In 1976, the US Senate ordered a fresh inquiry into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, who was murdered in 1963 during a motorcade in Dallas, Texas while campaigning for re-election. People who had been involved in the original Warren Commission investigations were asked to make fresh statements. The FBI and the CIA were persuaded to release more of their documents on Oswald. New lines of inquiry were opened and individuals who had not previously given evidence were persuaded to come forward. Most important of all, pieces of evidence such as photos and sound recordings were subjected to scientific analysis using the most up-to-date methods and equipment. The House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) completed their investigation in 1979 and they finally came to a discrete verdict that Lee Harvey Oswald fired three shots at Kennedy, one of which killed the president. A fourth shot was fired from the grassy knoll, which was contradictory to the statement printed by the Warren Commission 16 years earlier. They concluded that John Kennedy was assassinated as the result of a conspiracy.

The investigation was ordered directly after the assassinations of two ot

These are just a few of the theories that have been written on, but it has to be remembered that none of them have ever been proven. In key assassinations there is almost always speculation of a conspiracy, yet in this case one has never been identified, even though the HSCA concluded that all the evidence and eyewitness accounts indicated that there was one. If there was indeed a conspiracy involved, it could cause a political war to unravel it. Although the HSCA came to a sufficient conclusion, the truth about Kennedy's assassination could never be known. However, the haunting words that Oswald left us with: "I'm just a patsy", will keep Americans forever wondering, "Who killed President Kennedy?"

Another popular theory was that the Mafia, the most powerful criminal organization in the world, 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 the Presidents brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, had been using his legal powers to act vigorously against 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 administration and therefore Robert Kennedy would have been replaced. However it has to be considered that according to the Mafia's code of conduct, they are forbidden to kill any individuals with any legal authority i.e. police officers, magistrates and the President!

By the 1970's, many Americans were alarmed that the Warren Commission had been so single minded and did not make any attempt to investigate other possible theories and promising leads. It was also brought to light that none of the commission members had any investigative experiences and completely relied on Hoover and the FBI for their evidence. However, the Commissions biggest mistake was in disregarding key eyewitnesses whose testimonies they considered to be incompatible, inconsistent, or were contrary to their lone psychotic assassin theory. Nobody on the commission heard any of the witness' testimonies as they appeared before the counsel. Credible testimonies from literally dozens of witnesses such as these were ignored. This indicated that their report was based on appallingly selective reading of evidence, and reflected the effort that was put into determining its accuracy.

The HSCA now had enough evidence supported by eyewitness reports to conclude that Kennedy was a victim of a conspiracy. Unlike the Warren Commission they were able to conduct a more thorough investigation, most likely because they had more time to come to a verdict. However, although they had been able to come up with a satisfactory conclusion, they had not been able to identify the second gunman or even the extent of the conspiracy. But people came 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

Supposedly such eyewitness testimonies remained inconclusive to the Warren Commission at the time, as they just didn't make sense. Similarly, Kennedy's autopsy reports also contained

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