Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: The Warren Report and Lee Harvey Oswald's Guilt and Motive 50 Years On

by Mel Ayton, David von Pein

Beyond Reasonable Doubt examines how conspiracy theories developed after publication of the Warren Commission's 1964 report into the circumstances surrounding the JFK assassination. Using the evidence compiled by the commissioners, the authors demonstrate how and why the report was rejected by the American public over the past five decades. The book also provides new and compelling evidence which reveals not only Oswald's guilt, but his clear motive which was never satisfactorily addressed by the Warren investigation. The book also looks at the way in which conspiracy writers have succeeded in persuading a majority of the American public that Lee Harvey Oswald was either an innocent Patsy or acted in conjunction with others to assassinate the president. In an examination of the modus operandi of conspiracy writers, Ayton and Von Pein reveal how the public was manipulated into accepting conspiracy allegations and of how their theories were built around nothing more than misinterpretations and misrepresentation of the evidence and crude speculation.

471 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2014

Reviews

[Cassio Queiros · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my opinion, this is a very good book and one of the best resources on the Kennedy assassination I have ever read and a nice companion to "Reclaiming History" by Vincent Bugliosi and "Case Closed" by Gerald Posner.
The manner in which Mr. Ayton and Mr Von Pein present the information is very effective.
Unfortunately, the book, of course, is not perfect: no index, very few photos. It's a pity.
But nevertheless, Mr. Ayton and Mr. Von Pein did a pretty good job and produced a very useful book, very comprehensive, easy to read and well written.
So, anyone interested in the Kennedy case must have a copy of this book.

My list of the best books about The Kennedy Assassination:

1) "Reclaiming History" by Vincent Bugliosi
2) "Case Closed" by Gerald Posner
3) "With Malice" by Dale K. Myers
4) "JFK Assassination Logic" by John McAdams
5) "No More Silence" by Larry A. Sneed
6) "Five Days in November" by Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin
7) "The Kennedy Assassination" by Peter Knight
8) "The JFK Myths" by Larry M. Sturdivan
9) "False Witness" by Patricia Lambert
10) "The Warren Commission Report"
11) "The Death of a President" by William Manchester
12) "Marina and Lee" by Priscilla Johnson McMillan
13) "The Killing of a President" and "The Search for Lee Harvey Oswald" (a very good collection of photos. Forget Mr. Groden opinions) by Robert J. Groden
14) "LIFE - The Day Kennedy Died"
15) "Phantom Shot" by Mike Majerus and Jack Nessan
16) and now: "Beyond Reasonable Doubt" by Mel Ayton and David von Pein (congratulations gentlemen)

[Lee Tracy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mel Ayton and David Von Pein are well-known on the internet for being indefatigable defenders of the official stories of the assassinations of the 1960s. Von Pein's presence, in particular, is overwhelming: blogs, YouTube accounts, Amazon reviews, forum postings. I will not question their motives or sincerity, but it is mystifying why people would devote so much time and energy to defending obvious falsehoods.

If the official story is true (a simple case of murder as its defenders claim, muddied only by the "conspiracists"), why is yet another book required to defend it? William Manchester, Jim Bishop, David Belin, Charles Roberts, Jim Moore, Jean Davison, Gerald Posner, Vincent Bugliosi and so many others have already written the allegedly "definitive account" that supposedly "closed the case." Or so the media proclaim whenever these works are published. Mel Ayton has already written at least two other books to "dispel the conspiracy myths." There is a whiff of desperation involved in these books, and the TV news "specials" that appear when anniversaries roll around. Americans are increasingly aware that their official history is a lie, more attractively packaged and marketed than in other countries, but still a lie.

Martin Hay at the CTKA website has also written an excellent rebuttal to Beyond Reasonable Doubt.