Charles Harrelson, the father of actor Woody Harrelson, is a mobster who was sentenced to two life sentences for murdering John H. Wood, Jr., an American federal judge.

Harrelson declared several times that he had something to do with John F. Kennedy's assassination. Some think he was one of the three tramps arrested on November 22, 1963 in a train near Dealey Plaza, but Dallas Police Department documents released to the public in 1992 indicate that the three men really were transients. However, some maintain that these documents were falsified and the "transients" were actually government operatives.

Prior to the Wood murder, Harrelson was charged circa 1970 in Edinburg, Texas for the hired murder of a Hearne grain dealer named Sam Degilia. Texas Ranger Jack Dean investigated the case. Harrelson hired high-priced, flamboyant, Houston attorney Percy Foreman for his defense. Just when it looked liked the case was going to be brought to a successful conclusion, Foreman sprung a surprise witness on the prosecution. A nightclub singer with a questionable background claimed that she had been with Harrelson at the time of the murder. The trial ended in a hung jury—eleven for conviction, one for acquittal.

Harrelson was retried in 1974 in nearby Brownsville, Texas. Jack sat in the courtroom waiting for the nightclub singer. This time, Jack Dean had a perjury warrant for her in his pocket. However, she had learned that the Rangers were waiting to arrest her, and decided to relocate to Aruba. Without the help of the singer’s testimony, there was no hung jury. Harrelson was found guilty. Incredibly, he was sentenced to only fifteen years in prison. With good time, he was out in five years.

Harrelson was later accused of killing Judge Wood with a high-powered rifle in the parking lot of Wood's San Antonio, Texas condominium. An anonymous tip led to Harrelson's arrest. After the assassin's conviction, his son, Woody Harrelson, by then a famous actor, hired expensive lawyers to get his conviction overturned, but to no avail.

Reference

• 20th Century Shining Star: Captain Jack Dean, United States Marshall, Texas Ranger Dispatch Magazine.