On 23 November 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald continued to deny everything. He didn’t kill the President. He didn’t kill Officer Tippit. He had never been to Mexico City. He had never owned a rifle.
In fact, any doubt that Oswald owned the sniper rifle that fired the shots that killed the President was resolved that day. Working through the night, the FBI determined at 4:00 AM that the rifle - a Mannlicher-Carcano serial number C2766 - was purchased by mail order from Klein’s Sporting Goods in Chicago on 12 March 1963 by “A. Hidell” and shipped on 20 March to Dallas Post Office Box 2915. That PO Box was registered at the time to Lee Harvey Oswald and “Alex James Hidell” was the alias Oswald used on the forged Selective Service Card discovered on his person when he was arrested.
The purchase of the rifle was paid for with Postal Money Order number 2-202-130-462. By that afternoon, IBM mainframe computers at the US Postal Records Center in Alexandria, Virginia had successfully located the original money order. At 7:00 PM, a handwriting expert for the Secret Service confirmed that the handwriting on the original money order was that of Lee Harvey Oswald.
Separately, Dallas Police officers searching through Oswald’s possessions found the infamous photo of him holding what appears to be the same rifle with a revolver tucked into his belt. On the back, it was signed in Oswald’s handwriting, “For Junie from Papa.” (Junie was Oswald’s daughter.)
When challenged to explain the photo at 6:24 PM that day, Oswald was flustered. “I’m not going to make any comment on that without the advice of an attorney,” he said. “Well, is that your face in the picture?” the police asked. “I won’t even admit that,” Oswald replied. “That’s not your face?” the police asked. “No, that’s not even my face. That’s a fake. Someone has put my face on a different body.”
In fact, Marina Oswald testified to the Warren Commission in 1964 that she took this photo on 31 March 1963, just before Oswald attempted to assassinate the anti-Castro, former US Army general Edwin Walker.
Subsequently, it was also determined that the 38 snub nose revolver used to kill Officer Tippit was purchased by mail order in January 1963 by “A.J. Hidell” and likewise shipped to Dallas PO Box 2915, registered to Lee Harvey Oswald.
An International Communist Conspiracy?
At this point, the authorities were confident they could prove that Oswald had killed the President. Their interest had turned to whether Oswald was acting alone or whether he was part of a conspiracy. The idea of a domestic conspiracy would not begin until the next day with Jack Ruby. The conspiracy of concern as of 23 November was an international communist conspiracy.
Specifically, the authorities wondered whether the Cuban government and/or the Soviet government might be involved. What did Oswald do during his September 1963 visit to Mexico City? What was the nature of his known discussions with Valery Vladimirovich Kostikov, the Mexico City representative of Soviet KGB Department 13, responsible for Sabotage and Assassinations? Did Oswald meet with unknown Cuban Intelligence officers in Mexico City?
Oswald’s Attempted Escape
We overlook that Oswald had a well-thought-out escape plan that almost worked.
The purchaser of the sniper rifle, “A. Hidell,” was only determined at 4:00 AM Saturday, 15.5 hours after the President was shot. We knew that “A. Hidell” was an alias used by Oswald only because Officer Tippit stopped him. The stop occurred only because a good citizen, Howard Brennan, had provided an accurate description of the President’s killer.
Had that stop not occurred, the authorities would have had no idea who “A. Hidell” was. Oswald could have used the alias to escape to Mexico. Alternatively, he could have disposed of the fake Selective Service Card and more plausibly denied ownership of the sniper rifle. It would have been even more of a mess than we have had these past 60 years.
Brennan, who died in 1983, and Tippit, who was murdered by Oswald on 22 November 1963, are American heroes. Amidst our love for conspiracies, we should do more to honor them.
If Oswald acted alone why hide the documents on the case to this day?
Why hasn’t anyone been able to duplicate the shots Oswald supposedly fired to kill JFK?
The final shot to the head had to come from the right front. Was Oswald in two places at one time? When someone can duplicate this shot from the angle of the 6th floor window, the lone gunman theory would be much more believable.
How was the most important prisoner since John Wilkes Booth so easily murdered by Jack Ruby among 70-80 policemen?
The Warren Commission Report ignored the eye witness testimony of many people. Why?
I don’t care who actually killed JFK but I do care about the truth. Our government has been caught lying to us so many times it’s no wonder why most Americans have so little faith in it.