Jim Leavelle

James Robert Leavelle (born August 23, 1920) is a World War II veteran and 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 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 was a sailor on board the USS Whitney (AD-4) during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

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.

Kennedy and Oswald
On March 25, 1964, Leavelle provided testimony to Warren Commission assistant counsel Leon Hubert. He provided additional testimony to assistant counsel Joseph Ball on April 7.

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..."

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."

In a 2013 interview, Leavelle said that the way Oswald acted "was not the actions of someone who just killed the most powerful man on the planet."

Leavelle believes that Oswald acted alone in killing Kennedy, and said in a 2006 discussion, that he was told by Oswald's brother Robert that he believes the same thing, "because I knew my brother." Leavelle has also refuted conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination. He does not believe that Oswald and Ruby knew each other or that Oswald recognized Ruby before he was shot; "Some people have said that they could tell by the expression on Oswald's face that he knew Ruby when Ruby lunged forward at him with a gun. Oswald didn't recognize Ruby, he recognized the sight of a gun and showed fear of that."

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

Two days after Kennedy was assassinated, Leavelle was in charge of escorting the suspect Lee Harvey Oswald through the Dallas Police Headquarters. Oswald was handcuffed between Leavelle and L. C. Graves (1918–1995) as he was being led through the basement of the building to an armored car for the short trip to the county jail. Jack Ruby then stepped from the crowd and fatally shot Oswald at point-blank range.

After Oswald was shot, Dr. Robert McClelland treated him at Parkland Hospital. McClelland 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."

Suit
The tan suit Leavelle wore on November 24, 1963, the handcuffs used to restrain Lee Harvey Oswald and the grey fedora Jack Ruby wore when he shot Oswald are now on display at the Sixth Floor Museum, in the same spot from which Oswald fired his rifle at President Kennedy, according to four government investigations.

In popular culture
Leavelle s likeness and name was used for a character in The Simpsons' episode Mayored to the Mob. 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).