William E. “Bill” Kelly, Jr., a longtime JFK assassination researcher and one of the founders of the COPA Conference, died on Feb. 21, 2026, at the age of 74, in Browns Mill, N.J.
Born July 28, 1951 in Camden, N.J., Kelly attended Camden-area schools (McGraw and St. Joseph’s), before graduating from Camden Catholic High School in Cherry Hill in 1969.
He went on to obtain a bachelor’s degree in secondary education, with a concentration in history and English, from the University of Dayton in 1973. He then pursued graduate studies at the Antioch Center for Social Research.
