WOULD-BE ASSASSIN ARRESTED BY WEST PALM BEACH POLICE OFFICER
West Palm Beach, Florida (JFK+50) On December 15, 1960, Richard Paul Pavlick* was stopped here in West Palm Beach by police officer Lester Free who saw him drive across the highway dividing line. Upon a search of the vehicle, seven sticks of dynamite were discovered along with "spools of wire, and a homemade detonation device."
Pavlick intended to drive his dynamite-laden vehicle into President-elect John F. Kennedy's limo. The would-be assassin waited outside the Kennedy compound on December 11th, but when the president-elect emerged with his wife and children, Pavlick decided to "try again another day."
Pavlick was a retired postal worker who was known for writing "prolific letters to newspapers" about his belief that Joe Kennedy had been attempting to buy the presidency for his son. Pavlick, who remained institutionalized until December 13, 1966, was declared legally insane.
Secret Service Chief U.E. Baughman, later wrote...
"The closeness of the call was appalling. Hardly anybody realized just how near we came...to losing our president-elect to a madman."
*Richard Paul Pavlick (1887-1975) was born in Belmont, New Hampshire. He worked as a postmaster until his retirement. In 1960, RPP mailed strange postcards to Thomas Murphy, the postmaster in Belmont. Murphy became suspicious when the postmarks on these cards matched places visited by JFK. He alerted US Attorney Maurice Bois who contacted the Secret Service.
SOURCES
"JFK: the assassin who failed," by Philip Kerr, New Statesman, November 27, 2000
"Near Miss: JFK Assassination Attempt in 1960," by Steve B. Davis, Writings and Wramblings, www.stamperdad.wordpress.com
"Presidential Assassinations and Assassination Attempts", by Martin Kelly, August 14, 2017, www.thoughtco.com/
"The Kennedy Assassin Who Failed," by Dan Lewis, December 6, 2012 SMITHSONIAN.COM
West Palm Beach, Florida (JFK+50) On December 15, 1960, Richard Paul Pavlick* was stopped here in West Palm Beach by police officer Lester Free who saw him drive across the highway dividing line. Upon a search of the vehicle, seven sticks of dynamite were discovered along with "spools of wire, and a homemade detonation device."
Pavlick intended to drive his dynamite-laden vehicle into President-elect John F. Kennedy's limo. The would-be assassin waited outside the Kennedy compound on December 11th, but when the president-elect emerged with his wife and children, Pavlick decided to "try again another day."
Pavlick was a retired postal worker who was known for writing "prolific letters to newspapers" about his belief that Joe Kennedy had been attempting to buy the presidency for his son. Pavlick, who remained institutionalized until December 13, 1966, was declared legally insane.
Secret Service Chief U.E. Baughman, later wrote...
"The closeness of the call was appalling. Hardly anybody realized just how near we came...to losing our president-elect to a madman."
*Richard Paul Pavlick (1887-1975) was born in Belmont, New Hampshire. He worked as a postmaster until his retirement. In 1960, RPP mailed strange postcards to Thomas Murphy, the postmaster in Belmont. Murphy became suspicious when the postmarks on these cards matched places visited by JFK. He alerted US Attorney Maurice Bois who contacted the Secret Service.
SOURCES
"JFK: the assassin who failed," by Philip Kerr, New Statesman, November 27, 2000
"Near Miss: JFK Assassination Attempt in 1960," by Steve B. Davis, Writings and Wramblings, www.stamperdad.wordpress.com
"Presidential Assassinations and Assassination Attempts", by Martin Kelly, August 14, 2017, www.thoughtco.com/
"The Kennedy Assassin Who Failed," by Dan Lewis, December 6, 2012 SMITHSONIAN.COM
Pavlick's Car and Weaponry
