Judge says funeral home couldn't sell Lee Harvey Oswald casket, awards brother $87K plus coffin
When the body of the man accused of assassinating President John F. Kennedy was exhumed in 1981, it was reburied in another coffin after the identity of the corpse as Lee Harvey Oswald’s was confirmed.
Baumgardner Funeral Home kept the original pine coffin, which was purchased by Oswald’s brother in 1963 for $300, then sold it at auction in Los Angeles in 2010 to an unidentified buyer for $87,468. But the funeral home had no right to do so, a Texas judge ruled Friday, because the casket belonged to the original purchaser, Robert Edward Lee Oswald, the Dallas Morning News reports.
In addition to $87,468 in damages, Judge Donald Cosby awarded the 80-year-old brother possession of the coffin, calling Baumgardner’s conduct malicious and wanton. The funeral home will be responsible for getting the coffin back to the brother.
Oswald’s lawyer tells WFAA that he intends to destroy the casket. “From the moment we filed suit, to closing arguments and to today, the sooner we can get that casket destroyed, the sooner [Oswald] will be able to go on with his life,” attorney Gant Grimes said.
The Associated Press also has a story. None of the articles includes any comment from the funeral home.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Suit by Lee Harvey Oswald’s Brother Claims Casket Auction Was a Privacy Invasion”
New York Times (1981): “OSWALD’S BODY IS EXHUMED; AN AUTOPSY AFFIRMS IDENTITY”
