The killing of Lee Harvey Oswald and the subsequent trial were the genesis of the Kennedy conspiracy theory complex and, despite no good evidence, polls show that the majority of people still believe there was a conspiracy at play here. There's something uniquely American about conspiracies, and in our current moment, they're more prevalent than ever.


KENNEDY'S AVENGER focuses on the trial for what is still today the most witnessed crime in the history of the world. It called into question how a fair trial could be granted when the jury were witnesses. The trial itself was a veritable circus - book deals were in place for the major players before it began (including for the judge); media hounded the subpoenaed witness, which were a colorful cast of strippers, boxers, police officers and a never-ending line of doctors and psychiatrists; the city of Dallas itself was on trial.


This was the trial that set the standard for every media-heavy trial to follow. Abrams uses the actual trial transcript to show how the proceedings ignited the conspiracy theories, details Ruby's desperate testimony to the Warren Commission, and outlines why Jack Ruby died an innocent man.

Despite having more eyewitnesses than any other crime in history - to this day - few would remember the bizarre trial that followed three months later in Dallas, Texas. How exactly does one defend a man who was seen pulling the trigger in front of millions? And, more important, how did Jack Ruby, who fired point-blank into Oswald live on television, die an innocent man?


This was the first "TV trial" in history and the first in which a verdict was announced on live television. It called into question whether or not a crime's witness is able to server as a juror. It put the very city of Dallas on display to the world and tested whether a fair trial could be had in the deep south.

Together with his co-writer David Fisher, Abrams introduces us to a color cast of characters, including Melvin Belie, Ruby's attorney who ignited the modern medical negligence industry; Henry Wade, who later found eternal fame as the defendant in Roe v. Wade; disgraced boxer Barney Ross; and a never-ending line of police, strippers, psychiatrists, and underworld figures.