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Brother Disputes Sale Of Lee Harvey Oswald Coffin

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The brother of Lee Harvey Oswald says the presidential assassin's coffin is rightfully his.

The simple wooden coffin was auctioned for $87,000 last week. Oswald was buried in it for 18 years before his body was exhumed in 1981 as part of an effort to prove he was really buried in it. He was reburied in another coffin.

Robert L. Oswald told The Associated Press Monday he was unaware the original still existed until he read in a newspaper that it was being sold. Oswald says he paid for the original. He says it should have been destroyed years ago.

Texas funeral home owner Allen Baumgardner, who put the coffin up for sale, did not return a call for comment.

(© Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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