Lee Harvey Oswald handcuffs realise $110,250

The handcuffs Dallas police officer Ray Hawkins used to arrest Lee Harvey Oswald have sold for $110,250.

The lot led a sale of memorabilia at Goldin Auctions on December 3.


Officer Ray Hawkins arrested Lee Oswald after the assassination

After shooting President Kennedy as his motorcade rode by on November 22, 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald made his escape.

He calmly took the fire escape out of the Texas School Book Depository and headed back to his rented accommodation a couple of miles away.

An hour later he would be spotted by officer JD Tippet, who recognised him from the description broadcast over police radio.

Oswald shot him four times and ducked into the Texas Theater.

Officer Hawkins was one of the first to arrive on the scene at the cinema. He was one of a cohort of police who entered and subdued Oswald as he tried to raise his pistol. Hawkins slapped the cuffs on.

Goldin explained prior to the sale: "This is one of the very few significant JFK-Oswald items that is not in the National Archives.

"The Dallas Police Department made its officers and detectives buy their own handcuffs, thus allowing Hawkins to retain his private property after the assassination."

Oswald's wedding ring, which he left behind before the assassination, sold for $108,500 in 2013.

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