Encyclopedia of Opinion
Question
Who killed John F. Kennedy?
Position1 of 5
Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK
Argument3 of 4

Oswald's connection to the murder weapon and location

Lee Harvey Oswald owned the gun used to kill JFK and worked in the building he assassinated him from.

The argument

Lee Harvey Oswald had multiple ties to the crime scene location and the murder weapon in Kennedy's assassination. This is concrete evidence that proves Oswald was the person who killed JFK. Witnesses reported seeing Oswald on the sixth-floor corner window of the Texas School Book Depository holding a rifle, where he had begun working the previous month. Later, officials found bullet casings for a Carcano Model 91/38 infantry rifle, the type of gun Oswald owned. The bullets recovered from Governor Connally and President Kennedy also match his rifle. These two outstanding pieces of evidence show that Oswald shot JFK. He was able to easily access a high and inconspicuous place to commit the assassination. Additionally, his past training with the marines gave him the skills to accurately shoot a rifle.

Premises

[P1]Witnesses saw Oswald holding a rifle at the sixth-floor corner window of the Texas School Book Depository, where he had started working the month before. [P2] Officials recovered casings for a Carcano Model 91/38 rifle of the type Oswald owned, and the bullets taken from Governor Connally and President Kennedy matched his rifle. [P3] His marine training gave him the skill to make the shot from that high, inconspicuous vantage point. [C] Therefore, because of Oswald's connection to the murder weapon and the location, Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK.

Counter-arguments

Lee Harvey Oswald could have been hired by an organization to assassinate John F. Kennedy, such as the CIA or the mafia. Both groups have also been suspected of being behind JFK's assassination and using Oswald as a trained sniper. George de Mohrenschildt befriended Oswald in 1962 and is suspected of being his handler. Specifically, de Mohrenschildt was thought to be working with the CIA in a plot to assassinate Kennedy. Oswald could have possibly been a hitman hired by the government in a larger scheme to kill JFK.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P3] Someone else could have fired the gun.