Bugliosi's "Conclusion of No Conspiracy"

[John Mytton]

7. In the same vein, during the five-week period leading up to the assassination, we know Oswald was taking driving lessons from Ruth Paine and was about to apply for a learner?s permit. In fact, we know that as late as November 16, just six days before the assassination, Oswald went to the state?s license examination bureau in Dallas to get his driver?s permit, only leaving because the line was very long.14 How likely is it that Oswald would be taking driving lessons and going down to get a learner?s permit on November 16 if he was planning on murdering the president six days later? As mentioned earlier in this book, his leaving nearly all his money and his wedding ring behind on the morning of the assassination clearly demonstrated his awareness of what he could expect his life to be like after he pulled the trigger. The mundane exercise of learning to drive and looking forward to one day having a driving license speaks loudly for the proposition that Oswald?s intent to murder the president was formed somewhat on the spur of the moment not long before the day of the assassination, and as a necessary corollary and concomitant to this, against the proposition that a group like the CIA or organized crime conspired with Oswald to have him kill Kennedy for them.       

Other things Oswald did during the month leading up to the assassination clearly represented a person in the normal, humdrum rhythm of life, not someone preparing, with others, to murder the president of the United States. For example, we already know that on November 1, three weeks before the assassination, he rented a mail box at the Terminal Annex near the Book Depository Building. At $1.50 per month, he paid $3.00 for two months, the rental expiring on December 31, five weeks after the assassination.15 The relevance of this is clear since we know that Oswald was very tightfisted with his money, what precious little of it he had. And although to you and me $1.50 is nothing, everything in life is relative, and to Oswald it was something. Here?s someone who is paying $8.00 a week in rent, can?t live with his wife and daughters because he can?t afford an apartment for the three of them, and has a net worth of little over $200.00. He never would have just thrown away that extra $1.50 for the second month if he didn?t intend to use the mail box for that month of December, particularly, as I say, when he was notorious for literally watching every penny.       

Also, on November 1 he sent a letter to Arnold Johnson, the director of information for the American Communist Party in New York City, in which he told Johnson of his being introduced, by a friend, to the local chapter of the ACLU, and asked Johnson to advise him ?to what degree, if any? should he ?attempt to heighten [the group?s] progressive tendencies??16 Around that same time, Oswald sent a $2.00 registration fee to the ACLU in New York City to become a new member, the ACLU receiving the $2.00 on November 4.17 On November 9, Oswald wrote a letter to the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C., asking it to ?please inform us [him and Marina] of the arrival of our Soviet entrance visas as soon as they come [in],? mailing the letter on November 12.1

Indeed, in the late evening of November 20, just two days before the assassination, Oswald took a load of his clothing to a ?washateria? (laundromat) near his home.19 Though the thought of killing the president had probably already entered his mind, the act of washing a load of his clothing clearly reflects that no final decision (if one at all) had yet been made, and of course it automatically would have been made by this time if he had been the hit man in a conspiracy to murder the president. If by Wednesday evening he had already committed himself to killing Kennedy, his state of mind would have had to be that if he got caught, Dallas County would be doing his laundry at least for awhile, and if he was able to flee to Mexico or where have you, like the title of Billie Holiday?s song, he would be ?traveling light? while getting there, not carrying a bundle of laundry in his arms.       

For all intents and purposes, Oswald?s conduct during the month before the assassination alone precludes the notion of a conspiracy.
RHVB



JohnM

[Zeon Mason]

7. In the same vein, during the five-week period leading up to the assassination, we know Oswald was taking driving lessons from Ruth Paine and was about to apply for a learner?s permit. In fact, we know that as late as November 16, just six days before the assassination, Oswald went to the state?s license examination bureau in Dallas to get his driver?s permit, only leaving because the line was very long.14 How likely is it that Oswald would be taking driving lessons and going down to get a learner?s permit on November 16 if he was planning on murdering the president six days later? As mentioned earlier in this book, his leaving nearly all his money and his wedding ring behind on the morning of the assassination clearly demonstrated his awareness of what he could expect his life to be like after he pulled the trigger. The mundane exercise of learning to drive and looking forward to one day having a driving license speaks loudly for the proposition that Oswald?s intent to murder the president was formed somewhat on the spur of the moment not long before the day of the assassination, and as a necessary corollary and concomitant to this, against the proposition that a group like the CIA or organized crime conspired with Oswald to have him kill Kennedy for them.       

Other things Oswald did during the month leading up to the assassination clearly represented a person in the normal, humdrum rhythm of life, not someone preparing, with others, to murder the president of the United States. For example, we already know that on November 1, three weeks before the assassination, he rented a mail box at the Terminal Annex near the Book Depository Building. At $1.50 per month, he paid $3.00 for two months, the rental expiring on December 31, five weeks after the assassination.15 The relevance of this is clear since we know that Oswald was very tightfisted with his money, what precious little of it he had. And although to you and me $1.50 is nothing, everything in life is relative, and to Oswald it was something. Here?s someone who is paying $8.00 a week in rent, can?t live with his wife and daughters because he can?t afford an apartment for the three of them, and has a net worth of little over $200.00. He never would have just thrown away that extra $1.50 for the second month if he didn?t intend to use the mail box for that month of December, particularly, as I say, when he was notorious for literally watching every penny.       

Also, on November 1 he sent a letter to Arnold Johnson, the director of information for the American Communist Party in New York City, in which he told Johnson of his being introduced, by a friend, to the local chapter of the ACLU, and asked Johnson to advise him ?to what degree, if any? should he ?attempt to heighten [the group?s] progressive tendencies??16 Around that same time, Oswald sent a $2.00 registration fee to the ACLU in New York City to become a new member, the ACLU receiving the $2.00 on November 4.17 On November 9, Oswald wrote a letter to the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C., asking it to ?please inform us [him and Marina] of the arrival of our Soviet entrance visas as soon as they come [in],? mailing the letter on November 12.1

Indeed, in the late evening of November 20, just two days before the assassination, Oswald took a load of his clothing to a ?washateria? (laundromat) near his home.19 Though the thought of killing the president had probably already entered his mind, the act of washing a load of his clothing clearly reflects that no final decision (if one at all) had yet been made, and of course it automatically would have been made by this time if he had been the hit man in a conspiracy to murder the president. If by Wednesday evening he had already committed himself to killing Kennedy, his state of mind would have had to be that if he got caught, Dallas County would be doing his laundry at least for awhile, and if he was able to flee to Mexico or where have you, like the title of Billie Holiday?s song, he would be ?traveling light? while getting there, not carrying a bundle of laundry in his arms.       

For all intents and purposes, Oswald?s conduct during the month before the assassination alone precludes the notion of a conspiracy.
RHVB



JohnM

so even by Bugliosi logic, Oswald was NOT planning to kill JFK!!. except suddenly on Thursday morning?? 


So you will have to explain what was the powerful stimulus that completely overwhelmed Oswald, so much so that his desire to see Marina and his children a littler earlier on Thursday (having been denied visit the previous Friday by Ruth Paine), would cause him to abandon that pleasant thought and replaced with " I just GOTTA kill JFK first, before I visit my wife and children and have a nice 3 day weekend.

[Steve Howsley]

so even by Bugliosi logic, Oswald was NOT planning to kill JFK!!. except suddenly on Thursday morning?? 


So you will have to explain what was the powerful stimulus that completely overwhelmed Oswald, so much so that his desire to see Marina and his children a littler earlier on Thursday (having been denied visit the previous Friday by Ruth Paine), would cause him to abandon that pleasant thought and replaced with " I just GOTTA kill JFK first, before I visit my wife and children and have a nice 3 day weekend.

Oswald went to pick up his rifle. It's possible, as others have speculated, that he wasn't 100% committed to his plan to kill the Pres if Marina agreed to go back to him. We will never know just as we will never know if he made the bag in the garage, at his room the night before or elsewhere before bringing it to Irving.

You think he was a nice family man? I don't think so. He beat his wife, had a stash of money but offered little to Marina to support her needs (including simple health care) and those of the children. Even if Marina had agreed to go back to him and if he abandoned his plan he was still a walking time bomb and would IMO have erupted at some point but that might have simply been killing Hosty or a cop or two and we wouldn't be talking about the scumbag today.

I'd think he was rapidly losing his sanity. He was a deadbeat and a loser who felt the world owed him something just as his mother taught him. He wasn't a patsy so much as an insecure mama's boy.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

Oswald went to pick up his rifle. It's possible, as others have speculated, that he wasn't 100% committed to his plan to kill the Pres if Marina agreed to go back to him. We will never know just as we will never know if he made the bag in the garage, at his room the night before or elsewhere before bringing it to Irving.

You think he was a nice family man? I don't think so. He beat his wife, had a stash of money but offered little to Marina to support her needs (including simple health care) and those of the children. Even if Marina had agreed to go back to him and if he abandoned his plan he was still a walking time bomb and would IMO have erupted at some point but that might have simply been killing Hosty or a cop or two and we wouldn't be talking about the scumbag today.

I'd think he was rapidly losing his sanity. He was a deadbeat and a loser who felt the world owed him something just as his mother taught him. He wasn't a patsy so much as an insecure mama's boy.

Oswald had a long, documented history of abandoning his family: he defected to the Soviet Union leaving them - his Mother and brothers - behind. Indeed, in letters to his brother he told him that he wasn't going to answer them anymore, that he had turned his back on the US and them, and was starting a better life in a better place.

Then he tries, as the evidence for me indicates, to shoot Walker and leaves behind a note explaining to Marina what she and Junie could do to survive. They would be on their own.

Then we have him going to Mexico City and trying to defect to Cuba. Marina said that when she and Oswald said goodbye to each other in New Orleans as she left for Texas and he for Mexico that she was certain it would be the last she ever saw of him.

This is a man with a clear history of putting his own interests and desires above everyone else. Including his children.

But it is true, as I see it, that his motive for shooting JFK is something that is difficult to explain.  There's no long term planning behind the act. He didn't stalk JFK, he didn't leave notes or messages indicating his hatred of JFK. There's little "paper trail" telling us why he did what he did. It does seem to have been a spur of the moment, impetuous act.

[Bill Chapman]

Oswald went to pick up his rifle. It's possible, as others have speculated, that he wasn't 100% committed to his plan to kill the Pres if Marina agreed to go back to him. We will never know just as we will never know if he made the bag in the garage, at his room the night before or elsewhere before bringing it to Irving.

You think he was a nice family man? I don't think so. He beat his wife, had a stash of money but offered little to Marina to support her needs (including simple health care) and those of the children. Even if Marina had agreed to go back to him and if he abandoned his plan he was still a walking time bomb and would IMO have erupted at some point but that might have simply been killing Hosty or a cop or two and we wouldn't be talking about the scumbag today.

I'd think he was rapidly losing his sanity. He was a deadbeat and a loser who felt the world owed him something just as his mother taught him. He wasn't a patsy so much as an insecure mama's boy.

Oswald slept in his mother's bed until age 11, she bathed him until he got 'too big down there', one of the guys in his marine unit said he was effeminate, and some of the boarders at his rooming house said he had this weird arse movement (I don't recall the exact term they used) when he walked.

I kind of feel sorry for him, though. He needed better guidance as a youngster.

[Howard Gee]

Oswald had a long, documented history of abandoning his family: he defected to the Soviet Union leaving them - his Mother and brothers - behind. Indeed, in letters to his brother he told him that he wasn't going to answer them anymore, that he had turned his back on the US and them, and was starting a better life in a better place.

Then he tries, as the evidence for me indicates, to shoot Walker and leaves behind a note explaining to Marina what she and Junie could do to survive. They would be on their own.

Then we have him going to Mexico City and trying to defect to Cuba. Marina said that when she and Oswald said goodbye to each other in New Orleans as she left for Texas and he for Mexico that she was certain it would be the last she ever saw of him.

This is a man with a clear history of putting his own interests and desires above everyone else. Including his children.

But it is true, as I see it, that his motive for shooting JFK is something that is difficult to explain.  There's no long term planning behind the act. He didn't stalk JFK, he didn't leave notes or messages indicating his hatred of JFK. There's little "paper trail" telling us why he did what he did. It does seem to have been a spur of the moment, impetuous act.

Good points, Steve.

Yeah, the motive thing is a bit troubling. Why take a shot at Walker ? Why shoot JFK ?

The truth is, sometimes people do things that make absolutely zero sense and their acts aren't motivated by anything comprehensible to the rest of us.

There are whackjobs out there that can go off at anytime.

That being said, while I'm certain that Saint Oz was guilty, it's always bothered me somewhat that he maintained his innocence. He had to have known all the evidence that would be presented against him in the JDT and JFK murders.

Then again, Ted Bundy and OJ also claimed they were innocent.

There's just no telling what goes on in the mind of a psychopath.

[Zeon Mason]

Oswald slept in his mother's bed until age 11, she bathed him until he got 'too big down there', one of the guys in his marine unit said he was effeminate, and some of the boarders at his rooming house said he had this weird arse movement (I don't recall the exact term they used) when he walked.

I kind of feel sorry for him, though. He needed better guidance as a youngster.

Perhaps Oswald was doublejointed as per his odd off balance position in the BYP:

[Steve Howsley]

it's always bothered me somewhat that he maintained his innocence. He had to have known all the evidence that would be presented against him in the JDT and JFK murders.

If Oswald admitted his crimes the game was over. By game I mean exactly that; his attitude was 'you find the answers 'cause I'm way smarter than you guys.' An admission would see him languishing in jail awaiting his trial with the certainty IMO of a spell on death row and a pathetic execution. So long as the game was in play he got the attention he so clearly craved. I agree that the evidence was overwhelming but that little insecure attention seeker would have lied his way to the very end so long as it meant the spotlight was on him.