Many people see conspiracy theories as entertaining, interesting to read about, and easy to poke fun at. However, a study conducted in Chicago shows that more than half of Americans actually believe in at least one conspiracy theory. Among the most famous American conspiracies is the JFK assassination. According to a poll of 5,130 American adults, 61% believe Kennedy was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy. Many Kennedy assassination theories seem reasonable, but the lack of credible evidence makes them unreliable and unrealistic. 

Expert: Dr. Charles Crenshaw (27:42)

On November 22, 1963, four doctors attempted to save the life of President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy had been shot once through the throat and once through the head, the latter being the shot that killed him. Dr. Charles Crenshaw is one of the four doctors and one of many Americans who believe Kennedy was shot from the front, not from the back as the official Warren Commission report stated. In the documentary, Mugshots: John F. Kennedy- Did Oswald Act Alone?, Crenshaw claims “[the bullet entered] through the hairline…on the right coming down.” After Kennedy was declared dead, his body was rushed onto air force one and brought to Bethesda, Maryland for the official autopsy. The official autopsy was released and it was declared the bullet came from behind the President. Crenshaw rejected the official autopsy and claimed that the President’s head wound was manipulated after leaving Parkland: “The back of his head was gone.” Crenshaw believed that while on air force one, someone pulled the skin on Kennedy’s head up and over the initial wound to cover up the fact that the bullet came from the front. He also alludes to the cover up by saying “They [needed] to get that body out of Dallas.” 

The idea that Kennedy was shot from the front is popular among conspiracy theorists, and some of Crenshaw’s fellow doctors. Dr. Robert McClelland supported Crenshaw’s assessment of Kennedy’s head wound: “the location of Kennedy’s head wound suggested that the bullet had come from… in front.” McClelland was positioned near Kennedy head during the last minute tracheotomy and had a clear view of the wound. At first glance, McClelland seems trustworthy in his support of Crenshaw’s claim, but McClelland’s speciality as a doctor was liver resections, not head wounds. Many theorists disagree with the official findings and claim the bullet entered through the front and exited through the back. While the claim itself is not completely unreasonable, the only evidence supporting the theory is more theories and personal testimonies. 

Claim 1: “Robert Kennedy’s crusade against Marcello… backfired in a big way” (3:02)

Two days after Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy, he was gunned down by a nightclub owner named Jack Ruby. Ruby claims he executed the President’s assassin to “spare Jacqueline Kennedy” from the pain of “testify[ing] at Oswald’s trial.” While his intentions may have been honest, his past connections to the mafia spurred many new mafia related theories about the assassination as did Kennedy’s brother, Robert “Bobby” F. Kennedy, who went to war with organized crime during his run as attorney general. Many people who believe in the mafia theory think Kennedy was killed as a result of Bobby Kennedy’s war on organised crime. Bobby Kennedy was able to deport Carlos Marcello, a syndicate boss from New Orleans as well as cause trouble for two other crime bosses, Jimmy Hoffa and Santo Trafficante. On his deathbed, Trafficante allegedly told Frank Ragano, a famous mob lawyer, that “[Marcello] f—ed up” and that he “should have killed [Robert].” According to theorists, Marcello ordered a hit on Kennedy instead of his brother because “if you want to kill a dog, you don’t cut off the tail, you cut off the head.” 

While most mafia related theorists believe Kennedy was assassinated as a result of Bobby Kennedy’s vow to rid America of organised crime, some have other theories. This includes the idea that the 1960 election was rigged in Kennedy’s favor by influential mafia boss, Sam Giancana. In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations(HSCA) investigated the assassination of John F. Kennedy and concluded that “the national syndicate of organized crime, as a group, was not involved in the assassination of President Kennedy” but evidence could not rule out the possibility that “individual members may have been involved.” Many theorists interpret this quote as evidence for a conspiracy theory. However, because the quote states evidence could not be found to rule individuals out, it also means evidence could not be found to tie individuals to the crime. Because no true, undeniable evidence was found connecting the mafia to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, it remains an elaborative theory. 

Claim 2: “The [killing] was a conspiracy… directed by national intelligence agencies” (6:27) 

Another claim shown in the documentary is that the assassination was orchestrated by the government. Kennedy and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had a rocky relationship starting early on in his presidency, most likely stemming from the failed bay of pigs invasion. To support this claim, therosist say “Kennedy was fed up with the shenanigans of the CIA” and might have been looking to “disband” them. Feeling threatened, the CIA supposedly “ordered the killing of Kennedy.” While no evidence other than coincidence suggests this is true, it is also the hardest Kennedy assassination theory to disprove.

Some theorists believe that the CIA killed Kennedy on order of the Vice President, Lyndon B. Johnson. However, this theory is easily disproved. Many people cite Madeline Brown, a self proclaimed mistress of Johnson, as evidence for this theory. She claims that while she was partying with Johnson he pulled her aside and whispered “those Kennedys will never embarrass me again. That’s no threat. That’s a promise.” Not only was Brown an alleged mistress, she was also experimenting with drugs at the time, making her statement unreliable. Another important note, the Johnson theory originated in Texas, a state whose people reportedly considered Johnson “a crook” and were looking for a narrative to push on the newly appointed president. Once again, the claims made by Kennedy assassination theorists are supported by unreliable witnesses and more claims. 

Claim 3: “Bowers tried to tell the Warren Commision what he saw [on the grassy knoll]”(16:35)

Many people were in Dallas, Texas to see the presidential motorcade pass through and were witnessing to the assassination. At the time, the majority of people at Dealey Plaza indicated they heard the shots come from somewhere near the Texas School Book Depository. It was later confirmed that Oswald made the shot from the sixth floor of that building: “Oswald had been seen on the sixth floor about a half hour before the shooting and… just after the shooting.” After an investigation into the shooting it was discovered it took just under six seconds for all three shots to be fired. This means Oswald would’ve had to “shoot, reload, resight, shoot again, reload, resight and shoot again.” Because of this, members of the HSCA decided “Oswald wouldn’t have had the time to get off all three shots himself.” The grassy knoll theory is arguably one the most famous and and believed Kennedy assassination theory because of the ruling of the HSCA. Not only did they say Oswald didn’t have time to make all three shots, but they also said that the second shot fired by Oswald had a combined total of seven entrance and exit wounds. The HSCA concluded that the second bullet entered Kennedy in his upper back and exited through his lower throat and continued to both enter and exit the right side of Governor John Connally before entering and exiting through his wrist before finally embedding itself in his thigh. This became known as the magic bullet theory among many theorists who claimed that that was an impossible path for the bullet. Because the alleged bullet path seemed impossible, theorists concluded that the shot that hit President Kennedy in the throat came from the front, on the grassy knoll. 

Lee Bowers had a clear view of the grassy knoll and said people could be seen near the grassy knoll around the time of the President’s assassination. What the documentary does not state is that years after his initial statement, Bowers corrected himself and said that no one was near the fence at the time the shots were fired. While The grassy knoll theory is one of the more realistic Kennedy assassination theories, but it is also a mess of evidence. Many witnesses were never at Dealey Plaza or only claimed they saw men at the grassy knoll years after the shooting. There have also been numerous people who have claimed to have made the shot from the grassy knoll including James files, a paratrooper in the bay of pigs invasion. With so many conflicting stories, confessions, and claims the grassy knoll theory is completely unreliable. 

Claim 4: “Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone”(1:10)

Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone is a almost unanimously believed claim by all Kennedy assassination theorists. After he was arrested, Oswald made the claim that he was “just a patsy” which unsurprisingly, became the base of many assassination theories from the mafia to the Soviet Union. Oswald was shot and killed before he made it to his trial, but before his death, he “requested to be represented by John Abt” a “staff attorney” for the “Communist Party USA.” This request seemingly proved to people that Oswald had assassinated the President on behalf of the Soviet Union. This was a conspiracy theory greatly spurred on by Americans’ fear of communism during the Cold War. As mentioned before, it was also a popular theory that Oswald was contracted by the mafia to kill Kennedy. Theorists believe that after Oswald made the kill, Ruby was then hired by the mafia to silence him. However, many people have also suggested that while the mafia had the “motive, means, and opportunity” to kill Kennedy, they would not have relied on someone like Oswald to carry out the job. As with many theories there is no evidence that undoubtedly proves Oswald did not act alone. Unfortunately, because he was murdered there is also little evidence that undoubtedly proves Oswald truly acted alone. 

Conclusion

The circumstance of President Kennedy’s death has been the subject of many conspiracy theories from multiple shooters to mafia involvement. The official ruling of the assassination was Oswald carried out the assassination alone and made the shot from behind the president’s motorcade. However, this made some strange suggestions about the shots, as one shot had a total count of seven exit and entrance wounds which many people consider unrealistic. But because anomalies in evidence do not constitute as evidence and conspiracies are not statements of fact, Kennedy assassination theories remain widely popular and accepted claims.

Featured Image captured from Mugshots: John F. Kennedy- Did Oswald Act Alone?