


The famous courtroom sketches of John Hinckley Jr., President Ronald Reagan’s would-be assassin, are back in public and up for auction this week.
Alexander Historical Auctions expects the 28 mostly color pastels to fetch up to $6,000, a moderate amount for a rare Reagan legacy relic.
The sketches were seen on TV during Hinckley’s trial, which ended with him being sent to Washington’s St. Elizabeths Psychiatric Hospital after he was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

His defense team said he shot Reagan and others outside the Washington Hilton on March 30, 1981, to impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he was obsessed.
He was eventually released on Sept. 10, 2016. In 2022, his release became unconditional, and he has had a struggling musical career ever since.
Alexander, the historical auction house regularly featured in Secrets for its auctions of presidential and war relics, said the artist of the pastels is the late Freda Reiter.

She also sketched the trial of Patty Hearst, the Gary Gilmore execution, the Chicago 7 trial, the Watergate trials, Supreme Court hearings, and Tricia Nixon Cox’s wedding.
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Her Hinckley sketches will be auctioned off on Friday during the three-day event that begins Wednesday.
In its review of the package, Alexander’s catalog said it includes “22 full sketches and six partial studies, including two studies and 12 full sketches featuring Hinckley, including an image of him covering his face with only his eyes visible, him looking at documents with two men looking through his jail cell door, a person freeing Hinkley during his attempt to commit suicide, Hinkley sobbing while in his room at St. Elizabeths Mental Hospital, and showing the jury delivering their verdict.”