Who really killed JFK?
The Warren Commission found Oswald fired the shots alone. The House committee’s 1979 finding of a probable second gunman rests on acoustic evidence that a 1982 National Academy panel rejected, so it stays disputed. No record shows the CIA, the Mafia, Johnson, Cuba or the Soviets took part.
- DisputedTheoryA second gunman fired at Kennedy from the grassy knoll
- ✓ ConfirmedSep 1964The Warren Commission reports that Oswald alone fired the shots
- ✓ Confirmed1982A National Academy of Sciences panel says the acoustic evidence does not show a second gunman
President Kennedy was shot in Dallas on 22 November 1963. One official inquiry said Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone; a later one said “probably” a conspiracy. Both the official story and the theories are read here against the same records, including what the CIA and FBI kept back.
The question Who killed President Kennedy in Dallas on 22 November 1963, did Lee Harvey Oswald act alone, and what do the records released since show?
What the records say
The documented story holds up: 13 of 13 timeline steps are Confirmed by the records (score 100).
6 theories checked: 4 unverified, 2 disputed. A theory is rated by its key claim.
A 2025 executive order leads to releases of files without redactions
confirmedCredible: it rests on a primary (tier-1) record. See the step
Down the rabbit hole
The ground line is the documented timeline. Each tunnel is a theory that branches off it; every chamber is a step, coloured by how well the records support it. The deepest chamber is the theory’s key claim. Tap one to open it.
Main timeline
Oldest first- Sep–Oct 1963confirmed
Weeks before the shooting, Oswald visits the Cuban and Soviet embassies in Mexico City
The Warren Commission says he arrived on 27 September seeking visas to go to Cuba and on to the Soviet Union, where he had lived after defecting. A 1976 Senate report adds that he contacted a Soviet vice consul “who was in fact a KGB agent”, and that the FBI did not step up its inquiries after learning of the trip.
T1Warren Commission Report, 1964, ch. 1p. 14involved party: Warren Commission (its own findings are what the theories dispute; appointed by President Johnson)T1Senate Church Committee, Book V, 1976p. 4 - 22 Nov 1963confirmed
President Kennedy is shot in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, and dies at Parkland Hospital
The motorcade had just turned onto Elm Street past the Texas School Book Depository at about 12:30 p.m. Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1 p.m.; Texas Governor John Connally, riding in the same car, was badly wounded and recovered. The 1979 House committee found Kennedy was struck by two rifle shots fired from behind.
T1Warren Commission Report, 1964, ch. 1pp. 3–4involved party: Warren Commission (its own findings are what the theories dispute; appointed by President Johnson)T1House Select Committee on Assassinations, 1979, summary of findingsFindings, I AT2Gallup, 15 Nov 2013 - 22 Nov 1963confirmed
A bystander, Abraham Zapruder, films the shooting on his home movie camera
The film shows the President’s head moving backward at the fatal shot, which critics took as a sign of a shot from the front. The original film is held by the National Archives; its copyright belongs to the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas.
T1House Select Committee report, 1979, part I Ap. 41T1National Archives, JFK records FAQs“Where is the Zapruder film?” - 22 Nov 1963confirmed
A Dallas policeman, J. D. Tippit, is shot dead and Oswald is arrested in a cinema
Oswald, an employee of the Depository, was arrested in the Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff in the early afternoon, charged with Tippit’s murder and named as a suspect in the President’s killing.
T1House Select Committee report, 1979, part I Ap. 53T1Warren Commission Report, 1964, ch. 1p. 8involved party: Warren Commission (its own findings are what the theories dispute; appointed by President Johnson) - 24 Nov 1963confirmed
Jack Ruby shoots Oswald dead in the basement of Dallas police headquarters
Ruby shot Oswald at 11:21 a.m. as he was being moved, less than 48 hours after the assassination, so Oswald never stood trial. The Warren Commission found no sign Ruby was part of a plot; the 1979 House committee disagreed on several points (see the Mafia branch).
T1Warren Commission Report, 1964, ch. 1p. 21involved party: Warren Commission (its own findings are what the theories dispute; appointed by President Johnson)T1House Select Committee report, 1979, part I Cp. 147 - 29 Nov 1963confirmed
President Johnson creates the Warren Commission to investigate
The President’s Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, was set up seven days after the killing. Its records now fill 363 cubic feet at the National Archives.
T1National Archives, background on the JFK collection“The Warren Commission”T1Warren Commission Report, 1964, ch. 1p. 1involved party: Warren Commission (its own findings are what the theories dispute; appointed by President Johnson)T2CBS News, 23 Jan 2025 - Sep 1964confirmed
The Warren Commission reports that Oswald alone fired the shots
It concludes the shots came from the Depository’s sixth-floor window, that Oswald fired them, that he “acted alone”, and that there was “very persuasive evidence” one bullet wounded both Kennedy and Connally, while noting a “difference of opinion” on that point.
T1Warren Commission Report, 1964, ch. 1pp. 18–19, 22involved party: Warren Commission (its own findings are what the theories dispute; appointed by President Johnson)T1National Archives, background on the JFK collection“The Warren Commission” - 1976confirmed
A Senate committee finds the CIA and FBI kept key facts from the Warren Commission
The Church Committee reports that neither agency told the Commission about the CIA’s plots to kill Fidel Castro, and that the FBI never disclosed that it had disciplined 17 staff over its handling of Oswald. It stresses this “does not lead to the conclusion” that there was a conspiracy.
T1Senate Church Committee, Book V, 1976pp. 2, 4–5 - 29 Mar 1979confirmed
A House committee concludes Kennedy was “probably” killed as a result of a conspiracy
The House Select Committee on Assassinations agrees that Oswald fired the shots that hit Kennedy, but says acoustic evidence shows “a high probability that two gunmen fired”. It cannot identify the other gunman, and says the Soviet and Cuban governments and the CIA, FBI and Secret Service were not involved.
T1House Select Committee on Assassinations, 1979, summary of findingsFindings, I A–DT1National Archives, background on the JFK collection“The House Select Committee on Assassinations” - 1982confirmed
A National Academy of Sciences panel says the acoustic evidence does not show a second gunman
Asked by the Justice Department to review the police recording, the National Research Council’s Committee on Ballistic Acoustics unanimously concluded the sounds taken for shots “were recorded about one minute after the President had been shot”.
- 26 Oct 1992confirmed
Congress orders every assassination record into the National Archives
President George H. W. Bush signed the JFK Records Act, which set up an independent Assassination Records Review Board and required the records to be opened by 2017 unless the President certified a delay. The Board says Congress acted partly because it was “disturbed by the conclusions” of Oliver Stone’s film JFK. It finished on 30 Sep 1998.
T1National Archives, background on the JFK collection“The John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act”T1Assassination Records Review Board, Final Report, 1998Executive Summary, p. xxiii - Oct–Nov 2017confirmed
At the 2017 deadline, the Archives releases thousands of records but some stay withheld
It released 2,891 documents on 26 October 2017 and 13,213 records on 9 November. The same day as the deadline, President Trump directed agencies to re-review every remaining redaction over the next 180 days.
- Jan–Apr 2025confirmed
A 2025 executive order leads to releases of files without redactions
Executive Order 14176 (23 Jan 2025) ordered full release. The National Archives posted 46,494 pages in four releases between 18 March and 3 April 2025. Historians interviewed by Harvard and Northeastern said the files added detail on CIA operations but nothing that overturned the account of what happened in Dallas.
Branches
Go down oneA branch is only as strong as its weakest step so far. The count is how many sources back each step.
“A second gunman on the grassy knoll”
Did a second gunman fire at Kennedy from the grassy knoll, in front of and to the right of the motorcade?
Some witnesses in Dealey Plaza said shots came from the knoll: of 178 whose statements the House committee analysed, 21 thought so. Within a week of the killing, Gallup found 52% of Americans thought others were involved.
- 65% Americans who think others besides Oswald were involved (Gallup) as of 2–23 Oct 2023 T2Gallup, 13 Nov 2023
- 81% Americans who thought others were involved, at the peak Gallup reports (1976) as of 1976 T2Gallup, 15 Nov 2013
- 52% Americans who thought others were involved, in Gallup’s first poll (22–27 Nov 1963) as of 22–27 Nov 1963 T2Gallup, 15 Nov 2013
- 4,613,228 YouTube views, “A Confession From The Man Who Shot JFK” (a man who claims he fired from the knoll) as of 13 Oct 2026 T4YouTube: “A Confession From The Man Who Shot JFK”, 2024
- 1,534,160 YouTube views, Decoding the Unknown, “Was There Really a Second Shooter on the Grassy Knoll?” as of 13 Oct 2026 T3YouTube: Decoding the Unknown, 2023
A police radio recording caught four shots, one of them from the knoll
Proponents point to the House committee’s acoustic experts and their 95% figure.
The premise: disputedThe committee’s experts did put the chance of a knoll shot at 95% or better. A 1982 National Academy panel found “no acoustic basis” for that figure and timed the sounds about a minute after the shooting; a 2001 peer-reviewed paper says they match the time of the shooting; a 2005 paper by the 1982 panel’s members reaffirms the minute’s gap.
Witnesses heard shots from the grassy knoll
Several people in the plaza said the shots came from the trees and fence on the knoll.
The premise: confirmedTrue that some did: 21 of 178 statements analysed by the House committee. More (49) named the Depository and 78 could not tell. The committee itself warned that witness accounts were gathered over days or weeks and should not be relied on heavily.
Kennedy’s head moves backward in the Zapruder film, as if hit from the front
The backward motion of the head at the fatal shot.
The premise: confirmedThe motion is real and the House committee says so. Its medical panel found “no medical evidence” of a bullet from the front, and a wound-ballistics expert said nerve damage could throw the head backward. One of the nine panel members, Cyril Wecht, dissented on many of the panel’s conclusions.
T1House Select Committee report, 1979, part I App. 41, 43A man has confessed to being the knoll shooter
A 1994 prison interview in which a man says he fired from the knoll.
The premise: unverifiedKnown only from his own interview. No tier 1–2 record read supports it, and the House committee could not identify any second gunman.
- confirmed
21 of 178 witnesses whose statements were analysed thought the shots came from the knoll
49 named the Depository, 30 somewhere else, 78 could not tell, and only four thought shots came from more than one place.
StartStrength so far:confirmed· 1 source on this step - confirmed
The House committee’s acoustic experts find a shot from the knoll that missed
Two consultant teams analysed a Dallas police recording from a motorcycle radio and put the chance of a knoll shot at 95% or better. The committee concluded that shot did not hit the President; the shots that hit him came from behind.
T1House Select Committee report, 1979, part I Bpp. 66, 74, 82T1House Select Committee on Assassinations, 1979, summary of findingsFindings, I A–C= HoldsStrength so far:confirmed· 2 sources on this step - confirmed
The 1982 National Academy panel says the recorded sounds came a minute too late
It found statistical errors and untested methods in the earlier analyses, and concluded “reliable acoustic data do not support a conclusion that there was a second gunman”.
= HoldsStrength so far:confirmed· 1 source on this step - confirmed
Two later peer-reviewed papers disagree about the timing
A 2001 paper by D. B. Thomas says the sounds are “exactly synchronous” with the shooting and match a knoll test shot; a 2005 paper by members of the 1982 panel says Thomas made “serious errors” and the sounds came about a minute later.
T1Thomas, Science & Justice, 2001 (abstract)abstractT1Linsker et al., Science & Justice, 2005 (abstract)abstract= HoldsStrength so far:confirmed· 2 sources on this step - disputed
Key claim: a second gunman fired at Kennedy from the grassy knoll
Peer-reviewed and official scientific work exists on both sides of the acoustic evidence, the only physical evidence offered for it. Even on the House committee’s own reading the knoll shot missed, and no gunman was ever identified.
T1House Select Committee report, 1979, part I Bpp. 74, 82T1National Research Council, Committee on Ballistic Acoustics, 1982p. 34T1Thomas, Science & Justice, 2001 (abstract)abstractT1Linsker et al., Science & Justice, 2005 (abstract)abstract▼ WeakerStrength so far:disputed· 4 sources on this step
Bullshit meter
- No step is Unverified or Disproven.
- Key claim contradicted by tier 1? Partly. The 1979 House committee’s acoustic evidence supports it, but the 1982 National Academy review and a 2005 peer-reviewed paper put the sounds a minute after the shooting; a 2001 paper disputes that, so the question is open on the records.
Fluff meter: possibly planted
- Can’t be traced to an original record. Absent: it rests on a real police recording and on named witnesses’ statements to the Warren Commission.
- First appeared from new or anonymous accounts. Not measured.
- Coordinated identical wording. Not measured.
- Cited source doesn’t exist. Absent: the recording, the 1979 report and the 1982 review all exist and were read.
- Later contradicted. Present: the 1982 National Academy review contradicted the acoustic basis; a 2001 paper disputes that review in turn.
● present · ○ absent · – not measured. Lists signals only. It never accuses anyone.
Personal interest meter
- None documented. With no sources attached there is no one to check.
“Has a documented interest” only, each one sourced. Never an implication of guilt.
Correlation meter
- The 1976 Senate report (Church Committee, Book V), the CIA’s hidden Castro plots appear in main step 8 and in the CIA, Mafia and Castro-or-Soviets branches. T1Senate Church Committee, Book V, 1976pp. 2–5
- The 1979 House committee report, its acoustic finding drives the second-gunman branch; its rulings on the CIA, organised crime and the Soviet and Cuban governments are the main independent records in the CIA, Mafia and Castro-or-Soviets branches. T1House Select Committee on Assassinations, 1979, summary of findings
- Gallup’s polls, 1963–2023, traction for five of the six branches: the overall conspiracy belief and who people name. T2Gallup, 13 Nov 2023
Links to other cases appear once those cases exist.
Who worked on this
This case was assembled by the site from public records. Contributions are not open yet. Nothing here is invented, so the counts are zero.
This is the first published version of the case.
Sources
- T1involved party: Warren Commission (its own findings are what the theories dispute; appointed by President Johnson) Report of the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy (the Warren Commission), Washington: Government Printing Office, 1964, chapter 1, “Summary and Conclusions”. Read in the National Archives web edition; page numbers are the printed-page markers in that edition.. www.archives.gov
- T1Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations, U.S. House of Representatives (1979), “Summary of Findings and Recommendations”. Read in the National Archives web edition.. www.archives.gov
- T1Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations, U.S. House of Representatives (1979), part I, section A (Oswald fired the shots). National Archives web edition; page numbers are the printed-page markers in that edition.. www.archives.gov
- T1Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations, U.S. House of Representatives (1979), part I, section B (scientific acoustical evidence and two gunmen). National Archives web edition; page numbers are the printed-page markers in that edition.. www.archives.gov
- T1Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations, U.S. House of Representatives (1979), part I, section C (probably a conspiracy: Soviet and Cuban governments, exile groups, organised crime, Ruby, the agencies). National Archives web edition; page numbers are the printed-page markers in that edition.. www.archives.gov
- T1Report of the Committee on Ballistic Acoustics, National Research Council (National Academy of Sciences), Washington: National Academy Press, 1982 (doi 10.17226/10264). Done at the request of the Department of Justice. Read from the publisher’s page images of the executive summary (p. 1) and conclusions (p. 34).. nap.nationalacademies.org · copy read: nap.nationalacademies.org
- T1D. B. Thomas (USDA Subtropical Agriculture Research Laboratory), “Echo correlation analysis and the acoustic evidence in the Kennedy assassination revisited”, Science & Justice 41 (1), 2001, pp. 21–32. Peer-reviewed; only the abstract was read.. doi.org · copy read: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- T1R. Linsker, R. L. Garwin, H. Chernoff, P. Horowitz and N. F. Ramsey, “Synchronization of the acoustic evidence in the assassination of President Kennedy”, Science & Justice 45 (4), 2005, pp. 207–226. Peer-reviewed; written by members of the 1982 committee in reply to Thomas (2001). Only the abstract was read.. doi.org · copy read: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- T1C. Spiegelman, W. A. Tobin, W. D. James, S. J. Sheather, S. Wexler and D. M. Roundhill, “Chemical and forensic analysis of JFK assassination bullet lots: Is a second shooter possible?”, Annals of Applied Statistics 1 (2), 2007, pp. 287–301. Peer-reviewed; only the abstract (arXiv 0712.2150) was read.. doi.org · copy read: arxiv.org
- T1“The Investigation of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: Performance of the Intelligence Agencies”, Book V, Final Report of the Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities (the Church Committee), S. Rep. No. 94-755, 1976. The Senate copy returned 403; the title page and summary (pp. 1–6) were read from the scanned PDF on history-matters.com.. www.intelligence.senate.gov · copy read: www.history-matters.com
- T1involved party: Central Intelligence Agency David Robarge (CIA Chief Historian), “Death of a President: DCI John McCone and the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy”, Studies in Intelligence 57 (3), September 2013, the CIA’s in-house journal; approved for release 29 Sep 2014 (document C06185413). Read from the copy posted by the National Security Archive (George Washington University).. nsarchive2.gwu.edu
- T1Final Report of the Assassination Records Review Board, 1998: executive summary and chapter 1, “The Problem of Secrecy”. Read from the National Archives PDFs; chapter 1 page numbers are the printed page numbers.. www.archives.gov · copy read: www.archives.gov
- T1“Background on the Collection”, President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (page last reviewed 28 Feb 2025), plus the Archives’ Review Board page (last reviewed 26 Oct 2018). www.archives.gov · copy read: www.archives.gov
- T1“Frequently Asked Questions about JFK Assassination Records”, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (page last reviewed 8 Apr 2025). www.archives.gov
- T1“Latest Group of JFK Assassination Records Available to the Public”, National Archives news release, 9 Nov 2017. www.archives.gov
- T1“JFK Assassination Records - 2025 Documents Release”, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (lists the releases of 18, 20 and 26 Mar and 3 Apr 2025). www.archives.gov
- T1Executive Order 14176 of January 23, 2025, “Declassification of Records Concerning the Assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”, 90 FR 8641 (31 Jan 2025). www.federalregister.gov
- T1Dan Hardway, “Submitted Statement, 20 May 2025”, written testimony of a former researcher for the House Select Committee on Assassinations (1977–1978), posted by the House Committee on Oversight. A record of what he states; page numbers are the printed page numbers.. oversight.house.gov
- T1“Declassification Task Force Secures George Joannides CIA File, Revealing 62-Year CIA Cover-Up in JFK Assassination”, news release of Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, chair of the House Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, 14 Jul 2025. A record of what the task force chair states.. luna.house.gov
- T2“Gallup Vault: Few in 1963 Thought Oswald Acted Alone”, Gallup, 26 Oct 2017 (on Gallup’s late-November 1963 poll and its 6 Dec 1963 release). news.gallup.com
- T2“Majority in U.S. Still Believe JFK Killed in a Conspiracy”, Gallup, 15 Nov 2013 (telephone poll of 1,039 U.S. adults, 7–10 Nov 2013). news.gallup.com
- T2Megan Brenan, “Decades Later, Most Americans Doubt Lone Gunman Killed JFK”, Gallup, 13 Nov 2023 (telephone poll of 1,009 U.S. adults, 2–23 Oct 2023). news.gallup.com
- T2Christina Pazzanese, “Declassified JFK files provide ‘enhanced clarity’ on CIA actions, historian says”, Harvard Gazette, 26 Mar 2025 (interview with historian Fredrik Logevall). news.harvard.edu
- T2Tanner Stening, “What is in the JFK files? Hear from one historian about whether there were any new revelations”, Northeastern Global News, 25 Mar 2025 (interview with historian Edward H. Miller). news.northeastern.edu
- T2“Trump signs executive order to declassify JFK assassination files”, CBS News, updated 23 Jan 2025. www.cbsnews.com
- T3“The JFK Assassination - Was There Really a Second Shooter on the Grassy Knoll?”, Decoding the Unknown channel, YouTube, published 21 Feb 2023. www.youtube.com
- T4“A Confession From The Man Who Shot JFK | Confessions Of An Assassin”, Documentary Central channel, YouTube, published 15 Dec 2024. A 1994 prison interview with a man who claims he fired from the grassy knoll; a record of his claim.. www.youtube.com
- T3“Joe Rogan Argues Against the JFK Single Bullet Theory”, JRE Clips channel, YouTube, published 12 Dec 2017. www.youtube.com
- T3“The Magic Bullet (JFK, 1991)”, Lee Goldin channel, YouTube, published 24 Nov 2013: the “magic bullet” scene from Oliver Stone’s film JFK. www.youtube.com
- T3“Was President JFK Really Killed by the CIA”, The Infographics Show channel, YouTube, published 10 Nov 2023. www.youtube.com
- T3“JFK and the CIA”, Eyes Wide Open channel, YouTube, published 5 Sep 2025. www.youtube.com
- T3“JFK’s assassination was a mob hit. Conspiracy or truth?”, Michael Franzese channel, YouTube, published 25 Aug 2024. www.youtube.com
- T3“‘The Mob Killed JFK — And I Know It’ | Sammy The Bull Names Who Was Really Behind It | EP. 173 Pt.1”, Salvatore “Sammy The Bull” Gravano channel, YouTube, published 18 Jul 2026. www.youtube.com
- T3“Kennedy Assassination - Lyndon Johnson Killed JFK - The Men Who Killed Kennedy”, GhostRiderRocks channel, YouTube, published 6 Oct 2012 (an upload of a documentary episode). www.youtube.com
- T3“Was LBJ Behind The John F. Kennedy Assassination?”, Valuetainment Short Clips channel, YouTube, published 12 Mar 2022 (Patrick Bet-David and Oliver Stone). www.youtube.com
- T4“THE JFK FILES - Why Castro Killed JFK”, USAHavana channel, YouTube, published 4 Nov 2017. www.youtube.com
- T4“BREAKING: TOP KGB Agent Met With Oswald Prior To JFK Assassination”, Speak The Truth channel, YouTube, published 18 Mar 2025. www.youtube.com
