The Truth About Harvey & Lee

John Armstrong spent about ten years developing a grand theory to explain the JFK assassination. His 2003 book Harvey & Lee: How the CIA Framed Oswald outlined his beliefs. However, as author and researcher Jeremy Bojczuk has said, "John Armstrong’s ‘Harvey and Lee’ theory had been conclusively refuted two decades before Harvey and Lee was published."

This article is a quick summary of the scientific evidence refuting the theory

The most compelling proof is the 1981 exhumation of Lee Harvey Oswald which was done to refute a similar conspiracy theory from author Michael Eddowes. According to Armstrong’s theory, “Harvey” is supposed to be buried in the Fort Worth grave while “Lee” may be “very much alive”. Unfortunately, “Harvey” had a mastoid operation from 1946 that “Lee” was supposed to have (Norton Report). A document from “Harvey’s” medical treatment (CE 985, 18 H 455) in the Soviet Union again shows he had the mastoid scar. Another document that mentions the scar is found in “Harvey’s” Marine Corps enlistment papers (WC Donabedian Exhibit No. 1).

Armstrong associate Jim Hargrove has recently made the first attempt I am aware of to address the mastoidectomy. Hargrove now says that "Harvey" may have undergone a mastoid operation at Jacobi Hospital in New York in 1953 when the Oswalds lived there. This is based on the statement of Marguerite's housekeeper Louise Robertson, who said Marguerite told her LHO had come to the big apple for "mental tests." But as Greg Parker first pointed out and Wikipedia confirms, Jacobi didn't open until 1955. Hargrove replies by saying that Robertson must have gotten the name of the Hospital wrong.

Another powerful argument for rebutting the Armstrong theory is made by the HSCA handwriting analysis. The HSCA panel examined 63 handwriting samples when conducting their study. I reasoned that, by classifying these samples as “Harvey” and “Lee”, I could check for any discrepancies. I found many such discrepancies and selected six samples (three of each man) as the basis for my article Harvey & Lee: The Handwriting is on the Wall which was published in the Kennedy Assassination Chronicles in 2001.

Jim Hargrove has maintained that the HSCA study was flawed because some of the documents used were copies and that forensic document examiners prefer originals. While it is true that document examiners prefer to work with originals, it is a fact that most of the documents reviewed by the forensic panel were indeed originals. More importantly, all the documents selected for my article were originals. The bottom line is that the handwriting experts found that the same individual wrote most of the samples that should be either “Harvey” or “Lee”.

A comprehensive photo analysis, also done by the HSCA, is another solid proof that the Armstrong theory is bogus. Unfortunately, most of the photos selected for analysis by the committee were of “Harvey” since their work was not done to specifically refute Armstrong. However, a December, 1956, photo which is supposed to be “Lee”, per Armstrong, was compared with several photos of “Harvey” and the HSCA photo panel proved using morphological data that the photos were of the same individual. (HSCA Photo Analysis)

As Bojczuk perceptively noted, the Harvey & Lee theory was refuted before it was even created.