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The Prayer Man is an unidentified person filmed on the steps of the Texas School Book Depository by James Darnell and Dave Wiegman as John F. Kennedy was shot. Several Kennedy assassination conspiracy theorists have suggested that this person is accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.^[a]

The name Prayer Man was given by researcher Sean Murphy, who speculated that the official first sighting of Oswald in the second floor lunchroom by Roy Truly and Marrion Baker was fabricated and that Prayer Man was Oswald standing on the front steps of the building during the shooting. Upon enhancement, Murphy noted that he believed the improved images showed the Prayer Man to be Oswald. The footage has since been subjected to many attempts to authenticate or debunk the Prayer Man's identity.

The Prayer Man was filmed Dave Wiegman, Jr., NBC cameraman riding in Camera car #1, national motion-picture cameras, a yellow two-door 1964 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport (SS) convertible, and James Darnell, WBAP-TV, with motion-picture camera who was riding in Camera car #3, local cameras, a grey two-door 1964 Chevrolet Impala convertible, which also included Malcolm O. Couch, WFAA-TV, with motion-picture camera and Bob Jackson, Dallas Times Herald photographer.

In the late 1960s, Richard E. Sprague, a specialist on photography and computers, corresponded with Harold Weisberg, Howard Roffman and Richard Bernabei .

In 2013, researcher Sean Murphy entered into the debate on the Education Forum thread started by Bill Kelly, in which Kelly posted the original blurred Darnell image. Murphy put forward a theory that the figure was Oswald and argued that the second floor lunchroom encounter was false.^[1]

In 2015, Stan Dane produced a book called, Prayer Man: Out of the Shadows and Into the Light, which published the key findings in the thread started by Bill Kelly at the education forum.^[2] In 2023, Bart Kamp published the book Prayer Man: More Than A Fuzzy Picture

In 2016, Bart Kamp gave an interview to German television.^[3]

In 2018, Marina Oswald was contacted by researchers for her view on the theory. Ed Ledoux phoned Marina after Stan Dane had sent her enlargements of the Darnell and Wiegman films showing the "prayer man" figure. An unprompted Marina volunteered, "It's Lee".^[4] Marina remained confident that Oswald was the figure, saying "you only have to compare two faces, Lee's and Billy Lovelady.".^[5]

In 2025, Anna Paulina Luna, U.S. representative for Florida, stated during a congressional hearing for the further release of documents related to the JFK assassination that efforts were underway to release the Wiegman film.^[6] She initiated a lawsuit against the US government for the release of the original Darnell and Wiegman films.^[7] A petition was launched on Openpetition.com and received support from many.^[8]

• Lee Harvey Oswald
• John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories

Category:John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories Category:Witnesses to the assassination of John F. Kennedy Category:Unidentified American people