern times has now been
solved.
Yet two most vital questions must be answered
before this work can be expected to achieve legitimacy:
“where were the tools that would crack this greatest mystery?” and “why was this author the one to solve it?”.
The solution to this great riddle, it turns out, was not in
technology but in the human mind. Not in more detailed
scrutinizing of dusty photographs but in a flash of insight.
Not in the electron microscope study of the Zapruder film until
we can see Jackie Kennedy sneezing and Nellie Connally
winking but in the creative inspiration we all possess that gives
us the unexpected ability to take a two from way over here
and a two from far over there and come up with that elusive
four. The final truth was there all along. We had the ability
to find it all along. But we were searching in the wrong place.
We were all waiting for the next generation of supercomputer-enhanced razor sharp super stabilized images of the
Zapruder film to reveal all the answers. That wait would have
been endless. We were depending on the latest technology
to do our thinking for us. Technology must be a supplemental aid to our thinking, not a replacement for it.
In the grand scheme of things, there are certain to be many
more mysteries and problems ahead, most far more significant
to human existence than the JFK assassination. Let us not
forget the lessons that this one teaches us. Those answers,
as these were, will lie within each of us. And only there.
xi
The second question had to be answered for myself as well as
others. Why me? Each of us has been in a ‘why me?’
situation before. We know how important it is to answer
that question. What combination of circumstances prepared
this author for being struck by that lightning bolt of insight?
First, relatively few external pressures of a serious nature.
Had there been the concerns of a 9-to-5 job taking up most of
the week, this great mystery would not have been solved. If
there hadn’t been the unceasing support and encouragement
of family, friends and neighbors, this author would never have
followed up on that thunder clap of inspiration.
As well, one’s environment has a significant impact on one’s
thinking. The ideas and conclusions in this book were
products of peaceful, tranquil, idyllic surroundings. The
sounds one notices most are the chirping of the birds and the
gentle waves lapping upon the shore of the Chesapeake Bay.
All senses are heightened in such places. Creativity and
insights flourish.
Then there’s the fortunate combination of experience.
Indispensable real-world, hands-on experience. The author’s
familiarity with firearms, where other researchers were only
theorizing, separates this work from thousands of others. In
fact, we as a society are moving further away from having
been able to solve this great mystery. Publicly admitting to
an ignorance of all things martial seems to be more the rule
than the exception. If the JFK assassination had not been
solved here and now, it may never have been.
In addition, a lifetime of practice in the art of written public
communication, in both the formal printed form and the often
fragmented aural style of film, television and radio. This
background formed the foundation of the author’s belief in his
capability of such an undertaking.
xii
Finally, the happenstance of age. We 8th graders had just
begun to appreciate the importance of our past and present
when our history and current events teacher interrupted the
Thanksgiving play that the 7th graders were putting on for us.
“Today is a day that will go down in history. President
Kennedy and the Governor of Texas have been shot.” For
this author’s age group, it was a direct experience from the
beginning. We were immersed in the story, following the
shifting ‘conventional wisdom’ over the years as it was
buffeted here and there by each new discovery. Historian Sir
John Keegan held that one can never truly learn history by just
reading. You have to experience it. Walk the battlefield.
Although fate is not an accomplishment in which one can take
pride, there’s no substitute for experience.
One may ask if sources for this work included personal
interviews of any of the participants. Other authors have
held such conversations, even as the assassination receded by
decades into the past. But at this point, half a century after
the fact, interviews in most cases will do more harm than
good. There are no bombshells out there waiting to be
detonated. No witnesses have been sitting on secrets all
these years, ready to reveal them only now. Memories get
hazier over the years, not sharper.
But even more
dangerous, witnesses tend to embellish the truth as years go
by. Aging Civil War veterans, after years of retelling their
stories, were themselves unable to remember what was real
and what was embellishment. Therefore, the weight of
credibility must be given to statements made as close to the
actual observations as possible, which is what this work has
endeavored to do.
That is not to say more evidence won’t be uncovered. Just
within the past few years, a crucial and controversial motion
picture has been unearthed: a sharp, clear color film of the
Presidential limousine advancing toward its appointment with
xiii
destiny at Dealey Plaza. Even more films and still photos may
percolate into the public eye in the not-too-distant future.
But evidence that must first pass through the filter of the
human mind after all these years must be viewed prudently as
suspect.
In the end, however, it is not authors who write history, but
readers, by their judgment and consensus. Writing history is
a grave responsibility. It takes effort and a skeptical mind.
It takes years and is not found in movie theaters. The import
of history cannot be stressed enough. For history doesn’t
teach us about the past, it teaches us about the future.
Edward Bauer
July 4, 2011
September 25, 2011
xiv
Introduction
Rather than re-tread old ground, we shall begin with certain
assumptions. Several commissions, committees and panels,
dozens of respected historians, researchers and journalists,
and untold experts in fields such as thoracic surgery, forensic
pathology, marksmanship, ballistics, criminology, physics, and
other disciplines have combined their knowledge, talents and
expertise to describe in detail the Kennedy assassination.
Their conclusions are straightforward and without fanfare.
The President was struck by two bullets, one of which also
struck Governor Connally, fired from behind and above, and
that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in committing this crime.
Mere hours after the assassination, five Dealey Plaza witnesses
signed statements for the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department
that they saw a man fitting Oswald’s description on the sixth
floor of the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD) Building, two
of whom actually saw the man firing a rifle. No witnesses
came forth with descriptions of any other gunmen at any other
location until many years later, after a multitude of ‘conspiracy
theory’ books became big sellers.
All of our memories need refreshed now and then. Here are
brief excerpts from the five witnesses who observed Lee
Oswald in his sniper’s perch.
(1) Howard Leslie Brennan: “I could see the large red brick
building [the TSBD] across the street from where I was
sitting. . . . In the east end of the building and the second row
of windows from the top I saw a man in this window. . . . He
was a white man in his early ’30s, slender, nice looking, slender
and would weigh about 165 to 175 pounds. He had on light
colored clothing but definitely not a suit. . . . I looked up at the
1
building. I then saw this man I have described in the window
and he was taking aim with a high powered rifle. I could see
all of the barrel of the gun. I do not know if it had a scope on
it or not. I was looking at the man in this window at the time
of the last explosion. Then this man let the gun down to his
side and stepped down out of sight. He did not seem to be in
any hurry. I could see this man from his belt up. There was
nothing unusual about him at all in appearance.”1
(2) Amos Lee Euins: “I saw the President turn the corner in
front of me and I waved at him and he waved back. . . . I heard
a shot. I started looking around and then I looked up in the
red brick building [the TSBD]. I saw a man in a window with a
gun and I saw him shoot twice. He then stepped back behind
some boxes. I could tell the gun was a rifle. . . . I just saw a
little bit of the barrel, and some of the trigger housing. This
was a white man, he did not have on a hat.”2
(3) Robert E. (Bob) Edwards: “I happened to look up there at
the building, the Texas School Book Depository Building, and I
saw a man at the window on the fifth floor [he later amended
this to mean the sixth floor]. . . . there was a stack of boxes
around him, I could see. [Ron] remarked that he must be
hiding from somebody. . . . I noticed that he had on a sport
shirt, it was light colored, it was yellow or white . . . and his
hair was rather short; I thought he might be something around
twenty-six.”3
(4) Ronald B. Fischer: “About thirty seconds before the
motorcade came by, Bob turned to me and said that there was
a man on the fifth floor [he later corrected it to the sixth floor]
of the Texas School Book Depository Building. . . . and I looked
up and saw the man. I looked up at the window and I noticed
that he seemed to be laying down there or in a funny position
anyway, because all I could see was his head. I noticed that
he was light-headed and that he had on an open-neck shirt. . . .
I noticed that his complexion seemed to be clear, and that he
2
was in his twenty’s [sic].”4
(5) Arnold Louis Rowland: “I looked up at the Texas Book
Depository building and noticed that the second floor from the
top had two adjoining windows which were wide open, and
upon looking I saw what I thought was a man standing back
about 15 feet from the windows and was holding in his arms
what appeared to be a hi powered rifle because it looked as
though it had a scope on it. He appeared to be holding this at
a parade rest sort of position. This man appeared to be a
white man and appeared to have a light colored shirt on, open
at the neck. He appeared to be of slender build and
appeared to have dark hair.”5
And finally, Texas Governor John Bowden Connally himself.
Although he did not see Oswald, he used a lifetime of
experience to place the source of the gunfire. “I have all my
life been familiar with the sound of a rifle shot, and the sound I
heard I thought was a rifle shot at the time I heard it. I didn’t
think it was a firecracker, or a blowout or anything else. I
thought it was a rifle shot. I have hunted enough to think
that my perception with respect to directions is very, very
good, and this shot I heard came from back over my right
shoulder, which was in the direction of the School Book
Depository, no question about it. I heard no other.”6
Less than 48 hours after the death of President Kennedy,
assassin Oswald himself was gunned down by Dallas nightclub
owner Jack Ruby, igniting a firestorm of rumor, speculation
and accusation. To douse this conflagration once and for all,
President Lyndon Baines Johnson five days later ordered a
commission headed by Chief Justice of the United States Earl
Warren to write the definitive history of this confusing event.
Less than 10 months later, the 888-page Warren Report was
presented to President Johnson. Far from being extinguished, the smoldering embers re-lit and the swath of flames
spread farther and faster, aided by the accelerant of articles,
3
books and movies, lacking in straightforwardness but with
great fanfare.
In the intervening five decades, these events have evolved into
the most momentous mystery tragedy of the modern era, a
mesmerizing entertainment production of historic proportions
with a cast of characters that would make Shakespeare
envious. As well as being perhaps the most difficult to solve
puzzle of all time.
Shhh.
The curtain is about to rise.
4
“In a matter of a few seconds, this incident
occurred that changed all of our lives, changed
the course of history for many people in what
many divergent ways you never know.”
—Governor John B. Connally, Parkland Hospital, 11/27/63
5
Chapter 1
Basic Principles
Lee Harvey Oswald, ultimate malcontent. Central character
in the greatest mystery of the twentieth century, and one of
humanity’s all-time villains. Yet to solve this unsolvable
puzzle, we need to put ourselves in the very shoes of Oswald,
as distasteful as that may be. Think like he thought. Act as
he acted. Adopt his personality and point-of-view. If we
can become that friendless 24-year-old, we can begin to untie
this Gordian Knot. And if we can put aside our previous
opinions and adopt a calmer, more reasoned approach, the
sword will at first loosen and then ease from the rock.
One of Abraham Lincoln’s less appreciated character traits was
his ability to always see the other person’s perspective.
Whether it be friend or enemy, political or personal, significant
or not. Doing so, Lincoln realized, would not only dissipate
needless anger and calm all parties, but it would also be an
example for his fellow citizens, contemporary and future.
There might be more conciliatory agreement about the
motive, thoughts and actions of Lee Oswald if we put ourselves
in his shoes.
Confederate General Robert E. Lee was doubtless the most
successful military commander of the American Civil War.
For much of the conflict, he defeated a string of Union
generals— John Pope, George McClellan, Ambrose Burnside,
Joe Hooker— primarily due to his ability to walk around to the
other side of the map. To see things as his opposite
commander saw them: his strengths and weaknesses, any
external forces acting upon him, any political pressures he may
be under, the size and experience of his army, the morale of
6
his soldiers, his supply lines and any other factors that might
influence his decisions. Lee ‘became’ his opposite commander. And as a result, he would invariably anticipate his
adversary’s movements, or lack thereof in the case of
McClellan, and react accordingly. We must do the same thing
with Oswald.
We must not only see things with Lee Harvey Oswald’s eyes,
we need to understand his point-of-view. We must move to
the Soviet Union with him and become infatuated with
Marxism. We must join the U. S. Marines and learn
marksmanship. We must also recognize the source of his
insecurities, which were the cause of many of his actions.
Only then can we discern the final truth.
7
Chapter 2
Oswald’s Background
Admittedly, Lee Oswald was raised in an atmosphere of
“negleck,” as he put it.1 Lee tried to mature without a father
and with different roofs, different schools and different peers
every year or less at the whim of his less-than-stable mother.
Little wonder he had no friends as a child and would have none
as an adult.
He sought solace in the written word. Lee would develop an
affinity for books, magazines, brochures, leaflets, anything that
had a message his searching mind could understand. He was
even willing to expose his thoughts to opinions with which he
did not agree.
Researchers have built a convincing case describing how such
an abysmal and unfulfilling life could have led the man to
commit this horrific crime. But we must avoid the pitfalls of
over-simplifying him. Recently a professor, who will remain
here anonymous, published a study purporting to prove that
Adolph Hitler had bad table manners. Let’s call it the Hitler
Syndrome. Some people’s minds need to simplify everything
down to a mother goose nursery rhyme level. Not only did
the mean ol' ogre eat children, but he had bad breath, body
odor and dandruff. Real life is not that simplistic, professor.
The real Hitler was responsible for the deaths of millions of
good people in World War II. The real Hitler loved children.
The real Hitler cared so little for human life that he caused the
mass deaths of his own German soldiers by ‘no surrender’
orders at Stalingrad and suicidal attacks during the Bulge
offensive. The real Hitler had a soft spot in his heart for dogs.
Simplifications of Hitler and his ilk may be the reason we have
failed to notice and take action against the subsequent
8
public-relations-savvy Hitlers that have pushed their way onto
the stage. Let’s not make the same mistake with Lee Harvey
Oswald.
Let’s put a brain back into the guy. As a youth, Lee scored
118 on an IQ test2 (the average is 100) and “he had better than
average ability in arithmetical reasoning for his age group.”3
Everybody’s smart about something. Oswald was very
knowledgeable and capable about marksmanship, among
other things. He was described, before the assassination, as
a clean cut young man. And he was. He addressed
reporters who shouted questions at him as “sir.” He was
certainly not an incompetent oaf about everything, as some
would have him painted. Spelling was not one of Oswald’s
strong points, but hitting a target with a rifle was.
Lee’s life was an unending series of cycles. His lack of success
he blamed on his circumstances. He became disillusioned
and angry. His readings told him the grass was greener
elsewhere. So he picked up and made changes. At first he
was gung-ho, motivated and happy in his new environment.
Then, when his obvious genius was not appreciated by an ever
widening circle of admirers, he again slipped into disenchantment and then anger. And the cycle began anew.
Lee's older brother Robert had served in the United States
Marine
Corps,
and
the
fed-up-with-school
and
4,5
desperate-to-leave-home Lee tried to follow,
but was
rejected as too young. An excruciatingly long year took
forever to pass, and a few days after his seventeenth birthday,
Oswald was a U. S. Marine. He served from the fall of 1956
to the fall of 1959, being exposed to many different cultures
and political philosophies during his tour of duty.
9
Private Lee Harvey Oswald, USMC.
Pvt. Oswald’s instruction in marksmanship began with a full
week of training in the basics: sighting-in, or ‘zeroing,’ the
firearm, proper aiming at a target either by using the
crosshairs in a telescopic sight or by lining up the ‘iron’ sights—
the gunsight near the muzzle with that near the breech— (not
an easy task when every heartbeat could wildly throw off your
aim), and the correct procedure for squeezing, not pulling, the
trigger. After a period of dry firing without ammunition,6 .22
caliber small-bore ammunition was first used. Then it was on
to the outdoor range where the targets were set at 200, 300
and 500 yards. Each trainee fired 50‒70 rounds a day for five
days. This intensive learning period lasted a full 3 weeks.7
For the first time in his life, Lee was genuinely happy. His
peers were like-minded, or so he hoped, and more importantly, they would remain his companions for at least three
years, something he had never experienced in the twelve
different schools he attended.8 At first, Oswald made a
sincere attempt cultivate friendships among his fellow
Marines, but his slight stature, lack of height, small, narrow
chin and high-pitched voice were ripe for ridicule. There had
10
been a cartoon character of the 1920s and ’30s, Oswald the
Rabbit, and Lee was dubbed “Ozzie Rabbit,” which must have
hurt tremendously.
As Oswald’s disillusion with his situation grew, his motivation
waned. He was found Guilty by courts-martial twice, once for
possession of an unauthorized pistol he had secreted in his
gear,9 with which he accidentally wounded himself, the other
for challenging an officer to a fight.10 He also was charged
with assaulting that officer by pouring a drink on him, but was
found Not Guilty.11 He later suffered an emotional breakdown while on guard duty. His rifle scores fell off slightly,
from 212 (sharpshooter, the second highest grade) to 191
(marksman, the third highest).12 Following his discharge, he
returned to his mother’s residence in Fort Worth, Texas. Five
days later he was on his way to the Soviet Union.
Lee Oswald and ‘admirers’ in Minsk, USSR.
11
More Minsk Merriment.
At first he was quite the center of attention, as photographs
show. No friends, but certainly admirers, which was just fine
with Lee. Yet eventually that esteem, based solely on the
novelty of this American defector, wore off. Instead of the
group of admirers growing, as he had fully expected, it
dwindled to just a few. His feelings toward the Communist
Socialism of the U.S.S.R. soured. It must have been déjà vu
for Lee as the Soviet authorities never took him seriously and
even denied his request for Soviet citizenship. Three days
after his twentieth birthday he received word that his six-day
visa would not be extended and that he had to be out of the
Soviet Union by 8pm that evening. As much for political
theater as to end his problems, Lee attempted suicide by
slashing his left wrist. Even that failed. He was discovered
unconscious and rushed to the hospital where a series of blood
transfusions ensured his recovery.
Oswald’s first real love interest was a co-worker in Minsk, Ella
Germann. His awkward marriage proposal on her doorstep
was rejected without tact. He later found comfort in the
attention of a Russian pharmacology student, Marina
Prusakova. Marina’s background was similar to Lee’s. She
grew up without a father,13 fled an unstable home life, and
moved to a strange city with no established circle of friends.
Each craved the attention that comes with being attached to
12
someone exotic.
Six weeks later they were married.
Marina Oswald in Minsk.
Marina and Lee in Minsk.
Just as Oswald’s admirers passed for friends, his relationship
with Marina passed for a real marriage. His alcoholic father
died two months before his birth and Lee spent his formative
years with little concept of how a stable, loving marital
relationship should work. He refused to teach Marina
English, even though she was eager to help him learn Russian.
Having argued constantly with his mother, Lee did the same
with his wife. The arguments turned to beatings. Marina
already feared that her husband didn’t love her, even as he
secretly made plans to return with her to America.
13
Marina and Lee in Minsk.
His attempts to deal with the bureaucracies resulted in neither
country wanting him, the Soviet KGB calling him “a useless
man”14 and the U. S. State Department seeing him as “an
unstable character, whose actions are entirely unpredictable.”15 Nevertheless, Lee and Marina arrived by ship at
Hoboken, New Jersey in mid-June of 1962. Just over seventeen months later, Lee Harvey Oswald would kill the President
of the United States.
Oswald had a vastly inflated self-image. Without basis, he
felt that he was more intelligent, more important and even
more famous than he was. He fully expected to be surrounded by reporters and photographers upon his arrival in
the U. S. and was shocked when none showed up.
At this point, after a lifetime of rejection and failure, Oswald
made a major change in his approach to converting the world
to Marxism. Letters to bureaucrats, the occasional radio or
television interview, passing out leaflets weren’t working.
Although not abandoning this approach, Lee would make a
critical addition to his repertoire, the use of force. In the
14
spring of 1963, he clipped a coupon from a magazine, filled it
out using a Post Office box and the name A. Hidell, enclosed a
money order for $21.4516 and bought a rifle, complete with
telescopic sight. This was the least expensive rifle the magazine had to offer, even with the optional 4-power scope.
Already thinking like a seasoned criminal, Lee knew he couldn’t
show his face in any gun store for later identification; he had to
buy it mail order. (Although it took investigators less than 16
hours after the crime to track down the paper trail of this
purchase.17)
Oswald intended on using this rifle for more than mere sport.
15
Magazine ad for Klein’s Sporting Goods. Oswald bought the
“6.5 Italian Carbine,” left column, third from top.
The weapon Lee purchased was a Mannlicher-Carcano, an
Italian-made single shot bolt-action rifle, capable of firing
high-powered ammunition. The projectiles were hefty, a
quarter inch in diameter and over an inch long. And the full
round— shell, powder and projectile— was three inches long
and packed a wallop. This firearm could be used with
accuracy over great distances, especially with the 4x scope.
To provide stability when firing, Lee fashioned a home-made
sling/shoulder strap and secured it to the weapon.
16
Commission Exhibit (CE) 139. The Mannlicher-Carcano
carbine owned and used by Oswald. A carbine is a small,
short rifle.
This was a typical early twentieth century rifle. It could only
fire one round at a time, after which the bolt had to be opened
to eject the empty shell and closed again to position the next
round securely in the firing chamber. Rounds could be inserted manually one-at-a-time while the bolt was open or fed
automatically via the magazine, which in this model could hold
up to six rounds.
There is some confusion about the correct name:
Mannlicher-Carcano or simply Carcano. The only official
name was the year of first manufacture, Model 1891, or M91.
The gun was developed by Salvatore Carcano and quickly
became known as the Carcano. Like most products, including
weapons, many versions were designed, one of those having a
mechanism for feeding the rounds into the firing chamber
similar to an Austrian rifle called the Mannlicher. So the term
Mannlicher-Carcano was applied to the version Oswald used,
the word Mannlicher being as much an adjective as a proper
noun.
At this time, Oswald also ordered a pistol, a .38 caliber Smith &
Wesson Model 10, specifically the Victory Model manufac17
tured in the U. S. during World War II. The gun purchased by
Oswald had a 5-inch barrel that had been shortened to 2 1/4
inches for concealment.18
CE 143. Oswald’s revolver.
concealment.
Note shortened barrel for
Lee took time off from his job at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall to pick
up both guns on Monday, March 25th, 1963.19 He knew he
was not going to use the rifle for hunting like he told Marina;20
he would use it to kill human beings. Let’s follow Oswald’s
planning processes here. He’d need to carry his weapon to
various destinations to use it, but with no car and no
discretionary income to afford a taxi, he had to utilize the
services of the Dallas Transit Company, the bus. He’d need to
take it to remote sites such as Love Field airport21 for target
practice and familiarization with the nuances of the weapon
and its telescopic sight. Several times at least. Yet he
understood straightaway that his new rifle would be useless to
him until he could conceal it on public transportation. Within
a day or so of receiving his rifle he found the perfect carrying
contrivance, a green military raincoat,22 one he could have
picked up inexpensively at an army surplus store. It would
also serve to protect the sensitive weapon from adverse
weather conditions.
This combination of secrecy and
protection was necessary before the weapon could leave his
18
apartment.
He would use it often.23
Oswald already had his first human target in mind, retired U. S.
Major General Edwin A. Walker, a high-profile anti-Communist.
On March 5, 1963, Walker gave a speech in Savannah, Georgia
as part of a speaking tour, where he called upon President
Kennedy to use military force to remove the Communist
regime of Fidel Castro from Cuba. “I challenge the President
to take one U. S. Army division, the 82nd Airborne of Fort
Bragg, North Carolina, properly supported, and liquidate the
scourge that has descended upon the island of Cuba.”24 It
would be the first but not the last time a news report would
spur Oswald to attempt to murder those with whom he
disagreed.
Articles such as this appeared in newspapers across the
country during Gen. Walker’s speaking tour in March of 1963.
19
Photo taken by Oswald of General Walker’s home, part of
Lee’s thorough planning to assassinate the General.
He spent two months meticulously planning to end Walker’s
life,25 making copious notes including maps and photos of his
victim’s house, even studying bus schedules.26 He went so far
as to leave a long, detailed list of instructions in Russian for
Marina should he be arrested or killed.27 (In fact, these
preparations, found among Lee’s possessions after his arrest,
led investigators to determine that it was Oswald who fired the
shot at Gen. Walker.)
20
CE 1. The note Lee left for Marina, in Russian, with specific
instructions on what to do should he not return from the
Walker shooting. (For translation, see Appendix A.)
The logistics of Oswald’s mission were complex, and he paid
heed to each detail. Lee and Marina lived in the middle-class
neighborhood of Oak Cliff, southwest of downtown Dallas.
General Walker resided in the more affluent suburbs north of
the city, between Oak Lawn and Highland Park. The distance
between their apartment at 214 W. Neely Street and the
general’s home at 4011 Turtle Creek Boulevard was roughly
seven miles. That’s 14 miles round trip— too far to walk, not
to mention lugging a rifle. So how would he accomplish this
without leaving a trail of witnesses? Lee’s meticulous
planning anticipated every detail. He suspected that any bus
drivers or passengers might be questioned by police
concerning the day of the shooting, so he would take the
Mannlicher-Carcano, wrapped in his raincoat, three days
earlier28,29 and bury it under some leaves.30 He also
suspected that the area surrounding the Walker property
would be searched by authorities, perhaps using police canine
search teams,31 so he would hide the gun almost a mile from
Walker’s house. He would then wait three days after the
21
shooting to retrieve the rifle, again hidden in his raincoat, and
return with it by bus to his apartment.32
Only 15 days after first holding his Mannlicher-Carcano,
Oswald attempted to kill the general by firing through a
window of his house. He fired a single shot, and quickly ran
from the scene. Lee returned home late and scared, not
knowing if his aim was true.33 The next morning, a newspaper he purchased told him he had missed,34 the bullet barely
grazing the general’s arm. Another bitter disappointment.
But Lee always returned to his basic purposeful and methodical nature. He would carefully analyze why his single shot at
Walker, which seemed a sure hit at less than a hundred feet,
missed. The simple explanation was that the single bullet
Oswald fired hit the window frame, thus sparing General
Walker’s life. But that reverses cause and effect. The
striking of the window frame was the effect of the miss, not
the cause. It was ‘how’ the shot missed, not ‘why’ it missed.
With all the time he needed, having a fence as a stable gun
platform,35 and using a 4-power scope from that close a
distance, Oswald would have easily seen the window frame
silhouetted by the interior room light and taken aim to avoid
hitting it. He even told Marina that he took very careful
aim.36 Yet the bullet went astray. Through his extensive
knowledge of firearms and marksmanship, he deduced the
true cause of that missed shot. He would not let that mistake
happen again.
Two weeks after the shooting, Oswald moved to New Orleans,
the place of his birth, with Marina following a month later.
But not to lie low until the heat was off. Far from it. He
began to drum up publicity, forming a New Orleans chapter of
the pro-Castro Fair Play for Cuba Committee, of which he was
the only member. He informed local radio and television
stations of his availability for interviews, and even secured two
22
helpers in passing out leaflets, with news cameras rolling, of
course. His arrest on August 9th for disturbing the peace did
generate a brief flurry of publicity, including a radio interview
and later a debate on the WDSU radio program “Conversation
Carte Blanche.” In this radio debate, Oswald’s habitual lies
were publicly exposed for the first time. His opponents had
access to an FBI file with details of his defection to the USSR
and his undesirable discharge from the Marines.37 This public
embarrassment had the effect of detaching Lee’s mind even
further from reality, and he took solace this time in his guns.
Predictably, the groundswell of support he had expected from
this publicity failed to materialize and his efforts at soliciting
help from other pro-Castro groups in the U. S. were rebuffed.
Oswald arrested in New Orleans for disturbing the peace.
23
Fake ID cards made by Oswald in the name of Alek James
Hidell, one of his noms de guerre. Left, a phony Selective
Service card (aka Draft card), and right, a false Armed Forces
Service card showing honorable service with the USMC.
His reaction was typical Lee Oswald. He was convinced that
this string of failures would end and his problems solved by
moving to Communist Cuba. There he would ‘join the
revolution’ and fight alongside ‘comrade’ Fidel Castro.
Marina was by now eight months pregnant with their second,
so Lee arranged for Ruth Paine, with whom she had stayed
during Lee’s absence, to drive her back to Dallas while he went
by bus to Mexico City for a visa to Cuba. He told Marina she
could join him in Cuba once the baby was born.
Much has been made of Oswald’s trip to Mexico City: theories
involving secret meetings, Oswald imposters and other tales,
all of which have been disproven by serious work ethic
research. In the end, his trip there was much ado about
nothing. He went to the Soviet and Cuban embassies, tried
to get the visa, was diplomatically refused, and returned to
Dallas in early October. One upshot of this journey was that
Oswald became just as disenchanted with Cuba as he had been
with the Soviet Union and the United States.38 The other
would involve his marital status.
By the middle of the month, Lee had landed a job with the
Texas School Book Depository Company at their Elm Street
location, filling book orders. The building was named for the
prime tenant but was still called by some the old Sexton
Building39,40 even though that hadn’t been its name for two
24
years.
Oswald learned of the job opening from Marina’s kind-hearted
landlady, the aforementioned Ruth Paine. Although from
Pennsylvania and a Quaker, Ruth was an active member of the
local Russian community, and befriended Marina because she
felt her need to have a friend. Ruth must have seemed like a
living guardian angel to Marina. She spoke Russian with her
and was a shoulder to lean on when Marina desperately
needed escape from Lee’s beatings. Their friendship was one
of co-dependency, as Ruth was undergoing marital strife with
her husband Michael.
Upon his return from Mexico City, Lee ran into an unexpected
roadblock. Marina had become settled and happy in her
living arrangement at Ruth Paine’s home in Irving, about
twelve miles west of Dallas. She informed him than until he
changed his violent revolutionary ways, both domestically and
internationally, he could find his own lodgings. Oswald’s
response indicated his priorities. He stayed at the YMCA for a
brief period, then at the boarding house of Mary Bledsoe for
less than a week— which soon would have major ramifications— and finally at what would be his last residence, a room
the size of a large closet at 1026 North Beckley Avenue in
Dallas. On weekends, he secured a ride with a co-worker to
see the family at Ruth’s home in Irving. Marina permitted
Lee these weekend visits, primarily for the sake of their two
young children, but that was all.
25
Shortly after the assassination, l-to-r: Marina Oswald’s
landlady Ruth Paine, Lee’s mother Marguerite, Lee’s wife
Marina and their month-old baby Audrey Rachel.
Oswald’s cramped boarding house room on North Beckley
Avenue. Mrs. Gladys Johnson, landlady.
Workers at the Texas School Book Depository had access to
26
newspapers left scattered on the tables in the lunchroom.
Recently-hired order-filler Lee Oswald was often observed
reading them.41 During that fateful third week of November,
he would have read, with keen interest, these articles:
CE 2695. The Dallas Times Herald version of the UPI story
published November 19, 1963. Oswald would have read
this the next day, 48 hours before the assassination.
27
Nov. 19, 1963: “Kennedy All But Invites Castro
Ouster – Promises U. S. Aid If People Overthrow
Premier — WASHINGTON (UPI) – President
Kennedy all but invited the Cuban people today to
overthrow Fidel Castro’s Communist regime and
promised prompt U.S. aid if they do.”42
Nov. 20, 1963: “Kennedys to Visit Texas – Seen
Prologue to 1964 Campaign — DALLAS (UPI) –
President and Mrs. Kennedy fly into Texas
Thursday in the Democrats’ prologue to the 1964
presidential campaign.”43
Nov. 21, 1963: “SAN ANTONIO, Tex. (UPI) – . . .
The Chief Executive and his wife, Jacqueline, flew
here from Washington to open a two-day, five-city
Texas tour.”44
It is impossible to determine exactly when Oswald made the
decision to take the course he did. Probably Tuesday the
19th or Wednesday the 20th, by which time he would have
read about Kennedy’s call for Cuban Premier Fidel Castro’s
overthrow and also that the President’s motorcade would be
passing directly in front of his workplace.
He would have to sneak his Mannlicher-Carcano into work, but
for that he’d need to construct a different carrying sack. The
old one, his green raincoat, could be traced to him without
difficulty by investigators. That evidence would have been
significant proof of his guilt. He’d have to fashion a more
‘generic’ bag. It is likely Oswald used paper and tape from
the shipping room in the Book Depository to construct this
one.45,46 Then he’d ask co-worker Buell Wesley Frazier for a
ride back to Ruth Paine’s home— on Thursday instead of the
usual Friday— to retrieve the rifle. He’d tell Wesley it was
curtain rods for his boarding house room.
28
Dallas Police Detective L. D. Montgomery outside the TSBD
holding the paper gun sack made by Oswald for carrying his
rifle to work on November 22.
Back in Irving for what only he knew would be his last visit as
husband and father, Lee was relaxed and pleasant, spending
time with his own as well as Ruth’s children. Yet he was
there to take inventory: one disassembled Mannlicher-Carcano
carbine, serial number C2766, with 4-power scope, one
ammunition magazine, his last four rounds of ammo (not quite
what he wanted but he’d have to make do; no sense showing
your face around gun stores the day before you planned on
shooting the President) and one homemade paper bag for
carrying both rifle parts. Plus back at his rooming house: one
snub-nosed .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver, serial
number V510210, and adequate ammo for that gun. He was
ready.
It wasn’t until Lee had left the next morning that Marina
noticed on her dresser some money and Lee’s wedding ring,
which he had never left at home since they were married.47,48
[End of Free Sample Chapters.]
29