General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy believed President Kennedy was killed by a conspiracy. [View all]Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)Simple facts:
On the night of the 21st Oswald went to Ruth Paine's house to see his wife; he attempted to reconcile with her and to get her to move back in with him. She said "no". He left almost all the money he had in the world and his wedding ring behind when he left the next morning. (This is not the action of a man who expects to see his wife again.)
A man fitting Oswald's description was witnessed in the sixth-floor window of the TSBD, firing a rifle. Men on the fifth floor directly below that window heard the shots, heard the action of the bolt cycling, and heard the spent shells hitting the floor above their heads (at least one of them had dust and plaster debris in his hair that was shaken loose by the reports).
A rifle belonging to Oswald was found on the sixth floor, along with three spent cartridges. Those spent cartridges had been fired by that rifle. CE399 (the Parkland stretcher bullet) and fragments recovered from the presidential limousine were matched to that rifle. Fragments recovered from Connally's thigh were matched to CE399 through neutron activation analysis. Recreation of the trajectory and impacts based on the wounds and positions of Kennedy and Connally resulted in a finding that both men had been shot from a point behind and above consistent with the 6th floor window of the TSBD " target="_blank">and that a single bullet had struck first Kennedy and then Connally. This finding was confirmed by later analysis for the HSCA; see Thomas Canning's testimony. " target="_blank">Simulation of those wounds using 6.5mm Carcano ammunition results in a bullet that exhibits similar deformations to CE399.
Oswald was the only TSBD employee unaccounted for in the aftermath of the shooting. He was witnessed killing Patrolman JD Tippit; bullets recovered from Tippit's body and shell casings recovered from the scene were matched to Oswald's revolver...which was in his possession at the time of his arrest, and which he attempted to draw on the arresting officer (saying "well, I guess it's all over now" . (Not to mention that a jacket discarded near the scene was traced to Oswald by laundry markings.)
So what do we have? We have eyewitness evidence that places a man fitting Oswald's description in the TSBD with a rifle. We have Oswald's rifle, found at the scene. We have a bullet matched to that rifle found on Connally's stretcher at Parkland. We have fragments recovered from the presidential limousine, matched to that rifle. We have a bullet, recovered from Tippit, and spent casings from the scene of his murder, matched to Oswald's revolver.
What we don't have: witnesses who saw anyone firing a rifle anywhere other than the TSBD. Bullets that came from any other rifle. A trajectory consistent with a shooter in any other location. Physical evidence that implicates anyone not named Lee Harvey Oswald.