Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot

In the Afterword of Killing Kennedy, Bill O’Reilly claims to have been present outside the home of George de Mohrenschildt’s daughter in Palm Beach, Florida, when, on May 29, 1977, de Mohrenschildt died by suicide: O’Reilly claims to have “heard the shotgun blast” that ended de Mohrenschildt’s life (300). Since the publication of Killing Kennedy, however, new evidence has come to light and cast doubt on O’Reilly’s assertion.

As a young boy, George de Mohrenschildt escaped the Soviet Union with his father and later emigrated to the United States, where he earned a master’s degree and worked as a petroleum geologist. Due to his Russian origins and international travels, de Mohrenschildt had multiple contacts with the CIA, including several debriefings upon returning to the United States. Most significant of all, de Mohrenschildt became acquainted with the Oswalds in the summer of 1962. For these reasons, de Mohrenschildt gave lengthy testimony in front of the Warren Commission in 1964. Years later, in an interview conducted on the day of his death, de Mohrenschildt stated that a CIA operative had put him in touch with the Oswalds. In short, for more than 13 years after the Kennedy assassination de Mohrenschildt remained a significant figure whose role in, and knowledge of, the events that led to the president’s murder continued to raise questions.