Housewife’s Suspicions 4 Days After JFK’s Murder Linger 61 Years Later
A “concerned housewife” wrote a letter to J. Edgar Hoover only four days after President Kennedy’s assassination in which she called for a “thorough investigation” into the shooting. Mrs. Delmer Woodburn of Irving, TX, wife of a World War II veteran and young mother of three, posed ten points of concerns in her letter to the FBI director, raising questions that continue to remain puzzling over sixty-one years later. Her letter is reproduced here in full:
2813 Brockbank Drive | Irving, Texas | November 26, 1963
TO: Mr. J. Edgar Hoover | Federal Bureau of Investigation | Justice Department | Washington, D.C.
SUBJECT: THOROUGH INVESTIGATION BY F.B.I. IN DALLAS.
I am a concerned housewife in Dallas County. The word shocked can’t even describe how my family and I feel, not only over the brutal slaying of Mr. Kennedy but also over the possibility of twisted justice in the city of Dallas.
I watched the newscasts consistently and throughout the entire time there were constant happenings that to me just do not sound logical. I sincerely hope that there is an answer to have a city free of guilt. Below I have listed some of them:
1.) If Oswald were as calm as he must have been to walk up to a policeman directly outside the building from which the shot was fired, why was he running like a wild animal in Oak Cliff and then remain calm again in the police station.
2.) If Oswald were calm, a marksman, and trained marine would he not realize he couldn’t leave all that evidence?
3.) If the police had as many policemen as they said they did on duty that day and being aware of the possibility of an incident, why was there not a drag-net put around that building immediately and no-one allowed either in or out of the building. It would take some time for anyone to get from the 5th floor even by using an elevator.
4.) Was Oswald just picked for a front because he was a known communist and an undesirable? If he did do this act did he do it for money with the promise of someone to get him off?
5.) District Attorney Wade said there was a bill of sale for a purchased gun as far back as March found in Oswald’s wallet. Why would he carry this around all this time if it were paid for? Could this have been planted?
6.) Why did the police glamorize a police character such as Ruby and being a help friend to several policemen and newsmen? This in itself makes you wonder. And where did Ruby get the newsmen press card the day Oswald was shot?
7.) Why was Ruby or anyone allowed near when they were transferring the prisoner especially when they were warned at attempt was to be made on Oswald’s life.
8.) Why did Police Chief Curry make such an effort to tell everyone several times when Oswald was to be transferred knowing the condition of minds of the people in Dallas. This makes you wonder if a person accused of an act would have the chance of a fair trial in Dallas.
9.) I am sorry to say that there are hate organizations in Dallas. To name a few: The Righteous Indignation, General Walker who flew the flags of the United States upside-down and the Confederate flags right-side up, and how about the group that Bruce Alger led a few months back against Lyndon Johnson. To me these groups are nothing but mobs and do not represent freedom but are hiding behind freedom of speech but are not giving it to other people.
10.) What about Ruby’s gangster connection in Chicago? Could he be a member of Hoffa’s gang? Somehow I just can’t picture a man of his background and character as being an admirer of all presidents. Did Ruby kill Oswald to shut him up?
I believe that Ruby thinks the people of Dallas in their time of grief will think that he did them a favor and help get him free. I believe that there are doubts among some citizens here in Dallas. It would be ironic if the men really guilty of President Kennedy’s death would get away when the American people loved him so much.
Yours truly,
Mrs. Delmer Woodburn
Mrs. Woodburn’s letter remains remarkably prescient but astoundingly level-headed given the shock and grief pervading the country in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
