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Oswald Brother Furious About Coffin Sale

Coffin should have been destroyed, not sold, brother says

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 21, 2010 1:57 AM CST

(Newser) – Lee Harvey Oswald's brother says he bought the pine box the presidential assassin was buried in and a funeral home had no right to auction it off earlier this month. The coffin—which was replaced when Oswald was reburied in 1981—fetched $87,469. But Robert Oswald says it's not about the money. "The coffin should have been destroyed years ago, and that is what I desire now," he tells AP.

The retired salesman says he had no idea that the coffin still existed until it came up for sale, and that both the funeral home that put it up for sale and the auction house that handled the deal ignored his phone calls. "We're going to evaluate all the legal options and see what needs to be done," he says.

An wooden coffin in which John F. Kennedy's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was buried is shown at Nate D. Sanders Auctions in Los Angelesearlier this month.
An wooden coffin in which John F. Kennedy's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was buried is shown at Nate D. Sanders Auctions in Los Angelesearlier this month.   (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A wooden coffin in which John F. Kennedy's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was buried is shown at Nate D. Sanders Auctions in Los Angeles.
A wooden coffin in which John F. Kennedy's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was buried is shown at Nate D. Sanders Auctions in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 18 comments
Hershey-Squirts
Dec 21, 2010 4:22 PM CST
Sounds like theft to me.
billcrawford
Dec 21, 2010 8:56 AM CST
The coffin was bought and paid for back when and the rightful owner is the deceased or his closest relative I would presume, thus the undertaker had to have stolen it and the auctioneer was complicit in the sale of stolen property the way I see it, put me on the jury and I will vote to convict both those greedy bast----. The new coffin I imagine would fall under the gift clause, once given you can't take back so there is no trade in there.
Just_Dave
Dec 21, 2010 7:01 AM CST
You know if they dug up my mothers coffin and tried to sell it on the internet I'm thinking I'd be pretty pissed.

 
coffin • Lee Harvey Oswald • JFK assassination

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