In re Grave of Lee Harvey Oswald

Donald and Ida Mae Card owned the headstone that once marked the grave of Lee Harvey Oswald.  During the 1980s, the Cards gave the headstone to Ida Mae’s sister and brother-in-law for safekeeping.  The Cards, in turn, gave the  marker to their son, Johnny Ragan.  Donald and Ida Mae died, and ownership of the Oswald gravestone passed to their children, who demanded it back from the Ragans.  As it turns out, the Ragans had sold it to an Illinois resident, Wayne Lensing, who had arranged for its exhibition at a museum in Illinois.  The Card children sued to get the headstone back.   Lensing filed a special appearance challenging the court’s personal jurisdiction.  The Court found that the plaintiffs had sufficiently alleged jurisdiction because they established that Lensing had committed several relevant acts in Texas, including flying to Fort Worth to take possession of the headstone.  Accordingly, the Court upheld the trial court’s finding of personal jurisdiction.

Lensing v. Card