Did Lee Harvey Oswald have an escape plan?

Great Debates
1

If you accept as a given (as I do) that the evidence is overwhelming that Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK, and that there is no credible evidence that Oswald was operating as part of a conspiracy, then the question remains, what was Oswald planning to do next?

The President’s trip wasn’t finalized until just prior to it’s occurence, and the motorcade route was decided just days before. So, Oswald couldn’t have planned the murder long in advance. But, he had just recently returned fro Mexico, so he was prepared for travel.
Is there any evidence of a plan to escape, or was this basically just a “going out in a blaze of glory” suicide mission. If there was a plan, then ending up hiding in a movie theater seems kind of lame. If he was just acting on a desparate whim, then why did he give himself up, and never confess to the crime?

2

From what I recall he basically just dropped the gun after the shooting and tried to leave the building. Perhaps he figured he could just slip away in the confusion (a not completely unfounded supposition). He might have simply been counting on the fact that if he could get clean away from the scene that there wouldn’t have been enough evidence to find him afterward, or that he could have gone to ground. I don’t think he was counting on getting caught, or going out in a blaze of glory, since he doesn’t seem to have tried to do that in any case.

My guess is that this was mostly an impulsive act on his part, and that he didn’t really think it through all the way like you see people in the movies doing. He had it in mind to shoot someone (from memory he actually had several people in mind at various times), the opportunity presented itself to him, and he took it.

-XT

3

I really think the extent of his plan was to see a movie, then look into getting a ride home. He’d tried to shoot at a general a few days before. Afterward, he went home. His experience in the Marines and Russia make me think he really did not seem to plan very well.

4

Both of my suppositions presuppose that Oswald thought he had a bit of help. Of course, it could just be that he was a loser who worked himself up to shooting at the President, and once that was done, had no further goal and drifted in a daze until shooting Officer Tippit. And after that, had a breakdown and looked for the nearest dark hole he could find, the Texas Theater, a 1/2 mile away. That seems entirely possible, and I stress, is the most likely solution. While there were a LOT of peculiarities surrounding the JFK assassination (For one, how does the same guy who blows the shot at General Walker, make two hits on a ~70 yd. moving target within a few seconds?) I find it most likely that Oswald acted alone. To me, any activities smelling of coverup were the result of stress-induced incompetence and the perceived need for rapid finality in the investigation.

If however, you think that Oswald thought he had help, then for me it depends if you believe Garrison’s allegations that two other people shot Tippit. If you disbelieve Garrison—as most people do—and think Oswald shot Officer Tippit, then retrace Oswald’s path between his room at 1026 N. Beckley, to Tippit’s death at 10th Street near Patton Avenue. If you extend the path a little further, it sort of points to the Dallas Zoo. I can see the Zoo being a decent spot for a meet with Oswald walking to the Zoo as fast as he could, thinking he was going to meet his handler, get a fake ID/passport, cash, transport, that sort of thing. Shooting Tippit causes Oswald to wig out/think he’s been set up, and run to the theater.

If you believe Garrison, then “other people” shot Tippit while Oswald is sitting fat, dumb, and happy in the Texas Theater. Either he’s killing time or he’s having the meet in the Theater. I don’t buy this at all, given that Oswald tried to get into the Theater without paying—what better way to act low-key? Further, he acted so furtively and guilty on the way to the Theater that a shoe store manager, Johnny Brewer, noticed and decided to follow Oswald. All that says to me that Oswald was acting on adrenaline and wasn’t thinking, just like someone would be acting if they’d just shot a Dallas policeman.

So to sum up, he was in a daze from shooting JFK, went home, figured out that was a dumb place to be, and was wandering around until Tippit runs into him. Or, if you’re conspiracy-minded, he was hoofing it to make his meet at the Dallas Zoo, until Tippit runs into him…

5

I sincerely doubt he had a plan. I think his best bet would have been to stay in the building and act as shocked as anyone else. Of course, they probably would have traced the gun shipment to him eventually but I bet it might take a few days, in which time he could have made an unhurried exit to Cuba or something.

6

No, but Dillinger did.

7

I don’t really know how difficult a shot the General Walker thing was, but the shot on the president was relatively easy (and, IIRC, he actually missed the first shot in any case). It was basically a very small deflection angle, and the target was moving away from him (not side to side)…pretty easy for someone who had been trained as a rifleman, let alone a sharp shooter. As for the few seconds thing, again, not really all that difficult to get off those shots with that rifle in that time frame…much less difficult than some CT advocates of the assassination make it.

My guess as to the answer to this question is that the General Walker shot was either more difficult or had some other constraint (time perhaps), plus there is the blind squirrels and nuts factor (i.e. he got lucky, if that’s the right term, in the shot on the President).

-XT

8

Alternatively, JFK was getting far too popular, and was beginning to stick his nose in places he shouldn’t, so members of the US shadow government decided to utilise one of the many malcontents under their watchful eyes.

9

Alternatively redux, it could have been space aliens using mind controlling mutant dust mites to infiltrate Lee’s brain and make him do it because JFK was on the verge of launching a government investigation into cattle mutilation and abductions (both very lucrative to our space alien lizard overlords).

The thing is, both have about as much actual supporting evidence, so I’m going to stay with the first option, that being the lone nutball explanation…which is neither here nor there where this OP is concerned.

-XT

10

The Walker shot was deflected by the window and fragmented. Some of the fragments hit Walker’s arm.

This is my speculation on Oswald’s plan: he had recently tried to get to Cuba through Mexico City, but was blown off by officials there. Perhaps he thought they would take him more seriously if he went back and told them he had assassinated Kennedy. So he may have had a vague plan to go back to Mexico.

He did have a very short time to plan. He always read day-old papers at work because he was too cheap to buy one. He therefore saw the motorcade route on November 21 and asked his coworker for a ride to the house where his wife was staying. The next morning his coworker picked him up to take him back to work and he had the “curtain rods” wrapped in blankets.

11

Sure, he planning to escape - escape into the award-winning film-making of Burt Topper.

12

Why do some people do this thing where they compare something that is possible with some extremely unrealistic scenario, and think they are making some sort of valid point?

Now, if you’d said that JFK was considering full disclosure of all US intelligence regarding ufo’s and that was the reasoning for getting rid of him, at least you wouldn’t be talking complete rubbish.

13

The valid point is that “US shadow governments” are complete rubbish too.

14

Well, I’m not sure. Probably for similar reasons that people think that their ‘possible’, though based on zero evidence, has some sort of actual relevance, and they get annoyed when someone points out that ANYTHING is ‘possible’…but ‘probable’ is another matter. What do you think?

Or maybe the lizard aliens wanted JFK to reveal their presence, but he declined. It’s a mystery that really doesn’t matter. What actually matters is that there is exactly the same amount of actual evidence available to substantiate either the LHO conspiracy theory or the alien nano-mutant dust mites hypothesis.

-XT

15

You’re assuming the “possible” part was established as such.

16

I’m no expert on killings of kings and presidents, but I do know some about the killings of Gustavus III, Olof Palme, JFK, and, well, Wild Bill Hickok, to name a few I remember while typing, although a couple of them were neither kings nor presidents but hey guys of stature, but what I’m trying to say is that people who shoot The Man do not seem to generally have an elaborate escape plan, unless they in fact are part of a conspiracy (Anckarström). Guys like Oswald, McCall, Pettersson (who most likely killed Palme), grabbed the opportunity, hurried to kill the man, and ran away. I believe that’s generally “the psychology of” the lone murderer of The Man Who Is To Blame.

In other words, I don’t think Oswald thought much about it and got caught, like McCall. Pettersson, on the other hand, had the fortune of being hunted by a incompetent Swedish police force in shock, and got away with it.

17

Maybe I am reading this thread wrong but lizard people and conspiracy theories are both “possible” But isn’t an Oswald/CIA connection way more “probable”

18

Not when coupled with ‘were actually able to keep it a secret for more than 5 minutes’. I’d have to go with the lizard aliens by a hair, probability wise, when you consider that aspect. YMMV of course…

-XT

19

Sneaking out in the milieu and going home aren’t really a bad plan. You don’t really need a greater get away plan than that. Oswald’s problem was that after he got on the streets he appears to have been paranoid about every shadow, ticking off everyone else on the sidewalk’s suspicions as he walked by. He probably went into the theater in the hopes of “losing a tail”, but of course at that point he didn’t actually have anyone on him at all.

He essentially did get out just fine. If he’d been able to look calm and composed, it’s perfectly possible that he would have gotten away.

20

IIRC, didn’t the police have a general description of Oswald (something like white male, 5’8", 160lbs.) and that’s what led Tippett to approach him to begin with?