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1. The shots which killed President Kennedy
and wounded Governor Connally were fired from the sixth floor
window at the southeast corner of the Texas School Book Depository.
This determination is based upon the following:
(a) Witnesses at the scene of the assassination saw a rifle being fired from the sixth-floor window of the Depository Building, and some witnesses saw a rifle in the window immediately after the shots were fired.
(b) The nearly whole bullet found on Governor
Connally's stretcher at Parkland Memorial Hospital and the two
bullet fragments found in the front seat of the Presidential limousine
were fired from the 6.5-millimeter Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found
on the sixth floor of the Depository Building to the exclusion
of all other weapons.
(c) The three used cartridge cases found near the window on the sixth floor at the southeast corner of the building were fired from the same rifle which fired the above-described bullet and fragments, to the exclusion of all other weapons.
(d) The windshield in the Presidential limousine was struck by a bullet fragment on the inside surface of the glass, but was not penetrated.
(e) The nature of the bullet wounds suffered
by President Kennedy and Governor Connally and the location of
the car at the time of the shots establish that the bullets were
fired from above and behind the Presidential limousine, striking
the President and the Governor as follows:
(1) President Kennedy was first struck by a bullet which entered at the back of his neck and exited through the lower front portion of his neck, causing a wound which would not necessarily have been lethal. The President was struck a second time by a bullet which entered the right-rear portion of his head, causing a massive and fatal wound.
(2) Governor Connally was struck by a bullet
which entered on the right side of his back and traveled downward
through the right side of his chest, exiting below his right nipple.
This bullet then passed through his right wrist and entered his
left thigh where it caused a superficial wound.
(f) There is no credible evidence that the
shots were fired from the Triple Underpass, ahead of the motorcade,
or from any other location.
2. The weight of the evidence indicates that there were three shots fired.
3. Although it is not necessary to any essential
findings of the Commission to determine just which shot hit Governor
Connally, there is very persuasive evidence from the experts to
indicate that the same bullet which pierced the President's throat
also caused Governor Connally's wounds. However, Governor Connally's
testimony and certain other factors have given rise to some difference
of opinion as to this probability but there is no question in
the mind of any member of the Commission that all the shots which
caused the President's and Governor Connally's wounds were fired
from the sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository.
4. The shots which killed President Kennedy
and wounded Governor Connally were fired by Lee Harvey Oswald.
This conclusion is based upon the following:
(a) The Mannlicher-Carcano 6.5-millimeter Italian rifle from which the shots were fired was owned by and in the possession of Oswald.
(b) Oswald carried this rifle into the Depository Building on the morning of November 22, 1963.
(c) Oswald, at the time of the assassination, was present at the window from which the shots were fired.
(d) Shortly after the assassination, the Mannlicher-Carcano
rifle belonging to Oswald was found partially hidden between some
cartons on the sixth floor and the improvised paper bag in which
Oswald brought the rifle to the Depository was found close by
the window from which the shots were fired.
(e) Based on testimony of the experts and their analysis of films of the assassination, the Commission has concluded that a rifleman of Lee Harvey Oswald's capabilities could have fired the shots from the rifle used in the assassination within the elapsed time of the shooting. The Commission has concluded further that Oswald possessed the capability with a rifle which enabled him to commit the assassination.
(f) Oswald lied to the police after his arrest
concerning important substantive matters.
(g) Oswald had attempted to kill Maj. Gen.
Edwin A. Walker (Resigned, U.S. Army) on April 10, 1963, thereby
demonstrating his disposition to take human life.
5. Oswald killed Dallas Police Patrolman J.
D. Tippit approximately 45 minutes after the assassination. This
conclusion upholds the finding that Oswald fired the shots which
killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally and is
supported by the following:
(a) Two eyewitnesses saw the Tippit shooting and seven eyewitnesses heard the shots and saw the gunman leave the scene with revolver in hand. These nine eyewitnesses positively identified Lee Harvey Oswald as the man they saw.
(b) The cartridge cases found at the scene of the shooting were fired from the revolver in the possession of Oswald at the time of his arrest to the exclusion of all other weapons.
(c) The revolver in Oswald's possession at
the time of his arrest was purchased by and belonged to Oswald.
(d) Oswald's jacket was found along the path
of flight taken by the gunman as he fled from the scene of the
killing.
6. Within 80 minutes of the assassination and 35 minutes of the Tippit killing Oswald resisted arrest at the theater by attempting to shoot another Dallas police officer.
7. The Commission has reached the following
conclusions concerning Oswald's interrogation and detention by
the Dallas police:
(a) Except for the force required to effect
his arrest, Oswald was not subjected to any physical coercion
by any law enforcement officials. He was advised that he could
not be compelled to give any information and that any statements
made by him might be used against him in court. He was advised
of his right to counsel. He was given the opportunity to obtain
counsel of his own choice and was offered legal assistance by
the Dallas Bar Association, which he rejected at that time.
(b) Newspaper, radio, and television reporters were allowed uninhibited access to the area through which Oswald had to pass when he was moved from his cell to the interrogation room and other sections of the building, thereby subjecting Oswald to harassment and creating chaotic conditions which were not conducive to orderly interrogation or the protection of the rights of the prisoner.
(c) The numerous statements, sometimes erroneous,
made to the press by various local law enforcement officials,
during this period of confusion and disorder in the police station,
would have presented serious obstacles to the obtaining of a fair
trial for Oswald. To the extent that the information was erroneous
or misleading, it helped to create doubts, speculations, and fears
in the mind of the public which might otherwise not have arisen.
8. The Commission has reached the following
conclusions concerning the killing of Oswald by Jack Ruby on November
24, 1963:
(a) Ruby entered the basement of the Dallas Police Department shortly after 11:17 a.m. and killed Lee Harvey Oswald at 11:21 a.m.
(b) Although the evidence on Ruby's means of entry is not conclusive, the weight of the evidence indicates that he walked down the ramp leading from Main Street to the basement of the police department.
(c) There is no evidence to support the rumor
that Ruby may have been assisted by any members of the Dallas
Police Department in the killing of Oswald.
(d) The Dallas Police Department's decision to transfer Oswald to the county jail in full public view was unsound.
The arrangements made by the police department
on Sunday morning, only a few hours before the attempted transfer,
were inadequate. Of critical importance was the fact that news
media representatives and others were not excluded from the basement
even after the police were notified of threats to Oswald's life.
These deficiencies contributed to the death of Lee Harvey Oswald.
9. The Commission has found no evidence that
either Lee Harvey Oswald or Jack Ruby was part of any conspiracy,
domestic or foreign, to assassinate President Kennedy. The reasons
for this conclusion are:
(a) The Commission has found no evidence that
anyone assisted Oswald in planning or carrying out the assassination.
In this connection it has thoroughly investigated, among other
factors, the circumstances surrounding the planning of the motorcade
route through Dallas, the hiring of Oswald by the Texas School
Book Depository Co. on October 15, 1963, the method by which the
rifle was brought into the building, the placing of cartons of
books at the window, Oswald's escape from the building, and the
testimony of eyewitnesses to the shooting.
(b) The Commission has found no evidence that Oswald was involved with any person or group in a conspiracy to assassinate the President, although it has thoroughly investigated, in addition to other possible leads, all facets of Oswald's associations, finances, and personal habits, particularly during the period following his return from the Soviet Union in June 1962.
(c) The Commission has found no evidence to
show that Oswald was employed, persuaded, or encouraged by any
foreign government to assassinate President Kennedy or that he
was an agent of any foreign government, although the Commission
has reviewed the circumstances surrounding Oswald's defection
to the Soviet Union, his life there from October of 1959 to June
of 1962 so far as it can be reconstructed, his known contacts
with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee and his visits to the Cuban
and Soviet Embassies in Mexico City during his trip to Mexico
from September 26 to October 3, 1963, and his known contacts with
the Soviet Embassy in the United States.
(d) The Commission has explored all attempts of Oswald to identify himself with various political groups, including the Communist Party, U.S.A., the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, and the Socialist Workers Party, and has been unable to find any evidence that the contacts which he initiated were related to Oswald's subsequent assassination of the President.
(e) All of the evidence before the Commission
established that there was nothing to support the speculation
that Oswald was an agent, employee, or informant of the FBI, the
CIA, or any other governmental agency. It has thoroughly investigated
Oswald's relationships prior to the assassination with all agencies
of the U.S. Government. All contacts with Oswald by any of these
agencies were made in the regular exercise of their different
responsibilities.
(f) No direct or indirect relationship between Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby has been discovered by the Commission, nor has it been able to find any credible evidence that either knew the other, although a thorough investigation was made of the many rumors and speculations of such a relationship.
(g) The Commission has found no evidence that Jack Ruby acted with any other person in the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald.
(h) After careful investigation the Commission
has found no credible evidence either that Ruby and Officer Tippit,
who was killed by Oswald, knew each other or that Oswald and Tippit
knew each other. Because of the difficulty of proving negatives
to a certainty the possibility of others being involved with either
Oswald or Ruby cannot be established categorically, but if there
is any such evidence it has been beyond the reach of all the investigative
agencies and resources of the United States and has not come to
the attention of this Commission.
10. In its entire investigation the Commission has found no evidence of conspiracy, subversion, or disloyalty to the U.S. Government by any Federal, State, or local official.
11. On the basis of the evidence before the
Commission it concludes that, Oswald acted alone. Therefore, to
determine the motives for the assassination of President Kennedy,
one must look to the assassin himself. Clues to Oswald's motives
can be found in his family history, his education or lack of it,
his acts, his writings, and the recollections of those who had
close contacts with him throughout his life. The Commission has
presented with this report all of the background information bearing
on motivation which it could discover. Thus, others may study
Lee Oswald's life and arrive at their own conclusions as to his
possible motives. The Commission could not make any definitive
determination of Oswald's motives. It has endeavored to isolate
factors which contributed to his character and which might have
influenced his decision to assassinate President Kennedy. These
factors were:
a) His deep-rooted resentment of all authority which was expressed in a hostility toward every society in which he lived;
(b) His inability to enter into meaningful relationships with people, and a continuous pattern of rejecting his environment in favor of new surroundings;
(c) His urge to try to find a place in history and despair at times over failures in his various undertakings;
(d) His capacity for violence as evidenced
by his attempt to kill General Walker;
(e) His avowed commitment to Marxism and communism,
as he understood the terms and developed his own interpretation
of them; this was expressed by his antagonism toward the United
States, by his defection to the Soviet Union, by his failure to
be reconciled with life in the United States even after his disenchantment
with the Soviet Union, and by his efforts, though frustrated,
to go to Cuba. Each of these contributed to his capacity to risk
all in cruel and irresponsible actions.
12. The Commission recognizes that the varied
responsibilities of the President require that he make frequent
trips to all parts of the United States and abroad. Consistent
with their high responsibilities Presidents can never be protected
from every potential threat. The Secret Service's difficulty in
meeting its protective responsibility varies with the activities
and the nature of the occupant of the Office of President and
his willingness to conform to plans for his safety. In appraising
the performance of the Secret Service it should be understood
that it has to do its work within such limitations. Nevertheless,
the Commission believes that recommendations for improvements
in Presidential protection are compelled by the facts disclosed
in this investigation.
(a) The complexities of the Presidency have increased so rapidly in recent years that the Secret Service has not been able to develop or to secure adequate resources of personnel and facilities to fulfill its important assignment. This situation should be promptly remedied.
(b) The Commission has concluded that the
criteria and procedures of the Secret Service designed to identify
and protect against persons considered threats to the president
were not adequate prior to the assassination.
(1) The Protective Research Section of the Secret Service, which is responsible for its preventive work, lacked sufficient trained personnel and the mechanical and technical assistance needed to fulfill its responsibility.
(2) Prior to the assassination the Secret
Service's criteria dealt with direct threats against the President.
Although the Secret Service treated the direct threats against
the President adequately, it failed to recognize the necessity
of identifying other potential sources of danger to his security.
The Secret Service did not develop adequate and specific criteria
defining those persons or groups who might present a danger to
the President. In effect, the Secret Service largely relied upon
other Federal or State agencies to supply the information necessary
for it to fulfill its preventive responsibilities, although it
did ask for information about direct threats to the President.
(c) The Commission has concluded that there
was insufficient liaison and coordination of information between
the Secret Service and other Federal agencies necessarily concerned
with Presidential protection. Although the FBI, in the normal
exercise of its responsibility, had secured considerable information
about Lee Harvey Oswald, it had no official responsibility, under
the Secret Service criteria existing at the time of the President's
trip to Dallas, to refer to the Secret Service the information
it had about Oswald. The Commission has concluded, however, that
the FBI took an unduly restrictive view of its role in preventive
intelligence work prior to the assassination. A more carefully
coordinated treatment of the Oswald case by the FBI might well
have resulted in bringing Oswald's activities to the attention
of the Secret Service.
(d) The Commission has concluded that some
of the advance preparations in Dallas made by the Secret Service,
such as the detailed security measures taken at Love Field and
the Trade Mart, were thorough and well executed. In other respects,
however, the Commission has concluded that the advance preparations
for the President's trip were deficient.
(1) Although the Secret Service is compelled to rely to a great extent on local law enforcement officials, its procedures at the time of the Dallas trip did not call for well-defined instructions as to the respective responsibilities of the police officials and others assisting in the protection of the President.
(2) The procedures relied upon by the Secret
Service for detecting the presence of an assassin located in a
building along a motorcade route were inadequate. At the time
of the trip to Dallas, the Secret Service as a matter of practice
did not investigate, or cause to be checked, any building located
along the motorcade route to be taken by the President. The responsibility
for observing windows in these buildings during the motorcade
was divided between local police personnel stationed on the streets
to regulate crowds and Secret Service agents riding in the motorcade.
Based on its investigation the Commission has concluded that these
arrangements during the trip to Dallas were clearly not sufficient.
(e) The configuration of the Presidential car and the seating arrangements of the Secret Service agents in the car did not afford the Secret Service agents the opportunity they should have had to be of immediate assistance to the President at the first sign of danger.
(f) Within these limitations, however, the
Commission finds that the agents most immediately responsible
for the President's safety reacted promptly at the time the shots
were fired from the Texas School Book Depository Building.
Comments, additional information,
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