Sixty years ago today: Questions raised in aftermath of the assassination of President JF Kennedy

A defiant Lee Harvey Oswald, waving his handcuffs to the camera.

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Supporting image for story: Sixty years ago today: Questions raised in aftermath of the assassination of President JF Kennedy
The Express and Star front page of Saturday, November 23, 1963, reporting on the assassination of President Kennedy

That was the image that greeted readers of the Express & Star 60 years ago.

The Express and Star front page of Saturday, November 23, 1963, reporting on the assassination of President Kennedy
The Express and Star front page of Saturday, November 23, 1963, reporting on the assassination of President Kennedy

Shortly after noon on November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he rode in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas, Texas.

President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy walk down the steps of Air Force One as they arrive at Love Field in Dallas, Texas less than an hour before his assasination in this November 22, 1963 photo by White House photographer Cecil Stoughton obtained from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston.
President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy walk down the steps of Air Force One as they arrive at Love Field in Dallas, Texas less than an hour before his assasination in this November 22, 1963 photo by White House photographer Cecil Stoughton obtained from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston.

It was a moment that shook the world and immediately raised the question as to who was the murderer and what was the motive.

The Express & Star reported how Harvey Oswald, a suspected Communist sympathiser, had been arrested almost immediately after the shooting, but was still protesting his innocence after 10 hours of questioning.

The Queen had ordered a week of mourning, and cancelled a number of royal engagements. It was announced that Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home, who had only assumed office the previous month, would be travelling to Washington with Prince Philip for a memorial service.

Downing Street also announced that a national service of commemoration would be held in Britain on a date to be announced.

Meanwhile the investigation into the assassination was moving fast.