Former Nebraska governor and congressman Charles Thone dies
LINCOLN, Neb. — Charles Thone, a former Nebraska governor and congressman who helped investigate the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., has died. He was 94.
Thone — “Charley” to those who knew him — died of natural causes at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday at his home in Lincoln, said Mark Schorr, his longtime friend and law partner. Thone had spent the last few weeks in hospice care.
Thone, a Republican, represented Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District from 1971 to 1979. He served one term as governor, from 1979 to 1983, and lost his 1982 re-election bid to Democrat Bob Kerrey.
In Congress, Thone served on the House Select Committee on Assassinations that looked into the deaths of Kennedy and King. He concluded there was no evidence that Kennedy’s death was part of a conspiracy.