The Sixth Floor Museum
Local News
Jim Leavelle, Dallas Detective Cuffed to Lee Harvey Oswald, Dies at 99
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In an interview with NBC TV, Aynesworth said, “Jim lived a life like you’d like a hero to lead. He was a good guy, he was considerate of people and he was well liked by almost all those that knew him.”
Leavelle’s suit, Stetson hat, and handcuffs are now on display as part of the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza’s core exhibit, “John F. Kennedy and the Memory of a Nation.” Stephen Fagin, Curator at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, said, “A true living legend, Jim was a longtime friend of The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza and frequently shared his remarkable life and career experiences. In addition to surviving the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 while stationed aboard the U.S.S. Whitney, Leavelle also found himself at another key moment in history in 1963. Wearing a light-colored suit and cowboy hat, he was handcuffed to Lee Harvey Oswald when Jack Ruby murdered the alleged presidential assassin on live television. Leavelle was immortalized in a photograph taken by Bob Jackson which later won the 1964 Pulitzer Prize.”
Photo: The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.
The Sixth Floor Museum is located at 411 Elm Street, on the sixth and seventh floors of the former Texas School Book Depository where Oswald was temporarily employed when he allegedly assassinated President John F. Kennedy. The sniper’s nest where he allegedly fired the shots that killed the president and wounded Governor John Connally faces Elm Street from a sixth-floor window. The museum’s diverse, actively growing collection of more than 65,000 items is one of the world’s most important sources about President Kennedy’s assassination. For more info, visit jfk.org.
Leavelle retired from the Dallas Police Department in 1976, and later founded a polygraph business. He remained a true Texas gentleman throughout a long lifetime of service to his country.
