Jim Leavelle

Jim Leavelle
Jim Leavelle (tan suit) escorts Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963 as Jack Ruby approaches with the fatal gunshot.
Born James Robert Leavelle
(1920-08-23) August 23, 1920
Red River County, Texas
Nationality American
Signature

James Robert Leavelle (born August 23, 1920) is the former Dallas, Texas, homicide detective who was escorting Lee Harvey Oswald through the basement of Dallas Police headquarters when Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby. Several photographs—including one that won a Pulitzer Prize—were taken of Oswald just before and as Ruby pulled the trigger. The photos show Leavelle wearing a tan suit, in sharp contrast to the other detective (L. C. Graves), who is wearing a black suit.

Early life and military service

Leavelle was born and raised in Red River County, Texas. He served in the United States Navy during World War II, and served as a sailor on board the USS Whitney, and was on board the ship during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.[1] In April 1942, the Whitney left Pearl Harbor and headed for the South Pacific to support operations there. One day while the ship was in a storm at sea, Leavelle was descending a ladder when a large wave hurled him to the deck. The impact seriously damaged his knees, and he was evacuated to Oak Knoll Naval Hospital near Oakland, California. In hospital, he met nurse Taimi Snelma Leavelle, his wife-to-be. Around the same time, Leavelle left on a medical discharge to take a civilian supply job with the Army Air Forces in Southern California.

Police career

After World War II ended, Leavelle began a career as a homicide detective. He joined the Dallas Police Department in April 1950 and retired in April 1975.[2][3]

Kennedy assassination

On November 24, 1963, two days after the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald was handcuffed between Leavelle and another detective as he was being led through the basement of the Dallas Police Headquarters to an armoured car for the short trip to the county jail. Jack Ruby then stepped from the crowd and fatally shot Oswald at point-blank range.

On March 25, 1964, Leavelle provided testimony to Warren Commission assistant counsel Leon Hubert.[4] He provided additional testimony to assistant counsel Joseph Ball on April 7.[5]

When Leavelle testified before the Warren Commission, he claimed that the first time he had ever sat in on an interrogation with Oswald was on Sunday morning, November 24, 1963. When Counsel Joseph Ball asked Leavelle if he had ever spoken to Oswald before this interrogation, he stated; "No, I had never talked to him before". Leavelle then stated during his testimony that "the only time I had connections with Oswald was this Sunday morning [November 24, 1963]. I never had [the] occasion to talk with him at any time..."[5]

The tan suit Leavelle wore on November 24, 1963, is on display at the Sixth Floor Museum.[6]

Leavelle supports the official conclusion that Oswald acted alone, and has also refuted conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination.[1]

Later life

In December 1992, Leavelle accidentally shot photographer Bob Porter.[7]

In a 2006 interview, Leavelle said that he was the first to interrogate Oswald after his arrest (contrary to his Warren Commission testimony); he said that he joked with Oswald before the transfer, saying "Lee, if anybody shoots at you, I hope they're as good a shot as you are," meaning that the person would hit Oswald instead of Leavelle. Oswald smiled and said, "You're being melodramatic. Nobody's going to shoot at me."[1]

Leavelle later said to author Joseph McBride that to him, the murder of President Kennedy was "no different than a south Dallas nigger killing".[8]

Dr. Robert McClelland, who treated Oswald at Parkland Hospital, has said that while at Parkland, he noticed that Leavelle was waiting outside the hospital room and said that Leavelle told him that after Oswald was shot, he claimed to have "leaned over Oswald and said, 'Son, you're hurt real bad. Do you wanna say anything?' He looked at me for a second. He waited like he was thinking. Then he shook his head back and forth just as wide as he could. Then he closed his eyes."[9]

In November 2011, Leavelle had a serious fall while visiting his daughter Karla and was flown to Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas for immediate surgery to remove his eye due to the severity of damage. As a result, he now wears a glass eye.[10]

In 2013, Leavelle was recognized for his service during an awards ceremony. Dallas's police chief gave him the Police Commendation Award and renamed the department's Detective of the Year Award in his honor.[3]

Leavelle's wife Taimi died in 2014.

Portrayals

Leavelle appeared as himself in the 1978 made-for-television movie, Ruby and Oswald.

The character Leavelle, who trains Homer Simpson at "Leavelle's Bodyguard Academy" in The Simpsons' episode Mayored to the Mob, is based on Leavelle, as he appeared when escorting Oswald when Oswald was shot by Ruby. Leavelle was voiced by Mark Hamill.[11] Leavelle trains the bodyguards by pretending to shoot their protectee from a grassy knoll on a cart. This is a reference to the grassy knoll at the site of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Dealey Plaza and a scene from the Kennedy assassination film Executive Action (1973).[11]

"The Guy in the White Hat" Griffin, who appears in the Family Guy episode Peter-assment, is based on Leavelle.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Brokaw, Tom (December 7, 2006). "Pearl Harbor survivor witnesses history — twice". MSNBC.com.
  2. ↑ "Warren Commission, Volume VII: James R. Leavelle" (PDF). Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  3. 1 2 Stengle, Jamie (May 14, 2013). "Dallas police honor detective cuffed to Oswald". Associated Press.
  4. ↑ "Testimony of James Robert Levelle". Hearings Before the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Volume XIII. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. 1964. pp. 14–21.
  5. 1 2 "Testimony of James R. Levelle". Hearings Before the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Volume VII. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. 1964. pp. 260–270.
  6. ↑ "John F. Kennedy and the Memory of a Nation - The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza".
  7. ↑ http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg%20Subject%20Index%20Files/L%20Disk/Leavelle%20James/Item%2002.pdf
  8. ↑ DiEugenio, James (September 20, 2016). Reclaiming Parkland: Tom Hanks, Vincent Bugliosi, and the JFK Assassination in the New Hollywood. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. p. 251. ISBN 9781510707771.
  9. ↑ Mooney, Michael J. (November 2008). "The Day Kennedy Died". D Magazine. Dallas, Tex. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Jim Leavelle fell". The Education Forum.
  11. 1 2 Hauge, Ron (2007). The Simpsons The Complete Tenth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Mayored to the Mob" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
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