Fans of The Hunger Games alumni, Woody Harrelson, are shocked to learn that his father, Charles, was a career criminal who passed away in prison.
The subject was raised on the Instagram handle, History Feels, known for its coverage of historical architecture and World War II events, and attracted close to 63,000.
Harrelson disagrees with at least one of the state’s convictions and has spent millions of dollars trying to have his father retried in court.
Woody Harrelson frequented gambling hotspots and had an appetite for “expensive possessions”
Image credits: Kate Green/Getty
The Texas State Historical Association remembers Charles Voyde Harrelson as a frequenter of the gambling scene with an appetite for “expensive possessions,” in his 20s.
Of his character, those who knew him–including lawmen, for all the wrong reasons–saw him as a “charming personality” prone to “ruthless criminal behavior.”
He was convicted in 1960 for the first time. His crime was armed robbery and he served two years in a California prison.
Image credits: Disney+
Two years later, he and his wife, Diane Lou Oswald, divorced, leaving her with their three sons: the famous Woodrow “Woody” Tracy, Brett V., and Jordan Kenneth.
Charles Harrelson fled bail on a m*rder charge
In 1968, Charles relocated to Texas, only to become a favored suspect in the d*ath of a gambler by the name of Harry Berg. Feeling the heat, he fled to Missouri but was nabbed in Kansas City on the state’s border.
The state, with the help of his associate Sandra Sue Attaway, made a compelling case against Charles, who was given bail and fled the state, only to be recaptured in Atlanta.
Image credits: Houston Police Department
Thanks to a competent defense counsel, Charles was acquitted of the m*rder charge, but the state, having learned their lesson, kept him under lock and key as they prepared yet another case against him; that of grain seller, Sam Carmelo Degelia, Jr, whose body was found in a pumphouse.
This case suffered the same fate as the Berg m*rder, and it took a retrial to get a guilty verdict.
When he was released, he went straight back to his old life
Charles was finally sentenced on August 27, 1973, and credited with time served. He was released three years later into the custody of Kansas officials so that he could serve out a pending firearms sentence.
Picture of mobster and contract killer Charles Voyde Harrelson, father of actor Woody Harrelson, on trial for the murder of a federal judge, 1980’s. He was convicted and sentenced to two life terms.
Posted by Historical Pics on Saturday, June 14, 2025
When he was finally freed in 1978, he went straight back to Texas and gambling.
He married again in January 1979, and in May of the same year, by his own admission, he shot federal judge John Howland Wood, Jr. in the back in San Antonio.
He claimed responsibility for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy
There was a tip implicating him in the shooting, but he managed to stay clear of the law until he was arrested in February 1980 on a firearms charge in Houston.
Like with his 1968 court case, he was let out on bail—and violated the terms.
In 1981, Woody Harrelson’s father, Charles Harrelson, was sentenced to life in prison for assassinating a federal judge…
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Law enforcement officials would corner him on the outskirts of Van Horn, Texas, on September 1, 1980, under the influence of injected c*caine.
He was captured after an hours-long standoff and claimed responsibility for the de*ths of Wood and President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.
The senior Harrelson was alleged to have been paid $250,000 for a hit on a judge
While authorities were happy to accept his confession on Wood, they eventually rubbished the idea of his involvement in Kennedy’s demise.
Image credits: Cecil Stoughton/White House/J.F.K. Presidential Library
History Feels post mirrored the narrative when it wrote:
“Harrelson carried out the hit for $250,000 on behalf of a drug dealer awaiting trial.
“He was captured after a six-hour standoff with police, during which he confessed to multiple killings, including JFK’s, though that claim was widely dismissed.
“In 1982, Harrelson was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. He spent the rest of his life in federal prison, where he di*d in 2007,” the post reported.”
Harrelson does not believe his father had a fair trial
Image credits: STX Entertainment
Woody has remained a staunch advocate for his father, telegraphing disbelief at his last conviction.
“I’m not saying my father is a saint, but I think he’s innocent of that [judge’s killing], yeah,” he told ABC’s Barbara Walters in 2007.
In 2012 he would speak on the subject again and tell The Guardian that he “spent a couple of million,” on trying to get his father a retrial.
Social media feels for the Woody Harrelson
Image credits: Universal Pictures
Social media has since reacted to the post with a mix of shock and empathy.
“I never knew about this. I remember Woody from Cheers, just a normal guy,” one person wrote.
Another, critical about the media’s decision to bring up Harrelson’s past, wrote:
“Ever think it’s a painful topic for the man to talk about. I mean he was just a kid when his dad was exposed. That’s a helluva shadow to have over you growing up.”
The internet is calling for a movie about Charles Harrelson
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