Kennedy assassination tape may prove if Oswald acted alone

A NEW copy of an audio tape of John F Kennedy’s assassination may prove whether killer Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

The sound recording could strengthen or destroy conspiracy theories by establishing how many shots were fired.

Scientists in the US have started making the first digital copy of the original tape recording. Analysis may confirm how many shots were fired on November 22, 1963, the day JFK was shot dead in his car in Dallas, Texas.

The sound of the event was caught by the radio on a nearby police motorcycle, and captured on a plastic Dictaphone belt at police headquarters.

In 1979 the US Congress House Select Committee on Assassinations said four shots could be heard on the tape, and they appeared to come from two different locations.

The committee concluded that Oswald, who was arrested for the murder but shot dead before he could be tried, probably did not act alone.

The sound recording had not been used by the original Warren Commission investigation, which concluded that Oswald was the lone gunman and fired three shots from the Texas Book Depository.

Despite its apparently crucial role in the case, the Dictaphone belt has not been played or copied since 1990, because of fears over its deteriorating state.