Although the majority of Americans alive today had not yet been born when John F. Kennedy was assassinated, you can bet most have a theory about who killed the thirty-fifth president of the United States. Relentlessly researched novel, Saving Jackie K, weaves actual events with fictional scenes to reveal the “truth.” But what do the historical records purport?
JFK motorcade enters Dealy plaza seconds before Oswald takes the fatal head-shot
JFK motorcade en-route to Dealy plaza
At 12:30 pm on November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was struck down by sniper bullets as he rode through Dealey Plaza, Dallas, in an open limousine. Hundreds of horrified spectators heard the staccato gunfire, and witnessed the fatal headshot that spattered his Lincoln convertible with bloody tissue.
Eighty minutes later, Lee Harvey Oswald – an employee of the Texas School Book Depository in Dealey Plaza – was arrested for murdering dedicated Dallas police officer, J.D. Tippit. He was later accused of the presidential assassination as well. Oswald allegedly fired his bolt-action Mannlicher-Carcano rifle at JFK from a window on the sixth floor of the book warehouse.
Lee Harvey Oswald Mug Shot – Dallas police station November 22 1963
Despite the charges, Oswald never faced trial. Two days later, burlesque club owner Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald in the basement of police headquarters, as lawmen prepared to transfer the suspect to the county jail. The violence shocked an already grieving nation, when network television cameras inadvertently broadcast the execution on live television.
Lyndon B. Johnson taking the oath of office November 1963
Kennedy’s successor, President Lyndon Baines Johnson, appointed Chief Justice Earl Warren to chair a committee tasked with investigating Kennedy’s assassination. After ten months of testimony and hearings, the Warren Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted as the lone gunman responsible for all the shots. However, the majority of Americans blame a broader conspiracy, and suspect a massive cover-up of the truth.
In a recent interview regarding the conspiracy, JFK author and assassination historian L.D.C. Fitzgerald said, “The dialogue of the past half a century needs to continue. Whether you’re a staunch lone-nutter or an avid conspiracy theorist, the JFK assassination is a topic that will continue to fascinate, infuriate, and frustrate for decades to come.”