A 24-year-old oddball-screwball-nuthatch from New Orleans, Louisiana,
by the name of Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed U.S. President John
Fitzgerald Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on November the 22nd, 1963.
Many conspiracists don't believe that Oswald shot anyone that day in
Dallas, Texas. And these same CTers don't think Oswald had any motive
at all for murdering the President. The bulk of the evidence says they
are wrong, however, and that evidence also says that the now-deceased
Oswald is/was guilty as Hitler.
THE SUBJECT OF MOTIVE:
As most people know, verifying a defendant's specific motive is not
required in order to prove someone's guilt of committing a crime
"beyond a reasonable doubt" (which I believe that the evidence DOES do
with regard to Oswald's guilt in both the JFK and J.D. Tippit murders).
But, as for motive, yes, I have a thought on Oswald's reasons for
wanting to kill John Kennedy. And, yes, it aligns with anti-conspiracy
author Gerald Posner's thoughts on the matter. Call me a
Posner-Bugliosi-Warren Commission "Parrot" if you so desire (I don't
mind -- that's good company, IMO) -- but the "He Was Devoting Himself
To Political Assassination" motive makes the most sense to me,
considering the overall weirdness and "social outcast" character of a
certain Mr. Lee H. Oswald.
THE "OSWALD ALONE" SCENARIO:
1.) Lee Harvey Oswald purchases a rifle by mail-order in March of 1963.
He uses an alias (A.J. Hidell) to order the rifle (plus he buys a handgun
by mail-order at approximately the same time in early '63).
2.) Days after receiving his Mannlicher-Carcano 6.5mm rifle, what does
he do? .... He goes to the home of General Edwin A. Walker and tries to
kill him in the darkness of night on April 10, 1963. He even has
detailed "plans" drawn up on where he'll hide (bury) the rifle, and
written instructions for his wife, Marina, on what to do if he's
captured before he can return to her. Marina even testifies (and has
never wavered from this claim) that Lee told her he had taken a shot
at Walker -- "He was very pale. I don't remember the exact time, but
it was very late. And he told me not to ask him any questions. He
only told me that he had shot at General Walker." [From Marina
Oswald's Warren Commission testimony; at 1 H 16.]
3.) There's reason to believe, through Marina also, that Lee had, prior
to November 1963, also threatened the life of the Vice President. At
the time, Marina was actually uncertain if Lee meant the current V.P.
(Lyndon Johnson), or if he was referring to former Vice President Nixon,
who was about to come to Dallas. Either way, it doesn't really matter,
because the fact would still be the same -- Lee Harvey Oswald directed
some kind of a threat toward another person with political power.
4.) Lee Oswald next sees a golden opportunity that he simply cannot
pass up. He finds out a few days prior to November 22, 1963, that
President Kennedy is coming right through his city (Dallas) in a
motorcade that will take the President's car directly in front of his
workplace. Therein lies the perfect chance to redeem himself for his
failing in April in the Walker attempt.
5.) The result -- An unexpected weeknight trip to Irving by Oswald to
get the rifle (his only rifle, which was being stored inside Ruth Paine's
garage in the Dallas suburb of Irving). He wraps up the weapon in brown
paper, and carries it into work on Friday morning, November 22. He tells
a lie about the contents of the package he carries with him to work that
day. He has easy access to all floors of the building where he works
(the Texas School Book Depository), including Floor #6. The odd stacking
of book cartons on the sixth floor makes it an even easier task for Oswald
to construct his "sniper's nest" at the southeast corner window. Just another
hodge-podge of books stacked up to any casual passer-by.
6.) 12:30 PM, November 22 -- Oswald does the deed he had set out to do
no more than six days prior. He can no doubt tell with his third shot
that the deed was successfully accomplished. He admires it for just an
extra moment or two at the window.
7.) Hastily, he dashes to the western end of the building's sixth floor
and stashes the rifle behind some boxes. (And this makeshift hiding
place WAS a fairly good one, considering the assassin's obvious and
understandable hurried state. Because the rifle wasn't discovered by
the police until 1:22 PM -- some 52 minutes after the shooting, even
though the building was crawling with a police presence almost
immediately after the last shot rang out. By 1:22, Oswald had already
taken a bus and a cab to the general area of his Oak Cliff
roominghouse, had dashed into his room, put on a light jacket, picked
up his revolver, hoofed it to 10th & Patton, killed Dallas policeman
J.D. Tippit, and was slinking in the alley behind Jefferson Blvd. by
the time his rifle was first discovered in the Depository.)
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A large number of conspiracy promoters vehemently disagree with the
scenario I've outlined above. I guess many people always will have a
desire to interject the word "conspiracy" into the JFK case. And those
same CTers will fight to exonerate a murdering lowlife named Oswald
until they've breathed their own last breaths of air. Well, so be it.
But, in my personal opinion, Lee Harvey Oswald, who attempted to defect
to Russia in 1959 and by all accounts hated the country he was born in
(the USA), was just exactly the type of Loner/Outcast/Weirdo (take your
pick) who would aim a rifle at the head of a passing U.S. President.
David Von Pein
November 22, 2005
