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... et that wounded Kennedy wasnt the same one that responsible for his wounds. A FBI supplementary report states that the bullet that entered Kennedys back had penetrated to less than a finger length. If this is true, how can the bullet have exited from the front of his neck? There are of course other facts that warp this theory such as the fact that the bullet was mysteriously found on a hospital stretcher in pristine condition. Yet the bullet should have been out of shape and showing signs of severe impact, considering that it had gone through two major bones and had torn out a great deal of muscle.
Some theorists believe that the bullet was, in fact, planted on the stretcher by the FBI or CIA so that they could pin the assassination on Oswald, again indicating the involvement of a conspiracy. The differences as you can see are substantial and inevitably have a great influence on the theory of the second gunman. The examination of the body in Dallas seems to point towards two gunmen, while the autopsy in Washington points towards a single gunman. The fact that the autopsy reports are still classified arouses suspicion in itself. It has recently also come to light that much of the reports have been destroyed. Is it possible that the government may be hiding something?
Secret service presence during both examinations also has to be considered as it would have been in the interest of the government what the outcome of the autopsies were, if there was indeed something to hide. In the summer of 1976, a vital piece of evidence came to light which greatly added to the doubt that the Warren Commissions single bullet theory. Was viable. It was a previously overlooked sound recording.
A police outrider travelling with Kennedys motorcade had left the microphone of his two-way radio switched on. The recording had amazingly been stored and not destroyed. It was discovered by House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) investigators (who were reassigned to look at the assassination in 1974) and sent of to a leading acoustics lab. By separating and amplifying the background noises they were able to determine the direction of sound waves in Day Plaza at the time of the shooting. The lab concluded that at least two rifles could be heard firing four shots. Furthermore one of the shots came from a direction to the front and to the right of the motorcade.
He stated that there was a 50 % chance of there being a second gunman on the grassy knoll. The HSCA called in two more acoustic experts who confirmed this and said there was actually a 95 % chance of a second gunman. This coexisted with testimony of witnesses who heard shots from the grassy knoll. Further analysis of the sound recording showed more evidence of a second gunman. Experts found that two of the shots fired from the direction of the depository building were within an interval of just 1. 66 seconds.
As the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle isnt an automatic weapon and requires a bolt to be drawn by hand in order to feed single live rounds to its breech, it is almost impossible to load, aim and fire in such a short space of time. Expert marksmen tested the rifle on a firing range. A telescope sight, which was also found with the rifle on the sixth floor, made the rifle difficult to aim and fire in rapid succession. Without a telescope sight speed of fire improved and the marksman managed times of 1. 65 and 1. 75 seconds. But at such speeds the marksmen only hit the target with one shot in three. Oswald's military records showed that he had been a poor shot, an average marksman at best.
In his stint with the marines, he was given the nickname Shitbird because he couldnt hit a target for his life. Could he have really managed to fire so many shots successfully? Doubts were also raised about the accuracy of the weapon. Tests were conducted and experts found that the rifle was inaccurate and they described it as being "crudely made, poorly designed and dangerous. " They also found that the ammunition for the rifle was frequently of a poor quality.
In one batch tested, 17 out of 20 bullets were defective and failed to fire. Considering all this, was it possible that Oswald could have shot three bullets at a moving target, through immense foliage, 88 yards away in just 5. 6 seconds using a faulty rifle In the 38 years since the assassination, many people have been able to disprove the Warren Commissions conclusion, but nobody has been able to identify the second gunman or even the extent of the conspiracy. Many people have come up with their own theories about what happened, blaming various organizations for the assassination of Kennedy. Undoubtedly the most poplar theory was that government agencies were involved, that it was planned by either high officials in the White House or by the secret service, FBI and CIA.
It was executed by paid killers and afterwards the agencies ensured that the murderers remained uncovered. But what motive could such agencies have? The CIA certainly had a motive. They blamed Kennedy for not throwing the full weight of his air force behind the Bay of Pigs conflict and in addition they were upset that he had come to an agreement with the Soviets over Cuba.
Another popular theory was that the Mafia was involved. An indication of this was the involvement of Jack Ruby who supposedly had Mafia links. One of the reasons they could have conspired to kill Kennedy was that Jfk's brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, had been using his legal powers to try to take down some of the larger and more influential Mafia bosses. In fact he had been leading a strong campaign against the Mafia. Getting rid of Kennedy would have resulted in a new government and therefore Robert Kennedy would be replaced. Other theories included blaming the right-wing extremists to whom Kennedy was a communist, as he attempted to build peaceful relationships with Cuba and the Soviet Union.
The right-wingers also saw Kennedy as a friend of industrials and held him responsible for the Vietnam War, the blocking of Cuba and many other things. These were just a few of the theories around at the time but it has to be remembered that none of them have ever been proven. It was possible that people were so shocked by Kennedys assassination that they were overreacting and that there was a plausible explanation for his death. In key assassinations there is almost always speculation of a conspiracy, yet one has never been identified. But even the HSCA concluded that Kennedy was the victim of a conspiracy, as they believed that all the evidence and the eyewitness reports indicated this. If there was indeed a conspiracy involved, it would cause a huge political crisis to unravel it.
Although the Warren Commission, The HSCA and many other investigators have come to their own possible conclusions, they all agree that the truth about Kennedys assassination will never be known. However, the haunting words that Oswald left us with; "Im just a patsy" will always raise questions to whether there was a cover up, if Oswald was part of the conspiracy or if he was just a lone gunman.
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Research essay sample on Grassy Knoll Kennedys Assassination
