Oswald rifle newspaper clipping from The Dallas Morning News, 02/25/1969

Object number1996.006.0323

Date02/25/1969

ClassificationsNewspapers & Magazines

ObjectClipping

Credit LinePhil Willis Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

MediumNewsprint

Dimensions5 1/2 x 3 11/16 in. (14 x 9.3 cm)

Terms

Collections

DescriptionNewspaper clipping of an article titled "U.S. Jury Sets Value of Zero on Oswald Rifle" from The Dallas Morning News dated February 25, 1969. The article describes how oilman John King lost his bid to be paid for his ownership claims on Lee Harvey Oswald's Mannlicher-Carcano rifle after a federal jury ruled that Oswald had abandoned the rifle and that King therefore could not have purchased the rifle from Marina Oswald. The suit was filed by King against the U.S. Government after Congress passed a law stating that Oswald's guns were part of the National Archives. The text of the article reads as follows: The Dallas Morning News Tuesday, February 25, 1969 U.S. Jury Sets Value Of Zero on Oswald Rifle Denver (AP) - Oilman John King lost his bid Monday to be paid for the rifle used to assassi- nate President Kennedy. A federal court jury ruled Lee Harvey Oswald abandoned the rifle after the Dallas shooting and therefore King could not have purchased it from Os- wald's widow. The jury, in a verdict reached Friday and opened Monday, set the value of the Italian mail-or- der rifle at zero. The panel of three women and nine men awarded King $350 for the .38-caliber pistol used to kill Dallas patrolman J. D. Tippit following the Kennedy slaying. King had paid Mrs. Marina Oswald $10,000 for the weapons and the right to exhibit them, and Mrs. Oswald was to get an- other $35,000 once King actually got possession of the weapons. After the contract was signed, Congress passed a law making the guns part of the national archives and specifying owners of the property would receive "just compensation." King filed suit, seeking $5 mil- lion for the two guns. He testi- fied during the trial last week that as a gun collector, he valued the rifle at $450,000, al- though Oswald paid $21.45 for it. The government contended Oswald abandoned the rifle and therefore Mrs. Oswald had no claim on it or authority to sell it. The jury upheld this view. The award for the pistol was not connected with the abandon- ment question, since that gun was taken from Oswald when he was arrested. He had paid $29.95 for it.

Curatorial Commentary

John J. King was an independent oilman and prominent gun collector in Englewood, Colorado, when he tried to purchase the two weapons that investigators concluded were used to murder President Kennedy and Dallas police officer J.D. Tippit. He told UPI in 1965 that he simply wanted the guns "for his private collection" and, at least at that time, had no plans to put them on public display.

Assistant U.S. Attorney B.H. "Tim" Timmins, who presented the government's case in federal court, recorded oral histories with the Museum in 2003 and 2004. He passed away in 2013. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator

Curatorial Commentary

This clipping came from page 14A of The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday, February 25, 1969. There were two other news articles on the rifle case published in the Morning News the previous Friday and Saturday. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator