Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

The Assassination of President Kennedy and Oswald’s Arrest

The Assassination of President Kennedy and Oswald’s Arrest On the morning of November 22, Marina watched President Kennedy’s motorcade on television, and cried when she learned he had been shot. When news reported the shots likely came from the Depository where Oswald worked, she recalled the Walker incident and checked the garage for the rifle, finding the blanket that had held it was empty (the rifle was missing). At 3 p.m., police arrived at the Paine home, and Marina directed them to the blanket, confirming the rifle was gone. Meanwhile, Oswald was interrogated at Dallas police headquarters by Captain Fritz, with FBI and Secret Service agents present. He denied any role in the Kennedy assassination or the murder of Patrolman J.D. Tippit, claimed he was eating lunch and speaking to his foreman at the time of the assassination, denied owning a rifle, and claimed his face had been superimposed on a photo of another man holding a rifle and pistol. He refused to answer questions about a selective service card in his wallet bearing the name “Alek J. Hidell”. Over three days, Oswald was brought before a crowd of more than 100 press representatives in the police hallway at least 16 times for questioning; he attempted to hire his own attorney but had not secured representation by Sunday morning. At 7:10 p.m. on November 22, Oswald was formally charged with Tippit’s murder, as multiple witnesses had identified him in lineups, and the revolver he carried at arrest was compatible with the weapon used in Tippit’s killing. The formal assassination charge was filed after 1:30 a.m. on November 23. By 10 p.m. on November 22, the FBI had traced the rifle found on the Depository’s sixth floor to a Chicago mail-order house, which confirmed it had been ordered in March 1963 by “A. Hidel” for shipment to Oswald’s Dallas post office box, paid for with a money order signed “A. Hidell”; handwriting analysis confirmed Oswald placed the order. Dallas police released many case details to the public, often erroneously, during impromptu press conferences, and brought Oswald to a midnight press conference where Jack Ruby, a 52-year-old Dallas nightclub operator, was present in the press pool.