From Russia With Love: Oswald Letter Auctioned Off

(Oct. 14) – A letter JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald wrote to his mother -- a key piece of evidence from the Warren Commission investigation -- has just been auctioned off for $7,050.

In the letter, Oswald, whom the commission determined to be the slain president's sole killer, tells his mother about his Russian-born wife's visit with her uncle, a KGB agent.

For nearly 50 years, conspiracy advocates have touted the notion that the government covered up important information about the Kennedy assassination, speculating that the Soviet KGB intelligence agency was somehow involved.

"This letter is interesting because Oswald's wife, Marina, is in Minsk, meeting with her uncle, a KGB officer, and Oswald is miserable because she left him. At this point, he's been trying to get re-entry into the United States and has run into the bureaucracy of both the Soviet and U.S. government," said Bobby Livingston, vice president of sales and marketing for RR Auction in Amherst, N.H.

In the letter, written from Russia to his mother, Marguerite, Oswald refers to his wife's family:

"They don't speak any english, however, her uncle is a army colonel, soon to retire. You needn't worry about my losing american citizenship I can only do that if want to, and I don't want too."

Livingston believes the Warren Commission would have initially found this letter to be of interest because of the family tie between Oswald's wife and her KGB uncle.

"These kinds of letters helped establish that Oswald wasn't involved in some kind of KGB operation -- that he wasn't living a life of luxury and wasn't being groomed for any kind of secret mission into this country. This is why they would have seized those letters," he told AOL News.

"What makes this letter important is the mention of Marina's uncle, who's a shadowy army KGB colonel, something that conspiracy theorists have always tried to say that this was Oswald's operative, or commander that sent him to kill our president. That's why this letter is exciting."

And in the grand tradition of "nothing more powerful than a mother's love," Oswald's mother -- who died in 1981 -- made audio recordings in 1964, including the letter that was just auctioned, of her son's accounts from Russia.

In the introduction of the audio letters, she explains why she did this:

"I believe that my son, Lee Harvey Oswald, is innocent. I heard him say, 'I didn't do it, I did not kill anyone.' So, I go from place to place, without any pay. I mention this because many people have written and have asked and said that I am trying to commercialize on my son's death.

"I will have royalties from this particular record -- this is the way I earn my income. Otherwise, I have no income, I have lost my job immediately because of the publicity. I am the mother of this boy. As you will listen to my voice and hear me read the letters, I think that you will get a different picture of the boy than has been presented through the news and through the magazines and the general public."

According to Livingston, handwritten items, like the Oswald letter, are always in demand by collectors.

"It really brings history to life. It's not just a signature on a baseball. It's written from Russia where Oswald is talking about things that are interesting about his struggles in trying to get back to the United States. Unfortunately, he got back here and changed history.

"To have these documents just sheds another light on one of the great tragedies of the 20th century."

When the hammer came down, closing the auction for Oswald's letter on Wednesday night, it went to the highest bid of $7,050.

Livingston told AOL News that the winner wishes to be completely anonymous. "I think the high price for the Oswald letter is a reflection of how much JFK's assassination still resonates with the winning bidder, almost 50 years after that tragic day in Dallas.

"Those gunshots changed everything."