Ownership of Lee Harvey Oswald sniper window through which he shot JFK contested
Two men claim to own the sixth-floor "sniper's perch", where Oswald propped the telescopic rifle that he used to assassinate America's 35th president on Nov 22, 1963.
Caruth Byrd, 67, claims that he inherited the window in 1986 from his father, Col Harold Byrd, who once owned Texas School Book Depository, the Dallas building from which Oswald shot Kennedy.
Mr Byrd says that his father had the window removed six weeks after the assassination, fearful that it would be stolen. He then had it framed and hung on the wall of his Dallas mansion.
But Aubrey Mayhew, 81, a collector of Kennedy memorabilia, claims that Col Byrd removed the wrong eight-pane window; he claims that Mr Byrd's framed window is from the south-west corner of the room, and not the south-east corner, from which Oswald fired the fatal shots. Mr Mayhew claims that he asked carpenters to remove the correct window in the early 1970s.
Mr Byrd wants Judge Gena Slaughter to declare him the owner of the authentic window, and to order Mr Mayhew to return any window he took from the building.
The dispute has come to a Dallas courtroom two years after both men tried to sell their windows on eBay.
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
Caruth Byrd, 67, claims that he inherited the window in 1986 from his father, Col Harold Byrd, who once owned Texas School Book Depository, the Dallas building from which Oswald shot Kennedy.
Mr Byrd says that his father had the window removed six weeks after the assassination, fearful that it would be stolen. He then had it framed and hung on the wall of his Dallas mansion.
But Aubrey Mayhew, 81, a collector of Kennedy memorabilia, claims that Col Byrd removed the wrong eight-pane window; he claims that Mr Byrd's framed window is from the south-west corner of the room, and not the south-east corner, from which Oswald fired the fatal shots. Mr Mayhew claims that he asked carpenters to remove the correct window in the early 1970s.
Mr Byrd wants Judge Gena Slaughter to declare him the owner of the authentic window, and to order Mr Mayhew to return any window he took from the building.
The dispute has come to a Dallas courtroom two years after both men tried to sell their windows on eBay.