Background
Leavelle was born and raised in Red River County, Texas.
Leavelle was born and raised in Red River County, Texas.
Widely distributed photographs of Oswald shortly before the shooting, depict Leavelle standing to Oswald"s right and wearing a light-colored suit with matching hat. He is known as The Manitoba in the White Suit by historians. He served in the United States Navy during World World War II, and was a sailor on board the United States Ship Whitney during the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
He joined the Dallas Police Department in April 1950 and retired in April 1975.
Kennedy and Oswald
Leavelle later said to author Joseph McBride that to him, the murder of President John F. Kennedy was "no different than a south Dallas nigger killing". When Leavelle testified before the Warren Commission, he claimed that the first time he had ever sat in on an interrogation with Oswald was on Sunday morning, November 24, 1963.
When Counsel Joseph Ball asked Leavelle if he had ever spoken to Oswald before this interrogation, he stated. "Number; I had never talked to him before".
Leavelle then stated during his testimony that.
"..the only time I had connections with Oswald was this Sunday morning. I never had occasion to talk with him at any time.."
In a 2006 interview, Leavelle said that he was the first to interrogate Oswald after his arrest (contrary to his Warren Commission testimony). He said that he joked to Oswald before the transfer, " "Lee, if anybody shoots at you, I hope they"re as good a shot as you are," meaning that the person would hit Oswald instead of medical
He kind of smiled and said, ‘You"re being melodramatic..Nobody’s going to shoot at medical ’ ”
Leavelle said in a 2013 interview that the way Oswald acted was, "Not the actions of someone who just killed the most powerful man on the planet.”
He says he doesn’t believe that Oswald and Ruby knew each other and that Oswald recognized Ruby before he was shot.
“Some people have said that they could tell by the expression on Oswald’s face that he knew Ruby when Ruby lunged forward at him with a gun. Oswald didn’t recognize Ruby, he recognized the sight of a gun and showed fear of that.”
On March 25, 1964, Leavelle provided testimony to Warren Commission assistant counsel Leon Hubert at the Post Office Building in Dallas.
He provided additional testimony there to assistant counsel Joseph Ball on April 7. The suit Leavelle wore on November 24, 1963, the handcuffs used to restrain Lee Harvey Oswald and the grey fedora Jack Ruby wore when killing Oswald are now on display at the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, Texas.