Notarized authorization to exhume and autopsy the body of Lee Harvey Oswald
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Notarized authorization to exhume and autopsy the body of Lee Harvey Oswald
Notarized authorization from the Dallas County Medical Examiner Office, dated August 14, 1980, to exhume and autopsy the body of Lee Harvey Oswald, buried in Rose Hill Memorial Park in Fort Worth, Texas. The form is authorized and signed by Dr. Charles S. Petty, Chief Dallas County Medical Examiner, to direct Paul J. Groody, undertaker for Oswald's funeral, to disinter the body. Handwritten in black ink are the signatures of Dr. Petty and the notary public, and the dates. Near the notary public's signature is an embossed notary stamp.
Notarized authorization to exhume and autopsy the body of Lee Harvey Oswald
08/14/1980
Paper
14 × 8 1/2 in. (35.6 × 21.6 cm)
Dallas County Medical Examiner Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
2013.083.0001
The controversial 1981 exhumation of Lee Harvey Oswald was done at the behest of British lawyer and author Michael Eddowes, who theorized that a Soviet imposter took Oswald's place while in Russia and subsequently returned to the United States where he assassinated President Kennedy and, after being shot by Jack Ruby, was buried at Rose Hill Memorial Park in Fort Worth. Tests on the decomposed remains proved, however, that it was indeed Lee Harvey Oswald. - Stephen Fagin, Associate Curator
Notarized authorization to exhume and autopsy the body of Lee Harvey Oswald
Notarized authorization from the Dallas County Medical Examiner Office, dated August 14, 1980, to exhume and autopsy the body of Lee Harvey Oswald, buried in Rose Hill Memorial Park in Fort Worth, Texas. The form is authorized and signed by Dr. Charles S. Petty, Chief Dallas County Medical Examiner, to direct Paul J. Groody, undertaker for Oswald's funeral, to disinter the body. Handwritten in black ink are the signatures of Dr. Petty and the notary public, and the dates. Near the notary public's signature is an embossed notary stamp.
Notarized authorization to exhume and autopsy the body of Lee Harvey Oswald
08/14/1980
Exhumation
Oswald's corpse
Autopsy
Letters
Oswald, Lee Harvey
Oswald, Marina
Petty, Charles
Groody, Paul
Dallas County Medical Examiner
Rose Hill Cemetery
Dallas
Paper
14 × 8 1/2 in. (35.6 × 21.6 cm)
Dallas County Medical Examiner Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
2013.083.0001
The controversial 1981 exhumation of Lee Harvey Oswald was done at the behest of British lawyer and author Michael Eddowes, who theorized that a Soviet imposter took Oswald's place while in Russia and subsequently returned to the United States where he assassinated President Kennedy and, after being shot by Jack Ruby, was buried at Rose Hill Memorial Park in Fort Worth. Tests on the decomposed remains proved, however, that it was indeed Lee Harvey Oswald. - Stephen Fagin, Associate Curator
Related objects
"Consent to Exhume and Autopsy" form signed by Marina Oswald Porter
08/08/1980
List of personnel in morgue during Lee Harvey Oswald's autopsy
11/24/1963
Autopsy report for Lee Harvey Oswald by the Dallas County Medical Examiner
11/24/1963
Notebook used by Dallas Times Herald reporter Bob Fenley the day Oswald was shot
11/24/1963
