Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy , the 35th president of the United States , on November 22, Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at age 12 for truancy , during which time he was assessed by a psychiatrist as "emotionally disturbed" due to a lack of normal family life. He attended 12 schools in his youth, quitting repeatedly, and at age 17 he joined the Marines, where he was court-martialed twice and jailed.
In , he was discharged from active duty into the Marine Corps Reserve, then flew to Europe and defected to the Soviet Union. He lived in Minsk , married a Russian woman named Marina , and had a daughter.
In June , he returned to the United States with his wife, and eventually settled in Dallas, Texas, where their second daughter was born. About 45 minutes after assassinating Kennedy, Oswald murdered Dallas police officer J.
Tippit on a local street. He then slipped into a movie theater , where he was arrested for Tippit's murder. Oswald was charged with the assassination of Kennedy, but he denied responsibility for the killing, claiming that he was a " patsy " a fall guy.
Two days later, Oswald was fatally shot by local nightclub owner Jack Ruby on live television in the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters. In September , the Warren Commission concluded that Oswald had acted alone when assassinating Kennedy.
