In 1975, Eddowes authored
The Oswald File, in which he claimed that a
Soviet imposter took the place of
Lee Harvey Oswald when Oswald was in the Soviet Union, came to the United States where he
assassinated United States president
John F. Kennedy, and was subsequently buried in Oswald's grave. Eddowes asserted there were differences between Oswald and the
autopsy performed by
Earl Rose. He mentioned that Oswald was 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) in height according to his
U.S. Marine Corps records, and that the
Dallas pathologists said the assassin they autopsied was 5 ft 9 in (175 cm). In his book, Eddowes cites several times after Oswald's return from the Soviet Union when he gave his height as 5 ft 11 in if asked but when he was actually measured he was a few inches shorter. The corpse also had a large scar on the wrist; Eddowes stated that Oswald had no such scar. Eddowes argued that, as a child, Oswald had a
mastoid operation that left him with a depression in the flesh behind one of his ears, as well as a dime sized hole in his skull, and that the corpse of the man
Jack Ruby killed had no such depression or hole in the skull. Eddowes sought action in
Texas courts and the body was exhumed in 1981. The body, in an advanced state of decomposition, proved to be Oswald. The exhumation was reported to have cost Eddowes between $8,000 and $15,000. ==Death==