Kennedy assassination expert electrifies the audience at RU

The audience in the packed auditorium of the Hurlburt Student Center listened in rapt attention as Kennedy assassination expert Dale K. Myers presented a forum based on his Emmy-winning presentation "Secrets of a Homicide: The JFK Assassination" on Tuesday, Oct. 22.

Myers is famous for his computer-animated reconstruction of the assassination. His work has shed new light on old evidence and can answer the questions that have provoked many conspiracy theories over the years.

During the 90-minute presentation, Myers took the audience on a virtual tour through Dallas, tracing the path of President Kennedy's motorcade and mapping out the events of the Nov. 22, 1963 assassination.

The filmmaker was brought to campus as part of a class called “Investigating the Kennedy Assassination,” currently taught by RU professors Tod Burke and Stephen Owen, and as a Scholar-Citizen Initiative event.

“For the public forum, Myers focused on Dealey Plaza and the events of the assassination,” Burke said. “His reconstruction showed us different perspectives from the Zapruder film, which is the most famous recording of the assassination.”

Myers is also the author of “With Malice: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Murder of Officer J.D. Tippit” and a leading expert on the Tippit murder. 

Prior to the public forum, Myers visited the students in Burke and Owen’s class to discuss the murder of Tippit, a Dallas police officer who stopped Lee Harvey Oswald about 45 minutes after the assassination of the president. Although Tippit’s murder isn’t the most remembered event of the day, it was the incident that landed Oswald in police custody.

Students taking “Investigating the Kennedy Assassination” are focusing on every aspect of the assassination and learning about the changing landscape of the early 1960s, from politics to pop culture. At the end of the semester, students will be responsible for presenting a group project where they take the existing data and think of new ways to explore the JFK assassination.

On Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 5 p.m., students will publicly present new, modern interpretations on the case in front of news media and a panel of experts, academics and law enforcement officials in RU’s McGuffey 206. Students will be expected to defend their new research, answer questions and explain their ideas.

As with Myers’ visit, the student presentations are free and open to the public.