M-burg Mayor Reflects On 25-Year Friendship With Det. James Leavelle

Some people choose the spotlight, and sometimes the spotlight chooses them.

On Nov. 24, 1963, James Leavelle, a homicide detective with the Dallas Texas Police Department, found himself with the spotlight shining brightly on him as one of the most shocking events in American history unfolded in the basement of the Dallas police headquarters.

Leavelle was handcuffed to Lee Harvey Oswald, who was being investigated for the murders of President John F. Kennedy and Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippit just two days earlier.

Oswald was being transferred from the city jail to the county jail when suddenly a man named Jack Ruby leapt from the shadows and shot Oswald at close range.

With news photographers and television cameras stationed in the basement to record Oswald's transfer, photographer Robert Jackson of the Dallas Times Herald caught the exact moment Ruby's bullet hit Oswald in the stomach.

The photograph shows, in haunting detail, the pain in Oswald's face and the shock on Leavelle's. From that moment forward, Leavelle and his light tan suit and white Stetson hat were world famous, forever linked to the assassination of the president.

Leavelle, who died on Aug. 29, 2019, at age 99, was just a dedicated cop doing his job, an ordinary man who found himself in an extraordinary situation. Although he never sought to capitalize on his sudden fame, he didn't hide from it and made friends from all over the country because of it.

Current Martinsburg mayor and former chief of police Richard Brantner Sr. met Leavelle in 1995. The pair formed a friendship that endured until Leavelle's passing.

Brantner, who has studied the JFK assassination extensively, was a past president of the Pennsylvania Chief's of Police Association, and in 1995 was in charge of organizing the law enforcement memorial services to be held that year at the Church of God in Williamsburg.

While planning the event, Brantner hit on the idea of having one of the most famous police officers in the country deliver the keynote address and set out to contact him.

"At this time, I had never met Jim and had never spoken to him. I had no idea how I was going to make contact," Brantner said.

Brantner said that the only thing he knew at the time was that Leavelle lived just north of Dallas, in Garland, Texas. As those were the days before social media and instant contact, Brantner used the quickest method available to try to reach Leavelle.

"I got on the phone and dialed information to an operator and requested the phone number of Jim Leavelle of Garland, Texas," Brantner said. "Thank God that he had a published number, otherwise we probably never would have met."

Brantner said that when he called Leavelle and asked if he would be interested in speaking at the law enforcement memorial service, Leavelle enthusiastically committed.

"Without hesitation, he accepted my offer," Brantner said.

Bringing in a famous person to speak at an event can be costly, but to Brantner's surprise, Leavelle charged no fee.

"The amazing part, when I inquired about the cost, he said the cost would only be his expenses," Brantner said. "His gas, motel and meals were the expenses. He didn't stay at elaborate locations and didn't take advantage of the situation."

Brantner said the total cost for having Leavelle and his wife Taimi come to Williamsburg was only $400, and the canceled check remains one of his most prized possessions.

Before Leavelle's scheduled trip to Williamsburg, Brantner and his wife Ronda took a trip to Garland to meet Leavelle and his wife, and enjoyed a personal tour around the city of Dallas.

Leavelle also showed the Brantners the famous suit he was wearing while handcuffed to Oswald, which came with a mild surprise for Brantner.

"In the black-and-white photo, the suit looks white, but it's actually a light tan color," Brantner said.

Brantner said Leavelle was gracious in answering questions about his role in the assassination's history, and although he didn't actively bring attention to it, he was always willing to sign photographs and answer questions from curious strangers.

"He didn't tire of talking about it," Brantner said. "I think he enjoyed his place in history."

During the Leavelles' trip to Williamsburg, they paid a visit to the Brantners' home in Martinsburg, solidifying a friendship that would last for nearly 25 years.

In the ensuing years, Brantner would make six more trips to Texas to visit his friend. Between visits they would keep in touch through phone calls and email.

During one visit to the Leavelles, the Brantners witnessed first hand the admiration and respect the public had for the man in the white Stetson.

"A couple of years ago, my wife, Ronda, and I were visiting Detective Leavelle and his wife, Taimi," Brantner recalled. "We were out for dinner one evening and at the conclusion of the meal, our waiter came over and stooped down between Jim and I and inquired as to which one of us had been handcuffed to someone famous. We both laughed and I deferred to Jim as being handcuffed to Lee Harvey Oswald. At the end of the evening as we departed the restaurant. a large group of the employees came out and gathered along the wall, staring at Detective Leavelle. Nobody bothered him, but they knew the story and that he was part of history and they wanted to get a look at him."

Brantner said Leavelle was always willing to share stories of that fateful day in the basement of the Dallas police department.

"The one being that as he was handcuffed to Oswald, Jim told him that if anybody shot at them during the jail transfer Jim hoped that they were as great a shot as Oswald. Oswald laughed and said, 'nobody is going to shoot at me.' According to Jim, Oswald's famous last words."

The Kennedy assassination gave rise to a host of conspiracy theories. From the Russians to the mob, a second gunman and the grassy knoll, there are no shortages of armchair detectives picking apart the assassination in an attempt to prove something more diabolical than a single gunman, Oswald, killed the President of the United States.

And what did the man who questioned Oswald, who was chained to him during his final moments think?

"When discussing the assassination with Jim, he stated that all you have to do is follow the evidence, and the evidence all points to Lee Harvey Oswald as being the guilty person who assassinated President John F. Kennedy," Brantner said.

Despite his sudden fame, Leavelle continued working for the Dallas Police Department, retiring in 1975.

For Brantner, one of the most admirable things about Leavelle is that he continued his work as a detective when he could have easily cashed in on the events that thrust him into the spotlight.

"Even though Jim could have made a pile of money with his place in history, he didn't. I admired him for that," Brantner said. "He was a great man and one that I am extremely proud to call my friend. Never in my wildest dreams while a student at 16 years of age could I have ever imagined becoming personal friends with anybody associated with the Kennedy assassination."