Lee Harvey Oswald

HSCA exhibit F-386, a collage of various photos of Lee Harvey Oswald.
See HSCA Report, Volume II, p.408.

Most history books record Lee Harvey Oswald as the assassin of President Kennedy. This was the conclusion of the Warren Commission, and even the later HSCA's conclusion of a probable conspiracy included Oswald as the only gunman to hit the target. Did Oswald kill Kennedy, or were these investigations wrong?

Many experts of the case believe what Oswald himself told the world while in police custody, that he was a "patsy" - he had been framed for the crime. Much of the "hard" evidence pointing at Oswald's guilt becomes softer the more it is examined. And there are several credible stories of Oswald's being impersonated before the assassination, in ways which "painted him red" so that on November 22 the world would see a Communist killer.

Oswald remains an enigma. The meaning of his actions - defecting to the Soviet Union, returning with a Russian wife, creating a false persona as a pro-Castro activist - remain mysterious. Was Oswald a malcontent as books like Case Closed portray, or was he instead something altogether different - an agent of a U.S. intelligence agency operating under cover, building a "legend?" And was that legend then used against him on November 22, 1963?