November 22, 1963
The Assassination That Changed America
At 12:30 p.m. on November 22, 1963, three rifle shots echoed through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. President John F. Kennedy was dead within the hour. Within two days, the suspected assassin was also dead — murdered on live television.
Two official investigations. Two contradictory conclusions. Sixty years of unanswered questions.
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Three rifle shots in 8.3 seconds from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. Or were there four? The answer depends on which investigation you believe.
265 ft
From the sixth-floor window to the presidential limousine at the moment of the fatal shot.
5M+
Pages of classified records. Many still withheld from the public sixty years later.
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Warren Commission, Garrison trial, HSCA, and ARRB. No two reached the same conclusion.
The Evidence
The Murder Weapon
A 6.5mm Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, serial number C2766, purchased by mail order from Klein's Sporting Goods in Chicago under the alias 'A. Hidell.' Oswald's palm print was found on the barrel. Three spent shell casings lay on the floor beside the sixth-floor window.
The Single Bullet
Found on a stretcher at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Commission Exhibit 399 was nearly pristine — yet the Warren Commission concluded it had passed through both Kennedy and Governor Connally, shattering bone and causing seven wounds. Critics called it the 'magic bullet.' Defenders called it simple physics.
The Sniper's Nest
Boxes of textbooks arranged as a gun rest at the southeast corner window of the sixth floor. The view looked directly down onto Elm Street, where the motorcade made its slow left turn beneath the window. The shooter had a clear, downward angle at a target moving away at 11 miles per hour.
The Assassination That Changed America
The Defector
Lee Harvey Oswald, a disillusioned former Marine, defects to the Soviet Union. He lives in Minsk for two and a half years, marries Marina Prusakova, then returns to the United States — a journey the State Department makes suspiciously easy.
12:30 PM
Three shots ring out as the presidential motorcade passes through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy is struck in the back and the head. Governor Connally is hit. The limousine races to Parkland Memorial Hospital.
Death
President Kennedy is pronounced dead at Parkland. Vice President Lyndon Johnson is sworn in aboard Air Force One, with Jackie Kennedy standing beside him in her blood-stained pink suit.
Silenced
Officer J.D. Tippit is shot dead on a Dallas street. Forty minutes later, Oswald is arrested at the Texas Theatre. Two days later, Jack Ruby shoots Oswald on live television.
The Warren Report
After a ten-month investigation, the Warren Commission concludes Oswald acted alone. The 888-page report satisfies the public — for a time.
Probable Conspiracy
The House Select Committee on Assassinations concludes there was 'probable conspiracy' based on acoustic evidence suggesting a fourth shot from the grassy knoll — directly contradicting the Warren Commission.
Key Figures
Lee Harvey Oswald
Former Marine, Soviet defector, self-proclaimed Marxist. Employed at the Texas School Book Depository. The Warren Commission named him the lone assassin. He was murdered before he could stand trial, telling reporters only: 'I'm just a patsy.'
Jack Ruby
Dallas nightclub owner with mob connections and police friendships. Shot Oswald in the basement of Dallas Police headquarters on November 24, 1963. He claimed he did it to spare Jackie Kennedy the pain of a trial. He died of cancer in 1967 before his appeal could be heard.
The Shadows That Remain
Two official government investigations reached two contradictory conclusions. The Warren Commission said one man, three shots, no conspiracy. The HSCA said probable conspiracy and a fourth shot from the grassy knoll.
Sixty years later, millions of pages of documents remain classified. The questions have not been answered. They have only multiplied.
Get the Full Book
The complete story — from Dealey Plaza to the grassy knoll, from the Warren Report to the files still sealed.
