Paul Bentley; detective helped arrest Oswald

Nick McDonald (left) and Paul Bentley (right) arrested Lee Harvey Oswald at the Texas Theater. (Jim MacCammon photo, courtesy of Howard Upchurch via New York Times)

DALLAS - Dallas police Detective Paul Bentley, who helped arrest presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald at the Texas Theater, had a ready retort for those who did not accept the official story that Oswald acted alone.

"What does conspiracy do?" Mr. Bentley would say. "It sells."

Mr. Bentley died at home Monday of natural causes, said his grandson, David Ottinger. He was 87.

Mr. Bentley worked for the Dallas Police Department for 21 years, starting as a patrol officer and retiring as a detective five years after the assassination of President Kennedy.

He played a supporting role on Nov. 22, 1963, originally responding to Oswald's fatal shooting of Dallas police Officer J.D. Tippit. Mr. Bentley and other officers tracked Oswald to the Texas Theater, arresting him after a brief scuffle.

"The fight broke out on the main floor," said Gary Mack, curator of The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. "Bentley was up in the balcony. He raced down to help and piled on because Oswald punched an officer and pulled a gun."

In a well-known photograph taken just after the arrest, Mr. Bentley is wearing a suit with his hair slicked back and a cigar in his mouth, escorting Oswald out of the theater. Oswald appears to have a cut on his forehead, which Mr. Bentley said came from his Masonic ring, Ottinger said.

His grandson described Mr. Bentley as an honorable and decent man.

"As time went by, it became an important piece of history, but he always said he was just doing his job that day," Ottinger said.

Mr. Bentley had another connection to Oswald. His brother-in-law, L.C. Graves, was one of the officers escorting Oswald when Oswald was shot to death by Jack Ruby.

"My grandpa used to say to his brother-in-law, 'I arrested him and you let him get shot,' " Ottinger said.

Mr. Bentley leaves his wife, Mozelle, a son, and Ottinger. A daughter, Barbara, died in 1973.