L. C. Graves

{{Short description|American police detective (1918–1995)}}

{{Infobox person

|name = L. C. Graves

|image = Lee Harvey Oswald being shot by Jack Ruby as Oswald is being moved by police, 1963.jpg

|caption = Graves (right with dark hat) during the Murder of Lee Harvey Oswald

|birth_date = {{birth date|1918|10|08}}

|birth_place = Camp County, Texas, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|1995|02|11|1918|10|08}}

|death_place = Kaufman, Texas, U.S.

|occupation = Police detective

|spouse = Myrt Graves{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/14/obituaries/l-c-graves-76-dallas-officer-who-wrestled-gun-from-ruby.html|title=L. C. Graves, 76, Dallas Officer Who Wrestled Gun From Ruby|work=The New York Times|date=February 14, 1995|access-date=June 5, 2022}}

|children = 2

}}

L. C. Graves (October 8, 1918 – February 11, 1995) was an American police detective. He worked for the Dallas Police Department and wrestled the gun from nightclub owner, Jack Ruby after Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald, the suspected assassin of John F. Kennedy.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/05/archives/witness-ascribes-malice-to-ruby-quotes-him-as-saying-he-hopes.html|title=Witness Ascribes Malice To Ruby; Quotes Him as Saying He Hopes Oswald Would Die|work=The New York Times|date=March 5, 1964|access-date=June 5, 2022}}{{Cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=1995-02-14 |title=L. C. Graves, 76, Dallas Officer Who Wrestled Gun From Ruby |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/14/obituaries/l-c-graves-76-dallas-officer-who-wrestled-gun-from-ruby.html |access-date=2023-04-03 |issn=0362-4331}}

Graves was born in Camp County, Texas,{{Citation|title=Investigation of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: Hearings Before the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy · Volume 7|date=1964|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|author=United States. Warren Commission}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7uT-47ysB5MC&pg=PA375|title=No More Silence: An Oral History of the Assassination of President Kennedy|page=375|publisher=University of North Texas Press|first=Larry|last=Sneed|date=2002|isbn=9781574411485|via=Google Books}} and served in the United States Army during World War II. Graves worked for the Dallas Police Department from 1949 to 1970. In 1963 he was working in the Homicide and Robbery department as a detective. Graves and fellow detective Jim Leavelle were assigned as bodyguards for Oswald.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/29/us/james-leavelle-dead.html|title=James R. Leavelle, Detective at Lee Harvey Oswald's Side, Dies at 99|work=The New York Times|first=Ralph|last=Blumental|date=August 29, 2019|access-date=June 5, 2022}} After Ruby shot Oswald, Graves wrestled the revolver from Ruby’s hand. Graves testified before the Warren Commission in March and April 1964. Graves was also the brother-in-law of police detective Paul Bentley, who arrested Lee Harvey Oswald.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/us/25bentley.html|title=Paul Bentley, 87, Dies; Detective Arrested Oswald|work=The New York Times|date=July 25, 2008|access-date=June 5, 2022|first=Dennis|last=Hevesi}}

Graves died on February 11, 1995, of heart failure at the Presbyterian Hospital in Kaufman, Texas, at the age of 76. He was buried at Grove Hill Cemetery.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LWtqCgAAQBAJ|title=Where Are They Buried?: How Did They Die? Fitting Ends and Final Resting Places of the Famous, Infamous, and Noteworthy|page=539|first=Tod|last=Benoit|publisher=Hachette Books|date=September 29, 2015|isbn=9780316391962|via=Google Books}}