(KENNEDY JOHN F) McDonald Nick Firsthand account of the capt

Sale 2368 - Lot 143

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(KENNEDY, JOHN F.) McDonald, Nick. Firsthand account of the capture of Lee Harvey Oswald by the officer who caught him. Typed Letter Signed to William A. Wright, one page, 6 3/4 x 7 inches; and Typed Document Signed titled "The Capture of Lee Harvey Oswald," 2 pages, 10 1/4 x 7 inches; all 3 leaves pasted together in left margin, with mount remnants in upper margin and on verso of report. With original typed and stamped mailing envelope. (TFC) Dallas, TX, 8 February 1964

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Maurice N. "Nick" McDonald (1928-2005) was a patrolman with the Dallas Police Department. Shortly after Kennedy was shot, McDonald tracked the armed suspect to a movie theater and wrestled him to submission, sustaining minor injuries in the process. McDonald testified to the Warren Commission on his apprehension of Lee Harvey Oswald, but this single-spaced report written ten weeks after the assassination goes into greater detail: "I started reaching for his waist, where I suspected a weapon might be hidden. The suspect then struck me with his left fist, between the eyes, knocking my police cap off and blooding my nose. I lunged at him with a right hand to his face and my left hand grabbing his right hand that was already on the pistol that was tucked under his belt on his right side. We both fell into the seats, I heard the snap of the hammer of the pistol and felt the hammer slip on my hand. I yelled out to the other officers in the theatre, 'I've got him.'" The bloody nose is not mentioned in the Warren Report.
McDonald sent this account to William A. Wright (1922-2004) of East Kingston, NH "to help you in your research and collection of the true happenings" and to counter "some of the misleading press accounts." Wright was a federal government employee and amateur historian, but apparently never wrote about the Kennedy assassination or published this account.