Conspiracy Column: Babushka Lady

No one saw the shooter, except maybe the Babushka Lady

Conspiracy+Column%3A+Babushka+Lady

Jordan Copsey

The Babushka Lady is a theory that centers on a woman who was in all of the photos of the JFK assassination. She wore a headscarf, a brown trench coat, and sunglasses, but who is she? Why hasn’t she come forward to show the pictures she has? 

Not long after the limousine had turned off of Main Street, gunshots were fired, and at 1 PM, JFK was pronounced dead. No one had known why anyone wanted JFK dead, no one saw the shooter except maybe one…the Babushka Lady. She stood in the grass with her hands near her face while the shots were being fired, which makes it seem like she could’ve been holding a camera. While chaos was unfolding, everyone was trying to leave and find cover. She stood unfazed while photographing. When finished, she left and joined the rest of the crowd.

The police started a search to find the Babushka Lady. Many were investigated, but most were dismissed from lack of evidence. However, one woman caught the police’s attention. In 1970, Beverly Oliver said that she was, in fact, the Babushka Lady. She had stated that she filmed everything on a Yashica Super 8 camera. Two FBI Agents had taken it, but she didn’t see any credentials. Oliver was dismissed when the camera she had claimed to use was discovered to have not been on the market till 1969. In addition, she looked nothing like the Babushka Lady. In 1963, she was 17 and was slim and slender. The Babushka Woman seemed heavy, short, and older.

Some believe that the Babushka Lady was in fact a man, dressed in women’s clothing as a disguise. The woman never came forward to show what she had possibly caught on tape. 25,000 people were interviewed and there were thousands and thousands of leads, of all which lead nowhere. If she was an older lady, she most likely would have passed away by now. 

They concluded the case by saying that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Some think the Babushka Lady was a Russian Spy or that she was in a company that worked against the government. No one could prove if she was or not, and this case will forever be a mystery.