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An investigative biography exploring the life of Lee Harvey Oswald and whether he was the man responsible for the Kennedy assassination.
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00:00On October 3rd, 1963, just seven weeks before President Kennedy's planned visit to Texas,
00:17Lee Harvey Oswald returned to Dallas.
00:22With no place to call his own, he took a room at the YMCA.
00:30He had no job and no means to support his family.
00:38His wife, Marina, and his daughter, June, were living with their friend, Ruth Payne, in Irving, a Dallas suburb.
00:46Marina was expecting their second child.
00:49Soon after Lee came back to Texas, it was perhaps a week later, I was having coffee with Marina at a neighbor's house.
00:58And we were talking about the fact that Lee hadn't been able to get a job, and he was looking for work and needed work.
01:04And another neighbor there said that her brother worked at the Texas School Book Depository, and she thought that they were still hiring people.
01:12So I called the School Book Depository to see whether there might be an opening there.
01:16There was an opening, and Oswald was hired as a warehouse clerk to fill orders for textbooks.
01:25The job paid only $1.25 an hour, but Lee liked the idea he would be working with books.
01:31He came out each weekend.
01:38He and Marina did argue a good bit, and I was somewhat impatient with him.
01:45She was saying, you see, he doesn't love me.
01:49All the time I knew her, she was worried about whether he loved her or not.
01:52Well, he came out on weekends.
01:55I remember stepping over him one time as he was watching TV, watching the football game, his chin in his hands there,
02:02and thinking, what a fine little revolutionary we have here being snookered into the new opiate of the people, football.
02:12Michael Payne and Lee also talked politics on the weekends.
02:15He thought capitalism was rotten.
02:18It was a fraud, and it needed to be overthrown.
02:22Lee wanted to be an active guerrilla in the effort to bring about a new world order.
02:29We discovered we were both interested in the activities of right-wing groups in Dallas,
02:33which were common, numerous at that time.
02:37And I think he described his activities as spying on them, and thought of himself as doing that.
02:43And in that conversation, the name of General Walker was raised.
02:48Oswald told Payne he had gone to a right-wing rally to hear General Edwin Walker,
02:54the same man he had tried to assassinate a few months earlier.
02:59There was no doubt in my mind that he believed violence was the only effective tool.
03:06He didn't want to mess around with trying to change the system.
03:09Oswald's return had not gone unnoticed at the FBI field office in Dallas.
03:17The CIA had told the FBI of Oswald's trip to Mexico and his visit to the Soviet embassy.
03:23I wanted to find out where Lee Oswald was.
03:27I had determined from previous investigation that he was not living at the Payne residence,
03:32but he had been seen visiting there.
03:35I wanted to find out if he was in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and if so, where, and what he was doing.
03:43Oswald was staying at this rooming house in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas.
03:47And in these final days, many possible Oswald sightings have a sinister cast.
04:01At a Lincoln Mercury car dealer's, a man who called himself Oswald and said he'd been to Russia,
04:07test drove a car at crazy speeds.
04:10He bragged about coming into money in three weeks.
04:13It was three weeks before the assassination.
04:18The manager of a parking garage says a man calling himself Oswald came looking for a job.
04:25He then asked if the roof had a good view of downtown Dallas.
04:31President Kennedy's motorcade would pass within a block of the garage.
04:35Just days before the assassination, there was another sighting.
04:44A man resembling Oswald was seen target practicing.
04:52He almost started a fight when he began shooting at other people's targets.
04:56Well, this number eight target is the target that Oswald was supposedly a shot at.
05:02One witness has said he helped him sight a scope in and said he was real good, but I don't know.
05:09All of this testimony has to be taken very seriously.
05:12All of it has to be taken with an enormous grain of salt.
05:15These are people who did not know Oswald and who are subsequently remembering,
05:20oh, the guy involved in the assassination is the guy I saw weeks and months ago.
05:25This is the least credible testimony unless it can be specifically corroborated.
05:35In fact, most of Oswald's time in Dallas can be accounted for.
05:39At the end of his working day, he rode the bus to the rooming house.
05:45He spent weekends with his family.
05:48There is no hard evidence that he was meeting with any possible co-conspirators,
05:53including his mysterious right-wing associates from New Orleans.
05:57When Lee Harvey Oswald returns to Dallas,
05:59he certainly has no contact with either Ferry or Bannister
06:03in terms of letters, telephone records, or anything else.
06:06So if he did know them, it had been in New Orleans,
06:08and he had no contact with them when Kennedy was coming to Dallas.
06:13But two uncorroborated reports do hint at a continued connection to Cuban exiles.
06:19One witness thought she saw Oswald at an anti-Castro gathering
06:22shortly before the assassination.
06:26Another claims Oswald was in touch with an anti-Castro activist named Pedro Gonzalez.
06:32Gonzalez strongly denies the allegation.
06:34He saw a note that had been left in Mr. Gonzalez's mailbox
06:48by a person who signed his name as Lee Oswald,
06:54and in an urgent tone left two Dallas telephone numbers for Mr. Gonzalez to call.
07:01What date was this?
07:03This would have been about the 17th of November, a Sunday,
07:10the one day that no one had seemed to know where Oswald was,
07:15either his wife nor the rooming house in Dallas.
07:19That day, Ruth Payne and Marina tried to call Oswald.
07:25And I dialed the number, asked for Lee Oswald,
07:28and was told, no, Lee Oswald lives here.
07:30And so I checked, is this the number?
07:31Yes, it was.
07:32And I really hung up in confusion and told Marina what had happened.
07:36Then the next day, when Lee called, as he normally did in the evening after work,
07:43Marina said we had tried to reach him and that there was no one of that name there.
07:47And he bawled her out for trying to reach him.
07:50When she hung up, she was very distressed, said that he was using an assumed name,
07:56and he's done this before, and he lives in this fantasy,
08:00and he has this idea about being a great man.
08:03And she was very worried about him, worried about his mental state,
08:06as I understood it from her.
08:08On Wednesday evening, two days before the assassination,
08:14one of the boarders at the rooming house recalls Oswald intently watching a TV news story
08:19about President Kennedy's visit to Dallas.
08:22That week, Dallas newspapers published more details,
08:27including maps of the motorcade route.
08:29The White House party would fly into Dallas and drive through the city.
08:37The planned route would take the motorcade into Dealey Plaza
08:40and right by the Texas School Book Depository.
08:54After work on Thursday,
08:56Oswald asked a co-worker to give him a lift to Irving.
09:00Thursday, which was the night before the assassination,
09:04I came home from grocery shopping,
09:06and Lee was outside the yard.
09:09I was surprised because it was the only time he came without asking.
09:15And Marina thought he'd come to make up with her
09:17after a fight they'd had.
09:20He tried to kiss her.
09:21She didn't let him.
09:22And he said to her that she was getting spoiled
09:27living with Americans.
09:30And early that evening,
09:32he asked her on three separate occasions
09:35to join him in Dallas.
09:39And if she would,
09:40he would get an apartment the next day.
09:45Marina was still angry,
09:47and she said no.
09:47Sometime that evening,
09:52Oswald entered the garage
09:54where he kept his rifle.
09:57I went into the garage,
09:58and the light was on,
09:59which surprised me
10:00because I knew Marina was pretty careful
10:02turning the light out
10:02when she went in the garage
10:04or anything.
10:05And I hadn't been in the garage,
10:08so I assumed that Lee had been in there
10:09and forgotten to turn the light out.
10:13Lee woke up early the next morning.
10:15Marina was still sleeping.
10:19He made his own coffee.
10:22Then he kissed his children
10:23and told Marina goodbye.
10:27Later, she found what he'd left on the bureau.
10:31It was $170,
10:33and she thought to herself,
10:35that must be everything Lee had.
10:37And she found something else.
10:42It was Lee's wedding ring,
10:44and he left it in a little cup
10:47that her grandmother had given her.
10:52When Oswald left the house,
10:54he was carrying an oblong package
10:56wrapped in brown paper.
10:59He told the neighbor who gave him a ride to work
11:02that the package contained curtain rods
11:04for his room in Oak Cliff.
11:05Later that day,
11:08a long, empty brown bag
11:10would be found on the sixth floor
11:11of the book depository.
11:23President Kennedy was up early that morning as well.
11:26In Fort Worth,
11:27the crowds were friendly.
11:28A few years ago,
11:32I said that,
11:33introduced myself in Paris
11:34by saying that I was the man
11:35who had accompanied Mrs. Kennedy to Paris.
11:38I'm getting somewhat that same sensation
11:40as I travel around Texas.
11:46In Dallas,
11:48Oswald's co-workers
11:49were eagerly awaiting the motorcade.
11:51We were looking out towards Elm Street.
11:54So he walked up and asked us,
11:56and said,
11:56what is everybody looking for him?
11:57What is everybody waiting on him?
11:59So we told him
11:59we was waiting on the president to come by.
12:01He put his hand in his pocket
12:02and laughed
12:03and walked away.
12:04So I don't know where he went,
12:06or if he went upstairs
12:06or downstairs or where.
12:07Oswald rode the elevator
12:10up to the sixth floor
12:11where he spent the morning
12:13filling book orders.
12:20In Fort Worth,
12:21the president was headed to the airport
12:23for the short flight to Dallas.
12:29About 12 o'clock,
12:31Oswald's co-workers
12:32went down to lunch.
12:34Oswald shouted for them
12:35to send the elevator back up.
12:37By now,
12:40President Kennedy and his wife
12:41had landed at Love Field.
12:43The welcome was warm.
12:48On the sixth floor of the depository,
12:51someone had screamed off
12:52a corner window with boxes.
12:55Oswald's prints
12:56would later be found
12:56on some of them,
12:58including the boxes
12:59arranged to support
13:00the sniper's rifle.
13:03Two witnesses spotted a man
13:05with a rifle
13:06at the sixth floor window.
13:07They assumed he was there
13:10to protect the president.
13:16Oswald later claimed
13:18that at this time
13:18he was eating lunch
13:19with two fellow workers
13:21and had then gone
13:22to buy a Coke.
13:24But his co-workers denied
13:25having lunch with Oswald.
13:27some witnesses thought
13:36they saw two men
13:37on the sixth floor,
13:38evidence if true
13:39that there was a conspiracy.
13:44At 12.23,
13:46amateur cameraman
13:46Charles Bronson
13:47panned across the depository.
13:49Frontline had this footage
13:54scientifically enhanced
13:55to see if a second man
13:56could be seen
13:57on the sixth floor.
13:58Well, the left window,
13:59when you look at a single frame,
14:01appears to have
14:02a person standing there.
14:03You can see the shoulders
14:04and perhaps the arms,
14:06and some people said
14:06that in successive frames
14:08somebody's walking
14:09back and forth.
14:10But when we processed
14:11the image
14:12to reduce the grain noise,
14:14we found that
14:15all of the images
14:15throughout the frame
14:16look approximately
14:17the same.
14:18And so in that
14:19sixth floor window,
14:20that is not anybody
14:21walking around,
14:22that's grain noise
14:23walking around.
14:30And this film,
14:31shot by Robert Hughes,
14:33shows the motorcade
14:34approaching Dealey Plaza.
14:37Hughes stops filming
14:38for a few seconds.
14:40And then starts again
14:41just as the limousine
14:42passes in front
14:43of the depository.
14:45On the Hughes film,
14:46there are a lot of things
14:47to see,
14:47and on the fifth floor
14:48in particular,
14:49we see an employee
14:50of the book depository
14:51graze his right arm
14:52right there
14:53as he waves to the motorcade
14:55passing just under
14:55the building.
14:56Now we move
14:57to the sixth floor
14:58and we observe
14:59in the arched window
15:00that is adjacent
15:01to the sniper's nest
15:02a form that some people
15:04have said is human-like
15:05in appearance.
15:06And when we ran
15:06the enhanced film
15:07in motion,
15:08that human form
15:09disappears
15:10and we conclude
15:11there is no human form
15:12in that window.
15:14We do also conclude
15:15that there is a movement
15:17in the sixth floor
15:18corner window
15:18indicating the presence
15:20of a person.
15:21Just seven seconds
15:23before the first shot
15:24is fired,
15:25something moves
15:25in the corner window.
15:26in the window below,
15:31Harold Norman
15:32raises his arm
15:32and waves to the president.
15:34We were sitting
15:34on the fifth floor
15:35right direct
15:36on the sixth floor
15:37and the shots
15:38came from above
15:39and there was a gun
15:40and the shots
15:40were sounding
15:40boom, click, click,
15:43boom, click, click,
15:44boom, click, click.
15:46So there was three shots
15:46fired right above us
15:48and we were sitting
15:48on the fifth floor.
15:49Frame by frame,
15:53the tragedy unfolds
15:55in the 21 seconds
15:56of 8mm film
15:57shot by Abraham Zapruder.
16:01As the motorcade
16:02rounds the corner,
16:03it slows.
16:04In the background,
16:05a little girl
16:06runs beside the limousine.
16:10Suddenly,
16:11there's a gunshot.
16:12Governor Connolly
16:13hears it and turns.
16:15The little girl
16:15stops dead
16:16and looks around.
16:20Three seconds later,
16:21a second shot.
16:23A bullet has passed
16:24through the president's throat.
16:25It hits Connolly
16:26in the back
16:26and he starts falling.
16:28Mrs. Kennedy
16:29turns to her husband.
16:30Something's wrong.
16:32She looks into his face.
16:35The fatal head shot.
16:41The exact number
16:42and timing of the shots
16:43have been argued
16:44over endlessly.
16:45But there is
16:46a growing consensus
16:46that the Zapruder film
16:48shows three shots
16:49were fired
16:50in about eight seconds.
16:54Many believe
16:55a second gunman
16:55fired a fourth shot
16:56from the grassy knoll.
17:00Immediately after
17:01the shooting,
17:01many people followed
17:02a policeman
17:03up the embankment.
17:04But when police
17:05searched the area,
17:06they found no gunman,
17:07no gun,
17:08no cartridges.
17:10But years later,
17:11it was discovered
17:12that a motorcycle policeman's
17:14radio button
17:14had been jammed open.
17:16and that the gunshots
17:17in Dealey Plaza
17:18may have been
17:19accidentally recorded.
17:21The House Select Committee
17:22on Assassinations
17:22used sound experts
17:24to listen to a Dallas
17:25police dictabelt,
17:26and they concluded
17:27with a 95% certainty
17:29that there was a fourth shot
17:30fired at Dealey Plaza,
17:31and it came from the grassy knoll.
17:33The National Academy of Sciences
17:35reviewed their work
17:36and found a multitude
17:38of errors and omissions,
17:39the most serious of which
17:41was that the time
17:42that the Select Committee
17:43experts thought the shots
17:44were being fired
17:45was the wrong time.
17:46It was actually one minute
17:47after the assassination
17:49had actually taken place.
17:50And just now,
17:52we've received reports
17:53here at Parkland
17:53that...
17:54In the chaos
17:55and confusion of that day,
17:56many mistakes were made
17:58in the autopsy
17:59on Kennedy's body.
18:01But the medical photographs
18:03and x-rays have confirmed
18:04that if there was a shot
18:05from the grassy knoll,
18:06it missed.
18:07There were only two shots
18:09that struck President Kennedy.
18:10Both came from the rear.
18:12Four government investigations
18:13all came to the same conclusion.
18:15The Warren Commission
18:16in the 60s.
18:17In 1968,
18:18the Clark panel
18:19set by Attorney General
18:21Ramsey Clark.
18:22In the 70s,
18:22the Rockefeller Commission.
18:23And finally,
18:24in the late 70s,
18:25the House Select Committee
18:26with the largest forensics panel
18:28re-examining the evidence.
18:31Modern computer modeling
18:32is a technique
18:33that was not available
18:34to earlier investigators.
18:37These three-dimensional graphics
18:38of Dealey Plaza
18:39were produced
18:40by a specialist company
18:42called Failure Analysis Associates
18:44on behalf of
18:45the American Bar Association.
18:48By feeding data
18:50into the computer,
18:51it is possible
18:51to model the trajectory
18:53of the so-called
18:53magic bullet,
18:55the second shot
18:56fired from the sixth floor
18:57of the Texas School Book Depository.
19:00Critics say that
19:01unless it pursued
19:02a bizarre zigzag trajectory,
19:03it was impossible
19:04for one bullet
19:05to pass through both men.
19:07Four government commissions
19:09all concluded
19:10it was a straight line
19:11right through the two men.
19:13There's no question
19:14that a single bullet
19:16could inflict
19:16all seven wounds
19:17on both the president
19:18and the governor
19:19and emerge
19:19in very good condition.
19:20As it slowed,
19:22as it moved
19:22through the two men,
19:23it moved fast enough
19:24to break bone,
19:25but not fast enough
19:26to deform the bullet.
19:29The computer technicians
19:31use reverse projection
19:32to go from the wounds
19:33on Kennedy and Conley
19:34and determine
19:35where the assassin
19:36had to be located
19:37to inflict those wounds.
19:39And a cone
19:39is splayed out
19:40from the wound
19:41and shows that
19:42the only area
19:43almost centers
19:44on the southeast corner
19:45sixth floor
19:46Texas School Book Depository.
19:52And if the three shots
19:53were fired in eight seconds,
19:55this is the computer model
19:57of the sniper's view.
19:58After the third shot,
20:12someone saw the sniper
20:13slowly withdraw his rifle.
20:17Leaving three cartridges
20:18on the floor,
20:19he made his way
20:19to the stairs.
20:22The rifle,
20:23with one shell
20:23still in the breach,
20:24was later found
20:25behind some boxes.
20:26Oswald was first seen
20:3290 seconds later,
20:35standing by the door
20:35of the lunchroom,
20:36looking calm.
20:39A policeman stopped him
20:40momentarily,
20:41but let him go.
20:45Within three minutes
20:46of the shooting,
20:47Oswald walked out
20:48the front door.
20:53He boarded a bus,
20:55but jumped out
20:56and hailed a taxi
20:56when the bus
20:57got stuck in traffic.
21:02He asked the taxi
21:03to drop him
21:04a couple of blocks away
21:05from his rooming house
21:06in Oak Cliff.
21:10Oswald hurried
21:11to his room.
21:14This is the room
21:15for which Oswald
21:16said he needed curtain rods.
21:17Oswald put a .38 revolver
21:22in his waistband,
21:24took a light-zippered jacket
21:25from his closet,
21:26and left.
21:29His landlady last saw him
21:31standing by the bus stop
21:32outside the rooming house.
21:39By now,
21:40the Texas School Book
21:41Depository
21:41had been sealed off,
21:43and police had issued
21:44a description of a suspect
21:45in the assassination.
21:47A white male,
21:49brown hair,
21:52approximately 5'6
21:53to 5'8,
21:54weighing 160 pounds,
21:57had been seen
21:57in the window
21:58of the depository
21:59and was believed
22:00to be the shooter.
22:02Gerald Hill
22:03helped search
22:04the book depository.
22:05It was dirty.
22:07It was dusty.
22:09It had an old wooden floor.
22:11It was an ancient building.
22:13It had boxes of books
22:14stacked here and there.
22:17There was a shield
22:19of boxes
22:20that were stacked
22:21in such a way
22:22that anybody coming
22:23off of the elevator
22:24or coming out
22:25of the stairwell
22:26would not see anyone
22:28who was down
22:29in a firing position
22:31between the barricade
22:32and the window.
22:32They were still searching
22:34when the call came
22:35that there had been
22:36another shooting.
22:37All we knew
22:38at that time
22:39was it was an officer
22:40who had been shot
22:41and they gave us
22:42a car number
22:42and we knew
22:43it was Tippett
22:44based on the car number.
22:46Officer J.D. Tippett
22:48had been patrolling
22:49in Oak Cliff
22:50when he was gunned down,
22:52killed instantly
22:52next to his car.
22:56Of the seven eyewitnesses
22:57to the shooting,
22:58the one with probably
22:59the clearest view
23:00was Jack Tatum.
23:02I was preparing
23:03to turn left
23:04on 10th Street
23:05from Denver.
23:07I noticed an individual
23:08walking in my direction
23:10with a light zipper jacket on,
23:13darker pants,
23:15and a squad car
23:16pulling over to the curb
23:17next to him.
23:20As I approached
23:22the squad car,
23:24I noticed that
23:24that individual
23:25was leaning over
23:26talking to the officer
23:27and he had both hands
23:29in the pockets
23:31of his jacket.
23:33I continued through
23:34the intersection
23:35and about in the middle
23:39of the intersection
23:39I heard three,
23:40maybe four shots.
23:42If the man
23:43in the jacket
23:43was Lee Harvey Oswald,
23:45no one knows
23:45how he got here.
23:47Researcher Dale Myers
23:48investigated
23:49the Tippett shooting.
23:51He certainly
23:52couldn't have gotten here
23:52unless he got a ride.
23:54Some people
23:55have conjectured
23:55that it was possibly
23:57a conspiratorial pickup.
24:01Whether the driver
24:01was a co-conspirator
24:03or a casual passerby
24:04is still a mystery.
24:06A lot of the witnesses
24:06first said
24:07that he was coming west
24:08and then he was seen
24:09walking east
24:10as Tippett pulled
24:11to the curb.
24:12I think what may have happened
24:13is Oswald truly
24:14was walking west,
24:15saw the police car approaching,
24:16did a quick about face,
24:18and now was walking east.
24:19This would be something
24:20that Tippett would spot,
24:21possibly cause enough suspicion
24:22to pull over.
24:23The killer gets to about
24:25this position on the sidewalk
24:26and Tippett's patrol car
24:28pulls to the curb
24:29and either calls him
24:30over to the curb
24:30or the man comes over
24:31by himself
24:32and leans to the window
24:33and talks to Tippett
24:34through the vent window
24:35for 10 or 20 seconds,
24:36very short.
24:37And Tippett gets out
24:37of the patrol car
24:38and as he does,
24:39the man steps over
24:39to the front of the hood here
24:41and as Tippett gets
24:41opposite him,
24:42he pulls a gun
24:43from under the jacket,
24:44fires three shots
24:45across the hood,
24:45knocking Tippett
24:46to the pavement.
24:47And the man starts to leave,
24:48hesitates at the back
24:49of the car,
24:50walks around behind the car,
24:51comes up to the front
24:52of the car,
24:52stands over Tippett
24:53and shoots him in the head.
24:56He then looked around,
24:58surveyed the situation
24:59and started a slow run
25:01toward my direction.
25:03I put my car in gear
25:04and drove forward
25:06and watched him
25:07through the rearview mirror.
25:09I saw him very clearly
25:11and realized that there was
25:15one thing that made him
25:16stand out
25:17and that was his mouth
25:18that curled up.
25:19I couldn't mistake that.
25:20Kind of a smile.
25:22Yes, kind of a smile.
25:24And I was within 10, 15 feet
25:27of that individual
25:28and it was Lee Harvey Oswald.
25:32After the shooting,
25:33police found shells
25:33at the scene.
25:34They went on the radio
25:35and said there were
25:3538 automatics.
25:37Later, Oswald's arrested
25:38with a revolver
25:39that fires 38 specials,
25:40a shell that's clearly
25:41about a quarter inch longer
25:42besides they're clearly
25:44stamped on the bottom.
25:45One says 38 special,
25:46one says 38 automatic.
25:48Automatic shells
25:49would mean Oswald
25:50was not there
25:51and that the evidence
25:52could have been planted.
25:53Did you actually
25:54pick up the shells yourself?
25:55Yeah, I got a mark in them.
25:57I put a mark in them.
25:59But you still mistook
26:00the kind of shell it was?
26:01Yes, I did.
26:02In all the excitement
26:04that was going on then,
26:05you just looked to see
26:07if it was a 38.
26:09And if you'd been using
26:11an automatic,
26:12they could have been ejected.
26:13Nobody at this point
26:14had told the first officer
26:16to arrive that Oswald
26:17had stopped,
26:19deliberately kicked out shells
26:21from a 38 revolver
26:22before he left that scene.
26:26Later, the FBI crime lab
26:28found that Tippett
26:28was killed by bullets
26:29fired from a gun
26:30with a bored-out barrel,
26:32a barrel just like
26:33Oswald's 38.
26:35Ballistics tests
26:36on bored-out guns
26:37can never be
26:38completely conclusive.
26:40However, marks
26:41on the cartridges
26:42allegedly recovered
26:43at the scene
26:44did match the hammer
26:46on Oswald's 38 revolver.
26:52Shortly after the shooting,
26:54several employees
26:54of a used car lot
26:55saw the killer
26:56come down this street.
26:59Ultimately,
27:00he came and he
27:01ducked behind
27:01this building,
27:02which used to be
27:02a Texaco service station.
27:04In 1963,
27:05this was a parking lot
27:06and they found
27:06a jacket under this car
27:07and it was a light gray
27:09Eisenhower-type jacket,
27:10much like the one
27:11that Oswald was seen
27:11zipping up
27:12as he left
27:12his rooming house.
27:15He's next seen
27:16without the jacket,
27:17kind of slinking down
27:18Jefferson,
27:18ducking in and out
27:19of stores
27:19as police cars
27:20are roaring up and down
27:21with their sirens playing.
27:22As the police cars
27:29sped by the Texas movie theater,
27:31the cashier stepped out
27:32of her ticket booth
27:33to see what was happening.
27:34As she did,
27:35a man slipped past her
27:37without buying a ticket.
27:39But someone saw him
27:40and called the police.
27:41And so we converged
27:43on that location.
27:45Hit the balcony first.
27:46I did.
27:47Because there was only
27:48one light on in the theater,
27:50we opened the side door
27:51to get some more light.
27:52We determined
27:53he wasn't in the balcony
27:54and I came downstairs.
27:57As I got back to the lobby,
27:58I heard the sounds
27:59of a scuffle.
28:00I immediately went
28:01into the theater.
28:02I saw an officer
28:03scuffling with a suspect
28:05on the third row
28:06from the back of the theater.
28:08It took seven of us
28:09to put him on the floor
28:10and restrain him
28:11until we could put
28:12cuffs on him.
28:14Once we had the cuffs on him,
28:16he started hollering
28:17police brutality,
28:19is this America,
28:21this kind of thing.
28:24Outside the movie house,
28:25an angry crowd jeered
28:27as Oswald was bundled
28:28into a police car.
28:30Immediately,
28:30as we pulled away
28:31from the curb,
28:32we got on the radio
28:33and said we went out
28:34to jail with our suspect.
28:36And the next thing
28:36he was asked was
28:37what's your name
28:38and he wouldn't tell us.
28:39And ask him,
28:40did he know
28:41why we had arrested him
28:42and he said,
28:42I haven't done anything
28:43I should be ashamed of?
28:45We continued
28:46to the city hall,
28:48pulled to the backside
28:49of the basement.
28:51We formed up our wedge,
28:53walked him through
28:54the basement,
28:55into the elevator,
28:56up to the third floor,
28:57and into an interrogation room
28:58in the homicide
28:59and robbery office.
29:01As Oswald was brought in
29:02for questioning
29:03in the Tippett shooting,
29:04he was also becoming
29:05a suspect
29:06in the Kennedy assassination.
29:07police had discovered
29:09he was the only employee
29:10missing from the
29:11school book depository.
29:13Let's keep it quiet.
29:15We'll all get it.
29:15Pull it down.
29:16Has the gentleman
29:17been identified?
29:18Yes, sir.
29:19He's been identified
29:19for killing the officer.
29:20Right.
29:21Has any identification
29:22been attempted
29:22for the killing
29:23of the president?
29:24Not yet.
29:24Not yet.
29:25I was in the hallway
29:26with all the other reporters
29:28when Fritz came out
29:30and asked me
29:31if I'd come in
29:31and sort of be
29:33the token reporter
29:35inside for a few minutes
29:36and I went in
29:38to see Oswald
29:40and I asked him
29:41about his eye
29:42and he said
29:42that was when he was
29:44punched out
29:46and knocked down,
29:48you know,
29:48wrestled down.
29:49The next question,
29:50why did you kill
29:51Officer Tippett?
29:52And he threw the question
29:53right back at me.
29:54He said,
29:55someone get killed?
29:57Policeman get killed?
29:58And at that time
29:59he had this little smirk
30:00on him and I wanted
30:01to hit him
30:02but I didn't.
30:03Then all of a sudden
30:03it dawned on me
30:04he wasn't sweating.
30:06Not a drop of sweat on him.
30:08He was taller
30:08than all the people
30:09around him.
30:09Secret Service,
30:11police,
30:12FBI,
30:13district attorney,
30:14everybody was
30:15in that office.
30:17While he didn't
30:18admit anything
30:18and didn't confess
30:22to anything,
30:23he was the type
30:23of individual
30:24that you had to
30:25prove to him
30:25that we could
30:26make a case on him
30:27and this is not
30:27unusual.
30:28This is very common
30:29among people
30:30that he commits crime.
30:34I don't think
30:35he would have
30:36broken and confessed.
30:39I think he was
30:40playing a game.
30:41He had the impression
30:42that he was smarter
30:43than everybody else
30:44and was going to
30:45sit back there
30:46and play this
30:48for all it was worth.
30:50The case against
30:51Oswald was building.
30:53Police had recovered
30:54the rifle
30:55and the FBI
30:56had traced its purchase
30:57to an A. Hedel.
30:58The return address
31:01on this order letter
31:03was to the post office
31:06box in Dallas,
31:07Texas
31:07of our suspect
31:10Oswald.
31:10but it has definitely
31:14been established
31:14by the FBI
31:15that the handwriting
31:16is the handwriting
31:17of Oswald.
31:19He was asked
31:20if he had ever
31:22used the name
31:23of A. Hedel.
31:24He said no
31:25and he asked
31:28if he knew
31:29anybody named
31:30A. Hedel
31:30and he said no
31:31and then he was
31:33asked,
31:33is it true
31:34that when you
31:34was arrested
31:34you had a picture
31:35ID on there
31:36with A. Hedel
31:37on it.
31:38He said I believe
31:39that's correct
31:39and he asked
31:41well how do you
31:41explain that
31:42and he says
31:42I don't.
31:43He just cut it off
31:44like that.
31:47Here comes Oswald
31:48down the hall again.
31:49Did you buy that rifle?
31:51That's as much as you
31:52people have been given
31:52but I emphatically
31:53deny these charges.
31:54What Oswald's interrogation
31:57shows is a very
31:59consistent pattern
32:00to hide a single fact
32:02through lies.
32:04That single fact
32:05was his ownership
32:05of the rifle.
32:07When he lied
32:07about the backyard
32:08photograph
32:09it was to hide
32:10the fact he had
32:11a rifle.
32:12When he lied
32:13that he had ever
32:13used the alias
32:14Hedel
32:15it was to hide
32:17the fact
32:17that he had
32:18ordered the rifle.
32:19You could go
32:20through the interrogation
32:21point by point
32:22and see that Oswald
32:23will be truthful
32:24up until it comes
32:25to the rifle.
32:26The point of the rifle
32:27he hides
32:28his ownership of it.
32:29Now we're talking
32:30about the assassination
32:31weapon
32:31and lying consistently
32:33to hide that
32:35shows in my opinion
32:36a consciousness
32:37of guilt
32:38on Oswald's part.
32:39I don't know
32:40what this is all about.
32:42Kill the president?
32:43No sir I didn't.
32:44People keep asking me that.
32:45Sir?
32:46Shoot the president?
32:47I work in that building.
32:48Were you in the building
32:49at the time?
32:50Naturally if I work
32:51in that building
32:51yes sir.
32:52Back up man.
32:53Did you shoot the president?
32:54No they're taking me in
32:56because of the fact
32:56that I lived in the Soviet Union.
32:58What's hard to please?
32:59I'm just a patsy.
33:00Did you shoot the president?
33:06Oswald was interrogated
33:07for two days
33:08but he never confessed.
33:10I was allowed
33:11to visit with him
33:12approximately
33:12eight to ten minutes
33:14and I asked him
33:15I said
33:15Lee what
33:17Sam Hill's going on?
33:20He said
33:20I don't know
33:21what they're talking about.
33:21I said Lee
33:22they've got you charged
33:24with the death
33:25of the president
33:25shooting a police officer.
33:27They've got your rifle
33:28they've got your pistol
33:29and you don't know
33:30what the Sam Hill's going on.
33:34And I became
33:35kind of intense
33:36at that point
33:37and looking into his eyes
33:38and he never did answer
33:40but he finally said
33:41brother you won't find
33:42anything there.
33:43And before we could get back
33:48to discussing
33:48anything of substance
33:49and everything
33:50he gets tapped
33:51on his shoulder
33:51and told
33:52that's the end of it.
33:54It was a horrible day.
33:56I started crying
33:57and then after a while
33:59the picture of the guy
34:01that shot the president
34:02came on TV
34:04and I knew right away
34:06that I had seen
34:06that guy before
34:07but I couldn't remember
34:08from where.
34:09Annie came into the room
34:12and she was quite excited.
34:15About ten minutes
34:16after she had arrived
34:17we saw the picture
34:18of Oswald
34:19on the television.
34:20She screamed.
34:22We looked at each other
34:23we were terrified.
34:25I said I'd also know him Annie
34:27and please don't say anything.
34:29I also recognized him
34:30as the man
34:31who was standing at my door.
34:37Around midnight
34:38on November 22nd
34:39Oswald was paraded
34:41in front of the press.
34:43He had just been charged
34:44with the murder
34:45of Officer Tippett
34:46and he was about
34:47to be charged
34:48with the assassination
34:49of President Kennedy.
34:50Did you tell him a president?
34:52No, I've not been charged
34:53with that.
34:53In fact, nobody has said
34:55that to me yet.
34:56The first thing I heard
34:57about was when
34:58the newspaper reporters
34:59in the mall
35:00asked me that question.
35:03You have been.
35:03Nobody said what?
35:04Sir?
35:05Nobody said what?
35:06At the back of the room
35:07that night
35:07was one man
35:08who was not a policeman
35:09or a reporter.
35:12A man who carried a gun
35:13and had underworld connections.
35:17His name was
35:18Jacob Rubenstein
35:19known as Jack Ruby.
35:22In less than 36 hours
35:24he would murder
35:25Lee Harvey Oswald.
35:27If the mob had a hand
35:29in the president's death
35:30and I think they did
35:31and they induced Oswald
35:34to kill the president
35:35it was terribly important
35:37that he be silenced
35:38because eventually
35:41Oswald, if alive
35:42would testify
35:44as to who his associates were
35:46or they ran the risk
35:48that he would
35:49and therefore
35:50there's every indication
35:51that he would be stalked
35:53and killed Oswald
35:54in an effort
35:55to silence him.
35:58Jack Ruby
35:59was a police informer
36:00who owned
36:00a striptease club.
36:02He made sure
36:03that policemen
36:03who came to his club
36:05were shown a good time.
36:12What kind of a guy
36:12was Jack Ruby?
36:15Impulsive.
36:17He had a quick temper.
36:19That's why they called him
36:20Sparky.
36:21Loved to fight
36:22and if anybody
36:23was really out of line
36:24he'd throw them out.
36:30If Jack Ruby knew
36:31that you were
36:32a law enforcement officer
36:34they always had
36:35plenty of liquor
36:37dancing girls
36:39food
36:39or anything else
36:40because
36:41he always thought
36:42that we may be able
36:43to help him.
36:45Yeah, he did give
36:46some free drinks around
36:47and fortunately
36:47the police went down there
36:48you know
36:49he discounted
36:50the drinks to them
36:50and he was a fighter.
36:52There's no question
36:52about that.
36:53When we'd get
36:54a disturbance call
36:54down there
36:55we'd just wait
36:55to bottom the stairs
36:56because just a few minutes
36:57that guy or whoever
36:58was creating a disturbance
36:59was going to come
37:00falling down the stairs.
37:04Jack Ruby knew people
37:05who were members
37:06of the mafia.
37:07He had acquaintances
37:08from his Chicago days
37:09of people that had
37:10long prison records
37:11and there's no question
37:12that he knew
37:13as many people
37:14in organized crime
37:15or who had criminal records
37:16as he knew police
37:17on the other side.
37:18In 1963
37:21Sam and Joe Campisi
37:23were leading figures
37:24in the Dallas underworld.
37:27Yes, Jack knew
37:28the Campisias
37:29and I've seen them
37:30together
37:30on numerous occasions.
37:33Jack ate out there
37:34at the Egyptian lounge
37:36and he'd come in
37:37they'd shake his hand
37:38and sit down
37:38and sometimes
37:39Joe Campisi
37:40would sit with him
37:40and if I came in
37:41or you know
37:42I'd sit with Jack Ruby
37:43and Joe Campisi
37:44I knew
37:45we all knew
37:46each other well.
37:48The Campisias
37:50were lieutenants
37:51of Carlos Marcello
37:52the mafia boss
37:53who had reportedly
37:54talked of killing
37:55the president.
37:57The Campisias
37:58did know
37:58Carlos Marcello
37:59because one day
38:01I was in
38:01Joe Campisi's office
38:03and he called
38:05Carlos on the phone
38:06and I talked
38:07to Carlos
38:08on the phone.
38:09there's the odor
38:11of a mafia hit
38:12all around
38:13Ruby's murder
38:14of Lee Harvey Oswald
38:15until you examine
38:16both Ruby
38:17and his actions
38:18over that weekend.
38:19There is no credible
38:20evidence to show
38:21that Jack Ruby
38:21acted at the behest
38:22of anyone
38:23in organized crime.
38:24It was personally
38:25motivated from day one.
38:28If Ruby was a hitman
38:30working for the mafia
38:31he had already missed
38:32one perfect opportunity
38:34to silence Oswald.
38:35And I asked him
38:38if he was packing
38:40a pistol
38:41at that midnight
38:41press conference
38:42and he said yes.
38:44And I said
38:45then why didn't
38:46you plug him then?
38:47And he says
38:48I was afraid
38:48of hitting one
38:49of you guys.
38:51After the assassination
38:52Ruby closed
38:53the carousel club.
38:56He spent much
38:57of Saturday
38:58hanging around
38:59Dallas police headquarters.
39:04That day
39:04Oswald was taken
39:06from his cell
39:06several times
39:07to be interrogated
39:08and made to stand
39:09in police lineups.
39:12Ruby had no opportunity
39:13to shoot Oswald
39:14that day
39:15but he was asking
39:16lots of questions
39:17about when the police
39:18would transfer him
39:19to the county jail.
39:20I've been photographing
39:21a teacher
39:21and now they're saying
39:22you're going to blind
39:23on these men
39:24that will be picked out.
39:26Right?
39:27Right.
39:29As he hung around
39:30the corridors
39:31of the police station
39:32that weekend
39:32Ruby seemed distraught
39:34over Kennedy's death.
39:36I view Ruby
39:37as very agitated.
39:40He gets very worked up
39:41into this very
39:42anti-Oswald feeling.
39:44There are a number
39:44of events
39:45that take place
39:46that sort of seem
39:47to propel him
39:47at even a faster rate
39:48into what I view
39:49as this emotional
39:50deterioration.
39:51One of them
39:52is the belief
39:52that the Jewish community
39:54in Dallas
39:54is going to be blamed
39:55for the assassination
39:56based upon an ad
39:57that had run
39:58the day the president
39:59arrived signed
39:59by a Jewish name.
40:02Signed by a Bernard Weissman,
40:04the right-wing ad
40:05in the Dallas Morning News
40:06had attacked Kennedy
40:07for being soft
40:08on communism.
40:13If Ruby was stalking Oswald,
40:15Sunday morning
40:16would be his last chance.
40:18The police had announced
40:19Oswald would be transferred
40:21to the county jail
40:22at 10 a.m.
40:24But at 10,
40:26Jack Ruby was still at home.
40:27Jack Ruby takes over
40:29an hour and a half
40:30to leave his apartment.
40:31He very leisurely
40:32goes to the
40:32Western Union office.
40:34He doesn't appear
40:34to be rushed,
40:35says the clerk
40:36behind the counter.
40:37And he sends
40:37his $25 money gram.
40:39He takes his change
40:40and it's time-stamped
40:41at 11.17.
40:43Oswald is shot by Ruby
40:44four minutes later
40:45at 11.21.
40:47I did a recheck
40:48on that myself
40:49from the date stamp time
40:51of 11.17
40:52on that telegram.
40:54And then it took
40:55roughly 83 seconds
40:56because I walked
40:57at three different speeds,
40:59slow, fast, and medium.
41:00And the average
41:01was 83 seconds
41:01from the front door
41:03of the Western Union
41:04to the basement.
41:06It is still unclear
41:08whether Ruby slipped
41:09into the basement
41:10through an unlocked door
41:11or just walked
41:13down the ramp.
41:17Upstairs,
41:18Jim Lavelle was about
41:19to bring Oswald
41:19down in the elevator
41:20more than an hour late.
41:22Well, I had no idea
41:26when I was coming
41:26down the elevator
41:27and he certainly
41:29could not have
41:30and there was no way
41:31you could time that
41:32where he would be
41:32in the basement
41:33right at the exact moment
41:35that I came out of there
41:36and he couldn't have
41:37been there more
41:37than a minute
41:38to 45 seconds
41:39to a minute
41:40before I arrived
41:41with Oswald.
41:43Wearing a light-colored
41:44suit and a Stetson,
41:46Lavelle was Oswald's escort.
41:48I put the handcuffs
41:49on him
41:50and in the process
41:51of doing that
41:52I wore in jest
41:54kind of said,
41:55Lee, if anybody
41:56shoots at you
41:56I hope you're
41:57as good a shot
41:57as you are.
41:58Meaning, of course,
41:59that they'd hit him
42:00and not me.
42:01And he kind of laughed
42:02and he said,
42:02oh, you're being
42:03melodramatic
42:04or something to that effect.
42:05Nobody's going to
42:05shoot at me.
42:07And so we walked out
42:08and I was momentarily
42:08blinded by those lights.
42:10I couldn't see anything.
42:11Here we go.
42:12We're going to hear
42:13the sound of that.
42:15He's going to start.
42:17Oswald just groaned
42:19when he was shot.
42:21Just, mm,
42:22and went down
42:22and that's the only
42:23sound he made.
42:25Ruby yells as he's shooting
42:27you killed my president,
42:28you rat.
42:29He's then tackled
42:30by the police around him
42:31and in the few seconds
42:33after the shooting,
42:34through the time
42:35he's taken into jail,
42:36he says a series of things.
42:38You guys,
42:39meaning the police,
42:40couldn't do it.
42:40I did it for you.
42:41I had to show
42:42that a Jew has guts.
42:43I'm happy that I got him.
42:45There's a whole series
42:45of where Ruby believes
42:46they're going to clap him
42:47on the back
42:48and say,
42:48nice going, Jack.
42:52Was the shooting
42:53in the basement garage
42:54a carefully planned
42:55mafia hit
42:55or did Sparky Ruby
42:57shoot Oswald
42:58in a flash
42:59of violent rage?
43:00I transferred Jack Ruby
43:04to the county jail
43:05and when I asked him
43:07why he'd done a shooting
43:08he said he'd thought
43:08about it from the Friday
43:10night on
43:11but a lot of people
43:13thought about it.
43:14I've had people tell me,
43:15oh, if I could have got to him
43:16on Friday afternoon
43:17my anger was such
43:18that I would have killed him
43:19without looking back.
43:21I visited Jack in prison.
43:23The first thing he said,
43:24he was smiling at the time,
43:26and he looked at me
43:27and he said,
43:28I got balls,
43:30ain't that baby?
43:31And I said,
43:32yeah, Jack,
43:32and they go hanging
43:33by him too.
43:35But Ruby had other,
43:36more sinister visitors.
43:38Sam and Jojo
43:39Campisi
43:41would visit
43:42with Jack Ruby
43:43and they always
43:44had privacy.
43:45Those private meetings
43:50with the Campisies
43:51reawakened suspicions
43:53of a mob hit.
43:55Yet even men
43:56who believe the mafia
43:57killed Kennedy and Oswald
43:58concede the evidence
44:00is not conclusive.
44:04If I posit the fact
44:06of a conspiracy,
44:08the one that is most plausible
44:09is that the mob
44:10had a hand in it.
44:12It is a probability judgment
44:13based on all the evidence.
44:16It's not the kind of thing
44:17that you'd take into court
44:18and try to prove
44:20beyond a reasonable doubt
44:21as a prosecutor.
44:23When he spoke to the press
44:24after his trial,
44:25Ruby himself
44:26hinted at conspiracy.
44:28But by now,
44:29his mental condition
44:30was deteriorating.
44:32Everything pertaining
44:33to what's happening
44:34has never come to the surface.
44:38The world will never know
44:39the true facts
44:40of what occurred,
44:42my motives,
44:43in Ruby's televised statement
44:46and in other statements,
44:47he did believe
44:48there was more to the case
44:49than just his simple
44:50shooting of Oswald.
44:51He thought there was
44:52a massive conspiracy,
44:53one by the district attorney
44:55and by right-wing elements
44:56to frame him
44:57and to further embarrass
44:58the Jewish community
44:59in Dallas.
45:00That is what Jack Ruby
45:01is talking about
45:02in this case.
45:02Oswald never regained consciousness
45:16after Jack Ruby shot him.
45:17Captain, where will he be taken?
45:24I'm assuming
45:24Parkland Hospital.
45:25Parkland Hospital,
45:26the irony of ironies,
45:28the place where
45:29President John F. Kennedy died.
45:31The armored car now
45:32has been cleared
45:32out of the entranceway.
45:35The ambulance is leaving
45:37Dallas Police Headquarters.
45:38I was riding in the back
45:39with him holding his hand,
45:41arm trying to reach a pulse.
45:42The doctor was massaging
45:44his chest
45:44trying to get him to breathe.
45:47And he groaned
45:49and stretched a little bit
45:51and then just went
45:51completely limp.
45:52And actually,
45:53that's when I think
45:53he expired,
45:54because I never saw him
45:56make another move at all.
45:57Oswald was pronounced dead
46:02at Parkland Hospital.
46:05His death meant
46:06the evidence against him
46:07would never be tested in court.
46:11But 30 years later,
46:12the strength of that case
46:14continues to grow.
46:17Significant evidence
46:18may have been overlooked
46:18by all the official investigations.
46:23Soon after the shots were fired,
46:25Dallas Police dusted
46:26the murder weapon
46:27and found partial fingerprints
46:28near the trigger guard
46:29and a clear palm print
46:31on the barrel.
46:33At police headquarters,
46:35the palm print was lifted
46:36from the rifle
46:36for examination.
46:40But when the FBI
46:41rushed the rifle
46:42to Washington,
46:43the palm print
46:44stayed in Dallas
46:45and a clear chain
46:46of evidence
46:47was broken.
46:54Amid 30 years
46:55of accusations
46:56that the police
46:57had planted
46:57the palm print
46:58on the rifle,
46:58the latent fingerprints
47:00on the trigger guard
47:01have been largely ignored.
47:02Vincent Scalise,
47:06a leading fingerprint expert,
47:08examined all the fingerprint evidence
47:09for the House Assassinations Committee.
47:11The FBI examined these latent prints
47:15and they determined
47:16that they were worthless
47:17for identification purposes.
47:19I re-examined the photograph
47:21of these latent prints again
47:22in 1978
47:23for the Select Committee
47:24on Assassinations
47:25and came to the same conclusion
47:26due to the faintness
47:29of the prints.
47:30I determined that they were
47:32of no value
47:33for identification purposes.
47:34But 30 years ago,
47:39the Dallas police
47:40had evidence
47:41that might have changed
47:41that judgment.
47:44Rusty Livingstone
47:44was on duty
47:45in the Dallas Crime Lab
47:46on November 22nd.
47:48He developed pictures
47:50taken at the crime scene.
47:52He also processed photographs
47:53of the rifle
47:54and of the latent fingerprints
47:56on its trigger guard.
47:58Livingstone made
47:59several sets of photographs,
48:00including one for himself.
48:02But he didn't realize
48:04the significance
48:05of the fingerprint photographs
48:06until he began working
48:07with his nephew,
48:08Gary Savage,
48:09on a book
48:10about the assassination.
48:12The wonderful thing
48:13about this
48:13is this is first-day evidence.
48:15This is original evidence
48:16collected by the Dallas police.
48:18This stuff didn't go
48:19through the Warren Commission.
48:20It didn't go through
48:20the House Select Committee
48:21on Assassination.
48:25The FBI says
48:26it never looked
48:27at the Dallas police photographs
48:29of the fingerprints.
48:32And experts
48:32for the Warren Commission
48:33and the House Assassinations Committee
48:35never examined
48:36all of the fingerprint photographs.
48:40But this year,
48:41a local police captain,
48:43Jerry Powdrell,
48:44re-examined
48:45all the evidence.
48:46He compared
48:47the inked fingerprints
48:48taken from Oswald
48:49in New Orleans
48:50with the pictures
48:51of the fingerprints
48:51found on the trigger guard.
48:53It appears that
48:57the fingerprints
48:58depicted in the photographs
49:00came from the right hand.
49:03I found three points
49:04of identity
49:04and three possible points
49:06of identity
49:07during this comparison.
49:10Law enforcement community
49:11uses six to ten points
49:13of identity
49:14for positive identification.
49:16Powdrell's analysis
49:17was not conclusive,
49:19but he found nothing
49:19to indicate the prints
49:20were not Oswald's.
49:21A former high-ranking
49:23FBI fingerprint expert
49:24who examined the prints
49:25for Frontline
49:26said they were simply
49:27not clear enough
49:28to make any identification.
49:31But Vincent Scalise,
49:32the House Assassination Committee expert,
49:34came to a very different conclusion.
49:36There were a total
49:37of four photographs in all
49:38that I began to examine them.
49:41I saw two faint prints.
49:44And as I examined them,
49:46I realized that these prints
49:47had been taken
49:48at different exposures.
49:49and it was necessary
49:51for me to utilize
49:52all of the photographs
49:53to compare against
49:54the ink prints.
49:55As I examined them,
49:57I found that
49:58by maneuvering the photographs
49:59in different positions,
50:01I was able to pick up
50:02some details
50:03on one photograph
50:04and some details
50:05on another photograph.
50:07Using all of the photographs
50:08at different contrasts,
50:09I was able to find
50:12in the neighborhood
50:13of about 18 points
50:14of identity
50:15between the two prints.
50:16Well, I feel that this is
50:18a major breakthrough
50:19in this investigation
50:21because we're able
50:23for the first time
50:24to actually say
50:25that these are definitely
50:27the fingerprints
50:27of Lee Harvey Oswald
50:28and that they are
50:30on the rifle.
50:31There is no doubt about it.
50:34The prosecution case
50:35against Oswald
50:36is open and shut.
50:38If he'd shot his brother-in-law
50:39in the back seat
50:40of a convertible
50:42and not the President
50:43of the United States,
50:44he would have been tried,
50:45convicted,
50:45and forgotten
50:46in three days.
50:48But for the fact
50:49that it's the President,
50:50this is an easy case.
50:59Three days after
51:01the assassination,
51:02Washington and the world
51:03mourned President
51:04John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
51:09In Dallas,
51:11the police honored
51:11Officer J.D. Tippett.
51:15and on that same day
51:17in Fort Worth,
51:19the remains of Lee Harvey Oswald
51:21were laid to rest.
51:24But the questions
51:25about his role
51:26in the assassination
51:26have lived on
51:28for 30 years.
51:33True, no one saw him
51:35actually pull the trigger
51:36on the President.
51:37but his rifles there.
51:39But his rifles there.
51:42His presence
51:43in the buildings
51:43were there.
51:46What he did
51:47after he left
51:48the building
51:48is known.
51:50Bus ride,
51:51taxi ride,
51:53boarding house,
51:54pick up the pistol,
51:56shoot the police officer,
51:58eyewitnesses there,
51:59five or six.
52:01You can't set that aside
52:02just because he is saying
52:04I'm a patsy.
52:06I'd love to do that
52:07but you cannot
52:07in my mind
52:08set that aside.
52:11The question is not
52:13Lee Harvey Oswald
52:14will shoot the President.
52:16The question is
52:17did he have help?
52:18Within 30 hours
52:20of the assassination
52:20that was the question.
52:2330 years later
52:24that remains
52:26to be the question.
52:29John Kennedy
52:30had many enemies.
52:32The Mafia
52:33and many Cuban exiles
52:34celebrated his death
52:35and Lee Harvey Oswald's life
52:38may have intersected
52:39with those forces.
52:41But there is no evidence
52:42that they changed
52:43the trajectory
52:44of his life
52:45and they cannot be found
52:47in Dallas
52:48influencing him to act.
52:56In the end
52:57there is only Oswald
52:58a man who chose
53:00his own politics
53:01invented his own
53:03secret life
53:04and made himself
53:06into an assassin.
53:08A man whose real life
53:10never measured up
53:10to the scale
53:11of his dreams
53:12until the day
53:13the President
53:14of the United States
53:15passed
53:16right in front of him.
53:18This is a struggle
53:20that has gone on
53:21with me
53:21for almost 30 years now.
53:24This is mind
53:25over heart.
53:26The mind tells me
53:27one thing
53:27the heart tells me
53:28something else.
53:29But the facts
53:30are there
53:30and I say to people
53:31who wanted to start
53:32the facts
53:33and pick them out
53:34I say what do you do
53:34with his rifle?
53:35What do you do
53:35with his pistol?
53:36What do you do
53:36with his general opportunity?
53:38What do you do
53:39with his actions?
53:43To me you can't reach
53:44but one conclusion.
53:45There's hard
53:45physical evidence there.
53:48It's good that people
53:49raise questions
53:50and say wait a minute
53:51let's take a second
53:52look at this.
53:52I think that's great.
53:53But when you take
53:55the second look
53:55and the third
53:56and the fortieth
53:57and the fiftieth
53:57hey enough's enough
53:58it's there
53:59put it to rest.
54:03There will always be
54:04one final mystery.
54:07Why did Oswald
54:07choose Kennedy?
54:11But the solution
54:12cannot be found
54:13in the dark corridors
54:14of crime
54:14espionage
54:16and power.
54:16That question
54:22can only be answered
54:24by one young man
54:25and his answer
54:28will always be silence.
54:31and his answer
54:32will always be
57:02Frontline is produced for the documentary consortium by WGBH Boston, which is solely responsible for its content.
57:08This is PBS.
57:18This is PBS.
57:18This is PBS.
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