/internal/media/dispatcher/35493/fullNotarized authorization to exhume and autopsy the body of Lee Harvey Oswald08/14/198014 × 8 1/2 in. (35.6 × 21.6 cm)PaperDallas County Medical Examiner Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza2013.083.00010Original 1 page typed and notarized authorization form 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 Cemetery 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.
Creasing and bent edges throughout; slight tear at centered at bottom edge; fold crease in center of page. (LC 5/8/2014)Documents6491421.590043180135.560071120139991Document0E-10Notarized 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.ExhumationOswald's corpseAutopsyLettersOswald, Lee HarveyOswald, MarinaPetty, CharlesGroody, PaulDallas County Medical ExaminerRose Hill CemeteryDallasThe 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