Hugh Aynesworth

Hugh Grant Aynesworth (; August 2, 1931 – December 23, 2023) was an American journalist, investigative reporter, author, and teacher. Aynesworth was reported to have witnessed the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dealey Plaza, the capture and arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald at the Texas Theatre, and the shooting of Oswald by Jack Ruby in the basement of the Dallas Police Headquarters. In a 1976 Texas Monthly article, William Broyles Jr. described Aynesworth as "one of the most respected authorities on the assassination of John F. Kennedy". Having grown up poor, his mother helped provide for the family by taking in laundry and his aunt cleaned houses, including one owned by a man who would later provide him with $100 so he could purchase books in college. He first worked in his home state as a freelancer for the Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram.

Aynesworth's next two positions were with Donald W. Reynolds-owned newspapers in Fort Smith, Arkansas. At the age of 23, he was then hired as managing editor of the Southwest American. (Aynesworth also described the position he held in November 1963 as "science editor".) In 2007, Aynesworth was elected President of the 300-member Press Club of Dallas, an organization of which he had been a member since the early 1960s. (Aynesworth stated that he had watched the motorcade with an assistant district attorney and another lawyer.) Aynesworth broke the story of Oswald's escape route, and had the first major interview with Marina Oswald. According to Aynesworth, Garrison fabricated conspiracy allegations for "politically opportunistic reasons" and had attempted to bribe potential witnesses. Garrison initially replied only that the article was "unworthy of comment", Garrison himself later responded to Aynesworth's claims: "As for the $3,000 bribe, by the time I came across Aynesworth's revelation, the witness our office had supposedly offered it to, Alvin Babeouf, had admitted to us that it never happened."

In May 1967, researcher Shirley Martin wrote a letter to Jim Garrison about her 1964 meeting with Aynesworth, in which she accused him of making "disgusting anti-Kennedy stories." He then began to praise the city of Dallas, especially his newspaper the Morning News. He then personally smeared Warren Commission critics like Thomas Buchanan and Mark Lane; describing the former as a "fairy" and the latter as a communist. Aynesworth also said that he had an affair with Marina, even commenting that Marina and Ruth Paine were involved in a lesbian relationship prior to the assassination. Martin also said that Aynesworth was bitter about Merriman Smith winning the Pulitzer for his JFK coverage. Aynesworth was reportedly offered to snitch on William Walter for the FBI. There is a CIA internal memo written on October 10, 1963, by then-Dallas CIA head J. Walton Moore. He writes about Aynesworth's possible trip to Cuba when he was a reporter with The Dallas Morning News, and how Aynesworth "has offered his services to us if it develops that he receives a visa" to Cuba. Moore wrote that Aynesworth "told me that he had applied for a visa for Cuba approximately a year ago," and that Aynesworth had received a call from someone with the Czech embassy saying it was under consideration. Moore added that he was "submitting a name check request for Aynesworth.”

Aynesworth was very critical of Garrison throughout the years. Addressing a 1991 article written by Mark Seal that discussed Garrison's influence on Oliver Stone's JFK, Ayensworth said: "There is simply no way that a rational person – with any knowledge of Mr. Garrison and his background – could believe that he really knew anything about the assassination that he didn't read first in the very publications he now mocks." The two Newsweek colleagues conducted a series of interviews with Bundy and eventually authored two books about the killer. Their work showed that Lucas could not have killed more than a hundred people that the Texas Rangers claimed he had. Aynesworth and Henderson's work led to then-Governor George W. Bush commuting Lucas' death sentence.

1993: Waco siege In 1993, Aynesworth covered the siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, once referring to it as "he Branch Davidian massacre".