There was never any reason to believe Oswald was the shooter.
I have not read that much about the 1979 Commission Report, but it was my understanding that Blakey the head counsel dominated the commission. His presumption was the Mafia was involved and spent a lot of time and resources with following that presumption and then when time and money was running out attempted to do some hocus pocus with the audio much like Arlen Specter did with the magic bullet.
It is a shame really as it was only 15 years after the murder and a proper investigation could have thrown new light on the events.
My view on the investigations:
Warren Commission—blatant lying and cover up
Garrison—found some interesting things and several good witnesses ended up dead. Moved the ball down the field a bit.
Congress in the 1970s—tied the Mob and the CIA—definitely established conspiracy and multiple shooters. Moved the ball down the field a bit further.
Now I get controversial....next important piece was a book by Seymour Hersch written in 1991:
https://www.amazon.com/Samson-Option-Israels-Nuclear-American/dp/0394570065
This was not about the JFK assassination at all—but Hersch did not realize what he had found.
Another motive for the assassination—and new players.
I have written about this here from time to time—because it tied James Jesus Angleton into the plot since he supported Israeli nuclear development while JFK opposed it—and LBJ supported it.
Next critical book that named specific conspirator names—all CIA folks—and Hunt said he was in charge of site logistics in Dallas:
https://www.amazon.com/Bond-Secrecy-Watergate-Conspirator-Howard/dp/1936296837
Next—the drip drip drip of the JFK assassination files in recent years—lots of interesting detail totally ignored by the mass media.
Just one example—we now know that Oswald had a rock solid alibi—he was on the second floor getting change from a co worker when the shots rang out.
We still don’t have all the pieces of the puzzle—but a lot of the gaps have been closed....
There was. Oswald didn't cover his tracks. An open and shut case against him was developed before the weekend was over.
"I have not read that much about the 1979 Commission Report, but it was my understanding that Blakey the head counsel dominated the commission. His presumption was the Mafia was involved and spent a lot of time and resources with following that presumption and then when time and money was running out attempted to do some hocus pocus with the audio much like Arlen Specter did with the magic bullet."
Mostly true. The committee almost entirely confirmed the Warren Commission findings, and tested all the conspiracy theories people were promoting, and still promote, and found them false.
But at the very end, some analysts claimed to find audio proof of a shot from the grassy knoll.
"It is a shame really as it was only 15 years after the murder and a proper investigation could have thrown new light on the events."
It was a very thorough investigation. It settled a lot of the questions that had been raised up till that time. It was only the audio business at the end that messed it up.