Lee Harvey Oswald's Assassination Case Study

Lee Harvey Oswald was taken to the Dallas City Jail in custody and for forensic evaluation. He was arrested at 1:50 P.M., November 22, 1963, in a movie theater in Dallas after a police dispatcher announced: “Have information a suspect just went in the Texas Theater on West Jefferson.” Before the arrest, the president and an officer were killed. At the cell, Oswald had an attorney called upon his behalf to represent him in court. The attorney described Oswald, who was dressed in white T-shirt and slacks, as calm and rested. He had a bruise over one eye but appeared to be in good health. The attorney then requested a forensic psychologist for further evaluation. The psychologist reported that Oswald did not confirm nor deny whether he worked alone, nor would he reveal any other information. The psychologist was prompted by the attorney to visit the family. The wife of Oswald stated that in the previous
night, dinner was “so ordinary that no one remembers it.” She had no idea what Oswald had planned for the next day, but she knew what he was capable of. She knew Oswald kept a rifle in a rolled-up blanket in the house’s garage, and when she had checked it in the morning, it was gone. She also knew who her husband detested. Earlier in the year, in March, Oswald attempted and failed to kill Edwin Walker, a retired Army general and anti-communist. When the psychologist failed, she replied, “It was getting late, and he was not home yet. I started to worry over his absence.” She also stated that she had found a note left by him, beginning with, “If I am arrested…”, and a pile of cash. In further investigation of Oswald, the attorney appointed the psychologist to a friend.
The friend stated that Oswald had learned Russian when he defected to the Soviet Union, where he had moved after being honorably discharged from the U.S. Marines in 1959. While he said Oswald was not proficient with Russian, the FBI found a memo about a wiretap associated with the president’s assassination, and suspected that Oswald was involved. Upon a re-evaluation with Oswald, the psychologist found that Oswald was depressed. He and his wife had a conflicting relationship. He could not support his family as a former military veteran with no marketable skills. The only thing that drove him and gave him pleasure was indulging in the revolution ideals, where he could forget his failures. He was a support of Marist ideals. He previously attempted to defect to the Soviet Union for a job, but he was unable to grasp the opportunity. By chance, he saw an opportunity to be somebody and took it after he had learned the president would be in
town.
Moreover, his father was a spy of the Soviet Union. Originally a U.S. citizen, he fought against American core values, such as liberty and individualism, and was enlightened by the Communist principles, where citizens worked together for a nation and not as slaves for a capitalistic society. His father dissociated from his family, which fed financial and mental complications to the family.