Pictured for the first time in 25 years: The reclusive widow of Lee Harvey Oswald who 'lives in fear of being killed by the Secret Service' and has turned down $3m to talk about the JFK assassination ahead of the 50-year anniversary



Marina Oswald Porter, a 72-year-old grandmother has lived with her second husband Ken in Rockwall, Texas since the mid-Seventies

The Russian-born former pharmacology student met Oswald in Minsk in 1961 after he defected to the Soviet Union

He brought her back with him to America and the couple had two daughters before his arrest for the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963

She initially believed he was guilty of the shooting, but subsequently changed her mind after reading the many conspiracy theories

Eighty per cent of American citizens are sceptical about the official version of events of Kennedy's assassination



She could be just another pensioner out for her weekly shop. But the guarded and fearful look in this woman's eyes tells a different story.

Fifty years ago, her life changed forever when gunshots rang out across Dallas's Dealey Plaza and John F Kennedy died before a crowd of thousands.

She is the widow of Lee Harvey Oswald, the former marine who was blamed for the assassination of the U.S.'s most loved president of the modern era.

Astonishingly, these are the first images of reclusive Marina Oswald in 25 years.



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Guarded: These are the first new pictures of Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald widow Marina in 25 years



Marina Oswald, now Marina Oswald Porter, was seen shopping at a Walmart near her home in rural Texas



The former Mrs Oswald remarried just two years after her husband was shot dead while in police custody



Marina told a press conference in 1977: 'I believe that Lee acted alone in this murder and shot the President , ironically a man whom he respected and admired'. But she now no longer believes he killed the president

Just weeks before the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's assassination, allegedly at the hands of Oswald, the now 72-year-old was seen leaving a Walmart superstore near her rural home outside Dallas.

She was with her was second husband, former drag racer Kenneth Porter, 75, whom she married less than two years after her late husband was himself shot dead in full view of the world's media.

Friends say the 72-year-old grandmother and mother-of-three, whose greying brown hair was swept back in a ponytail, has lived as a virtual recluse since after her last television interview a quarter of a century ago.

In it, she vehemently insisted there was no firm evidence against her former Marine husband - a belief she still has today.

Russian-born Marina is now a 72-year-old, and has lived for the past 25 years as a virtual recluse



Marina was with her was second husband, former drag racer Kenneth Porter, 75, whom she married less than two years after her late husband was himself shot dead in full view of the world's media

Previous life: Lee Harvey Oswald, his wife Marina and their daughter June Lee in 1962

Fateful day: A snapshot taken of the moment JFK was shot in the head in 1963 while driving through Dallas, Texas

President and Jacqueline Kennedy arrive at Dallas Love Field a few hours before he was killed by a sniper, Lee Harvey Oswald

Russian-born Marina has lived a quiet life behind closed doors, hiding away from suspicious eyes.

Gripped by fear and facing accusations from those who believe she was a co-conspirator in a KGB plot, the grandmother has lived in Rockwall, Texas, since the mid-Seventies with her second husband and three children.

But as the 50th anniversary of the tragedy approaches, she has been unable to remain out of the public eye.

Now known as Mrs Oswald Porter, she is said to be struggling through a life blighted by illness, made worse by the impending 50th anniversary and the inevitable media frenzy which will ensue.

Mrs Oswald Porter's neighbours have said that she has become a much-loved member of the community

These days Mrs Oswald Porter is said to be struggling through a life blighted by illness, made worse by the impending 50th anniversary and the inevitable media frenzy which will ensue

Immediately after the assassination the then mother-of-two told the Warren Commission investigating the assassination that she thought her 24-year-old husband was guilty.

But after reading some of the 40,000 books and conspiracy theories about the shooting, she - like the majority of U.S. citizens - has changed her mind.

She now believes that the truth of Kennedy's murder has been hidden by a cover up at the highest levels of the U.S. state.

Close friend and documentary film maker Keya Morgan, said Mrs Porter now believes her first husband was set up to take the fall for conspirators in the CIA and Mafia.

The grandmother is said to be convinced her phones are still tapped by the Secret Service and lives in fear of being targeted and killed by spooks herself.

Marina Oswald weeps as she views the body of her husband and JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before burial on November 25, 1963. She is holding her 22-month-old daughter June Mr Morgan told the Daily Mirror: 'She has spent half a century fearing for her own life. 'The anniversary is a constant reminder of what happened. Her life now is like a terrifying episode of the Twilight Zone, where every day she is forced to answer the same question about the most traumatic moment of her life. 'She is terrified of what might happen to her if she allowed herself to be thrust back into the limelight.' He said he fears the 50th anniversary bandwagon is seriously damaging her health - causing her to develop an immune deficiency disorder from the stress. She is so reluctant to be thrust back in the limelight, says Mr Morgan, she has turned down an offer of $3million to sell her story to a U.S. television network.



Oswald, Marina, and their daughter June Lee, when they lived in Minks, shortly before they moved to the U.S.

Oswald met Marina Prusakova while living in Minsk in 1961. The former U.S. Marine had defected to the Soviet Union two years earlier, but soon began to have second thoughts about his decision.

Six weeks after meeting Marina, then a 19-year-old pharmacology student, they were married. The next year Oswald took his new wife and their four-month-old daughter back to America.



The couple settled in Dallas but struggled to find a place for their young family and Oswald was living apart from Marina and their two young daughters when President Kennedy was shot dead on November 22, 1963.

The night before the assassination she remembers him bringing his rifle to her home and putting it in the garage. The next day, she noticed it was gone.

Due to her relationship with Oswald, Marina found herself the focus of intense scrutiny, so has spent many years hidden away in the small town, where a sign at the end of her driveway warns to 'Keep Out'.

Banded together: Oswald is pictured wearing his wedding band as he and wife Marina leave Belarus in the early sixties for America. It sold for $108,000 at auction earlier this month Two years after the JFK assassination, Marina married Kenneth Porter and they moved to Texas around ten years later. The family settled in Rockwall just 20 miles from Dallas. She has two daughters by Oswald - June and Rachel - who confirmed to the National Enquirer that Marina does believe their father was innocent of the shooting and just a patsy for the Mafia and CIA. The Porters also have a son called Mark. The 72-year-old Mrs Porter has changed her mind about Oswald's guilt, according to the report, after reading books and watching documentaries casting doubt on the official version of events. Mr Morgan, told the Enquirer: 'She certainly doesn't believe the official story - she always told me Lee Harvey Oswald loved President Kennedy. 'Marina says she remembers the day the Kennedys' premature baby Patrick died (August 7, 1963) and she found Lee sobbing.' Despite her change of heart over Oswald, Mrs Porter's neighbours in Rockwall told the National Enquirer that she is a much-loved member of the local community.

Fred McCurley, who lives nearby, told the Enquirer: 'She and Ken are good people, the best neighbours you could ever have.' Assassin's ring: A wedding band worn by Lee Harvey Oswald until just hours before he killed President John F. Kennedy was sold at auction this month for $108,000 In July, Mrs Porter announced that she putting his wedding ring up for auction as she breaks the final ties to what she describes as the 'worst day of my life'.

DID OSWALD ACT ALONE?

It is widely believed that Oswald shot three bullets from his rifle. One missed entirely, a second hit Kennedy and passed through Governor Connally, the third was the fatal shot to the President. Through FBI testing it was established the gun could be fired by an experienced shooter three times within five to eight seconds. But in Governor Connally's own words: 'There were either two or three people involved, or more, in this — or someone was shooting with an automatic rifle.' The politician's wife believed that her husband was hit by a bullet that was separate from the two that hit Kennedy. In the Zapruder film, the JFK's head appears to move backwards after the last, fatal shot, an indication to some that a bullet was fired from the front. There have been witness statements that two men were seen on top of a grassy knoll to the west of the Texas School Book Depository before the shooting.

She had given the band up to be auctioned in New Hampshire after it was returned to her following 50 years lost in an attorney's folder of legal papers from the trial.

The ring sold to an anonymous Texas bidder on October 24 for $108,000.



It is accompanied by a fascinating letter written by Mrs Porter which gives the background to the historical object.

A small section read s: 'At this time of my life, I don’t wish to have Lee’s ring in my possession because symbolicly [sic] I want to let go of my past that is connecting with Nov. 22, 1963.'

Mrs Porter will keep the proceeds from the sale.



In the letter she writes that the ring, which has a tiny engraving of a hammer and sickle, was bought by Oswald in Minsk in 1961 shortly before the couple returned to the U.S.

The ring was left on the couple's bedside table when Oswald set out to kill the President.

Oswald was himself later shot and killed by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby as he was being transferred by police to the county jail, in full view of the press and the public.

The wedding band was discovered in 2004 stuck in a manila folder at a Forth Worth law firm.



It was among the papers of Forrest Markward, a lawyer who represented Mrs Porter following the Kennedy assassination.



After several years of legal tussles, the ring was returned by post to Mrs Porter in an envelope marked ' Treasury Department Secret Service'.

Doomed: President Kennedy delivers a speech at a rally in Fort Worth, Texas several hours before his assassination in Dallas on November 22, 1963

Marina Oswald, pictured with her two daughters in the Rachel and June Lee shortly after her husband shot and killed JFK

According to the official version of events, as established by the Warren Commission, Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President Kennedy on November 22, 1963, in downtown Dallas.



Oswald then fatally shot Officer J.D. Tippit and was arrested at the Texas Theatre in the city.

The 50th anniversary has been gaining attention in recent months as everyone from museum curators to musicians have embarked on projects to remember the event.



The city of Dallas will hold a commemoration November 22 in Dealey Plaza, where Kennedy's motorcade was passing as shots rang out.

Killing: Oswald is seen here being led through Dallas Police Station after being arrested on suspicion of assassinating President John F Kennedy. He was later shot and killed himself by Jack Ruby

Evidence: Marina Oswald Porter with her husband Ken Porter in 1968 at court in Texas in connection with the trial of her ex-husband Lee Harvey Oswald

But Oswald's widow will play no part in it. Mrs Oswald Porter has refused to speak publicly about the grim anniversary - despite being offered massive sums to take part in television features.



Mr Morgan told the Mirror that every day reporters try to contact her to talk to her about her first husband and, although she is not well off, she is terrified of being thrust back into the limelight - no matter the incentive.