JFK Assassination 60th Anniversary Prompts Conferences, Books, Films, Probes

The Nov. 22 60th anniversary of the history-changing assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 has prompted many new books, films and other commentary, including stellar new programs at three annual research conferences.

The Justice Integrity Project typically supports all three of the conferences but this year is primarily focused on one attracting major speakers to one organized by The Cyril H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh beginning Wednesday, Nov. 15 and continuing through Friday, Nov. 17.

The speaker program is here. It showcases top experts drawn from as far as Europe, including former Secret Service special agent Paul Landis and film and TV star, Alex Baldwin, a respected author and researcher into the assassination shown at left in a photo via Getty Images.

The Wecht Institute, which will be dedicated with new research materials during the conference, is named for the eminent forensic pathologist, author, medical school professor and coroner Cyril H. Wecht, M.D., J.D., who has disputed since the 1960s many official findings regarding the causes of Kennedy’s death. Wecht also co-founded and chairs the group Citizens Against Political Assassinations (CAPA), which is co-sponsoring the Pittsburgh conference. He is shown in a file photo at right,

Justice Integrity Project Editor Andrew Kreig, a founding member of CAPA’s board, will moderate a CAPA segment of the conference on the evening of Nov. 16 that will include a lifetime achievement awards presentation to Wecht. It includes a video replay of his blunt denunciation three decades ago at an American Medical Association Conference in Chicago, whereby Wecht, a longtime medical school professor and author of sixty books, including textbooks used in medical schools, challenged in blunt terms the scientific acumen of those who claim that one bullet could have caused so many wounds for Kennedy, popularly known as JFK, and Texas Gov. John Connally, who was riding in the same limo and survived multiple wounds.

Connally, a World War II combat veteran and former U.S. Treasury Secretary shown at left on a Time Magazine cover, always insisted that gunshots came from multiple directions and that bullet fragments remained lodged in his body throughout his life. Both of those Connally arguments undercut the “single bullet theory” proposed by the Warren Commission and its Assistant Counsel Arlen Specter, the future U.S. senator from Pennsylvania,. The Warren Commission issued a still-controversial report in 1964 that blamed the entire killing and planning solely on former U.S. Marine Lee Harvey Oswald. Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald, who insisted he was innocent, at a Dallas police station on Nov. 22, 1963, two days after JFK’s murder, thus preventing a trial of Oswald’s defense. Many researchers have argued along with Wecht that Oswald could not have killed JFK acting alone, with many also arguing that Oswald likely did not fire a shot and was instead a patsy, as Oswald himself claimed.

Two other annual JFK research conferences will be in Dallas, usually the site of CAPA’s annual conference. Those conferences are organized by JFK Lancer Productions (named for JFK’s Secret Service code name “Lancer”), led by Debra Conway, Stuart Wexler and Larry Hancock from Nov. 17 to 20, and the JFK Historical Group, led by David Denton from Nov. 16 to 19. Details on their programs are here and here, respectively.

Contact the author Andrew Kreig

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From the programing announcement of the Wecht Institute regarding its conference: The JFK Assassination at 60: New Frontiers in Scientific, Medical, Legal and Historical Research.

Three score since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, what could possibly remain to be learned about his death? Quite a lot, as it turns out.

Even as the U.S. government continues to withhold files scheduled for release in 2017 and the mainstream media persists in disparaging those pursuing an answer to this mystery as “conspiracy theorists,” independent investigators around the world – including scientists, physicians, attorneys, educators and journalists – are advancing lines of research ranging from criminalistic analysis of events in Dealey Plaza to Oswald’s and Ruby’s connections to shortcomings of prior official investigations, and beyond.

In partnership with Citizens Against Political Assassinations, the symposium will convene experts from a variety of fields, along with lay researchers, to help us advance and clarify our collective understanding not only of how JFK died, but why, as well as why it still matters today. Revisit our previous JFK conferences.

Whether you’re a professional interested in earning 12 continuing education credits, an educator or student of any number of associated disciplines, or simply an armchair sleuth with a fascination in the subject matter, we hope you’ll consider joining us.

This year’s annual symposium is a hybrid event, and the entire event will be recorded. Virtual registrants will have the opportunity to access these recordings until the end of the year (December 31, 2023) using the same links they used for the live event. Onsite registrants who are interested in accessing the recordings can make inquiries regarding their access.

Citizens Against Political Assassinations will host a reception on Duquesne’s campus to honor Dr. Cyril Wecht with a Profile in Courage award and to hear film director and producer, Irving Nestor, present findings of his Dealey Plaza 3D scan. Registration was due Friday, Oct. 27 for the 40/plate dinner fee, separate from the cost of the Symposium.

Prepare to immerse yourself in captivating presentations, thought-provoking discussions, and the opportunity to connect with experts and fellow enthusiasts alike. The Annual Symposium promises a dynamic and comprehensive experience that paves the way for new perspectives, lasting connections, and the exchange of knowledge that will shape the future. All presentations are scheduled to take place in the Duquesne University’s Union Ballroom, unless otherwise noted.

Wednesday, November 15
5:30 p.m. Reception
7:00 p.m. Welcome and Introductions: Benjamin E. Wecht, M.A.
7:10 p.m. Opening Remarks: Cyril H. Wecht, M.D., J.D.
7:20 p.m. Keynote Introduction: Ken Gormley, J.D.
7:30 p.m. Keynote Address: ‘Why JFK’s Camelot Endures – and Why It Still Matters’, Barbara Perry, Ph.D.
8:30 p.m. ‘Why JFK’s Assassination Will Not Go Away, Alec Baldwin, TV and film star
9:00 p.m. Adjournment

Thursday, November 16: Criminalistics, Forensic Science and Medicine

8:30 a.m. Welcome and Introductions: Benjamin E. Wecht, M.A., Pamela Marshall, Ph.D.

8:45 a.m. ‘Converging Lines of Evidence in the Case for Two Headshots’, Gary Aguilar, M.D., Josiah Thompson, Ph.D., Doug DeSalles, M.D., Bill Simpich, Esq.

10:00 a.m. ‘The Final Witness: A Kennedy Secret Service Breaks His Silence After Sixty Years,’ Paul Landis (USSS Ret.); James Robenalt, Esq.

10:45 a.m. Break

11:00 a.m. ‘Forensic Reactions to an Historical Revelation’, P. Landis, C. Wecht, Ken Gormley, J.D.

11:30 a.m. ‘Two Brain Exams Following JFK’s Autopsy,’ Douglas Horne (USN Ret.)

Concurrent Session (613) ‘Forensic Modeling of Human Reactions and a JFK Assassination Timeline’, Brian Roselle, M.S.

12:30 p.m. Lunch ($12.50 box lunch available for purchase. Please order by Nov. 1.)

12:45 p.m. Special Brownbag Session 1: ‘Documenting the Authenticity of the Zapruder Film’, Robert Groden (by Zoom)

1:15 p.m. Special Brownbag Session 2: ‘Who Killed JFK?’, Rob Reiner (by Zoom)

1:45 p.m. ‘Gauging the Authenticity of the General Walker Bullet’, Lawrence Schnapf, Esq.

Concurrent Session (613) ‘An Audio Forensic Analysis of the JFK Assassination’, Donald Maue
2:45 p.m. ‘As Easy as 1-2-3-4-5: Understanding the JFK Assassination’, David Mantik, M.D., Ph.D.

Concurrent Session (613) ‘The Oswald Letter: An Analysis of Dyslexia and How It Changes our Understanding of the Assassination’, Jerry Kroth, Ph.D. (by Zoom)

3:45 p.m. Break

4:00 p.m. ‘Unmasking the Rockefeller Committee Medical Panel’, Russell Kent

5:00 p.m. Adjournment

6:00 p.m. CAPA Dinner Reception (Additional $40/plate fee to attend. Registration now closed.)

Friday, November 17: History, Politics and the Future

8 a.m. Invitation-only session for speakers, featuring longtime trial attorney, peace activist and author Morris Wolff, describing his work with President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Attorney Gen. Robert K. Kennedy, Warren Commission Member John Sherman Cooper, Warren Commission Assistant Counsel Arlen Specter and others, with introduction by Andrew Kreig, J.D., M.S.L.

8:45 a.m. Welcome and Introductions: Benjamin E. Wecht, M.A., Pamela Marshall, Ph.D.

9:00 a.m. The Assassination of President Kennedy: Understanding the Cold War Context, John Newman, Ph.D.

10:00 a.m. The CIA and JFK: What 30 Years of Reporting Tell Me, Jefferson Morley

Concurrent Session (AR) Carousel Contortionista: Jack Ruby, His Strippers, and their Moving Horses, Mark de Valk, Ph.D., M.A.

11:00 a.m. Break

11:15 a.m. ‘New Findings About TSBD Building Owner David Harold Byrd’, Daniel Alcorn, Esq.

Concurrent Session (AR) J. Edgar Hoover and Lyndon Johnson and how they Obstructed Justice, R. Andrew Kiel

12:15 p.m. Lunch ($12.50 box lunch available for purchase. Please order by Nov. 1.)

12:30 p.m. Special Brownbad Session: ‘Four Died Trying,’ Libby Handros and John Kirby

1:30 p.m. ‘The Death of JFK and the Rise of the Neocons in U.S. Foreign Policy,’ James DiEugenio, M.A.

Concurrent Session 1 (AR) An Inside Perspective on the Relationship between Lee Oswald and the Paines, Robert Manz, M.A.

2:30 p.m. ‘Lessons from the Assassination Records Review Board: The Value of Investigative Research with Respect to National Security’, David Montague, Ph.D.
Concurrent Session 1 (AR) ‘Our Method of Teaching the Assassination: Inspiring the Next Generation of Researchers’, Ronald Burda, J.D. and Michael Vollbach, MA, MS

Concurrent Session 2 (613) Lee Oswald: The Patchwork Kid, Greg R. Parker (Pre-recorded by Zoom)

3:30 p.m. Break

3:45 p.m. ‘Why Our Side is Winning/Losing the Media War’, David Talbot (by Zoom)

4:45 p.m. ‘Closing Remarks’, Ellen Gawalt, Ph.D.

5:00 p.m. Adjournment