Scott Wolff Synopsis
Thesis
A conspiracy was associated with the assassination of John F. Kennedy because of Lee Harvey Oswald’s questionable shooting ability, the suspicious actions and connections of Jack Ruby, and the inaccurate and inconsistent medical evidence.
Counter Argument 1: The capable shooting ability of Oswald
1. Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court and the man in charge of the Warren Commission said, "As discussed in Appendix XII, many of these rumours were based on a lack of information as to the nature and extent of evidence Oswald alone fired the shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally."[1]
- According to the Warren Commission, many conspiracy theories are based on little information, and should not be trusted.
2. Steve Zahm, the NCO in charge of the marksmanship unit stated, “In the Marine Corps he is a good shot, slightly above average . . . and as compared to the average male . . . throughout the United States, he is an excellent shot.”[2]
- Although by Military standards Oswald was not an expert marksman, compared to an average male, he was much above average, and capable of the shot presented to him.
3. FBI Ballistics expert Frazier said, “From my own experience in shooting over the years, when you shoot at 175 feet or 260 feet, which is less than 100 yards, with a telescopic sight, you should not have any difficulty hitting your target.”[3]
- With the rifle Oswald shot with, a man with training should have had no problem hitting a target of that distance.
Pro Argument 1: The lack of shooting ability of Lee Harvey Oswald
1.“The WC's rifle test is especially revealing. Three Master-rated riflemen took part. They fired at stationary--yes, stationary--target boards from a 30-foot tower. They missed the head and neck area of the target boards 17 out of 18 times, even though two of them took more than 6 seconds to fire, and even though one of those two shooters took 8.25 seconds to fire. Additionally, many of their misses were far apart on the target board. In the CBS rifle test, which was somewhat more realistic than the WC's test, not one of the eleven expert riflemen was able to go 2 for 3 on his first attempt, and seven of them were unable to do so on ANY attempt.”[4]
- With the Warren Commissions test showing how difficult of a shot was required of Oswald, it is unlikely with his past that he would be able to shoot Kennedy.
2. Sergeant Mark Lane, Oswalds officer in the Marines stated, “The next time Oswald fired for record in the Marines, he barely managed to qualify at all, obtaining a score of 191, which was one point above the minimum needed for the lowest qualification level, “Marksman.” To put it another way, he came within two points of failing to qualify”[5]
- According to Oswald’s Sergeant at the time, Oswald was barely adequate with a rifle, therefore, a shot of that difficulty would be very difficult to accomplish.
3. According to Sherman Cooley, a Marine stationed with Oswald, “If I had to pick one man in the whole United States to shoot me, I'd pick Oswald. I saw the man shoot. There's no way he could have ever learned to shoot well enough to do what they accused him of doing in Dallas.”[6]
- Although Lee Harvey Oswald was a fairly good shot with the Marines, his previous records showed that he was not capable of making a shot of that difficulty.
Counter Argument 2: Jack Ruby’s unlikely association with a conspiracy
1.“Between 1949 and November 24, 1963, Ruby was arrested eight times by the Dallas Police Department.”[7]
- Although Jack Ruby killed Lee Harvey Oswald, his past arrests show that he is a violent man, capable of killing Oswald.
2. According to Dave Reitzes, an expert on Jack Ruby,“But whether there was a conspiracy or not, there is no reason to assume that Ruby must have been involved. In fact, logic tells us that no conspiracy could profit by silencing Oswald in a public fashion: What's the point of eliminating one suspect while simultaneously handing the police another?”[8]
- If Jack Ruby were associated with the assassination, the conspiracy would not benefit with the killing of Oswald, and placing another suspect into police custody.
3. Dallas reporter Tony Zoppi knew Ruby well and says one "would have to be crazy" to entrust Ruby with anything important, that he "couldn't keep a secret for five minutes. . . . Jack was one of the most talkative guys you would ever meet.”[9]
- According to a close friend, Jack Ruby was unable to keep a secret, so having him silence Oswald would not have been a good decision.
Pro Argument 2: Jack Ruby’s past and connections.
1. “The evidence available to the committee . . . showed that he [Ruby] had a significant number of associations and direct and indirect contacts with underworld figures, a number of whom were connected to the most powerful La Cosa Nostra leaders. Additionally, Ruby had numerous associations with the Dallas criminal element.”[10]
- The connections of Jack Ruby apparently included the Mafia, who had a dislike for Kennedy since he was sworn into office.
2. According to Joe Tonahill, a man with Ruby at the time, he said, “Joe, you should know this. Tom Howard told me to say that I shot Oswald so that Caroline and Mrs. Kennedy wouldn't have to come to Dallas to testify, OK?”[11]
- According to Ruby himself, he selflessly killed Ruby to so Jackie Kennedy would not have had to testify. An act like that for a complete stranger is somewhat strange, considering he was throwing his life away for someone he had never met.
Counter Argument 3: Legitimate Autopsy information and a shot from the rear.
1.According to Edward Jay Epstein, an expert on the Kennedy assassination,“All these pathologists agreed, without any dissent, that all the detectable wounds in the photographs and X-rays of President Kennedy had been caused by bullets fired from behind and above him, confirming the conclusions of the doctors who had performed the autopsy itself as well as those of the FBI and the Warren Commission.”[12]
- According to the doctors who performed the autopsy, the cause of the fatal shot was fired from above and behind Kennedy.
2. “The panel also unanimously concluded from the X-Rays that the fatal bullet had entered the rear of the President's head near the cowlick area and exited from the right front. None of the nine pathologist, including Warren Commission critic Dr. Cyril Wecht, were able to find any medical evidence that this massive wound was caused by a bullet fired from in front or side of the President's car.”[13]
- All nine pathologists agree that the shot that killed President Kennedy was fired from the back and right side.
3. “The best evidence for identifying the assassination weapon is the two bullet fragments found in the President's car and the nearly whole bullet found in a stretcher in Parkland Hospital in Dallas. In 1964, FBI experts ballistically matched this bullet and fragments to the rifle barrel of the Mannlicher-Carcano by microscopically comparing of the markings in the barrel with those found on the bullet and fragments. A firearms panel of independent experts appointed by the House Select Committee re-examined this evidence in 1977 and re-confirmed that the bullet and fragments had come from that Mannlicher Carcano rifle.”[14]
- After testing the bullets and barrel of the gun, the FBI decided that the bullet that killed Kennedy was fired from Oswald’s gun.
Pro Argument 3: Inaccurate and inconsistent medical information.
1. “It is difficult to understand how a shot from the rear could drive a piece of the occipital bone 25 feet to the left of the vehicle’s path. It is not so difficult to understand how a shot from the right front exploding through the rear of the skull could produce precisely that effect”[15]
- With a piece of a bone from Kennedy’s head blown twenty-five feet backwards, a shot from the rear seems unlikely, while a shot from the front seems more likely.
2. According to a witness named Altgens, who was present at the time of the assassination, “It knocked him just enough forward that he came right on down. There was flesh particles that flew out the side of his head in my direction from where I was standing, so much so that it indicated to me that the shot came out the left side of his head.”[16]
- According to witnesses at the scene, it was unlikely that a shot came from the back and right, but instead the front and right, so the exit wound would be at the left side of Kennedy’s head.
3. According to Dr. Kemp Clark, a doctor at the hospital where the autopsy had been performed, “. . .a bullet had gone in and out of the back of his head causing external lacerations and loss of brain tissue. . . . a large, gaping loss of tissue . . . back of his head . . . principally on his right side, towards the right side... .a large wound in the right occipitoparietal region, from which profuse bleeding was occurring.”[17]
- With this evidence pointing to an exit wound at the rear of Kennedy’s head, a shot from the rear could not have been possible.
[1] Earl Warren, The Warren Commission , Smith Publishing, Toronto, Canada, 1975. Pg. 78
[2] Gerald Posner, Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK. New York: Achor Books, A Division of Random House, Inc., 1993.
[3] Howard Roffman, Presumed Guilty. A.S. Barnes and Co, Inc, http://www.ratical.org/ratville/JFK/PG/PG.html#TOC
[4] Michael T. Griffith, Was Oswald a Poor Shot? The Marksmanship Ability of the Presidents Assassin, http://ourworld-top.cs.com/mikegriffith1/id153.htm
[5] Was Oswald a Poor Shot? The Marksmanship Ability of the Presidents Assassin, By: Michael T. Griffith : http://ourworld-top.cs.com/mikegriffith1/id153.htm
[6] Reasonable Doubt, New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1985
[7] http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/ruby.htm
[8] In Defense of Jack Ruby: Was Lee Harvey Oswalds Killer Part of a Conspiracy? By: Dave Reitzes: http://www.jfk-online.com//rubydef.html
[9] Ibid.
[10] Michael T. Griffith,The HSCA on Jack Ruby’s Mafia Links, http://ourworld-top.cs.com/mikegriffith1/id153.htm
[11] Dave Reitzes, In Defense of Jack Ruby: Was Lee Harvey Oswalds Killer Part of a Conspiracy? http://www.jfk-online.com//rubydef.html
[12] http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/sorrow.htm
[13] The State of the Evidence, The Evidence of the State: http://edwardjayepstein.com/archived/state.htm, Edward Jay Epstein
[14] Ibid.
[15] Ibid.
[16] http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/harper.htm
[17] Evidence of A Headshot from the Front By: Michael T. Griffith: http://ourworld-top.cs.com/mikegriffith1/id153.htm