Woody Harrelson’s double murderer father and chilling link to JFK assassination | World | News
Woody Harrelson stands as Hollywood royalty. From his breakout role in the sitcom Cheers to major parts in White Men Can’t Jump, Natural Born Killers and the Hunger Games trilogy, the performer has won hearts amongst audiences worldwide.
However, the superstar’s father has achieved almost equal notoriety to his A-list son, albeit for vastly different reasons.
Charles Harrelson faced conviction for two murders and was cleared of a third.
In September 1980, Harrelson gave himself up to authorities following a six-hour siege, during which he was reportedly under the influence of cocaine, reports the Mirror US.
Throughout the confrontation, Harrelson made threats to take his own life and declared he had murdered both Judge John H. Wood Jr and President John F. Kennedy.
Speaking in an interview following his detention, Charles Harrelson revealed: “At the same time I said I had killed the judge, I said I had killed Kennedy, which might give you an idea to the state of my mind at the time.”
The assassin explained the declarations made during the siege were “an effort to elongate my life”.
Based on records from the Texas State Historical Association, Charles Harrelson received conviction for murdering the judge who was gunned down in a car park outside his San Antonio residence on May 29, 1979.
The judge, who earned the nickname “Maximum John” due to his reputation for issuing lengthy sentences for drug-related crimes, was due to have a drug dealer brought before his court. Jamiel “Jimmy” Alexander Chagra, a notorious dealer, was facing the prospect of life imprisonment without parole if found guilty by the court.
Accused of hiring Charles Harrelson to assassinate Wood for a hefty sum of £250,000, Chagra was eventually acquitted, although he later admitted to conspiracy as part of a plea bargain to aid his wife.
John became the first federal judge to be assassinated in over a century, having been shot once in the back. Charles Harrelson and his then-spouse, Jo Ann, were implicated in this heinous crime.
Harrelson’s capture came about when the police received calls about him firing a weapon at imaginary FBI agents whilst under the influence of drugs. An anonymous tip-off and a recorded conversation between Joe Chagra and his brother Jimmy during a prison visit led to Harrelson receiving two life sentences.
During Harrelson’s trial, Joe Chagra testified that the hitman had claimed responsibility for Kennedy’s assassination and even provided maps showing his hiding place during the event.
However, the witness expressed disbelief at Harrelson’s claims, and the AP reported that the FBI “apparently discounted any involvement by Harrelson in the Kennedy assassination.”
In Jim Marrs’ 1989 publication, ‘Crossfire’, it was speculated by some theorists that Charles Harrelson was the youngest and tallest of the “three tramps” arrested shortly after Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas. Renowned forensic artist, Lois Gibson, reportedly identified Charles Harrelson in photographs of this figure.
Marrs also alleged that Charles Harrelson was involved “with criminals connected to intelligence agencies and the military.”
The author further associated Charles Harrelson with Jack Ruby, the man who assassinated Lee Harvey Oswald, through Russell Douglas Matthews. Matthews was a third party linked to organised crime and known to both Harrelson and Ruby.
In a 1982 interview, Charles Harrelson told Dallas TV station KDFW-TV: “Do you believe that Lee Harvey Oswald killed President Kennedy, alone, without any aid from a rogue agency of the U.S. government or at least a portion of that agency? I believe you are very naïve if you do.”
