Michael Eddowes, the son of a lawyer, was born in Derby in 1903. After completing his education he worked for his father before eventually establishing his own law firm in London. In 1956, he sold his law firm and invested in a chain of restaurants.

In 1955 he published The Man on Your Conscience, an investigation into the murder trial and execution of Timothy Evans. The book caused renewed interest in the case and eventually Evans received a posthumous pardon by the Queen. This case played an important role in the subsequent abolition of capital punishment in Britain.

On 29 March, 1963, Michael Eddowes called Scotland Yard to say he had important information. He gave information to the police that Christine Keeler had given him, alleging that it was Yevgeny Ivanov – not Stephen Ward – who had asked Keeler to pump John Profumo for information about the delivery of nuclear warheads to Germany.

In his book, Khrushchev Killed Kennedy (1975), Eddowes argued that President John F. Kennedy was killed by a Soviet agent impersonating Lee Harvey Oswald. Eddowes also claimed that Lyndon B. Johnson was aware of this and had covered-up the role of the KGB in the killing of Kennedy in order to prevent a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. It was later revealed that the book had been financed by the Texas oil billionaire, Haroldson L. Hunt.

The following year Eddowes published November 22: How They Killed Kennedy (published in the United States as The Oswald File. In the book Eddowes claimed the assassination was an act of political sabotage and that this information had been withheld from the authors of the Warren Commission.

To test his theory, Eddowes brought a suit in Texas to exhume Oswald's body. This was originally refused but after gaining the support of Lee Harvey Oswald's family, the exhumation took place on 4th October, 1981.

The exhumation of Lee Harvey Oswald's body on 4th October, 1981

The body was taken to the Baylor Medical Center. Identification was made primarily using dental records. At a news conference held later the following statement was issued: “The findings of the team are as follows: We independently and as a team have concluded beyond any doubt, and I mean beyond any doubt, that the individual buried under the name of Lee Harvey Oswald in Rose Hill Cemetery is in fact Lee Harvey Oswald.”

Eddowes also issued a statement: “Though surprised, I am in no way disappointed in the apparent disproving of my evidence of imposture. Rather, I have accomplished my objective in obtaining the exhumation and I am glad for those who have steadfastly maintained the contrary for whatever reason.”

Michael Eddowes died in 1982.

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