Original subtitles

Has affairs with local girls.

Makes sense. He's a spokesman.

But he never does any propaganda for the Russians.

He meets Marina.

Her uncle is a colonel in Soviet intelligence.

She thinks he's Russian by his speech.

Six weeks later they marry, have a daughter.

Only explanation for the royal treatment is he gave them radar secrets.

Or fake secrets.

Six months after he's in Russia...

...Francis Gary Powers' U-2 spy flight goes down...

...in Russia. That plane was untouchable.

Powers hinted that Oswald...

...could've given the Russians enough data to hit it.

As a result, the peace summit between Khrushchev and Eisenhower failed.

Perhaps our military didn't want the conference to happen?

Maybe Oswald was part of that!

- Stick to what you can prove in court. - You want facts?

Don't get sidetracked. How'd he get back to the States?

Does he have any problems with Uncle Sam?

No. The State Department issues him a new passport in 48 hours...

...and loans him travel money.

He's never investigated or charged for revealing classified information...

...or, as far as we know, debriefed by the CIA.

Bastard should've been prosecuted as a traitor when he got off the boat.

Did Marina have problems getting out?

None, though it's almost impossible to get Russian sweethearts out.

This is a man who defected once already. It's crazy. Ordinary people...

...get blacklisted for having leftist affiliations.

Doesn't add up.

Next thing, he's living in Dallas-Fort Worth, October '62...

...working six months at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall...

...a photographic firm that makes maps for the US Army.

Oswald becomes chummy with the Dallas White Russian community.

All rabid anti-Communists.

It's odd.

His closest friend is an oilman, named George DeMohrenschildt.

He is 35 years older than Oswald, who is only 23 and supposedly broke.

He is a part of the Dallas Petroleum Club, speaks five languages...

...and was a French Vichy intelligence during the war...

...also rumored to be a Nazi sympathizer.

DeMohrenschildt draws a picture of Oswald as an intellectual...

...well read, speaks excellent Russian, a man who adored JFK.

I think he's made some mistakes regarding Cuba.

I think he's doing a pretty good job. If he succeeds, in my opinion...

...I think he'd make a great President and a handsome one, too.

That's scenery, Susie. Now, don't get sidetracked.

This is the same man that nailed Oswald to the Warren Commission...

...as a potentially violent man and linked him to the rifle.

Well, in that sense Castro is an experimenter.

It could go any way with that country.

- It could go the way of the communism... - What you got there?

Do you have rifles in there?

Tell me what I'm shooting at, rabbits or Fascists?

- I hunt. - You hunt?

We don't know he's CIA. Let's circle him very probable.

Call him Oswald's handler.

The Oswalds are introduced to Janet and Bill Williams.

It's through Janet Williams, in October '63, that Lee gets the job...

...at the warehouse on Elm Street at the Book Depository.

So he can now exercise his intellect, stacking school texts at $1.25 an hour.

Marina fights with Lee about many things.

His secrecy, their lack of money.

She says that Lee is not sexually adequate.

Lee hits her on several occasions.

At the age of 24...

...he rents a room in Dallas under the alias of O.H. Lee.

Do you want to watch TV? Are you all right?

No, thank you. I'm fine.

All I know about the Williams is their tax returns are classified.

Bill Williams has links to the CIA through his family...

...and does classified work for Bell Helicopter.

Bill's convenient separation from Janet allows Marina to move into her house...

...where she suddenly becomes Marina's best friend.

There Marina and Lee have a second daughter.

I have to go away. Just for a short while.

What's wrong with this family?

I love Lee...

...and I sorry him.

Sorry for him?

Yes.

When he's arrested, Marina buries him with the public.

She describes him as a psychotic and violent man.

I have too much facts...

...and facts tell me that Lee shot Kennedy.

After being locked away by the feds for two months...

...and afraid she'd be deported...

...she was probably suffering from nervous exhaustion.

They taught her how to answer.

When they think she's ready, they buy her dresses...

...polish her appearance and wheel her out.

- I'd like to thank the Warren Commission. - Oswald was no angel.

But who was he?

I'm lost. What are we saying?

That when Oswald went to Russia, he was not a real defector.

He was an intelligence agent for our government and remained one till he died.

So, because Oswald pulled the trigger...

...the intelligence community murdered the President?

I'll go you one better. Maybe Oswald...

...didn't pull the trigger.

Nitrate tests indicate he hadn't fired a rifle on November 22.

And they didn't bother to see if the rifle'd been fired that day.

- His palm print was on it. - It went to the FBI.

FBI didn't find a goddamn thing.

It comes back a week later and a Dallas policeman suddenly finds a palm print?

It could've been taken at the morgue. There's no chain of evidence.

I can't figure out why he orders a traceable weapon...

...to a P.O. Box, when he can go into any store in Texas...

...give a phony name and walk out with an untraceable rifle.

To frame him, obviously!

A lot of smoke, but some fire.

We're talking about our government!

We're talking about a crime.

You must think on a different level, like the CIA does.

We're through the looking glass.

White is black.

And black is white.

Maybe Oswald is just what he said he was.

A patsy.

Unbelievable. You were here?

Yes, this is where I was sitting.

Shots came from near the wooden fence over there...

...near the overpass.

I saw a man run from the fence toward those railroad cars.

I made it clear to the Warren people.

One of the shots came from behind that picket fence.

I heard the report and saw smoke, six or eight feet above the ground.

Out from under those trees.

All four of us railroad men...

...seen the same thing.

The smoke came from behind the hedge.

I was standing next to Mary Moorman, who took the photo when he was killed.

I stepped down to the curb and yelled:

"Mr. President, look over here!"

Then shots rang out.

Mary dropped to the ground, yelling, "They're shooting! Get down!"

I just stood there watching.

The driver had stopped.

I don't know what was wrong with him.

Out of the corner of my eye...

...I saw a flash of light in the bushes.

And that last shot...

...just ripped his head off.

I looked up and saw smoke coming from over there, on the knoll.

We came around to look for tracks.

It rained that morning and we found a bunch.

Cigarette butts.

Someone had stood about... here.

That's a good spot.

For the head shot.

Everything was just frozen.

Like people weren't breathing. Like you were looking at a picture.

Except for one man.

I saw this one man running from the corner of the Book Depository...

...to the parking lot.

It was about 11:00 a.m.

I was driving on Elm Street toward the underpass in a rented car.

A light-blue Valiant.

I'll never forget that day. There was a lot of traffic...

...and I stopped alongside a green pickup truck.

It was very noticeable because it had one wheel up on the curb.

When I saw the gun, I thought...

..."The Secret Service is not very secret."

The next morning, I went to the FBI office.

They showed me some pictures.

And I picked out three pictures that looked like the truck's driver.

That's the man.

You mean you identified Jack Ruby on Saturday?

That's right.

The day before he shot Oswald?

That's right. When I saw him on TV, I was shocked.

I said to my family, "That's the man I saw in the truck."

You weren't so sure in your statement to the Commission.

What about these others? You said one might be him?

They look a bit like him, but I'm sure this is the man.

It was him I chased up the grassy knoll.

I thought maybe our guys had shot back and got one of them.

I got to the parking lot.

All I saw were the railroad workers and Dallas' finest.

- Secret Service. Come with us. - No! Find the shooter!

I want your pictures.

Son of a bitch!

He put a hurt on me, but good.

They must've seen everything because they knew what we had done all day.

I wasn't hard to find, wearing that red raincoat.

- How many shots did you hear? - Four to six.

Impossible!

You heard echoes!

We have three bullets and three shots that came from the Book Depository.

- That's all we'll say. - No, sir.

I saw a man shooting from behind that fence. What are you going to do?

- You go out there and get him! - That's taken care of!

You only heard three shots, and don't discuss this with anyone.

No one. Understand?

Which is strange 'cause it's less than 20 minutes after the assassination.

Get her out of here.

I knew something was crooked as a dog's hind leg.

When I read my testimony in the Warren Report...

...it was a total fabrication.

That's what bothers me, Mr. Garrison. They've altered my statements.

This one says:

"Mercer couldn't identify any photograph as being the man she observed...

"...slouched over the wheel of the green truck." Not true.

I recognized him and I told them so.

Take your time.

I'm sure.

And the sheriff's report...

This is really strange.

See that notarized signature?

That's not mine.

There wasn't any notary present during my questioning.

Mrs. Mercer, as a former FBI man...

...it's difficult to accept this.

Beverly, tell Mr. Garrison about the Carousel Club.

I used to go there to see Jack and my friend, Jatta, who danced there.

It was a real swinging spot in town.

Everybody came.

Businessmen, politicians from Austin, LBJ's friends...

Dallas was a slowpokin' town then.

You chewed toothpicks, played dominoes, spit, dated policemen.

But Jack was exciting. There were always cops there.

Jack liked them around, even though he threw out the drunks himself.

He had a violent temper.

Everyone in those days knew Jack was in the mob.

Cops back then, they were bad.

They'd shake you down for the money in your pocket.

What about Lee?

One time I came in.

Jack introduced me to two guys. He says, "This is my friend, Lee..."

I don't remember the other guy's name.

He was a weird-looking guy. He had these eyebrows.

And he looked like a buzzard.

Lee didn't make much of an impression.

He wasn't very handsome.

He didn't look like he had any money, and he was in a bad mood.

So, I didn't pay him much mind.

I may not remember a name, but I always remember a face.

Later, when I saw him on television...

...I screamed, "My God, that's him!

"That's Jack's friend!"

Will you testify, Beverly?

- I don't think so. - I thought we had an agreement.

- I don't want to be another statistic. - We could call you in.

If they can kill the President of the United States...

...you think they'll think twice about a two-bit showgirl like me?

I understand the pressure you're under.

Don't think that I don't.

We both do.

Mr. Chief Justice, do you understand that I can't tell the truth in Dallas?

There are people here who do not want me to tell the truth.

Who don't want me to have a retrial.

Why don't you just tell us now?

My life is in danger!

If you request that I go to Washington...

That is, if you want to hear further testimony from me.

Can you take me with you?

No. It can't be done.

There would be no safe place for you.

We're not law-enforcement officers.

There's a great deal at stake in this matter.

If I'm eliminated...

...there won't be any way of knowing any bit of truth pertaining to my situation.

Consequently, a whole new form of government will take over.

And I won't live to see you some other time.

I want to tell the truth.

And then...

...leave this world.

The Zapruder film establishes three shots in 5.6 seconds.

I'm Oswald.

Time me.

Go.

Time?

Between six and seven seconds.

Without really aiming.

The second and third shots came almost right on top of each other.

It takes a minimum of...

...2.3 seconds to recycle this thing.

The other problem is, there was a tree...

...blocking the first two shots when fired in the Zapruder film.

Didn't Hoover say something about leaves falling in November?

It was Texas live oak, Chief.

It sheds its leaves in early March.

Take this Carcano, world's worst shoulder weapon...

...and try to hit a moving target at 88 yards through heavy foliage.

No way.

FBI tried two sets of tests.

Not one sharpshooter could match Oswald's performance.

Not one.

Oswald was at best a medium shot.

The scope was defective on it too.

This is the whole essence of the case to me.

The guy couldn't do the shooting.

Nobody could.

They sold this lemon to the American public.

The Zapruder film was the proof they didn't count on.

We must get hold of it.

It means we'll have to subpoena Time-Life.

Let me ask you something.

Why not just shoot Kennedy on Houston?

Plenty of time.

- He's out in the open. - I keep asking myself the same thing.

- Frontal shot. - Even if you miss him once...

...if he accelerates, you get a second shot.

The only reason to get him on Elm...

...is you got him in a triangulated crossfire.

You put a team there down at the fence.

Frontal shot. Flat, low trajectory.

Put a third team down in this building...

...on a low floor.

When Kennedy gets in the kill zone, it's a turkey shoot.

How many men?

One shooter. One spotter on a radio. Maybe three teams.

These are professional riflemen. Serious people.

Hunters.

Patient.

It takes skill to kill with a rifle.

That's why no chief executive's been executed with one in 200 years.

Three...

...two...

...one.

Main Street's over there.

Original parade route on the way to the Trade Mart...

...is too far, right?

Too far.

Impossible shot, so they change the parade route.

Bring him down here. Moving at a normal 25 mph.

They knew the motorcade would have to slow down to about 10 mph...

...to make that turn there. And that's where they got him.

Who do you think changed the parade route?

Beats me. Secret Service, city officials, Dallas Police.

You know who was the mayor at the time?

Roy Cabell.

- Guess who his brother is? - Who?

General Charles Cabell.

Deputy director of the CIA.

Kennedy fired him in '61 because of the Bay of Pigs fiasco.

Moved back to the Pentagon and called Kennedy a traitor.

When he came to New Orleans...

...to address the Foreign Policy Association, know who introduced him?

Our friend, Clay Shaw.

Didn't the Warren Commission call him?

His boss was the one on the Warren Commission...

...who handled the leads in the intelligence community.

- Allen Dulles? - Head of the CIA since '53.

Kennedy fired them both.

Cabell was his Deputy for nine years.

Talk about the fox investigating the chicken coop.

Now, we'll have to subpoena them both.

Clay Bertrand? Sure, I know him.

Comes to the Quarter.

Who is he? I've been to all the bars. Nobody wants to talk.

Why should they talk to you?

I told your uncle, I never met a lawman who wasn't a punk.

A big-shot businessman. I seen him on the TV news...

...with all the other big shots.

The guy's a fag, you know?

Goes by another name.

What name?

Shaw.

Clay Shaw.

Clay Bertrand is Clay Shaw?

Guy who ran the International Trade Mart?

What's the mystery? Everybody down here knows him.

Then why does he call himself Bertrand?

Who gives a shit what he calls himself?

Will you give us a little help on that grand jury thing?

I hope so. We could use it.

Your hunch was right, Boss.

But it's even spookier than we thought.

Starting in September '63 on, two months before the assassination...

...there are sightings of Oswald all over Dallas.

Buying ammunition, getting a telescopic sight fixed.

Going to rifle ranges.

Early November, at a downtown Dallas Lincoln dealership...

...he tells the salesman: - Let's take it over for a test drive.

Despite the fact he has no license, and doesn't know how to drive...

...he hits the curves like A.J. Foyt at the Indy 500.

Beauregard later told his boss that he drove like a madman.

$300 down now, Mr. Oswald, you can drive out of here.

What? For this heap?

No honest working man can afford to buy a car in this goddamn country anymore.

Maybe I'll go to Russia and buy one.

Really dumb dialogue like he's trying to draw attention to himself.

Salesman remembers him as about 5' 7", but his draft card says he's actually 5' 11 ".

Other witnesses see him on several separate days at different firing ranges.

One time, November 9...

...he decides to practice on the next guy's target.

I didn't pay for a target just to have you shoot at it!

I'm sorry, buddy.

I thought I was shooting at that son of a bitch Kennedy.

As subtle as a cockroach crawling across a white rug.

Then he shows up at Sylvia Odio's...

...a Cuban lady in Dallas in the anti-Castro underground.

The two Cubans introduce him as Leon Oswald.

Something about the man bothers her.

48 hours later, one of the Cubans calls her.

What did you think of me and Oswald last night?

I don't care about Oswald.

You know what he said to us? "Cubans don't have guts, 'cause Kennedy...

"...should have been killed after the Bay of Pigs by a Cuban."

It's like he's giving her information she doesn't even ask for.

She's scared and doesn't see him again...

...till she sees Oswald's picture in the paper.

But the Warren Commission says that Sylvia...

...has bad eyesight because they have Oswald in Mexico...

...trying to get back into Cuba.

The CIA has a camera outside the Cuban Embassy.

And they say that this...

...is Oswald in Mexico.

If this is Oswald, it must be our third Oswald.

The Warren Commission made great efforts to make him a Communist.

I think the point of the Mexican episode was to lay the blame on Fidel Castro.

If Oswald, or someone purporting to be Oswald...

...had gotten into Cuba, come back, and then killed the President...

...the American public would've supported a Cuban invasion.

I even have doubts about this photo, Boss.

This convicted Oswald in the public's mind.

But Oswald told Capt. Fritz that the photo was a fake.

This is not me!

- That came from Janet Williams' garage. - I never saw this picture.

It's my face but it's superimposed. The rest is not me.

I know photographic work. That picture was made by someone else!

I took this picture to two experts.

Look at how the shadows on the nose...

...fall in a straight line, like it's high noon.

But the shadow on the ground is more like late afternoon or early morning.

It's not the same time.

And see the crop marks across the chin?

This head is pasted onto another body.

Implicating him with the rifle and the gun.

Who the hell are you? Alex Hidell or Lee Oswald?

You're the policeman, you work it out.

Now it gets positively spooky.

In January 1961, in New Orleans, at the Bolton Ford dealership...

...when the Oswald we know is in Russia...

...there is a man using the name of Oswald to buy trucks...

...for the Friends of Democratic Cuba.

Salesman never sees him again.

But who's on the Articles Of Incorporation of the Friends of Democratic Cuba?

Guy Banister.

Banister has someone using the name Oswald to buy the trucks.

Hoover at the FBI has a memo dated June of 1960...

...that someone may be using Oswald's passport and identity.

They created Oswald from day one.

Like a dummy corporation in the Bahamas. Just move him around a board.

Anybody want to quit?