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Forget the FBI, the CIA, the mob and LBJ. In a mammoth new book, Manson family prosecutor and best-selling Helter Skelter author Vincent Bugliosi declares that he has solved the John F. Kennedy assassination mystery once and for all.
In more than 1,600 pages (and a thousand more pages of notes on an accompanying CD-ROM), Bugliosi lays out his case that Lee Harvey Oswald killed the president and did it alone.
Magic Bullet, Tragic Path: A Look at the JFK Assassination
Exhaustive analyses of digitally remastered audio and video from Nov. 22, 1963, play a role in Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. But the technology only supports what is already obvious, said Bugliosi in an interview with Wired News.
Wired News: What do you think of the conspiracy theories?
Vincent Bugliosi: The arguments by the conspiracy theorists are that the Warren Commission was suppressing the truth. But the buffs were guilty of these precise things, not the Warren Commission. And I found no substance to their conspiracy theories. They were complete moonshine in my opinion.
At its core, this is a very simple case. (Chief Justice Earl Warren) said this would be a two- or three-day murder case if it was anyone other than the president. But because of the unceasing and fanatical obsession of literally thousands upon thousands of Warren Commission critics and conspiracy theorists, who have investigated every conceivable aspect of this case for 44 years, and made hundreds upon hundreds of allegations, this simple case has been transformed into its present state. It's now the most complex murder case by far -- nothing even comes close -- in world history.
WN: Why do you think JFK conspiracy theories have such resonance in American society?
Bugliosi: Here was a greatly beloved man. More mourned his death than any other human in world history. Only one country, China, did not mourn his death. If we could hypothesize (Lyndon Baines Johnson) being killed under the same identical precise circumstances as Kennedy, I really do not think that close to 44 years later there would be this continuing immersion and fascination by so many millions of people.
People find it intellectually incongruous that someone who they perceive to be a king could be struck down by a man whom they perceive to be a complete nonentity. They say something more had to be involved here. It's a visceral feeling; there's no logic behind it.
WN: Using new technology, audio and video specialists in recent years have brought new clarity to the film, photos and sound from Dealey Plaza (in Dallas, site of the JFK assassination). Among other things, they've used photo software to clean up the Zapruder film. Now, scientists are hoping to create a sophisticated digital copy of a controversial audio recording. Do you think future technological advances will put any JFK assassination mysteries to rest?
Bugliosi: There doesn't have to be technology here. Once you prove that the Earth is round, you know that any questions about whether it's flat, no matter how sophisticated they are, you know they are wrong because you've already proven the Earth is round. We already know that Oswald killed Kennedy. It has nothing to do with sophisticated technology. It's just common sense. His conduct, his statements, will never change even 10 million years from now.
Modern technology cannot change certain things. There's no evidence, forget about technology, that the CIA or mob or any of these groups were behind the assassination. Three people can keep a secret, but only if two are dead. Technology won't change people's instincts: People can't keep a secret.
And assuming for the sake of the argument that one of these groups wanted to kill Kennedy, Oswald was the last person they would have chosen. If you want your guy to kill the president, do you want to have him use a $12 mail-order rifle? He was unreliable and extremely unstable.
WN: What role has the internet played in the evolution of the conspiracy community?
Bugliosi: It definitely expanded it. You've got 75 percent of Americans who believe (a conspiracy led to Kennedy's assassination). Let's not forget, those who do not believe in a conspiracy, they're not passionate about it, they go on with their lives. It's not a big part of their lives, they're not about to be on the internet sending out e-mails or writing blogs.
These conspiracy theorists are passionate, it's a big part of their lives. They attend conventions, they get newsletters. They are much more likely to use the internet to send out their crazy stuff than someone who does not believe in a conspiracy.
WN: What do you think of the new study that suggests ballistics tests on bullet fragments weren't as conclusive as they appeared to be?
Bugliosi: It's just another example of how they'll never stop. Other tests have been conducted with the same identical conclusions. It's not news at all. It's in my book.
When you stop and think about it, there are some immutable realities here that cannot be challenged. After 44 years of the most prodigiously intensive investigation of any murder in world history, certain facts cannot be changed.
No weapon other than Oswald's Mannlicher-Carcano rifle has ever been found and linked to the assassination. No other bullet other than the three fired from Oswald's rifle has been found and linked to the assassination. No other human has ever been connected by evidence to the assassination. There's no evidence that any person or group murdered Kennedy and framed Oswald.
