One JFK conspiracy theory that could be true - CNN.com
One JFK conspiracy theory that could be true
By Thom Patterson, CNN
Updated 11:08 AM ET, Mon November 18, 2013
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JFK Assassination: Who do you believe? 04:11
Story highlights
Since 1976, Dave Perry has been researching John F. Kennedy's killing
Top conspiracy theories include the CIA, the mob and then-Vice President Lyndon Johnson
Event in Pittsburgh drew Oliver Stone and hundreds of conspiracy theorists
Perry can't debunk a CIA conspiracy theory; many CIA JFK documents still classified
During the half century since President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, you may have heard about a few conspiracy theories.
Decades of investigations, hearings, documents, records, books and interviews have failed to satisfy conspiracy theorists with a definitive answer to The Question: Did Lee Harvey Oswald act alone when he shot the President?
At one time or another, doubters of the lone gunman theory "have accused 42 groups, 82 assassins and 214 people of being involved in the assassination," said author Vincent Bugliosi.
That's a lot of paranoia.
So, when reporters, producers, or amateur historians are looking to check out the latest JFK conspiracy theory, they call Dave Perry. "People think I'm an anti-conspiracy guy," Perry said recently at his Dallas-area home.
But there's one theory that he's not ruling out. We'll get to that in a minute.
Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – President John F. Kennedy greets supporters during his visit to Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday, November 22, 1963. This year marks 51 years since his assassination in Dallas, an event that jarred the nation and fueled a multitude of conspiracy theories about whether Kennedy was killed by a single gunman acting alone in the Texas School Book Depository. Here are some images from that fateful day as it unfolded.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – First lady Jacqueline Kennedy at a breakfast held by the Chamber of Commerce in Fort Worth with Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, left, and Kennedy.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – The Kennedys arrive at Love Field in Dallas on a trip to advance the upcoming 1964 campaign.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – About 11:45 a.m., Texas Gov. John B. Connally Jr., waving to the crowd, and the Kennedys depart Love Field for a 10-mile tour of Dallas. The President asked about the weather earlier in the day and opted not to have a top on the limousine.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – The Kennedys and Connallys leave Love Field with Secret Service Agent Bill Greer driving the presidential limousine. The motorcade is on the way to the Trade Mart, where Kennedy is to speak at a sold-out luncheon.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – Crowds line the street as Kennedy's motorcade heads toward downtown Dallas. A group of White House staffers follows the motorcade in a bus several vehicles behind the presidential limousine.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – Dallas Police Officer Bobby Hargis, background, is one of four motorcycle officers assigned to Kennedy's car, which reaches Houston Street shortly before 12:30 p.m. "I thought, 'Well, we've got it made now,' " Hargis said. "And then bam! It happens."
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – Kennedy is seen approximately one minute before he is shot.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – Seen through the limousine's windshield as it proceeds along Elm Street past the Texas School Book Depository, Kennedy appears to raise his hand toward his head after being shot. The first lady holds Kennedy's forearm in an effort to aid him.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – Kennedy slumps against his wife as the bullet strikes him in the head. Connally, who is wounded in the attack, begins to turn around just to the left of Jackie Kennedy.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – Kennedy slumps in the back seat of the car and his wife leans over to him as Secret Service Agent Clinton Hill rides on the back of the car.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – The limousine carrying the mortally wounded President races toward the hospital seconds after three shots are fired. Two bullets hit Kennedy and one hit Connally.  Hill rides on the back of the car as the wives cover their stricken husbands.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – The limousine speeds along Elm Street toward the Stemmons Freeway overpass moments after shots are fired at Dealey Plaza.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – Photographers are seen running shortly after the shooting.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – Hurchel Jacks, Vice President Johnson's driver in the motorcade, listens with others to news accounts on the car radio outside the Parkland Hospital emergency entrance. After the shots were fired, Jacks had rerouted the vice president's car to safety. The ABC radio network broadcast the first nationwide news bulletin reporting that shots have been fired at the Kennedy motorcade.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – Before 1 p.m., Dr. Tom Shires, with Parkland public relations director Steve Landregan, rear, describes the President's wounds to the press. Four doctors worked on the stricken Kennedy in the emergency room.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – American broadcast journalist and anchorman Walter Cronkite removes his glasses and prepares to announce Kennedy's death. CBS broadcast the first nationwide TV news bulletin reporting on the shooting.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – A photographer captures a New Yorker's expression of shock upon hearing the news. At 1 p.m. the 46-year-old President of the United States is declared dead, becoming the fourth U.S. president killed in office.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – After 2 p.m., Jacqueline Kennedy leaves Parkland Hospital with her slain husband's body. She would ride in the back with the bronze casket. "I had a feeling that if somebody had literally fired a pistol in front of her face that she would just have blinked," said Dallas Police Officer James Jennings, who helped put the casket in the hearse.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – The hearse carrying Kennedy's body pulls away from Parkland Hospital en route to the airport.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – Lee Harvey Oswald, a 24-year-old ex-Marine, is arrested in the back of a movie theater where he fled after shooting Dallas Police Patrolman J.D. Tippit. That incident occurred approximately 45 minutes after the assassination.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – Vice President Lyndon Johnson takes the oath of office to become the 36th president of the United States. He is sworn in by U.S. Federal Judge Sarah T. Hughes, left, with Jacqueline Kennedy by his side on Air Force One.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – The casket containing the body of President Kennedy is moved to a Navy ambulance from the presidential plane. Jacqueline Kennedy and Attorney General Robert Kennedy stand behind on the elevator.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – Jacqueline and Robert Kennedy get into the Navy ambulance with the president's body at Andrews Air Force Base, just outside Washington. The body of the president is taken to Bethesda Naval Hospital for an immediate autopsy.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – Police mug shot of Lee Harvey Oswald. He is arraigned in the slaying of Officer Tippit on November 22 and/or the murder of the president the next day. As Oswald is being transferred from the Dallas city jail to the county jail, nightclub owner Jack Ruby shoots and kills him, an event captured live on TV. Ruby is arrested immediately.
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Photos: John F. Kennedy: The day
John F. Kennedy: The day – A man holds up a copy of the New York World-Telegram featuring the news of the assassination. Major television and radio networks devote continuous news coverage to the events of the day, canceling all entertainment and all commercials. Many theaters, stores and businesses, including stock exchanges and government offices, are closed.
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Photos: Photos: John F. Kennedy's funeral
John F. Kennedy's funeral – On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while in a presidential motorcade in Dallas. Pictured, Kennedy's widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, children, Caroline and John, and mother, Rose Kennedy, behind, wait outside St. Matthew's Cathedral for the procession to the cemetery during his funeral on November 25.
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Photos: Photos: John F. Kennedy's funeral
John F. Kennedy's funeral – Kennedy's flag-draped casket lies in state in Washington.
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Photos: Photos: John F. Kennedy's funeral
John F. Kennedy's funeral – John F. Kennedy's flag-draped casket lies in state in Washington.
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Photos: Photos: John F. Kennedy's funeral
John F. Kennedy's funeral – A horse-drawn caisson bears the body of President John F. Kennedy into Arlington National Cemetery.
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Photos: Photos: John F. Kennedy's funeral
John F. Kennedy's funeral – John F. Kennedy's widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, and brother Robert Kennedy attend his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. See the complete gallery of photos at LIFE.com .
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Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
\ – John Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier met in 1951 and after a brief engagement, they married in Rhode Island in the century-old church of St. Mary's on September 12, 1953.
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Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
\ – John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy at the U.S. Capitol on May 6, 1954.
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Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
\ – The couple strolling in the Georgetown area of Washington on May 8, 1954.
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Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
Jackie looking over John's shoulder as he reads the May 7 issue of the Christian Science Monitor on May 9, 1954, Mother's Day.
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Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
The Kennedy's cuddle daughter Caroline while relaxing on a bed at home on March 25, 1958.
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Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
John and Jackie at Eleanor Roosevelt's 75th birthday celebration in 1959.
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Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
The then-senator engages in his favorite pastime of sailing at Hyannisport, Massachusetts, with Jackie in July 1960.
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Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
Shortly after his acceptance of the Democratic Party nomination for president, Kennedy and his wife smile and wave from the back of an open-top car in Massachusetts in July 1960.
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Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
Jacqueline greets her husband in 1960.
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Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
Jackie watches her husband during a presidential debate in September 1960.
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Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
Kennedy lends an ear to his wife as they sit together at a table during cocktail hour before dining at a society gala at the Walford Astoria Hotel in 1960.
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Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
Kennedy, campaigning for president, listens to the whispers of his wife in 1960.
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Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
Jackie shares a moment with her husband before he became president, in January 20, 1961, in the rotunda of the Capitol. She became the youngest first lady in nearly 80 years.
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Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
President Kennedy and Jackie greet guests at a party for Nobel Prize winners at the White House on April 29, 1961.
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Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
The Kennedys stand at attention during the playing of the national anthem at the start of a reception during their state visit to Mexico City on June 30, 1962.
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Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
John and Jackie at Union Station after the departure of King Hassan of Morocco on March 27, 1963.
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Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
President Kennedy, John F. Kennedy Jr., Jackie and Caroline with puppies Blackie and White Tips, and family dogs Shannon, Clipper, Wolfie and Charlie on August 14, 1963.
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Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
Jackie stands with her two children and her brothers-in law Ted Kennedy and Robert Kennedy at the funeral of her husband on November 26, 1963.
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Photos: Photos: JFK's alleged affairs
JFK's alleged affairs – Blaze Starr: The celebrated stripper told People Magazine in 1989 that she had a brief dalliance with Kennedy before he became president.
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Photos: Photos: JFK's alleged affairs
JFK's alleged affairs – Marilyn Monroe: The celebrated star is widely rumored to have had an affair with Kennedy. In the book "The Dark Side of Camelot" by investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, Monroe is one of several women named as Kennedy mistresses.
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Photos: Photos: JFK's alleged affairs
JFK's alleged affairs – Marlene Dietrich: The star's daughter, Maria Riva, published a book in 1993 saying that her mother had a quick tryst with Kennedy in the White House, as well as a long-term relationship with the president's father, Joe.
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Photos: Photos: JFK's alleged affairs
JFK's alleged affairs – Pamela Turnure: Turnure is rumored to have had a relationship with JFK while she was working in the White House as first lady Jacqueline Kennedy's secretary. The alleged affair was mentioned in the book "The Kennedy Half-Century" by Larry J. Sabato, and a Forbes magazine article by the same author.
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Photos: Photos: JFK's alleged affairs
JFK's alleged affairs – Judith Exner: In an interview for a 1997 Vanity Fair article, Exner said she ended a two-year affair with Kennedy in early 1963. She also claimed she aborted his child around the same time. Exner was also known to have had links with the Mafia.
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Photos: Photos: JFK's alleged affairs
JFK's alleged affairs – Mimi Alford: In her 2012 book "Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath," the former White House intern detailed her alleged 18-month sexual affair with the president.
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Photos: Photos: JFK's alleged affairs
JFK's alleged affairs – Priscilla Wear: An alleged Kennedy affair with the White House secretary nicknamed "Fiddle" has been widely reported in books by Larry Sabato, Seymour Hersh and others.
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Photos: Photos: JFK's alleged affairs
JFK's alleged affairs – Jill Cowen: Another White House secretary, this one nicknamed "Faddle," is also widely reported to have had trysts with the president.
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Photos: Photos: JFK's alleged affairs
JFK's alleged affairs – Gunilla Von Post: In her memoir, "Love, Jack," the Swedish socialite chronicled what she said was a six-year relationship with Kennedy beginning in 1953.
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Photos: Photos: JFK's alleged affairs
JFK's alleged affairs – Mary Pinchot Meyer: The book "A Very Private Woman" by Nina Burleigh chronicled Meyer's alleged affair with JFK and her mysterious death. Meyer, who'd previously been married to a CIA agent, was shot dead one year after the president's assassination, fueling speculation that she was killed as part of a cover-up.
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Photos: Photos: Kennedy family woes
Kennedy family woes – A Connecticut judge last year ordered a new trial for Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel, who was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison in 2002 for the 1975 killing of his teenage neighbor, Martha Moxley. Skakel is the nephew of Ethel Skakel Kennedy, the widow of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. He has been fighting for years to overturn his conviction.
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Photos: Photos: Kennedy family woes
Kennedy family woes – Mary Kennedy, right, from whom Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed for divorce in 2010, was found dead on May 16, 2012. A medical examiner said she died of asphyxiation due to hanging. She was 52.
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Photos: Photos: Kennedy family woes
Kennedy family woes – Members of the Kennedy family attend U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy's funeral in August 2009. Two years later, his daughter, Kara Kennedy, died of a heart attack after her daily workout. She is shown being embraced by her daughter, Grace, at right.
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Photos: Photos: Kennedy family woes
Kennedy family woes – Michael Kennedy, one of RFK's 11 children, died in a skiing accident in Aspen, Colorado, in 1997. The father of three had suffered an onslaught of negative publicity over an alleged affair with a family babysitter. No charges were filed.
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Photos: Photos: Kennedy family woes
Kennedy family woes – David Kennedy, another son of RFK, died in 1984 of a drug overdose in a hotel after being ousted from the family vacation home in Palm Beach.
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Photos: Photos: Kennedy family woes
Kennedy family woes – Joe Kennedy, the eldest son of RFK, was involved in a 1973 car accident that left a female passenger paralyzed for life. He later served as a Massachusetts congressman and considered a bid for governor but decided against it, citing family troubles.
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Photos: Photos: Kennedy family woes
Kennedy family woes – Sen. Ted Kennedy drove a car off a bridge on Massachusetts' Chappaquiddick Island after a party in 1969. Aide Mary Jo Kopechne died in the accident. He is shown wearing a neck brace at her funeral. Controversy over the incident effectively ended his presidential aspirations.
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Photos: Photos: Kennedy family woes
Kennedy family woes – While campaigning for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in June 1968.
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Photos: Photos: Kennedy family woes
Kennedy family woes – In 1964, Ted Kennedy suffered a broken back when his private plane crashed in Southampton, Massachusetts. Indiana Sen. Birch Bayh also survived the crash, but the pilot and one of Kennedy's aides were killed.
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Photos: Photos: Kennedy family woes
Kennedy family woes – President John F. Kennedy was assassinated during a motorcade in Dallas on November 22, 1963. He was 46.
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Photos: Photos: Kennedy family woes
Kennedy family woes – At just 28, Kathleen Kennedy died in a plane crash in 1948. She had married William John Robert Cavendish, the Marquess of Hartington, who was killed in World War II.
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Photos: Photos: Kennedy family woes
Kennedy family woes – Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., the eldest son of Joseph and Rose Kennedy, died at 29 in a plane crash during World War II.
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