Capturing Oswald on Military Channel

Category: Television and Streaming

The worldwide manhunt for James Earl Ray, the accused assassin of Martin Luther King Jr., took two months. The Dallas manhunt for Lee Harvey Oswald took less than a day. Capturing Oswald is a minute-by-minute account of the hunt for, capture, and interrogation of Oswald. It does not focus at all on the assassination of President Kennedy. It is a fresh perspective of the acts of Oswald, the police, the FBI, and others who were in the thick of things on that fateful November day.

 

“The heroism displayed by the Dallas Police Department during one of the most defining moments in our country’s recent history is often overshadowed by political conspiracies,” said Kevin Bennett, General Manager of Investigation Discovery and Military Channel. Through interviews with police officers and witnesses who were there at the time and who had a front row seat into history, this documentary pieces together the actions of Oswald and the investigators as they make their way through the events from the shooting of the president in Dealey Plaza to the shooting of Lee Oswald. This documentary bookends Oswald’s two days of publicity, which he apparently enjoyed very much.

 

45 minutes after President Kennedy was shot, Oswald shot and killed Dallas Police Officer J. D. Tippit, which set off a second manhunt, culminating in the arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald. When he was in custody, it became clear that the police were looking for this same man in the shooting of the president and Officer Tippit.

The Dallas homicide detective unit was known as the “Cracker Jacks” because they were good at their jobs. What happened in November 1963 still haunts those who are still alive. Many on the squad believe Captain Fritz would have been able to obtain information from Oswald had the FBI not interrupted their interrogations. A lot of what happened in Dallas on those two fateful days defies logic. How could all of these separate events take place in one city in the course of 48 hours? That is one thing that brings out the conspiracy theorists. However this film is not meant to shine a light on any conspiracy. On the contrary, it is meant to show the hard work of those involved in the apprehension and the subsequent custody of Oswald.

 

From those who were there, with reenactments and interviews, viewers will get a better understanding of the events in Dallas after the shots struck the president. Students of history and especially of President Kennedy’s life and death, will be intrigued by the words from those where were there, including Jim Leavelle, the man in the white Stetson who was handcuffed to Oswald when he was shot. You can’t get much closer to history than that.

 

Capturing Oswald premiers Tuesday, November 12, 2013 on Military Channel with an encore presentation Friday, November 12, 2013.