Bryan Kuderna

No — the JFK assassination was the perfect example of why you never enter a project with your mind made up. You follow the evidence wherever it leads. I set out to show that not all the “who killed JFK” theories could be right. The KGB couldn’t have done it if the Cubans did, or the CIA planned it, or the Mafia was behind it. Random House bought a book that would debunk what was factually wrong and flag the handful of issues that still couldn’t be resolved — marketed as a primer: read this book before anything else on the case. My own starting bias was suspicion of the Mafia. Jack Ruby killing Oswald just two days after the assassination had all the hallmarks of a mob hit to silence him. Only deep research showed that wasn’t the case. Halfway through the project, I met with my Random House editor and editor-in-chief. I thought we could publish a book that actually named who did it, I told them. “Who?” “Oswald.” “Oswald and who?” “Just Oswald.” I saw the worry on their faces — had I just swallowed the Warren Commission? Then I laid out some of what was new: the first interview with Soviet defector Yuri Nosenko, a fresh third-party ballistics study, and a new analysis that upended conventional wisdom on the Zapruder film. Their enthusiasm kicked in fast. “Case Closed” became the working title later