As you study the Kennedy assassination, so many inconsistencies and issues come up that it is very easy to assume that there was a conspiracy involved. In fact, the House Select Committee on Assassinations found in 1978 that a conspiracy probably did exist resulting in President Kennedy's death. Nonetheless, there is evidence that Lee Harvey Oswald did in fact act alone. 

While Oswald’s motive to assassinate President Kennedy has never been definitively established, the time line of his purchase of firearms, move back to Dallas, and becoming employed at the Texas School Book Depository seemingly proves that Oswald’s decision to kill the President was not a planned occurrence and more importantly the circumstances surrounding it were not carried out with the usual efficiency of the various government agencies that are commonly accused of conspiring to assassinate President Kennedy.

In March 1963, Oswald purchased both an Italian made 6.5 mm Mannlicher-Carcano rifle and a .38 Smith and Wesson revolver by mail order, while using a fake name.  Subsequent to Oswald’s arrest, authorities were able to obtain the records that proved these two firearms had been delivered to the alias “A. Hidell” at Oswald’s P.O. Box in Dallas.  At the time of his arrest, Oswald was in possession of a forged Selective Service Card in the name of Alek James Hidell.

While the need for the President to visit Texas had been in the works for over a year it wasn’t until September 13, 1963 that the visit began to be published in the local newspapers.  On November 4th, the Secret Service began making advance preparations to determine a luncheon location for the President to give a speech and the motorcade route from the airport.  On November 14th, the motorcade route was finalized and on November 18th, Secret Service agents and Dallas police authorities to measure the length of time that would be required to traverse the route.

Upon his return from Mexico City in September 1963 where he had unsuccessfully attempted to obtain a visa to Cuba around late September 1963, Oswald, his wife Marina, and their daughter stayed with a lady named Ruth Paine during weekends, and since he did not drive he lived in a rooming house in Dallas during the week as he looked for employment

On October 14th, while having coffee with neighbors, Marina Oswald mentioned that her husband was having a hard time finding employment and since Marina was 8 ½ months pregnant he really needed to earn a living.  One of the neighbors mentioned that her brother had just been hired by the Texas School Book Depository and they were still hiring.  Upon returning home, Ruth Paine called the School Book Depository and arranged for Oswald to be interviewed the very next day, where he was hired as an order filler. 

On at least two occasions in November 1963, FBI agents visited Ruth Paine’s residence while Oswald was at the School Book Depository, after which Oswald visited the FBI’s Dallas office where he left a threatening note for the agent who had visited Paine. 

Oswald’s 6.5 mm Mannlicher-Carcano was found on the sixth floor near the corner window and Oswald’s fingerprints were found on the trigger guard, underside of the rifle, the brown bag used to bring the rifle into the building, and the cardboard boxes that he set-up around the window to make his sniper’s nest, as well as on the magazine order form that he used to order the rifle.

Trajectory analysis also conclusively determined that the sixth floor window was the location from where the bullets fired at the President’s limousine originated and that caused the wounds of both President Kennedy and Governor Connally.

Ballistic evidence conclusively proved that the bullet found on Governor Connally’s gurney at Parkland Memorial Hospital was fired by Oswald’s rifle, as well as the four shell casings that police located near Tippitt’s body all were fired from the .38 Smith and Wesson found in Oswald’s possession at the time of his arrest. 

Although during questioning, Oswald consistently proclaimed his innocence and claimed that he didn’t shoot anyone and was being made a patsy the physical evidence proved otherwise.  Unfortunately, on November 24th Oswald was fatally wounded by Jack Ruby while being escorted from the Dallas Police Department to an armored car do he could be transferred to the county jail so Oswald never had the opportunity to be tried by a jury of his peers.

It has been alleged that Ruby shot Oswald to save the First Lady from having to return to Dallas to relive the events during the trial. Ruby appeared before the Warren Commission and took a polygraph examination stating that he acted alone in shooting Oswald and denied that he acted in concert with anyone else or any other entity. Nonetheless, Oswald's sudden death has fed into the many conspiracy theories that continue to hold the imagination of many.