The FBI announced the discovery of around 2,400 lost files relating to the assassination of John F Kennedy on Tuesday, sparking a fresh wave of speculation about the former US president.
Government agents unearthed the documents after Donald Trump signed an executive order in January for all of the files related to the 1963 shooting to be declassified shortly after taking office.
It comes as Anna Paulina Luna, the head of a new Task Force dedicated to the Declassification of Federal Secrets, spoke in support of a conspiracy theory that there were ‘two shooters’ involved in the assassination – contradicting the official account that lone gunman Lee Harvet Oswald was solely responsible for the killing.
A 2023 poll published by Gallup revealed 65% of Americans believe others were involved in the slaying, while only 29% of Americans are sure former US Marine Lee Harvey Oswald was working alone.
About 11% believe the Mafia or other organized crime elements are responsible for the killing. While this theory has long been popular, it has lost traction in recent years.
Meanwhile, 38% of respondents believe some part of the US federal government is responsible for the president’s death; a belief which has steadily grown over the years, increasing by 13 points since 2013.
Despite numerous investigations, including the Warren Commission, the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA), and countless books, documentaries, and studies, many questions regarding the assassination remain unanswered. Here are the key mysteries professional and amateur sleuths alike still seek closure on:
Was Lee Harvey Oswald the Sole Assassin?
The official narrative holds that former US marine Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, firing three shots from the Texas School Book Depository. However, inconsistencies in the evidence have led many to question this conclusion. For example, the timing of the shots and the trajectory of the bullets do not align perfectly with the physical evidence. Witnesses in Dealey Plaza reported hearing shots from multiple directions, and the infamous ‘grassy knoll’ theory suggests a second shooter.
The Zapruder film, which captures the assassination, shows Kennedy’s head jerking backward, implying a shot from the front—contradicting the official story of Oswald firing from behind.
Oswald’s background further complicates the picture. He defected to the Soviet Union in 1959, lived there for several years, and returned to the U.S. with a Russian wife. His connections to pro- and anti-Castro groups in the years leading up to the assassination have raised questions about whether he was a lone actor or part of a larger plot.
If Oswald was not the lone gunman, who else was involved, and what was their motive? The lack of a clear answer has kept this question at the forefront of the JFK assassination debate for decades.
What Was the Role of Government Agencies?
Oswald was reportedly on the radar of both the CIA and FBI prior to the assassination, and both agencies have been criticised for failing to monitor him more closely prior to the shooting.
The CIA were at the time engaged in numerous covert operations aimed at overthrowing the government in Cuba, such as embarking on a failed ground invasion of the Bay of Pigs and attempting to assassinate Fidel Castro on a number of occasions.
JFK’s reluctance to fully support these operations, along with his handling of the Cuban missile crisis, angered certain factions within the CIA, which conspiracy theorists believe created a motive for involvement in his assassination.
Similarly, the FBI’s handling of evidence and its relationship with Oswald have raised questions about whether the bureau was complicit in a cover-up. J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI director at the time, was known for his intense dislike of the Kennedy brothers, particularly Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and the bureau’s failure to share critical information with the Warren Commission has fueled suspicions that they may have been hiding something.
The true extent of the CIA and FBI’s involvement—or lack thereof—remains one of the most contentious aspects of the case, and one of the most tightly guarded secrets regarding the assassination.
Why Was Jack Ruby’s Killing of Oswald Never Fully Explained?
Jack Ruby’s murder of Oswald two days after the assassination has been a focal point of conspiracy theories. Ruby, a nightclub owner with ties to organized crime, shot Oswald point-blank on live television as he was being transferred from police custody, reportedly out of grief for the slain president.
Ruby was charged with murder but died from cancer before he could stand trial, and his connections to the local mob have led many to believe he was silencing Oswald to prevent him from revealing a larger conspiracy.
Ruby’s trial and subsequent death from cancer while in prison further complicated efforts to understand his motives, which was further complicated by the fact that one of doctors who treated him in prison, Louis Jolyon West, was an infamous known his work with MKULTRA- the CIA’s infamous interrogation, hypnosis, and mind control program.
Stephen Fagin, the curator of the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, located in the former Texas School Book Depository where Oswald is believed to have taken the shit, said: ‘Were it not for Jack Ruby, I don’t think the Kennedy assassination would be the lingering mystery that it has become for so many people around the world.
‘Without Ruby, Lee Harvey Oswald would have gone to trial, in 1964, and so much more information, likely, would have come out about Oswald’s background and his motivations.’
‘Ruby kind of closed the book on Oswald’s story, and therefore ushered in decades of skepticism and questions about the assassination.’
What Happened to the Physical Evidence?
The handling of physical evidence in the JFK case has been heavily criticized; in particular the so-called ‘magic bullet,’ which allegedly struck both Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally and has been accused of travelling at an impossible angle, fuelling speculation that multiple shooters may have been involved.
The bullet allegedly used to kill Kennedy has been preserved and kept in the National Archive, but its pristine condition after causing so much damage has led to doubts being cast on its authenticity.
In addition, the windshield of the limousine Kennedy was shot in was replaced before the bullet hole in it could be thoroughly examined, leading to speculation about the number of bullets fired during the shooting and whether Oswald was physically capable of firing the amount of bullets found on the scene.
Kennedy’s original handwritten autopsy notes are also believed to have been destroyed and replaced, and photos and X-rays of JFK’s body have reportedly been tampered with, altered or gone missing to such an extent that his autopsy has been dubbed ‘the most botched in history’.
Why Were So Many Witnesses Silenced or Killed?
Another curio of the assassination is that so many many eyewitnesses and individuals connected to the shooting appear to have died in mysterious circumstances, before being able to give evidence.
In addition to key figures like Oswald and Jack Ruby, other mysterious deaths include Dorothy Kilgallen, a journalist who claimed to have inside information about the case was found dead under questionable circumstances. Similarly, witnesses like Lee Bowers, who saw suspicious activity in Dealey Plaza, died in unexplained accidents.
Karyn Kupichet, a young woman who placed a phone call claiming Kennedy was about to be killed a few days before the shooting was found later found strangled to death in mysterious circumstances and a number of journalists investigating the shooting, including Bill Hunter of the Long Beach Press Telegram and Jim Koethe of the Dallas Times, were murdered just months after the assassination.
CIA operative Gary Underhill told his friend Charlene Fitsimmons in the days following the attack that he was convinced that he had been killed by members of the CIA. He also said: ‘Oswald is a patsy. They set him up. It’s too much. The bastards have done something outrageous. They’ve killed the President! I’ve been listening and hearing things. I couldn’t believe they’d get away with it, but they did!’
Underill also said that he feared for his life, telling friends: ‘I know who they are. That’s the problem. They know I know. That’s why I’m here. I can’t stay in New York.’ He was later found dead from a gunshot wound to the head on May 8 1964, with his death officially ruled as a suicide.
Was There a Conspiracy Involving Organized Crime?
The Mafia and anti-Castro Cubans have long been suspected of involvement in the assassination. JFK’s administration, particularly his brother Robert Kennedy’s tenure as Attorney General, aggressively targeted organized crime, leading to speculation that the Mafia sought revenge.
Figures like Carlos Marcello, Sam Giancana, and Santo Trafficante Jr. were known to have expressed hostility toward the Kennedys, and some researchers believe they may have orchestrated the assassination.
The most prominent loose end involving the mafia involves New Orleans mobster Carlos Marcello, who was deported to Guatemala after Kennedy came to office and allegedly threatened to kill him. He also reportedly confessed to killing JFK to an FBI informant while serving time in prison.
Oswald took a trip to New Orleans in the months prior to the assassination, and along with Jack Ruby’s mob connections, the full extent of the mafia’s rile in the killing has never truly been explained.
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