Hugh Aynesworth

Hugh Grant Aynesworth (; August 2, 1931 – December 23, 2023) was an American journalist, author, and teacher. Aynesworth witnessed the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dealey Plaza, the capture and arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald and the shooting of Oswald by Jack Ruby in the basement of the Dallas Police Headquarters. 

Aynesworth was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia. He was raised in Nutter Fort, West Virginia. He studied at Salem University in Salem, West Virginia. He first worked in his home state as a freelancer for the Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram.

In 1980, Aynesworth was hired to interview serial killer Ted Bundy, who at first said he was innocent, for the Business Week. He conducted many interviews with Bundy and eventually authored two books about the killer. The New York Daily News called their portrait of Bundy, The Only Living Witness, one of the ten best true-crime books ever written. 

In 1993, Aynesworth covered the siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.

At ABC News, Aynesworth was an investigator for 20/20. In the mid-1990s, he was the Dallas/Southwest bureau chief of The Washington Times.

Aynesworth was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize six times, and was a finalist four times.

Aynesworth died on December 23, 2023 in Dallas, Texas at the age of 92.

Works

References

Other websites
Official website 
Linkedin profile

Category:1931 births
Category:2023 deaths
Category:Journalists from Dallas
Category:Educators from West Virginia
Category:Educators from Dallas
Category:Journalists from West Virginia