Case closed?

In the process of writing a big paper on the JFK assassination in high school, I became enthralled by the assassination conspiracy theories. It was such a complicated topic and I really loved exploring the possibilities, considering the nuances of everything from Oswald's past to JFK's autopsy report. Even more than 40 years later, there are so many questions left unanswered. The Warren Commission's rather frantic conclusion seemed more like a convenient way to ease the minds of the masses than a real investigation. "Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone." Done and done, now everyone can sleep at night. Well, it turns out that they did botch the investigation, but for a different reason--the U.S. was ten days away from a JFK-authorized coup of Cuba and they were trying to protect the Cuban coup leader and prevent a nuclear confrontation with the Soviets. Okay, I didn't suspect all that, but I knew that something was up with that report.

And sure, Oswald probably shot JFK, but I am almost positive he did not act alone. I can't even quite commit to the fact that he was the lone gunman, although I suspect that is the case. I concluded that the mafia hired Oswald and enlisted the help of some rogue police officers and/or CIA agents. I mean, Jack Ruby (Oswald's killer) was a mafia guy, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. I don't have the time or resources at hand to get into it right here, but trust me...I wish I could find a copy of that paper, the teacher kept my original for posterity. (Hey! I forgot all about that! He also gushed for way too long to the class about it, and at one point he jokingly implied that it was plagiarized! I set him straight after class in case he wasn't joking, because I was kind of pissed...and also completely shocked that this monotone, hard to please teacher was that impressed.)

Anyway, I bring all this up because I recently discovered an article that exposes this confession by Carlos Marcello, the Mafia godfather of Louisiana and Texas: "YEAH, I HAD the son of a bitch killed. I'm glad I did. I'm sorry I couldn't have done it myself!" He confessed to the FBI in 1985 and the files are now uncensored at the National Archives. Lamar Waldron detailed this for the first time in his book Legacy of Secrecy, published last November. (It's an investigation into the murders of JFK, Robert Kennedy, and MLK, and I will definitely be reading it at some point, despite the 848 pages.)...You know, my history teacher also said that I could become a millionaire if I did something with research. Damn Waldron, I guess he beat me to it.